SRHC Day One

SAU Bus at Love's in Prescott

Maiden voyage for this new bus driver. I never realized how many curves there are between Magnolia and Prescott on US 371 (or AR 19 for us oldsters). Managed to find an easy parking spot near the hotel too.

Here are our international students in the Peabody Little Rock.

From L to R (back): Arun Sharma, Subir Shakya, Suraj Manandhar, Pui (Joy) Tan, Thomas Kue, & Xi (Western) Wu; (front) Olawale Ajigbotafe, Nimenra Mawalagedara, & Sun (Gloria) Lee.

Hayden Kopplin and Majesta Miles attended a standing room only presentation on Lady Gaga. He'll report on that session later on. All of us ate "heavy hors d'oeuvres" tonight. We get breakfast tomorrow at 7 followed by a full day. Samson King and Courtney Fricks will present their poster as will Western Wu. Nimendra will present her paper on Saturday.

For many of the students this is their first academic meeting. This is academic engagement at its best.

iPad 2 Panel Discussion at SRHC 2011

Preliminary Research Prior to Implementing

an iPad 2 Honors Seminar Course

Edward P. Kardas, Chris Harris, Carter Jones, Samson King, Thomas Kue, Deborah Wilson

Southern Arkansas University

Abstract

A small internal grant allowed the purchase and loan of four iPads for student use in a cognitive science honors contract course for the semester. Students mapped the campus’ wireless network’s strength, evaluated and recommended apps, surveyed previous seminar students, and began to create a student survival guide. The panelists will discuss:  learning frog calls, running meetings, social networking, campus mapping, the pros and cons of using iPads as an instructional device, and reflections from a new user.

Panelists

Edward P. Kardas—The Southern Arkansas University iPad 2 Pilot Project

Samson King—Learning frog calls on an iPad

Chris Harris—Planning and running a meeting using an iPad

Carter Jones—Social networking using the HootSuite app

Suraj Manandhar—Building a custom campus map and interfacing with Google Maps

Thomas Kue—Laptop or iPad? How to make a choice

Deborah Wilson—Reflections from a new user

All—Questions and Answers

For more information, contact Edward P. Kardas at: epkardas@saumag.edu

 

Honors College Buys iPad 2

Using grant money received earlier from the Teaching with Technology Committee, the Honors College bought an iPad 2 on Friday, March 11 at 5 p.m. in Texarkana, Texas from the Verizon Store. Director Kardas arrived at 4:40 p.m. expecting to see a long line. Instead, he walked right in and bought one. The store did not have any white iPads nor did it have any 16GB ones. So Honors College now owns a black, 32GB iPad, with Verizon 3G service. That last feature will enable the user to access the Internet from wherever Verizon has provided cellular service.

The Honors College will use this particular iPad as a test bed for its Fall distribution of iPads to incoming students. The College's graduate assistant, Suraj Manandhar, will be the principal user as he writes the Freshman Survival app to be installed on all student's iPads. David Wingfield, the College's assistant will also use this iPad as the main beta tester assuring that the app is "honors student proof."

The Honors College will continue to use its small stock of original iPads. One student has already requested one in order to conduct field research this summer. Faculty teaching honors classes will be able to check out one of those iPads for an extended period for use in a course. Slowly but surely, the SAU Honors College is moving toward a brave new world where words whipping wirelessly from iPad to iPad may become the new way to work.

Relay for Life Carwash Nets $210

Majesta Miles, Hayden Kopplin, Kody Kasper, Stephanie Dawson, James Schlag, and Amanda Cannon take a few seconds to pose for the camera during today's carwash for Relay for Life

The SAU Honors College Relay for Life team raised $210 today for next month's Relay for Life campaign. Special thanks to Magnolia's Oil and Lube for providing the H2O and the space. 

I Passed my Road Test

I'm now the proud possessor of an Arkansas Class C driver's license with a passenger endorsement. I'll put that to the test at the end of the month when I drive 20 students and faculty to Little Rock for the annual meeting of the Southern Regional Honors Council. I'd like to scout out the parking lot of the Courtyard Marriott were we'll be staying. Hopefully, it'll have ample parking for our bus.

Hey, Bus Driver

My CDL (Commercial Driver's License) Learner's Permit

One step taken today in obtaining my CDL. I passed the written (actually touchscreen) portion of the test. On Thursday, weather permitting I'll take the road test. After (if?) I pass that portion I'll be able to haul honors students around in the SAU 24-passenger bus.

Incidentally, my motivation here is quite mercenary. It saves the Honors College $10 an hour, or the amount needed to pay a driver. Moreover, drivers who accompany us on overnight or multi-day trips get paid for the ENTIRE time they are with us (e.g., $240/day). Naturally, I'll be donating my services and thus getting more bang for the buck from the Honors College budget.