再次與美國同步線上上課

記得第一次以線上同步上課是在2002年初，當時因為擔任助教所以寒假期間在台灣利用WEBCT的平台與美國的老師及同學上課。其實，我一直認為線上學習的效果不亞傳統教室上課，在擔任線上教學助教與帶領線上學習課程的經驗中，我了解到老師也需要花很多時間準備，而學生在線上學習過程中須不斷的丟出問題與完成作業，而且都是有時效限制的，也因此學生反而會更加用心去準備與複習。週六時，我請求在UI的學妹邀請之前的口委老師Jerry與幾位美國學生跟暨大的四位學生做同步線上討論，我想這對雙方都是一個不同的體驗，也讓我們的研究生能藉此練習英文。期待，之後能再安排類似的線上交流，我想對暨大與對美國的學生都會有幫助。

10 years. Time really flies like an arrow.

BOOKS-I recently read.

Facebook, Twitter, plurk, and Youtube have changed the world. I strongly recommed teachers to read this book for the purpose of understanding the Net generation kids.

Informal learning and scoial software

(picture form Gettyimage)
Web 2.0 has brought huge impact to the Internet surfers. Many social software have been widely used for communication and sharing ideas. Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, Second life, and Wikis have attracted thousands of users to be a part of the web 2.0 community everyday. These software software have really changed the world. Many companies don't rely on TV to promote their new products. Instead, they use blogs, facebook, and Twitter to announce new products' features.

Following is a link that introduces the use of Second Life at school.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R1SrZua5ww&feature=related

Celebraing my first Father's day

Typhoon MORAKOT disappointed many people this year, especially those who prepared to celebrate Father's day. We did not go out to have meal together. Instead, we cooked couple dishes and invite my father, mother, sister, brother-in-law, and their daugher to our home. Although my son doesn't give me any gift (he even doesn't know how to say daddy), he does enjoy couple hours fun wih grandpa, grandma, and his cousin who is 9 days older than him.

Shanghai's skyline

I stayed in Shanghai for couple days during an official visit in July. It's my first time to visit China's biggest and modern city. Shanghai is really an international city and it is changing rapidly. I saw many skyscrapers and traditional Chinese style buildings in the city. The world EXPO will be held in Shanghai next year, and it shows that Shanghai has proved its unique and important role in the world. The economy booming in China attacts tremendous amont of money to invest the countryand people are getting rich. In Shanghai, people will observe what is called CHANGE in a short period of time.

The Great Barrier Reef

Everyobe should visit the Great Barrier Reef once in his/her lifetime. It is truely a wonder!!!

LAMS(學習活動管理系統)的應用

LAMS是一種基於活動導向與學習設計概念應用的平台，其中文翻譯名稱為學習活動管理系統，它是設計與管理線上學習活動的數位化工具，LAMS提供教師視覺化與簡易的操作介面，讓教師在很快的時間就可以設計出課程的教學活動的序列(sequence)，學習活動的安排可包含個人或群組合作學習的作業，LAMS提供多項工具可以讓教學者設計出多元化的教學活動，例如線上小組討論、投票、聊天、問題提問區、辯論、課程維基(wiki)、Google map等工具，LAMS本身是一個可獨立執行(stand alone)的軟體，可以在任何伺服器安裝執行，並可與各主要的商業化與開放源碼的學習管理系統(Learning Management System, LMS)整合，成為其中的一項工具，目前LAMS可與Moodle、Sakai、.LRN、WebCT及Blackboard等學習管理系統整合使用，目前最新的版本為2.2版。

LAMS的操作介面非常容易上手，它的操作方式有點類似Macromedia公司的Authorware (如圖)，操作方式是採用拖放(drag and drop)的方式來建立學習活動的序列，教師可將整個學期或單元課程所安排的活動以視覺化規劃設計出來，例如教師可以利用LAMS來建立一整學期的教學進度與每節課程的教學活動，使用LAMS讓老師可以全盤思考與仔細規劃課程活動的細節，透過視覺化的介面讓教學者能將課程活動的架構以概念圖方式(兼顧左腦的邏輯與右腦的圖像思考)呈現出來，同時LAMS亦提供許多教學設計的模板(template)，教學者可以利用內建的模板快速建立課程計畫，並能針對需求加以客製化，而LAMS所提供的多樣教學工具更是可迎合各種教學法(pedagogy)，設計出符合學習者需求的學習活動。此外，教學者設計者可將教學活動序列可以分享給其他的使用者，並可重覆使用。

Enjoy a day outing at Shitou

We took our son to visit the famous tourist spot, Shitou. He was pretty excited and curious about all live plants around him, but we felt tired because we had to watch him from time to time. Thus, we didn't go to see the giant tree and sky walk. During the past few months, I have realized that it is really not easy to raise a child. However, it is really a wonderful experience to be a parent when I see my boy growing up everyday.

