Mantex

Tutorials, Study Guides & More

>> Home / Technology

Technology

CMS, computers, HTML-XML-CSS, eLearning, open sources

CMS, computers, HTML-XML-CSS, eLearning, open sources

The Computer and the Information Revolution

by

the history of mathematics + technology = computers

This is book which gets mentioned in any serious history of computers. It’s a study of the mathematical, mechanical, and then the electronic developments which led to the creation of modern computers. The first part of The Computer and the Information Revolution offers an account of the development of mathematical systems, ending with the creation of binary notation in the nineteenth century. This paves the way for part two, which is a history of automatic calculation – first by mechanical devices, then by electronic means. It’s a book dense with a sense of history, and Ifrah’s span reaches effortlessly from 3500 BCE (Before the Common Era) to the maths underlying computer technology in the post-war years.

The Computer and the Information RevolutionHis approach can sometimes be a little disconcerting. One minute we’re in ancient Greece, next in the eighteenth century. A more smoothly integrated chronological narrative would have strengthened his case, just as more pictures and diagrams would have spared him page-length descriptions of the machines he discusses. This is a book which is crying out for illustrations.

However, he more than makes up for this in his wide-ranging inclusiveness. Even small-scale and failed inventors are mentioned. He is particularly good at explaining the relationship between mathematical theory and what was technologically possible at any given point. He points out that there are big gaps in the development of information technology – very often caused by the absence of nought/null in the numbering system.

It’s an odd book, because the translator and editor fills in what he clearly regards as important gaps in the author’s knowledge, and the chronology is patchy too. There’s a lot of back-tracking to make up for a lack of continuous narrative.

However, his account gains a great deal of impetus as all strands converge for the creation of the first modern computers. His description of Alan Turing’s conceptual breakthrough in 1936 and his relationship to John Van Neumann’s idea for a program stored in memory become positively gripping.

In fact it’s a shame he doesn’t stick with his theme once computers had been built, because the latter part of the book spins off into cosmology, genetics, and a mosaic of reflections on culture,science, and ‘the future of mankind’. Nevertheless, for anyone remotely interested in the development of information technology, this is a book which should not be missed.

© Roy Johnson 2000

Buy the book at Amazon UK

Buy the book at Amazon US

Georges Ifrah, The Computer and the Information Revolution, trans E.F.Harding, London: Harvill, 2000, pp.410, ISBN 1860467385

More on computers
More on technology
More on digital media

The Digital University

by

academic essays on the e-Learning revolution

The Digital University is a collection of academic position papers and reports dealing with the relationship between information technology and teaching in universities. From my experience of IT awareness in higher education, it should be compulsory reading in most departments.

The Digital UniversityUniversity education is currently being revolutionised by the use of Web-based teaching and learning systems. Everybody wants online learning systems – at least as a supplement to conventional teaching methods. This compilation looks at the impact which this revolution is having on all aspects of university life, including research, student support, teaching, and course management.

It covers authoring tools, multimedia learning systems, collaborative environments, distance learning, and course management.Some of the papers even discuss such small but important details as the spatial layout of computer labs, and using ready-made systems such as Lotus Notes for collaborative learning projects.

Most of the accounts are reports of practical projects and ongoing developments, and they include items such as checklists, questionnaires, and diagrams which other practitioners will undoubtedly find useful.

This is likely to be of most use to departmental heads, managers, administrators, or anyone else involved in the rapidly expanding world of online learning in higher education.

© Roy Johnson 2001

Buy the book at Amazon UK

Buy the book at Amazon US

Reza Hazemi, Stephen Hailes, and Steve Wilbur (eds) The Digital University: Reinventing the Academy, London: Springer Verlag, 1998, pp.307, ISBN 1852330031

More on online learning
More on technology
More on digital media
More on web design
More on computers

The Essence of Computing Projects

by

project writing skills for higher education

Projects are now a major part of most undergraduate and postgraduate courses – especially in sciences, business studies, and information technology. Students are required to draw on a number of different but important skills to complete their projects, and it’s not easy to know what’s involved. The Essence of Computing Projects is designed to explain what’s required. It covers surveying the literature, project writing skills, documenting software, time management, project management, and presentation skills.

