Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Google Calendar cancels appointment slots

In a December 17, 2012 blog post on the Chronicle of Higher Education, Heather M. Whitney reports that a popular use of the Google Calendar tool "Appointment Slots" will be discontinued on January 4, 2013.

Heather goes on to suggest other tools that integrate with Google Calendar.  Click here to view the original post.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Cloud Computing in Higher Education and Research Institutions and the USA Patriot Act


While viewing the matter from a Dutch perspective, this paper, titled "Cloud Computing in Higher Education and Research Institutions and the USA Patriot Act", and written by legal experts at the University of Amsterdam's Institute for Information Law,  outlines the privacy implications of Cloud based storage in this 'post 9/11 world'.  

I found the following lines particularly striking:  "The transition to cloud computing will, in principle, result in a lower degree of autonomy for higher education and research institutions in terms of requests for information of the type discussed above. In this light, the specific risks run in the case of certain categories of data need to be carefully examined. This should include the question whether there are data for which a lack of autonomy would be unacceptable."

In essence, the situation boils down to this:  US law enforcement services can gain access to your Cloud data, even on a server outside of United States, if the data is hosted by a provider that conducts business with United States.  

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Colgate Content Management System (CMS) - Overview

I'm posting a short teaser video, which looks at the new Content Management System here at Colgate:
This video is only an overview, and it will be followed by a longer, more detailed video soon.

Monday, November 5, 2012

HTML 5 + JavaScript = Web 2.1



HTML 5, CSS3  and Javascript are the backbone of the new Web 2.0 (call it web 2.1?) era. Animation, multimedia presentation, web-based fonts, autocomplete and so much more are implemented using mostly client-side (web browser) technology with a sprinkle of server-side magic.

This new era in web design and functional websites are moving from a text based, semi-dynamic framework to a web application framework. While hand-coding this functionality is beyond the scope of most there exists a slew of tools that make taking advantage of advanced web functionality a breeze.

JQuery and JQuery UI

JQuery is not new, but certainly worth mentioning. JQuery is a javascript library which makes adding elements like calendars, autocomplete, advanced buttons and form elements relatively simple and straightforward. JQuery Mobile is a library for creating HTML 5 optimized for mobile devices. JQuery UI provides the Web 2.0 look and feel with rounded corners, subtle gradients and integrated icons.

Brackets

Brackets is an open-source editor for web design and development. The project was created and is maintained by Adobe, and is released under an MIT License. Brackets focuses on providing  in-line views that provide context-sensitive access to your content, without taking you away from your code.

CreateJS

CreateJS is a suite of modular libraries and tools which work together to enable rich interactive content on open web technologies via HTML5. These libraries are designed to work completely independently, or mixed and matched to suit your needs. The CreateJS Suite is comprised of: EaselJS, TweenJS, SoundJS, PreloadJS, and Zoƫ.


A myriad of examples, code snippets and tutorials abound to get started with these tools. Below are some helpful links to get you started.


Monday, October 8, 2012

Six Ways to Use Social Media in Education

Repost of a blog post from Lynne O Brien, Ph.D., Director of Academic Technology and Instructional Services for Perkins Library at Duke University.

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Faculty and students routinely use Facebook, Twitter and other social media in their personal lives, so how might those same tools be put to academic use? Here are some uses of social media for teaching and learning that I’ve been following.

Read post

Monday, October 1, 2012

iPad apps: For viewing/displaying video clips

I work with a lot of video (film, tv, commercials, remixes, etc.), and one of the biggest frustrations for me when I started using the iPad was that my large collection of video clips were not compatible with the included iPad video app. The native bundled video app simply doesn't play well with many standard codecs such as xvid or divx. Even formats that work fine on my iPod Touch do not play--even some of my .mov files!

I use video in teaching, research, and presenting on a variety of topics, such as fan studies, queer studies, video editing, "deep reading" video, video games, and many more topics. I was so disappointed because one of the big reasons for an iPad for me was to be able to play these files on the fly. I didn't want to have to spend a lot of time transcoding my files into a format that would play natively. I also wanted to be able to organize my video files for quick reference.

I downloaded and tried out a few video apps, and I have two major ones that I now use: AVPlayer HD and AcePlayer.


Thursday, September 27, 2012

New Document Camera Overview

This summer, many of our multimedia classrooms were outfitted with a new document camera, the AVerMedia Avervision document camera. We've prepared a brief video to provide an overview of the camera's operation and companion software.

Update: A new video has been uploaded with additional details on 9.28.12


Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Automatic building mapping at MIT


Reserchers at MIT's "Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab" are using Microsoft's Kinect depth sensor as a part of a camera system designed to create real time building maps as users walk around.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Curricular Technology Assistance Comes to You

The Academic Technology team within ITS supports technology use in the curriculum.  Four Instructional Technologists serve the various academic departments to assist with a broad range of technologies.

The Instructional Technologists come to your academic building every week to connect, partner, and collaborate.


