tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.comments2023-12-07T02:53:15.151-06:00The Note on my DoorGreg Downeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09154543464555817869noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-37093955874367169062012-04-28T11:57:28.133-05:002012-04-28T11:57:28.133-05:00I work at a further education college and part of ...I work at a further education college and part of my role is to deliver study and research skills sessions. It never fails to alarm me how many students do all of their research via (fairly basic) Google keyword searching -- no wonder they're flummoxed when teachers tell them Wikipedia just won't fly. This is a really clever assignment and a great way to bring home just how much information is out there and how little is available on the web.<br /><br />Some shameless self-promotion: I write a blog about just this topic called That's Not Online! Please feel free to visit and suggest a topic if you like. I will surely be writing this up.Jacqueline Barlowhttp://thatsnotonline.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-90575426535423441382012-04-27T12:58:46.198-05:002012-04-27T12:58:46.198-05:00As a member of the adaptive/assistive technology d...As a member of the adaptive/assistive technology department of a university elsewhere in the country, this article jumps out at me as a GREAT venue to also drop in a mention of accessibility hurdles in old media and the ways to leverage new media for accessibility purposes. A high percentage of students either are doing this kind of scan-and-OCR on their own or using school-provided departments such as mine to provide accessible versions of course materials not otherwise available in digital copy. (Digital materials are essential for students with visual disabilities--low vision, dyslexia--or even cognitive issues such as ADHD.) Have you thought about running the assignment past UW's Access and Accommodation Resource Coordinators to see if they have any extra bits to add?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-22028690257041991902012-04-19T08:27:55.707-05:002012-04-19T08:27:55.707-05:00I found this article to be very spirit lifting! A...I found this article to be very spirit lifting! As a new library/media/technology administrator in a public school district, I am assaulted by other educational and non-educational individuals who believe that there is no longer a use for the old fashioned library. I use current technologies, own a Kindle, and read hardcopy books, all which contribute to my ability to find, use, and enjoy information for pleasure and work. Convincing others that the libraries of today are not the libraries of last century, can be very difficult. Thank you for helping others to recognize the benefits the library continues to offer to individuals who were born into a technology world, by sending them into the foreign world of books. The individuals, who work very hard in this field, have made the commitment to welcome them, as well as learn to use their new tools and skills.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-57203285541975445942012-04-16T06:45:07.825-05:002012-04-16T06:45:07.825-05:00Makes sense. Workable fair use is something that ...Makes sense. Workable fair use is something that is sorely missing for the european version of the current copyright niceties.Olivier Galibertnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-19649514371602921892012-04-16T06:40:56.598-05:002012-04-16T06:40:56.598-05:00I appreciate that question. I structured the enti...I appreciate that question. I structured the entire assignment to fall squarely under the Fair Use provisions of current copyright law, as I understand them.Greg Downeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09154543464555817869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-18763833282354272902012-04-16T06:33:35.246-05:002012-04-16T06:33:35.246-05:00I was wondering, was there a way for a student, gi...I was wondering, was there a way for a student, given the time they had, to correctly complete the assignment without violating current copyright law?<br /><br /> OG.Olivier Galibertnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-64158294353215263832012-04-15T11:46:17.326-05:002012-04-15T11:46:17.326-05:00Thanks for this, and for putting your syllabus onl...Thanks for this, and for putting your syllabus online. I find it fascinating that so many of your readings are print-based, not links to online sources, but the idea of finding information off line is so surprising to students. I wonder how they conceptualize the difference? Assigned readings are a school thing, not a real-life thing? A kind of information you are given but would never normally find on your own because it's unfindable?barbara fisternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-33722029724710750712012-04-13T21:50:26.428-05:002012-04-13T21:50:26.428-05:00I find the biggest success being that students rea...I find the biggest success being that students realize that Copyrights often go well beyond their utility. Even more so in the rapidly evolving tech era. I hope we can impart this perspective to sufficient kids, and they improve the law some day. Hey, I *can* be hopeful!FoodDudehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04225812552936658544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-18070064724895882752012-04-13T12:30:17.124-05:002012-04-13T12:30:17.124-05:00What a fascinating assignment! (And one that makes...What a fascinating assignment! (And one that makes me "feel my age."