Author: James

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I am not very political….

but I have to admit that the prospect of a Black President has me more than a little intrigued. I find myself watching the evening news channels, reading the internet blog sites, and getting up early to view the Sunday morning talk shows. I think that my interest has been sparked largely because I never truly believed that there would be a Black Commander-in-Chief in my lifetime. I am still not sure that it will really happen, but for the first time in years am hopeful that true change may be possible.

I guess only time will tell.

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3rd Annual New Media Conference: Coldfusion Guru confirmed

Coldfusion Guru: Michael DinowitzMichael Dinowitz, head of the NYC Coldfusion Users Group and owner of the House of Fusion (http://www.houseoffusion.com) will be presenting at the LaGuardia 3rd Annual New Media Conference. Outside of Abobe, there are few evangelists as dedicated as Michael to the spread of the Coldfusion language and the strengthening of the community. Michael has co-authored many of the best selling CF web application construction kits and videos. Continue reading “3rd Annual New Media Conference: Coldfusion Guru confirmed”

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3rd Annual New Media Conference: Adobe is coming

Ali Hanyaloglu, Adobe Sr. Solutions Engineer discusses CS3

The planning for the 3rd Annual LaGuardia Community College New Media Technology conference is underway and Adobe has confirmed their attendance. The team from Adobe presented last year at our conference to a packed house and we are excited to have them back again. Adobe has agreed to present at both the morning and afternoon sessions. The morning session is going to focus on the creative and design applications in CS3 while the afternoon session is going to highlight the new CS3 video apps. Continue reading “3rd Annual New Media Conference: Adobe is coming”

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Interns are a good thing!

The Interns

The Fall II semester is underway and I am already swamped. In addition to the two courses that I am teaching, and planning for the LaGuardia New Media conference in the spring, I also have to redesign the web sites for the New Media program and the CIS Department. Both sites need a serious update and there was no way that I could have completed the job by myself. Luckily I was able to get an intrepid band of interns to volunteer in assisting me to plan, design, and implement the new sites. Continue reading “Interns are a good thing!”

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ePortfolio Capstone Research team: 1st week

Today was the first meeting of the LaGuardia ePortfolio Capstone research team. The purpose of the research group is to help develop a list of best practices for capstone courses at LaGuardia. I am fairly comfortable working with ePortfolio because I was part of the original research team and helped to flesh out some of the technical solutions that were needed to move the project forward. I was honored to be asked to participate in this new research effort. While we will be looking at capstone courses from LaGuardia as a whole, I think that many of the issues that we will be investigating in this research will also directly help me improve some of the course work within the New Media program. Continue reading “ePortfolio Capstone Research team: 1st week”

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Upgrading to High Def: The Canon HV20 or HV30?

The Canon HV30

Last week Canon announced the Vixia HV30, the newest high def camcorder designed to replace older Canon HV20. I have been itching to make the jump to HD video for the past year. I held off largely because my standard definition Canon GL2 was still serving me well. In addition, the HD standards and industry trends were still in flux so I was kinda gun shy about making a major purchase during times of technological uncertainty. You have to understand that for me, nothing is as frustrating as having your new camcorder becoming obsolete the week after you purchase it. Continue reading “Upgrading to High Def: The Canon HV20 or HV30?”

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New Years Day: The Star Trek Experience

I went to Vegas and all I got was this nerdy picture

It is the first day of the New Year so so what could be better than a trip to the Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton? Since I don’t gamble at all, and the Bunny Ranch would probably get me shot by my wife, I had to find something to do in Vegas. This was gonna be my third time at the exhibit. However it was my first time with the kids. Believe it or not, Ski and I came here a few years back as we were on a belated Honeymoon. She enjoyed it, which is odd because she usually hates anything having to do with Sci-fi.

Continue reading “New Years Day: The Star Trek Experience”

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New Media Capstone course

Since being appointed the Program Director for LaGuardia’s New Media Technology degree I have started to make revisions to the overall curriculum. One of my priorities is in establishing a more effective capstone course for LaGuardia’s New Media program. The final capstone course in the major, the New Media Project Lab, is being restructured to better prepare students for transfer to a four year university or for employment. During the past semester I have focused heavily on developing new Continue reading “New Media Capstone course”

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Thoughts on ePortfolios

My feelings on ePortfolio continue to evolve and adapt as new technologies and instructional schools of thought are developed. I am very lucky in the sense that Eportfolio is heavily tied into all of the courses in the New Media Technology Program. Within the New Media Program students are encouraged to develop digital expressions of their learning throughout their time at LaGuardia. Since professional portfolios are a mainstay in the New Media field, the development of a student centered ePortfolio is a natural and progressive step.

The development of a ePortfolio helps my students to think more intensely about their career goals and aspirations. Since the field of New Media Technology is rapidly expanding and morphing almost monthly, students are, Continue reading “Thoughts on ePortfolios”

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ePortfolio systems testing

Today the IT department piloted a new open source eportfolio system in one of my capstone classes. The team from LaGuardia’s Center for Teaching and Learning, who are main champions of the LaGuardia ePortfolio Initiative, were eager to test out the system in front of some real students. The proposed new system may someday replace the existing ePortfolio system in use today at LaGuardia. However prior to a switch being made, a new system will need to be throughly tested before it can be deployed in a production environment that must support up to 11,000 users. Since I had done much of the preliminary work in reviewing and selecting LaGuardia’s current eportfolio system, I was asked to review the new system which is being considered. Continue reading “ePortfolio systems testing”