Three Days Only!
The semester is nearly over, so the Center for Teaching, the Academic Standards Committee and the division of Educational Technology and Distance Learning are offering a special deal on teaching and learning discussions, technology training, and more.
Whether you’re interested in gender in the classroom, students’ responses to assignments and building community online or creating Flash videos, using our upgraded course management system or “clickers” in the classroom there will be a session for you.
All sessions are free and most are open to faculty and staff throughout the CCC System. Exceptions are noted in the descriptions below.
To register go to: https://www.commnet.edu/academics/iitt/coursecart.asp
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
“Transitioning to Blackboard Vista”
Workshop leader: Rhonda DeWitt, CCC System Office
Time: 9:30 a.m.-noon
Location: LRC A 142
This session is for CURRENT users (both faculty and staff) of the Blackboard Vista 3 course management system, and will introduce faculty to the interface changes and new features in Blackboard Vista. The new interface is similar to Vista 3, but in many ways it is more intuitive in both navigation and functionality for course designers/instructors and for students. Review the class handout.
Learning Objectives:
- Navigate using the new interface: Use the Quickstart, Course Toolbar, Course Map, and Course Management tools to organize, build, and customize your course.
- Use the new Active Learning features: Student Contributions to Media Library; Peer Review options; Blogs and Journals; Class Roster; enhanced Goals tool.
- Use the new Course Management features: Calendar's new Date Rollover capability; Grading Forms let you design your own rubrics; Assessments allow customized instructions and instant feedback; new Learning Module options; Media Library enhancements; Web Links: Students can now add links and all links display in single list.
“How to Become a Radio Star in 90 Minutes or Less”
Presenter: Albert Kim, MCC faculty
Time: 9-10:30 a.m.
Location: LRC B 114
Registration is limited to 8 and is open only to MCC faculty and staff
Video may have killed the radio star, but the Internet is bringing him/her back! MCC finally has its own, brand new Internet Radio Station (“I.C.E.”, now streaming live at: www.mcc.commnet.edu/ice) that has been beta testing for just a few weeks now! If you’d like to learn how to write, voice and/or record your own Public Service Announcement for your department, program, club or upcoming event, join us and we’ll show you some basics of using Adobe Audition 2.0 digital production software! No previous radio, broadcasting or recording experience required! You can also learn about how to potentially host/co-host your own music or talk show later this summer/fall! Bring: your favorite instrumental music bed/song on CD or flashdrive! More info: Albert Kim, MCC Comm. Dept. - akim@mcc.commnet.edu or x2797.
“Creating a Flash Video”
Presenter: Ed Hogan, MCC faculty
Time: 10:30 am.-noon
Location: LRC B 207
The Flash Video format (FLV) has become a standard for delivering video content on the Internet. Video clips featured on commerce and education sites, as well as the videos on youTube, all employ the FLV format to present good quality video. This session will demonstrate how to process a digital video file into the FLV format and post it on a website. The session will show the use and options available in the Flash Video Encoder as well as processing files directly inside the Flash interface.
“Are Students Getting It Done?”
Panel: Chris Clark, Ashley Odell, Kerri Stephenson, MCC students and Ken Klucznik, MCC faculty.
Time 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Location: E 202
Are students preparing their assignments for class? What are faculty expectations of student preparation for class meetings? The panel of students and a faculty member will facilitate an open and interactive conversation of student engagement, and faculty expectations, of classroom assignments and activities. The discussion is meant to open the question and generate information and ideas.
“Introduction to Tablet PCs”
Workshop leader: Russell Sabadosa, MCC faculty
Time: 1-2:30 p.m.
Location: LRC B 130 (Sandbox)
Imagine having a white board that can seamlessly save everything you write for reuse in future classes and dry markers that never dry up. Tablet PCs offer these and many more tools to enable learning and teaching productivity. This workshop provides an overview of the tablet technology and strategies to integrate to your current pedagogy with tablets. Electronic note taking for students will also be discussed.
“Transitioning to Blackboard Vista”
Workshop leader: Rhonda DeWitt, CCC System Office
Time: 1-3:30 p.m.
Location: LRC A 142
See description above
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
“Web 2.0 Tools & Mashups”
Workshop leader: Sandra Couture, MCC ETDL educational assistant.
Time: 9-10:30 a.m.
Location: LRC B 130 (Sandbox)
Merlot isn’t just a glass of wine and cloud tags don’t produce rain, but these and other Web 2.0 tools can enhance teaching and learning and make some of your everyday uses of technology quicker and easier. This workshop will present a variety of new tools that can be used individually or that can be combined in “mashups” that create virtual Swiss Army knives to solve a variety of technical challenges.
“Promoting Online Interaction and Communication in Your Course”
Workshop leader: Bonnie Riedinger, MCC ETDL director
Time: 10:30-noon
Location: LRC A 142
Pre-requisite: Getting Started with Vista or comparable introductory training or experience.
This session focuses on using the Discussion Board to help enhance interaction, collaboration and communication among instructors and students, allow students to work together on group projects, and encourage students to be more actively engaged with the course content.
Learning Objectives:
- Create and manage Discussion topics and posts.
