CTC Ed Tech News Dec. 13, 2014

Hi all,

Here are my final suggestions for the fall.  

Finishing the Fall

Finals are about done. Maybe you have grading to finish, maybe you are done.  Here are a few reminders about finishing the semester well:

1. Reflect. What went well and what would you do different next time? Write it down! One way to improve our teaching is to go through a reflection/action process. Even it's a small thing that you want to change, it sets a precedent of continuous improvement to make the change. From what I know about teaching,  striving to improve keeps the material fresh and alive for me.
2. Enter grades in UAOnline by 11:59 pm on Wed. December 17.
3. Make your Blackboard shell unavailable to students – when appropriate for your course- go to Control Panel > Customization> Properties > Item 3.

Getting Ready for Spring

Some people are prepping now, some work over break, some take a brain break and dive in in January.  Here are a couple items to ease the process:

1. AIE consulting and workshops. Schedule a one-on-one meeting with an AIE Instructional Designer on Dec 17–19, 2014 or Jan 5–16, 2015. Spring Bootcamp  is on Jan 7–9, 2015. Topics include: Blackboard, Blackboard Collaborate, Presentation Techniques, Screencasting and Google Apps.
2. If you want to learn more about Blackboard on your own, go to the Instructor Resources area in your new Blackboard shell.
3. Set up your Blackboard course
   1. Course copy materials from the Blackboard shell from a prior semester
   2. Learn more on the Instructors Getting Started page

Email Virus Update

Beginning on Monday December 8, University of Alaska Anchorage personnel were inundated with virus-infected spam emails, in many cases from colleagues with already infected computers. These spam messages had a .zip file attachment. Those individuals who opened the .zip file soon found out that they had unknowingly installed a virus on their computers.

In the cases this week, the usual anti-virus and anti-malware software remained one step behind these infections. IT professionals across campus worked many, many hours to repair the damage. Infected computers were re-imaged – which meant those persons were without their primary computer for some time.

Some .zip files are very dangerous and IT Services depends on each of us to be cautious with emails containing .zip attachments. What can you do?

1. Keep your anti-virus and anti-malware software up-to-date. Ask the Call Center for detail on anti-virus and anti-malware software at the university.
2. Pause and be suspicious before clicking on any link- especially .zip files- in an email message – including ones from me! Just because you know the sender, doesn't mean the email is safe.
3. Make sure your data is backed up.
4. Immediately call the Call Center or your IT person (if your department has one) if you suspect your computer has been compromised.

Happy Holidays, 

Lee

Lee Maria Henrikson

Instructional Designer

Community and Technical College

University of Alaska Anchorage

http://ak-lee.blogspot.com

907-786-4903

 

CTC Ed Tech News December 1, 2014

The semester is winding down, there's finally snow on the ground, and here are my offerings for today:

Join the Game! 

UAS Instructional Designers are hosting a 10-day online workshop on gamefication in learning called the "10 Day Faculty Challenge." You can still sign up if you want to see what it's all about- just click on the link for the form on the UAS Learning Spaces blog. 

This is a great way to explore the ideas of games and gamefication in learning. Skeptics are welcome along with the game believers. Me, I'm some of both. 

If you do join the game, let me know so I can get a badge for recruiting.

IDEA Survey

The IDEA survey is now open for students. Its open dates are November 25 - December 17. Students can access the survey via the Course Evaluation link in Blackboard. Please encourage your students to take the survey and then look at the data next semester to see if you want to make changes in the course based on the student feedback.  If you have fewer than 11 students, you will need to request the survey.

Finals are Next Week

December 8-13.  Remember, the finals time counts toward the contact hours for your class.  Here is the finals schedule. This Find My Final Exam form is probably more for students.

Sometimes Low Tech is Best

Here are two articles on low vs. high tech. The first, on reading books vs. eBooks, finds that readers comprehend more when they read actual, rather than ebooks. The sensory input of holding a book gives one a sense of progression through the book.  It's easier to flip between pages, too, in a real book. The second, Don't let e-mail become e-fail, addresses one of my pet peeves: using electronic communication when a phone call or short chat would be more effective. One of my rules is that if the email gets too complicated, it's better to have a conversation.

My next newsletter will be on Dec.12.

CTC Ed Tech News November 13, 2014

Hello all,

I am going to switch to a bi-weekly newsletter. The next edition will be Dec. 1, just after Thanksgiving.

Turn off all those beeps  

My phone chirped at 5 am last Sunday. It woke us up - and my husband was curious about what was going on. Later, I looked in the Settings > Notifications area of my iPhone and my Project Tracker tool had an item due at 5 am and was set to give an audible alert. This was a default setting and until this point hadn't been an issue. 5AM beeps, however, are an issue. I turned off the audible alerts for the tool and looked at what else was giving me alerts. More things got turned off. I am fussy about my attention and don't like phones or computers beeping at me. It takes me out of the task I'm on.

