EDUCAUSE | Instructional Technologies

E07 Podcast: A Strategy for Deploying Web 2.0 Technologies

gbayne — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:20:32 -0500

This forty-three minute podcast features a session from the 2007 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference. The presentation, "Riding the 2.0 Wave (Successfully): A Strategy for Deploying Web 2.0 Technologies," explains Marist College's award-winning work with Web 2.0 applications. This work has led to the development of an e-learning 2.0 strategy for the pedagogically based deployment of these technologies. This session includes methodologies for controlling costs, enhancing learning, and ensuring alignment with strategic goals. PowerPoint slides are also available for this session.

Session presenters include:

Joshua D. Baron, Director, Academic Technology and eLearning, Marist College
William T. Thirsk, VP of Information Technology/CIO, Marist College

Outsourcing Online Courses and Programs (HLH)

wallen — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:13:43 -0500

As best I can determine my university has entered into an agreement with a private company to produce and market online programs and perhaps individual courses. As described to me by a colleague, a professor will tape a semester's worth of lectures, using PowerPoint to create main points. Once these lectures are recorded the company takes over. A company person with a higher degree in the field, will serve as go-between for students and the professor. The professor will never be in direct contact with the students. The success of the venture lies in marketing by the company; create very high enrollments in order to produce impressive income for the institution and the company.

I wonder how many universities have signed on the dotted line with such companies. I also wonder how many such companies are out there.

Educational Technology: Matching the Solution to the Problem

ckeller — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:22:25 -0500

What research tells us about learning and how that can and should be used to guide the design and use of educational technology. This was the Keynote session from the 2008 Colorado Learning and Teaching with Technology Conference (COLTT).

Fostering Learning in the Networked World: The Cyberlearning Opportunity and Challenge, A 21st Century Agenda for the National Science Foundation

ckeller — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:59:26 -0500

The National Science Foundation defines "cyberlearning" as "the use of networked computing and communications technologies to support learning." The report of the NSF Task Force on Cyberlearning, Fostering Learning in the Networked World: The Cyberlearning Opportunity and Challenge, A 21st Century Agenda for the National Science Foundation, identifies cyberlearning as having "…the potential to transform education throughout a lifetime, enabling customized interaction with diverse learning materials on any topic..."

The task force report identifies potential ways in which advanced computing and communications technologies might be leveraged to support learning, highlighting opportunities for further research. In it, the task force offers 5 recommendations for the NSF to pursue:

Help build a vibrant cyberlearning field by promoting cross-disciplinary communities of cyberlearning researchers and practitioners
Instill a "platform perspective"—shared, interoperable designs of hardware, software, and services—into NSF's cyberlearning activities
Emphasize the transformative power of information and communications technology for learning, from K to grey
Adopt programs and policies to promote open educational resources
Take responsibility for sustaining NSF-sponsored cyberlearning innovations

(For EDUCAUSE materials on cyberinfrastructure in teaching and learning, please visit EDUCAUSE Resource Library Cyberinfrastructure web page and look for the "CI Teaching & Learning" tab under "Featured Content.")

7 Things You Should Know About Wii

ckeller — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:53:36 -0500

The Wii is a video game system that uses a wireless controller capable of sensing position and motion, allowing users to interact with the game applications through physical movements. The controller has captured the interest of academic researchers and hackers, who have used the technology to create applications such as a collaborative choreography tool and an inexpensive, interactive whiteboard. Wii technology is used as an input device in virtual worlds and as a training tool that allows learners to perform physical tasks in a digital, risk-free environment.

The "7 Things You Should Know About..." series from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) provides concise information on emerging learning technologies. Each brief focuses on a single technology and describes what it is, where it is going, and why it matters to teaching and learning. Use these briefs for a no-jargon, quick overview of a topic and share them with time-pressed colleagues.

In addition to the "7 Things You Should Know About…" briefs, you may find other ELI resources useful in addressing teaching, learning, and technology issues at your institution. To learn more, please visit the ELI Resources page.

Assessing Learning and Scholarly Technologies: Lessons from an Institutional Survey

ckeller — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:00:11 -0500

Surveying the university community taught us about the importance of the process as well as the survey results.

Foreign Language Faculty in the Age of Web 2.0

ckeller — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:31:59 -0500

Technological skills and understanding how to employ Web 2.0 tools to successfully support pedagogy are vital for foreign language faculty today.

Overcoming the Fear of Gaming: A Strategy for Incorporating Games into Teaching and Learning

ckeller — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:27:59 -0500

The effective use of games in academia requires a critical approach to the medium and a willingness to let go of the learning process and harness its outcomes.

Supporting Faculty Adoption of Emerging Technologies: Wanderlust or Creating a Campus Roadmap?

drupal — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:32:11 -0500

The phone rings. The caller begins with the familiar, “I’ve been thinking...” and the rest of the conversation centers on how to pilot an emerging instructional technology. Faculty who are early adopters of technology are experimenters and risk-takers; they broaden the landscape of effective teaching and learning with technology. Yes, they push the envelope, but they also offer partnership for identifying what’s scalable and sustainable for broader use. Our panelists will share their campus perspectives on adopting emerging technologies from Web 2.0 to virtual worlds, their successes and challenges, and the partnerships they’ve formed.

