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Thursday, March 1, 2012

Campus Technology: Bringing Faculty Into the Fold

Engaging faculty with instructional technology is a big hurdle, but it can be done.

Four institutions share their strategies.

By Keith Norbury - 02/27/12


The biggest impediment to the integration of technology into the classroom is not budgets, bandwidth, or byte-related. It's faculty. Convincing them of the value of classroom technology--and persuading them to use it--is probably the most significant tech hurdle facing campuses today. Without faculty support, even the most promising initiative is doomed. And no amount of mandates will secure that support either. To succeed with faculty, the carrot beats the stick every time. Here are tips from four institutions that have discovered ways to foster instructional technology use among their faculty.
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Bloom's Digital Taxonomy Pyramid



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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

University Business March 2012 Digital Issue!


University Business logo

ISSUE ALERT
The March 2012 issue of University Business is now online.
Take me to the issue
March 2012 Cover



March 2012 Article Highlights


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Academic Impressions Online Course: MAKING THE SHIFT FROM CLASSROOM TO ONLINE COURSE DESIGN


MAKING THE SHIFT FROM CLASSROOM TO ONLINE COURSE DESIGN
October 1, 10, 19, & 30, 2012 :: 1:00 - 2:45 p.m. EDT

Learn the essential components of transforming face-to-face courses to an effective online format.

Join us for a four-session online course that will teach you the step-by-step process of transforming a face-to-face course to an online delivery format. Our expert instructor will share information and advice on remapping your course, organizing content, using Web 2.0 technology, and integrating learning design.

COURSE FORMAT AND SIGNATURE PROJECT
This four-part program uses a blend of synchronous and asynchronous components to model an effective online course. During the synchronous sessions, you will be invited to contribute ideas, make decisions, and ask questions about the course (re)design process.
Between sessions, you will have the opportunity to practice the process through the creation of a signature project that is specific to your work and your institutional setting. Your project for this course will involve converting components of one of your own face-to-face courses to the online format.
REGISTER TODAY, SPACE IS LIMITED
To ensure maximum interactivity and personal attention, enrollment will be limited. Take advantage of this unique opportunity while space is still available! Register online or call 720.488.6800.
We have designed this course for a single learner per registration. Included in your registration are credentials for the online course site, as well as the ability to receive customized feedback from the instructor on the assignments throughout the course that culminate in the signature project.
UPCOMING CONFERENCES
Academic Library Planning and Revitalization
March 26 - 28, 2012 | Baltimore, MD

Using Student Data to Improve Your Academic Support Programs
May 21 - 23, 2012 | St. Louis, MO

Managing Copyright Use, Ownership, and Policy
July 18 - 20, 2012 | La Jolla, CA


UPCOMING WEBCASTS
Online Accessibility for Students with Disabilities
March 28 & 30, 2012


Repurposing Campus Computer Labs: A Case Study
April 26 & 27, 2012


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Bronwynh on Education Blog: How to convince students to share their ideas on a blog

Seated Woman with Blog, after Picasso by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Is a blog a good or a bad thing for sharing ideas with your classmates? Lets deal with the good stuff first. Blogs are a great way to share information - websites, photos, videos, the latest gossip, and of course your ideas, and what you are learning in class. Here are some examples of blogs to get you thinking. http://delicious.com/bronwynh/FOLblogs

It can be interesting to find out more about the people sitting opposite you in class - what they are interested in and what they believe in. So it is a good way to get to know each other better. You will probably be pleasantly surprised to read about others' hidden talents. It is a good way to see things from different angles and reading what others have written helps you to do this. And to state the obvious, blogging really can help your writing, and your learning especially when your classmates give you helpful hints.

Posting on a blog can also help you to express the ideas you might be too shy to say out loud. It is good practice for learning to express your ideas too. It is really cool when someone reads what you have written and leaves you a comment. Just knowing others are interested in your thoughts is a real confidence booster.And of course, it is a great way for your teachers to give you feedback about your work, and to challenge you to think.

