Ode to WebCt

I just wanted to take the time this week to reflect on my feelings towards WebCT here at UWO. I'll start off by simply saying that I love it!! If used regularly and properly, WebCT is the handiest program available to students. For those of you who may not be familiar with this program it is essentially a virtual learning environment used to to assist students by providing them with many important resources regarding the particular course they are enrolled in. WebCT includes a somewhat comprehensive discussion board. It allows you to make various posts, chat with your peers about assignments and exams, review your course syllabus, read any updates or course announcements, it is a great place to find weekly readings etc. The only draw back to WebCT is that not every professor uses it and some only very sparingly. I can not think of a better way to communicate more efficiently with students than this medium. I recall specifically for one of my courses in undergrad where the Professor made regular use of it and it was so helpful. All the assignment outlines were there, the links for the weekly readings were available, we had various discussions throughout the year. Everyone was so involved!!

It is important to mention that although the program is handy for those using it as a resource it has often be criticized as very difficult to manage by the administrator. According to an extremely credible online source (sarcasm) Wikipedia points out that

"This criticism partly reflected the flexibility and power of the system - where other systems present a single way of organizing or adding course material, WebCT offered several options with more of the structure left to the individual instructor. The "Vista" version of the product represented an attempt to derive a more even balance between flexibility and ease of use, and while it has been successful in some ways, it still suffers from being more flexible but less easy to use than some of its competitors. Some WebCT criticisms which were apparent include problems using it in multiple tabs or browser windows, heavy reliance on Java for its user experience usage of too many browser frame sets,and problems using standard browser navigation tools (i.e. the Back and Forward commands).

Despite these drawbacks, WebCT has proven to be an innovative way to integrate a students learning experience with the expedience, thriftiness and resourcefulness of the internet. Further work on the program surely needs to be done, but until then Ode to WebCT.

The Million Dollar Home Page

I just wanted to take the time this week to comment on one of the most fascinating and simple ways anyone has ever got rich through the internet. It is no surprise that companies like Google, Yahoo or YouTube have revolutionized the way we use the internet. But this particular example is just plain mind example. I am of course speaking about Alex Tew's "Million Dollar Homepage" - www.milliondollarhomepage.com. Alex Tew is a 21 year old student in England and was apparently looking for a way to fund his school education, so he started thinking!!
Alex created a simple website which was an index page consisting of a 1000* by 1000* grid where he would sell individual pixels for the purpose of adverstising. Within 2 weeks he was able to pay his college for the year and within the next little while sold his last share on Ebay making him a millionaire, each pixel at $1. This is absolutly insane! A low budget website like his with simply a brilliant idea.
What I also found amazing and speaks to the amazingness of the internet is how he sold his shares! The INTERNET!! He used Ebay to sell many of his shares and used the internet to its full resources. I just thought I would mention this idea because I thought it was absolutly incredible. The resourcefullness of the internet really has few limits. I think what we should be doing in class is developing a potential way to exploit what is available to us. We need to come up with something that will make us crazy rich while providing a new and innovative way to use the internet. The field of history I am sure has plenty of possibilities for creative invention using the internet, any ideas???

In Flanders Fields....

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae

In honor of remembrance day I wanted to take the time to write a little something about this important occasion. What better a way to pay tribute to so many who lost their lives than to post it on the internet where so many can see it. Last year I had the pleasure of accompanying one of my professors, along with the rest of the class, to Victoria park and participating in the remembrance day ceremony. I had not done this in the past and quickly realized how few actually showed up. It really makes you think, doesn't it? As historians I think this occasion is of great importance. Through our study we, perhaps more than the general public, recognize the hardships endured during war. Although we did not serve and simply can not even fathom enduring what many of these soldiers went through, I think we have almost a responsibility to help people recognize the importance of honoring those who died and served. From the perspective of this course I was curious to see what would come up if I typed in "Remembrance day" in Google. I was surprised to find that there are approx. 1,500,000 hits which include news articles, various books, as well as videos. I think the internet often proves very useful when it comes to times likes these. We can really involve ourselves and educate others on the importance of remembrance day. I think it would be interesting to see how creative we could be using the internet and various forms of digital media to commemorate these individuals.

Although I personally did not have anyone die in the war, or serve for that matter, I feel as though our lives are made possible, our freedom and liberty because of these individuals. To take the time and search remembrance day is a useful way to found out some interesting facts about this occasion as well as read some stories. As Historians it becomes our responsibility to be aware of these types of things and from a digital perspective it can become quite interesting.

``The University Library Collection of 3,500 Volumes was dramatically increased in 1918 through a donation from a Stratford resident. John David Barnett collected books and pamphlets all of his life and more than 40,000 volumes were presented to the university. This donation became the foundation of the library and among other things contained one of the most extensive Canadian Collections on Shakespeare``.
Although this is a particularly extreme example of someones generosity, it is not uncommon for individuals to donate their collections in the name of research and education. The university has accumulated over 7.7 million various works during the last century. Despite donations being a very useful and beneficial means of collecting material there are other ways, some I found very interesting.
I had the pleasure last week of meeting the newest faculty member in the ARCC here at Western. The man was hired on to the universities faculty in order to expand our growing collection. What I found most interesting is two fold, 1. The ways in which many of these materials are obtained and 2. some of the types of material we actually have. First of all, as I mentioned already donations make up a very useful part our collection. Buying and trading are often very common as well but can be quite expensive. There are also book auctions which sometimes have very important works. What I found to be particularily interesting is this notion of going through peoples treasure chests in old houses when they have passed on. This has proven to be beneficial aswell.
Second of all, I was surprised to find that we here at Weldon have the first ever original printed copies of Le Voyage as well as Darwin`s On the origins of species. That is pretty unreal, to hold books as influential as those in your collection, and especially in your hand, is truly significant. My question/comment then is with today's digital world, what impact will this have on works such as this? Do they lose their significance? Does anyone care anymore about these works of art. There is a lot that went into making these books that are sometimes 500 years old and to me they can very much be considered Art. Despite their being digitized I still feel as though the real artifact is what embodies its worth.