Sunday, May 14, 2006
Home again and back at work
Despite the weather, which is complete crap - rain and hail and a high of 14deg C - it's great to be back home. Great to see the family again and even nice to be back at work, although the reality of tasks and projects will soon bite.
Getting home was a 34 hour process, starting with a 4am rise in Indianapolis to catch my 6am flight - first to Chicago and then to San Francisco. From the SF airport I found the airbus to the BART, which took me to the connecting station for the CalTrain, and from there is was a university shuttle to central Stanford campus. My meeting with Helen Chen was very enjoyable. She has a vibrant and enthusiastic interest in the use of e-portfolios, and has done some longitudinal studies on student reactions over a full degree period. I will be endeavouring to keep in contact with Helen as I attempt to digest the information from this trip. She is a leading figure in EPAC - Electronic Portfolios Action & Communication International (not to be confused with the European Particle Accelerator Conference), which hosts online events relating to e-portfolios. She suggested I might like to participate as a presenter in one of these, which is an opportunity I intend to work towards.
After the meeting I had time to stroll around the Stanford campus a little. Very few students around at this time of the year, so an opportunity to see some of this fabulous campus at leisure. The chapel feels more like it belongs in some medieval European town - magnificently restored after being mostly destroyed by the 1906 earthquake, then damaged again in the 1990's.
The rest of the campus seemed to shout of the immense resources of a prestige university like this. The experimental use of technology in teaching made me feel quite envious, and I didn't even get to compare their football stadium with that of University of Georgia. I did get to spend a bit of time in the Stanford shopping mall on my way back to the station - went into the Macy's but didn't think I'd be admitted to the Cartier's or the Tiffany's. I guess the students have Daddy's AmEx, which I don't.
The final journey home was simply a 13-hour ordeal sitting in a plane, but that too passes. By the time I got to bed at about 8pm Saturday I'd been up for 48 hours with just a few hours sleep on the plane. No wonder it's taking me a few days to get properly back on my feet.
Despite the weather, which is complete crap - rain and hail and a high of 14deg C - it's great to be back home. Great to see the family again and even nice to be back at work, although the reality of tasks and projects will soon bite.
Getting home was a 34 hour process, starting with a 4am rise in Indianapolis to catch my 6am flight - first to Chicago and then to San Francisco. From the SF airport I found the airbus to the BART, which took me to the connecting station for the CalTrain, and from there is was a university shuttle to central Stanford campus. My meeting with Helen Chen was very enjoyable. She has a vibrant and enthusiastic interest in the use of e-portfolios, and has done some longitudinal studies on student reactions over a full degree period. I will be endeavouring to keep in contact with Helen as I attempt to digest the information from this trip. She is a leading figure in EPAC - Electronic Portfolios Action & Communication International (not to be confused with the European Particle Accelerator Conference), which hosts online events relating to e-portfolios. She suggested I might like to participate as a presenter in one of these, which is an opportunity I intend to work towards.
After the meeting I had time to stroll around the Stanford campus a little. Very few students around at this time of the year, so an opportunity to see some of this fabulous campus at leisure. The chapel feels more like it belongs in some medieval European town - magnificently restored after being mostly destroyed by the 1906 earthquake, then damaged again in the 1990's.
The rest of the campus seemed to shout of the immense resources of a prestige university like this. The experimental use of technology in teaching made me feel quite envious, and I didn't even get to compare their football stadium with that of University of Georgia. I did get to spend a bit of time in the Stanford shopping mall on my way back to the station - went into the Macy's but didn't think I'd be admitted to the Cartier's or the Tiffany's. I guess the students have Daddy's AmEx, which I don't.
The final journey home was simply a 13-hour ordeal sitting in a plane, but that too passes. By the time I got to bed at about 8pm Saturday I'd been up for 48 hours with just a few hours sleep on the plane. No wonder it's taking me a few days to get properly back on my feet.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Wednesday May 10, back in Indianapolis
Tuesday dawned another beautiful day, so I just headed on down the highway. After a few hours of mindless truck passing and roadkill avoiding I felt in need of a break. I had seen a sign on the side of the road advertising a car museum in a town called Auburn, so decided to have a look.