Ahmad Khazaee
Dan Wheeler
Social Sciences
Natural Sciences & Math
& Univ. Studies
Mark Hine
Zlatko Grozl
Natural Sciences & Math
Art & Humanities

Alumni Hall - Mondays from 8:30-10:30 with Ahmad Khazaee
Hascall Hall - Mondays from 11:30-1:10 with Zlatko Grozl
Ho -  Social Sciences - Thursdays from 10-12 with Ahmad Khazaee
Ho - NASC - Thursdays from 12:30-2 with Mark Hine
Lawrence Hall - Tuesdays from 11:30-1:10  and Wednesdays from 2-3:30 with Zlatko Grozl
Little Hall - Thursday from 3-4:30 with Zlatko Grozl
McGregory Hall - Thursdays from 1:30-3 with Dan Wheeler
Olin Hall - Wednesdays from 1-2:30 with Mark Hine
Persson Hall - Tuesdays from 1:30-3:30 with Ahmad Khazaee


Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Google Drive for iOS

Google has been working at upgrading what was formerly known as Google Docs. Their new and improved product is Google Drive. Drive is Google's cloud storage solution, very similar to Dropbox. You get 5GB of storage and can sync and manage files across multiple computers with a desktop app. A huge benefit to Drive over other solutions is the ability to collaborate on work from your computer and the Drive viewer which supports viewing a variety of file types like Adobe's Illustrator or CAD files without needing the software installed. Click here for more Drive features. 

Google has just updated its app for iPads and iPhones.In Google Drive's first release on the iPad/iPhone, you were only be able to view items that you had in Google Drive/Docs and edit the document's permissions. With the newest version, you can now create and edit documents too!

If you are collaborating with someone on a document, the app will continue to refresh every couple of seconds so that you have a similar experience as you do when collaborating on documents from your computer.

The app also supports richer presentations with animations and speakers notes so it has a great potential to lighten your load. If you haven't started using Google Drive yet and would like some help visit during out office hours or email itshelp@colgate.edu  and some one will get back to you.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Make any web page printer friendly

Take a moment to relax, perhaps grab a cup of tea, and picture the following scenario.  You've stumbled upon a brilliant article, on the internet, containing some of the most relevant information on a particular subject of your choice, and your only wish is to share said information with your friend, who just happens to have no internet connection, or a computer.  What do you do?

Friday, August 24, 2012

Concept Maps with Google Drawing Tools

Cristian Opazo, a Senior Academic Computing Consultant at Vassar College, recently posted an interesting article on the blog, RAIL:  RECIPES FOR ADVANCING INFORMATION LITERACY.

Cristian's post is about how Google drawing tools can be used to create concept maps.  At Colgate, we have had several professors use the Webspiration Concept Mapping tool with their students with some success.

Because all faculty and students now have the full suite of Google Apps at their disposal, the idea of using the Google drawing tools is very powerful as students would be able to collaborate both in class and out of class on the same concept maps.

Below is an excerpt from Cristian's post.  Click here to see the entire post.

"The drawing tools provided by Google Docs are very intuitive (think of a simpler version of Illustrator) and they allow you to do most anything you need as far as creating 2-D illustrations: stroke-and-fill shapes, freehand lines, inserting external images, etc. The library of shapes is generous (it features, for instance, 26 different types of arrows), and objects can be arranged into layers and grouped, masked, reordered, etc. The beauty of it all is that since it is natively generates vector graphics, you can create illustrations of arbitrarily large sizes that could be printed out poster-sized in all their vector-based glory. As a consequence, not only you can export your drawings as raster graphics (JPEG, PNG), but also as vector-based PDFs or SVGs. One particularly useful feature is the ability to insert links on your illustration, which takes you to the next level: creating hyperlinked images. This way, for instance, you can associate a URL to every concept in the map, so that when you click on the "Newtonian Mechanics" label, you are taken, for instance, to the respective page on Wikipedia (so you can read it, learn from it, and improve it!) In the best Google Docs tradition, of course, you can review the files history, so you can revert to a previous version just like that, and share your drawing with your collaborators for viewing, commenting or editing. Simply publishing the image file to the web is also possible, and very easy. "

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Germany: Facebook must destroy facial recognition database

by Jon Brodki

German data protection officials today accused Facebook of “illegally compiling a vast photo database of users without their consent” and demanded that the social network destroy its archive of files based on facial recognition technology, the New York Times reported. Facebook says that it uses face recognition software to match users’ photos to others and suggest friends to tag in those photos.

A user can prevent friends from seeing tag suggestions when they upload photos that look like that user. But this requires opting out through Facebook privacy settings, which Germany notes is a violation of European law.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

iPad app: iMovie for iOS quick FAQs

Did you know you can create video narratives with even just a smartphone? iMovie is just one of the apps available for iOS devices that is being used in classrooms for videos.

iMovie is a simple video editing app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Just recently, Rebecca Ammerman used the iPad 2 and iMovie with her Extended Study Rome group to record and create video narratives on site. You can view her story at the CEL Website.  She brings a unique perspective, as the year previous she and many of her students had brought laptops and video cameras to Athens for a similar project.