Kangaroo

袋鼠的尾巴可以支撐整個身體的重量。澳洲的Taronga 動物園裡，只有母的袋鼠，原因是公袋鼠會攻擊人類的男性。

A rewarding visit in Australia

終於結束在澳洲的短期訪問，現在在香港的機場準備搭機返台，此次澳洲之旅，跟以前每一次旅行與學術訪問一樣，都讓我感到豐收。澳洲是一個很大的國家，面積是台灣的200多倍，人口比台灣還少，只有2100萬人，此行讓我深入了解澳洲的歷史、自然景觀、文化與科技的發展，最重要的是我認識了很多朋友在工作上或在旅行中。尤其，我在Macquarie大學的數位學習中心，認識了不同國家來的工作夥伴，同時也學習到開放源碼軟體在澳洲的發展過程與應用在教學與研究的情況，在這段時間我也翻譯了LAMS軟體的中文介面，雖然只完成百分之三十八，但我相信我會繼續將所有的中文化工作完成，並且號召一些有興趣的同儕共同推廣LAMS軟體。

此行碰到很多友善的澳洲人民(Aussies)，對於他們提供的協助與幽默的個性，讓我待在澳洲期間非常的自在與愉快。非常感謝Macquaire大學的夥伴們與台北駐澳洲代表處的曾組長，讓我有機會到澳洲來學習，也再我的人生中留下一段美好的回憶。

Ready for new semester

Australia's universities are ready for new semester, and freshmen are coming to school to attend orientation and search apartment. Macquarie univeristy's campus set up many information booth to provide assistance and answer new students' questions. The city buses also run through campus, so students can catch bus to the train stations and city center.

Working on the LAMS project

I spent most of time translating and learning to use LAMS at MELCOE. It is not an easy task. However, I do feel the joy of learning. I think learning is the happiest thing in my life.

Blue Mountain National Park

Blue Mountain National Park is a World Heritage site. It is not too far from Sydney. This picture is the most famous spot, three sister rocks, in this beautiful park.

Heatwave hits Australia

It has been really really hot since I arrived in Australia. Today's news said that 84 people died because of this devastated bushfire caused by the heatwave. BBC's report is as follow.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7877243.stm

Sydney fish market

This weekend, we visited Sydney fish market. I think every tourist who loves sea food must visit this place. People can order any local catched fish, crabs, prawns, oysters, lobster, and abalone(鮑魚), and eat them raw or cooked. Some seafoods are expensive and even hard to eat in Taiwan, but we find them incredible cheap and taste are so good. Sydney has been very hot these couple days, and temperature sometimes reach 40 degree Celcius. On the way return to our apartmrnt, trains were delayed due to the electricity problem caused by the heatwave. It is nice to enjoy summer, but I think it will not be fun if I sweat a lot every day.

澳洲的Macquaire 大學

自從在美國讀書、工作返台後，我就認為美國雖然是世界的強國，但它並不一定是最好的，因此我就把握休假與進修的機會到美國以外的國家去。這次來到澳洲，讓我對澳洲有更深一層的認識，也了解到澳洲學校與研究有很多地方其實比美國還好，在我待的Macquarie大學，在2005年曾被選為世界的百大大學的第67名，台灣政府花了很多錢，但到目前為止沒有一所學校能進入，我想這跟大學的的制度有很大的關係，例如我在的MELCOE是一個獨立的研究中心，裡面聘請了30位左右的員工，這些人都來自不同的國家，有東歐、加拿大、非洲、日本、中國大陸與香港，中心的主管是一位教授，負責管理中心的營運與整合計畫，學校給了他很大的人力資源，也吸引了全世界優秀的人才，而在中心工作的員工每天只需上班七小時，每年還有30天的年假(不包括假日)，他們只要將工作及時完成即可。

Ibis birds (朱鷺)

在雪梨各地都常看到朱鷺(Ibis)，我在Macquarie大學內的同事告訴我，他們就像鴿子與海毆一樣普遍。

Doing LAMS project at MELCOE

LAMS software was developed at MELCOE, Sydney, Australia. In fact, Australia is probably the most advanced country in developing E-learning infrasture. Many software were invented and developed here, such as Moodle and other open source softwares. Since I arrived at Macquarie University, I have finished three modules' translation of the LAMS software. It really suprised me that China has finished most of translation works of LAMS, and they are using it widely in the higher education settings. I really hope I can introduce this excellent tool to Taiwan after I master the use of this software. It will be beneficial to the schools at various stages.

Taronga Zoo Sydney

Many Australian animals can be seen at this beautiful zoo located near seashore of North Sydney.