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  • JimUBC 1:59 am on December 20, 2014 Permalink | Reply  

    Surface Power Cover 

    I just picked up a couple of Surface Power Covers. They were on sale and it seemed to be good value to get them now. I run long Skype sessions with screen sharing and these chew up battery life. The Surface Power Covers help with that.

    Power Cover

    If you follow the instructions and remove the warning label on the connector, the Surface Power Cover works with Surface Pro 3 as well as the Surface Pro 2, Surface Pro, and Surface 2.  It  will work as a keyboard only for a Surface (RT) – the original.

    You have to do a Windows Update to install the drivers that allow you to see all the battery information described in this article.

    Surface Power Cover

    Tap or click the battery icon in the desktop tray to see the charge on each battery.

    The typing experience is pretty much the same as the original type cover and that’s a good experience. The overall experience is better with the Surface Pro 3 type cover with the bigger touch pad. But when battery life is a priority, I’ll make the sacrifice.

    The early reports about usability of the touch pad have been alleviated by firmware updates that work on both Surface Pro and Surface Pro 3. That is, you can:

    • double tap for left-click
    • tap-drag to select and
    • two-finger tap for right-click

    This pretty eliminates my need to use the buttons on the bottom of the touch pad except when I need to do a right-click drag.

    I was concerned about the weight, but if I need longer battery life, I’m probably stationery. Walking around in tablet mode is a secondary concern. Traveling around I’ve found that the weight is no more a burden than carrying the power supply and it fits better in my carrying case.  It’s a relief not to be looking for power outlets before I stake out territory in a room

    The Power Cover can charge the Surface while the Surface is in sleep or standby mode. That means that if I’m in an all day session where I need to walk around with the Surface, when I’m on a break, I can snap on the Power Cover and charge the Surface just like I would take those opportunities to connect it to a charger, only now I don’t need to find an AC outlet.

    Here’s an excerpt from the article above describing the charging sequence.

    Charging sequence

    The Surface and Power Cover batteries are charged and discharged in a sequence designed to keep most of the charge on the Surface battery. Understanding the sequence makes it easier to predict how much charge to expect on each of the batteries.

    Which battery gets charged first?

    Once Surface is 80% charged, it starts charging the Power Cover. Then, when Power Cover is 80% charged, Surface finishes charging. When Surface is fully charged, Power Cover finishes charging. Power Cover will charge as long as Surface is turned on (sleep is fine) and connected to a power source, and Power Cover is connected to Surface.

    battery charging sequence

    How the batteries charge.

    Which battery is used first?

    When you’re using Surface and Power Cover and the Surface isn’t connected to a power source, Surface draws power from Power Cover first. When the Power Cover battery is drained, Surface switches to its own battery.

    Power Cover continues to charge your Surface while it is in sleep or on standby. If Surface is turned off and unplugged, or the Surface battery is completely drained, it can’t detect the Power Cover or draw power from it.

    If the battery on the Power Cover is completely drained, you can still use it as a keyboard.

    So far, I’m very pleased with the Power Covers.

    I have the Surface Pro and Surface Pro3 docking stations. It’s easy to connect the Power Cover to the Surface while docked, and that’s convenient for charging the Power Cover as long as the Surface is in sleep or hibernation mode. It doesn’t charge when the Surface is off.

    Battery Life?

    From what I can see using BatteryBar, it looks like the Power Cover offers about 29 mWh to the 42 mWh to the internal battery in the Suface Pro3 for a total of about 71 mWh.   I haven’t had occasion to exhaust the system to find out how long that actually lasts, but from what I’ve seen that should be more than enough to get me through 7  or 8 hours of connected work.  That’s pushing hard.

     

  • JimUBC 3:53 pm on December 16, 2014 Permalink | Reply  

    HTML CSS JavaScript SASI Session 2 Notes 

    HTML5 logo
    Consider this picture.

    Learning Cycle

    Can you see how this applies to what you are doing before our sessions and while we are together?

    Please reply with a comment about our second session.

    Highlights / Metacognition

    • What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you today?
    • What did you learn from that?
    • What will you do with that knowledge?

    Questions?

    • Now that we’ve had our second session, what do you want to know?
    • What could we have done better?

    If you spot a question from someone else and you can answer it – please do.

