So my friend Andre Malan asked me to fill out a survey about the role of technology in my education. You should too (and if you’re going to you should do so before reading my response below).

It should be noted that my response, though written in a comical tone, is deadly serious:

What you think about Educational Technology

Survey to help me generate ideas and bring data to a talk that I am giving in Victoria. It will be live-streamed so you can see what I do with the data in the end.

On submission of this form you will receive a lot of gratitude and IOU for 2 hugs.

Basic Information

Name: Nicholas FitzGerald

Faculty: Science

Program: Cognitive Systems (Computational Intelligence)

Please Tick the educational technologies that you have used for class (either with or without being asked) at university. *

* paper
* WebCT/Vista/Blackboard
* Course Website
* Google Docs
* Facebook
* Wikis
* Blogs
* Twitter
* School Email
* calculator

Other Please list any others that you have used.

SVN <—- wooooooooo!
Python
Clickers
CS Handin
VPN
Ballpoint Pen
Fountain Pen

Disliked technology

Please list the 3 technologies from above that you disliked the most (including ones from “others”) and explain why you did not like them.

1. WebCT Vista

I COULD answer this question, but to do so thoroughly would far exceed the “approximately 4 minutes” you suggested for filling out this survey. WebCT Vista is by far the worst bit of technology I have even been forced to interact with. I say that as someone who’s used it both as a student and as a TA. Seriously. It. Sucks.
Terrible Stability. Incomprehensible UI. Way too many unnecessary features. No obvious integration with other technologies (would it be too much to ask to get an email reminding me I have an assessment due or that an assignment has been posted?). Seriously. WTF?

2. Clickers

Clickers are the worst example of the kind of crap which has come out of this new movement to make classes more “interactive”. Seriously, I go to class to be taught things, not to sit through a one-hour pop-quiz day after day after day. Here’s an idea: Instead of treating me like an elementary school kid who needs constant supervision and hand-holding to get my HW done, why don’t you give a good lecture, teach me some interesting material, and then give me an exam at the end of the term to make sure I actually took some personal responsibility for my education. Seriously. Kids these days…

3. Ballpoint Pen

These things are crap. You have to press so hard it makes your hand all tired, and by the time you’ve written a paragraph you’ve got a crippling case of carpal tunnel. Everyone thinks they’re so great because they can write under water – but can the write upside down?! No. Seriously. Ballpoint? More like FAILpoint, mirite?

Liked Technology

Please list the 3 technologies from above that you liked the most (including ones from “others”) and explain why you did not like them.

1. SVN / CS handin / ssh / pretty much anything involving commandline

Setting up an SVN server was the best thing I ever did. Makes it so much easier to coordinate my files between the 3 or 4 computers I use. No more messing around with emails etc. Plus, I feel like a bad-ass hacker every time I open a terminal and type “cd ~/school; svn update”. Same with CS handin. LOVE seeing how many tape blocks my homework used. Plus ssh tunneling is like some serious “Matrix” shit. Seriously. Chicks go wild for that kinda thing.

2. HTML + SMTP

Best use of technology for a course I have experienced: Philosophy 441 (Philosophy of Mind) with Dr. Murat Aydede. Simple HTML page with links to necessary PDF readings. Email address to contact for clarifications. Perfection. Doesn’t need to be more complicated than that. KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID! Seriously. CSS is for chumps.

3. Fountain Pen

Once you go fountain pen you’ll never return to crappy ballpoints. This thing glides so smooth it’s like writing with melted butter (like the kind you get in that little candle-heated dish when you order crab). Plus I feel like I’m some sort of bad-ass Victorian gentleman every time I whip this thing out. Seriously. Like some serious Mr. Darcy shit up in here.

Your Dream Technology

(most important part of this whole survey…)

So if your professor could use some technology in class that would make school much better what would it be? * this can be something you know of or something made up. Sky is the limit, think outside the box, all that jazz. All I ask is that it is something that you would really, really want to use.

I really can’t think of much. The vast majority of times I’ve had some sort of opinion regarding use of technology in education, it’s usually along the lines of “I really wish this prof would stop messing around with this new-fangled edumacational gizmo and just give a good lecture”. There are a few really good examples of pedagogical tools (AISpace is great), but those are really only useful in “algorithm” type courses. Most of the time they’re just annoying and a poor substitute for a good lecture and a good textbook.

That said, my one wish is for E-readers to reach a stage where they are satisfactory substitutes for hard-copy textbooks in terms of ease-of-use, portability, durability etc.

As part of UBC’s Celebrate Research week, a great event is happening this Saturday at UBC:

MULTIDISCIPLINARY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH CONFERENCE (MURC)
Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, Jubilee Room (4th floor)

Saturday March 6, 2010

MURC celebrates the contributions of undergraduate research at UBC.  The conference provides an opportunity for students in any discipline from across campus to present a research project they have been working on while engaging in scholarly debate amongst each other.  Students have the choice of giving an oral, poster or performing/visual arts presentation of their work.  Presentations are judged by graduate students, and prizes are awarded at the end of the conference day during a celebratory gala.  The conference is held every year in March as the kick-off event to UBC’s Celebrate Research Week.

There is a great variety of presentations spanning the full range of subjects from the Humanities and Science, from Literary Criticism, to Molecular Biology, all researched and presented by undergraduates from UBC and UBC-O. A full list of all presentations and posters, and a schedule of the day’s proceedings can be found here: MURC 2010 Program

Shameless Plug! I will be presenting my own research project entitled “ASSESS: Abstractive Summarization System for Evaluative Statement Summarization” at 4pm in room 355!

