The scheme is pretty simple:

Corrupted-Files.com, a Web site developed in December as a joke, its owner says, offers unreadable Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files that appear, at first glance, to be legitimate. Students can submit them via e-mail to professors in place of real papers to get a deadline extension without late penalties. For $3.95, the site promises a “completed” assignment file will be sent to the buyer within 12 hours, to be renamed and submitted by the new owner. By the time a professor gives up on the bogus file, in theory, a student will have been able to complete the actual assignment.

The article then goes on to explore ways to detect and possibly handle such events.

The comments section chimes in with two dozen or so additional suggestions - everything from "use paper" to "develop work process" with the selection of a topic, the submission of a brief reading list, then an outline, and finally the paper itself. The latter one appeals to me because it has the advantage of testing the assignment system, keeping students on track, and generally emulating best practices. The comments themselves could be edited to be a part of the "how to submit a paper" instructions.

Definitely a good read for courses with a writing requirement.

Marc Beja, 'The Computer Ate My Homework': How to Detect Fake Techno-Excuses, The The Wired Campus in The Chronicle of Higher Education (Online), June 10, 2009. http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3818/the-computer-ate-my-homework-how-to-detect-fake-techno-excuses

Image. A Google thumbnail found with a image search for [gremlin]. Alas, the source of that image is no longer on the page that google points to, illustrating another way the computer can eat your homework.

Posted by steve on June 11, 2009 | Permalink

What happens if you ask Google to compare the GDP of France and Germany, or ask it how many cows were in Vermont each of the last ten years? You may find a web page where someone has posted that information, or you may have to search for several sites and gather the information for yourself, or you may find some  references to follow to do some research. Google is fantastic, wonderful, certainly but is not designed for those kinds of questions.

Enter Wolfram Alpha.

Dr. Wolfram, of Mathematica and New Kind of Science fame, is launching a new type of web search engine that combines the symbolic representation and calculating capabilities of Mathematica with natural language processing. Or, to quote: "Fifty years ago, when computers were young, people assumed that they’d quickly be able to handle all these kinds of things. And that one would be able to ask a computer any factual question, and have it compute the answer. But it didn’t work out that way. Computers have been able to do many remarkable and unexpected things. But not that. I’d always thought, though, that eventually it should be possible. And a few years ago, I realized that I was finally in a position to try to do it."

Natural language processing is still in its infant stage and "for example we’re still very far away from having computers systematically understand large volumes of natural language text on the web." So, Alpha begins small with "trillions of pieces of curated data and millions of lines of algorithms."

Read more or watch for the launch later this month, here: http://www.wolframalpha.com/

Posted by hope on May 8, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBacks (0)

What happens if you ask Google to compare the GDP of France and Germany, or ask it how many cows were in Vermont each of the last ten years? You may find a web page where someone has posted that information, or you may have to search for several sites and gather the information for yourself, or you may find some  references to follow to do some research. Google is fantastic, wonderful, certainly but is not designed for those kinds of questions.

Enter Wolfram Alpha.

Dr. Wolfram, of Mathematica and New Kind of Science fame, is launching a new type of web search engine that combines the symbolic representation and calculating capabilities of Mathematica with natural language processing. Or, to quote: "Fifty years ago, when computers were young, people assumed that they’d quickly be able to handle all these kinds of things. And that one would be able to ask a computer any factual question, and have it compute the answer. But it didn’t work out that way. Computers have been able to do many remarkable and unexpected things. But not that. I’d always thought, though, that eventually it should be possible. And a few years ago, I realized that I was finally in a position to try to do it."

Natural language processing is still in its infant stage and "for example we’re still very far away from having computers systematically understand large volumes of natural language text on the web." So, Alpha begins small with "trillions of pieces of curated data and millions of lines of algorithms."

Read more or watch for the launch later this month, here: http://www.wolframalpha.com/

Posted by hope on May 8, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

This morning's Wall Street Journal (Tuesday, May 5th) fills out some of the details of a rumored "large screen" ebook reader, a device expected to provide a paperless platform for newspapers, magazines, and ... academic textbooks.

Geoffrey Fowler and Ben Worthen report:

Beginning this fall, some students at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland will be given large-screen Kindles with textbooks for chemistry, computer science and a freshman seminar already installed, said Lev Gonick, the school's chief information officer. The university plans to compare the experiences of students who get the Kindles and those who use traditional textbooks, he said. ...

Five other universities are involved in the Kindle project, according to people briefed on the matter. They are Pace, Princeton, Reed, Darden School at the University of Virginia, and Arizona State.

The road to e-textsbooks will likely be rough - publishers are reluctant to give up distribution control to Amazon (or Google, or Sony, or Walmart ...), campus bookstores are nervous, and students are likely reluctant to abandon the used textbook marketplace.

Geoffrey A. Fowler and Ben Worthen, Amazon to Launch Kindle for Textbooks, Wall Street Journal, MAY 5, 2009. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124146996831184563.html

Posted by steve on May 5, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Trent Batson, professor of English, director of academic computing, entrepreneur and bon vivant, has an article in Campus Technology exploring the role of Web2.0 in education, particularly higher education. He observes:

For decades, a minority among educators has advocated alternate forms of teaching and learning. The umbrella term for these alternate forms is "open education," (cf Opening Up Education, Kumar and Iiyoshi, MIT Press, 2008). The litany of alternate forms is long: co-op learning, experiential learning, service learning, internships, semester abroad, field study, authentic learning, problem-based learning, adult education, extension courses, and on and on. Each of these alternate forms was designed with the assumption that traditional classroom learning was the norm.

With the dawning of Web 2.0, these alternate forms of teaching and learning are now becoming the "native" forms for this age. Open education, open knowledge, and open resources are different faces of the Web 2.0 revolution in higher education.

...

from Trent Batson, "Why is Web 2.0 Important to Higher Education?", Campus Technology, April 15, 2009. http://campustechnology.com/articles/2009/04/15/why-web-2.0-is-important-to-higher-education.aspx. Image from Batson's Web2.0PortfolioInitiative, http://www.trentbatson.com/

Posted by steve on April 17, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

First it was Flickr, now its YouTube. Hoorah for the Library of Congress as they begin to place portions of their vast video holdings on this popular site.

First collections include the 2008 National Book Festival author presentations, the Books and Beyond author series, “Westinghouse” industrial films from 1904, scholar discussions from the John W. Kluge Center, and the earliest movies made by Thomas Edison, including the first moving image ever made.

Watch for more in future:
http://www.youtube.com/user/LibraryOfCongress

Posted by hope on April 7, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Responding to Diversity Issues in the Classroom: A Developmental and Social Justice Approach

Friday, April 10, 2009 9:00a.m. to 12 Noon in Allen House, room 204.

This half day workshop engages participants in building an understanding of how to have meaningful conversations about diversity issues and how to confront difficult situations more effectively in the classroom context. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of both the dynamics of interpersonal conflict in general and practical responses that promote understanding and critical thinking. Using case scenarios, you will practice interpersonal skills and productive responses to interpersonal conflicts related to cultural and/or social justice.

Facilitated by Sherwood Smith, Director, Center for Cultural Pluralism and IPS faculty.

Register by sending an e-mail to: mheining@uvm.edu2.

Posted by wendy on March 31, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)