Minutes from TCT Meeting:
Wednesday, March 23, 2005, 12:45P-1:45P

Members Present:
John Chavez, Kurt Hill, Loretta Mondragon, Mary Lou Mosley, Jim Patterson, Rick Sheets, Jennifer Strickland, Casey Durandet

Cathy Hart and Jon Storslee were unable to attend the meeting due to the Technology Leadership Council meeting at Rio. Carol Myers was unable to attend due to problems with her car. Their agenda items have been tabled until our next meeting.

Issues/items discussed:

1) Ocotillo Update:

Ocotillo web page located at http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/ocotillo/.

Jim updated us on the following:

a) Ocotillo retreat reminder - Retreat on Tuesday, May 17, 8:30A-3:30P at South Mountain Community College.

There is still a need for presenters at the retreat. Jane Marks is the only presenter so far from PVCC. There is a request to get at least 6 presenters from each college. The deadline to submit proposals online is March 31. You can submit your proposal at http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/ocotillo/retreat05/presenter.php. A list of submitted proposals can be viewed at http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/ocotillo/retreat05/view.php.

Mary Lou informed us that the online registration for the retreat opens March 28. Sign up!

b) Jim said that the Ocotillo site was hacked into over the weekend. Emerging Learning Technologies blog site got hacked, and Jim cannot access his editing tool. Alan Levine said that the hacker(s) got in and changed passwords. They are working on fixing the problem.

c) Jim was in San Diego for the Emerging Technologies Conference. The recurring theme focused on the importance of systems thinking and reusable learning objects. It emphasized creativity and validates the idea of learning objects.

Kathy Sierra, from the conference, on creating passionate users: http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/
A blog from it from the conference is located at http://channels.lockergnome.com/it/archives/20050318_passionate_users.phtml.

d) Check out the following sites to get a view of the types of sophisticated search engines and others that are out there:

http://del.icio.us/
This site is a social bookmarks manager. It allows you to easily add sites you like to your personal collection of links, to categorize those sites with keywords, and to share your collection not only between your own browsers and machines, but also with others.

http://mysearch.yahoo.com/
Your own personal search engine, the way you want it. It allows you to save the results you like, block the ones you don't, share what you want, and find anything you've saved.

http://sp.ask.com/docs/desktop/
Never misplace another important document or e-mail message again! Thanks to Ask Jeeves Desktop Search, you can now search for files and e-mails on your computer like you search for information on Ask Jeeves. Just enter a keyword or phrase, and Ask Jeeves Desktop Search will quickly retrieve any file or e-mail on your hard drive matching your query. It's free to download.

http://academic.oreilly.com/safariu-more.csp?CMP=ILC-6P3W93036365
SafariU is a revolutionary way to teach exactly what you want to teach, how you want to teach it. With SafariU, you can give your students more in-depth and focused content, far greater convenience, and unprecedented value. And you can do it all from your own computer, whenever you're ready. SafariU is currently available in beta and is being tested by educators world-wide. Sign up to create custom books and syllabi for your course use.

e) There will be a textbook fair near the end of September, sometime on a Friday. It will occur at Mesa CC. Jim will update us on it.

f) Mary Lou also reminded us of the upcoming Learning Objects Dialogue Day featuring Brian Lamb (coordinator in the Office of Learning Technology - University of British Columbia, Canada). It will be hosted by the Ocotillo Reusable Learning Objects Action Group - co-chairs are Donna Rebadow and Lisa Young. The event will take place on April 1st from 8:30A-3:30P at Glendale Community College in the High Tech Center, HT-1 124 (lunch will be provided). Register online at http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/dd/objects05/.

PVCC will be hosting e-Portfolios (hands-on with the Maricopa e-Portfolio software) on April 15th from 12:30P-3:30P. More information will be forthcoming. Check http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/ocotillo/events/index.php.

2) Summer Technology Fun Week:

The date for the event has been confirmed to be July 6th -> July 12th.

There was a potential conflict with a workshop that Jim is working on putting together. Jim said that the tentative dates for the "Ethical Hacking Workshop" are from June 27th-> July 1st. This workshop will be held at PVCC. James Lewis from Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan will be here.

3) StudyMate vs. SoftChalk:

As reported last time, StudyMate is operable on PC only, SoftChalk is operable on PC and Mac.

A "needs analysis" will be performed for SoftChalk. Jennifer reported that district is pushing for SoftChalk. If adopted, each college pays $5,000/year.

Another option presented was to look into whether we can purchase individual SoftChalk at a cost of approximately $295/individual. The feasibility will be a function of how many will want it.

The general consensus reached today was to remain with StudyMate (since we already have it), wait a few months until we get more user need information back, then determine which one to go with. Jennifer will keep us updated.

GateWay CC is providing an InService training on SoftChalk. Jennifer will check with John Lampignano about getting some PVCC folks to go to the training.

4) LANDesk:

Website located at http://www.landesk.com/.

Loretta said that a system engineer from LANDesk was here to help with the installation of a demo LANDesk Security Suite. They are in the preliminary stage and are still working out the bugs. Loretta predicts at least another month to run through everything. The cut-off date for the demo is April 29th. Loretta will update us at our next meeting.

The next TCT meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 6, 2005, 12:45P-1:45P in the G-conference room (G126).

This "Meeting Report" is my interpretation of what occurred during this meeting. If you would like to correct an error(s), make an addition(s), or have any questions, please call me @ 7-6651 or e-mail me.

Date: Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Recorder: Casey Durandet

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Casey Durandet, Ph.D.
PVCC - Physics Department
602-787-6651
http://www2.pvc.maricopa.edu/ms/phy