Research and Instructional Technology

Interesting TED Talk on visualizing movements within particular spaces. Much to be gleaned here:

TED Video

Boise State University has a great tutorial on QR (Quick Response) codes that’s worth some time:

This might seem like an odd post, but I came across this site today on basic unix commands:

http://kb.iu.edu/data/afsk.html

It’s a nice little primer on doing stuff on the command line. More to come . . .

This article is one of the recent articles posted on The Chronicle of Higher Education’s website. It is worth reading if you’re involved in grant writing and/or proposal development. Enjoy!

On content:

* Don’t explicitly state any goals, objectives, or hypotheses in your grant proposal. A good panelist will be able to figure out your questions from the methods.

* Say that your grant is “transformative”—something the National Science Foundation looks for in particularly outstanding grants; it means that your work will change the approach we take to a particular problem—when it is clearly not. Say that more than once if possible. Heck, go ahead and boldface it! If you claim it is so, it is so.

* However, if your grant is potentially transformative, make it clear in your proposal that you don’t know how good an idea you have.

* Make it obvious that you have cut and pasted sections from your other grants into this new proposal. Don’t worry if the formatting does not match or there are sentences and sections from the old proposals that have no bearing on this one. Reviewers are impressed by people who are too busy to proofread.

* If your proposal is a resubmission, be snarky about the comments you received from the previous reviewers.

via How to Fail in Grant Writing – Do Your Job Better – The Chronicle of Higher Education.

While the thought of getting all that data transferred can be a bit daunting, I’ve found that acquiring a new computer can provide a good occasion for doing some digital housekeeping, making your files easier to find and your worklife a little more organized. And the process needn’t be overwhelming; it just takes a little planning. What follows comes from my own experience of a month or so ago, when I was fortunate enough to receive a new computer at work.

This is a good article describing some of things to keep in mind when transitioning to a new computer. Included are how to properly dispose of your old machine, transfer files and maintain software licenses. Good info for those who might be doing this sometime in the near future!

Article Link

Welcome to the Research and Instructional Technology site, run by Sean Sharp. This site will take shape as I have time.