On April 8, 2014 Microsoft ended the support of its operating system, XP. XP has been around for twelve years but now Microsoft has decided “to invest our resources toward supporting more recent technologies so that we can continue to deliver great new experiences”, their website says.
Through a new bi-discipline course, Interactive Art, professors Joel Hollingsworth and Michael Fels, of the computer science and art departments respectively, are exploring the ways in which art and programming can communicate and work together effectively.
Hollingsworth and Fels connected a few years ago, when Fels wanted to use computer programming to add another layer to his art. Satisfied with their collaboration and interested in how programming and art could work together, Fels and Hollingsworth started to develop a course that could explore the connection.
Last week,
the Heartbleed bug made world headlines in its discovery. Heartbleed is a bug that affects OpenSSL, an encryption technology that is one of the most common on the internet. While it is unclear whether any information has been stolen through the Heartbleed bug, security experts are worried because the bug went undetected for more than two years before discovery. However, there are some things to keep in mind that will ultimately help keep you and your personal information safe. Most importantly, the only affected Elon service is email accounts utilizing Gmail (in general, student accounts). If you have a Gmail account, you should change your password immediately. Continue reading
By: Gareth Simpson
Do you have ideas about how to incorporate technology into your course but don’t know how to take them from conception to reality? Teaching & Learning Technologies (TLT) is proud to announce our new TLT Liaison program. TLT has partnered with the library to ensure that all academic areas not only have a library liaison, but a TLT liaison as well! The TLT liaison program can help you navigate the many services that TLT provides which are available to help you here at Elon. Continue reading
Guest post by Andréa Black, a student in Professor Lynn Heinrichs’ information security class.
You may already have one or more contactless cards in your purse or wallet. They are the cards that do not need to be physically swiped at a card reader but can simply be waved near the reader to process a transaction or allow access into a building. Information needed for the transaction is transmitted from the contactless card using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.
The recent upgrade to Moodle 2.5 has given Elon access to create and award digital badges through Moodle. Many higher education institutions are experimenting with badges to recognize the diversity of skills students are learning in and out of the classroom. Badges are also being used by organizations to track lifelong learning and professional development. In this post, we’ll look at definitions of open badges, dissect their parts, give examples of who’s using them and provide links to a few quick reads and an annotated bibliography. Consider this fair warning – Teaching and Learning Technologies is experimenting with badges and you may find a badge on your Moodle account. Keep reading to learn more.
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This past fall, Dr. Laurence Basirico in the sociology department led the general studies course, Culture and Institutions of Italy, at the Elon Center in Florence. The course relied heavily on sharing content and communication between his students, so on the recommendation of a peer, Basirico decided to see if blogs could benefit the collaborative atmosphere he wanted.
Guest post by Brandon Mitchell, a student in Professor Lynn Heinrichs’ information security class.
We may have all heard the term malware before, but it is not for sure that everybody knows exactly what it is. Malware is malicious software used to attack or gain access to computer systems without the knowledge of the user. In minor cases, malware may not have a big effect on one’s computer but it can also do major damage in serious cases such as crashing the entire system! This is scary to think about with all of the information that is held on our tablets, laptops, and even cell phones. Continue reading
Dr. Tony Crider, Associate Professor of Physics, is pushing the boundaries of the virtual world with his Oculus Rift, a virtual reality headset. I met with him to find out the details, namely how this piece of technology could be used in education and its application to a variety of disciplines. But first, he let me try it on for a few minutes.
The Oculus Rift is like a large pair of goggles that straps onto your head. Dr. Crider selected what I saw within the headset from his computer. First, I was able to go on a virtual roller coaster ride, complete with a boulder chasing me from behind. Then, I went inside a simulation of Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment.
I was only able to test drive the Rift for a few minutes, though, before getting nauseous. “That’s because of the lag time,” Dr. Crider explained. There is a slight delay within the virtual world when you move your head, and that is what signals to your brain that something isn’t right, thus causing the nausea.
After a few minutes of play, we settled down to discuss what the implications of this kind of technology really are. Continue reading
A well designed online syllabus explains how the class will unfold, faculty expectations, student responsibilities, office hours, assignments, projects, assessments, rubrics, grading criteria, and technology tools– as well as incorporates important links, examples, and contact information. This post serves as the roadmap for your course guiding the student to success. Continue reading
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