DLF Instructional Technologies Blog

iPad and iPhone Groupwise

2011-04-05T08:41:00.001-04:00

The Groupwise interface when used with the iPad or any other mobile device needs to be displayed in the "Basic Interface" mode. There is an App for $5.99 that does work real well with Groupwise, the GW Mail App. GW Mail is a GroupWise email client for the iPhone or iPad. With this app you get a much better interface than Novell delivers by default through GroupWise WebAccess. You can search for the app, or go to: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gw-mail/id335575354?mt=8

This app has been tested and does work quite well. Stay away from the "Lite" version.

Joel

INTELECOM and YouTube

2009-11-19T09:11:00.006-05:00

The College of Southern Maryland has a subscription to INTELECOM online streaming video clips. If you would like access to this treasure of videos available on demand, please contact the DLF.

INTELECOM has recently created a YouTube channel. We have added INTELECOM under subscriptions to CSMDTube (Visit: http://www.youtube.com/CSMDTube)

View a quick and informative video on INTELECOM at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dsOov3OUJ0

More information about INTELECOM:

INTELECOM Releases Luminaries Collection

INTELECOM is pleased to announce a comprehensive new collection of streaming video clips featuring interviews with some of the most accomplished thinkers in recent American intellectual history.

The Luminaries collection from INTELECOM offers colleges, universities and virtual high schools a library of nearly 1,000 video clips and discussions across a range of academic topics from authors, researchers, scholars and others whose work has changed the world. The collection includes such notables from the political arena as James Baker and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. Experts from the business sector include Richard Branson, the charismatic entrepreneur behind the Virgin Group of Companies. Students will also hear from Noam Chomsky, whose work in linguistics changed our understanding of language and the mind.

The INTELECOM Online Resources Network® is an award-winning video clip repository and searchable database designed to meet the growing need for rich media in support of online, hybrid, and face-to-face classes. More than 3,000 video clips in core disciplines including History, Psychology, Oceanography, Environmental Studies, Physics, and more.

The Luminaries collection is included in all Full Subscriptions to the INTELECOM Online Resources Network®. For more information go to www.intelecomonline.net.

Downloading MP3 (Class Lectures) from Blackboard

2009-11-04T14:59:00.003-05:00

I had an e-mail today from an instructor who said her students were trying to download the course MP3 lectures to listen to on their iPod. The only option they had was "Save Target As.." and that was only saving the URL. This is a common problem we have when we use different browsers and media players so I created a tutorial for two options to download MP3 files to your computer.

The tutorial "Downloading MP3 files (class lectures) through Blackboard" is located on our "Getting Started" web site at http://www.dlf.csmd.ewdu/gettingstarted
On the "BlackBoard Information" page, I have two suggestions on how to download MP3 files from your Blackboard course.

Quickly view the instructions here: See the attached .PDF for more information.

CSM Standard Web Course Statements

2009-09-09T08:58:00.005-04:00

Below is the code needed for the college's official ADA statement. This statement should be posted on footer of the Course Content Home Page:

Blackboard regularly measures and evaluates accessibility levels using a third party to ensure compliance, continually auditing the Blackboard code and user interface design techniques to ensure that applications are usable by everyone, to the greatest extent possible, regardless of age, ability, or situation. Blackboard measures and evaluates accessibility levels using two sets of standards: Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act issued from the United States federal government and the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) issued by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
Should students requiring special (ADA) accommodations have difficulties accessing online course materials, they should contact ADA services at the College of Southern Maryland at 301-934-7657 or visit http://www.csmd.edu/Studentsuccess/ADA/index.html

This is the college's copyright statement which should be displayed on the footer of the Learning Modules folder:

Materials used in connection with this course may be subject to copyright protection. Federal law provides that persons are prohibited from violating the rights of copyright holders. Violations may be subject to civil and/or criminal penalties including substantial fines and incarceration. More information about copyright law, from the United States Copyright Office of the Library of Congress, can be found here: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf

Getting Wired at CSM

2009-08-28T12:20:00.003-04:00

Hey folks,
I have just completed a presentation for Saturday's Jumpstart Your Semester called, Getting Wired at CSM. This presentation promises to be very informative for new faculty at CSM. It's an overview of all the available online services at CSM including; our Learning Management System, Blackboard, Faculty Express Services, DLF online training opportunities and other important services. If you can't attend this information session, I have provided the presentation below.

Enjoy, Joel

Getting Wired At CSM

View more presentations from joelk.

Respondus Exam Creator Software Licence Update

2009-07-28T10:38:00.001-04:00

As of July 31st, we can no longer justify the cost of the college wide licence for Respondus and have purchased five single user licences. Respondus increased their price significantly.

