Can you tell the computer from the human?

Here's an interesting quiz from the 3/7/15 New York Times.  It provides snippets of text either generated by computer algortihms or written by humans.  Can you decide which is which?

http://nyti.ms/18ri3XH

Measuring Direct Distances in Google Maps

This could be helpful when using Google Maps in the classroom...

To measure direct distances ("as the crow flies"):

• Click the X in the search box to clear it
• Right-click the starting point
• Choose "Measure Distance"
• Click the end point

Distance will be shown in miles and km.  You can add/edit additional points, as shown here.

 *here's an obvious math question-- what's the area of the land enclosed in the triangle shown?

What's up with Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides?

Remember when Google Docs became Google Drive?  You probably have noticed that there is now both Drive and Docs (and Slides and Sheets).  You may have also seen that there are now icons for each of these when in the App Launcher (which pushes Groups down into the "More" category, by the way). To cut through any confusion, here's the logic of it:

Think of Google Drive as a storage location.  Just like the G:/ drive here at school or a USB drive that you store files on.  Google Drive can store any kind of file-- not just Google Docs.  So, you can upload pictures, video, PDF, Word and Powerpoint files, etc. to make them available in the cloud.

Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides (formerly Presentations) are now three separate apps.  You can still access and/or create any of these kinds of documents through Drive, if desired.  If you use a mobile device (iPad, Android, etc.) you'll notice that there are separate apps there, as well.

I hope that helps.  Please let me know if you have any questions!

Resources for using Diigo in the classroom

Dear teachers and students,

I've updated my guides on getting started with Diigo.  These may be found in the Faculty and Staff Moodle and CVU Students Moodle pages, respectively.

Some FAQ:

What is Diigo?
It is an online tool that allows you to bookmark, annotate (add highlighting and notes), and share web pages and PDF files.
Why should I try it?
You can keep all your bookmarks in the cloud (access them from any computer), mark up pages, create groups for collaborative research, and more.
Do I have to use the Chrome browser?
To access your bookmarks, you can use any browser and log in to http://diigo.com.  If you want to have the highlighting/annotation tools, you need to use the extension in Chrome.

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2015!  

I'd like to announce a new model for technology workshops at CVU starting semester 2. Every Thursday will be drop-in work time during the first half of each block.  I will have my office (127) set up with laptops and tables.

I will announce the topic for each week.  If you have something in particular that you'd like to work on or learn, please let me know and I'll put it on the list.

Topic for January 15 (at 8:15, 10:45 and 1:00 on this exam day rescheduled to 1:30):
Closing out your Moodle page for semester 1 and getting set for semester 2

Topic for January 22:
Save a Tree-- Assigning, collecting and giving feedback without paper.

Topic for January 29:
Checking in-- Making questionnaires, surveys, and exit cards.