CTC Ed Tech Nov. 20, 2013

I hope that you are keeping warm. Here are my offerings this week:

Computer security

Last week I discussed the importance of keeping your computer up-to-date. One instructor pointed out to me that he was not sure about doing updates. Mr. Bill advised me that Java updates and Windows updates are the most important. Rather than create tutorials, I found some videos that explain how to do these updates:

• Update Java 
• Turn on Windows auto update (Mr. Bill recommends this)
• Manually do a Window update 

IDEA (remember IDEA?)

Have you completed the Faculty Information Form (FIF) for IDEA, our online course evaluation system? The FIF link is emailed to your UAA email account weekly until you complete the FIF or until Dec. 17, though you can't add additional questions after Nov. 27. Here is a guide for completing the FIF to customize the course evaluation and get more useful results. The survey opens to students on Wed. Nov. 27 and closes on Tues. Dec. 17 unless you have made other arrangements with Faculty Services.

Manifesto on for Active Learning

I came across this article on teaching in higher education. What impresses me is not so much the active learning in his classroom, but the reflection on teaching by this professor. 

Blackboard upgrade 

We are upgrading over winter break and Blackboard will be unavailable Dec. 20 -29. Get the scoop on the UAA Blackboard upgrade:

• Online resources
• Collaborate recording by Scott Ready from Blackboard 
•  Faculty Technology Center workshop schedule

Sign up to access the testing server to explore the new environment (open to the first 100 faculty who sign up)

Review resources at Blackboard.com

eTech Fair recordings  

Most of the sessions from last week's eTech Fair were recorded and the links are now up. Take a peek if you want to see what some of your colleagues here at UAA have done.  

I will be out of town Thanksgiving week, so there will be no email from me until December.

CTC Ed Tech News November 13, 2013

Dear faculty and staff,

Here's a smorgasbord for you this week:

Take your medicine

Bill, our IT person at University Center, wanted me to remind you to take your medicine, I mean, to do your computer updates. This is one of the best ways to keep your computer and your data safe (along with good passwords). So, do Bill and yourself a favor: Pick a time when you can let the computer do its thing and do your Window updates, Microsoft updates, Java updates, and Adobe updates. Read a real book, magazine, text book, or grade papers  while you monitor the progress. "Pretty please with sugar on top," says Bill.

Intro to Blackboard 9.1, Service Pack 13 

Friday, November 15, noon-1:30 pm. This webinar delivered via Collaborate will go over some of the new features that will come with our Blackboard upgrade in December. I have been experimenting with it and really like the new text editor, improvements in the tests deployment, discussion board, blogs, and wikis. The new inline grading is really, really cool. I will host an in-person overview of SP 13 in December

Remember, IT Services plans to take Blackboard down from December 20 through 29 for the upgrade.  

New Resource from the Library

Librarian Christie Ericson sent this to the Faculty Listserv on November 13:

The Consortium Library has recently subscribed to a new service for reading electronic journals. BrowZine is a new tablet application that allows you to browse, read, and stay current with thousands of the library's top scholarly journals in a format optimized for your iPad, Android, or Kindle Fire tablet.With BrowZine, you can:

• Browse and read journals:  browse journals by subject, easily review tables of contents, and download full articles
• Create your own bookshelf:  add journals to your personal bookshelf and be notified when new articles are published (note: push notification begins mid-November for iPads, January for Android)
• Save and export articles:  Save articles for off-line reading or export to services such as RefWorks, Zotero, and more

Learn more and start using BrowZine today.

CTC Ed Tech November 5, 2013

Dear colleagues,

Here are a few hopefully tasty bites for you this week:

UAA eTech Fair for Distance Ed Week: Nov. 11-15, 2013

Just drop-in! No preregistration required.

Join the UAA Elearning Workgroup for our 3^rd annual eTech Fair during distance education week Nov. 11-15.  Attend daily sessions (morning & afternoon) presented by UAA faculty and instructional designers on distance education tools and resources. All sessions will be held online via Blackboard Collaborate. 

Door prizes will be given out at each session to randomly selected participants who complete the evaluation survey!  (Door prizes donated by: UAA IT Services, College of Education, College of Health, Disability Support Services, Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, School of Nursing)

Visit the eTech Fair website for this year's sessions and information on attending.

Student withdrawal deadline approaching

If a student has stopped coming to class, you can withdraw the student until November 15: 

• Contact the student via email or phone and ask the student to withdraw (you may or may not get a response)

• Use the online form to withdraw him/her from the class. 

The student will receive a "W" as a grade for this class and will not get a refund.

Please note that at the end of the semester, if a student has stopped coming to class and has not withdrawn, you must give him/her a grade:

• F for failing the class or

• NB (No Basis) for not having completed enough work to be graded.

A last date of attendance is required for F and NB grades. 

Understanding by Design Transfer Goals

In prior weeks, I've discussed the big idea for a course, essential questions, and the UBD egg.  One other important design consideration is transfer goals.  What do you expect the student to be able to do in other contexts besides your classroom as a result of your course? For skills classes, this is often more than just  the skill… there needs to be understanding of when,where, and why to apply a certain skill.  What good is learning how to use Word if the student can't write a business letter?  What good is knowing how to use AutoCAD if the student can't create a drawing to the specs provided by the employer?    I find transfer goals a great way to get at what we really want our students to understand and be able to do as a result of our instruction.

Tutoring addenda

Last week I wrote about tutoring options for students. D'Arcy Hutchings, librarian at the Learning Resource Center,  informed me about  the  excellent list  of  tutoring resources compiled by the staff at the Learning Resource Center. Check them out!  

Warm regards,

Lee

Lee Maria Henrikson

Instructional Designer

UC 132G

Beyond Anchorage Workforce Development Grant

Community and Technical College

University of Alaska Anchorage

blog: http://ak-lee.blogspot.com

907-786-4903