After July 31st, faculty can access a single user licence of Respondus at the following locations:

1. La Plata, LR202 W/S S01,
2. Leonardtown, C217 PT Faculty W/S
3. Prince Frederick, 234, PT Faculty W/S, the computer on the left

Ronda Jacobs and Joel Kinison have Respondus installed on their laptops and will continue to provide Respondus training, support and assistance at all campuses.

We plan on purchasing 5 more licences for high use Respondus users.

BbWorld 09

2009-07-17T12:26:00.002-04:00

I had the opportunity this week to attend the Bbworld 09 conference hosted at the Gaylord Conference Center and Hotel located at the National Harbor just outside of D.C. This year’s event promised to be devoted to Blackboard’s Release 9 and a number of in depth technical and pedagogical sessions led my people in the educational industry.

The conference started with a bang with the opening keynote by Seth Godin, author of “Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us.” His keynote set the tune of the entire conference. The author explained that tribal instinct drives people to learn from peers not leaders and that innovations are driven by “person to person” not from the management down. Basically he instilled to the audience that the number of people who follow you are not as important as the number of people who are passionate about you. In short he suggested find something you are passionate in and “Become a rock star in your organization!” He made the analogy, “Be a unicorn in a balloon factory.”

Blackboard CEO Michael Chassen did his annual Blackboard Corporate Keynote and was joined by Ray Henderson, formally of Angel Learning and the new President of Blackboard Learn. Michael kept Seth Godin’s theme alive by comparing the Bb NG project to “The Influence of Tribes.” He urged the audience to focus on WebCT, Angel and Blackboard clients to come together as one tribe – to provide a better education for students. The keynote also focused on better client support, innovation and transparency as well as a Blackboard product demo. The audience was excited by the announcement that Blackboard would open up their Blackboard Database to developers. Keeping with the keynote tradition at Blackboard of having some fun at their own expense with some spoof ads they showed a couple clever spoofs. Check them out here

I attended a number of classroom technology sessions including Calcasieu’s Top 10 Tools for Success in Blackboard Learn, The Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro with Blackboard Learn, Lights, Camera, Interaction!, Developing and Using Interactive Applications in Your Course, Discover! Design! Deliver!, An Integrated Solution to Online Content Creation with Softchalk, Pushing Past PowerPoint, and Making an Online Readiness Tool with Adobe Captivate 4. I left each one of these sessions with ideas and the tools on how to create rich, interactive and stimulating learner interactions.

I also attended some sessions focused on faculty training and support labs. Bontia Bray, University of Alberta presented “From Mini-Bytes to the Real Meal Deal.” She pulled ideas from their proven Blackboard Training Summer Institute. She talked about how their summer sessions became successful by making it a “Big Deal” to the faculty. Bontia said that she acknowledge the importance of the training, emphasized the benefits and having a set of clear expectations and outcomes of the training. Her 5-day summer institute is a model to follow. During a panel discussion “Coach it or Do it” I discovered that we have the same desires, obstacles and concerns regarding faculty Blackboard training in our organization as other organizations do.

The conference ended with an inspirational keynote by NBC News Anchor Lester Holt. His session focuses on the interconnected world that we live in and how technology has changed not only the global community but education as well. He gave a number of examples how technologies like Twitter and YouTube have digitally connected the global community and will change the way the average person views news events. Lester stated that blogging and news reporting by Internet users is welcomed in the news community, but he cautioned what we might see in a blog is filtered news from opinionated bloggers. He was careful to point out that we need professional journalist to give an accurate and un-opinionated view and report of the news. Lester, I don’t think you need to worry about your job!

Blackboard invited CE clients to stay for a workshop on “Life in Blackboard Learn, Release 9.0 for CE Orientation.” Jennifer Mathews gave us a overview of Bb release 9.0, user experiences of co-production, what’s different between CE8 and Bb 9.0 and course conversion options and considerations. After this workshop, I realized Blackboard has some more work to do before we see the features CE clients are accustomed too. Although the Blackboard 9.0 has many new welcomed features, at the same time we will be losing some valuable CE8 features. Jennifer assured us that the Blackboard developers are working to incorporate these features in future releases of Blackboard. While we are excited to upgrade to Bb 9.0 then NG, we realize, that at least of the immediate future, we are better off staying with Blackboard CE8 until later releases of Bb 9.x.