- Create effective discussion topics and questions
- Facilitate discussions that promote critical thinking and student-centered learning
- Manage postings, threads, and challenging students
- Promote academic discourse
“The Role of Gender “Differences” in the On-ground and Virtual Classroom”
Presenters: Dr. Fran Rosselli, Assistant Professor of Psychology, and Dr. G. Duncan Harris, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs
Time: noon-1:30 p.m.
Location: E 202
The presenters will share information from their studies and research related to the role gender socialization plays in college student success in the classroom. Following the presentation, the two will lead a dialogue about the topic with colleagues. MCC gender based academic performance statistics will be shared as a part of the presentation.
“Introduction to Personal Response Systems ( “Clickers”)”
Workshop leader: Phil Jones, MCC faculty
Time: 1:30- 3 p.m.
Location: AST C 211
Personal Response Systems allow instructors to electronically pose questions and gather student responses in the classroom. A PRS allows instructors to gauge students’ understanding of the material and to adjust their presentations rather than waiting to see the outcome in the next exam. PRS grade books can be exported for use in Excel spreadsheets. The PRS system may also be used to anonymously poll students’ opinions. This workshop will show participants how to compose questions, grade responses in real time, chart the overall responses of students, and export data.
“Introduction to Wikis”
Workshop leaders: Bonnie Riedinger, MCC ETDL director and Sandra Couture, MCC ETDL educational assistant
Time: 1:30-3 p.m.
Location: LRC B 130 (Sandbox)
Prerequisite: Basic computing skills: Word processing, keyboarding and mouse use, familiarity with the Internet.
What's a wiki? Wiki is the Hawaiian word for quick and it's a quick and easy way to create web pages. A wiki can be easily edited by one person or a group. It can be used to collaborate on writing and research projects as well as to present information. If you can use MS Word and navigate the Web, you have the skills to learn how to create a wiki.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand various wiki models and their uses
- Basic wiki creation and editing
Thursday, May 22, 2008
“Transitioning to Blackboard Vista”
Workshop leader: Rhonda DeWitt, CCC System Office
Time: 9:30 a.m.-noon.
Location: LRC A 142
See description above
“Teaching in the 21st Century”
Facilitators: Bobbi Fox, director of the Center for Teaching and Mike Rooke, director of the Center for Business & Technologies
Time: 9-10:30 a.m.
Location: E 202
From changing student demographics to ever-evolving technology, the 21st century classroom presents advantages and challenges not even imagined a decade ago. Share ideas and brainstorm teaching strategies with your colleagues that will help you make the most of this millennium.
“Get a (Second) Life”
Presenter: Kim Platt, MCC faculty
Time: 9-10:30 a.m.
Location: D 211
Pre-requisites: Basic familiarity with Internet navigation, proficiency with the mouse and keyboard.
Educators the world over are exploring innovative ways that they can harness their techno-savvy students' interests and experiences, and there is an explosion of interest in utilizing online games, simulations, and virtual environments in formal academic settings. Second Life (SL) is an online, 3-D virtual world, where you can socialize with others from all over the world (using text or voice); learn one-on-one or attend classes, meetings, and conferences; create virtual objects; shop; trade services, and much more. Second Life is not a game (although one can play games in it), but rather it is a completely immersive social environment with tremendous implications for educators.
In this session, Kim Platt will demonstrate how she used SL in her on-ground course during the spring semester. We’ll also explore some interesting educationally-oriented locations and review the basics of using SL. (Note: To use SL on a home/office PC, a software client must be installed.) Please review the following prior to this session: Educational Uses of Second Life (video) and 101 Uses for Second Life in the Classoom (pdf).
“ Second Life Curriculum Planning Team”
Facilitators: Jon Morris, MCC faculty and Bonnie Riedinger, ETDL director
Time 10:30-noon
Location: D 211
If you are interested in learning more about Second Life and helping plan activities and sites that can be used for teaching and learning attend this organizational meeting. We’ll provide an overview of some of the ways SL is used in education and begin planning how SL can be used in our CCC System.
“Transitioning to Blackboard Vista”
Workshop leader: Rhonda DeWitt, CCC System Office
Time: 1-3:30 p.m.
Location: LRC A 142
See description above
“Online Teaching Styles: What’s Your Style?”
Presenter: Steven Minkler, Ed.D., Director of Academic Media Technology at Capital Community College
Time: 1-2:30 p.m
Location: LRC B 130 (sandbox)
As an online instructor, do you believe it’s your responsibility to define what students must learn and how they should learn it, or do you allow students to design one or more self-directed learning experiences? Do your students think they must compete with each other to get a good grade, or do they feel like part of a team where people help each other learn?
Social psychologist and educator Anthony Grasha defined teaching styles as “enduring preferences that faculty display in the attitudes and behaviors they exhibit in their teaching and learning interactions with students… [these are] reflected in how faculty present themselves to students, convey information, interact with learners, manage tasks, supervise work in process, and socialize learners to the field.”
This interactive workshop will help you get a sense of your own teaching style, and how to connect your instructional strategies and techniques with your students’ learning styles, in the online course environment. You’ll also learn the results of a recent study which examined participants’ reports of their use of expert, formal authority, personal model, facilitator, and delegator teaching styles; their students’ use of competitive, collaborative, avoidant, participant, dependent, and independent student learning styles; and, the strategies they use to connect teaching styles and student learning styles in their online courses.