Here's a few things you should know about iMovie for iPad.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

iPad App: "SlideShark: PowerPoint Presentations on the iPad"

This is a free app, but you must sign up for the online service in order to use it. You get 100MB of storage for free.

The SlideShark app allows you to display PPT slides on the iPad, while maintaining all the fonts, graphics, colors, and animations you used in the original PowerPoint. It also does a good job of making sure it is filling the screen, and you can easily switch between slides.

Getting slides from your desktop onto SlideShark can go one of two ways: You can either upload it directly to the SlideShark.com site on your desktop/laptop computer, or you can save the file into a Dropbox account and open it in the SlideShark app.

I tend to use the Dropbox-to-SlideShark method, so that I don't have to log into another service. I create the PPTx files on my desktop computer, then upload them into my Dropbox account (through the awesome Dropbox for iMac app). Then I open the Dropbox app on my iPad, select the PPTx file I want to open, and open it in SlideShark.

With this method, first SlideShark uploads the files to the online SlideShark server. Then it will appear as an "available" file for you to download on the SlideShark app. You have to click the download button to get the ppt onto your iPad to display it. Once it downloads, you can play it offline from your iPad.

Technically, your files live in the cloud, so at some point you need to be connected to the net in order to upload or download the files.

I have QuickOffice on my iPad for creating/editing ppt files. I was disappointed that things didn't turn out very well when displaying a pptx file I created on the desktop in the QuickOffice app. You can see the screenshot below:





There is a border around the slide, and it also displays the time and battery settings at the top. I also noticed the missing heart in the "Do you ♥ JSTOR..."

In this screenshot you can see how it appears in SlideShark.

It looks much better, doesn't give a big border to the image, displays a more true-to-original color, and fills the entire screen. It also displayed the unicode ♥ just fine. SlideShark will also properly display text and images that you've manipulated in PPT, and overall gives you the same appearance as if you were displaying it on a desktop computer.

You cannot edit slides in SlideShark, but if you need to display a ppt quickly with only your iPad around, it's a great option. It is very responsive to taps, plus you can swipe forward and back (in case you accidentally skip a slide). You can also tap and hold to bring up a red laser dot to point out things.

It's a free service, and I'd recommend it for displaying PPTs.  Especially if you have a bunch of stock PPTs on your computer that you wouldn't mind being able to display whenever you want to. I've used this app in presentations with image-heavy PPTx and graphs, and I was very satisfied with the performance.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Nine Ways to use Twitter in the Classroom

In a blog post, Derek Bruff describes some potential uses of Twitter in the classroom that include:

  1. Notetaking
  2. Sharing Resources
  3. Commenting
  4. Amplifying
  5. Asking Questions
  6. Helping One Another
  7. Offering Suggestions
  8. Building Community
  9. Opening the Classroom
To read the post go to http://derekbruff.org/?p=472

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Bookmarks and TOC in Google Docs

If you often work with a large document, you know that some times it can be difficult to navigate, especially if you aren't the only one working on it. Google provides two tools to make this navigation easier - Bookmarks and Table of Contents. Bookmarks can be defined within in a google document allowing you to create links to them within the document, enabling you to jump around and avoid scrolling . The Table of Contents tool relies on the document formatting and will convert all of the text designated as "Headings" into the topics of the Table of Contents. The topics generated are automatically linked to that section of the document.

I hope you found this post useful and if you'd like some help send an email to itshelp@colgate.edu. Here are some links to some Google help pages to get your started.


Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Revisiting Prezi for Presentations

From the Chronicle of Higher Education June 28, 2012, 11:00 am By Anastasia Salter With summer conference season well underway, I’ve been preparing a number of presentations. There are lots of options for presentation tools and techniques, but recently I’ve been relying on Prezi. When Prezi was a new presentation tool, Ethan examined the early version for its possibility to challenge the way we give presentations. The first version was fairly limited, with preset color palettes ranging from the garish to the bland and aggravatingly fussy process for arranging content. However, the platform’s recent extensions make Prezi worth a second look. Read the entire article

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Professors Put Textbooks Online to Reduce Costs


From the Chronicle's "Wired Campus" blog

July 6, 2012, 12:31 pm

By Angela Chen

The rising cost of textbooks—along with the rise of easy-to-use publishing tools online—has helped drive the popularity of open-source materials and professors’ taking a do-it-yourself approach to textbook publishing. Here are three professors who wrote their own textbooks and are distributing them free.

