Author Archives: [email protected]

About [email protected]

I retired as a professor at Brigham Young University (BYU) in 2016 where I was Associate Professor of French and Instructional Pyschology & Technology. I arrived there in 1992 after my retirement as a Lieutenant Colonel from a 20-year career in the US Air Force. Most of that time was spent on the faculty at the US Air Force Academy (USAFA), during what I call my first career. For over forty years I have been creating interactive video applications for supporting language. The lab at the Language Learning Center at USAFA engaged in ground-breaking efforts conducted within a mentored learning setting. The lab’s work involved the development of technologies and instructional design strategies for the use of video in the language acquisition process as well as with architectures that support online learning and facilitate learning about learning. I have a BA in Political Science from BYU, an MBA from the University of Missouri, and a PhD in Foreign Language Education and Computer Science from The Ohio State University. At the Air Force Academy I was a key member of the team that designed what was then the largest interactive videodisc-based learning center on a college campus. When I retired from BYU I directed the ARCLITE Lab, which was involved in the creation of online learning materials for language learning as well as video and interactive technologies for learning.

Three knee replacements? But I only have two knees!

Anyway, both surgeries seemed to have gone quite well, and I worked hard at the physical therapy part of the program. The bottom line is that my wife and I have been able to do a lot since the surgeries … Continue reading

Posted in Personal | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Raspberry Pi 4 Announced

The Raspberry Pi Foundation recently announced the Raspberry Pi 4. The little, single-board computer has been an incredible development from the beginning, but the newest edition has now crossed what I believe to be an important threshold. For starters, the … Continue reading

Posted in Geeky Stuff | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Trump “Dossier”

A friend’s post on Facebook this weekend expressed their appreciation for a sign at the Women’s March they attended, which stated: “Golden showers bring impeachment flowers.” I responded, “Perhaps those flowers will be no more real than the made-up showers? … Continue reading

Posted in Current Events | Leave a comment

Blackboard vs Canvas vs Moodle

A colleague at another university, which is contemplating a move to one of these four learning management systems, wanted to know the preferences from among this list of systems: Blackboard learn+ (http://www.blackboard.com/) Brightspace by D2L (http://www.d2l.com/) CANVAS (https://www.canvaslms.com/) Moodle (https://moodle.org/) … Continue reading

Posted in Online Learning | 1 Comment

BYU Students Support Bernie Sanders?

BYU’s The Daily Universe recently conducted a ‘Feel the Bern’: Poll that showed “BYU students prefer socialist Sanders” over all other candidates:   It turns out that the results have been removed, due to objections raised that pointed out that … Continue reading

Posted in Current Events | 5 Comments

Nice Overview of MP4

Just the other day, in an effort to illustrate how Ayamel uses video, I was explaining MP4 files to a colleague. This short video from TechSmith does a much better job than I did! Why should you use MP4? Watch now! … Continue reading

Posted in Interactive Video | Leave a comment

Learning Analytics

My two most recent columns as a Contributing Editor for Educational Technology explain the beginnings of my exploration of learning analytics, a topic I feel is crucial for education today. Learning about learning has the potential to help us understand not only more … Continue reading

Posted in Online Learning | Leave a comment

Webinar on Ayamel

I had a great time yesterday doing a webinar on Ayamel. I have given many presentations in many different settings, but this was perhaps the most challenging. Sitting there looking at the computer screen with no visual feedback from the … Continue reading

Posted in Interactive Video, Online Learning | Leave a comment

Moving Forward with Online Learning?

I have heard rumblings that BYU Provo that BYU Provo is showing an increased interest in online learning. I will confess to mixed feelings, however, which I will admit are totally selfish… Shortly after I arrived at BYU in 1992, I visited … Continue reading

Posted in Online Learning | Leave a comment

Educational Technology Bust

It seems that Apple and Pearson are about to shell out big bucks, $6.4 million to be exact for what appears to be a massive failure in supporting a tablet initiative in a thousand schools in Los Angeles: The Los Angeles Unified School … Continue reading

Posted in Online Learning | 2 Comments