The Exhibit Hall was impressive with at least 50 booths to browse. I was especially impressed by a demo of Softchalk. With SoftChalk LessonBuilder you can create interactive web pages, engage your students with lessons that include pop-up text annotations, self-assessment quizzes, and interactive learning games and then integrate it with your LMS (Learning Management System). During my walks around the Exhibit Hall I discovered that Blackboard has created a one stop place to get all your Blackboard Extensions at http://www.blackboard.com/Support/Extensions.aspx. Also, I had a great conversation with Intelecom, and what they are doing in collaboration with Softchalk to make their videos easier to access. We have a three year contract with Intelecom.

So the conference was a real inspiration in many ways and Blackboard can sure throw a good party. I commented that in my experience past WebCT conference’s only had an open bar one night, whereas BbWorld 09 had an open bar two nights. I understand Angle’s conferences never had an open bar. Although, Blackboard’s hospitality was unparalleled in the educational community, I’m sure we will eventually pay for it.

Best of BbWorld Resources - On the BbWorld website , you'll find a number of post-show resources including links to presentations, community discussion forums, Twitter feeds and photos from the event.

Automatic forwarding of WebCT Mail to an external e-mail address

2009-07-07T08:57:00.001-04:00

BlackBoard CE8 Feature:

Below are the steps for setting automatic forwarding of WebCT Mail to an external e-mail address you defined in your profile.

1. Go into the Manage Course and Settings for the Mail tool and change the setting to "Allow messages to be forwarded to an external e-mail" to True.

2. When set to True, you can access this feature from My Settings in the My WebCT Screen.

3. From My Settings, click on the My Tool Options tab and check "Forward all mail to the e-mail address in my profile."

4. Under My Settings and the My Profile tab, check to ensure you have the proper external address listed

Blackboard Information

2009-06-25T10:35:00.003-04:00

A few Blackboard updates for the summer:

1. We are currently using Blackboard Academic Suite 8.0.1. We should be installing some Hotfixes this summer which will resolve some minor issues. As a user, you should not see any differences in the look and feel of the application. The exact date of the minor upgrades will be address later.

2. Blackboard is in the process of updated their web resources by providing up-to-date information on browser and OS requirements, manual, quick references and other tutorials. Most of the resources are available on their web site at The Faculty Support Resource Center.

3. I am excited to be going to the BbWorld 2009 conference at the National Harbor, July 14-16. I attended one of these conferences in Boston about 10 years ago and it was an overwhelming experience. At this conference I hope to get the latest updates from Blackboard, attend workshops from other educators in the field of online education and a chance to meet exhibitors and learn about how they can improve expereince with Blackboard products.

csmdtube

2009-06-03T11:13:00.001-04:00

The College of Southern Maryland recently formed a partnership with YouTube to create a video channel under the banner of http://www.youtube.com/csmdtube. More than 100 schools have partnered with YouTube which is owned by Google.com. At csmdtube you will find promotional videos, college events, guest lecturers, course introductions and classroom lectures. Outreach is one of the benefits of Youtube. These videos not only benefit the prospective and current students, but the community and “lifelong learners”.

The DLF is promoting the use of csmdtube in the classroom environment by providing resources and support to faculty. The Department of Distance Learning and Faculty Development (DLF) consider YouTube an integral part of our students’ daily lives and by making csmdube videos available as a part of a course can only stimulate the learning process. This benefits the student as well as making the instructor more comfortable with digital media.

Full and part-time faculty at the College of Southern Maryland are invited to learn more about how you can enhance your class by adding csmdtube by contacting Joel Kinison.

SitePal

2009-03-27T09:32:00.005-04:00

CSM has purchased SitePal Avatar creation services. Creating SitePal characters that are unique to you class is easy. SitePal has thousands of different characters to choose from by allowing you to personalize your character's physical attributes.

See the DLF for Login info.

Software Upgrades

2009-02-24T14:57:00.007-05:00

The DLF is in the process of purchasing software upgrades. Below is a complete list of the recently purchased upgrades:

1. e-learning Support: Articulate was upgraded to Articulate Rapid E-Learning Studio '09. This is our favorite program which quickly creates course material from PowerPoint and develops exciting interactive content such as interactive graphics, quizzes, assessments and timelines. The program takes the PowerPoint with narration, other audio and even video and creates one easily viewable streaming flash file. We use this program with a number of our contracted courses and a number of faculty also use Articulate presentations in their web-based classes.

2. Video Editing: DLF's two video editing work stations were upgraded to Pinnacle Studio 12. The market leading software program has been the base of our video work for the past 5 years. The program combines the power of capturing, editing and creating with ease that even a novice can easily use. Pinnacle Studio allows for the ability to import VHS and Digital video from a wide range of devices then streamlines the editing process. The output can be burned to a DVD or thumb drive or posted on YouTube or Google Video. The college also has the ability to stream the video on our web server.

