All posts by Professor David Simpson

Professor of Psychology, Carroll University (USA), Lover of Dogs, Reading, Teaching and Learning. Looking for ways to enhance cross-global communication and to apply technology learning tools. Interested in brain health maintenance, brain fitness training, and truth in advertising.

All Posts
Curious David

Reconnecting with Carroll Alumni Using LinkedIn Premium

on March 16, 2016

Headshot4blogsWhile my undergraduate research students have independently of me been working hard on their ebook project (which they hope to share with me next week), I have been investing some time (and money) exploring different WordPress “themes” (visual layouts), playing with a new video camera that promises better screencast quality on YouTube and Vimeo, and investigating some of the additional features available to LinkedIn users who pay for a premium account. In addition to my students writing a WordPress blog piece about LinkedIn which can be found here, I explored the LinkedIn platform blogging capabilities and published two pieces there: this piece—and a second one. My thanks to the numerous LinkedIn “connections” who viewed the posts (especially to Carroll alumnus Steve Thomas) for giving us “LinkedIn novices” some helpful guidance!

Here is a screencast of some of my (mis)adventures exploring the paid-for premium versus free versions of LinkedIn:

And here are are some additional LinkedIn resources I have found useful in getting a better understanding of how LinkedIn could serve the needs of my students and my interests:



Curious David

Revisiting My Tool Box Tool by Tool: Take 5

on March 2, 2016

Headshot4blogs

  1. Twitter: I often learn about a new technology learning tool here through selectively identifying “thought leaders.” I try to reciprocate with something that they might find of interest (@professorDavidS).
  2. YouTube: Sometimes I use this tool for learning how to use a technology learning tool. Though I have neglected it of late, I just rediscovered my private YouTube Channel with (in)famous private uploads of former research assistants and their shenanigans, Uncensored Adventures in Carrollland, DumbleDave in costume, Robin the Newf, and a (sigh) much younger-looking David Simpson! Drop me an email if you want to see them:)
  3. Google Search and Google Scholar: I’ve never found an alternative search engine that exceeds its capabilities, and I still have so much to learn about how to make it work even better for me.
  4. Google Docs/Drive: My research assistants now are more facile with this than I as we collaboratively put finishing touches on some ebooks we are writing. I think that I shall make mastering Google apps a high priority for me this summer. Alternatively, I’d like to create a course about them though I suspect I can find such a course on Lynda.com or Udemy.com.
  5. PowerPoint: I must confess that I am PowerPoint challenged – in part because I don’t teach in a way that naturally lends itself to that linear format of presentation.



Carroll University USACurious DavidGlobal EducationJane Hart's Top 100 Learning Tools

Bridging the Academic and Business Worlds

on February 29, 2016

Headshot4blogs

In my teaching, research, writing and consulting I try to be a bridge-builder across admittedly different disciplines, cultures, and age groups. I enjoy reading the Harvard Business Review as well as Psychological Science. I just had accepted for publication a book review of Enhancing the Effectiveness of Team Science. I currently am learning much from Andrew Macarthy‘s 500 Social Media Marketing Tips: Essential Advise, Hints, and Strategy for Business: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and More! I am making more use of Linda.com. And I follow with admiration the efforts of Jane Hart to expand the ways that learning can take place in the workplace.

In concert with Michelle Pacansky-Brock‘s Best Practices for Teaching with Emergency Technologies, Susan Manning and Kevin E. Johnson’s The Technology Toolbelt for Teaching, Steve Johnson’s Digital Tools for Teaching, and Alec Couros’ Becoming a Networked Learner, these resources have demonstrably changed how I teach, how I learn, and how I “reach out” to others  via social media. Clearly, as Curtis J. Bonk has evangelized,  my world has been opened and expanded.

Over the past decade I been enriched by discovering, testing, curating and using a number of “technology learning tools” identified by Jane Hart. My students and I are soon to release a series of ebooks sharing how we use these tools. The challenge is to find balance between tool use and the tools controlling the user. For a horrific example of such a dystopia I recommend your reading Dave Eggers novel The Circle.

Though I have explored every year each of the 100 learning tools,  I have no “favorite” tool. Which tool I use most is very much a function of the learning/teaching task I am engaged in, the discretionary time I allow myself for being online, the audience I am working with, and the particular computer/operating system I am using. All these factors change very quickly.

