Learning@Richmond April 2012 Issue
March 30, 2012
Associate Professor of Anthropology, Jan French was among the first University of Richmond faculty to redesign a course around the Apple iPad2. The iPad was used in Dr. French’s 200 level Ethnographic Field Methods course in which eight students worked together to research, understand, and produce a presentation of how UR students use, feel, and think about the library. The iPads served as an “all-in-one” tool - the students used it to photograph, record and video interviews and focus groups, take notes, read articles, and draw maps.
Did you know that ‘Prezi Meeting’ is included with all Prezi licenses? This feature allows you to edit, create, and show prezis with others in real time. We’ll help you can get started using ‘Prezi Meeting.’
Plus a word from CTLT Director Kevin J. T. Creamer, the remaning Spring CTLT Calendar, and which mobile apps your CTLT liaison uses the most.
Please Click Here to Download this issue.
If you have any comments, questions, or ideas for future issues, please contact the Learning@Richmond editor, Dr. Matthew Trevett-Smith.
Links featured in this issue:
CTLT Liaison Blog
CTLT Spring 2012 Workshop Schedule
CTLT Training & Classes
Pizza & Pedagogy Schedule
Mozilla creates BrowserQuest to showcase HTML5 capabilities
March 28, 2012
Mozilla and web design studio Little Workshop to develop a Web-based multiplayer adventure game called BrowserQuest. The game is built to take full advantage of a HTML5 technology called WebSockets, which are a new technology enabling bi-directional communication between a browser and a server on the web.
This new technology may foster the legitimacy and availability of game based learning in higher education. Proponents of game-based learning in higher education point to its role in supporting collaboration, problem-solving, and communication, the 21st century competencies needed by American students outlined by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in late 2010 in the National Education Technology Plan. Advocates also underscore the productive role of play, which allows for experimentation, the exploration of identities, and even failure. Gaming also contributes to the development of a particular disposition well-suited to an information-based culture and rapid change.
With the technical capabilities offered by the latest standards, Web developers no longer have to rely on plugins to create interactive multimedia experiences and application-like user interfaces. BrowserQuest is a demo of how this technology can be used today to create a real-time multiplayer game in a single webpage.
Since BrowserQuest is written in HTML5/JavaScript, it is available across a lot of different browsers and platforms. The game can be played in Firefox, Chrome and Safari. With WebSockets enabled, it’s also playable in Opera. Moreover, it’s compatible with iOS devices, as well as tablets and phones running Firefox for Android.
The mobile versions are more experimental than the desktop experience, which has richer features and performance, but it’s an early glimpse of what kind of games will be coming to the mobile Web in the future.
Check out the game’s video trailer here:
Microsoft Unveils New Plan to Speed Up the Web
March 28, 2012
Microsoft wants in on the drive to speed up the web. The company plans to submit its proposal for a faster internet protocol to the standards body charged with creating HTTP 2.0.
Not coincidentally, that standards body, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), is meeting this week to discuss the future of the venerable Hypertext Transfer Protocol, better known as HTTP. On the agenda is creating HTTP 2.0, a faster, modern approach to internet communication.
Read the full story at webmonkey.
Apple Launches New iPad
March 16, 2012
The third iteration of the iPad went on sale Friday morning in the US.
iPads began selling in 10 countries overseas hours before they were first available at east coast Apple stores 8 a.m. Eastern time. But at the company’s flagship 5th Ave. store - ground zero in New York - hundreds lined up for the new iPad, which reviewers have said introduces some powerful new processor and graphics features but lacks the “wow” factor of the two previous versions.
That bit of sour grapes didn’t dampen the spirits of hundreds of hearty souls who braved a chilly, misty morning to be among the first to own the new iPad.
Check out more information here: http://www.apple.com/ipad/
Apple Announces “New iPad”
March 13, 2012
Last week, Apple held an event to reveal the “New iPad.” That’s right… It’s not an iPad3, or an iPad2 S, or even an iPad2 HD, it’s simply the “New iPad.” The New iPad sports a faster processer, higher resolution display, and a much needed 5 megapixel rear camera. More details will be released soon.
I am forecasting a lot of confusing conversations in the future along the lines of:
“Hey Matt! Do you have a New iPad?”
“Not really, I’ve had it for a few months.”
“But is it a New iPad?”
“It was new when I got it.”
“But is it a New iPad?!?”
The conversation quickly spirals out of control like a “Who’s on first?” Abbott and Costello routine.
Check out what the folks over at Engadget are saying. You’ll also find a hands-on video review at their site.
March Issue: Learning@Richmond
March 5, 2012
The Technology Learning Center (TLC) is a staffed technology learning space within the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology at the University of Richmond. With the guidance of the CTLT Labs Manager Mark Nichols, and TLC manager Melissa Foster, the TLC serves the University community in a number of ways.
The Technology Learning Center provides a wide variety of facilities and services for UR students and faculty. A variety of software applications are available in the TLC’s computer labs and private studios, and service staff provide assistance to lab users.
Plus the Spring CTLT Calendar, announcing the CTLT Faculty Academy, and what your CTLT liaison thinks the “next big thing” in academic technology will be.
Please Click Here to Download this issue.
If you have any comments, questions, or ideas for future issues, please contact the Learning@Richmond editor, Dr. Matthew Trevett-Smith.
Links featured in this issue:
CTLT Liaison Blog
CTLT Spring 2012 Workshop Schedule
CTLT Training & Classes
Pizza & Pedagogy Schedule
