DIY U

DIY UWhile at EDUCAUSE 2011 this year I attended a session by Anya Kamenetz called DIY U: Edupunks and the Transformation of Higher Education.  It was a very interesting session that presented a couple depressing bits of information:

• Average student debt is $27,803
• 37% of 18-20 year olds are unemployed

I also learned about Baumol's Disease.  It describes how some positions have seen a rise in wage without a rise in productivity.  The classic example is how it still takes four people to play a Beethoven string quartet.  The same number that was required in the 19th century, yet their overall wages have not remained constrained.  Anya used this example to explain the rapid rise in tuition for higher education.

The session however did not just cover issues with higher education.  Anya did discuss ways for students and higher education employees to help minimize the issues.  Some of the suggestions covered were:

• Open Content - reducing the overall cost of higher education
• Open Accreditation - accrediting real world experience
• Professional Networks - leveraging networks for job advancement

Higher education institutions are stepping up to some of these challenges.  Many institutions are using and/or creating open content for students to utilize in courses.  Institutions like Western Governor's University are assessing student's real world experience and awarding credits for it.  We still have a ways to go, but we will get there.

Badges and the Help Desk Environment

One of my responsibilities as eLearning Director at Tacoma Community College is to manage our student computer lab, the Information Commons.  In this lab we have a fully staffed help desk for studnets and faculty.  I have been trying to figure out a way to showcase a help desk staff member's expertise with applications to make it easier for students and faculty to find the help they need.  We have a board in the Information Commons with everyone's picture and I thought maybe we could post little icons on the board, but realized we would soon run out of space.  Then I started to hear about an open badge project with Mozilla and became very intrigued.  I recently joined the Open Badges and Assessment group at P2PU and have been learning quite a bit about the Mozilla project.

A way I envision using this open badge system in the Information Commons is to develop assessments around competencies for the different applications/devices we support.  When one of our staff complete an assessment they are awarded a badge that can be added to an Information Commons Help Desk Staff profile page.  This profile page would make it easy for students and faculty to find someone that can help them with their particular issue.  This would help expedite the resolution of a support issue which would make the student/faculty member happy.  In addition, our support staff would have a way to document their skill level with various applications/devices which could be added to a resume or portfolio and help me determine areas of support where we need to build capacity.

A Learner's Story

Andy is working on a project for his chemistry class and needs to plot some data points in Excel, but he hasn't done anything like that before.  He approaches the help desk to find someone that can help him with Excel.  One of the help desk staff, Amy, follows Andy to his work station to give him a hand.  Andy explains the issue he is having and Amy realizes that this issue is outside her area of expertise with Excel.  Amy goes back to the help desk and asks her colleagues if anyone has the skill necessary to help Andy.  She finds Bob who knows how to do this and brings him over to Andy.  Bob is able to show Andy how to plot data in Excel and Andy is able to finish his project.

How Badges Can Help

With the implementation of badges in the help desk environment staff members can showcase their competencies with various applications.  This will make it much easier for end users to determine who will be their best line of support with a given issue saving valuable time.

A Learner's Story with Badges

Andy is working on a project for his chemistry class and needs to plot some data points in Excel, but he hasn't done anything like that before.  Andy opens up the help desk staff page on his computer in the lab to see who might be avialable to assist him with his project.  He sorts the list by Excel and further by charts/graphs.  He sees that Bob has sufficient experience and will be coming on duty in a few minutes.  He sends Bob a quick email message letting him know what computer he is on.  When Bob comes to work he checks his messages and notices a message from Andy stating he needs help with Excel and heads to the listed work station to provide support.

Maybe We Do Need Some Stinking Badges

Earning virtual badges has become quite popular with apps like Foursquare (https://foursquare.com/) and GetGlue (http://getglue.com/home).  Now they seem to be making their way to the web with Mozilla (https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges) and Google (http://googlenewsblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/shareable-google-news-badges-for-your.html). 

For quite some time I have been toying with the idea of using some kind of badge system for my staff at the help desk as a visual indicator of the applications they are proficient in using.  Once Mozilla and Google really start getting them out there and allow end users to customize them that idea may come to fruition.  This kind of a visual indicator will make it easy for students to quickly identify who can give them the help they need in Excel or PowerPoint. 

Imagine what this could mean for education.  People like to earn badges.  It could be a tool to help motivate learners.  In some cases it may foster competition that results in a positive outcome, learning.  Kind of like that professor in Indiana that gives experience points instead of grades (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/99224-Professor-Abandons-Grades-for-Experience-Points).

@aduckworth Twitter Infographic

I am really looking forward to seeing what Visual.ly comes up with next.  The "You are What You Tweet" infographic is pretty cool!

Miter Saw Station

I was finally able to complete my miter saw station project!  It took a lot longer than expected (mainly because I kept putting it off).  I purchased the plan a while back from PlansNOW (http://www.plansnow.com/) and customized it a bit to fit the saw.  I also picked up the Rockler (http://www.rockler.com/) aluminum T-track (double) from the Sumner Woodworker Store (http://www.sumnerwoodworkerstore.com/) instead of building it out of wood.  It was a great purchase except for the tape measure inserts.  For some reason they extruded a bulge on the bottom of the instert which makes it impossible to slide in the track with the screws, so will have to shave it down a bit.

Here are the pix:

Front View (Extended)

Front View (Collapsed)Side View (Collapsed)