Can Technology Drive Physical Activity?

A study by Cleveland State University research students seem to think so.  They compared 30 minutes of activity using the Nintendo Wii Boxing game versus a punching bag.  Their findings indicate that both activities burned almost the same amount of energy.  One main difference with using the handheld device is that there is no resistance, making the experience less strenuous.

Read full article:  http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1218616315241130.xml&coll=2

Online textbooks — Free!

Connexions, an organization at Rice University, is making books and other educational content available free online.  Most content are packaged in modules, or chunks, where professors can pick and choose material to make up a course.  A few complete textbooks are also availalbe. 

All content is free to use under the Creative Commons “attribution” license.  Users can also opt to order a printed copy for a fee.

URL:  http://cnx.org/

Monitoring Online Students

A recent article in the Chronicle talked about a pending bill in Congress that may require institutions to prove that a student taking an online class is the same person who is actually performing the work.  This in turn will require students to purchase and use technologies such as webcams and biometric readers to authenticate their identity.   Some univerisities are partnering with technology vendors to come up with monitoring devices that will make this task easier on all parties.

URL:  http://chronicle.com/free/v54/i46/46a00103.htm

Virtual Reality

Google recently unveiled their version of a virtual world called Lively.  This service is similar to Second Life, but is prety much web-based from what I see so far. 

An article in today’s Chronicle of Higher Education’s Wired Campus reveals skeptism from academics (http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3155/scholars-skeptical-of-googles-new-virtual-world). 

URL:  http://www.lively.com

‘Point-and-Click Archaeology’

Here’s a link to an article posted on the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Wired Campus website entitled ‘Point-and-Click Archaeology’.   It talks about how UCLA undergraduate field studies students will be using blogs to document their experiences and findings.  These students are taking part in archaelogical digs in seven countries:  USA, Canada, Peru, Albania, Ecuador, Chile and Panama.

This is a great example of the use of blogs.  People from anywhere in the world can gain ingsight on the digs through the writings of these students.

URL:  http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3134/point-and-click-archaeology

Podcasting 101

Here a link to a video posted by CommonCraft on YouTube which talks about the basics of Podcasting.  This is one among other videos in their “In Plain English” series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-MSL42NV3c

Offset High Textbook Costs by Renting

With the increasing cost of textbooks, services like Chegg.com are popping up.  Students can rent books for the whole semester for a fraction of the price of buying the book, new or used.  According to their website, Chegg offers over a million book titles. 

Check out their website:  http://www.chegg.com

Digital Stories

Dr. Dwayne Wright, Assistant Professor at Cleveland State University, started a program called “Our Stories”.  It’s a program where Cleveland senior citizens can share their life stories which are captured on video.  In exchange, volunteer high school students painted their front porches or planted flowers in their yard. 

It is a great way to share their stories to future generations, as well as “engage the community and build relations”  according to Dr. Wright.  Students also gain interviewing skills in the process.

Full story is available at:  http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/06/oral_histories_paint_a_picture.html

CSI: College Science Investigation

“CSI: College Science Investigation” is a two week summer program for Ohio high school students sponsored by Cleveland State University and Baldwin-Wallace College.  This program is intended to expose students to carees in science.

Students participated in mock exercises, including car crashes, shootings, etc.  In the field, they used cell phones to look up information on the internet or capture pictures and video.  They brought back samples of evidence to science labs for further analysis.  Here, they used eletronic microscopes and other scientific instruments to analyze the specimens. 

This program was funded by grant from the Ohio Board of Regents.

Full article on this topic can be found at the Cleveland.com blog website:  http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/06/students_take_course_in_scient.html#more