One of the many things I learned from last week's Michael Wesch webcast

I attended a webcast of Kansas State's Michael Wesch last week; an outstanding and quite interesting presentation.  You have most likely seen Wesch's viral video, A Vision of Students Today, at some point.

During his presentation, he demonstrated how easy it is for students (and teachers) to download a YouTube video, edit, and publish a remix of the video back to YouTube.  Here's one simple gold nugget -

·  View a video on YouTube.

·  In the URL location box, type pwn in front of youtube, and enter.

·  Get links to download the video.

It's that simple.  More details at - http://deturl.com/

Format Factory - greatest freeware of all time?

Our IDT lab coordinator Colter found this killer freeware (sorry folks, only for PC) - Format Factory - http://www.formatoz.com/  I must say that it scored very high on my GRS (Geek Richter Scale).  It basically converts everything!  I just tried .wmv to .flv and it worked beautifully.  Now, on to convert some files....just because I can.

From the Format Factory web site:
Format Factory is a multifunctional media converter.
Provides functions below:
All to MP4/3GP/MPG/AVI/WMV/FLV/SWF.
All to MP3/WMA/AMR/OGG/AAC/WAV.
All to JPG/BMP/PNG/TIF/ICO/GIF/TGA.
Rip DVD to video file , Rip Music CD to audio file.
MP4 files support iPod/iPhone/PSP/BlackBerry format.
Supports RMVB,Watermark, AV Mux.
Format Factory's Feature:
1 support converting all popular video,audio,picture formats to others.
2 Repair damaged video and audio file.
3 Reducing Multimedia file size.
4 Support iphone,ipod multimedia file formats.
5 Picture converting supports Zoom,Rotate/Flip,tags.
6 DVD Ripper.
7 Supports 56 languages
OS requirements: All Windows OS

ESU IDT team selected for 2011 PacifiCorp finals

Although I tend to only post general thoughts about instructional design and technology on this blog, I have an opportunity to brag about the accomplishments of  two of our  ESU IDT students. Michael Stewart and Jason Baker have been selected as one of three winning teams to present at the AECT PacifiCorp finals at the November 2011 AECT International Convention in Jacksonville, FL.

The PacifiCorp design and development competition involves having teams of two students design and develop a detailed written solution and oral report in response to a quite complex instructional design case study.  During the year-long competition, twelve teams competed in the first round of the competition and six teams moved forward to the second round, with three teams being selected as winning finalists.  A best overall presentation award will be presented to one of the teams after their convention presentation.

Jason and Michael put a lot of time and hard work into their instructional design/training solution. I was able to take a look at it and I must say that it truly was outstanding. ESU IDT has entered into the competition four times and has reached the finals all four times.  I believe this gives an indication of the quality of students we have in our program and also the quality of instruction and support provided by the IDT faculty.  It truly is a team effort:; all of the IDT faculty and over a dozen IDT students and alumni will be in Jacksonville to cheer them on when they make their presentation.

Refreshing Convocation Speech by FHSU Provost Larry Gould

One of my colleagues sent this YouTube link (embedded below) to the Fort Hays State University Fall 2011 Convocation speech by Provost, Dr. Lawrence V. Gould.  Jump to 17:15 to get to the meat of the presentation.  I believe this speech is refreshing because I rarely encounter a university Provost, V.P. or President with such a keen understanding of the massive changes (many of them needed) in higher education and how technology can be a catalyst for change.  It is clear that Dr. Gould's leadership has been a driving force in the  innovative and creative culture (and staggering enrollment growth) at FHSU.  It's no surprise that one of his publications is entitled Transformational Leader as Champion and Techie: Implications for Leadership Educators.

South Korea to Replace All Paper Textbooks With Digital Content

While the US continues to pour money into failed initiatives like NCLB and Common Core Standards, South Korean schools will soon ditch textbooks and move entirely to tablets.  A country can do this when it has ubiquitous wireless, the world's fastest Internet access, and the most most tech-savvy citizens in the world....and when it wants to train creative and innovative students who can compete in an age of globalization. As Dr. Yong Zhao has said, “What China (insert South Korea instead of China) wants is what America wants to throw away.”

If you see the words "brain-based," RUN!

That's what David Daniel, a researcher at James Madison University says.....and I agree.  Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham wrote a nice piece in his Washington Post hosted blog back in December 2010 - similar to David Daniel, Willingham writes, "Most of what you see advertised as educational advice rooted in neuroscience is bunkum." Read the rest of 3 Brain Facts Every Educator Should Know.

Microsoft Helps Army Avoid ‘Death by PowerPoint’

PowerPoint slide from an Army briefing.

Dave Karle, an executive communications manager at Microsoft is helping the US Army fight PowerPoint abuse, by “chasing the bad ideas out of presentations.” Read the entire Wired article.