This year I am using Twitter much less often than in the past. Because of an increased need for collaborative work with on campus committees, cross-national collaborations, and with my student research group and because across the course of a day I move between a desktop PC, a desk top Mac, a laptop PC, a laptop Mac, and IPads, I am now using to a far greater degree Google Docs/Drive and DropBox. Without Google Docs or a similar sharing capacity I would be plagued by not remembering upon which machine I  stored information needed to be shared. My international colleagues and international friends are more facile with the use of YouTube than I. Google Search (and Google Scholar) is my search engine of choice though I grossly under-use the sophisticated and nuanced search capabilities it provides.

I intentionally under use  PowerPoint  and force an increased use of Airtable.  Evernote, for me, has potential but is nonessential in my day-to-day activity. WordPress, Facebook, and LinkedIn play an  integral role in my teaching, learning, promulgating, bridge-building and networking modus operandi as well as assorted screen casting tools.

Help me out.  Help me learn. Which of these tools have you used? What am I missing in discovering their utility for teaching,learning and bridge-building?  Which would be most useful in advancing my interests in cross-national cross-generational teaching and learning? Which  tools develop skills that all global citizens should be familiar with?


Carroll University USACurious DavidDogs

Dogs have often proven to be among my best teachers…

on February 22, 2016

P1060473

Dogplay2 (1)

Today I am “dog-tired”—it was a three dog night yesterday as we celebrated a birthday with dear friends.

Several summers ago I was humbled at how much I have yet to learn about teaching and about learning. A friend Mary directed her, beloved, devoted blind Newfoundland Ernie to “rescue” me by, on command, swimming out to a rowboat where I feigned being in distress and he towed me back to shore.Blind Ernie

It has been 6 months since Robin the Newf left my life. She leaves me with many fond memories and enduring lessons about patience, love, persistence, forgiveness, coping with pain, loyalty, and playfulness.

New parents

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Her successor, Leo the Great, already is reminding me of all those lessons and, in his own way, offering me new things to learn.

Leo2

 

Leo1

Robin and Glenn the Big Dog and Mollie the Golden Retriever and Queenie and Duchess and Snapper and Freud and Leo have made me laugh and cry, exhausted and rejuvenated me, and constantly pointed out to me the frailties of being a human.

My father-in-law, Walter G. Schmidt deep love of dogs was extolled in a eulogy given by the Reverend Charles Valenti-Heine:

…”And that world, for Walter, included his beloved Canines. Lucy, Canis, Oaf, Chaucer, Trollope, and Freud, the last named because Walter was told that the companionship of a good dog was of greater worth to people than any other therapy! The one time I remember Walter speaking in church was when Trollope died, and he stood up during joys and concerns to opine: ‘If there is a place in heaven for Presbyterians, then surely there is a place for greyhounds.’

I have had many dog role models both real and fictionalized. As I child I fondly remember Mr. Peabody and his seven-year-old sidekick, Sherman. I am attracted to the nonsense of dog cartoons in the same way that my dogs are attracted to scents.  Though many of my friends claim I behave more like Dilbert, I have often learned from the philosophies of  Dogbert  and of Snoopy. Rudyard Kipling  and Lord Byron have warned us of how dogs can capture your heart! Dogs continue to teach me so much! Some day soon I hope to be their full-time student.


Curious DavidReadingVoice ThreadWorld Read Aloud Day

Yes, David: Reading Aloud

on February 19, 2016

 

I rediscovered the joys of reading aloud over the Christmas holidays when one of my Grandnieces, Annie, excitedly brought me her “No, David!” book and we giggled and squealed together at David’s “naughtiness.”

Annie

I have fond memories of smuggling (oops: snuggling) and reading aloud with my parents and with the children who have entered my life, such as lovely Abbie pictured below.

Abby

In preparation for the forthcoming February 24, 2016 World Read Aloud Day, I invited my student assistants to choose a reading, record it, and share it via VoiceThread. Here is a production by two of them, Lizzy and Alison. I enjoyed the giggling in the next room as they prepared their surprise for me.

Here is some more Shel Silverstein. And, of course, we could have read from Dr. Seuss! Click here for a link to additional Children’s Literature.

Here is their VoiceThread production. And here is Johnny Cash’s rendition (of which they were unaware.)