Read the entire article:  http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/professors-put-textbooks-online-to-reduce-costs-for-students/37677

Friday, July 6, 2012

NowComment is a sophisticated collaboration app

I came across this application when reviewing UVA's SHANTI website.  SHANTI promotes innovation at the University of Virginia through the use of advanced digital technologies in research, teaching, publishing and collaborative engagement.  http://shanti.virginia.edu/

NowComment a sophisticated collaboration app available for group discussion and annotation of documents. It displays documents together with threaded commenting on their sentences and paragraphs to create engaging online conversations literally in context. Brainstorm, debate, and collaborate.  Watch the two minute demo.


If you are interested in using this technology and would like a partner to help explore it, send an email message to itss-acad@colgate.edu and an instructional technologist will connect with you.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Power Searching with Google

I just wanted to pass along that Google is offering a six class course on internet searching. The search techniques and their application will be accompanied with activities to help practice. The first class is July 10, 2012. For more information and registration go to http://www.google.com/insidesearch/landing/powersearching.html.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Keeping your Passwords Safe

After years of working closely with members of Colgate Faculty and Staff, I've come to a very serious realization that a substantial portion of our users have a difficult time managing the vast number of different passwords that are necessary here at Colgate.  Most users have at least a network/banner/portal password, and a gmail password, but some of us also have a local computer password, listserv passwords, personal website passwords, library access passwords, and the list goes on and on.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Using EMS

Academic Technologies team has created a new short instructional video on using Colgate's EMS. The video goes through the process of standard room reservations, and it points out some of the best practices, as well as some of the challenges that one may encounter while using Colgate's Event Management System. The link to the video is here, but it can also be viewed right after this break.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

E-books


There is a lot of chatter being generated about e-textbooks, some positive and some negative. Ultimately its up to you to decide where you fall on the spectrum but I want to share my feelings from what I have seen so far. For me the best way to describe e-books is "Dynamic"! I want to highlight a few features which I find useful but if you have any questions please leave comment. 

With some of the ebook readers, you can bookmark, highlight, look up definitions and even take notes right within the book. To make things even more convenient, all of the notes and comments are displayed right in the table of contents, which has made it very easy for me to review at a later time.  Most e-book readers also have a search feature which helps when you are trying to find those few key words or sentences but aren't quite sure where in the book you read them. I know when I was a student, I always avoided writing in my paper textbook because any perceived damage really hurt the buy-back value. 

Another really great feature of some e-book platforms is that your reading can be synchronized between devices.  For example,  I've started reading a book on my iPad and was able to pick up where I left off, while waiting for an oil change, on my iPhone and when I got home and turned on my iPad, the ebook was exactly where I left off on my phone - very cool! 

The last feature that I would like to highlight is that e-books can contain rich media instead of just text and images. Some of the books we have seen have videos, 3D models, dynamic charts and graphs, and high resolution images embedded right within the text on the pages. This content provides students with new ways to immerse themselves in what they are learning.

E-books are new and their platforms are constantly getting better. Schools are starting to partner with e-book publishers and are able to get even greater discounts on books making them a very affordable. Here is a link to Educause's "7 things to know about the Evolution of the Textbook". The article includes a usage scenario and covers pros, cons and implications of this format. 

If you would like to learn more about e-books ask your Instructional Technologist or email itshelp@colgate.edu

Customization Is the Future of Teaching, Harvard Researcher Says

From THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
June 25, 2012

 

Rick Friedman for The Chronicle
Chris Dede (shown here on screen), a professor of learning technologies at Harvard, says classrooms of the future will have “a more complicated model of teacher performance that, when they know how to do it, teachers are going to appreciate.”


By Jeffrey R. Young
Most college courses are one-size-fits-all—a lecturer delivers the same information to everyone in the room, regardless of whether some students already know the material or others are utterly lost.
It doesn't have to be that way, says Chris Dede, a professor of learning technologies at Harvard University. He outlines a vision of how technology can help personalize learning in a new book that he co-edited, called Digital Teaching Platforms: Customizing Classroom Learning for Each Student.
His research focuses on elementary- and high-school classrooms, but he says the approach has implications for colleges as well. The Chronicle talked with Mr. Dede about his strategy, and why he sees big changes on the horizon. And edited version of the conversation follows.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

A glimpse into the not so distant future.

These two videos produced by Corning Glass are really well done and provide some insight on what the world might look like in the not so distant future.

A Day Made of Glass 1


A Day Made of Glass 2


Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Moodle 2

Technology change is inevitable and  Colgate's Moodle is no exception. Moodle version 2 will be in place for the fall 2012 semester after two years of version 1.

Why must we change? Security updates, software support, and new or improved functionality are the primary drivers. Why don't we want to change? Lost or reduced functionality, new interfaces, time to migrate and re-learn. Simple resistance to change is probably also somewhere in the mix of your, and my, reluctance to switch.

And yes, we in ITS are along for the ride with this change, learning and re-learning and flustering and cursing with you. Much has changed behind the Moodle scenes and we are struggling to understand the new software and create a functional version.

We are maintaining the link http://moodle2.colgate.edu as our starting point for information on the transition to the new version. Check there for the latest server links, Moodle news, and how-to files.