Project writing skills The chapters follow the logical sequence of undertaking a project, starting from defining the nature of research itself, choosing a project and writing a proposal, then planning what you are going to write – including timing and scheduling.

When it comes to the process of searching and reviewing the literature, Christian Dawson makes sensible distinctions between what is required at undergraduate and postgraduate level. The chapter which deals with actually writing the project confronts some of the most common problems – and how to overcome them. Running out of time, dealing with interruptions and computer crashes; dealing with your supervisor; and working in teams.

The latter part of the book deals with the presentation of your report in written form. Here he stresses the importance of abstracts and structure, presenting data in graphs, pie charts, and bar charts, academic referencing, and two items of special interest – commenting on program code and writing user guides.

Finally he deals with the oral presentation skills required to present your project. It also looks forward to what follows in academic terms – publishing your work, funding, and intellectual ownership and copyright issues.

If you have a project as part of the next stage in your studies, this guide will give you an excellent account of what’s required. You will have to flesh out the details – but that’s exactly as it should be, isn’t it.

© Roy Johnson 2000

Computing Projects   Buy the book at Amazon UK

Computing Projects   Buy the book at Amazon US

Christian W. Dawson, The Essence of Computing Projects – A Student’s Guide, London: Prentice Hall, 2000, pp.176, ISBN: 013021972X

More on study skills
More on writing skills
More on online learning

The Myths of Innovation

by

new developments in technology, science, and business

This is a book which seeks to de-bunk the myths of invention. Most of us are brought up to believe that Isaac Newton discovered gravity when an apple fell on his head, and that Archimedes had a ‘Eureka!’ moment in his bath. Scott Berkun points out that neither of these two myths is true, and that almost all technical innovations come about as a result of years and years of research, failed attempts, and lots of hard work. He also points out that history is not only written by the victors, but that it commonly misses out the failures, wastes, and losses that go to make up a success. His telling example here is Rome, whose architectural glories are actually built on the ruins of a city that was previously burned to the ground.

The Myths of InnovationOnce these myths are out of the way, he looks at how innovations do come about, and wonders if there is any way of planning for them or creating systems that will encourage them. No matter how much we might wish there were, his answer is ‘It can’t be done’ in both cases.

In fact the more he looks at real-life examples, the more it becomes apparent that perfectly good innovations can fail for lack of appreciation, audience, funding, and a host of other reasons. When he looks closely at the provenance of success stories it’s obvious that they must

  • not be too far ahead of their time
  • fit within existing sets of beliefs
  • be simple to adopt
  • meet an existing need

As he puts it in one of his many amusing examples, if free mobile phones had mysteriously appeared in 9th century England, they would have been burned as witches’ eggs.

The World Wide Web, the medium through which we all live and breathe, was invented by Tim Berners-Lee because he couldn’t remember where his colleagues’ research papers were located. So he devised a simple coding system (HTML) which allowed documents to be tagged. A Eureka moment? No – because look what was already in place, on which this system ran.

First there had been the invention of the computer roughly fifty years before – at Manchester University, where Alan Turing and Ludwig Wittgenstein were both members of staff. There had already been established a world-wide network of computer connections (ARPANET). Packet-switching (the unsung gem of communication technology) had recently been invented. And the personal computer with its attendant gizmos of mouse, screen, and keyboard had been developed. You get the point: the Web and HTML was an amazing development which has changed all our lives – (and I still don’t know why Berners-Lee hasn’t been given a Nobel Prize, if Winston Churchill can have one for literature). But the Web was built on lots of other inventions, and it came at the right time.

The book dips slightly in the middle when he looks at the (largely negative) effect managers have on innovations and efficiency, but true to the theories he is propounding, he pulls some positive lessons out of the exploration.

Then towards the end of the book he looks at the social and political results of major innovations. Unsurprisingly, these turn out to be wholly ambiguous. Motor cars liberate people to travel wherever they wish, but they also pollute the atmosphere and kill people in their hundreds of thousands every year. DDT helped to control typhus and malaria, but it got into the lower species’ food chain and caused havoc. Einstein’s theories revolutionised cosmology, but also led to the development of the atomic bomb.