Dear Ubyssey,

I have to write to register my displeasure at your coverage of the Ignatieff talk, namely how it focuses almost exclusively on the rather embarrassing display by Greenpeace, while ignoring the much more important and interesting discussions which occurred during the hour and a half. Amongst other things, an image captions reads “Jessie Schwarz leads the audience in a loud chant protesting the tar sands”. It should be obvious to anyone who was there, or even anyone who has simply seen a video of the event that “Jessie Schwarz” did not “lead the audience” in anything. Jessie Schwartz lead a small fringe group in a rather pathetic chant which was soon drowned out by the vast majority of attendees who were more interested in hearing Ignatieff’s response to the question asked than witnessing yet another juvenile stunt pulled by one of UBC’s many unrealistic fringe groups.

I attended Ignatieff’s talk with no prior opinions regarding the man, but I left rather impressed at how he responded to tough questions honestly, while making no apologies for the hard facts which must be acknowledged, and yet again disgusted at how a mature, respectful attempt at dialogue can be hijacked by a small group of juveniles with an axe to grind. When will UBC’s fringe groups cease pulling this kind of childish stunt? My guess is not before the Ubyssey ceases giving them legitimacy by providing them with more coverage than their impotent attempts at advocacy deserve.

Sincerely,
Nicholas FitzGerald

Update: The situation has been resolved

Another shocking development in the sad affair which is the Frederick/Chu AMS Scandal. This evening I received this email from UBC V-Day, the group behind The Vagina Monologues on campus, and an advocacy group against gender-based violence:

AMS Student Union to Decide Tuition Policy

Fellow students,

If you are not already aware, your AMS Student Council is seeking to impeach your elected AMS President, Blake Frederick and Vice-President of External Affairs, Tim Chu who are taking action against the high cost of education. The current AMS Student Council policy is that it is acceptable for tuition to increase by up to two percent each year. Your President and Vice-President of External Affairs were elected on a mandate and made a commitment to lobby for lower tuition and are now seeking to change the official tuition policy of the AMS, but we need your feedback.

If you want to make your voice heard on the cost of education, you should take three actions:

1)  Email your Council representatives and let them know what you think about tuition fees (see email list below).

2)  Write an email under 300 words for the Ubyssey student newspaper and send it to feedback@ubyssey.ca before 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 1, 2009.

3) Attend the AMS Council meeting on Wednesday, December 2, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. in SUB room 206 and make your voice heard.

The AMS needs your input so that we can decide together on how to move our student union forward.

Sincerely,

Blake Frederick

President

AMS Student Union

* We have been asked to pass on this message. UBC VDay does not take a particular side on this issue, however, we do encourage students to be involved in their community and ensure that their voices are heard on matters of importance

I cannot believe that Blake Frederick could find another way to sink even further. I am so angry that a club like UBC V-Day would allow itself to be abused as a vector for such a partisan political statement, which has nothing to do with their purpose.

The following is an open letter I sent as a response:

To UBC VDAY,

I fully support the UBC V-Day organization, and think what you do is an amazing and important part of UBC. I have attended the Vagina Monologues many times, and am friends with several current and former members of the club. However, I must express my utter shock and disappointment that you would allow your club email to be used as a vector to spread partisan messages about a sensitive political issue on campus which has NOTHING TO DO with the purpose of your club. You claim that “UBC VDay does not take a particular stance on this issue”, but by allowing Mr. Frederick to use your club as a vector, you have allowed him to once again cast this as an issue of tuition, again attempting to deflect attention to the real reason for his being asked to resign, which is his consistant and repeated abuses of power and the democratic process (of which this email is yet another example). By allowing him to send email through you, you are implicitly endorsing his position.

I must say I am extremely disappointed that a club such as yours, which is a valuable and extremely important part of UBC, would allow itself to be abused in this way.

Sincerely,

Nicholas FitzGerald

To UBC VDAY,

I fully support the UBC V-Day organization, and think what you do is an amazing and important part of UBC. I have attended the Vagina Monologues many times, and am friends with several current and former members of the club. However, I must express my utter shock and disappointment that you would allow your club email to be used as a vector to spread partisan messages about a sensitive political issue on campus which has NOTHING TO DO with the purpose of your club. You claim that “UBC VDay does not take a particular stance on this issue”, but by allowing Mr. Frederick to use your club as a vector, you have allowed him to once again cast this as an issue of tuition, again attempting to deflect attention to the real reason for his being asked to resign, which is his consistant and repeated abuses of power and the democratic process (of which this email is yet another example). By allowing him to send email through you, you are implicitly endorsing his position.

I must say I am extremely disappointed that a club such as yours, which is a valuable and extremely important part of UBC, would allow itself to be abused in this way.

Sincerely,

Nicholas FitzGerald

This is not, and never has been, an issue about tuition. It is an issue about two executive who have continuously abused their power, and the democratic process. I said as much as last Saturday’s council meeting:

Visit the UBC Website right now and this is what you see:

Hacked? Hosting Fail? Alternate Reality Game? I’m confused…

Update: I think this must be a local DNS problem. Through comments and Twitter I’ve determined that http://www.ubc.ca is resolving to omegasupreme.ca only for people within Vancouver. It is not affecting access on campus.