So what about this new Moodle version are we likely to praise? Curse?
Below are some of the changes we are expecting. 

Monday, June 18, 2012

Google Docs Research Tool




Not too long ago Google released a research sidebar tool for Google Docs. It allows you to look up information while working on a Google Doc without having to open a new browser window. You enable it from the "Tools" menu and then do a general search or narrow the search down to images, scholar, or quotes.  Google even lets you filter your results by usage rights.   See picture on the right for a preview of what the tool looks like. 

Also right-clicking on any word in the document  and selecting "Research"  will display results in the sidebar regardless if the tool was on or off. If you look at the picture below you'll also the the ability to preview, insert a link and cite the link. If you cite the link it will automatically insert a footnote for you. 

Inline image 1

View a short video on the research tool in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvsTdnHRYhM

As you get into using Google Docs and all of its collaborative features, keep this great research tool in mind. If you would to learn more about this tool ask your Instructional Technologist or email itshelp@colgate.edu

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Google Forms

Google Forms is a tool that you can utilize to simplify the collection and organization of information. On campus we have used Forms as surveys, checklists, rosters, and a way to collect RSVPs. After you've created a form in Google Docs you share it and as people fill it out all the responses are collected in a spreadsheet by the same name. This saves having to sift through emails and manually creating a spreadsheet. I've linked a video of one of it's uses here at Colgate, and if you want more information on Forms or need help getting started send an email to itshelp@colgate.edu.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Google Calendar and the Webinar Wednesdays

Now that the summer has started, and all the papers are graded, everyone is certainly highly excited about the upcoming Webinar Wednedsdays! At least I hope that this is the case, but nonetheless, Academic Technologies team will continue the Webinar Wednesdays all Summer on different topics. For instance, today's topic will be Gmail Management, facilitated by Ahmad Khazaee. I will be facilitating a Webinar session next Wednesday, where we'll discuss different aspects of Google Blogger. Please keep in mind that our summer Webinar Wednesdays takes place at 11 AM, rather than at our usual time.

As a followup to my last webinar, i thought it would be interesting to share the following three Google Calendar videos, which outline some of the topics that we covered recently.   I hope to see you there.

Interesting Links...

Scrivener Makes a Good Transcription Tool  http://bit.ly/KBb3GU
Scrivener is Mac word processing software and in this article, there are helpful links showing you how to use this tool to transcribe audio or video files.

Companies Shape Curricula In New University Partnerships http://bloom.bg/LT9K6m
U.S. companies are reaching into colleges to make contact with students far earlier than they ever have.

Enhancing Teaching & Learning Through Educational Data Mining & Learning Analytics. 
Big data, it seems, is everywhere—even in education. Researchers and developers of online learning systems, intelligent tutoring systems, virtual labs, simulations, games and learning management systems are exploring ways to better understand and use data from learners’ activities online to improve teaching and learning.

How Will MOOCs Make Money? http://bit.ly/LTaet6
A MOOC is a Massively Open Online Course that does not limit enrollment.  In the fall of 2011, Stanford offered a course on artificial intelligence that had upwards of 58,000 students enrolled (NY Times:  http://nyti.ms/MrmLpC).  In the fall of 2012, MIT and Harvard are partnering with a similar effort that they call edX (http://hvrd.me/NxMnUb)


Monday, June 11, 2012

Google Tasks

There are several books out there on how to get things done and how to make to-do's that work. I found some to be very helpful and some that made a lot of sense but just weren't convenient enough that I could stick to them. So here is one that I like. Google along with all of its other features also offers Tasks, a way to keep track of what you need to do. I personally find Tasks very simple to use and they are accessible right from your email which is very convenient.

Here are some of the features I find useful:
  • Converting emails into tasks
  • Access Tasks from a mobile device
  • Tasks with due dates automatically appear on you calendar
  • Can have multiple tasks lists

For more information click here. If you would like assistance with Google Tasks email itshelp@colgate.edu

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Learning By Contributing


An ideal situation in any higher ed classroom includes both learning and contributing to the body of knowledge in the given area. Value comes from the concept of learning by teaching. I've often found that the more I teach a concept the stronger by knowledge base becomes in that topic. The preparation and research required to teach a concept becomes itself a learning opportunity for students. 

Wikis
Creating a wiki, for example, is a creative way to build a body of knowledge, promote peer education and promote positive group or individual contribution to the target subject matter. A wiki can be an encyclopedic collection of content with citations, cross-references and comments.

Consider a wiki assignment coupled with peer review - with an author, editor and critic. 

Glossary
A working glossary is another knowledge-compounding method. Term and concept definitions formally produced into a class glossary can serve as a reference and a long or short-term assignment. 

Leveraging Moodle 
Wikis and glossaries are easily constructed in Moodle. 

A wiki module in Moodle  is added to a course through the Activity pull down menu. Wikis, by their nature, are collaborative, with multiple authors adding and editing pages. 