This summary makes it all sound rather negative. But his overall message is not so. He merely wants us to realise that the world is a messier place than we often realise; that we shouldn’t accept the over-simplified stories we are fed – even about successful inventions; and that what we regard as somebody’s ‘breakthrough moment’ might to them be the end of a lifetime’s slog.

It’s also a very readable book – the first I have ever come across in which the technical colophon was the funniest part.

© Roy Johnson 2007

Buy the book at Amazon UK

Buy the book at Amazon US

Scott Berkun, The Myths of Innovation, Sebastopol (CA): O’Reilly, 2007, pp.178, ISBN: 0596527055

More on computers
More on technology
More on digital media

The Online Educator

by

complete guide to designing and teaching online courses

Online courses are big business in further and higher education right now. You know the reason why. Governments cut back funding, whilst colleges and universities are told to take in more students. The answer is – put courses on line, and let the students teach themselves. Well, it’s not quite as simple as that, and for those people charged with the ‘challenge’ of designing courses, Marguerita Lynch has a great deal of practical wisdom and experience to impart. The Online Educator offers detailed explanations of common terms and concepts; a practical, step-by-step format with useful checklists; guidance for both teachers and students; and links to useful web sites and other online resources. She starts from the three cardinal rules for online learning.

The Online EducatorFirst – we must push beyond our own comfort zones. Second – plan, plan, plan. And third – interactive communication is paramount. She outlines the need for careful planning, for support and training for both students and tutors, and the need to cater for different learning styles. There is plenty of discussion of the hardware and the course management systems (or virtual learning environments) necessary to run such courses – and she reveals the questions to ask in helping you to choose the best system.

Her argument insists on the need for backup and support – for both tutors and students. This means that course developers need to do much more than simply convert teaching notes into web pages. She deals with all the problems associated with putting courses on line: security, scripts, anti-virus issues, passwords, as well as the basics of page design and navigation, plus the thorny issues such as tutor overload and student plagiarism.

In this system the tutor is transformed from classroom instructor to eMentor – and the pedagogic focus moves from spoon-fed to self-directed learning. If the courses are well designed and properly supported, everybody can profit from the results.

There is full consideration of Web-based tools needed in the online environment, and full listings of the free programs available, as well as self-assessment quiz and course management software.

She ends by presenting a variety of software for assessment and evaluation. There’s an exploration of copyright problems and interesting solutions to them that will be of keen interest to the many teachers currently engaged in creating courses for their institutions. The good news is that most institutions are now leaving copyright with the authors, in return for reciprocal exploitation rights.

This is an amazingly thorough and comprehensive guide to all aspects of online learning. Anyone who is even remotely connected with the world of online course design, delivery, or management ought to have a copy of this book on their desk.

© Roy Johnson 2002

Buy the book at Amazon UK

Buy the book at Amazon US

Marguerita McVay Lynch, The Online Educator: A guide to creating the virtual classroom, New York/London: Routledge, 2002, pp.170, ISBN: 0415244226

More on online learning
More on technology
More on digital media
More on web design
More on computers

the Online Learning idea book

by

95 ways to enhance technology-based learning

I’ve been teaching online learning courses almost as long as they have existed, and I know that both course designers and students need as much support as they can get. This book is aimed at the tutors and course designers and has the sole aim of helping them make the experience of learning on line more interactive, more enjoyable, and more effective. There are two in-built problems with online courses. Schools, colleges, and universities (to say nothing of commercial enterprises) want to eliminate expensive tutor-contact time, and make courses available any hour of the day. But anything beyond elementary lessons requires students to produce work which is assessed by a live tutor – who needs to be paid for reading on screen or on paper. That’s the first problem: it’s not easy to teach complex issues and subjects on a computer screen.

the Online Learning idea bookThe second is that making online courses truly interactive is an expensive business. Confronting students with rich learning experiences usually ends up requiring Flash animations, specially shot video footage, or interactive games of one kind or another – all of which are costly to produce. Faced with these problems, many teachers end up doing nothing more than sticking their lecture notes online in the form of downloadable Word files.