<br /><br />As a writer and someone who has worked in libraries and as a researcher for a quiz show, I have all the research skills these students lacked (Ah! the fun of reading microfilms and microfiche!). So I am well aware of the vast amounts of knowledge that have not yet been digitized. And because of that, it makes me sad that some of the students don't want to venture into non-digital research again.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05317580616795337485noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-49770217686435626472012-04-13T09:17:03.818-05:002012-04-13T09:17:03.818-05:00I LOVE THIS SO MUCH that I may steal it for 644. :...I LOVE THIS SO MUCH that I may steal it for 644. :)Dorotheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04140402663592388379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-12861406633602122762012-04-13T07:58:06.828-05:002012-04-13T07:58:06.828-05:00Yep, that's why I make my course web sites pub...Yep, that's why I make my course web sites public and "crawlable" by search engines, rather than hiding them behind courseware systems -- so others might build on anything there. Feel free to reuse and adapt the assignment. A quick nod to UW-Madison would be a kindness.Greg Downeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09154543464555817869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-46297424369910918772012-04-13T07:55:01.999-05:002012-04-13T07:55:01.999-05:00I agree, adding a final metadata/access component ...I agree, adding a final metadata/access component is a great idea -- Thanks!Greg Downeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09154543464555817869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-33552711452922950272012-04-13T07:52:13.165-05:002012-04-13T07:52:13.165-05:00As a librarian who works for a startup that's ...As a librarian who works for a startup that's trying to make more books available as Creative-Commons-licensed ebooks (http://unglue.it), I pretty much couldn't love this story more :). Have tweeted it out to all my library friends -- I hope the ones in reference & instruction will get a lot of mileage out of this. (Speaking of things that are and aren't available online, thanks for putting your syllabus & materials up! Would love to do an assignment like this should I ever be teaching library school students. Any chance your materials are licensed for reuse?)Andromedahttp://andromedayelton.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-28409978663486522812012-04-13T03:50:27.830-05:002012-04-13T03:50:27.830-05:00Working in a software company that creates discove...Working in a software company that creates discovery layers for public libraries, I really liked the assignment. I think you could add a final step to the assignment, asking the students how they would make their digitized document retrievable for other users. This would require some sort of cataloging, adding meta-data, etc. Which is kind of what they asked 'human assistance' with.<br /><br />Great teaching!<br />Robin, Amsterdam (NL)Robinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09707299099748145404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-29882179764211422962012-03-02T08:35:20.321-06:002012-03-02T08:35:20.321-06:00It's important for people to see the iterative...It's important for people to see the iterative side of your course development as I think many view an online course as a product that is made by combining some fixed measure of content with technology -- hence the criticism that online learning lacks the richness of the face-to-face experience. Thanks for this post and for reminding us that online/blending learning approaches can be full of flavor as well if one thinks critically about student learning and is willing to tweak the recipe along the way. Geez, I should've had breakfast this morning.Ron Cramernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-79599221573243175922011-12-28T12:56:41.129-06:002011-12-28T12:56:41.129-06:00Greg, as a cyclist myself I agree completely! You...Greg, as a cyclist myself I agree completely! You've come a long way since Saunders Hall. Glad to see you're doing well. <br /><br />Nick<br />(Illini class of 89)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-24184587392593529512011-09-14T20:44:57.740-05:002011-09-14T20:44:57.740-05:00Greg, I was with our first anonymous commenter tha...Greg, I was with our first anonymous commenter that "weekly" was ill-advised, but I agree that only through recognizing and owning our failings do we move on to do better as a society (to wit: in CBS interviews during election 2008, both vice presidential candidates were asked to name Supreme Court decisions that were regrettable and *neither* mentioned Dred Scott or Korematsu).<br />But I am posting to reply to the second anonymous comment (and by the way, were I ever posting something this critical to your or any other blog, I'd own it and not be anonymous).<br />As someone who did work as a reporter and editor, interacts daily with working journalists and teaches every single undergraduate who wants to go into that world, I have been inspired, impressed and refreshed by your leadership. (If anyone wants to interpret this as sucking up, Greg does not decide my pay grade.)