The glossary module in Moodle  is also added via the Activity pull down menu. A glossary can be a collaborative activity or can be restricted to the course instructor. One of the unique features of a Moodle glossary is the auto-linking feature - terms in the course that are in the glossary are automatically linked to their corresponding entry. 

Grading
Grading can follow the customary course of a term paper evaluation. Is the content accurate, grammatically correct, original or correctly cited? IS IT ON TIME? Does it effectively answer the question, solve the problem or demonstrate mastery of knowledge? 

A wiki and a glossary are normally fact-based collections but consider analytical wikis that are more interpretive too. Examples include comparative literature, historical interpretation, cause and effect and analytical exercises.

For assistance with wikis and glossaries in Moodle e-mail itshelp@colgate.edu

Friday, June 1, 2012

Computing Tips and Tricks

Do you login to the Portal to connect to Moodle? Do you Copy/Cut/Paste text by going to the File menu? Do you never use your right mouse button (or does your Mac not even have a right mouse button)? Do you stop your PowerPoint presentation to open a web page or media clip and then stumble back to your presentation? Does the existence of the Control key make you suspicious? Does your twelve-year-old cringe whenever you start to work on your computer?

If you answered "Yes" to any of the above, then this post is for you (and for many others out there). And even if you are a computer whiz who knows all about these topics you may still find my message motivating.


Thursday, May 24, 2012

Edit Your Images Online- Free!

There are many times when an image or photo could benefit from a little editing - cropping, rotation or just touching up red eye. Editor from pixlr.com [http://pixlr.com/editor/] is a great tool that mimics many of the high order features of robust applications like Photoshop® .

Editor features a generous toolset including clone stamp, spot healing, shape distortion, magic wand and lasso selection tools, a text tool and much more. Upload files from your computer, edit visually then download back to your computer.

An effective PowerPoint presentation, for example, can benefit from well cropped and edited images, leaving distracting backgrounds and extraneous material out to focus on the images's subject. Images can also be created with Editor for inclusion in presentations and documents.

Some of the more Photoshop-esque features include the layers pane, navigation pane and the history pane. Save options include jpeg, png, tiff and the pxd format, pixlr's layer-saving format.

Visit http://pixlr.com/editor/ to test drive this free, feature rich editing tool.






Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Google Drive at Colgate



Google Drive is now available at Colgate! Google Drive is a cloud storage solution a lot like DropBox and it will be taking over what is currently Google Docs. Don't be alarmed when you transition because your documents will all be in Google Drive. You start with 5GB and we are looking into ways of provisioning more storage as necessary.

Some Cool Features:

  • Upload anything as long as you have space
  • Google Drive Viewer can view multiple file types such as word, photoshop, autocad.....many more
  • Accessible from mobile devices
  • Desktop client for syncing files across multiple computers and devices

Here is an example of how it could work for you: You have an Adobe Photoshop file you want to present but the computer you will be presenting on doesn't have photoshop. You could either export the file as a picture and then email it to yourself or you could save the file to your Google Drive and use the viewer to show the file anywhere you have access to the Internet, including your mobile phone. And as a bonus Google will keep a revision history for you just in case you want to revert to a previous version.

As of this date Google Drive is available but requires you to take a few steps to upgrade Documents to Drive. If you would like to try Google Drive go to drive.google.com and click on "Get started with 5GB free". The link will take you through a series of prompts that will set up your drive and also provide you with a link to download the client for your computer. For more information on how to use Google Drive click here. If you would like additional help using Google Drive email itshelp@colgate.edu with your request. Also don't forget to tune into our webinar on Google drive August 29.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Digitizing Videos

One of the things that we have discussed regarding classroom workflow, is the amount of time spent preparing a video for class especially, if only showing clips and not full titles. Something that we recommended to a few faculty and which has worked well in these instances is digitizing the necessary video clips so they are ready to go for class. This saves having to queue up the DVD before class or spending time looking for it. This would also work with those youtube video clips that you saved after reading Zlatko's post on keepvid. A great tool for this is HandBrake.

With HandBrake you can digitize clips from dvd's and blu-ray disks into modern video formats. Handbrake is not limited to digitizing physical media such as DVD's and blu-rays, it can also convert existing files from older formats to newer formats that are compatible across more devices. With HandBrake you have a couple of options for selecting clips. The two easier ones are chapters and seconds. You can specify which chapters you want to digitize or a time range of the desired segment. HandBrake can also bring over subtitles if those are needed. If you would like to try it you can download a copy from handbrake.fr. If you would like additonal information and help using please contact itshelp@colgate.edu.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Summer Workshops for Faculty

Video Narrative

June 6 - 8 
560 Case-Geyer Library
Lead by Sarah Kunze and Debbie Krahmer

The Library and ITS staff are once again offering a three-day video narrative workshop in
June. Many faculty participants from lasts year's workshop went on to assign video
narrative projects in their classes this academic year. With our new Digital Learning &
Media Center on level 5 of Case library slated to open in the Fall of 2012, we now have
dedicated learning spaces for new media, allowing us to offer even better support for
students and faculty.