Improving Teaching and Learning Through a New Academic Technologist Role

drupal — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:37:35 -0500

This session will describe lessons learned from the perspective of a public institution's creation of a "new" academic technologist role. The process included the willingness of IT leadership to innovate to improve teaching and learning, paying attention to best practices, promoting assessment to inform decision making, and nourishing a collaborative culture in support of faculty development. We will share our early experiences with defining and implementing the directorship.

iTunes U in the Classroom: The Reality of "Cool" Technology

drupal — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:37:32 -0500

Many college students today are comfortable communicating through digital media. Simultaneously, faculty members are increasingly cognizant of the pedagogical benefits of digital technologies. This presentation will explore whether Apple's iTunes U can provide an effective way for faculty and students to produce, store, access, and distribute digital content. We will describe how faculty from the music, foreign languages, and economics departments collaborated with the Educational Technology Center to pilot iTunesU. Can this "cool" technology meet our institution's digital needs, or will this content-hungry application turn us into Looney Tunes U?

Can We Raise the Bar? Collaboration with Others Using Instructional Technology

drupal — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:37:32 -0500

Do you have a program or class at your institution that needs to be refreshed and revitalized? Could you sharpen your students' critical thinking skills by incorporating active learning techniques, information literacy competencies, and fresh, new technologies? If you can answer "yes" to either of these questions, then our program can help both you and your colleagues. Come learn how we breathed new life into our old standard of instruction by collaborating through three distinctively different groups: First Year Programs, the academic library, and teaching faculty. The result was a more contemporary yet engaging learning experience for all involved.

Dynamics of Supporting Sakai Through Local and Global Collaboration

gdobbin — Tue, 27 May 2008 09:06:36 -0500

This ECAR research bulletin discusses the adjustments that the Indiana University information technology organization made, and continues to make, in order to support membership in Sakai. It has been said that supporting Sakai can seem like trying to change a tire on a moving car. As co-founder of and active participant in the Sakai collaboration, the effects of IU’s decision—the unexpected, the challenging, and the delightful—are discussed in terms of the intra- and interuniversity realities of highly collaborative efforts.

Citation for this work: Goodrum, David, Jan R. Holloway, Anastasia S. Morrone, Lance Speelmon, and Elizabeth A. Van Gordon. “Dynamics of Supporting Sakai Through Local and Global Collaboration” (Research Bulletin, Issue 11). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

7 Things You Should Know About Multi-Touch Interfaces

gdobbin — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:36:25 -0500

Multi-touch interfaces are input devices that recognize two or more simultaneous touches, allowing one or more users to interact with computer applications through various gestures created by fingers on a surface. Some devices also recognize differences in pressure and temperature. Multi-touch technology introduces users to swipes, pinches, rotations, and other actions that allow for richer, more immediate interaction with digital content. Multi-touch devices and supporting applications offer diverse ways of visualizing information to improve understanding, and they facilitate new ways to foster collaborative creation, permitting several users to work simultaneously on a single screen.

Envisioning the Educational Possibilities of User-Created Virtual Worlds

elilly — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:03:10 -0500

Educational games and simulations can engage students in higher-level cognitive thinking, such as interpreting, analyzing, discovering, evaluating, acting, and problem solving. Recent technical advances in multiplayer, user-created virtual worlds have significantly expanded the capabilities of user interaction and development within these simulated worlds. This ability to develop and interact with your own simulated world offers many new and exciting educational possibilities. This article explores the technical capabilities and educational potential of these new worlds. Additionally, it presents and illustrates a model, which uses interaction combinations, to identify course content and topics having educational applications in virtual worlds.

Tracking Our Progress, Planning Our Future

drupal — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:45:55 -0500

MIT recently completed a benchmark study on the use of educational technology in subjects considered to count toward the core curriculum (General Institute Requirements). This presentation will discuss how the data was collected, analyzed, and implemented.

Spotlight On Identity Management: The Evolving Definition of "Student": Identity Management at Duke University

djacobs — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:01:32 -0500

The meaning of "student" is evolving at Duke University in response to many institutional and faculty outreach efforts. This trend is mirrored at many of Duke’s peer institutions. We see the concept of "learners" expanding beyond traditionally enrolled college students to include community participants, youth enrolled in talent programs, and continuing education students. At the same time, the realm of academic services faculty use for teaching has grown beyond traditional institutionally provided services such as Blackboard to encompass Flickr, blogs, Twitter, and any new technology available to faculty for free. How can we address the expansion in student population and in resources? How do you extend your institution’s computing resources to people outside your campus? How do you extend your local service concepts and policies to the end-user commodity-driven applications that are within any faculty’s reach? Lynne O'Brien and Klara Jelinkova will discuss the issues, concepts, and solutions surrounding identity management proposed and implemented at Duke University.