3. PDF Creation: We have updated selected lab computers with Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro. Adobe Acrobat is designed to view, create, manipulate files in the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). The new version extends the support to create polished PDF files, present multiple documents in a PDF Portfolio, and even add multimedia.

4. Capture Software: Adobe Captivate 4. This long overdue upgrade from version 2 to version 4 is a welcomed addition to the DLF software list. This program just keeps getting better and better. This version adds more interactivity for software and scenario simulations, quizzes, and other engaging experiences. Like all of our other software, it is easy to use...no program skills required. Just pick a template and start your e-learning creation.

We are really excited to have these upgrades to our software lineup. So please drop by and let us showcase our software and how it can be incorporating into your classroom.

Microsoft Work at Home Software

2009-01-14T09:28:00.000-05:00

Microsoft Work at Home Software

The college is making available the Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 software package to faculty who find it necessary to work from home. With your Chair/ Supervisors permission, you can obtain the software from the library on the La Plata campus.
If you wish to obtain a copy of the software you will need to have your Chair/ Supervisor send an email to circulation@csmd.edu requesting the library to loan you a copy. Once the email is received the library will charge out to you the 1 disk. You can either pick the software up at the library in La Plata or request that it be sent directly to you through the college mail. The use of this software is governed by the Computer Use Policy.

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Social Networking

2008-12-16T09:37:00.002-05:00

Today I will be presenting a social networking demo for our college’s Web Council. I want to keep it short because we have other issues to talk about including the Website redesign update. I want to focus on just a few social networks or more precisely Web 2.0 applications. These applications include; Facebook, Wikipedia, blogs, Wikis, electronic portfolios and Google Apps for Education.

Facebook – Originally launched by a student at Harvard University as a way to keep in contact with fellow classmates. Now Facebook has expanded to everyone who has a official e-mail address. With Facebook you can choose to join one or more networks like College of Southern Maryland. This allows users to stay connected with users of the same network. http://www.facebook.com

Wikipedia – Written collaboratively by volunteers from everywhere, anytime by anyone. Did you know the college has a Wiki site? Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_Southern_Maryland.

Blog – Unique in that blogs are owned by an individual. The nature of the blog is to invite comments, suggestions and additions for the public. This idea is similar to social networking in that is shares features of personal expressions. It also serves as a location to share and connect to other web resources.

Wiki – Similar to a blog but work is completed as a collective unit. This collaborative environment is idea fro groups and committees/team assignments. This application is a tool for thinking, reflecting, creating and commenting.

Electronic Portfolios – Wikis, blogs and social networks have all influenced ePortfolios over the last five years. With Net Generation and Digital Natives sharing and organizing their lives online the idea of ePortfolios only makes sense. There are a number of available ePortfolio sites available online. Additionally, ePortfolio applications are becoming standard resources in Learning Management Systems like Angel and BlackBoard NG. Epsilen ePortfolio management system combines ePortfolio tools with social networking framework. Its application is being billed as the new model for the next generation of life- long learners and professionals. My Epsilen site: http://joelk.csmd.epsilen.com/content/personal/universal/public/home/index.aspx?pr=joelk

Google Apps Educational Edition – This application can be branded with the CSM name in the URL as well as a logo on the pages. When you log into Google you can send and receive email, create, edit, share and view documents, spreadsheets and presentations, create web sites and chat with other Google users. I am still doing some research on Google Apps Educational Edition. This application might be piloted this spring. I will have more information on Google Apps in an upcoming blog entry.

More on the TEACH Act

2008-11-18T13:09:00.003-05:00

When the TEACH Act first come out we worked to ensure our college meet all the requirements that the law provides for educational institutions transmitting copyrighted works as part of a distance education course. The TEACH Act requires the following conditions must be satisfied to use material under the TEACH Act. The following are the requirements along with our college’s status in meeting those requirements. This also works as a good checklist for distance education instructors:

1. The institution must be accredited.
CSM is accredited

2. The transmission of the work must be part of an instructional activity.
The copyrighted material is used as part of a class experience

3. The work must be directly related to the teaching content.
Faculty is informed that use of copyrighted material should be related to the teaching content

4. The transmission must, to the extent technologically feasible, be limited to the student enrolled in the distance learning experience.
Blackboard CE8, CSM’s web delivery tool, requires a student to provide a valid login and password to enter the content

5. The institution must have a copyright policy.
CSM has a policy

6. The institution must provide notice to students that materials used in the course may be subject to copyright protection
CSM needs to add this statement to the footer portion of the Learning Modules page for each course.