In order to feel comfortable assigning a video project in a class, our experience has
shown that a faculty member must first create their own video project to get a sense of
what is involved. This workshop offers an opportunity for this to happen. Learn how to
construct a simple video narrative using photos, text, voice recordings, and music.
During the three-day, hands-on workshop we will cover both the aspects of writing a
narrative for video and the technical steps to editing video.

The goal of the workshop is not to make you a video expert, but rather to give you an
appreciation of the process so that you can extend the option to your students as a part
of your course assignments.

Wikipedia Editing

June 12 - 13 
345 Case-Geyer Library
Lead by Sarah Kunze and Debbie Krahmer

Why should you include an exercise in Wikipedia editing in your course? Hear from Prof.
Noor Khan, along with her Senior Seminar students who completed a project doing just
that for their HIST459 project. Learn how these types of projects improve student engagement
and leave your students with 21st century skills that most will use in their careers and
personal lives. Learn how Campus Ambassadors can assist you with sample syllabi, course
handouts, and help in mapping out a project to address your specific learning goals for
your course.

The Cure for Cartophobia – A CEL Web Mapping Workshop

June 18 - 19 
345 Case-Geyer Library
Lead by Zlatko Grozl, Jesse Henderson, Peter Rogers, and Dan Wheeler

This workshop will introduce web-based mapping as a teaching tool that can be used in
the classroom and for student projects. The first day will start with Google Maps, move
on to Google Earth including how one can create and add features to Google Earth,
and conclude with a look at user-friendly sources of digital map data such as the
Google Earth Community, geoportals, and the U.S. government’s National Atlas. The
second day will be optional and provide an opportunity for participants to work on a
personal web mapping project with the CEL members leading the workshop.

Register Online:

https://sites.google.com/a/colgate.edu/instructional-technology/workshops

Friday, May 11, 2012

Educational Silos

One of the main functions of an LMS (learning management system, AKA Moodle) is the creation of a course silo, or stack. That is, the LMS creates a place where students, faculty, and associated others connect with course materials and participate in classroom activities, a place where only enrolled or invited people can work. The silo exists while the course is in session and usually is deactivated shortly after the semester is ended.

There are some excellent -- even some essential -- reasons for creating this course stack. One obvious requirement is copyright law, which restricts the open posting of some course content, be it text or media. One particular advantage is maintaining the privacy of discussions of potentially controversial or embarrassing topics.  Perhaps less obvious in the privacy arena is maintaining the long-term privacy of even non-controversial topics -- former students may find that old, non-controversial but still-public blog posts are not in keeping with their current views or those of their employers.

The silo fits less well in the overall concept of an ongoing personal educational process, where course content, student submissions, and other materials may be (should be?) relevant to one's growth during a four-year evolution. A seminal paper in the silo for Course I is likely to retain relevance in Course II, and may even have important meaning in unrelated Course B. Yet it is stuck in the Course I silo.


So this course silo which is so convenient in many ways is in other ways antithetical to what we want our students to become; life long learners. What are the alternatives? Open courses in Moodle? Moodle courses need not be restricted to a semester's length.  Other open systems? An environment which is open at least to the Colgate academic community (without some copyright-restricted materials, of course) might be used to facilitate this more open learning. But even these tools can't make students want to participate, and then actually participate, in this more broad, developing learning process.

More reading on the topic...

...dan wheeler



Thursday, May 10, 2012

Enhanced Podcasting 101



Enhanced podcasting is a method for producing course content that is engaging and reusable. There are numerous ways to produce an enhanced podcast but the simplest, perhaps, is to use screen capture software and narrate a PowerPoint presentation. All that is required is a copy of PowerPoint, a laptop and your creativity. 

While you can record audio directly in PowerPoint, this process is not necessarily intuitive. Instead, I recommend checking out the likes of Camtasia, Adobe Captivate or ScreenFlow. These products capture not only the desktop but also any actions you take, such as interacting with the screen, opening and manipulating applications and authoring documents . 

Jing is a free screen capture tool from TechSmith, the maker's of Camtasia and SnagIt. Jing produces .swf (Flash) files that can be posted to Moodle or a website.

To learn more about Jing visit: http://www.techsmith.com/jing-features.html. Jing recordings are limited to five minutes. However, you can record multiple Jing podcasts to cover a topic. Jing also features an embed code generator making it easy to drop in to Moodle, a Google Site or your own web presence. 

Using the on-board laptop microphone in a quiet room, narrate a few PowerPoint slides to get a feel for the transition between slides and topics. In no time, you can create interesting material that can supplement lectures or free up valuable classroom time for detailed discussions. 

Enhanced podcasting is not limited to PowerPoint. Other documents and applications can be narrated and annotated. Anything that you see on the screen can be recorded. For higher quality, consider a USB headset microphone. 