Sure it can be scary when you start to think that others will read what you have written, but it can also be addictive seeing how many people are reading your posts, and who is leaving comments. The more you do it the easier it is and the better you get at doing it.

The main thing to remember is to be respectful to each other when leaving comments, and it is a great way to show that you are interested in their work. By posting to a blog and sharing what you are learning, you are hopefully going to have fun and do some learning at the same time. So you can learn from each other if you share your work with the class as well as the teachers, and if your blog is open on the web you might even get some interesting people looking at your work.

It is also possible to set up a mobile blog where you can send texts, images and video directly to your blog....but that is another story, and one for you to explore. When you get really good at blogging you might even be able to attract advertising and make some money - lots of people do....but that is something for after class.

So what are you waiting for - lets get started.

My Photo
I work as an Educational Developer at Otago Polytechnic to promote flexible learning. I am a Doctorate in Education candidate. My thesis is investigating the use of a Three-Step Reflective Framework to support the preparation of the evidence practitioners prepare for their professional electronic portfolios.

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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Inside Higher Ed Articles: February 28, 2012




Invisible Transfer Students
New study finds that one-third of students attend at least two colleges. Their most common transfer destination: community colleges.

The Obama administration opposes a bill to repeal newly enacted rules on the credit hour and state approval, but how Democrats will vote today is unclear.

Study of one college's alumni shows those who received loans or scholarships donate less than do others.

A new national commission will set accrediting standards for schools of education, with the hope of producing better, more well-rounded teachers.
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WIA Report: Women Have Closed the Gender Gap in Degree Attainments

http://www.wiareport.com/2012/02/women-have-closed-the-gender-gap-in-degree-attainments/?utm_source=Women+In+Academia+Report&utm_campaign=7c227805a5-Women_in_Academia_Report_6_14_116_13_2011&utm_medium=email

Posted on Feb 24, 2012



For many years, more women than men have been enrolled in higher education. Now, new data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that women have almost closed the gender gap in degree attainments.
In 2011, 30.0 of all women over the age of 25 had obtained at least a four-year college degree. For men, 30.8 percent of all adults were college educated.
There are 31,372,000 women in the United States who are college educated. Some 8.8 million American women have earned master’s degrees. Only 7.2 million American men have master’s degrees.
Men still hold a lead in professional and doctoral degrees. But 1,118,000 women have earned professional degrees and another 1,151,000 women hold doctorates.

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Campus Technology: U.S. Department of Education Asks Students for Education Startup Ideas



By Mike Hohenbrink - 02/23/12

The United States Department of Education is asking students to contribute ideas for a unique education startup as part of its National Education Startup Challenge going on right now.
The purpose of the competition is to encourage students to come up with solutions for helping fellow students enter college and the workforce more ready to tackle real-world challenges as well as to encourage students as innovators and entrepreneurs.

The competition is open to students across the United States, and entries can be made by submitting a business plan as well as a video pitch. Videos should introduce a unique, original idea for a startup venture covering one of the four challenge topics.
Challenge topics include:
  • "Middle Grades Matter," covering ideas for helping students transition to high school and beyond;
  • "Skills, Skills, Skills," for encouraging skill-building ideas;
  • "Education Pays," which covers entries allowing students to pick affordable postsecondary education; and
  • "Finish Faster," covering ideas to help increase retention rates.
The exact nature of the startup is up to the discretion of each entrant and may consist of either for-profit or non-profit ideas designed to offer products, services, or strategies designed to help students. Entries can address any of the four challenge topics.