<br />These are brutal times in journalism. Some of us are looking at young pairs of eyes and saying, "Now is when journalism needs you most" while others are saying to them, "Why would you go into a dying industry?" <br />Those students -- who most decidedly want to make a contribution to their world by challenging institutions and generating new ideas -- need to look to the front of classroom and see someone who not only loves teaching, but also believes in the nobility of doing journalism well.<br />I have watched you teach, and I have felt you support my own teaching. We share a bond of belief that great journalism can change lives for the good, and that great teaching can move journalism toward that noble goal.<br />Willard Bleyer once said that the future of our nation's democracy depends upon the character of its newspapers. You would add a few more media platforms to that, as would I on my iPad, but I know you feel the same.<br />As someone who knows your work and shares your students, I am beyond proud that you lead my J-School.Katy Culvernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-52000568479314667812011-09-14T20:05:14.798-05:002011-09-14T20:05:14.798-05:00Dear Anonymous #2, thanks for reading and for leav...Dear Anonymous #2, thanks for reading and for leaving a comment. I'm disappointed that someone would be exasperated with me for my honesty in revealing that I did not consider every single bit of the 9/11 anniversary coverage as material that I wanted to spend my time consuming -- quite honestly, I think much of it was sensationalized to grab page views or to sell special issues, without significantly adding to my understanding of the issue, ten years along. (Others may feel differently about any given piece, and that's fine.) But let me make clear, since you have questioned my integrity and qualifications, that I have spent, and continue to spend, a great deal of time reading news reports both past and present on all of the issues that I research, teach, and write about in the course of my academic work -- including war, terrorism, discrimination, and our societal responses to these. And while I am not a professional journalist -- nor do I claim to be -- I have in fact authored and edited several books which I take quite seriously as contributions to knowledge production and public debate. This work has been peer reviewed by experts and is published under my own name, for all readers to judge just as I might judge the value of any given news report. So I don't think I have anything to apologize to you for.Greg Downeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09154543464555817869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-44355770554990593112011-09-14T19:19:40.610-05:002011-09-14T19:19:40.610-05:00This is exactly the sort of 9/11 response I would ...This is exactly the sort of 9/11 response I would expect from someone who has neither expertise as a professional journalist, nor a journalism degree.<br /><br />Yes. Yes, ignore coverage. What a great lesson for our future reporters.<br /><br />I am beyond exasperated that you "lead" my J-School.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-70457954253147753182011-09-12T13:43:28.933-05:002011-09-12T13:43:28.933-05:00Dear Anonymous, thanks for reading and for leaving...Dear Anonymous, thanks for reading and for leaving a comment. You're correct, I was being loose with the term "weekly"; I don't have an accurate count of such reports across the nation over the last decade, though I've followed the waxing and waning of news features on such issues over that time in order to make sure to treat this issue seriously in my courses. Many good articles on both the positives and negatives of our national response after 9/11 can be found at the New York Times "topics" archive here: [http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/m/muslimamericans/index.html]<br /><br />But I don't think "Mosque controversies" that remain both national and local news for weeks and months can be categorized as "limited"; neither were the controversies over the Danish cartoons a few years back (which hit ground particularly on this campus with one of the student newspapers), or the bizarre accusations that our current President had forged his birth certificate to hide his true nationality or religion. Even now, it appears to me that several of the Republican candidates for presidential nomination regularly and strategically bring these issues forth in their campaigns, and sitting legislators hold hearings on Islam as a special threat to the nation. <br /><br />Discrimination happens not just in street protests or on cable news talk shows, but all through our social world -- especially in the site where we spend so much of our time and energy, the workplace: "At a time of growing tensions involving Muslims in the United States, a record number of Muslim workers are complaining of employment discrimination, from co-workers calling them 'terrorist' or 'Osama' to employers barring them from wearing head scarves or taking prayer breaks. Such complaints were increasing even before frictions erupted over the planned Islamic center in Lower Manhattan, with Muslim workers filing a record 803 such claims in the year ended Sept. 30, 2009. That was up 20 percent from the previous year and up nearly 60 percent from 2005, according to federal data." [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/business/24muslim.html] <br /><br />More pessimism, right? Actually, I am quite optimistic about the future; however, at the same time, that optimism doesn't mean that I am willing to gloss over our failures in the recent past or present (and for full disclosure, I think our war in Iraq, and the human toll that it continues to take for soldiers and civilians alike, counts as the largest of these). I think it's possible for us to be both congratulatory and critical of ourselves at the same time. The complicated nature of our global society demands more than a simple "for us or against us" response.