Data, Data and Where to Store It.

Part One - The History of Data Storage.

Since the time when computers became a significant part of our lives, the need to save and move data has existed. In the first installment of this three part series, we take a look at the history of removable data storage.

Prior to the invention of the floppy disk in 1971, computer storage existed in several mediums

including punch cards, magnetic tape and even rope. The original floppy disk made it possible to move data easily from one computer to another and on release had a grand total of 80KB of memory, enough data for a ten page word processed document or approximately 1% of a modern digital photo file. Floppy disks went through various iterations in physical size and capacity over a twenty year period and maxed out at 1.44 MB of storage before newer technology superseded them.

In 1987 (Walk Like an Egyptian anyone?) Toshiba invented flash storage, a new type of technology that uses printed circuit boards rather than spinning disks to store information. It wasn’t until the turn of the century though, when personal computers began shipping with USB ports, that removable flash storage in the form of thumb drives became widely available. Although expensive in its infancy, flash storage is now cheap, reliable and has enormous capacity compared to its floppy predecessor. 

In keeping with Moores Law that suggests computing power doubles every two years, Samsung have just revealed a flash drive with 16TB of capacity, enough for over 1000 HD copies of the entire Star Wars Series (or about 16000 HD episodes of Game of Thrones if that's more your style). Most recently, with the adoption of smartphones, cameras, GPS, etc, flash storage is everywhere in the form of SD cards. While other storage mediums like CD ROM have come and gone, flash, with its tiny size, large capacity, high speeds, 10,000 write cycles and great reliability have meant we've come a long way since the humble floppy disk of 40 years ago and it would be unusual for a person to not use flash storage in some form in a typical day. As always with all technology however, even a 16TB flash drive will soon be obsolete. Tech companies Intel and Micron are working on a new type of storage called 3D XPoint that is 1000 times faster than flash and ironically shares some concepts with the 1960's rope storage technology that was used on the Apollo Space Mission.

So where to next?

In part two we examine cloud computing and why Facebook is building data storage facilities in the middle of ice fields.

Ten Tips for Developing a Teaching Portfolio

Mike Scott, Senior Academic Staff Member and winner of a 2014 National Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award, put together this excellent short video recently on how to create a Teaching Portfolio in support of a teaching award application. For those of you considering an application, or even to just document your teaching career to date, this video is a must watch.



10 Tips For Portfolio from vim eo917 on Vimeo.

Our second series of  lunchtime PD sessions started on 9 September with the theme being 'Facilitative Teaching'. This is a shift from what is often viewed as traditional teaching to one of the teacher adopting a facilitative role, which is a student centred, flexible approach to learning. We had Donna Dinsdale, Allister Field and Graeme Jeffrey sharing their experiences of how they adopted a facilitative model of teaching in their programmes. Here's what they shared about their experiences.

Teaching Development Seminar 2

The second Teaching Development Seminar focussed on Alternative Assessment, with Tracey Clissold, Lindsay Skyner and Amy Raymond sharing examples of how they have re-designed assessments to support learning and engage learners. Here's what they did!

Geek Spot - Did you know?

Over 200 billion emails are sent every day. What type of information do you send in emails on a daily basis? Are you confident that your emails only contain information that you would be happy for anyone to read? 

If not, you might like to check out the Confidential CC Android and iOS app which features self-destructing, encrypted email that can be viewed only once and can't be forwarded or printed. Very 007! 

Check it out: http://www.confidentialcc.com/

Any other Techno Geeks out there who would like to share their 'Geeky Stuff'? Let us know and we might publish you on our TEEL Blog.

Tech4Learning

The first of our Teaching Development Seminars kicked of with a focus on Tech4Learning, presented by Lesley Mochan, Anne-Marie Simon and Dennis Keys.

The theme of all three presentations was the the use video to provide students with a range of resources they could revisit anywhere, anytime, to confirm some of the key learning points from their classes.

Lesley was looking for a resource to support her students learn the propagation process for a new type of rootstock. She found a programme on eTV, which was just what she needed. However, she didn't want to simply provide a video for them to watch but a resource that would engage them in the learning by adding some interaction. So she ran the video through Zaption, added some key information and some questions for students to answer to confirm their understanding. Click the Zaption image below to see what Lesley produced for her students. 

Anne-Marie wanted to produce some learning resources to support students to learn numerous techniques. She wanted to provide a range of resource options with written step-by-step instructions, physical sample and QR code, linking to video. By adding QR codes to the machines students use on campus, they are able to scan the QR code on the machine to see how to do a range of things such as threading or setting up the machine. Students can review the video as often as they need until they have mastered the technique. Check out this example of what Anne-Marie has developed for her students by clicking the image below.

The Carpentry Team decided to produce videos to provide learning resources that would allow students to revisit the operation and health and safety practices when using the range of machinery in the Carpentry Programme. When demonstrating practical skills in the workshop students can miss some of these essential key points however, these videos would allow students to watch them as often as they needed. By adding QR codes to the machinery, students can scan the QR code with their mobile devices and watch the videos in the workshop if they are uncertain of any aspect of the operating procedures. With the help of Mike Scott, they have also produced a number of ‘60 seconds of safety’ videos. Click the image below for an example of what the Carpentry Team have produced.

Strategies for Engaging Youth Videos

Kylee New, Phil Grimmer and Mariana Tapsell from the Hospitality, Trades Training and Foundation Studies programmes spoke at the recent Teaching and Learning Seminar that focused on strategies for engaging youth. Each tutor spoke of the challenges they faced, how there was a need to be flexible in their approach, and their strong desire to see the young people on their courses succeed.

Some common themes emerged including the importance of building a community of learners, the need to develop trusting relationships with students and the long term benefits of making the effort to spend time with each student to check on their progress both as a student and young person.

Take a look at their talks below. They were filmed on a self tracking camera called a Swivl. If you would like to have a go using this device in your classroom, get in touch with the Teel Team.

Gamify your Teaching Resources

Yes it's another educational strategy to consider, but never fear, help is here! So, what does it mean? Gamification means to include elements of computer gaming into what you do with your students. 

Still sound scary? I suppose the first question is ‘why’, so here’s some stats:

• Across the planet three billion hours every week are spent playing video and computer games
• 28 million harvest their crops on Farmville every day
• Over 5 million play an average of 45 hours computer gaming per week 

How many people do you know who play Minecraft or Candy Crush?

What makes computer gaming so compelling and how could we harness some of that for education? Players are hooked through levels, points, rewards, competition and instant feedback. How about ‘gamifying homework’ through some sort of reward system. How might you bring gamification into your classroom and tap into some of what compels people to ‘play’ computer games?

Want to know more? Check it out here: http://www.edudemic.com/ultimate-guide-gamifying-classroom/