Tune In April 18 for a Free Web Seminar on Identity Management at Duke University

pkurkowski — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:04:50 -0500

The EDUCAUSE Live! Spotlight on Identity Management series is a six-month series that will feature one or two speakers from a campus that have analyzed or solved a problem in a way that many people will find instructive.

The meaning of "student" is evolving at Duke University in response to many institutional and faculty outreach efforts. This trend is mirrored at many of Duke's peer institutions. In this free seminar on April 18, The Evolving Definition of “Student”: Identity Management at Duke University, presenters Klara Jelinkova, Director, Computing Systems, and Lynne O’Brien, Director, Academic Technology and Instructional Services, Duke University, will discuss the issues, concepts, and solutions surrounding identity management proposed and implemented at Duke University.

The event is free, but registration is required and virtual seating is limited. Register now.

Leveraging Web 2.0 to Extend Classroom Community

drupal — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:04:16 -0500

This presentation will show participants how to use Web 2.0 social networking tools like LiveJournal and free online media content (podcasts and short films) to create dynamic learning communities. We will look at specific examples of how to integrate Web 2.0 in face-to-face, hybrid, and fully online courses.

Google Power Tools: Free Online Tools for Your Classroom, Committees, and Departments

drupal — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:00:27 -0500

Turn high tech into "my tech" with a free Gmail account to access and use Google's free power tools! You don't need to be a web developer to manage your classroom, committee, and department digital files online. Learn how to apply Google's free tools to your everyday needs.

Using Learning Objects and Instructional Technologies to Improve the Information Competency

drupal — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:00:18 -0500

The Information Literacy Program at Otis College is a collaboration between faculty and librarians that includes multimedia tutorials, learning objects, podcasts, and YouTube videos. This presentation will describe how the program was developed and embedded in courses, demonstrate some of the instructional technologies used, and discuss the assessment processes and results.

Emerging technologies for learning

ckeller — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 11:46:24 -0500

'Emerging technologies for learning' aims to help readers consider how emerging technologies may impact on education in the medium term. The publications are not intended to be a comprehensive review of educational technologies, but offer some highlights across the broad spectrum of developments and trends. It should open readers up to some of the possibilities that are developing and the potential for technology to transform our ways of working, learning and interacting over the next three to five years.

Learners 2.0? IT and 21st-Century Learners in Higher Education

gdobbin — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:03:01 -0500

This research bulletin examines what the literature refers to as “new learners” or “critically engaged learners.” It explores the responsibilities our institutions have to create opportunities for these learners to actively engage in creative discovery, problem definition, and appropriate use of information technologies. It is based on a literature review and accompanying conceptualizations that begin to answer important questions about institutional development for a technologically sophisticated age.

Citation for this work : Moore, Anne H., Shelli B. Fowler, Brent K. Jesiek, John F. Moore, and C. Edward Watson. “Learners 2.0? IT and 21st-Century Learners in Higher Education” (Research Bulletin, Issue 7). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

A Proposed Redesign of Overhead Presentations: Moving from Verbal to Visual

drupal — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:18:56 -0500

This session will demonstrate how a redesign in overhead slides can create presentations that foster a more learner-centric rather than teacher-centric model. A change in emphasis from verbal to visual promotes active learning and increases comprehension, encourages deductive reasoning, and improves retention.

Virtual Worlds: Which Type Is Right for Your Institution?

drupal — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:29:58 -0500

Virtual worlds have great potential in education, but much needs to be learned about them. One of the biggest questions is whether the best venue is the public mixed-use virtual world, a private education-only space, or a hybrid. This session will cover the advantages, disadvantages, and challenges of all three approaches.

MLibrary 2.0: Generating Enthusiasm for 2.0 Technologies in the Academy

drupal — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:29:58 -0500

The University of Michigan's MLibrary 2.0 staff development initiative combined theoretical frameworks and practical skills, enabling library staff to make connections between services, users, and technologies. This series far exceeded expectation and has prompted us as a community to try new things and see new possibilities.

Harnessing Podcasting's Potential: Designing for Learning Goals

drupal — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:29:58 -0500

Podcasts solve some leaner-centered problems typical of adult learners. We will describe how we designed several types of podcasts to deliver portable audio and video content to aid nursing students in learning procedural and conceptual knowledge using mobile devices as well as in more static contexts.

A Strategic Approach to Implementing Clickers

drupal — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:29:57 -0500

This presentation will outline the process the University of Nebraska at Omaha used to implement a standardized clicker system. The goal was to ensure clickers were employed as an enduring pedagogical tool and not treated as another fad. The challenge was removing the barriers to adoption and creating communities of practice.

TechSmith Corporation and Michigan State University - Lecture Capture for the Masses

drupal — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:29:51 -0500

Most lecture capture systems are too tech-heavy, too expensive, require too much training, and are too difficult to adopt across a campus. Until now. TechSmith’s newest beta software, Camtasia Relay, changes everything. Join Michigan State University and see how they’re better connecting with students, anytime, anywhere.

Authentic Critical Reflection: Critique_It in Second Life