Volume IV, Issue 1  
August 2006

Instructional Technology @ PhilaU provides faculty with news, information, resources,
and tips for using technology and integrating it into their curricula.
Instructional Technology @ PhilaU is published monthly by the Paul J. Gutman Library.

Greetings from the Gutman Library!

Welcome to the Fall semester. Hopefully, you have had a chance to relax and recharge during this hot summer and are ready to get back to campus. The largest class of incoming students (837) is about to embark on a journey here at Philadelphia University to create memories and receive a great education from our faculty.

In this newsletter, I will present an update on Blackboard which includes information about the patent that was awarded to them, up-to-date statistics, tips on using Blackboard and a reminder for creation of Fall classes. Also, a schedule of "Tech Bytes" - Faculty Development Seminars will be included that shows you the training opportunities that are available to faculty and staff for the Fall semster.

Also, in this issue, I will introduce iTunes University to the Philadelphia University campus. iTunes University is a storage portal for podcasts, enhanced podcasts and vodcasts (video). I will highlight the project that was started back in May and give you further steps to get involved.

Finally, I will present some useful links and technology tips that you can use in your classroom.

Please feel free to contact me at anytime with regards to Blackboard and any other instructional technology needs at:

Paul J. Gutman Library, Room 111
(215)951-6332
gallb@philau.edu

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Table of Contents

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Blackboard News

Blackboard By the Numbers

During the summer academic period, there was a slight decrease of .73% in the usage of Blackboard. This is due to possibly fewer sections running than last summer. As of the release of this newsletter, we are at 22.57% which is down over 8% from last Fall.

GET YOUR COURSE NOW!!!

If you are not currently using Blackboard and would like to incorporate it into your course(s) for future semesters, please contact me to set up an orientation session or sign up for a workshop.

Blackboard Usage - Summer, 2006
# of Sections
# of Instructors
School of Architecture: 35 25
School of Business Administration: 42 18
School of Design & Media: 9 7
School of Engineering & Textiles: 17 8
School of Liberal Arts: 58 24
School of Science & Health: 46 28
Contiuning & Professional Studies: 10 7
Other (Non-Credit Co-op, Co-op 2): 1 1

Blackboard Awarded E-Learning Patent

On July 26, 2006 Blackboard was awarded a patent for their world-renowned Learning Management System (LMS) that we currently are customers of on the PhilaU campus. This could have major implications for e-learning through a Content Management System as we use it here and have major implications to the world of e-learning itself.

Here are some links to more information about the patent:

Blackboard Patent

Blackboard Sues Desire2Learn - Chronicle of Higher Education

If you have any questions or need further clarification for you contact me at anytime.

Blackboard Tips 101 - Using the Discussion Board

Evaluate course content and enrollments to assess appropriateness of using web forums
  • Is the level of the students advanced enough for valuable conversation to take place outside of the classroom?
  • Are there too few students to make a forum worthwhile (i.e. are students already speaking plenty in class)?  Are there enough students to make for a lively conversation that must be sustained by the students themselves?
Decide how many forums should be devoted to each of your sections
  • Do you need only one forum for your section?
  • Do you teach a high number of students in one section?  Would it make sense to create two or more smaller forums to encourage more discussion and to limit the chaos of numerous voices?
  • Would you like different sections and/or courses to be able to interact with one another?
Decide who can access your forum
  • Should the forum be restricted to your class?  Will this make students feel more confident and protect the integrity of the forum?
  • Would you like the possibility of inviting "guest speakers" to the forum?  If so, what is the best format for you?
    • If you would like others to have access to the forum, you can add to your list of class members a person named "guestuser" (with a simple password, e.g. "guest") and then indicate this function at the gateway to your forum.
Set parameters for the use of the forum
  • WHAT should students post?
  • When should students post?
  • How often should students post?
  • Consider assigning weekly "forum guides" to oversee the functioning of the forum.  These guides encourage classmates to participate, attempt to pinpoint weaker or superfluous comments, and post intriguing questions to keep the conversation engaging.
  • Should the professor contribute?
  • Encourage students to post appropriate websites, images, and sound files so as to heighten other students' "contact" with the material.  Such postings can be culled for a "useful links" page or something of that ilk.
Make the forum's content consistently pertinent to the flow of the traditional classroom
  • Show the actual forum once a week to the class.
  • Highlight a few valuable contributions.  An added benefit to this is that students will see their own and each other's mistakes and understand the importance of reading their own work aloud and editing.
  • It is beneficial, particularly early in the semester, to provide gently some examples of inappropriate postings.
  • Have forum comments segue into class lesson.
  • Use students' contributions of websites, images, sound files, movie clips, etc. as discussion starters.

Blackboard Courses for Fall, 2006

We are now accepting requests for Fall, 2006 Blackboard Course Sites. If you plan to use Blackboard during the Summer or Fall semester, please complete the Blackboard Course Request Form located at http://www.philau.edu/ITS/bbreq.htm. Please note when entering the Course Section Number, please also include the extension:

  • 06FL - Fall Long, 06 FLA - Fall Acclerated Session 1, 06 Fall Accelerated Session 2

Please note these special instructions for those who would like to re-use previous material or create one Blackboard site for multiple sections.

