Tapped In Newsletter: September 2003
...On the Tapis
September 2003
Issue 70
In This Issue
[1] Member Perspective: Mark Horney
[2] Viruses, and Worms, and Spam - Oh my!
[3] Tips and Comments From the Experts
[4] Tapped In Technology Tip
[5] News Nuggets
[6] About ...On the Tapis
Quote of the Month - "A democratic civilization will save itself only if it makes the language of the image into a stimulus for reflection, and not an invitation to hypnosis." - Umberto Eco
[1] Member Perspective: Mark Horney
I am a Senior Research Associate at the University of Oregon. I work there in two distinct areas. First, I'm involved in teaching introductory technology classes to students entering our Teacher Education program. The other part of my work is with the Center for Advanced Technology in Education (CATE), an R&D group with several lines of research.
Mark's Perspective
My own work at CATE involves the study of digital text. I'm interested in the general questions of what it like to read text (notice I didn't say "books") from a computer, and why would you want to? A good deal of this work right now involves creating digital texts and exploring what features these texts might have that are different than printed texts...
I've actually known about Tapped In for some time, but until recently never actually participated in any way other than to repeatedly ask for a new password. This changed last summer when some colleagues and I decided to use TI to operate a book club. There are six of us, spread out across New York, Virginia, Utah, Nevada, and Oregon, and we normally only see one another once a year at a conference. TI is a perfect base for our deliberations. We read, hold debates on the discussion board, duke it out in chats, and archive everything in our group room...
Read all of Mark's Perspective on our member perspectives page.
[2] Viruses, and Worms, and Spam - Oh my!
In the last few weeks we've heard more and more about email worms and viruses than we've probably wanted to in the news. SoBig is the latest worm and it's a particularly nasty one. It likes to gather all email addresses from an infected computer and send messages to them. It typically "spoofs" email addresses and sends messages to someone from someone else who is in your address book or whose email is stored somewhere on your computer. It is hard to trace who the infection is coming from because of how SoBig sends the messages.
Additionally, there are other worms and spammers who often spoof email addresses for fun or for malicious reasons. Recently, staff members at Tapped In got a message from themselves notifying them that their email account was about to expire and that they should open the attachment to learn more about it. This was NOT a real message. The attachment was a virus or worm. We didn't open the attachment and only hope that if you receive this from a Tapped In address (it is NOT from us, but from a spammer) that you won't open it either. If you ever receive an email asking you to open an attachment or forward it on to people or send back personal information, don't do it! Make sure it's legitimate first! See the resources below for more information.
http://www.techtv.com/freshgear/commentary/story/0,23008,2563024,00.html
http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/answerstips/story/0,24330,2566233,00.html
http://www.techtv.com/cybercrime/features/story/0,23008,2136015,00.html
[3] Tips and Comments From the Experts
This month's column, Tips and Comments from the Real Experts: the Members of Tapped In, features members' reflections on participating in an After School Online discussion.
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Before I took part in the discussion, I never gave much thought to what it must be like as an educator in a correctional facility. However, it does not surprise me that those who choose this path have a great deal of mental and physical fatigue that they must contend with at the end of each day. I really admired the contributions of each of the three teachers. It is nice for them to have a forum to discuss these stressors. Additionally, the discussion affirmed for me a perspective that educators around the world, and in different environments, are very much the same on the broad spectrum. Each of us must deal and find our own niche for reaching our children. For some, the direct support is not there and so therefore the challenge is greater. One thing remains constant, however: the positive responses we receive from our students is immeasurable and far greater than the stressors we encounter. - Michael McEwen, after participating in an Alternative/Correctional Ed Forum [This quote is from a student in the Advanced Teaching with Technology class with Course Coordinator, Bernie Dodge, Ph.D.. The instructors for the class were Wendy Parcel, M.A.; Roberto DelBusto, M.A.; and Jim Julius, M.A.]
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This is too wonderful. What a terrific teaching tool. - Pam Stephens, Northern Arizona University
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If you have a comment or experience to share with the Tapped In community, please submit the information to BJ Berquist at bjb@tappedin.org.
[4] Tapped In Technology Tip
How to get from point A to point B: Using the Door Icon
Professor Jones has asked you to meet her in her office for a class. If Professor Jones is logged in and in her office when you log in, you can click on the ONLINE tab to the left of the chat window, single click on Professor Jones' name and then click on the door icon at the bottom of the Online frame. The door icon is a "passageway" - a link to another room in Tapped In. Once you have arrived in Professor Jones' office and click on Add To My Favorites, Professor Jones' office will be added to your Favorite Places menu. The Favorite Places is a list of personalized passageways (notice the door icon next to the menu). Door icons are also located in several other places within the Tapped In interface. Remember that when you click on a door icon you move to another room (office, conference room, group room).
[5] News Nuggets
Tapped In member Cindy Lane is planning the first BIG 24 for her district 6th graders in St Louis, Missouri. On Thursday, February 26, 45 hand-selected kids will spend the night and video conference with other schools around the world. Parents will be bringing international foods, the science teacher will be doing constellation star gazing, and students will start video conferencing around 4am CST to meet with schools in Europe. Cindy is looking for other schools that would be interested in setting up some safe emails, web cams, and video conferencing. If you are interested in participating in this event, contact Cindy at clane@lindberghschools.ws.
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Registration has begun for the 5th Oreo Online Project. If you would like to join Tapped In member Jennifer Wagner's Oreo Project, visit the site at http://www.technospudprojects.com/Projects/Oreo2003/oreo2003.htm and read about the project, view standards, classroom activities, the guest book, and register.
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Tapped In member Matt Kavanagh announces that Street Law and OJJDP are now accepting applications for Street Law's 03-04 Juvenile Justice Re-Entry program. This year's program has two major training/technical assistance steps: a national leadership training to begin a Street Law program in February, and on-site training in the methods and content of teaching law to young people. In addition, sites participating in the DOJ's federal Re-Entry Initiative will also be eligible to participate in an on-site collaboration/professional development institute to focus on your re-entry program. Each site will receive materials and a small grant/stipend to cover the costs associated with the trainings.
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Tapped In member Phil Benz reports that the demo of Tapped In that he did during the Cyberlangues Conference at the end of August went extremely well. Phil would like to thank BJ, Bee, Susanne, and everyone who makes stuff like the demo he ran for the Cyberlangues Conference possible.
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In the August Leonardo Fluid Access Newsletter Tapped In member Steve Feld included a report on the Multimedia Forum held during the Tapped In Launch Festival on July 16. Steve was invited to participate in the Multimedia discussion led by Tapped In members Craig Roland and Kevan Nitzberg. Contact Steve at sjfeld@erols.com if you would like more information about the newsletter or Steve's report.
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The September issue of Learning & Leading with Technology contains articles by Tapped In members Glen Bull, Sara Kajder, and Diane McGrath.
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Do you have a News Nugget about yourself or another member of the TAPPED IN Community? Send your News Nugget to BJ Berquist at bjb@tappedin.org.
[6] About ...On the Tapis
Past issues of ...On the Tapis newsletters are available.
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