This turned out to be a fantastic display of some beautifully restored cars from the era of Indiana's prime as an auto manufacturing industry. The Auburn car company became the Cord car company, which ultimately also made the Duesenburg - hence the museum was called the A-C-D museum. Many of these cars were one-offs, or one of very few remaining, and all were restored to immaculate condition.
The building as well was a bit of a classic. The company's administration and design building, very much in the classic deco style, and has been painted up with all its highlights. I particularly liked the patterning on the floor. I never realised that there originally so many small, private car manufacturing companies in Indiana. One display showed the location of over 100 different companies in the 1930's in this state alone.
Today has been spent at a full-day meeting at the IUPUI (Indiana University, Purdue University Indianapolis - and we thought AUT University was a redundancy!). This was a project team meeting for the expansion of their ePort tool - the same open source one that Darren Cambridge who I met at George Mason University has been working on. This has been used for the last couple of years by some of the university's innovators
(mainly in the schools of Education and Engineering), but is now planned for extension into their TLC's (Themed Learning Communities). These are cohorts of 1st-year students - 19 of them altogether, each with 25 students and a bunch of instructors and advisors.
The meeting was interesting from the point of view of some of the underlying issues of a large-scale implementation. They are grappling with issues of student completion, assessment, publicity, staff training, executive acceptance, etc. Many of which sound very similar to the challenges we will face at AUT I'm sure.
So now I have dropped off my rental car - nearly 2500 miles later - and feel very relieved that all my transport can now be left in the hands of others. Tomorrow will be a very early start for a 6am flight to San Francisco via Chicago.
Tuesday dawned another beautiful day, so I just headed on down the highway. After a few hours of mindless truck passing and roadkill avoiding I felt in need of a break. I had seen a sign on the side of the road advertising a car museum in a town called Auburn, so decided to have a look.
This turned out to be a fantastic display of some beautifully restored cars from the era of Indiana's prime as an auto manufacturing industry. The Auburn car company became the Cord car company, which ultimately also made the Duesenburg - hence the museum was called the A-C-D museum. Many of these cars were one-offs, or one of very few remaining, and all were restored to immaculate condition.
The building as well was a bit of a classic. The company's administration and design building, very much in the classic deco style, and has been painted up with all its highlights. I particularly liked the patterning on the floor. I never realised that there originally so many small, private car manufacturing companies in Indiana. One display showed the location of over 100 different companies in the 1930's in this state alone.
Today has been spent at a full-day meeting at the IUPUI (Indiana University, Purdue University Indianapolis - and we thought AUT University was a redundancy!). This was a project team meeting for the expansion of their ePort tool - the same open source one that Darren Cambridge who I met at George Mason University has been working on. This has been used for the last couple of years by some of the university's innovators
(mainly in the schools of Education and Engineering), but is now planned for extension into their TLC's (Themed Learning Communities). These are cohorts of 1st-year students - 19 of them altogether, each with 25 students and a bunch of instructors and advisors.The meeting was interesting from the point of view of some of the underlying issues of a large-scale implementation. They are grappling with issues of student completion, assessment, publicity, staff training, executive acceptance, etc. Many of which sound very similar to the challenges we will face at AUT I'm sure.
So now I have dropped off my rental car - nearly 2500 miles later - and feel very relieved that all my transport can now be left in the hands of others. Tomorrow will be a very early start for a 6am flight to San Francisco via Chicago.
Monday, May 08, 2006
Monday, May 8
Had a great day today with a bunch of people at the Waterloo University in Waterloo, Ontario. Tracy Light has been leading the introduction of a portfolio tool based on the Keep Toolkit, developed by the Carnegie Foundation. While I didn't see much of the web-based tools myself, the value in the day came from a short symposium that Tracy had organised to coincide with my visit. This involved presentations by five different portfolio users, with maybe 30 other staff members attending.
Many of the projects are still quite embryonic, with only two reporting on real student usage. However, it was great to see the range and diversity of application. There were presentations on the use in History, foundation Cell Biology, Public Health, Accounting and Financial Management, and what they call Residence-Life, which is for residential students. They are still very much grappling with the challenges of institutional acceptance and uptake, and also how best to use portfolios for assessment, ongoing student access, etc.