     

    • Sally 10:48 am on December 17, 2014 Permalink | Reply

      1. What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you today?
      – introduction to JavaScript and jQuery (including the background and some basic understanding of how JavaScript and jQuery works)
      – links to resources such as caniuse.com

      2. What did you learn from that?
      – some best practices in using JavaScript when authoring a webpage

      3. What will you do with that knowledge?
      – I hope to be able to make sense of the JavaScript that has been implemented in our current SITS work; and to be able to remember to think of best practices when I try to use JavaScript

      Questions?
      1. Now that we’ve had our second session, what do you want to know?
      – To delve deeper into the use of JavaScript; and to create JavaScript that would be applicable to SITS webpages (i.e. the student and staff facing portals)
      2. What could we have done better?
      – As you mentioned at the beginning of the class, the expectation of the 2-day course was to give us an introduction of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript; and to lead us to the place where we know what we know instead of not knowing what we don’t know…I feel that the 2-day course has accomplished that for me 🙂 Now, it’s more about trying to apply our knowledge in practice.

      Thanks again for leading the 2-day course!

  • JimUBC 9:52 pm on December 14, 2014 Permalink | Reply  

    HTML CSS JavaScript SASI Session 1 Notes 

    HTML5 logo
    Consider this picture.

    Learning Cycle

    Can you see how this applies to what you are doing before our sessions and while we are together?

    Please reply with a comment about our first session.

    Highlights / Metacognition

    • What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you today?
    • What did you learn from that?
    • What will you do with that knowledge?

    Questions?

    • Now that we’ve had our first session, what do you want to know?
    • What could we have done better?

    If you spot a question from someone else and you can answer it – please do.

     

    • Sandra Yee 10:08 am on December 16, 2014 Permalink | Reply

      What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you tonight?
      What did you learn from that?
      What will you do with that knowledge?

      Questions?
      Now that we’ve had our first session, what do you want to know?
      What could we have done better?

    • Geneva 10:13 am on December 16, 2014 Permalink | Reply

      What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you tonight? – the hands on experience and the ‘stool’
      What did you learn from that? how html, css, and soon to be javascript, interact
      What will you do with that knowledge? understand what the devs are talking about
      Questions? none at the moment

      Now that we’ve had our first session, what do you want to know? i’m not sure, I’m still in the ‘I dont know what I don’t know’ phase 🙂
      What could we have done better? nada, it’s great!

    • Jen Duggan 10:14 am on December 16, 2014 Permalink | Reply

      What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you yesterday?
      Defining classes and elements, and how to apply a style to them using a CSS

      What did you learn from that?

      What will you do with that knowledge?
      Use it when making pages within SITS e:Vision where we need to change the styling from the default UBC CLF.

      Questions?

      Now that we’ve had our first session, what do you want to know?
      More HTML formatting maybe – it feels like so much of our time is spent on the “look and feel” of pages
      More about Javascript, JQuery

      What could we have done better?

    • Sally McKenzie 10:15 am on December 16, 2014 Permalink | Reply

      1. What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you tonight?
      – The three-legged stool theory to illustrate the relationship among HTML, CSS, and Javascript
      – The W3 standards to keep in mind when using HTML and CSS

      2. What did you learn from that?
      – To keep in mind the standard and best practices when using HTML and CSS

      3. What will you do with that knowledge?
      – To apply the theory / concept taught at this class to the development work in the project; how best to style the content on the web student and staff portals

      Questions?

      1. Now that we’ve had our first session, what do you want to know?
      – How to apply what we’ve learned in the first session to our current development/configuration work

      2. What could we have done better?
      – Use some of the current SITS development as examples

    • Tara MacDonald 10:16 am on December 16, 2014 Permalink | Reply

      What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you tonight?

      You had some wonderful analogies for thinking about how html/css/javascript work together – 3-legged & not mixing mustard into the bread really stuck with me.

      What did you learn from that?

      I knew coming in that the html portion would likely be a refresher for me, but a better understanding of how css and javascript work together with it and how to structure it is something that I definitely was left with. Firmer knowledge of how to use CSS and a glimpse at javascript are things that I gained. Looking forward to learning more about javascript today, as don’t know much about it …

      What will you do with that knowledge?

      This knowledge will better enable me to look at site and decipher what the coding means and allow me to figure out how to do certain things. The resources you provided were super handy as well.

      Questions?

      Now that we’ve had our first session, what do you want to know?

      More on javascript!

      What could we have done better?

      Great instruction – keep doing what you’re doing!

    • Nina Kessler 10:16 am on December 16, 2014 Permalink | Reply

      What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you tonight?

      I had a good review of HTML and gained understanding of how CSS works.

      What did you learn from that?

      I learned many tools to use and resources for HTML rules.
      I learned what JQuery is and the uses of HTML5, CSS and JavaScript.

      What will you do with that knowledge?
      I will use it in my new position when I am faced with creating sites and pages.

      Questions?
      Now that we’ve had our first session, what do you want to know?

      I want to learn about JavaScript.

      What could we have done better?