Each beep or chirp interrupts one's train of thought, causes a context switch in the brain, then a switch back to the task at hand. This produces inefficiencies - multi tasking is a fallacy after all. Our brains can only do one thing at a time. It also produces stress. 

So, I encourage you to look at the beeps and bouncing icons and other attention getters that your phone and computer provide. Turn them off unless you have a compelling reason to leave them on. Heck, some time management gurus recommend turning your email off and then just logging in to check it periodically. You may find that your mood and your efficiency improve.

eLearning Horrors

Not just for eLearning, these four tips are good teaching.

Still scary out there

Not only are we getting email phishing attempts to get personal information, now scammers are phoning us.  Check out this article from the UAA Green and Gold Daily on the topic. I admit, I was fooled for a moment last week when an apparent email from Linked In indicated someone was trying to reach me. It was a scam with an ugly link… luckily, I was on a Mac or it may not have been pretty. 

Reminder: Withdrawal Deadline Nov. 14

November 14 is the withdrawal deadline for students in regular full semester classes. If a student stops coming to class, you have these choices until November 14:

• Ask the student to withdraw (you may or may not get a response).
• Use the online form to withdraw him/her from the class.

Whether the student withdraws or you withdraw him/her, the student will receive a "W"as a grade for this class. If a student has stopped coming to class and has not withdrawn, you must give him/her a grade at the end of the semester:

• F for failing the class or
• NB (No Basis) for not having completed enough work to be graded.

Please note that a last date of attendance is required for F and NB grades.

Warm regards,

Lee

Lee Maria Henrikson

Instructional Designer

Community and Technical College

University of Alaska Anchorage

http://ak-lee.blogspot.com

907-786-4903

 

CTC Ed Tech News November 4, 2014

I'm back from my vacation – it was long enough so that it's great to be back.  Let's just say the Caribbean Ocean is very nice.

It's About the Learners 

In this 23-minute podcast titled "Brilliant: The Science of How We Get Smarter" Annie Murphy Paul outlines conditions in which we can access our maximum intelligence… that is, we are "smarter." My take is that the ability is there –and that there are many conditions when we are unable to access all of our intelligence. What can we do as instructors to help our students reach their maximum potential? One answer is in this short article on how to engage students: A 4-Step Recipe for Maximum eLearner Engagement by Karla Gutierrez. I encourage you to think about these concepts as you structure your classes.

Withdrawal Deadline Coming Up

November 14 is the withdrawal deadline for students in regular full semester classes. If a student stops coming to class, you have these choices until November 14:

• Ask the student to withdraw (you may or may not get a response).
• Use the online form to withdraw him/her from the class.

Whether the student withdraws or you withdraw him/her, the student will receive a "W"as a grade for this class. If a student has stopped coming to class and has not withdrawn, you must give him/her a grade at the end of the semester:

• F for failing the class or
• NB (No Basis) for not having completed enough work to be graded.

Please note that a last date of attendance is required for F and NB grades.

Cool Tool: Voicethread

Voicethread is an interactive tool that has been added to our Blackboard shell. It's like a PowerPoint on the web, with the addition that anyone can add comments to each slide – and the comments can be text, audio, or video. This video explains Voicethread. Here are the help pages for using Voicethread in Blackboard.

eTech Fair

The UAA eLearning Workgroup presents its annual eTech Fair during Distance Education Week, November 10-14, 2014. Check out the schedule. All sessions are online via Blackboard Collaborate and there is no pre-registration. Join a workshop by clicking the blue title in the schedule at the proper time. Scroll down or click the green presenter name to read the workshop description.

CTE Ed Tech News October 13, 2014

This is my last newsletter until November. I'll be gone for two weeks, back on November 3. Yes, I'll be someplace warm with a beach for some of this vacation. However, I am teaching a 500-level class and will continue with those responsibilities while away.

eTech Fair

The eLearning Workgroup is hosting its 4^th annual eTech Fair during Distance Education Week, November 10 - 14. I'll send out an announcement once the schedule is final. Faculty and staff who are members of the eLearning Workgroup teach all these sessions in Collaborate. The sessions will be recorded so you can watch them later if you want.

If you're curious, here are the sessions from last year, though some of the recordings have broken. At least you can get an idea of the kinds of offerings to expect.

IDEA for classes with 10 or less students

Last week I stated:

The survey is only available to classes with more than 10 students. For more information on the IDEA survey, contact Mu En Hu in Faculty Services."