Here are three readings I have done. I’m trying to decide which to submit:

I hope that you will consider making the time to read aloud.



Carroll UniversityCarroll University USACurious DavidGlobal EducationJane Hart's Top 100 Learning Tools

Thank You, Global Educators, for Your Impact

on February 18, 2016

 Headshot4blogs

A provocative blog piece by Luis Miguel Miñarro, an educator in La Mancha, Spain… We had “interacted” in prior years when he shared with me how he used Animoto  to make a Carnival 2014 video. Now we interact on Linked-in and, soon,  Skype. Thank you, Colleague, for helping me to discover new ways of learning and sharing my learning via Padlet…

A care package from an educator friend, Inci Aslan,  in Turkey who was the principal investigator of an Etwinning project I closely followed…

 Thank you, Inci, and congratulations on your recent wedding….

A Facebook chat message from Lithuanian educator Irma Milevičiūtė who befriended me on Epals years ago and whetted my  interest in global communication. Heartfelt thanks, Irma—though we have lost touch, what I have learned from you and with you has been enduring….

An informative hour-long  Fuzebox.com  conference with Julie Lindsay, an educator in Australia, about the Flat Connections Global Project —my world continues to expand as it shrinks. Thank you, Julie—I find your China project particularly intriguing and hope that we can be in touch again soon.

How does one keep up with “the learning revolution” or Classroom 2.0? How does one keep abreast of developments in International Education? I try to keep reasonably aware of international events through reading articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education and The Guardian. I occasionally shadow Global Education Conferences  and follow several WordPress blogs dedicated to Global Education. And yet I am so globally illiterate. Here are some of my past musing about these questions

Here are my some of reflections on this topic a few years ago… The world is open. I’ve been thinking about how to make our campus and curriculum more global. Here are some incipient thoughts about how that might de done. I’d welcome your thoughts.

  • Increase awareness and use of media such as BBC News, Google News, and Newsvine.
  • Incorporate Kiva into the classroom.
  • Explore global views of religion, spirituality, and being.
  • Tap into high quality online  or “portable” courses.
  • Explore other languages.
  • Capitalize on cultural universals such as music, cusine, sports, and literature.
  • Reading: Let’s encourage our faculty, staff, and students to read, discuss, and discover world literature. Though no substitute for reading, excellent recordings exist of introductions to world literature, world history, world religions, etc.What suggestions do you have that are simple and cost effective?

And here are even earlier reflections…..

I’m still reflecting on some interesting ideas that emerged in a “listening session” I attended today with two other faculty colleagues concerning a proposed change in our general education program for students at Carroll. I left quite confused, but that is not atypical for me. What is the appropriate foundation for general education in the 21rst century? Are we faculty appropriately educated for teaching in the 21rst century? What skill sets, traditions, and knowledge are as vital today as when this academic institution was founded? Can we change our general education program without intentionally changing our institutional mission? How do we avoid throwing out the baby with the bath water? Should part of a general education be mastery of another language? If so, how does one define mastery—knowing the right phrases to allow one to travel within another country? Or should one be fluent in another culture’s history, customs, idioms, national concerns, and language? Can this be achieved within the traditional four years of a college education and still allow students a traditional major? If we are interested in being more global, shouldn’t we append USA to all our institutional publications? Can internationalization be achieved through the 21rst century equivalence of international pen pals using Skype or VoiceThread?  Through changing the “three r’s” to mastery of 20th century learning tools?   Through BBC language acquisition in 12 weeks courses or by investing time in other such (free) online language learning resources? What does is mean to globalize or internationalize a campus? How can that best be achieved? Is the best way to do so to bring international students and faculty to campus? To send our students and faculty abroad? To create communication opportunities world-wide through Internet means? To expand faculty and students’ knowledge of history, cultures, international economics, and international relations? To conduct collaborative international research and learning projects? Should I join the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology?  Which organizations do I drop out of to allow time and money for these new ones?  What defines global citizenship? Global awareness? How can we continually reaffirm and rediscover our common sense of humanity?

Ayuda me. I’m going postal 🙂  global!