Waterloo as a campus uses the Angel LMS which has its own portfolio tool, but the support staff like Tracy found it too rudimentary (sounds familiar). Apparently Angel are about to release their 'new improved' portfolio function, so it seems like this is perceived as the flavour of the month feature.
After another very nice lunch treat (must get back to the gym on my return), it was back onto the highway. Bumbled my way around back-roads looking for the main highway (401) and eventually found it in the city of London, maybe 100km down the road. From then on it has been plain sailing (driving?). They even let me back into the US without too much of a grilling, which was just as well. With the huge American highways, and relatively little traffic in this part of the country, it was just a case of 'set the cruise control to 70mph' and make sure I stayed awake. Have stopped for the night in the town of Lansing, Michigan, which leaves me with only about 250 miles to go to Indianapolis tomorrow.
Had a great day today with a bunch of people at the Waterloo University in Waterloo, Ontario. Tracy Light has been leading the introduction of a portfolio tool based on the Keep Toolkit, developed by the Carnegie Foundation. While I didn't see much of the web-based tools myself, the value in the day came from a short symposium that Tracy had organised to coincide with my visit. This involved presentations by five different portfolio users, with maybe 30 other staff members attending.
Many of the projects are still quite embryonic, with only two reporting on real student usage. However, it was great to see the range and diversity of application. There were presentations on the use in History, foundation Cell Biology, Public Health, Accounting and Financial Management, and what they call Residence-Life, which is for residential students. They are still very much grappling with the challenges of institutional acceptance and uptake, and also how best to use portfolios for assessment, ongoing student access, etc.
Waterloo as a campus uses the Angel LMS which has its own portfolio tool, but the support staff like Tracy found it too rudimentary (sounds familiar). Apparently Angel are about to release their 'new improved' portfolio function, so it seems like this is perceived as the flavour of the month feature.
After another very nice lunch treat (must get back to the gym on my return), it was back onto the highway. Bumbled my way around back-roads looking for the main highway (401) and eventually found it in the city of London, maybe 100km down the road. From then on it has been plain sailing (driving?). They even let me back into the US without too much of a grilling, which was just as well. With the huge American highways, and relatively little traffic in this part of the country, it was just a case of 'set the cruise control to 70mph' and make sure I stayed awake. Have stopped for the night in the town of Lansing, Michigan, which leaves me with only about 250 miles to go to Indianapolis tomorrow.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Oh Canada
OK, so the Internet connection I had in the last motel was completely hopeless. Kept giving me a few minutes, then would fail to upload so I gave up.
Following the visit in Rhode Island I have had a lovely leisurely drive through Massachussets, upstate New York and across into Ontario. On Diane's recommendation I got as far as and spent the night in Lee, close to the New York state border. The first lodging I found was this lovely old house done up as a restaurant, with a couple of rooms upstairs. Decided to treat myself to a suite - all they had available. Seemed like a blow-out, but very nice for a change.
The next day (Friday) was probably the first of the whole trip when I didn't feel pressured to get somewhere or visit someone. So the first stop was a laundromat, getting a much-needed freshen-up to the contents of my suitcase.
Then it was off through the old town of Stockbridge to an area called Monument Mountain. This was a walk to a lookout point called Squaw's Peak - about 30-40 minutes each way, so enough for a bit of exercise, but not exhausting. A lovely day to walk, as you can see from the pictures. Apart from one small slip where I turned my ankle on a tree root, it was a most enjoyable diversion from the driving. Spring foliage was just appearing on many of the deciduous trees, giving a soft green mixed with the various colours of trees that flower early.
After my walk I followed the highway up to Albany via the NY Thruway. Feeling that I was still under no real time pressure I decided to take a more minor road, the I20, through the upper state instead of the Thruway. This was much slower, winding through a whole list of smaller towns. Some of these showed much faded glory, with old large homes falling into obvious neglect. It was a lovely day, and I was sure this alternate route was a good choice.
I stopped for the night near a town called Skaneateles. This is one of the main towns in an area called the Finger Lakes. Check out a map and you'll see why. Obviously another summer resort area for some very wealthy people, looking at some of the real estate around the lake edge.
