EDUCAUSE | Collaborative Technologies

Learning Space 3.0: When Real and Virtual Spaces Collide

ckeller — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:40:03 -0500

Demands for flexibility, collaborative learning opportunities, and access to digital information are resulting in a new design paradigm for learning space that transcends academic disciplines. Concurrently, technology enables the development of highly specific and realistic simulation environments for education, business, the health sciences, and other disciplines. Maturing technologies such as wired and wireless networks, low-cost projectors, flat-panel displays, and productivity software are integral components of a traditional modern-day educational facility. New and emerging technologies such as collaboration software, personal broadband networks, virtual environments, and 3D displays are creating opportunities to rethink the learning space-what and where it is-and what happens inside it. This session will explore developments in technology, classroom design, and concepts for future facilities and their transformative impact on the teaching and learning process.

Managing the Services Lifecycle

ckeller — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:39:48 -0500

In the spring of 2008, students from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University (IU) and the Jenkins Graduate School of Management at North Carolina State University (NCSU) “virtually” came together, using a variety of Web 2.0 tools and the virtual world Second Life, to learn about managing the services lifecycle and to apply what they learned to two corporate-sponsored projects.

7 Things You Should Know About Geolocation

ckeller — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:08:46 -0500

Geolocation, also called geotagging, is the practice of associating a digital resource with a physical location. A photographer, for example, might include the longitude and latitude coordinates for where a picture was taken, allowing others to pinpoint that location on a map. Increasingly, geolocation is being applied to infrastructure components and end-user devices for the purpose of knowing where people are. This additional layer of location data can make resources much more useful to a broad range of users.

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.

Collaboration Tools

ckeller — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:21:16 -0500

Students use technology in natural ways that allow them to do what they want: communicate with anyone they want, in the time and space that suits them best. Easily accessible and user-friendly, collaboration tools allow students to explore, share, engage, and connect with people and content in meaningful ways that help them learn. By relying on the familiar ways students use these tools, faculty can enable new forms of communication and engagement in the classroom, permitting extensions and variations of the informal interactions already occurring in classrooms and hallways, and creating new frontiers for collaboration across geographic boundaries.

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.")

The Situation Room: A Case Study Using Adobe Connect to Manage Support Trends and Large-Scale Implementation with Limited Resources

drupal — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:09:59 -0500

In the summer of 2007, Clemson University faced a large-scale e-mail system implementation. Looking for innovative ways to maximize limited staff resources, IT support managers created the Situation Room. Using Adobe Connect, support managers linked in real time to support personnel in the field to provide expert advice and up-to-date information throughout the implementation. The experience was successful, and the Situation Room was used to manage fall semester start-up support issues. Now at any time during support hours, IT personnel can enter the virtual room to find out about support issue trends and systems status and to access subject experts.

Cyberinfrastructure: Changing a Cottage Industry

elilly — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:32:22 -0500

Drawn from a recent ECAR research study, this article addresses the importance of five CI technologies to various academic areas in research and in teaching and learning at present and how survey respondents think the importance of these technologies might change in the near future.

Microsoft Live@edu

elilly — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:28:04 -0500

Live@edu is a suite of applications - mobile, desktop and web-based - to help students collaborate on campus. The resource links below include the Microsoft Live@edu Main Page; Microsoft Live@edu FAQ; and Microsoft Live@edu Blog.

Realizing the Promise of Cyberinfrastructure

elilly — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:38:29 -0500

The author advocates continued leadership and investment in developing and maintaining cyberinfrastructure.

Google Apps Education Edition

elilly — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:59:35 -0500

Google Apps Education Edition is email, calendar, and collaboration tools right from the browser. The resource links below include the Google Apps Education Edition main page with introductory information; Case Studies from higher education custormers; Google Apps Discussion Group for Education Edition (EDU Administrator's Circle); FAQ; Google Apps Education Edition Terms of Service Agreement; and Google Apps Education Edition Administrator Program Policies.