The challenge competition is open students who have begun the sixth grade up through high school graduates and students continuing their education at the postsecondary level. The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2012.
Entrants and their submissions will be judged as part of three categories based on age including:
  • Grades 6-8;
  • Grades 9-12; and
  • Undergraduate/postsecondary students.
A panel of educators and entrepreneurs will judge all of the submitted entries.
Winning entries will receive national recognition and may be eligible for further honors and opportunities.
More information is available online at nesc.challenge.gov or at challenge.gov. Questions can also be submitted by e-mail to EDStartupChallenge@ed.gov or to scott.hess@ed.gov.
Information is also available by phone by calling Scott Hess at 202-245-7772.
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TLT Group February 28, 2012

www.tltgroup.org




Seventh issue, Volume five

TLT Group TGIF 2.28.2012               
From TLT Group World Headquarters
Join us this Thursday as we "march" into March, boldly revisiting the Roundtable!  In our March Symposium, New Roundtables for Collaborative Change, TLT Group presenters and participants will adapt and demonstrate an effective planning and decision-making process designed for issues that require the expertise and support of an unusual variety of key stakeholders within a college or university - namely, the TLT Roundtable approach.
If you’re interested in thinking with us about these issues and how to address them, if you have relevant ideas or experiences, and if you want the experience of participating in a “fishbowl” TLTR, you’ll be welcome to join us for this three-session Symposium.  Registration is free for TLT Group Individual and Institutional Members.
FridayLive!
Upcoming FridayLive!s...

What's Still Good about Lectures?
Friday March 2, 2:00 pm EDT....Free to all.
There's an App for That
Friday March 9, 2:00 pm EDT....Free to all.
Registration for March 9
Navigating the Technology Tsunami
Friday March 16, 2:00 pm EDT....Free to all.
Registration for March 16
 Online Institute
It Takes Librarians and Faculty: Using Project Information Literacy to Improve Student Research Skills 
Tuesdays, March 13 and 20, 2012
2:00 - 3:00pm EDT
Leaders:
Steven Bell, Temple University
The better our understanding of the process students go through in conducting academic research and their behavior as researchers, the better job we can do in helping them to become better researchers, better writers and more critical in their approaches to evaluating and synthesizing information. Whether you call it information literacy or research skill building, helping undergraduates and graduate students to become effective researchers is an outcome shared by librarians and faculty. In this workshop, led by Steven Bell of Temple University, the findings of research studies produced by Project Information Literacy will be used as a framework to enhance our knowledge of student research behaviors and explore strategies for helping them to strengthen those skills. Guests will include Dr. Michael Eisenberg, co-founder of Project Information Literacy (on March 13) and librarians who are using the Project Information Literacy findings to reach out to faculty for collaboratively advancing campus information literacy initiatives.
REGISTER
This workshop is free to TLT Group Individual Members.  Check your institution's status here if you have your membership through an institutional subscription.

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Encourage. Enable. Engage.
www.tltgroup.org

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UBTech 2012: Unleash Your Inner Spielberg When Creating Online Lectures

http://www.ubtechconference.com/node/863

Unleash Your Inner Spielberg When Creating Online Lectures

As online courses and lectures become a more common practice in higher ed, educators have looked for the best possible ways to engage their students online.
Brian Klaas of the Center for Teaching & Learning with Technology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Heath, spoke at EduComm 2011 and shared tips on online lecture capture that have been influenced by his background in theater.
“Online lectures are a simple reality of university life,” Klaas said. “How you tell a story is just as important as what the story is...think about directing, editing and presentation.”
While many professors use Microsoft Powerpoint, Klaas said it can lead to unengaged lectures.
“Powerpoint is a trap,” he said. “The basic template that we're given in Powerpoint is 'title and bullet points' and that's not effective information dissemination and there's a lot of problems with it...Our obligation as educations is to present a compelling story and to present it in a compelling way.”
To make slides more interesting, Klaas recommends using higher quality sound and music, create a quicker pace that's broken into segments and remove heavy charts and images for stronger focus.
“Slides should be there to re-enforce what you're saying, not be the be all, end all...less is more, it's more effective and help students get what they need out of it,” he said.
Klaas concluded he presentation by noting the strong results these techniques have yielded: “Once we really work with faculty and show them the direct benefit of these techniques...they can see that it has a direct, measurable impact on student satisfaction and learning outcomes and find that the time they put in is worth the reward that comes out of it.”
Speaker:
Conference Year:

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