[ED-TECH] Wireless network access outage today at 5:00 PM

Ed-Tech members,

If you teach today at 5:00 PM and were expecting to use the WirelessCanes network to get to the Internet or Blackboard, please use some alternative activities in class, or have an alternate way to access your materials.

The wireless network is being upgraded to allow guest access, I have been told. The system will be unavailable starting at 5:00 PM. The expected down-time is sporadic for 30 minutes. It could take as long as one hour, with sporadic outages throughout, based on what I was told.

Finally, I don't know if this will affect everyone, or only limited areas. But it is best to have a Plan-B ready whenever you use technology, and especially today at 5:00 PM.

Bill Vilberg

Assoc. Dir. of Instructional Advancement

305-284-3944

[ED-TECH] I-Clicker workshop, 11/21/06, 3:30 PM

Ed-Tech members,

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The Instructional Advancement Center has arranged for a presentation of a new student clicker that you might be interested in seeing. Student clickers allow you to collect responses from students during class. The workshop will take place on Tuesday, November 21, 2006, 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM, in Whitten University Center, Room 226 C/D (Flamingo Ballroom C/D.) To register, either go to http://snipurl.com/iclickers or go to http://www.miami.edu/iac and click on the "Lunch and Learn Series" menu link.

FULL DETAILS:

Student clickers, also known as personal response systems, allow you to put up a multiple choice question during class and instantly collect the student answers. Why might this technology be useful to you? Some teachers use it to determine whether the material has been understood well enough to move on to the next topic. Some teachers use it as pop-quiz grades collected throughout the class period based on what is being taught at the moment. Some teachers use it to present a deep question before beginning a topic, and allowing the students to work together, thinking about the question, before submitting their answers. This serves to prepare the students for the topic and increase their interest levels. There are many reasons that various teachers use this technology.

On Tuesday, November 21, 2006, 3:30 PM - 4:40 PM, in Whitten University Center, Room 226 C/D (Flamingo Ballroom C/D), Paul Martin from Bedford, Freeman and Worth Publishing will be presenting the I-Clicker system (www.iclicker.com), which is available either bundled with their textbooks or separately. Earlier student clicker systems, based on infrared (IR) technology, as used in TV remote control units, caused many problems. The signal didn't go far. The clicker had to be pointed at the receiver. Each receiver could only receive signals from a small number of clickers. If two people clicked at the same moment, neither signal got through. And so on. The new radio frequency (RF) technology is a major step forward and eliminates most of these issues.

One of the problems that many institutions have faced with this technology is local adoption of different clickers, meaning students must own multiple clickers. If there is interest at UM in using this technology, then it would be good for UM to standardize on one brand of clicker that could be used in any classrooms set up for using student response systems.

I hope that anyone interested in learning more about this technology will attend this workshop. Please feel free to share this invitation with others, including TAs and technology support staff.

Registration is required. To register, either go to http://snipurl.com/iclickers or go to http://www.miami.edu/iac and click on the "Lunch and Learn Series" menu link.

Bill Vilberg

Assoc. Dir. of Instructional Advancement

305-284-3944

[ED-TECH] SoftChalk LessonBuilder site license - coming soon

Ed-Tech list members,

On-line learning is not necessarily the same as distance learning. If a course is taught via distance learning the instructor and the student are in different places. On-line learning means that learning activities are designed to be done on-line. Many of our traditional face-to-face courses are already using on-line learning, since students are taking practice tests, reading class notes, and participating in discussions, on Blackboard as part of the design of the course. I expect on-learning to grow as we become more aware of opportunities to enhance student learning though on-line activities.

As support for this process, I have received approval to obtain a faculty/staff site license for SoftChalk Lesson Builder, a development system that created highly professional learning materials, with very little effort by the instructor. As soon as the PO is approved, we will set up training opportunities so that you can see how to make use of this software package. I look forward to seeing how some of you will use it to help your students better achieve their learning outcomes.

This will integrate well with Blackboard, and can be used on its own. Stay tuned for more announcements.

Bill Vilberg

Assoc. Dir. of Instructional Advancement

305-284-3944