7. The institution must apply technological measures that reasonably prevent students from retaining the work in accessible form after the class session.
After each session, the student must log out. At the end of the course (2 weeks), student’s access is taken away

8. The institution must apply technological measures that reasonable prevent redistribution of the material.
We purchased RealNetworks Real Player streaming audio/video server has the capability to prevent students from downloading the streamed file to their computer. This protocol is called “Secret Handshake”.

More links regarding Coprright and TEACH Act, thanks to my friends at University of West Georgia and their Distance Education Certificate Program:

Regents Guide to the TEACH Act
Copyright Considerations in the Digital Age
10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained, Brad Templeton
Copyright Issues Relating to On-Line Classrooms, Hill

Three Things that Online Instructors Need for Training

2008-10-29T13:12:00.002-04:00

Instructors wishing to design and deliver web-based courses require certain skills which are different than skills needed for a traditional face-to-face course. By being aware of this, there are three important things that are overlooked by administrators creating training programs for prospective online instructors. Knowing the difference between traditional and nontraditional learners, time required to develop a course and the idea of providing prospective instructors training via the web.

Knowing the difference between traditional and nontraditional learners
Distance learning students are considered nontraditional students and approach learning differently than traditional students. The traditional student rely on an instructor led classroom (teacher to student), whereas nontraditional student learning is dialog based verses lecture based. Nontraditional learners need to know why they need to learn something before undertaking to learn it. This need suggests that the responsibility for learning be transferred from facilitator to learner (Andrological and Pedagogical Training Differences for Online Instructors, Gibbons & Wentworth, 2001(http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall43/gibbons_wentworth43.html)). The best way to create a productive dialog in your course is to use the Discussion Tool. A good model for productive discussions is to post a open ended question each week that relates to the module content that evokes a discussion that feeds in the experience of the nontraditional learners. Knowing the difference between a nontraditional learner and a traditional learning is the recipe for success in delivering a web-based course.

Time required to develop a course
It’s important to realize that the development of a web-based course requires considerable development time. Time is also required to integrate different teaching and learning styles, particularly collaborative, learner centered learning styles such as discussions that make the best use of web-based instructional technology. (Learn Online Staff: Grant MacEwan Collage (http://stats.macewan.ca/learn/staff/lit_comp.cfm)). Understanding what tools are available and how to effectively deploy these tools are essential skills required before undertaking a redesign from a traditional face-to-face to a web-based course. Before the content is revised and loaded into the course, the web-based instructor should have developed a syllabus which is reviewed by an experience web-based instructor or a mentor. After the prospective instructor has learned the tools, developed a syllabus and revised the content then the course can be constructed. All these phases in the development of a web-based course takes a considerable amount of time to accomplish.

Providing web-based training for prospective instructors
Training conducted online allows new facilitators to learn experientially under the same conditions as their future students (Andrological and Pedagogical Training Differences for Online Instructors, Gibbons & Wentworth, 2001(http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall43/gibbons_wentworth43.html)). This model of delivering web-based training to prospective web-based instructors is a win - win situation for educational institutions. Prospective instructors participate in a web-based course by accessing the content in the same manner as their students will access their content. Good design principles and ideas are picked up and later used by the prospective instructor. Also, the instructor experiences from a student standpoint the issues of working with the technology, navigating content and meeting deadlines. Another reason that institutions might consider this approach to training is that it reaches faculty that might not otherwise be able to attend the training due to scheduling conflicts.

Understanding these three factors and incorporating them into the educational institution’s training program will provide distance learning instructors with the skills needed to become effective online educators.

Google Sites

2008-10-08T09:04:00.004-04:00

Google Sites is a free online Web2.0 application which makes creating and editing web sites easy. The site allows you to grab information, edit and post so viewers have viewing and/or editing access. What I like best is the freedom you have in design and the professional looking end result with no advertising.
Get started here: http://sites.google.com/site

I found Google Sites to be easy to use as well as features that allow you to edit the HTML. For the novice, the easy to use features enable you to create a faulty web page or a course home page anywhere as long as you have access to the Internet.

For faculty looking to create a faculty web page and course home page it is simple to customize the site by adding your photo, contact information course listing and individual pages for each course that continues documents such as syllabus, course notes, PowerPoints and even videos. Worried about space? You get 100MB of space, more than enough!

Google make available short YouTube videos to make learning how to use the application evan easier like this short getting started tutorial:

I was able to create my faculty web page in about three hours, and most of that time was spent learning the features and tools. Now, if I want to update the site, it is as easy as clicking on the site and adding the information.

View my site at http://sites.google.com/site/seanettles

Twitter

2008-09-23T09:49:00.003-04:00

Twitter is a good resource to keep students up-to-date with what your currently doing.