Saturday dawned very wet and cold. Steady rain, and my car telling me it was 44ºF outside - I figure that's about 7ºC. So the only thing to do was drive. By the time I made Buffalo it had stopped raining, and was turning into a much nicer day. I figured that following I20 westwards was bound to get me across into Canada, until I realised I was heading below Lake Eire, and further south into New York state. So finally worked that out and crossed the 'Peace Bridge' into Canada.
Next stop had to be the Niagara Falls - I mean, how could I not? The day had turned into a beauty by now, so it was a very pleasant walk around. I don't think I was surprised by the high-rise hotels all around, but I was rather surprised by all the tacky 'side show' attractions.
Anyway, the Falls themselves are quite spectacular - definitely best viewed from the Canadian side, as I had been told. I walked the full length of the area and back, enjoying the sunshine and just taking in the side-show of the people. This is obviously a very popular place to come for Americans for things like honeymoons, family reunions, special birthdays, etc. All sorts of groups from all sorts of places.
Had lunch (or was it dinner?) at a place called Tony Ramo's, which is supposedly famous for its ribs. So of course I had to work my way through a plate full. Very good indeed - Katherine, you'll have to look out for one of these restaurants next time you're in the US.
After spending the night at a very cheap motel in Niagara (guess I shouldn't complain about the crap Internet connection), today (Sunday) I have driven up to Waterloo, ready for my next meeting tomorrow. Took a bit of a detour as I looked for the right highway rather than going all the way up to Toronto, but that was also a good choice. Found a small diner in a town called Campbellville where I had probably the best breakfast all trip - mind you, it was nearly midday by then so I was well ready for it.
OK, so the Internet connection I had in the last motel was completely hopeless. Kept giving me a few minutes, then would fail to upload so I gave up.
Following the visit in Rhode Island I have had a lovely leisurely drive through Massachussets, upstate New York and across into Ontario. On Diane's recommendation I got as far as and spent the night in Lee, close to the New York state border. The first lodging I found was this lovely old house done up as a restaurant, with a couple of rooms upstairs. Decided to treat myself to a suite - all they had available. Seemed like a blow-out, but very nice for a change.
The next day (Friday) was probably the first of the whole trip when I didn't feel pressured to get somewhere or visit someone. So the first stop was a laundromat, getting a much-needed freshen-up to the contents of my suitcase.
Then it was off through the old town of Stockbridge to an area called Monument Mountain. This was a walk to a lookout point called Squaw's Peak - about 30-40 minutes each way, so enough for a bit of exercise, but not exhausting. A lovely day to walk, as you can see from the pictures. Apart from one small slip where I turned my ankle on a tree root, it was a most enjoyable diversion from the driving. Spring foliage was just appearing on many of the deciduous trees, giving a soft green mixed with the various colours of trees that flower early.After my walk I followed the highway up to Albany via the NY Thruway. Feeling that I was still under no real time pressure I decided to take a more minor road, the I20, through the upper state instead of the Thruway. This was much slower, winding through a whole list of smaller towns. Some of these showed much faded glory, with old large homes falling into obvious neglect. It was a lovely day, and I was sure this alternate route was a good choice.
I stopped for the night near a town called Skaneateles. This is one of the main towns in an area called the Finger Lakes. Check out a map and you'll see why. Obviously another summer resort area for some very wealthy people, looking at some of the real estate around the lake edge.
Saturday dawned very wet and cold. Steady rain, and my car telling me it was 44ºF outside - I figure that's about 7ºC. So the only thing to do was drive. By the time I made Buffalo it had stopped raining, and was turning into a much nicer day. I figured that following I20 westwards was bound to get me across into Canada, until I realised I was heading below Lake Eire, and further south into New York state. So finally worked that out and crossed the 'Peace Bridge' into Canada.
Next stop had to be the Niagara Falls - I mean, how could I not? The day had turned into a beauty by now, so it was a very pleasant walk around. I don't think I was surprised by the high-rise hotels all around, but I was rather surprised by all the tacky 'side show' attractions.
Anyway, the Falls themselves are quite spectacular - definitely best viewed from the Canadian side, as I had been told. I walked the full length of the area and back, enjoying the sunshine and just taking in the side-show of the people. This is obviously a very popular place to come for Americans for things like honeymoons, family reunions, special birthdays, etc. All sorts of groups from all sorts of places.
