Paul Dempsey, Dickinson College

He asks the crowd, “Who has good maps/directions to your campus”. No one in the audience raises a hand…

Google maps was launched in Feb. 2005. API released in June 2005. The “terms of use” mean that the service is available to both non-profit and commercial sites. However, they do reserve the right to place ads on your maps at a later time. But, is it really likely that they will do this… Especially to educational institutions? I really hope not.

He goes over the basics of creating your first map.

Then the cool features:

• map overlays
• event listeners
• info windows
• events and windows

Now:

• creating icons (this is very cool, you should check out his slides)
• polylines
• javascript extras (you can set up your own functions)

Overlay of building footprints - Tphoto. This is something that I have been looking for. Unfortunately, it look like it is not being actively supported.

Oh, and by the way, Portland just got added to street views. Here is my house. Too bad the tree is in the way.

Karine Joly, www.collegewebeditor.com

She started blogging in 2005, and had about 3 readers. Now 7000 visitors per month. 1000 subscribers. So, what make a great blog? The readers!

Suddenly - her slides started advancing automatically… but she held it together and eventually got it fixed (it was vista).

Back to the presentation:

1. Don’t start a blog without a plan.
2. Define your rules of engagement. (how often will you post - should be regular)
3. Select your platform wisely. (wordpress rocks - my opinion, but she did not disagree)
4. Help your reader find your posts easily. (domain, permalinks, tags, internal search, good post titles)
5. Make sure your readers can engage with your content. (comment friendly, reply to comments, use comments as starting points for future posts)
6. Help your readers come back often. (Update frequently, allow subscriptions-email and email, don’t hide the feeds, meet your friend- Feedburner)
7. Start conversation, monologues. (Bring in other points of views - comments/interviews/media, make the stories worth reading)
8. Plan carefully the online coming-out party. (Get content up first, Blog roll, write about posts from other bloggers, post relevant comments, email other bloggers)
9. Promotion-think outside the blog. (Online and off)
10. Check your blogs vitals often. (site and feed stats, Use this info in some of the posts)
11. Listen and take part in the conversations. (Read similar blogs, see what others have to say to you)
12. Keep it up! (Avoid burnout, Respect your readers)

 Danny Harvey, Ryan Gibson, Eastern Illinois University

This looks like a very nice system for creating surveys and forms. Unfortunately, the demo did not work properly. Still the idea seemed solid.

Presenter: Gabriel McGovern , Portland Community College

I had a coughing fit. Then my laptop crashed.

(more…)

Testing usability with parents and incoming students:
Presenter: Lori Packer, University of Rochester

Lori is a great presenter. Her session covered the basics of usability testing, as well as some of the unexpected results from her own experience. Last year she grabbed students and parents during the start of the orientation. With some trinkets she lured them to a testing room and spent an hour running through a series of questions.

Some of the interesting results:

• 2 types of people: searchers and browsers
• Parents tend to read the text looking for contextual clues.
• Students tend to “look with their fingers”. This means that they tend to keep the mouse moving as they hit the page. For them, things that change signify links (text or rollover images).

Lunch was at the Hyatt. Afterward, I asked our waitress and then the bellhop about my options for picking up some slacks. Nada, nunca. But the concierge had overheard the conversation.  He set me up with their shuttle driver, Nick. On the next trip he drove past the airport and dropped me off at the strip mall beyond.

I never had the chance to mention that I was not technically a guest of the Hyatt.

The flight from Chicago to Rochester was pretty uneventfully. I have had a sore throat for nearly a week and about an hour in I had a coughing fit, but luckily there was no one seated right next to me.

However, on arrival my luggage was nowhere to be found… I almost never check baggage, but with all of the handouts and supplies, it seemed a necessity this time. Now my suitcase is off gallivanting around the world. If anyone spots a mid-size rolling suitcase basking on the beach in Hawaii, please give me a call.

I filled out a report, but it’s midday Sunday and I still don’t know where the bag is. They gave me a number to call “if I had any questions”. When I tried it, a lovely voiceXML system ran me in loops. I tried all the tricks (not answering, pressing random buttons), but I could not get a real operator on the line.

Luckily, I packed the laptop and charger in me carry-on at the last minute. But, my handouts were in the case and I only have the clothes on my back.

This morning I went out to scout the local area. I thought that I cleaned up fairly nicely, even sans razor and comb, but I must have been mistaken. A really nice homeless man informed me that the salvation army had free coffee this morning and that I should join him for breakfast.

I did not find any clothing shops in the local area, just recruiting stations and adult book stores. Back at the hotel, I did pick up a brush and some other items. At noon the conference holds lunch for all of the presenters. Afterwards, I will continue my search for a clean shirt.

I love to fly. I just wish that planes didn’t take-off and land at airports.

US airports have become awkward places, where a general feeling of paranoia follows you from the security check, and all the way down the concourse. From PDX to O’Hare, I was seated near the very back of the plane. To my right sat a kindly, gray-haired woman who was traveling home to Virginia. After a few minutes sitting silently next to each other, she leaned over and spoke in a soft voice, “I’m just glad that they let me though the security check.”

“Why, did you do something wrong,” I replied. “Oh no, dear,” she continued, “they just make me so nervous. I never know what might happen.” We shook our heads in agreement.

This just all seems so in contrast with an article I was reading the other day about the golden days of air travel. In it, there were pictures of happy passengers walking down the runway to get on the plane. Latter, it showed them on board, smoking cigarettes and eating steak in the luxury of first class.

To a certain level, I understand the security, just as I understand the ban on smoking. However, something has gone wrong when an innocent, elderly woman feels that she might be detained for no reason.

(more…)

“HighEdWeb is an organization of Web professionals working at institutions of higher education. We design, develop, manage and map the futures of higher education Web sites.”

Each year, the organization puts on a conference where web professionals from colleges around the country gather to learn, discuss and network. I had the opportunity to attend in 2006 and had a great time. Afterwards, I thought about how to contribute and ended up submitting two proposals for 2007. Both were accepted. There will be an hour long session called “The accessible video interface” and a poster presentation called “Pattern Matching: An Introduction to Regular Expressions“. (more…)