Carroll University USACurious DavidJane Hart's Top 100 Learning ToolsScreencastingtechnology tools

Using Internet Tools to Maximize My Effectiveness Inside and Outside the Classroom

on February 16, 2016

Headshot4blogs

Earlier this morning I had a team meeting with two of my student research assistants before leaving for an off-campus meeting with my Schneider Consulting business partners, Jane and Greg Schneider. I gave these two student assistants three assignments (with the additional task of passing on these assignments to their remaining two team members who were scheduled to arrive at noon):

  1. Develop for me a blog piece that evaluates the usefulness of  VoiceThread for us.
  2. Think through ways we should participate in February 24th’s World Read Aloud Day.
  3. Continue working on the ebooks we plan to publish in Kindle Format using Amazon’s Kindle Direct software. I am delighted that as I write this blog piece this evening all assignments were completed.

I praised them for the consistent excellence they were demonstrating in their work with me. In part, our success at working so well together is because we have developed certain habits that facilitate communication and work flow:

  • Documenting the day’s work in a Day One journal application.
  • Saving the day’s work on Google Drive where we all share access and editing privileges.
  • Demonstrating the right balance between solving problems on their own with creative “workarounds” or insights and knowing when to seek my assistance.
  • Learning together, using what we learn, and sharing it with others.
  • Making time for reflection, celebration, and having fun.  I’m still laughing at the delightful reading that Alison and Lizzy shared with me today via a screen cast in a draft of a blog.

When Ariana and Tia ran into a bottleneck today which they could not circumvent, they promptly communicated the problem to me via email sending a screen cast documenting which computer they were using and exactly what problem they were having. Consequently, I was not only able to recommend a solution to the problem but I was also able to share the screen cast with one of my business partners and teach her about screencasting. How lucky I am to have the opportunity to work with, develop, and learn from such talented students.

Allow me to introduce one of my consulting partners, Jane Schneider, in her screen casting debut using Voilá. Today I introduced her to WordPress and to a WordPress guide my students are developing. I hope that Jane, Greg and I from time to time can  share with interested readers some of the work that our team does together.



Curious Davidelearning

Heartfelt thanks to all my teachers I have never personally met—and one in particular

on February 12, 2016


Headshot4blogs

Winding up; winding down. As I shoveled cleaned out  organized books, folders, software, and files in my office today I came across materials from the First-Year Seminar “Pioneering Web 2.0 Learning Tools” I taught to 25 freshmen in the Fall of 2008. To toss or not to toss—that is the question. I ultimately rejected Marie Kondo’s advice.

It’s fascinating to see how technology tools have evolved since 2008. My electing to teach that course was based upon the positive learning experiences I had for a year blogging for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. That’s where I met you, Pamela Gustafson—once, in person! You helped me bridge the Kindergarten to Higher Education gap.

Without doubt my most formative and informative learning about blogging and internet learning tools came from someone I have never personally met but to whom I am eternally indebted—the indefatigable, ubiquitous, Friend and Colleague across the pond Jane Hart. I urge all my readers to visit her web site on a regular basis and avail yourself of the rich resources.

As I re-examine my  teaching, writing, and personal professional development records  across the past 1o years  I time and again find ample, wide-ranging evidence of her constructive impact on what I know, how I teach, how I learn, and how I consult. Thank you, Jane Hart. My research students and I will be dedicating our student guides to you for your profound influence upon us.

—David

DSCN9015

alumniCurious Davidflow

On “Flow,” “Presence,” “Self-Actualization” and Constructive Mania

on February 10, 2016

Headshot4blogs

 

I seem to be having an unusually productive day today. I am in a state of “Flow, “Presence,—self-actualization? I seem to be fully charged even though Leo the Great

P1060403

and I went outside at 2:00 a.m. and awakened together at 5:00 a.m. I wish I could identify why!:)

Perhaps it is due to my having a large amount of reasonably uninterrupted time.  Each interruption that occurred was a positive experience. Four students came by the office for some additional help before the exam. Four students walked away seemingly more knowledgeable and more confident. A gem of a student assistant came by to squeeze in an hour’s work,in her busy schedule, and we discussed the next steps of our book. She and the other three talented students are working so well together—- and with me–challenging and supporting each other. They continually delight, refresh, and invigorate me as we learn, laugh, and grow together.

My personal software and learning tools are for the moment working flawlessly across the many different platforms (Mac OS X  11 .3 and Windows 7) and browsers (Safari, Chrome, Firefox) that I use on a daily basis. My student research team alluded to above skillfully shares their work with me via Google Drive and I move and “sync my work across Google Drive, DropBox, EverNote, and my journaling software DayOne.

