Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Generate index cards from your Excel 2007 backlog
First, create the word document and select your data
1. Make sure you have headings in your excel document. Example: User Story, Points, User Story ID
2. Open Word 2007 and create a new document
3. Go to the "Mailings" tab
4. Click "Start Mail Merge" and select "Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard"
5. Click "Select Recipients" and select "Use Existing List"
6. Select your excel file and then the name of the sheet (eg. Sheet1$)
Second, setup your index cards
7. In the "Mail Merge" window (usually on the right), select the "Labels" document type and click "Next: Starting document" at the bottom.
8. Click "Label options…" to choose create a custom label size for your index cards
9. Click "New Label…"
10. Use the following settings for 4 index cards per page:
○ Label name: "Index Cards"
○ Top margin: 1.5 cm
○ Side margin: 0.6 cm
○ Vertical pitch: 13 cm
○ Horizontal pitch: 10 cm
○ Page size: Letter (8 1/2 x 11 in)
○ Label height: 12 cm
○ Label width: 9 cm
○ Number across: 2
○ Number down: 2
11. Click OK (Note - you can now re-use the new "Index Cards" label format the next time you print index cards. Look under "Product Number" on the "Label Options" window)
12. Click OK again to close the "Label Options" window
Now we add data to the index cards
13. Click "Next: Select recipients"
14. If you want to select only some of your stories, use the check box column to do so. Click OK.
15. The page should now show four labels, with the first one blank and the other three containing "<
16. Click "Next: Arrange your labels"
17. In the blank label, add the static text you want to display. I like to show Story ID, Points and the User Story on the card, but you can display whatever information is relevant for your project and process.
17. To add the fields from your product backlog, place the cursor where your field should go and click "More Items". Select the field you want to add and click "Insert". Repeat for any additional fields
18. Now format your fields (bold, size, positioning etc) within the first label.
19. When you are finished, click the "Update all labels" button to move your formatting to all the index cards.
20. Click "Next: Preview your labels". At this point, you should have four index cards per page populated with your stories.
21. Click "Next: Complete the merge"
22. Now print your index cards! (make sure they are not printing double sided…)
Bonus Tip: Use the "Scotch Glue Stick Restickable Adhesive" to turn your index cards into reusable sticky notes.
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Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Ed Tech Conferences Nov 2007 June 2008 Clayton Wright
- Link to Ed Tech Conferences Nov 2007 - June 2008 (429 KB. MS-Word File)
WHAT?
Clayton Wright has released a new version of his conference listings, which Stephen Downes has posted on his site. This version covers Ed Tech and related Education Conferences for Nov 2007 to June 2008 (MS-Word document). In his email, he adds "A couple of minor observations: there are more events in China than previously and a few of the international conferences have moved around the calendar, i.e., an event normally held in July is now being held in February (this usually occurs when the event is moved from the northern to southern hemisphere)." (Source)
JUICE?
This amazing conference list includes more than 400 Ed Tec conferences (426 to be exact!) around the world taking place during the 2007-2008 period. Here are few potential gems from this juicy conference list:
- December 5-7, 2007 International Conference on Virtual Storytelling, 4th, Saint Malo, France.
- December 11-13, 2007 Global Knowledge Conference: Emerging People, Emerging Markets, Emerging Technologies, 3rd, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- December 13-14, 2007 Strategies and Techniques for Implementing Social Collaborative and 3D Learning (Virtual Worlds). Presented online by the E-Learning Guild.
- January 13-16, 2008 International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces, Canary Islands, Spain.
- January 14-17, 2008 e-Learning Excellence in the Middle East 2008: Define, Design, Deliver. Jumeriah Beach Hotel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
- January 17-18, 2008 Building Immersive Learning Simulations and Serious Games, presented by eLearning Guild, online.
- September 9-11, 2008 Association for Learning Technology Conference - ALT-C 2008: Rethinking the Digital Divide, to be held in Leeds, United Kingdom.
What about February, March, April, etc. Have fun exploring this great Ed Tec conference list compiled by Dr. Clayton R. Wright. Thanks to Clayton, it should not be so tough finding juicy conferences to explore. Finally, according to Clayton, "a complete conference listing for July 2008 onwards should be available in a few months." Something to look forward to! :)
Top Ten Teaching and Learning Issues 2007
PDF Version: http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQM0732.pdf
Authors: John P. Campbell, Diana G. Oblinger, and Colleagues
- Establishing and supporting a culture of evidence
- Demonstrating improvement of learning
- Translating learning research into practice
- Selecting appropriate models and strategies for e-learning
- Providing tools to meet growing student expectations
- Providing professional development and support to new audiences
- Sharing content, applications, and application development
- Protecting institutional data
- Addressing emerging ethical challenges
- Understanding the evolving role of academic technologists"
There is little doubt that technology can play an important role in facilitating the teaching and learning process, but it can also cause mental havoc to the educators and students on the way. In short, show me the evidence of learning outcomes (or improvement) and you will get the support. Easier said than done :)
"If it aint fixed, dont be afraid to explore new ways!" I suppose that sums up the current state of higher education around the world :)