TLP Blog

“While there are still some educators who dispute the importance of technology in the classroom, there is no dispute over the fact that technology is here to stay in schools. Whether you are one of those tech-savvy teachers who can’t get enough of technology news and ideas or you are a teacher just learning to embrace technology in the classroom, these blogs offer a wealth of information straight from teachers and other professionals in the education field themselves.”

This blog lists some excellent resources ranging from Technology in Education to Special Education and Assistive Technology. This resource can be found at: Online Courses.org

College of Humanities and Fine Arts
Large Course Redesign Experience moves course from face to face to online. This interview is with Asa Mittman, professor in Art and Art History. He was asked by Dean Joel Zimbelman to move a course into the summer schedule for asynchronous online delivery. Hear what he has to say about this experience.


What course did you redesign for this project?

Arts 100, Art Appreciation: Multicultural Perspectives. This course is a basic introduction to the world of art, looking at works from the present, back to the earliest moments of human creativity, 40,000 years ago. It covers many major works in the West and East and also lesser-known works that reveal facets of the cultures by which they were produced. The course is structured around major themes that are common to various periods, rather than following chronology.

What problems did you and your department hope to solve with this course redesign? What were your intended outcomes?

I/we wanted to see if we could successfully run an art history course online, given tightening budgets, need for larger course enrollments, limited access to large classrooms on campus, and already over-full schedules. This course is designed to accommodate large enrollments, and is streamlined to do so as smoothly as I could figure out, under the current confines of the GE course requirements (especially the writing requirement).

The online format allowed me to pre-record all the lectures, so that they can be used over and over in following semesters, thereby saving considerable time in the long run (also allowing students with busy schedules, full time jobs, families, and the like to listen to them at any time, day or night).

In addition, the quizzes are all automated, so that the student takes one, the computer grades it against my key, tells the student her score, and inserts it into the online gradebook. The gradebook is set to add up all the scores and calculate the final average. One really helpful addition I made part-way through was the addition of a semi-automated makeup system for missed quizzes.

How has working with TLP helped you redesign your course?

The folks at TLP were great — really helpful, and they put up with my grumbling and griping with real patience. I am a pretty advanced web user, and have worked with Blackboard in various versions for years, but they really know the ins and outs of Vista, which is a deeply imperfect system but one which can to a degree be gamed to make it workable.

How did you change your ideas about the intended course redesign over the course of this project? What evolution took place that helped for the online environment.

The most significant aspect of the course that I changed was the creation of a podcast assignment. I wanted the students to be able to generate content, not merely receive it. In discussions with Ann Steckel, I realized that not only could I have them record lectures about works of art, but could have them upload images of the works, and locate them on a Google map. This led to the further realization that this could then be made available to the public. I set up a netvibes site that has since received 3,012 views: http://www.netvibes.com/csuchicoartpodcasts#General

I also found out I could do was insert pop-up quizzes right into the recorded lectures. These really enhance the course, I think.

How would you help others who are about to undertake a course redesign prepare for this experience? What advise could you give them?

It helps to have a very clear idea of the finished product before you start developing it. This saves a lot of time in redoing work. Also, this is NOT an in-person, face-to-face course, and while there are things that cannot be replicated, there are also things it can do that a regular course cannot. I’d suggest not trying to make it just like the in-person version, but rather, playing to its strengths instead.

This spring Provost Sandra Flake set forth a call for proposal to nominate a course per college for redesign that addressed large enrollment, engaging students, and saving money. Six courses were selected by the Deans for redesign through the first Chico State Academy eLearning. Hear what one faculty team member has to say about this experience.

Nancy Jones teaches in the College of Business; Accounting, Management and Information Systems department. Nancy participated in the first Academy eLearning institute this summer with team member Ru-fang Chiang, redesigning course ACCT 202: Introduction to Managerial Accounting. She was interviewed by TLP to share her experiences with other faculty.

Nancy, what course did your team redesign through the Academy?

We redesigned ACCT 202 which is the Introduction to Managerial Accounting. All business majors and construction management majors are required to take the course, usually during their sophomore or junior year. We also have music, communications, nursing, and other majors who attend our course for either a minor in business or for additional business knowledge. ACCT 202 builds on financial accounting taught in 201 and uses accounting to make business decisions.

What problems did you and your department hope to solve with this course being redesigned?

1) Increase student engagement – sometimes students get scared off when they hear the word “accounting” and they may feel like accounting doesn’t apply to their career choice. We wanted to change that mis-perception; 2) improve student success rate as measured by grades and retention rates; 3) address larger class sizes while maintaining course learning objectives and quality; 4) reduce instructor grading workload, but still provide sufficient feedback and individual contact.

How has the “Academy eLearning” experience helped you redesign your course?

Wow! So many great ideas to build upon and so many resources! The morning Academy eLearning meetings exposed us to new technology and pedagogies, which ignited a myriad of new ideas regarding the redesign and even applications for other courses. Whenever we thought we had our design “hard-coded,” we would be inspired by exploration of other opportunities and end up improving what we thought had been the “final” plan.

