I have posted web discussion topic #2 over at the thing. I urge you to get an early start, so you can get some good feedback from your colleagues.
Extra note: at this point, I am expecting to be in class (physically, in person, synchronously) next Tuesday. I will post on the blog here if that plan changes.
Friday, February 2, 2007
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Possibility for next week
Good evening, all. There is a chance I will not be able to be in class for part or all of next week, owing to an ongoing family medical emergency. This weekend, I will spend some time trying to figure out how I might coordinate our class remotely (and perhaps asynchronously) for part or all of next week, if necessary. Thank you for your understanding and flexibility.
If it looks like my absences may have to extend beyond next week, I'll look into other solutions -- I'll work not to leave you in the lurch.
In the meantime, I will see you tomorrow (Thursday the 1st) in class for more problem-solving.
If it looks like my absences may have to extend beyond next week, I'll look into other solutions -- I'll work not to leave you in the lurch.
In the meantime, I will see you tomorrow (Thursday the 1st) in class for more problem-solving.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Regrouping this week
I'm back in Socorro -- I'm sorry I had to abandon you last Thursday, but I had a family emergency.
Some general business first: I'd recommend that you subscribe to this blog; this is where I'll post course news and other tidbits. For example, if you are a subscriber, you're one of the first to learn that we'll meet on Tuesday as scheduled and pick up where we left off, and that I'm modifying the syllabus slightly: we'll cover the 25Jan material this Tuesday, and we'll cover the material originally listed on the syllabus for 30Jan AND the material originally listed for 1Feb all on 1Feb. (I'll just have to talk less in class, that's all.) (Phew.)
Many interesting comments on "the thing" for our first go around - it seems we still don't have the threading thing down pat, but the discussion tripped along more or less successfully, anyway. Next time, for your primary response, make sure my question is selected in your main window and click "reply." And for responses to other students' comments, make sure the comment you are replying to is selected (again, in the main window - you should get some visual feedback from the interface to tell) and click "reply." You should be able to set your display preferences to show a threaded frame on the left part of your screen, unless your browser is particularly curmudgeonly.
It's clear from what you wrote that we're not ready to say "trial and error" is a straightforward method that can be employed or not at will. Having a vision (design goals) and getting there are interesting things to talk about in their own right, but just where "there" is -- the place we're getting to -- is not always (or even frequently) perfectly and permanently specified in advance. When solving a problem (rather than an exercise), we have to leave room for learning. And learning can sometimes mean the "final" goals evolve.
--
For Tuesday's class - on pages 25-27 there's some talk of DVA's. I found this site to be particularly informative: http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/Demos/absorber/DynamicAbsorber.html
See you Tuesday.
Some general business first: I'd recommend that you subscribe to this blog; this is where I'll post course news and other tidbits. For example, if you are a subscriber, you're one of the first to learn that we'll meet on Tuesday as scheduled and pick up where we left off, and that I'm modifying the syllabus slightly: we'll cover the 25Jan material this Tuesday, and we'll cover the material originally listed on the syllabus for 30Jan AND the material originally listed for 1Feb all on 1Feb. (I'll just have to talk less in class, that's all.) (Phew.)
Many interesting comments on "the thing" for our first go around - it seems we still don't have the threading thing down pat, but the discussion tripped along more or less successfully, anyway. Next time, for your primary response, make sure my question is selected in your main window and click "reply." And for responses to other students' comments, make sure the comment you are replying to is selected (again, in the main window - you should get some visual feedback from the interface to tell) and click "reply." You should be able to set your display preferences to show a threaded frame on the left part of your screen, unless your browser is particularly curmudgeonly.
It's clear from what you wrote that we're not ready to say "trial and error" is a straightforward method that can be employed or not at will. Having a vision (design goals) and getting there are interesting things to talk about in their own right, but just where "there" is -- the place we're getting to -- is not always (or even frequently) perfectly and permanently specified in advance. When solving a problem (rather than an exercise), we have to leave room for learning. And learning can sometimes mean the "final" goals evolve.
--
For Tuesday's class - on pages 25-27 there's some talk of DVA's. I found this site to be particularly informative: http://www.kettering.edu/~drussell/Demos/absorber/DynamicAbsorber.html
See you Tuesday.
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