    1. Reusing Material from a Previous Semester
      Faculty who wish to reuse material from a previous semester are asked to indicate the Course Name, Semester, and, if known, the Course ID in the Course Import section. Course material that is more than 1 year old is not stored on the Blackboard server and therefore, the faculty member will be asked to submit an archived copy of their course prior to course creation.
    2. Using One Blackboard Course Page for Multiple Sections
      If you are teaching more than one section of a course, but would only like one Blackboard site, please indicate this in the Special Instructions/Requests section.

Reminders:

  • Remember to make your classes available for your students starting on August 21 or after.
  • Remember that Fall, 2005 courses will be archived and removed from the system on September 11.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please review the Blackboard Policies and Procedures (http://www.philau.edu/ITS/bb/bbpolicy.htm) or contact me via phone (215-951-6332), e-mail (gallb@philau.edu) or stop by my office in the Gutman Library (Room 111).


Faculty Development Workshops

Blackboard Student Orientations

I will be presenting a series of Blackboard Student Orientations for incoming PhilaU students. This 30 minute session will focus on how to use the basics of Blackboard and what to expect from the faculty in terms of usage through their college career. These sessions will be held in the Media Classroom of the Gutman Library.

  • August 31 - 11:30 and 12:30
  • September 5 - 11:30 and 12:30
  • September 7 - 5:30 and 6:30

Please encourage your students to attend these informative sessions. Also, if you would like me to visit your class for 15-20 minutes, I will be more than happy to do that.

Tech Bytes - 1 hour Faculty Development Workshops

The following is a schedule of events and places for the fall semester. All workshops will be held from 11:15 - 12:45. TBA will either be held in the Ravenhill Breakout Rooms or the new Kanbar Campus Center. I will forward a definite schedule when I nail down the reservations.

Topic
Date
Place
Blackboard - Introduction to Online Learning Level 1 - September 7
Level 2 - September 21 		Ravenhill Breakout Room 1
Blackboard - Collaboration Tools November 16 Kanbar Campus Center - Room to be announced
Blackboard - Efficient Grading Practices October 19
November 2 		Kanbar Campus Center - Room to be announced
Blackboard - Assessment Tools September 26 Downs Hall - Room 9
ERes - Overview and Document Management November 9 Kanbar Campus Center - Room to be announced
Got Headphones? - Podcasting and iTunes University September 14
October 24
November 30 		Downs Hall - Room 9
Downs Hall - Room 9
Kanbar Campus Center - Room to be announced
Integrating Multimedia in the Classroom - PowerPoint, Macromedia Captivate and More October 3
December 7 		Ravenhill Breakout Room 1
Kanbar Campus Center - Room to be announced


Tech Tips

75 Reasons to Use Blackboard

75 Reasons to Use Blackboard in your PhilaU classroom

Macromedia Captivate - Beyond the Basics of PowerPoint (http://www.adobe.com/products/captivate/)

Create interactive simulations and software demonstrations

Macromedia Captivate is the easiest way to create professional-quality, interactive simulations and software demonstrations in Macromedia Flash format. Without any programming or multimedia skills, automatically record onscreen actions, including editable mouse movements, text captions, and scored click boxes. Add e-learning interactions like data-entry fields and customizable quizzes. Small file size and high resolution make Captivate content ideal for rapid application training, user support tutorials, and online product demonstrations.

The use of Macromedia Captivate goes beyond the short product overview above. Captivate allows you to create multimedia presentations for your PowerPoint slide shows that can easily add video, audio, "check your understanding" questions and more.

Contact me for more information or attend the Macromedia Captivate Training Sessions listed above.


iTunes University - Podcasting at PhilaU iPod

What is Podcasting?  The word podcasting is a combination of the words iPod and broadcasting.  In its most popular form, it is a way for people to be able to selectively subscribe to audio and video content over the internet. A Podcast is RSS content that you’ve subscribed to & is delivered via the internet; then captured by a program known as a “podcatcher” or a “content aggregator” such as iTunes. Podcasting has been likened to TiVo because it empowers the consumer to listen or view their selected podcasts whenever they like, and on the go with an MP3 player.

The purpose of the project is to show faculty members and staff how to integrate audio and video content into their courses to increase student engagement and learning throughout the course.  You may have thought of podcasts as just talking from one person to a group of people, similar to a lecture.  Sure, you can use it for this purpose.  In fact, many professors have successfully recorded parts of their lecture and integrated it with Podcasting and their Blackboard courses.  They have even utilized it to record guest lectures, reviews for exams and much more.  There is another realm that this can be used for and that is “social collaboration.”  For example, a group is meeting about a class project and they are brainstorming ideas.  The group can record their session, create a podcast, and share it with the instructor and students to enhance learning.  Another example is that same group sharing their final presentation for the class.  It can be recorded with video or just audio, a podcast can be created and the instructor can review for grading purposes and share it with future classes.

We have started this project recently and trained over 35 staff members how to create podcasts and integrate them into their courses.  We are planning on holding three more training sessions during the Fall semester. You will find these sessions above.

iTunes University - COMING SOON!!

If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about creating podcasts, please e-mail me at gallb@philau.edu or call 215-951-6332


Request for Information

What are you doing in your classes? Do you have a technology strategy/tool that has worked well for you and your students? Are you doing something innovative with Blackboard? Do you have a tip or trick for making Blackboard easier to use? Is there a topic you’d like to see investigated in this newsletter?

Send your ideas, questions, comments, concerns, best practices, etc. to gallb@philau.edu.