This book is a collection of techniques and strategies which have been tried out by practising teachers – who are confident enough to give their names and the web addresses of their own materials. Suggestions start at a point even before formal learning begins, with ideas for ‘learning agreements and ‘study schedules’ which students sign up to and which hopefully keep them on track and up to date. Some struck me as mildly utopian, but I liked the ‘eLearning Portfolio’, which would undoubtedly be useful.

The next section deals with learning via social interaction – collaborative projects and team-working – then what follows naturally from that, learning via discussion. The guidance ‘rules’ for forum postings are sound – though in my experience it’s quite difficult to enforce these without seeming over-controlling.

For completely individual learners working in isolation, the suggestions include visual diaries, email biographies, shared bookmarks, ‘visiting’ expert speakers (using podcasts), the ‘mini quest’ (which I would call a ‘small project’) blogs, and peer editing.

Synchronous learning activities rely heavily on chat, instant messaging, and pre-arranged forums. The main thrust in the suggestions made here are to enable participants to feel comfortable interacting with each other.

When it comes to self-assessment exercises we are into puzzles and games, flash cards, drag-and-drop activities, and multiple choice questions. But be warned – these can be expensive, unless you use off-the-shelf templates.

The latter part of the book deals with the actual structure, design, and navigation systems of online courses. This offers templates to cut down on design time, tips for maximising usability, and ideas for creative design – including some very funny clips at www.zefrank.com.

One interesting feature in my reading of this book was that ideas for one learning strategy or technique would come to me whilst I was busy reading about suggestions for something completely different.

Two things are for certain: the range of suggestions is amazing, and you’re sure to find something amongst them which will appeal to you. The editor Patti Shank has wisely stuck to a very tight formula for presenting these ideas. None takes up more than three pages, including screenshots, and the authors are even asked to show how their ideas can be adapted for other uses. This is a boon for online course designers.

© Roy Johnson 2007

Buy the book at Amazon UK

Buy the book at Amazon US

Patti Shank (ed) the Online Learning idea book, San Francisco: John Wiley, 2007, pp.354, ISBN: 0787981680

More on online learning
More on technology
More on digital media
More on web design
More on computers

The Whole Internet

by

updated version of first complete Internet guide

The Whole Internet was one of the earliest-ever computer books to become a best-seller. That was in 1992, when the first major wave of Net users needed information, and there as very little of it about. Ed Krol produced a manual which was well informed, comprehensive, and examined the technology in detail. However, it wasn’t very easy to read, and you needed to grapple with an arcane command-line interface which assumed you had grown up with Unix as a second language.

The Whole InternetThis new version is an update and complete re-write. It is based on the big changes which have come over the Net and the way it is used in the last eight years. Number one development of course is the Web, which moves up from a subsidiary chapter in the original to occupy the centre of this edition. Former features such as Gopher, Archie, and Veronica on the other hand are relegated to a footnote section called ‘Archaic Search Technologies’.

But this difference also makes the manual easier to read and understand. The emphasis has been changed from how the Net works, to how it can be used. There is far less impenetrable code cluttering the pages. Instead we get clean screen shots and nice photographs of what the Net looks like on screen, not at the DOS prompt. Ed Krol has been been very fortunate in choosing his co-author, and their co-operation has produced a far more readable book.

They cover all the basics which someone new to the Net would need to know. How to send email and follow the conventions of netiquette.; what to do with attachments; how to behave on mailing lists; understanding newsgroups; and how to deal with security, privacy, and Spam. They explain how to choose from a variety of Web browsers (including even one for the Palm Pilot). I was struck by how much more accessible all this technology has become in the short time since I struggled through the first edition.

This radical shift in user-centred design is also reflected by the inclusion of completely new chapters on Net commerce, banking, gaming, and personal finance. After a chapter on how to create your own Webages, there is an introduction to what are called ‘esoteric and emerging technologies’ – conferencing, streaming audio and video, and electronic books. This is a very successful attempt to cover the full range of the Net and its activities in a non-snobbish manner. They end with practical information – maximising the effectiveness of your Internet connection, searching techniques, and they offer a thick index of recommended resources.

