Midnight Assignments - How do you set the date and time?

by Alan Regan

"I have an assignment due at midnight. How do I enter the date and time?"

This tip comes from one of our professors, Dr. Chris Heard of Seaver College's Religion Division.  Dr. Heard had an assignment due at midnight and he wasn't sure how to record the time.  Does he record the time as 24:00:00 (PM) on the day the assignment is due or 00:00:00 (AM) the next day?

Let's say that you want to have students submit an assignment by midnight on Tuesday, June 18, 2013.  You would set the due date to Wednesday, June 19, 2013 at 00:00:00 AM.

Courses (powered by Sakai) will not accept 24:00:00 PM as a valid date.  The correct option for midnight is 12:00 AM the following day or 00:00:00 in military time.

Several other professors have chosen to simply set the deadline to 11:59:59 PM the day of the due assignment as another workaround.

Example 1: Activity is due at midnight on Tuesday, June 18, 2013 (they have all day Tuesday to complete the activity)

• Assignments: Jun 19 2013 12:00 AM
• Forums: 6/19/2013 12:00 AM
• Tests & Quizzes: 06/19/2013 00:00:00 AM

Example 2: Activity is due at noon on Tuesday, June 18, 2013 (they have until midday Tuesday to complete the activity)

• Assignments: Jun 18 2013 12:00 PM
• Forums: 6/18/2013 12:00 PM
• Tests & Quizzes:  06/18/2013 12:00:00 PM

We hope this "time" tip helps you in future assignments!

Mobile Development Options - Part 1: Overview

By Mark Giglione

Mobile Development Options - Part 1: Overview

This series will provide brief introductions to options for mobile app development with links to pursue each topic in more depth. The general plan is to begin with technologies that do not require a background in programming (or otherwise require traditional programming skills) and then explore options that progressively involve acquiring more technical expertise.

Part 1: Overview
Part 2: MIT App Inventor
Part 3: Mobile Web Development with Dreamweaver
Part 4: Titanium Appcelerator & Titanium Studio
Part 5: Processing
Part 6: Xcode for Apple iOS Development
Part 7: Eclipse for Android Development
Part 8: Other Tools and Wrap-Up

Overview

There are two primary strategy choices for creating mobile applications. The first is to create a ‘native’ application targeted for a specific device or device operating system (e.g. iOS devices, such as an iPad or iPhone, and Android devices like the Amazon Kindle). The second is to develop a website or web application that is designed for viewing by a mobile device.  

A native application is tailored and optimized for use on a specific device and is usually distributed through an online marketplace (for example  iTunes for iOS devices). Typically a native application requires the use of a traditional computer programming environment such as Xcode or Eclipse (but alternative development approaches are available).  

Mobile websites and mobile web applications can have a similar look and interface conventions as a native mobile application but are created using the tools and technologies that are typically used to create conventional web sites (e. g. HTML, CSS and Javascript). This has the advantage of utilizing tools that may already be familiar from previous web development work and the web based application is directly accessible from the web without first being downloaded and installed. While a native application may be a better choice where performance or device specific features are required, mobile web applications can be quite suitable for implementing simple to moderately complex applications. Mobile web applications are for the most part inherently “cross platform” since they are web rather than device based. Additionally, many mobile web applications can also be packaged and distributed as a standalone native applications.

The next installment will discuss the open source MIT App Inventor tool which uses codeless “visual” programming for creating native Android applications. App Inventor is also representative of a class of mobile development tools where the development environment is web based (rather than running on the desktop) but the final product is a native application.

Get Citations Right Through Pepperdine Libraries Search

by Alan Regan

Citing Made Easy: Leverage Pepperdine Libraries Search

You've asked your students to write a research paper but their citations are incorrect or consistent. In addition to pointing them to Pepperdine Libraries' valuable research tips, you can also point them to a solution that has likely been staring them in the face.

To find books and articles on a desired research topic, your class is hopefully taking advantage of the many physical and digital resources offered by our Pepperdine Libraries.  These materials are available through a powerful, central search tool, powered by WorldCat.  In addition to finding these resources, the tool will also provide the correct citation based on several common formats.

Instructions:

1. Visit http://library.pepperdine.edu.
2. Enter your search term or book title in the main search box.
   
   
   
3. Click the title of a search result.
4. Click "Cite/Export" in the options near the top right, next to "Print" and "Email."
5. Click the desired format, e.g. APA, Chicago, Harvard, MLA, and Turabian.
6. Copy the full citation.
   
   
   

It's that easy to find the correct citation for a book, article, or other resource.