Software Upgrades

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

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

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

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

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

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

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