The original Whole Internet may have been a more striking phenomenon because of its originality at the time, but this new edition has the potential to reach even more readers, largely because it explains the Net and shows how it can be used in a way which is much more attractive and accessible. It has gone straight onto my bibliography of essential Net reading, and I will certainly be recommending it to all my students.

© Roy Johnson 2000

Buy the book at Amazon UK

Buy the book at Amazon US

Kiersten Connor-Sax and Ed Krol, The Whole Internet: The Next Generation, Sebastopol: O’Reilly, 1999, pp.542, ISBN 1565924282

More on technology
More on digital media
More on online learning
More on computers

Understanding Virtual Universities

by

course design and construction for online learning

Teachers in higher education are under increasing pressure to develop novel methods of learning, to understand the latest developments in IT, and to make their courses available on line. The purpose of Understanding Virtual Universities is to help them gain an overview of what is involved. Roy Rada is very good at giving the overall picture – explaining the architecture of a university-wide learning program. He also describes in detail the courseware production cycle, and the role that individuals play in the process. He arranges his contents into four parts: virtual learning in relation to the student, the teacher, the administrator, and society in general. He explains the benefits of group and collaborative learning.

Understanding Virtual UniversitiesThis is undoubtedly fine in theory, but I sometimes felt that he didn’t take much account of real practice. My own experience suggests that students are often reluctant to engage in collaborative projects – particularly with people they hardly know. The most convincing example he describes is the group hypertext project on Tennyson’s In Memoriam – the long Victorian poem divided into sections to which are linked related documents, commentary, and criticism. This leaves behind a project which can still be accessed at the University of Virginia.

The experiments on which he reports make it quite clear that IT is most effective when it is combined with other, mixed learning activities in what he calls ‘studio’ classes. In this respect, I was rather surprised that he doesn’t cover any of the better-known Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) such as WebCT, Blackboard, and Learnwise.

For any teachers thinking of developing such courseware there are some detailed reports on the testing and results achieved – in courses ranging from Geography to ‘Design and Analysis of Algorithms.’ There’s a chapter on the history of teaching methods which I feared might be boring but which offered a fascinating survey, ranging from ancient Egypt to Web-based archives in the modern university.

He also includes a consideration of which subjects are best served by online courses – and he even looks the funding and cost-benefits of online learning, as well as the consequences of pursuing these innovations at the same time as maintaining quality assurance.

This leads into a consideration of the IT systems educational organisations need to have in place to deal with student records, finance, and administration. He then explores the partnerships and collaborative schemes between education and businesses which are providing courses for employees in the workplace. This also includes a consideration of revenue opportunities in the form of consultancies, franchises, and specialist publishing.

His range is wide, and he is very well informed. If there’s a weakness it’s that he flits around from one topic to another rather quickly, never exploring any issue in depth. But that’s also the strength of the book, because he cover all aspects of running Web-based learning in an institution. Many people might have a deep knowledge of one aspect of Web-based learning, but few people have an overview.

© Roy Johnson 2002

Buy the book at Amazon UK

Buy the book at Amazon US

Roy Rada, Understanding Virtual Universities, Bristol: Intellect, 2001, pp.122, ISBN: 1841500526

More on online learning
More on technology
More on digital media
More on web design
More on computers

Upgrading and Repairing PCs

by

best-selling comprehensive guide to computer hardware

Scott Mueller’s title here is too modest. Upgrading and Repairing PCs is not just a repair guide – it’s a major encyclopaedia of computer components, their specifications, and a workshop manual on all aspects of dealing with PC hardware. His approach is very simple – and extremely thorough. He describes each major component of a PC in separate chapters, explains how it works, what it does, and even how it is made. You can use this manual for either an explanation of how things function, or for an up-to-date account of technical component specifications. It covers building, maintaining, and repairing all parts of a PC. It’s an approach which works – which is what has made this book a best-seller.

Upgrading and Repairing PCsAll the major manufacturers chips, motherboards, memory, hard drives, and peripherals are covered – so this is a valuable resource if you want to make comparisons before ordering new equipment. There’s even a comprehensive list of suppliers, plus advice on making choices.

The book also comes with a CD containing two hours of video tutorials. These are in fairly plain MP3 files. The process of installing components is described well enough in the book, but it’s made infinitely clearer when shown on screen.

