[ED-TECH] Fun Friday - A Technology Event

Ed-Tech List Members,

Those of us who work with technology are starting a new event. Once a month we will have a “Fun Friday” presentation, with a hardware item, a software program, and a web service. The first Fun Friday will be February 29^th, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM, in Memorial 203.

I will be presenting all three of the sections at the first session. The hardware item will be a $130 high definition digital video camera that I have been using. The software program will be Process Explorer from SysInternals. And the web service will be Qipit.com, which allows you to e-mail pictures of your white board. for example, and they will create a PDF version for e-mail distribution or posting on the Web (in Blackboard?).

If you are interested in technology, and would like to mingle with those of us who support technology here at UM, feel free to participate in this Fun Friday event.

Lunch will be served. Registration is required. Go to http://iac.miami.edu/ to register.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Time correction - 11:00 AM start

The training session/demonstration of the technology in the general purpose classrooms will take place Friday, Feb 22, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM, in Memorial 203.

To register, please go to http://iac.miami.edu and select the Classroom Technology Training session.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] New Classrooms

Ed-Tech list members,

Last year 25 general purpose classrooms were renovated, including some wonderful technology that can be used to enhance teaching. This summer the remaining 41 general purpose classrooms will be renovated with the same capabilities. All the classrooms in the Learning Center, the Memorial Classroom Building, and the various residential colleges will have this same technology by the beginning of this coming Fall. This is an exciting time.

A training session/demonstration of the technology in these rooms will take place Friday, Feb 22, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM, in Memorial 203. You might want to see some of the capabilities of these rooms now, if you will be using one in the fall. It might affect how you plan your classes for the fall.

To register, please go to http://iac.miami.edu and select the Classroom Technology Training session. I hope you will be able to participate and see these changes that are happening at UM.

Bill Vilberg

Assoc. Dir. of Instructional Advancement

[ED-TECH] Correction: Friday is the 8th

In the last message I announced a training. It takes place on Friday, Feb 8. I said it was on the 7^th. Sorry.

Bill V.

[ED-TECH] SMART Notebook software demonstration

Ed-Tech List Members,

I will be demonstrating the SMART Notebook software on Friday, Feb 7, 2008, 11:30 am – 12:20 pm, in Memorial 203. Registration is now open and limited to 30 people. Lunch will be served. Go to http://129.171.43.14 to register.

SMART Notebook lets you capture what you do on the SMART Sympodium writing tablets in the new classrooms in the Learning Center and Memorial Classroom Building. With this software it is easy to capture all of your notes, scroll back and forth through them, and save them at the end of class. The notes can be uploaded to Blackboard so that students will have an exact copy of what you wrote during class. The notes can use many colors and there is no worry about your marker running dry. You can prepare material in advance, and add to it during class, or just start with a blank page and use it just like a white board.

Interested? Come by next Friday and see this in action. It is very easy to use, and will be added to all the remaining classrooms in the Memorial Classroom Building, and the classrooms in the Residential Colleges this summer.

Bill Vilberg

Assoc. Dir. of Instructional Advancement

[ED-TECH] Blythe Nobleman demonstration of student work from her classes

Ed-Tech List Members,

If you are available at 12:30 PM next Thursday, I strongly encourage you to sign up for Blythe Nobleman’s demonstration of what she is doing with her students. (Go to http://129.171.43.14 and click on the “Composing with Blackboard Course Tools” event to register.) Blythe teaches composition, but realizes that composing is different in different media. She uses all kinds of features in Blackboard to give her students experience in composition beyond typed essays and research papers. She uses tools including wikis, blogs, surveys, podcasts, and more.

The University is embarking on a project to enhance teaching by developing course assignments using new media. Interested faculty will be trained on using media other than written papers for student learning. Writing is not being eliminated, but other forms of communication can be encouraged and included in course assignments. To see the complete plan, you can go to http://www.miami.edu/sacs, click on the “UM’s QEP” link, and then click on the “Communication across the Curriculum: Enhancing student learning by extending the scope of information acquisition and communication of knowledge in the undergraduate experience” link. Many people are already using these techniques in their classes. Blythe is a wonderful example of this.

I am excited whenever a faculty member can share their classroom ideas with other faculty. I hope you will be able to attend this session on Thursday, February 7, 2008, 12:30-1:45 PM, in the University Center, Flamingo Ballroom (Room 226), Sections C & D. Be sure to bring something to stay warm, since that room is VERY cold most of the time.

Lunch will be served. Registration is required. Go to http://129.171.43.14 to register.

Bill Vilberg

Assoc. Dir. of Instructional Advancement