We found the Academy eLearning faculty and TLP staff talented and dedicated to teaching excellence. During our meetings, we could bounce ideas off other groups who often ended up helping us refine or define the original idea. Everyone shared willingly and had great feedback. Many had some great suggestions and ideas and the group’s enthusiastic energy became contagious.

Similarly, we are fortunate to have absolutely awesome personnel in TLP. Our team sometimes had some crazy pie-in-the sky ideas and TLP was able to translate our sometimes abstract visions into realizable and realistic projects. The TLP professionals were always there when we needed them and willing to do research or find us other resources if they didn’t have an immediate solution.

Did you learn anything that you will take away and apply to other courses?
If so, what?

Did I learn anything? Tons! I hope that I can retain even a small percentage of what I learned. I learned about collaborative work using Web 2.0 and creation of online communities. I had been using discussion groups, Vista, and chat rooms before, but not as effectively as I could have. I now have a Google and a YouTube site and am encouraging my students to use Google Docs and post on YouTube. We have been able to add a presentation component to our course that we didn’t previously have time for. I hope to do the same for one of my other accounting courses to expose Accounting majors to other channels of communication and in another class to encourage idea generation.

A really simple, but important “technology” we learned was how to make our courses disability accessible. I had no idea how awful our syllabi sounded using automated readers. Now all my documents are formatted with “accessibility” in mind.

I learned how to attach links and macros to “clicker” slides. My imagination is going crazy with that one. Goodbye boring PowerPoints!

If you could advise others, who may apply to the next Academy eLearning, what would you tell them about preparing for a large enrollment course redesign?

First off, don’t limit yourself. Explore all options. Spend time investigating technologies and pedagogies. Don’t discount anything that looks “weird” until you see what it’s all about. Let your creativity flow. Aim high! Then as you start fine-tuning the course, you’ll be able to figure out what will work and what won’t.

Be excited! Be energized and prepare to work hard! The results are well worth the work!

And lastly, expect to be challenged. This is all new stuff for many of us and kind of scary to learn, but it’s not any different for our students. Many of them don’t know the technology either. Fortunately for us, we have the support of our TLP staff to help over the humps and through the learning-curve.

The Institute for Teaching and Learning Connections quarterly newsletter is online from the Cal State web site, http://www.calstate.edu/itl/newsletter/09-summer.shtml. On the right column, half way down the page is an interesting article, Top Ten Practices to Promote Good Learning. Here’s an excerpt.

“In chatting with colleagues, this question came up: ‘Given the last 25 years of cognitive science research about how we learn, what should students be doing in my classroom?’ Emphasizing that learning is about making connections in a supportive, yet challenging, active social environment, here’s a quick top ten good practices. ”

I recommend you give it a quick read. -Laura Sederberg, manager of TLP

EDUCAUSE Live!
January 13, 2009 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. PT
Register Online
“Copyright balancing has become a critical issue in the academy as digital practices increasingly have challenged creaky policies and practices. Scholars, academic administrators, librarians, and intellectuals, as well as their students and mentees, need reasonable access to copyrighted culture to research and produce new knowledge. They and their distributors, whether journal publishers or YouTube, need to be able to share work that references and quotes copyrighted material without going through clearance processes never designed for this sector.”
Read More

Topic: A Space of One’s Own: Learning Environments Derived from User-Centered Discovery Techniques
Date: November 21, 2008
Time: 10:00 a.m. PT
Presenter: Crit Stuart, Director, Research Teaching and Learning
Association of Research Libraries (ARL)
Duration: 1 hour

Where: ONLINE (Register Here)

In brief:

“This presentation will review a number of user-centered programming assessment techniques that are field-tested, easy to modify and extemporize on, and reliable in producing excellent data for constructing informed building programs.”
The event is free, but registration is required and virtual seating is limited. REGISTER NOW.

When: October 1, 2008 at 6pm to October 2, 2008 at 6pm
Location: Adobe Connect
Event Type: Online Conference
Organized By: Alliance Library System
For More Information: Click Here

If you want to learn more about post-secondary teaching and learning in Second Life, this is a great place to start.

Event Description:
A take on that 1960’s movie, “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World!”, at times the work we do in virtual worlds can feel like we’re all running in various directions hunting for treasure. Virtual worlds like Second Life have been a part of our work now for a few years and we are doing wonderful things on various levels. Some efforts are highly organized and funded while others are somewhat more loosely collected, organic and serendipitous. All of our efforts are creating fantastic accounts of lessons learned and insights for better understanding and refining the approach and effort for greater impact.

Join us for two days as we discuss virtual worlds and librarianship. Note that this online conference will not be taking place in Second Life. We’ll be using Adobe Connect for the sessions. We’ll be convening online on October 1 and 2 to discuss topics such as, “Virtual Worlds Development”, “Scaling Graduate LIS Instruction in Virtual Environments”, “Academic Libraries and Virtual Worlds”, “Building a Library Presence in the Virtual World of Second Life” and “Creating Educational Tools in Second Life for Libraries”. A panel of the conference speakers is also scheduled in which your questions will feature prominently.

To register or learn more about the conference you can click on the link above. Questions? Please email info@learningtimes.net.

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!”

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.

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.