Monday, December 20, 2010

Share your skillz

Home for Winter Break?

Several years ago I bought a laptop for my parents.  I wanted to usher them into the exciting new world of Windows XP.   I will visit them for Christmas, and I will probably help them with their computer somehow.  Perhaps you play a similar role in your family.   Here is a link to help you out:

http://www.teachparentstech.org/     Here is a screen shot of the web page.



 How did I make that screenshot?   (hint:  this video is linked on the Tech Support Page!)   Also, In windows 7 you can use the "Snipping tool" listed under accessories. or just press the PrtScn button above insert.   In Mac, just press shift/command/4  and click drag the part you want.


What could you use screen shot for?  Well, for one thing you could crop it and create an image for your blogger profile.  You could use a photo of yourself, or if you prefer more anonymity, you could use a found image from the interwebs!  Here are some options that I picked up from a simple image search in about 10 min.


Let's shed those default profile images, shall we?

Remember that the books are listed below in the first blog entry.  Buy your books ahead of time.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Get Organized

You can do several things to prepare for winter quarter, why not get started early!

#1:  Order your books:  





The textbook is "Sociology" by Rodney Stark, Tenth Edition. $140 new from Amazon.  There are about 90 used copies available via Amazon for about $40 to $85 including shipping.   You can check ISBN.NU  for many other used copies.
http://isbn.nu/0495093440




The extended discussion book is "Cognitive Surplus" by Clay Shirky.  It is about $17 new from Amazon or about $12 used or in Kindle version.
ISBN.NU has it, but not much cheaper
http://isbn.nu/9781594202537





#2:    Get a gmail / google docs / blogger account, and start using it.  We will be making extensive use of digital collaboration tools. One way to start participating right away is to create your account and "follow" this blog.  Check out Christopher Wagner's blog post about google docs, and watch the google doc video there: http://stuorganizing.blogspot.com/2010/10/google-docs.html

#3:   Check out materials from last year:   Course blog from last year;  course projects from last year;   the syllabus from last year.   I will post a new syllabus (using google docs) pretty soon.  Will send an email announce when it is up.

#4:    Check back later in December for course updates, and until then, have a good break.