A colleague reminded me that if your class has fewer than 11 students, you can request the survey by contacting Mu En Hu.  Additionally, for stacked classes, you can request one survey for all the sections.  Make the IDEA survey work for you!

Thoughts on Using Technology in Instruction

This article from Prof Hacker describes something I deal with quite often: how much direction to give students on using the technology to complete assignments. My experience is that in online classes I need to give lots of support. For instance, I linked to tutorials from Blackboard on how to use blogs and journals in the 590 class that I am teaching right now. I have written specific instructions on how to take tests in Blackboard so that the tests are unlikely to crash or freeze on students  (all bets are off if the network goes down, though). I tend to be judicious in the introduction of tools to students and recommend the same to faculty.  

It's also important to have a clear, simple organization in Blackboard. My mantra is that students are here to learn our content, not our organization system.  

CTC Ed Tech News October 7, 2014

Hello everyone,

Well, it's been a couple weeks since the last newsletter. I was wrapping up my grant obligations and was, well, swamped.

New Position. My work has transitioned from grant-funded to a CTC position. I have some projects assigned from the CTC Directors and Chairs: 

• Develop three online courses
• Identify how Quality Matters impacts CTC online courses and how it will be implemented in CTC
• Outreach to CTC units - Inventory instructional design needs for CTC beyond AY14-15
• Inform units what services are provided from this position for faculty and how to request support
• Identify how this position can assist/support adjunct faculty and their professional development needs

I am working on a plan to implement these projects. You'll be hearing from me on these items.

Stacking classes. In Blackboard, it used to be when there were cross-listed courses and a faculty member wanted to use just one shell for both courses, she had to merge the enrollments by hand into a master course and track them. This was not sync'd with Banner, so there was some manual tracking of students. Now, the Call Center can merge the courses so that it appears to the students that they are logging in to their original course and the enrollments for the new master course are automatically sync'd with Banner. This is a big timesaver if you stack courses. When I taught 2 sections of the same course, I stacked the Blackboard course shells (and used groups). Now, I'd ask the Call Center to combine them.  

IDEA Faculty Information Form (FIF) now available. IDEA is our online course evaluation system; The FIF link was emailed to faculty in late September. If you want to customize the course evaluation to get more accurate results, complete the FIF. Here is a guide for completing it. You will receive the reminder emails to your UAA email account to complete the FIF each week, so doing so sooner means those emails cease.  

The survey is only available to classes with more than 10 students.  For more information on the IDEA survey, contact Mu En Hu in Faculty Services.

An inspiring way to use passwords.  Passwords are a drag. Particularly when we have to change them. Here is one man's story about how he used his work password to change his life. For the better. This inspires me because he took a tedious task and found a way to make it work for him.  

Disclaimer: Use this only on one site that you use frequently (like UAA).  Do not use the same password on multiple sites.

Workshops at Academic Innovations and CAFE.  Check the lineup of offerings.  If you are curious about Quality Matters, there is a session this Friday at 2 pm at the library. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the list of recorded sessions.

Warm regards,

Lee

Lee Maria Henrikson

Instructional Designer

Community and Technical College

University of Alaska Anchorage

http://ak-lee.blogspot.com

907-786-4903

CTC Ed Tech News September 18, 2014

Thoughts for the week

Atomic Learning

Here's a tutorial from Academic Innovations and eLearning on adding Atomic Learning modules to Blackboard.  Just remember, if you want to view the modules, login to Blackboard in a different browser with your student account.

Student Evaluations

You don't have to wait until the end of the semester to collect feedback from your students.  Robert Talbert shares his strategies, approaches, and reasons for collecting more frequent feedback from students.  His questions are simple and he explains to the students what he's doing or not doing based on the feedback. Student feedback is a great source of information on how to improve teaching. 

Passwords- Again

The recent hacking of Gmail accounts shows the importance of having strong, unique passwords.  This article from Computer World explains it all very well.  So, for you readers, this means that your UAA password has to be unique. If you use your UAA email address to create an account on, say, Dropbox, use a new password.  Do not use your UAA password on any other system anywhere. Period. I use Keeper to keep track of my passwords. LastPass has also been recommended to me as a way to keep track of passwords.  Yes, I wrote about this last spring. I'll probably write about it again. 

Design for eLearning

This blog post summarizes the research by Clark and Mayer on how to make eLearning more effective. It gives 10 guidelines on design that help maximize learning. I admit, I have Clark and Mayer's book E-learning and the Science of Instruction by my computer.

CTC Ed Tech News September 11, 2014

A few items for your review this week:

Instructional Videos

This article from Educause summarizes a study on the use of instructional videos in classes. Two key takeaways for me:  The average viewing time was 4 minutes and students were more engaged with videos that had a human dimension – the instructor used humor or wit.  Yes, even online, instructor presence makes a difference!  Next week, I'll discuss some easy screencast options available to you. 