Twitter could be used by an instructor to send messages in less than 180 characters, however this is nothing more than a new twist to the term for Instant Messaging. I think Twitter could be ideal for reminding students about homework, tests and such things, especially as they can enter their cell phone number to be alerted when an instructor does a Twitter entry. The advantage is that you don’t need to know the phone numbers of students to get messages onto their device: they are the ones who authorize their mobile phone from the website and they subscribe to your Twitter feed. The drawback is that all your students would have to be Twitter users, which is stretching your luck.

Twitter

FREE ePortfolio from Epsilen.com

2008-09-23T09:47:00.000-04:00

www.epsilen.com allows you to create a free eportfolio. The service is free for all registered students and faculty of US colleges and universities.

The idea is to allow users to play with the product with the hopes that someday the institution will get a full capacity institutional license. This might be a good alternative to what we have now, called "Faculty Web Pages." So feel free to use the tools and make a web page. Some of the features include:

Create and maintain a professional ePortfolio
Engage in professional and social networking
Showcase scholarly work and other documents in a wide range of formats
Develop and share resumes
Store and share files/objects
Use Epsilen e-mail, blog, wiki, and other communication and collaboration tools
Create and participate in professional collaboration groups
Produce a personal ePortfolio Web site with profile, photos and video

If CSM becomes, a licensed Epsilen institution, your free ePortfolio will integrate dynamically with the more sophisticated tools and services that accompany the paid license.

My web site is at: http://joelk.csmd.epsilen.com

eLearning Course Tool Review: CourseLab 2.4

2008-09-12T09:00:00.000-04:00

I read on the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies web site list a FREE eLearning Course Authoring Tool called CourseLab 2.4 available at www.courselab.com. Anytime I see something free it is worth the time and effort to download and pilot the software. I am not inclined to read directions, I prefer to roll up my sleeves and start working with the program, so I did. According to the web site “CourseLab is a powerful, yet easy-to-use, e-learning authoring tool that offers programming-free WYSIWYG environment for creating high-quality interactive e-learning content which can be published on the Internet, Learning Management Systems (LMS), CD-ROMS and other devices.” My objective was to develop a simple text and photo lecture for my class on Monday.

After downloading the product, I had to actually register via e-mail to get my code to run the program. The procedure was fast and relatively pain free. I was able to bring the interface up immediately and start exploring the features. However, things started to go downhill after that. The interface reminded me a lot of PowerPoint, but the functionality was primitive in comparison. I had a difficult time determining how to do simple actions like; create another slide, add text, add logo and adding photos. Typically, I am able to navigate a new program with ease but this interface was anything but “ease-of-use”. There are many free Web 2.0 tools out there, also free that are easier to understand, like Google Docs.

After stumbling around for 30 minutes I created a title slide and one content slide…with nothing in it. I grew frustrated and impatient and was looking for quick answers to my problems without having to read the directions or watch some promotional video. I guess everyone has a bad habit. So, I find this feature from the drop down menu labeled “Import From PowerPoint”. Hey, that’s just what I need! Most of the courses I build originate from PowerPoint. I use programs like Articulate, Impaticia and Captivate that have the same feature of importing PowerPoint directly into the program, then easily converting the presentation into a Flash delivered, interactive video. However, when I clicked on the CourseLab button it took me to the CourseLab web site where it gave me instructions on how to add this “Extra” for $99. Oh well, so much for being free. “You can lead me to water, but you can’t make me drink!”

After that episode, I exited the application and uninstalled the program. I dislike being lead to believe a product is free, only to find the statement was false. CourseLab, good luck in the future, a future without me!

Four-day week in education

2008-08-15T09:22:00.000-04:00

Comment on http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/news-by-subject/technologies/widget/?i=54858

Think about this, an innovative distance education program!

Colleges are experimenting with four-day school weeks as a means to cut back on expenses and travel. I think this innovative idea has roots in distance education. The Web-Hybrid model in becoming increasing popular for an alternative to delivering F2F classes. In the Web-Hybrid model, faculty still meet with the students F2F but half the class is delivered online, thus cutting down on trips to the campus and campus space and utilities. A win win situation for both faculty and students.

For the staff, administrators are authorizing alternative schedules as an employee-friendly policy designed to soothe the sting of increasingly costly daily commutes. The alternative schedule could be telecommuting, which again has roots in distance education. Without all the Internet tools available today, telecommuting wouldn't be as productive. With Web 2.0 tools staff have access to documents, can communicate and collaborate with other staff and even have virtual meetings. Additionally, telecommuting days could be designates training days. Training could be delivered online by the HR and technology departments, an innovative distance education program!

