CTC Ed Tech News Feb. 24, 2014

I am at ASTE (Alaska Society for Technology in Education) on Monday and Tuesday this week. I'll have information to share from the conference next week.

For now, here's a short article on asking questions of students. I've been thinking about questions as a way to provoke student learning. I am assisting a distance professional development course in which the teachers are learning some math along with the new Alaska State Math Standards. Monitoring a small group of students in a break out room in Collaborate, I will ask a question rather than provide the answer. Learning is deeper if there is work and struggle to find an answer rather than having it handed to one. 

Online Test Proctoring Webinar- Due to technical complications during the webinar for Software Secure last week, we have rescheduled it:

Software Secure webinar Tuesday, February 25 @ 11:30 am 

1.  Please join my meeting.

https://www4.gotomeeting.com/join/586706151

2.  Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended.  Or, call in using your telephone.

United States: +1 (213) 493-0015

United States (toll-free): 1 888 999 0073

Access Code: 586-706-151

Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting

Meeting ID: 586-706-151

CTC Ed Tech News February 18, 2014

Just a few tidbits for you:

Professor of the Future. I came across the Ontario Online Learning Portal for Faculty & Instructors. It's an incredibly rich set of resources for bringing courses online. My pick from the site to share with you this week is "Seven Habits of the Professor of the Future." One reason I am particularly struck by this article is the 2014 Horizon Report from the New Media Center and Educause  It sees a significant challenge to higher education technology adoption is low digital fluency of faculty. 

IDEA Survey. The Faculty Information Form (FIF)  for our online course evaluation system opens on Wednesday, February 19. If you want to customize the course evaluation and get more accurate results, complete the FIF. Here is a guide for completing it.  You will receive reminder emails to your UAA email account to complete the FIF each week, so doing so sooner means those emails cease.  

Read about the IDEA survey and contact Michael Smith in Faculty Services if you have any questions.

Proctoring online tests. You are welcome to attend a webinar on Software Secure, an online test proctoring service on Wednesday, February 19 at 12:00PM. Here is the log-in information if you are interested in joining this webinar.

1.  Go to https://www4.gotomeeting.com/join/932620943

2.  Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended.  

Or, call in using your telephone.

United States: +1 (626) 521-0016

United States (toll-free): 1 888 999 0073

Access Code: 932-620-943

Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting

Meeting ID: 932-620-943

CTC Ed Tech News February 10, 2014

Here are some things that I've been reading and thinking about.

Distance Education. Here are a couple interesting articles on distance education:

The Do's and Don'ts of Synchronous Online Learning - I know several UAA instructors who could have written this common sense set of guidelines for teaching in Collaborate.  

Backwards and In High Heels - Thoughts on providing professional development for online teachers with a Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire metaphor.  

Online testing. UAA is going to pilot a couple online testing solutions. If you want to learn more about one of the solutions, Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor, please attend the webinar by Respondus on Wednesday, February 12, at noon. Here's how to join:

1. In your web broswers, go to https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/274465909
2. Use your computer's microphone and speakers (VoIP) - a headset is recommended
3. Or, call in using your telephone:
   1. Dial +1 (312) 878-3081
   2. Access Code: 274-465-909
   3. Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting
   4. Meeting ID: 274-465-909

Lockdown browser provides a secure web browser for testing that disables all other onscreen activities. We are looking at it to both decrease cheating and decrease tests crashing and locking students out. Monitor is a deterrent to cheating. It records the student taking the test with the student's webcam and speakers. If the instructor thinks that there has been improper activity, he/she can review the recording of the student taking the test.

Blackboard resources. Here is a great collection of tutorials on Online Teaching Strategies from Blackboard. These recordings of webinars are 46 minutes to just over an hour in length.

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

CTC Ed Tech News February 3, 2014

Here is my news for this week and last. 

Textbook Deadline. The textbook deadline for fall and summer is looming. For Chugiak -Eagle River, it's just  two days away - February 5. So, do get your textbooks requests in this week. Things will work smoother down the line… we want students to know the cost of their courses when they register and textbooks are a big cost.

Academic Dishonesty. Academic dishonesty is something I hear many faculty members discussing. Michael Votava in the office of the Dean of Students revamped the academic integrity website last fall. There is a detailed procedure on reporting violations of the Student Code of Conduct and a link to a form to file allegations of misconduct. I urge you to check out the resources provided on the site and become familiar with the university's sanctions guidelines. Share with your students that you will use this resource if you suspect violations of the Student Code of Conduct.    

Test Banks For Sale. I know faculty who use test banks provided by textbook publishers. Many test banks are available for sale on the internet. Yes, any time there is a dollar to be made online, someone will probably jump in to make the dollar. If you use test banks to build your tests, this may or may not be an issue for you.  

Online Testing Pilot. The eLearning Workgroup has a subcommittee looking at online and distance testing. We plan to run a couple of pilots after spring break: secure web browser, recording of a student taking a remote test (to discourage cheating) and online proctoring. If you are interested in any of these options, please complete this form. There will be a webinar with Respondus on Wed. Feb. 12 at noon on their Lock Down browser and monitoring software. In two weeks, there will be a webinar from an online proctoring provider. Feel free to sign up if you just want to attend the webinars.

eLearning Predictions. Russ Poulin from WCET (WICHE Cooperative for Educational Technologies) asked for eLearning predictions last January from WCET members. Here are the winning predictions. It's interesting to see what some of the ideas are in eLearning and higher education.  The world is changing and it's good to have an awareness of the possible changes because they will affect us. (And WICHE is Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.)