A simple option for Mac users with Snow Leopard or Lion is QuickTime X. QT X features a screen recording capability that produces iPod ready files. The simplicity and quality is unmatched. Open QuickTime X and choose 'File' >> 'New Screen Recording'.

Windows users can capture enhanced podcasts on-line at screenr.com. While it is purported to work with a Mac, our tests have been much more successful on the PC. Screenr captures the screen and creates an embeddable video file. Below is a quick example. Visit screenr.com for more.



Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Digital Media @ Colgate

                 
During this past semester, 9 classes with 141 students completed digital media projects in eight different subjects. In GERMAN, SOAN, WRITING & RHETORIC, GEOGRAPHY, RUSSIAN, EDUCATION, CLASSICS, & PCON students created podcasts, dubbed foreign language videos, translated and subtitled a full length movie, created video narratives both personal and research-based, collaborated with elders in the community to create life histories for the Hamilton Historical Society, and more.
During the past two years, 32 classes with well over 500 students have completed digital media projects.  With the opening in August 2012 of the new Digital Learning and Media Center, we will be even better positioned to assist faculty in integrating a digital media project into their syllabus. Many of these projects can be viewed on our Academic YouTube channel.


If you are interested in incorporating a digital media assignment into your course in the Fall, please email Sarah Kunze (skunze@colgate.edu)

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Saving youtube clips

Faculty members that I work with, often express their need to save youtube clips for offline viewing and editing. Unfortunately, Youtube does not provide any avenues for this on their site. Saving streaming web clips can often be impossible, especially without expensive 3rd party applications for capturing streaming content. I wanted to let you know about a site which allows users to do just that - download youtube clips!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Poll Your Students Using Their Cell Phones


Poll Everywhere is a popular polling application that enables one to post a question and have everyone in the class post their answer via a smartphone, an iPad, or any type of computing device that has access to the web.  It uses a simple text messaging system so even a flip-phone can be used to submit an answer.   The poll is displayed to the audience, they can then vote by sending SMS messages to a special short number.  Participants’ responses can be displayed in real-time on a large screen in your class. Additionally, you can import your results into PowerPoint or Apple Keynote without any additional software. You can also download your results as an Excel file.

The free version is limited to an audience of 40 participants.

Note:  since cell phone network access is spotty in some of Colgate’s classrooms, you should definitely run some tests prior to attempting to use in your course.

http://www.polleverywhere.com/


Digital Posters

Digital posters share the same goals as printed posters: to provide text and visual content in an informative, attractive and concise manner. The digital/virtual posters that we have done so far have been held in the library.  We do need a specialized room that is equipped with computers and additional projectors, (we are currently limited to Case-Geyer 501 and 560). Some of the benefits to the digital poster approach include: no submission limitations to printing, it's much greener, and we can display more than just powerpoint slides. One additional advantage that can be consider moving forward is the ability to include movies/ animations int he poster as opposed to static images. Click here for more information on the digital/virtual posters.



We just wanted to make everyone aware of this option so that if you decided that you would like to have your students do a poster you are not limited to the poster printing schedule. If you would like more information about posters please visit our academic poster site or contact itshelp@colgate.edu and request more information. 

Friday, May 4, 2012

Digital Groundbreaking for Digital Learning and Media Center


Today marks the "Digital Groundbreaking" for Colgate's Digital Learning and Media Center (DLMC), opening in the Fall, 2012 semester on the fifth floor of the Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology. The renovation is made possible by a generous gift from Dr. Anita Grover, MD '74 and Tom Hargrove, P '14.

The Collaboration for Enhanced Learning (CEL) and the Digital Media Team have been working with faculty over the past ten years, making do with the technologies and spaces available, from the basement of McGregory Hall, to borrowing space from our generous colleagues in Little Hall, to a temporary setup in the Batza classroom, Case-Geyer 560).

During this time, we have seen dramatic growth in the number of courses and student projects involving digital media assignments, evidence for the claim that effective communication with digital media is an emerging critical skill for the Liberal Arts graduate.

2004 - 19 student video projects
2008 - 109 student video projects
2010-2012 - averaging 200 projects per year

The Digital Learning and Media Center will provide a collaborative, dynamic space where students and faculty can work together on digital media projects, where faculty can teach interdisciplinary courses that incorporate digital media assignments, and where technologists and librarians can deliver workshops to faculty, staff, and students alike.

The Digital Learning and Media Center is strategically located in two ways: first, it will be instantly visible upon entering the 5th floor of Case-Geyer; second, it will be adjacent to a suite of offices that will be occupied by members of CEL and the Digital Media team, who will be available to assist students with their projects.

The facility will provide one-stop shopping for students, where they can:
  • ·      check out equipment to record content (cameras, audio recorders, etc);
  • ·      receive instruction from faculty, IT and Library experts;
  • ·      edit their work on high-end Macintosh computers;
  • ·      present the final product using state of the art projection and audio facilities.