On Friday, May 16th faculty and staff gathered in Studio A from noon – 2:00pm for a meeting and lunch provided by Wimba. We talked about how the semester went with WebCT (Blackboard) Vista and Wimba Live Classroom. Kathy Fernandes, Academic Technologies Director, shared her vision about our need to upgrade to newer software, hardware, and origination rooms, as soon as we are able. Cris Guenter gave a synopsis of her pilot test this semester with Wimba’s Classroom 5 (new). We are moving to that over the summer. Here are some photos of our time together.
Month: May 2008
TLP Summer Hours
The Spring semester has come and gone, so the Technology and Learning Program lab will be switching over to our summer schedule, as follows:
- Monday to Thursday: 9AM to 3PM
- Friday: Closed
Enjoy your summer!
Podcaster Demonstration – May 27
The Wimba Podcaster tool is available to all CSU Chico faculty to use within the Blackboard Vista LMS. On May 27 at 11am PST, Matt Wasowski of Wimba, will be conducting an online demonstration for anyone who wishes to learn more about using podcast in postsecondary education, as well as tool specific tips.
According to Wimba, “The latest version of Wimba Voice most notably features the Wimba Podcaster – the easiest tool available that enables faculty and staff to record their own podcasts. This presentation shows you how the Wimba Podcaster allows your instructors to combine Wimba, RSS Feeds, and iPods to bring their voices to the students!”
Sign up here.
NMC Announces $100,000 in Virtual Learning Prizes
The New Media Consortium (NMC) announced today the call for proposals for the 2008-09 NMC Virtual Learning Prize, a $100,000 competitive program of awards intended to create a compilation of novel open-source learning practices that make use of the unique characteristics of a virtual learning environment. As many as 20 NMC Virtual Learning Prizes will be awarded in 2008.
“Projects funded under the NMC Virtual Learning Prize program will be those that make learning fresh or novel, or that illustrate concepts that are usually very difficult to teach,” explains Dr. Larry Johnson, NMC’s CEO and director of NMC Virtual Worlds.
For further information, or to download a proposal submission form, please see the Virtual Learning Prize website.
Educause 2008 Top 10 IT Issues Survey
For the past nine years Educause has conducted a survey to determine the top issues facing postsecondary leaders on campuses across the nation. This year’s survey is especially noteworthy in that the previous top issue, funding, was bumped from the number one spot by security.
If you’re interested in the top-down approach to campus information technology issues and strategies, a look at this document is well worth the time.
Join the ATI Course Makeover Summer Camp in June
Get paid to improve your course content and enhance learning for students with and without disabilities at the Course Makeover Summer Camp, presented June 4-5 and again June 11-12. During this two-day workshop, faculty will redevelop one course and related materials for the Fall 2008 semester with best practices and tools emphasizing student access and engagement. Learn about Universal Design for Learning, instructional material accessibility in Word, PowerPoint, Vista in a relaxed, supportive environment. Space is limited. Preference will be given to instructors teaching 3 or more sections in Fall 2008 who have used Vista previously. To learn more, contact Chris Prator at 898-5959 or visit http://www.csuchico.edu/tlp/accessibility/aticamp.shtml.
Sketchcast
When Brett Christie came to CSU Chico to conduct his presentation about the Horizon Report and Web 2.0 applications, he demonstrated Sketchcast, “a new way to communicate something online by recording a sketch, optionally with your voice speaking.” The reaction to Sketchcast among the faculty who were in attendance was very positive. People seemed to especially like the tool because the resulting product could be embedded for play-back in an LMS, blog or web page.
Today Cris Guenter and I were speaking, and she pointed me to her inaugural “sketch” in which she describes the Rule of Thirds. I watched and my take on it is that for a first try, it is pretty darn good! She said she enjoyed making it and sharing it with others and when I checked this morning she had nearly 230 views!
It is my hope that others here at CSU Chico will investigate Sketchcast and possibly create some creative “sketches” to share with their students and colleagues. If you have tried it and want to share your reaction, we would enjoy hearing from you.
Technology & Learning Program - Chico State 