<br /><br />I think my greatest source of optimism comes from reports like this one: "A decade after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a Gallup poll released Tuesday found that the vast majority of Muslim Americans say they are loyal to the United States and optimistic about the future, even though they are more likely than other religious groups to say they recently experienced discrimination." [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/03/us/03muslims.html]Greg Downeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09154543464555817869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-49839597797719551692011-09-12T13:13:18.716-05:002011-09-12T13:13:18.716-05:00I would challenge you on the almost weekly anti-Is...I would challenge you on the almost weekly anti-Islam/Muslim response from the American public. As noted in a Washington Post editorial this weekend, our national response has been fairly mute, if not outwardly positive. No Korematsu-like decision from the Supreme Court, rioting or lynching, no legislation noted for particular anti-Arab discrimination. TSA treats grandmas and Arabs alike.<br /><br />You may point to Mosque controversies, but they're limited, so far from the view of ordinary Americans, lasting a mere set of weeks within the 10 year span since 9/11.<br /><br />I would encourage you to be more optimistic about the American people and their response. This is not to say we are without fault. It's to say the 9/11 response by ordinary Americans is amazing, given our history and that of nations around the world.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-44593608114170263912011-08-10T09:09:50.376-05:002011-08-10T09:09:50.376-05:00Here's where I think we're stuck: at the F...Here's where I think we're stuck: at the Federal level we're really busy criticizing Obama for continuing to compromise and reach across the aisle. But in our home state we want people to work together and take the greater balance to mean we want more compromise. <br />How do we promote both agendas?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-53269991381240531122011-08-10T08:10:08.183-05:002011-08-10T08:10:08.183-05:00Your idealism is showing.
I'd like to believe...Your idealism is showing.<br /><br />I'd like to believe we could even agree to disagree on these issues, but the fact is that the results here will polarize both ends of the political spectrum even more. Walker and friends will see this a vindication and continue their program against state workers, education and the middle class. <br /><br />Dems will see the that brass knuckle approach to politics beat two incumbent republicans in very red districts, and put them in striking distance of a couple more.<br /><br />If the $31 million dollar comes out accurately, you're looking at almost $90 of spending per vote. That's unsustainable in democratic (note the small d) terms, and will only raise the stakes in states like Wisconsin with a closely divided electorateChrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00941589888549269060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-66236310813570680612011-08-01T22:29:34.761-05:002011-08-01T22:29:34.761-05:00From a Kaukauna teacher, thank you for pointing ou...From a Kaukauna teacher, thank you for pointing out the missing information in this "success" story!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38418152.post-79396344900882214082011-03-02T10:37:02.267-06:002011-03-02T10:37:02.267-06:00Greg--great post and much appreciated. Two suggest...Greg--great post and much appreciated. Two suggestions: I really like using news aggregators to help with the work of steps one and two. Here's a great google news feed for the events in Wisconsin: http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&ncl=dKW2mQnsQqSVdmM_3vWpxsz_T_PUM&topic=h. <br /><br />Second, while the point you make in "Unpack the Numbers and the Language" is an excellent one, it is slightly misleading, particularly since the Cap Times editorial itself gets the facts wrong. The current budget deficit is NOT a result of Walker's tax cuts (which haven't yet been collected--they're relevant for the 2011-2013 budget cycle), rather, the current budget deficit is the result of the State Supreme Court's decision that the State must repay $200 million it took from a medical malpractice fund to balance the budget in 2007. See: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt_and_politics/article_445e572c-9400-11df-a570-001cc4c002e0.html. The point you're making might be better made in relation to the way that Governor Walker (and subsequent news outlets) have talked about state employee contributions to pension and benefit plans. See: http://www.tax.com/taxcom/taxblog.nsf/Permalink/UBEN-8EDJYS for a really interesting unpacking of legal language and why semantics and the way we talk about details matters.Steelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06296816821254638443noreply@blogger.com