If HAL could accept you to college...

Next year, Auburn University will use Applications Quest software, in part, to admit its undergraduate class. Applications Quest software was created by Dr. Juan Gilbert (named one of the nation's top African-American Scholars by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education), Associate Professor at Auburn University.

From Applications Quest's website:

Imagine if two applications could be compared in such a manner that their relative difference, or similarity, could be quantified on a 100 point percentage scale. Using this notion, two identical applications would be 0% different and 100% similar. All other application comparisons would fall between 0% and 100% on this relative scale.

According to Gilbert, using Application Quest removes any bias from the decision process.

When They Say I WANT TO BE ON YOUTUBE

Sometimes people will hear INTERNET buzzwords like YOUTUBE or FACEBOOK, and want to jump on the band wagon. I encounter that when people want to spend little to no advertising dollars but still want a hefty ROI, all of which can be accomplished on this magic INTERNETS.

To quote myself from an email I sent this morning-

To use social networking sites (Facebook and MySpace) for free advertising/networking, you already have to have a brand awareness with users.

Example: a Facebook user may join a "Barack 2008" group or request to be friends with "Barack", but if a user has never heard of Barack, they will probably not do either. It is a catch-22.

Not rocket science, but the truth.

On to YouTube. I'm not sure yet how we will use YouTube to promote our schools.

But Duke University has done something really cool with their YouTube postings. They ask a professor 1 question about their field and allow them 2 minutes to respond. It is a quick window into the world of the Duke profs- they seem approachable, friendly, smart- all the things you'd like your college professors to be. The production value is good and after you pay for that it is free to post on YouTube! See...the INTERNETS are MAGIC!

Free Thursdays - Use Scribd to Store and Publish your Docs

Scribd is a free, web-based, document sharing community that enables you publish, distribute, and share documents of all kinds. E-books, essays, academic papers, newsletters, photo albums, school work, and sheet music are just a few of the different kinds of documents you can publish and share on Scribd.

Create your doc in any format (word, xls, rtf, jpg, etc) and upon upload to Scribd it is converted to their Flash viewer format so that it can be viewed inside a web browser. They also convert it to several downloadable formats, including PDF, Microsoft Word, and plain text. You can control the types of downloadable formats that are made available.

Visit Scribd just to search their database of docs. I searched "MacGyver" and found:

1. The Unofficial MacGyver How-to Handbook Revised 2nd Edition - written by my buddy and former Blackboard support rep Bret Terrill.
2. MacGyver Theme song sheet music.

If you're looking for something more useful...

I searched "how to write a paper" and found:

1. Guidelines on Writing a Philosophy Paper

There are a ton of digital docs available to print (sadly you cannot edit them, you just upload a new version).

If you are looking for an alternative to posting PDF or Word docs for students, Scribd might be your answer.

Border's Discounts for Instructors!

Educator Savings Week

Wednesday, April 2 - Tuesday, April 8

Current and retired educators receive 25% off the list price of books, CDs, DVDs, and more!

http://www.bordersmedia.com/educators/