Atomic Learning – in Blackboard!

Last week I wrote about using Atomic Learning for your personal learning about technology.  It's a website with 1000's of videos, tutorials and tips on technology and online learning.  There is also an Atomic Learning plugin in Blackboard – with it you can add Atomic Learning videos to your Blackboard shell.  One professor, for instance, embedded a playlist of videos on APA format in her English class.  Log in to Atomic Learning and search for Blackboard Atomic Learning to find the tutorials on how to add Atomic Learning to Blackboard. 

My Blackboard Discovery

I learned a new thing (for me!) about Blackboard this week. One can set up a discussion board so that the students don't see the posts from the other students until after they post. To set this option, when creating the forum, in section 3, click the radio button "Participants must create a thread in order to view other threads in this forum."

So if you want students to post original work, this may be the route to use.  When this option is selected, Blackboard gives you and your students notice about it.  Here is a student's view when clicking the forum link.  After the student submits, she can see the other post(s)

Commit to Your Calendar

This article on time management from Prof Hacker suggests blocking out time in your calendar for important things- research, planning, etc., rather than letting them happen haphazardly (or not, unfortunately) in your day. You can use our Exchange/Outlook calendar to track your appointments. You can access this calendar on your smart phone, computer, iPad, etc.  Here's one more plug for Atomic Learning.  Learn about it in Atomic Learning.  

CTC Ed Tech News September 4 2014

Thoughts for you this week: 

Add/Drop Deadline 5 pm Friday September 5

Tomorrow is the deadline for adding and dropping all full semester courses. The registrar offers the following options for manual processing by students:

·         Students may submit forms at the University Center between 8-5 p.m.
·         Students may also utilize the kiosk on the top floor of the Student Union between 9-4. 

Instructors can also choose to drop students who have not showed up for class. Use the online form to withdraw him/her from the class. If you do it before 5 pm Friday September 5, the student will receive a tuition refund. 

A Faculty Initiated Withdrawal of the students during the first two weeks of the semester will give them a 100% tuition refund. This not only saves students money but also saves headaches for Student Services when the student comes back asking for refunds for a course they didn't know they were signed up for. You could choose to do nothing and then give the students a grade of NB or F at the end of the semester and that would be okay too, as students are adults who have signed up for the course and if it costs them their tuition (and likely late fees, etc), then so be it (From Paula Martin at KPC).

Sometimes, no technology is best

I love technology; I use it all the time… A colleague introduced me to the new student worker in our suite as the one who never takes notes on paper… my laptop goes to most meetings with me (I do turn email off during the meetings). Technology is a tool, though, to help us meet our goals. I found a couple interesting article about instructors opting to not use technology for thoughtful, pedagogical reasons:

Why I'm asking you not to use laptops - a professor explains her no laptop policy for her classes. She has sound reasons that she tells the students. Two of the reasons are: 

·      It's easy to be distracted and read email or go to Facebook and multitasking is a fallacy

·      It distracts the students around the laptop user and lessens their learning

She has a couple other reasons mentioned in the article, too. And, if a student feels really compelled to use a laptop, he/she can talk with the professor and get permission.

The comments after the article have some interesting points, too. In particular, some students who experience disabilities (for instance, dysgraphia) need to type rather than write. How does a professor make sure that they don't feel singled out?

Don't Email Me – a professor bans email from students except to schedule an appointment with her. "Its purpose was twofold: teaching students to be more self-reliant by making them read assignments and the syllabus more closely, and freeing up time for conversations in the classroom and during office hours." (from the article)

Thank you, Kelly Donnelly for sharing this with me. 

One idea from both these articles is to make sure that the technology serves the learning, rather than distracts from it. In a distance class, if I went for a no email policy, I'd probably provide a discussion board that students can post questions to.

Always Learning

We have a great resource for quick tutorials on lots of topics: Atomic Learning. You have to login with your UAA username and password, and then a world of 1-3 minute video tutorials is at your fingertips.

Bookmark the UAA Atomic Learning page or Google the words uaa atomic learning to find it. My challenge to you is go to the Blackboard instructor tutorials and learn something new about the Grade Center. We are using Blackboard Learn 9.1, SP (Service Pack) 13, but the grade center tutorials are generic for Learn 9.1. Let me know what you find out!

I was asked about PowerPoint Master Slides at the CTC Inservice a few weeks ago. Had I not known an answer, I could have said, login to Atomic Learning and search for PowerPoint Master Slide.  I did this later. In the list that came up, I selected my version of PowerPoint and there was a whole section of 11 short videos on slide masters. Nice. Let me know what you find on Atomic Learning.