Had lunch (or was it dinner?) at a place called Tony Ramo's, which is supposedly famous for its ribs. So of course I had to work my way through a plate full. Very good indeed - Katherine, you'll have to look out for one of these restaurants next time you're in the US.
After spending the night at a very cheap motel in Niagara (guess I shouldn't complain about the crap Internet connection), today (Sunday) I have driven up to Waterloo, ready for my next meeting tomorrow. Took a bit of a detour as I looked for the right highway rather than going all the way up to Toronto, but that was also a good choice. Found a small diner in a town called Campbellville where I had probably the best breakfast all trip - mind you, it was nearly midday by then so I was well ready for it.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
New England journey
Thursday morning dawned beautifully fine, and finding Mesquamicut Beach was not too difficult. Just inside the boundary of Rhode Island state (which apparently is really called 'Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations', but that doesn't normally fit anywhere), the part where Diane Goldsmith lives was very reminiscent of a small NZ holiday beach - the old sort. However, not far around the coast Diane showed me the enormous mansions being built or refurbished by the wealthy from as far away as New York City.
Had a great talk with Diane. She is obviously not a Republican, and I felt was less than impressed with much of the current US foreign affairs decisions. Her lovely Irish setter Finnegan also made me very welcome. Diane has been one of the drivers behind the development of a comprehensive and still evolving eportfolio tool that is funded by the Connecticut state, for the use of a consortium of Community Colleges. The portfolio has been built with students in mind - in particular, the ability for student advisors to review and assist the work being done. All content belongs to the student, who also controls all access to that content.
After a congenial and wide-ranging discussion of pedagogy, technology, and all that I'm supposed to be here for, it was time for the main event - lunch - in the little nearby coastal town of Watch Hill. Diane shouted (as have most of the people I've visited), and of course, being in New England, I had to have lobster salad - divine.
Thursday morning dawned beautifully fine, and finding Mesquamicut Beach was not too difficult. Just inside the boundary of Rhode Island state (which apparently is really called 'Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations', but that doesn't normally fit anywhere), the part where Diane Goldsmith lives was very reminiscent of a small NZ holiday beach - the old sort. However, not far around the coast Diane showed me the enormous mansions being built or refurbished by the wealthy from as far away as New York City.
Had a great talk with Diane. She is obviously not a Republican, and I felt was less than impressed with much of the current US foreign affairs decisions. Her lovely Irish setter Finnegan also made me very welcome. Diane has been one of the drivers behind the development of a comprehensive and still evolving eportfolio tool that is funded by the Connecticut state, for the use of a consortium of Community Colleges. The portfolio has been built with students in mind - in particular, the ability for student advisors to review and assist the work being done. All content belongs to the student, who also controls all access to that content.
After a congenial and wide-ranging discussion of pedagogy, technology, and all that I'm supposed to be here for, it was time for the main event - lunch - in the little nearby coastal town of Watch Hill. Diane shouted (as have most of the people I've visited), and of course, being in New England, I had to have lobster salad - divine.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
The past day and a half were largely driving, concentrating doggedly on freeway numbers, interchanges, exits for gas or food, then making sure to get back on the correct freeway and headed in the right direction. And most of all endeavouring not to be the meat in a truck sandwich travelling at 70mph.
Leaving Washington was not a good start - got caught in a traffic jam on the ring road, I think at one point it took about 20 minutes to travel 1 mile; took an hour to go 15 miles until I hit Interstate 95 - my friend all the way through to New England. From then on it was simply a challenge to follow all the I95 signs through Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. NY in particular was a challenge as it wound over the upper level of the George Washington Bridge, through the Bronx and out into Connecticut. As I drove through there were glimpses of the famed Manhattan skyline but no time to stop and breathe in the frantic atmosphere of the city. If you look very closely at this picture, the blur on the skyline is the Empire State building taken from the Services Area at the end of the New jersey turnpike.
Up into CT the rain started and turned very heavy for a while. I eventually found a motel in New London (all these New places - today's meeting was originally planned in New Britain) and needed to turn on heaters and add more clothes. From the 80s (F of course) in Washington, it was suddenly in the low 50s. This morning (Thursday) looks much nicer and the next few days are forecast warmer.