Online Teacher & Education Certificates and Programs

2008-08-14T08:32:00.000-04:00

University of West Georgia offers a great Distance Education Certified Trainer Program online along with another online program Advanced Technologies for Distance Education. It seems everyone is getting on the band wagon by offering Education and Technology programs online. Upon the success completion of these programs students are awarded online diplomas and certificates.

At eLearners.com they have created a list of all the online educational technology degrees, and the list is impressive with programs for certificates, Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorate degrees.

See the list at online educational technology degrees

Innovative Approach to Digital Media Training & Support

2008-08-12T10:23:00.001-04:00

From Campus Technology, August 2008, 2008 Innovations article

At Ball State University they have a unique way of introducing more digital technology into the curriculum by developing a Digital Corps. Digital Corps is a student labor pool that works alongside faculty on media projects. In return students of the Digital Corps are offered training, conferences and even Adobe Certified Expert/Adobe Certified Associate programs. As a result the students in the labor pool are certified and get real world experiences, a win win situation for students and faculty.

According to Jonathan Blake Huer, director of the Digital Corps, "The biggest problem has been retaining students. As they ahve mastered their respective crafts, they have been recruited by outside companies ans also by other units within the university."

An innovative program like this would be a benefit to both faculty and staff and the campus as a whole because of the access to more digital media.

Formative vs Summative Evaluations

2008-08-11T20:02:00.000-04:00

Do you have a difficult time figuring out what the difference is between a formative and summative (post-class) assessment? Here is a great video from an explanation of a professor's formative evaluation for his university class. The nine minute video is at http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/formative.html# . Thanks to David Pollock for this link. Visit Dave athttp://davidpollock.blogspot.com.

Another good article is: Formative Evaluation: A Practical Guide.I found this article by Lisa Neal, who just happens to work for Datatel (our college's enterprise software) and it cleared up some questions.

Her approach to using formative evaluations in course design was easy for me to understand. She points out that there are four stages to a formative evaluation; "planning the sessions, conducting the sessions, compiling the results, and prioritizing the results from the sessions."

Under the conducting the session' stage she says "For example, if a user says "I don't like these colors," an evaluation should ask "Why don't you like them?" or "Are there colors you would prefer?" In an online class, if I asked the colors question, I would make sure that I was able to get valuable feedback from them. Sure beats non-productive comments like "I don't like the colors!.

Although the article is geared more towards learning objects and interactive multimedia training elements I think the article was very understanding. I also enjoyed the Plimoth Plantation's Online Learning Center's, You Are the Historian: Investigating the First Thanksgiving Learning Object. I can see where using the four stages of formative evaluation would benefit a project of that scope.

Experience Google Earth

2008-07-23T08:11:00.000-04:00

If you haven't experienced Google Earth yet, I would highly recommend it. I find myself visiting the site frequently to go on virtual tours around the world. Google's satellite imagery-based mapping program brings the whole world to your desktop. I recently did a search for shipwrecks. It amazing the detail you get at different locations around the world.

The next step is how to incorporate Google Earth in your classroom. I found a link for educators in Google Earth at Google For Educators. From this link there are many resources and ideas. One this page there is a link to Getting Started. This gives you the simple steps to download Google Earth to your desktop. Step number 6 "Check out the education gallery for ideas for using Google Earth in the classroom." Be sure to check out this link. You will be amazed of how easily it is to incorporate Google Earth in your classroom.

Complete list of links:

Google Earth for Educators: http://www.google.com/educators/p_earth.html
Getting Started Guide: http://www.google.com/educators/start_earth.html
Education Gallery: http://earth.google.com/outreach/edu_culture.html

FLASH!

2008-07-10T13:27:00.000-04:00

This link was sent to me by a friend.
Take a look at this website: http://producten.hema.nl/ (Make sure the sound is turned on).

HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam. Now there are 150 stores all over the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, and Germany.

The site must have been painstakingly made with Flash!

Welcome Distance Learning Certificate Members

2008-06-30T08:32:00.000-04:00

I wanted to be the first to post a response because, frankly, I would like the activity in my blog. I started the blog a few months ago as an attempt to provide an avenue to discuss material regarding technology in the classroom to our faculty. My goal is to help faculty embrace technology and assist them to implement the latest and greatest technologies to bring new levels of learning to their students. So far, none of my faculty have responded to my postings and it gets a little discouraging to see my efforts go unnoticed.

I hope you find some of the entries in this blog useful, especially the links to the podcasts. I find these podcasts convenient to listen to when I am jogging.

