Dear Colleagues,
I hope the start of the fall semester has been a good one. In this issue of the Tech Tips newsletter you'll find:
- Panopto Tip: Configuring Windows 11 for Remote Recorder
- AI Tips, Tricks, & News: Resources from Canvas, a Conference recap, & a Recommendation for a Library of AI Prompts
- Virtual Worlds, VR, & Metaverse Updates
- ...and more!
See the Tech Tips blog for previous issues of this newsletter. Please email me your best tech or pedagogy tips. I'd love to share them in an upcoming issue.
Bethany Winslow, Director of Online Learning
Panopto Tip: Configuring Widows 11 for Remote Recorder
By now you know about the adoption of Panopto campus wide, and that the iSchool’s policy is that our faculty need to use the iSchool’s instance of Panopto. Abigail has sent out some information about this, and in the future I’ll be including some reminders and Panopto tips.
Special thanks to Bob Luccore for sending me this particular one.
Panopto recently sent out a notice about Microsoft Windows 11 that may affect you. If you have “...Windows 11, Panopto may not be able to record audio until a user signs in after Windows restarts.” Panopto is working on a long term fix, but has an information page to check out. This is only if you use or plan to upgrade your computer to Windows 11.
AI Tips, Tricks, & News
Canvas Tip: AI Resources from Instructure
I found a great collection of resources from Instructure, the maker of our Canvas LMS. AI continues to be the topic of the moment, so what better resource to share at the start of the fall semester?
AI in Education: Conference Recap
eCampus shared a link to a conference from August, so I thought I’d share it. Higher ed was the focus for the first day. You can download the conference report from the website below, but I’ve also linked to their YouTube playlist. What's worth mentioning is that this was organized by students, and they had some great speakers. Check it out!
A Library of AI Prompts for Learning?
In another excellent post educator Ethan Mollick argues that we all need to start creating our own spellbooks of good prompts. What's most interesting, however, is what he says about creating and sharing good prompts for learning. I’ve recommended Mollick’s site before because he’s done such a deep dive into using AI with his students. This article is a good one to learn more about creating good prompts, and I highly recommend seeing the example in his post. In one graphic he breaks down how each element of a prompt serves an important function; role and goal, contraignts, pedagogy, etc.
"What I would really like to see is large-scale public libraries of prompts, written by known experts and tested carefully for different audiences. These prompts would be freely available to anyone who wants to use them, and they could turn LLMs into innovation machines, learning tools, or digital mentors for millions of people."
I’m also sharing an article Mollick recently co-wrote that has seven models of using AI with students. These models include AI as tutor, mentor, simulator etc. Similarly, the article is very useful because of all the relevant examples.
- Mollick, E. (2023, August 20). Now is the time for grimoires
- Mollick, Ethan R. and Mollick, Lilach, Assigning AI: Seven Approaches for Students, with Prompts (June 12, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4475995
Virtual Worlds, VR, & Metaverse Updates
Edsurge Article on Metaverse Hype and Digital Twins
For anyone who follows (with amusement) any digital twin nonsense, this article from June is about the metaverse hype dying down. I say don’t get bamboozled by what is essentially marketing hoo-ha or handwringing. Here’s the nutshell version of what the metaverse is, (straight out of Stephenson’s thirty year old book Snow Crash), it’s just a persistent shared 3D virtual environment where you can interact with other people from a distance as avatars. That’s it, full stop. It’s just not that complicated. And anybody who says VR headsets are necessary to be “in” the metaverse is just plain ignorant. The truth is most people in virtual reality environments right now are in there using only their desktop computers. The cultish devotion to headsets and digital twins has got to stop. Stephenson was spot on with his description of the metaverse, and it’s still the most relevant today (IMHO).
Articles like this one are focused on educational institutions partnering with various vendors in basically a gold rush moment and that's the only lens they can see through. Meanwhile, ordinary people are actually using virtual environments on a regular basis, including tons of kids. So my takeaway is - don’t watch what schools are doing. Watch what ordinary people are doing. They’re the ones who are leading and paving the way on this stuff.
VCARA: Defining the Metaverse Panel and Second Life 20th Birthday Exhibit
Speaking of the metaverse, I had the pleasure to deliver a lightning talk on the topic of defining the metaverse with several colleagues. This was for the Virtual Worlds Educational Consortium (VWEC) a couple weeks ago and the link to the recording is below.
The iSchool’s Virtual Center for Archives and Records Administration (VCARA) created a large exhibit for the (*gasp*) 20th birthday party for Second Life. Even though the iSchool has had our region for over ten years, we heard through the grapevine that Second Life was overwhelmed with applications this year, and we were preparing ourselves for the possibility we wouldn’t get accepted at all. Thankfully, we were and we couldn’t be more proud to represent the iSchool and celebrate with the incredible communities of Second Life. Lots and lots of companies and gurus are claiming that they are working on building the metaverse, when in fact the communities that have arisen in Second Life have long been doing it. (The metaverse isn’t going to be a single digital “location”, but the building of it started a long time ago with a decentralized collection of digital communities that gather across multiple virtual platforms.)
Here’s a little explainer video of our exhibit.
Professional Development
T3 Recap: Student Learning Challenges and Digital Fatigue
In case you missed it, Taryn Reiner (iSchool Student Support Specialist), just led a T3 that addressed the challenges of students with digital fatigue. Her slide deck and presentation recording are at the link below.
- Session Title: Student Learning Challenges and Digital Fatigue
Remember, T3 Sessions are offered every semester. Review the schedule, and RSVP from the T3 Sessions webpage. You can also check out an archive of all recorded sessions in the iSchool Faculty Canvas course. Look for the module titled T3 Sessions and Archive. Email alman.sjsu@gmail.com with any questions about T3 Sessions.
eCampus & SJSU Technology Resources
Just a reminder that eCampus is the hub for all the technologies that are officially adopted for use at SJSU. Even though the iSchool has our own tech support department for our faculty, staff, and students, you should know that eCampus is a great additional resource. Explore the links below to learn more.
See the full list of upcoming eCampus workshops. Note that workshop dates are listed at the bottom of each image on the page. You can also request to watch a recording of an eCampus workshop.