Leaving Washington was not a good start - got caught in a traffic jam on the ring road, I think at one point it took about 20 minutes to travel 1 mile; took an hour to go 15 miles until I hit Interstate 95 - my friend all the way through to New England. From then on it was simply a challenge to follow all the I95 signs through Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. NY in particular was a challenge as it wound over the upper level of the George Washington Bridge, through the Bronx and out into Connecticut. As I drove through there were glimpses of the famed Manhattan skyline but no time to stop and breathe in the frantic atmosphere of the city. If you look very closely at this picture, the blur on the skyline is the Empire State building taken from the Services Area at the end of the New jersey turnpike.
Up into CT the rain started and turned very heavy for a while. I eventually found a motel in New London (all these New places - today's meeting was originally planned in New Britain) and needed to turn on heaters and add more clothes. From the 80s (F of course) in Washington, it was suddenly in the low 50s. This morning (Thursday) looks much nicer and the next few days are forecast warmer.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Tuesday, May 2
Aaah, a wireless Internet connection again. Amazing how the capital of the nation is the first place where this was not included as a standard facility of the motel. Maybe it's all about supply and demand - I shouldn't try to make sense of it.
Monday was spent at the Fairfax campus of George Mason University, talking with Darren Cambridge. Darren has worked with the Open Source Portfolio project since its very early days. He has also been deeply involved in the development of the IMS portfolio standards. I'm not sure quite how far the standards have developed and been accepted, but the OSP clearly has some very nice features. Take the guided tour to see more. I was left with the impression that Darren was an excellent contact to have made, for the purpose of getting a more detailed look at the infrastructure of portfolio applications.
The University itself was a lovely campus - only independent of the University of Virginia since 1970, but with a lovely friendly, leafy feel to the area. I was particularly impressed with the stuent commons building - a combination of food hall, library and relaxed workspaces. I don't know whether this picture does it justice, but it is obviously well used by the students. The whole building had three areas this big, all linked and open to all students - nicely done.
Tuesday I made the most of being in Washington and had organised a whole bunch of meetings with people at the Blackboard head office. I felt it would have been rude not to, and besides, they usually shell out for a nice meal - which they did for lunch. There was a certain amount of 'head office sales talk', but generally it was a great chance to catch up on various developments and a feel for where the product might be going. I have been appointed as a member of the 'Blackboard idedas Exchange', but who knows quite how much influence that might have.
The US is currently seeing a spate of protests by 'immigrants' - mostly Latin Americans who are here illegally, but who form the labour pool that do all the low-paid shit jobs that no-one else will. I had to skirt around the mass protest at the front of the White House before strolling down the Mall to the Capitol building on a lovely warm Spring evening.
Aaah, a wireless Internet connection again. Amazing how the capital of the nation is the first place where this was not included as a standard facility of the motel. Maybe it's all about supply and demand - I shouldn't try to make sense of it.
Monday was spent at the Fairfax campus of George Mason University, talking with Darren Cambridge. Darren has worked with the Open Source Portfolio project since its very early days. He has also been deeply involved in the development of the IMS portfolio standards. I'm not sure quite how far the standards have developed and been accepted, but the OSP clearly has some very nice features. Take the guided tour to see more. I was left with the impression that Darren was an excellent contact to have made, for the purpose of getting a more detailed look at the infrastructure of portfolio applications.
The University itself was a lovely campus - only independent of the University of Virginia since 1970, but with a lovely friendly, leafy feel to the area. I was particularly impressed with the stuent commons building - a combination of food hall, library and relaxed workspaces. I don't know whether this picture does it justice, but it is obviously well used by the students. The whole building had three areas this big, all linked and open to all students - nicely done.
Tuesday I made the most of being in Washington and had organised a whole bunch of meetings with people at the Blackboard head office. I felt it would have been rude not to, and besides, they usually shell out for a nice meal - which they did for lunch. There was a certain amount of 'head office sales talk', but generally it was a great chance to catch up on various developments and a feel for where the product might be going. I have been appointed as a member of the 'Blackboard idedas Exchange', but who knows quite how much influence that might have.
The US is currently seeing a spate of protests by 'immigrants' - mostly Latin Americans who are here illegally, but who form the labour pool that do all the low-paid shit jobs that no-one else will. I had to skirt around the mass protest at the front of the White House before strolling down the Mall to the Capitol building on a lovely warm Spring evening.