He even shows you how to assemble your own PC – delivering the information in a fluent and cheerful manner. It occurred to me that these clips are also excellent tutorials for those who would like to know what’s inside their PC, but who don’t want to go though the heart-stopping experience of opening up the box.

The majority of the data here is very technical. This is a serious, heavy-duty book which has proved itself in the best-seller lists. It is now in its thirteenth edition and is just about as up-to-date as it’s possible to be. This is somebody who knows his subject inside-out.

© Roy Johnson 2009

Buy the book at Amazon UK

Buy the book at Amazon US

Scott Mueller, Upgrading and Repairing PCs, Indianapolis (IN): Que, 19th edition, 2009, pp.1176, ISBN: 0789739542

More on technology
More on digital media
More on online learning
More on computers

Using Drupal

by

Configuring Modules to Build Dynamic Websites

Drupal is the most powerful, industrial-strength option amongst the open source content management systems (Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress). But it’s notoriously difficult to configure and manipulate. Hence the up-front sub-title to this publication. The answers to the problems have been supplied by designers creating plug-in modules which deliver separate functions. These all sit on top of the Drupal core.

Using DrupalThe user is left with ‘only’ the task of getting these modules to work together. And as anyone who has tried it will tell you, it’s no mean task. That’s where this guidance manual comes in. It takes you through a selection of the most basic add-on modules you’ll need to get a site up and running.

It’s written with the latest version of Drupal in mind (6.0) and you should be warned that modules written for other versions (5.0 and earlier) are not compatible with the latest version, and visa versa.

The other warning which needs to be flagged up as a major hazard and frustration is that configuration settings in one module might have a global effect, affecting your tweakings in another module, or even wiping it out altogether.

Fortunately there’s a very useful introduction which explains how a content management system works and the differences between first, second, and third generation web sites. You need to get used to lots of the specialised terms which are employed in this form of technology – modules, themes, and nodes – and you’ll have to let go of comforting terms such as folders and pages, because they just don’t apply any more.

In my experience of CMS systems, these naming conventions can be very confusing. Articles become stories, and features become modules or blocks. So you need to grit your teeth and just take on the new language.

The good thing about this book is that there are full instructions on adding and configuring modules that add functionality to a site. The creation of basic content is quite a complex business – partly because it’s assumed that a site will be fully interactive, and its materials can be tagged, commented upon, and served up in different forms. That’s why you end up arranging the content from a control panel with lots of options and settings.

There’s another reason why this approach to development by configuring modules is important. That’s because, rather surprisingly, the basic Drupal core does not include such fundamentals as a text editor and image manipulation tools. These have to be bolted on as extras. But free open source solutions are listed at the end of every chapter.

Separate chapters of the book have been written by open source evangelists, and the success of their approach is reflected in several five-star reviews for this book at Amazon. They concentrate on a wide range of third party modules which have been created by the Drupal community. This means the modules have been devised to solve real life problems and requirements.

The book is also arranged as a series of projects, showing how Drupal can be used to build a commercial web site; a job postings notice board; a product reviews site; a Wiki; a photo gallery; and an event management site. They explain how to use the most important modules, the content creator’s kit (CCK), categorise materials with Taxonomy, and use the Views module to arrange the display of content in a variety of user-selected forms.

The range and scope of sites built with Drupal in this book is truly impressive – from multi-language sites to eCommerce shopping sites using the Ubercart module. Full details of the all the software used is listed for every chapter, and there’s a very strong sense throughout that you are taking part in a community activity – where ideas, work, and results are shared.

O’Reilly took quite some time getting this, their first Drupal manual onto the shelves, but the wait has been worth it. I wonder when they will do the same thing for Joomla?

© Roy Johnson 2009

Using Drupal   Buy the book at Amazon UK

Using Drupal   Buy the book at Amazon US

Angela Byron et al, Using Drupal, Sebastopol (CA): O’Reilly, 2008, pp.464, ISBN: 0596515804

More on technology
More on digital media
More on online learning
More on computers

Get in touch

info@mantex.co.uk

Content © Mantex 2016