Using Asynchronous Audio Feedback: “Enhance Teaching Presence and Students’ Sense of Community”

This presentation is offered to all CSU Chico faculty by Wimba.

Presenters: Philip Ice, University of North Carolina Charlotte, Reagan Curtis & Perry Phillips, West Virginia University, and John Wells, Virginia Tech
Date: August 12th, 2008
Time: 11:00am to 12:00pm Pacific Time

Place: Online – Register Here
Wimba’s Training Description:

This presentation reports the findings of a case study in which audio feedback replaced text-based feedback in synchronous courses. Previous research has demonstrated that participants in online courses can build effective learning communities through text-based communication alone.

Similarly, it has been demonstrated that instructors for online courses can adequately project immediacy behaviors using text-based communication. However, we believed that the inclusion of an auditory element might strengthen both the sense of community and the instructor’s ability to affect more personalized communication with students.

Our findings revealed extremely high student satisfaction with embedded asynchronous audio feedback as compared to asynchronous text only feedback.

ATI Summer Camp 5

Last but not least of the ATI Course Makeover Summer Camps, group 5 is very engaged in redesigning their courses for accessibility for all their students. Stay tuned to their collaboration and accomplishments. See group photo.

Randy Pausch, author of ‘The Last Lecture’ dies

A sad day for all who have been touched by Randy Pausch, the author of the inspirational, Last Lecture, as he has died at the early age of 47. In addition to his memorable lecture, Pausch is also responsible for spearheading the development of ALICE, an open-source computer language used to create computer animations using 3D models.

Pausch’s Last lecture is one not to be missed by those who teach. For more information about Randy Pausch, please go here.

ATI Summer Camp 4

This group was smaller but mighty! July 22-23rd, there were eight mighty faculty who collaborated on redesigning their courses for fall with accessibility in mind. They want to have a reunion before the fall semester begins to continue working together on ideas for improving their course materials for their students offering multiple ways for students to learn the course content. Kudos to all! See photo.

Vista Foundation Series for Summer starts August 4th!

Are you a new faculty member at Chico State or a continuing faculty member ready to expand your use of the online tools available in Vista? Our Foundation Series training for summer starts July 31 with Vista 101, Introduction to Vista. If you’re already using Vista, you may wish to take one or more of the other four trainings offered which cover the diversity of assessment, communication, content delivery and grade keeping tools available for your use in Vista. See the Training Calendar to enroll now.

Online Wimba Podcaster Training

Did you know that every class in Blackboard Vista has the ability to use audio podcasting? If this interests you, and you want to learn more, please register for the online training to be presented by Matt Wasowski of Wimba.
Date: Aug. 6th
Time: 2pm ET
Place: Online – Register Here

A blurb about the event:

“Podcasting has arrived in Wimba! Now faculty have the easiest means of creating their own podcasts!

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!”

Blackboard Announces Partnership with Syracuse to Integrate Sakai

In part, as reported today, July 15, by Inside High Ed:

“The company is partnering with Syracuse University to develop a way to integrate Blackboard with Sakai, one of the primary open-source alternatives.”

“The partnership with Syracuse, a Blackboard client, reflects the many ways the university’s professors use Sakai. As an example, some professors use the software’s e-portfolio capabilities on top of or separately from Blackboard.”

To read the article in its entirety, go here.

Last two sessions of the ATI Summer Camp are almost full!

There is still time to sign up for this great two-day faculty workshop. For more information see http://www.csuchico.edu/tlp/accessibility/aticamp.shtml or contact Peter DiFalco at (530) 898-5328.

Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Legislation Expanding Broadband Services in Rural Communities

Great news for our rural CSU students and instructors!

Governor Schwarzenegger today signed legislation expanding broadband services in rural communities  throughout California.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced he has signed SB 1191 by Senator Elaine Alquist (D-San Jose) authorizing community service districts to provide broadband services to their residents.

“We live in an age where technology drives everything we do and to remain competitive and connected in the future we must expand broadband access today,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “This legislation will help connect California’s cities to each other and to the world by growing our digital highway.” Nearly one and a half million mostly rural Californians do not currently have access to broadband service

SB 1191 will help close this digital divide in rural communities by allowing community service districts to provide this additional service on top of many vital local services they already provide for including water, sewer and police protection. The bill implements a recommendation put forth by the California Broadband Task Force in its final report in January.

The task force was created by Governor Schwarzenegger to evaluate California’s broadband access and make recommendations to increase services statewide. Specifically, the task force’s final report includes maps of current broadband availability and speed, recommendations on how to achieve universal access and increased use and a timeframe to meet those goals.

Using Online Video? Check Out This Guide to Fair Use

It’s become easier than ever for faculty to use and show online video in their courses with learning management systems like Blackboard. In TLP we can assist faculty in creating their own online video as well as editing existing video to create new illustrative materials for students to watch online. However, the questions of “what am I allowed to do?” or “what’s the best way to use this YouTube video?” are never far from our thoughts, and it’s hard to sort through the legal, technical and social issues to determine good teaching practice in each case.  

To that end, the Center for Social Media at the American University School of Communication has released the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video in both web and PDF format. Authored by a team of legal and media scholars from across the country, this excellent resource can help creators and users of copyrighted online media better understand what are good practices for using this media in the context of education, discussion, illustration, critique, research, commentary, memorialization, and much more. The guide also also dispels a fair number of Fair Use myths, such as “If I’m making any money off it, it’s not fair use.”

Get the guide here.  

The Center for Social Media also has a guide to Public Domain works called “Yes, You Can!” which is worth checking out, as are their News and Blogs RSS feeds. 

The Kansas City TV Barn blog is featuring an interview with one of the authors of the Code of Best Practices and also offers a 13-minute podcast about Fair Use in “mashups” – that is, a juxtaposition of two or more media materials to create something new (music, video, web application, or whatever).