June 2009 – Page 5 – Silence and Voice

Centre for Qualitative Research’s 2008 Video (Bournemouth University)

I stumbled across this video (ok, a colleague sent me a link to it!) about what seems to have been a very interesting qualitative conference last year at Bournemouth University. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then perhaps this video may make an even more powerful statement for what this was about.

"Day Dreams, Night Games" from Kip Jones on Vimeo.

I wonder when the call for papers and information for the 2010 conference will be online, and I am interested to see how interdisciplinary (cf. my life and work) this conference may be. Perhaps I should put it on my proposed list for next year . . .

Jeffrey’s Twitter Updates for 2009-06-13

Star Trek in Imax was excellent. #
The movie theatre just had a Coke commercial in Spanish. Odd, given the audience. #
Some of the figures at Madame Tussauds were really life-like. Michael even waited for one to take a photo. She did not; made of wax! #
Went to Madame Tussauds in Times Square before the movie. Creepy. #
Patsy’s for pizza and wine first. Great way to start the weekend. #
Seeing Star Trek in IMAX tonight. #

Snow Leopards in Central Park Zoo

The snow leopard exhibit at the Central Park Zoo just opened, and it promises to be an interesting and exciting exhibit. With only 8000 of these big cats left on earth, the NY Times reports that exhibits such as this one are intended to “enrich” the animals by providing a safe environment that even includes heated rocks and scents (cf. Estee Lauder) that they enjoy.

What a change from the older zoos of circular cages and pacing, sad animals.

Jeffrey’s Twitter Updates for 2009-06-12

We will have it on the Intranet and then burn an exe copy onto a disk to distribute. #
Creating my first work with Adobe Captivate 4 – a slideshow of images for a 2 year project. #
Just walked the dogs. Even given how horrible the night is with more misty rain, everybody in the city seems out for dinner. #
Walking home in the rain. Long, long day. #
Annoyed with the moving cubes announced in the office today. Will be a better use of space, at least . . . #

Benefits of E-portfolios for Students and Faculty

The Tomorrow’s Professor mailing list recently had an insightful piece entitle The Benefits of E-portfolios for Students and Faculty in Their Own Words. Finding one’s voice, developing a history of one’s work, and portability (a favorite issue of my own to consider), there are many issues in and around e-portfolios as they are increasingly being used (it seems). I do not have any of my students (in any of the 3 programs where I teach) use them, nor do I have one with my own doctoral studies.

While I talk about them in one of the classes I teach, I do not see a lot of them being used (at least not yet). My concerns over privacy and duplication of efforts (I blog a lot about my work and learning, so why should I duplicate the effort in your system over there?!) still pop-up, though nobody has ever asked me for my e-portfolio. For that matter, nobody has ever asked me if I even have an e-portfolio.

I wonder if this is still too technology-focused or perhaps still too new?