Our distance learning community is unique in the community college setting. We deliver over 150 courses a year taught by more than 50 instructors. Right now we offer 25% of our courses as distance learning. We use Blackboard CE6 for our Learning Management System (LMS). Blackboard bought out WebCT a couple years ago and as a result the company plans to produce a hybrid version of both products next year.

A good majority of these courses are taught by part-time instructors who typically hold down a job during the day and use the weekends and evenings to facilitate their online classes.

As the Instructional Technology Coordinator, one of my goals is to make myself, and my services available to the part-time faculty as well as the full-time faculty. This blog is an example of a tool developed to provide a forum of communicating with instructors at a distance. This blog is in addition to other methods of communication which include outdated e-mail list, word-of-mouth, web sites, telephones and department mailings.

With the goal of this blog to enhance communication with the part-time faculty, I question if they are prepared to embrace such a tool. Obviously, communication is important, especially in the academia environment. We all deal with the issue of communication obstacles between the administrators and faculty. Do you have any ideas on how to facilitate better communication with faculty?

Podcasts

2008-06-16T15:39:00.000-04:00

Below is a list of Educational Podcast that will benefit our faculty:

Homeschool Habitat Podcast
by Homeschool Habitat

Homeschool news, reviews, and mini-lessons
for the kids!

Speaking of History........ Podcast
by Eric Langhorst

Hello. Speaking of History is a blog and
web site maintained by an 8th grade
American History teacher in Missouri who
attempts to use technology to enhance
the curriculum.

Teach42 Podcast
by Steve Dembo

Teah42 is a podcast about education,
technology and educational technology!
This show provides insight into current
trends, educational issues and all the
latest innovations that can be incorporated
into and educational environment.

BLOG-EFL Podcast
by Graham Stanley

Observations and comments on the
use of weblogs, emerging technologies &
e-learning tools for English Language
Teaching (EFL & ESL).

6by7 Reports Podcast
by Gary Dietz

6by7 Reports discusses problems,
solutions, and the people and organizations
that came together to address educational
and technology issues.

Wisconsin Center for Education Research
News Podcast
by Paul Baker

Part of the University of Wisconsin
Madison's School of Education, the Wisconsin
Center for Education Research is one of the
oldest, largest, and most productive
education research centers in the world.

Connect Learning Podcast
by David Warlick

Regular wanderings into the world of
21st century teaching and learning.

Learnitology Podcast
by Chris Clark

A project of the Learning Technology Lab
at the University of Notre Dame. The goal
is to encourage faculty to explore the use
of technology in their courses.

One Big Head Podcast
by Jeff Moore

Observations, philosophy, opinions,
unsubstantiated rumors, flotsam and
jetsam--the desk of a typical educational
technology specialist.

10.

Tech Chick Tips Podcast

Tips and tricks for gadgets and software
for your digital life given by two Texas
chicks obsessed with anything digital.

11.

The Greenbush Take2 Podcast

Russ, Rich and Couch cover Greenbush,
Education, and Technology related news
with special weekly guests!

12.

The Tech Teachers Podcast

Teachers talk

2008-05-30T14:35:00.000-04:00

Just completed a online course "A Beginners Guide to Online Design" on Udutu's web site. See the link on the right-hand side labeled "Learn How Our Tool, myUdudtu Works". Some self-advertising, but most of this presentation describes online learning, basic principles of pedagogy (Bloom), learning outcomes and rich learning media. Nice overview.
http://www.udutu.com/

2008-05-20T08:53:00.000-04:00

Today I will be at the Faculty Retreat demonstrating some Web 2.0 tools you can use to enhance your web based and F2F courses. Web 2.0 isn’t a new technology as you might think, as a matter of fact, it’s a new way of using the Internet. When we first started using the Internet we searched the vast extremes of the web for information or we used it for shopping. It was a place for us to view, surf and purchase. Now, with advances in the Internet, everyday users can be a contributor and not just a viewer. The Internet is a place to connect, collaborate, create and communicate. As educators, if we want to connect with our students we need to understand the potential of Web 2.0 tools and how they can be part of our course.

First, we need to start out by gaining an understanding of what Web 2.0 is. Here is a good presentation from Educause 2007:

| View | Upload your own

Second, we should learn about some of the most popular Web 2.0 tools. I have created a presentation that list my favorite 10 Web 2.0 tools:

| View | Upload your own

Finally, here is an extensive list of Web 2.0 tools, ranked by popularity and category: Top 100 Tools for Learning

So, that was easy! Your off using Web 2.0 tools! Now, if you respond to this post you will experience the collaboration feature of Web 2.0. Share your thoughts on Web 2.0, or create your own post or Blog! See you out there on the Internet!