    • Michael Eastwood 10:16 am on December 16, 2014 Permalink | Reply

      Highlights / Metacognition
      What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you yesterday?
      – History of HTML5 and what is new in HTML5
      What did you learn from that?
      – Why browsers work differently, at least partially
      What will you do with that knowledge?
      – Check if what I’m using to build a page is compatible with all browsers

      Questions?
      Now that we’ve had our first session, what do you want to know?
      – More JavaScript and jQuery
      What could we have done better?
      – I would like a quicker pace and more advanced coding examples but I understand that that would not work for the rest of the class

    • DebbieUBC 10:17 am on December 16, 2014 Permalink | Reply

      What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you tonight? Most valuable thing was learning some of the elements of the HTML page
      What did you learn from that? I learned where to look up HTML elements and how to build pages.
      What will you do with that knowledge? Help me to converse with developers on the project team.

      Questions?
      Now that we’ve had our first session, what do you want to know? I want to learn more about JavaScript
      What could we have done better? More time to practice.

    • Harry 10:20 am on December 16, 2014 Permalink | Reply

      What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you tonight?

      – I was already quite familiar with HTML and CSS, but it was valuable for me to learn more about the reasoning and history behind things and what I was doing, as well as what’s changed over time.

      What did you learn from that?

      – Provided me with more structured learning behind the concepts and different ways to explain technical behaviour to the everyday user.

      What will you do with that knowledge?

      – Be able to take away references from the course to use when guiding users and in explaining the capabilities of what can be done.

      Now that we’ve had our first session, what do you want to know?

      – More about web page standards, best practices, code optimization, usability, current tools used out there.

      What could we have done better?

    • Michael 10:20 am on December 16, 2014 Permalink | Reply

      Can you see how this applies to what you are doing before our sessions and while we are together?
      Yes, now I know how the tags work rather than just using it

      Please reply with a comment about our first session.

      Highlights / Metacognition

      What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you tonight? To know some of the history, and background of world wide web.

      What did you learn from that? The basic idea of how web work

      What will you do with that knowledge? Understand from a developer’s perspective

      Questions?

      Now that we’ve had our first session, what do you want to know? How to troubleshoot html, css, and javascript
      What could we have done better? Highlight some of the features for HTML5

    • Alma 10:21 am on December 16, 2014 Permalink | Reply

      Highlights / Metacognition
      What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you tonight?
      High view on how information flows from front end to back end.

      What did you learn from that?
      I knew per experience how things work but in isolated way and it is really important the way those components work together

      What will you do with that knowledge?
      As BA – QA this knowledge is gold since now I will better transform requirements to pass them to developers and when QA time gets this will help me to target better any issues related to code or data or function.

      Questions?
      Now that we’ve had our first session, what do you want to know?
      Perhaps if there is any debugger could help with typing kind of mistakes, like comma… etc

      What could we have done better? Nothing I love the way it is! I also like the hands on practices

    • Sandra Yee 10:21 am on December 16, 2014 Permalink | Reply

      What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you tonight?
      > Learning about the HTML5 Structural Semantic Elements

      What did you learn from that?
      > Structural elements such as articles, section, and etc can be used to organize and structure a page.

      What will you do with that knowledge?
      > When configuring pages in SITS, I should include these items.

      Questions?
      Now that we’ve had our first session, what do you want to know?
      > Learn about JavaScript and JQuery

      What could we have done better?
      > Not much. The class was at a good pace and covered pertinent topics.

    • Asima Zahid 10:46 am on December 16, 2014 Permalink | Reply

      What did you think was the most valuable thing that happened for you tonight?

      AZ: Understanding the relationship between HTML, CSS and JavaScript as well as clarifying the concepts around the structure of web dialogue (application server, web server, browser etc.)

      What did you learn from that?

      AZ: How does web work and why certain options are preferred based on the page content and usage.

      What will you do with that knowledge?

      AZ: Apply appropriate tool(s) (HTML, CSS, JS) when developing web pages

      Questions?
      Now that we’ve had our first session, what do you want to know?

      AZ: further understanding of JavaScript and JQuery and how to apply each in various contexts

      What could we have done better?

      AZ: Have some more hands-on exercises to do on our own

  • JimUBC 8:02 am on December 2, 2014 Permalink | Reply  

    CTLT Course Design Intensive this December 8th, 10th, and 12th 

    Will you be teaching a course in the next year at a post-secondary institution? As a participant in the CTLT Course Design Intensive this December 8th, 10th, and 12th, you will work in a supportive atmosphere, both individually and collaboratively on a course you teach or are planning to teach. You must have a course that you would like to design or re-design, regardless of the mode (face-to-face, online, or blended).

    To register, please click here.

     

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