We’ve arranged for tomorrow two Skype sessions–one session with a dear friend in London (or are you in Bavaria or Kurgan at the moment???) and another in Hungary. I renewed my Skype accounts. Feel free to Skype me at professordsimpson but I need to know of your intent in advance. I still have a “day job.”

On days like this I love being a professor. I’ll miss this.

Time to head home and be walked by the dog.


alumniCarroll UniversityCurious DavidGlobalJane Hart's Top 100 Learning Tools

Curious David Revisits His Global Outreach Attempts

on February 10, 2016

Headshot4blogs

Screenshot 2016-02-10 09.51.02

It’s past time for a more systematic global outreach by me and my students. Today I met briefly with some visitors from China. I wished them a Happy New Year of the Monkey. Then I began setting up some “Skype” dates with family and friends in London, Madagascar, Hungary, and Switzerland. I’d love to reconnect with Reidar (are you in Norway or Spain?), Inci (are you still teaching in Turkey?), Irma (we’ve lost touch since our conversations from beautiful Lithuania), Simone in Costa Rica, Anna in Kenya and Miguel Luis in La Mancha, Spain—his blog is marvelous. If you would put me in touch with your Antarctica bride’s maid friend, Emily, I would have reached out to all continents:).

Alison and Lizzy are focused on developing a student guide to Skype. Here are my latest marching orders to them:

​Interesting Skype draft. Do you all have a Skype account? How does it compare with alternatives (e.g. FaceTime)? Have you ever recorded a Skype session? How many people have you Skyped with comcomitantly?
We should try a group session. Then a couple with contacts abroad.
DS

Here is their draft in progress. How might it be improved?

Technology is continually improving and changing the way the world interacts with one another. Schools are starting to go from hard cover textbooks to textbooks that are completely online. Other resources that schools utilize are programs that allow students to continue practicing and understanding concepts through online homework and additional help online. Many schools, even at the elementary level, require students to have their own computer in the classroom. With this increase in the usage of technology, face-to-face interactions are suffering due to the ease of using email, cell phones, and social media sites to interact with one another.

Skype is a learning tool that utilizes the world of technology while also incorporating face-to-face interactions with other individuals across the world. In our scenario, Dr. Simpson has used Skype to interact with individuals from other countries for business and education purposes. Additionally, the student research team has interacted with Skype inside and outside of the classroom.

For example, Alison has used Skype in the classroom when teachers wanted to bring in guest speakers. Sometimes these speakers are unavailable to drive or fly to that specific location because they may live halfway across the world or do not have the resources to pay for the trip. By using Skype, guest speakers from Qatar, Africa, and different states were able to present and bring insightful information into the classroom.

From a business point of view, Skype can be used to hold group meetings. For example, if a group of individuals need to get together to interact about plans, presentation details, or other business related aspects, but cannot all be at the same place at the same time, Skype can provide the solution. Skype allows individuals to make group audio calls up to 25 individuals and video calls with up to 10 individuals from anywhere in the world. The video call option is limited though to 100 hours per month, 10 hours per day, and 4 hours per video chat.

Some of the platforms you can access Skype on are computers, cell phones, home phones, tablets, televisions, and video game systems. With having a free account from Skype, one can send messages to one another, simply make voice calls, or hold video chats with individuals from anywhere in the world. Also, one can use the option of screen sharing which allows one to view the other person’s screen. With the new chat feature on Skype, one is able to share files and photos. The files can also be shared while the video chatting feature is being used. With the free version of Skype, an individual can text mobile phones or call landline phones at reasonable rates. To pay for these additional rates, Skype allows one to pay through many different options that may be unique to each country.

To access more features, one can purchase Skype Business. The Skype Business rate starts at $2.00 a month per user. Some of the features of Skype Business that the free version is unable to access are that an individual can video chat with up to 250 people. Also, Skype Business allows you to schedule meetings outside of work in Outlook.

Through the technology of Skype, individuals are able to utilize Skype in the classroom, for personal use, and business.

GOTTA RUN TO GIVE MY FIRST EXAMS OF THE SEMESTER.

Anyone thoughts or experience with Skype would be much appreciated. Thank you.

1 … 12 13 14 15 16 … 32