Technology Bites - Using Technology in Teaching

Charts and Guages in Excel

2011-01-03T09:20:00.002-06:00

As part of some institutional research, I am exploring ways of using common tools to create "dashboards" for data.

Here are some fun links I've discovered which talk about "hacks" to get speedometer style gauges from your data (mainly using MS Excel).

Gauge Chart using XY Scatter Chart (AndyPope.Info)

Gauge Chart by Overlaying a Pie Chart on a Doughnut Chart (chandoo.org)

Other Dynamic Dashboards (chandoo.org)

Excel Template for Gauge (Microsoft.com)

Other Dashboard Ideas (MyExcelTemplates.com)

Website Accessibility

2010-12-20T10:33:00.004-06:00

Recent lawsuits by the National Federation of the Blind against universities with inaccessible websites and course management sites once again raises the importance of universal design.

Here are some links relating to accessibility of websites and academic course web pages.

Eye Disease Simulator
Color Blindness Simulator
University of Washington - Working Together series
(these are excellent examples of how videos should be created for accessibility)
- People with Disabilities and Computers
- Computers and People with Mobility Impairments
Refreshable Braille
Creating Accessible Adobe Flash documents

Facebook adding "remote log out" security

2010-09-03T11:25:00.002-05:00

If you're receiving SPAM messages from your Facebook friends, don't blame them entirely. Spammers and hackers are creating applications which are asking Facebook users to enter in their Usernames and Passwords so that they can "authorize" applications and games to post to their pages. Well... once they have the credentials - they take over your account.

Facebook is adding a capability of Remote Log Out - so that you can see all the devices and connections logged into your account and "log out" specific devices and instances. This is also handy for people who store their passwords and then the preying eyes of roommates and family members simply go to Facebook have an automatic "in" to the site under your account.

Check out the article link for more details.

Fair Use - Center for Social Media

2010-08-31T11:25:00.003-05:00

The Center for Social Media has developed a great series of tutorial on the doctrine of Fair Use under the Copyright law.
The site also contains sets of Best Practices for using materials for Media Literacy, using Online Video, using materials in Documentary Filmmaking, and many other areas.

Of particular interest might be the video "Remix Culture" which addresses best practices in Fair Use for Online Video.

Are You Ready to Teach Online?

2010-08-30T14:35:00.002-05:00

Baker University has an excellent tool for faculty who are interested in teaching online.
It is titled Am I Ready to Teach an Online Course?
The self-assessment examines the technical skills, attitudes towards online learning, teaching style, and communication style of the prospective online teacher and then provides feedback about then answers provided by the candidate.

Confident Conference Presentations

2010-04-02T15:31:00.003-05:00

I want presenters to be successful, and I actually feel pains of embarrassment in my stomach when a presenter flounders or ends up losing an audience part-way through their hour-long session.

Many times when a presentation ends, I ask myself "ahhh… yes… so what?”

Presenters need to be customer-oriented when they design their presentations, and the greatest opportunity for improvement is to focus a presentation around learning objectives and a call to action. After you filter away all of the other distractions and boil it down to "what should audience members learn" and "what are the benefits to doing it differently" - the presentation is much more likely to maintain an alert audience.

I am in the midst of helping plan and run another large state-wide conference, and I have decided to jot down some notes of advice for presenters. Effective presentations will:

Develop an Elevator Pitch: “Why should we care?” and "How will what you are going to tell me make me better off (richer, safer, happier, smarter)?" How can you convince YOUR intended audience in 30-seconds or less to listen to the rest of your presentation? How can you convince them that what you are about to say will be original, beneficial, and useful? What is the main point of your presentation, and how can you summarize it to start off your presentation? Being able to package your presentation into this short set of statements will help you funnel in just the core ideas and information your presentation needs and filter out everything else. If most of the audience members already have expertise, don’t waste their time with the basics. If most of your audience members are novices – don’t make them feel stupid by using unfamiliar language or concepts.

Use Learning Objectives to direct a Call to Action: A great presentation normally has both a set of specific learning objectives (what should the audience have learned during the presentation) and also a specific call to action (a challenge to do one or two new things based upon what they have learned). These are the beneficial “take-aways” participants get for spending their time in your presentation. When you are building your presentation, use these along with your Elevator Pitch to help focus and filter the content you choose to present.

Utilize an Attention Getter: what humorous image, video clip, anecdote, or story will help demonstrate the point that there is a problem and that it is the audience’s responsibility to fix the problem?

Appear Organized: Tell the audience what you are about to tell them (introduction), then tell them, then tell them what you told them (summary). This helps audience members understand the outline and structure you will be using in your presentation – and it helps them know where you are heading and why.

Engage the Audience: Normally the people in front of you are smart, experienced, and have much to share on the topic. Make the audience part of the experience. Ask them challenging questions. Ask them to share their own observations and experiences.

Anticipate the Objections: If you are asking people to change process, procedure, or habit, you need to anticipate and refute alternatives. If you don’t anticipate and handle common objections or concerns right up front – you’ll lose a large share of your audience as they mentally try to come up with arguments against what you are proposing.

Be Well Rehearsed: There is nothing more embarrassing to a presenter that to look shocked or confused during their own presentation. Rehearse your presentation many times from start to finish, and memorize the structure and key points you want to make (don’t verbatim memorize you’re your audience members will throw you off when they ask questions).

Not be Read: Reading your PowerPoint slides is highly annoying and serves no purpose. Use “blank” or black slides when you want the audience to concentrate on you and not the screen. Mix it up! Maybe change the pace of your presentation with just one word or phrase on the screen – to rapidly change through slides, and then slow things down by adding more words and phrases. The PowerPoint is there for your AUDIENCE to know the structure of what you are say – NOT a reminder to you of what to say (you should have figured that out in your rehearsals).

Consider the Sight-lines: Standing in front of the projector screen is an obvious mistake, but not so obvious is blocking the view of a portion of your audience. When you have something important to show, stand off to the side of the screen and gesture with your hand or a laser-pointer to call attention to specific parts of the slide.

Be Heard: In the theatre, you’re asked to “speak to the cheap seats” (way, way, way in back). You don’t need to shout, but you do need to speak much more loudly than you normally would, and you need to enunciate much more clearly than normal conversation. When one is available, use a microphone. Microphone etiquette: if you are wearing a lapel microphone – be sure that you are not touching your chest or holding papers against the microphone. When you are using a handheld microphone – hold it off to the side of your mouth (by your cheek – pointing toward your mouth) – so that you don’t “slam” the microphone with your breath sounds or your “popping P’s.”

Show Confidence: Great eye contact, loose shoulders, big smiles all communicate to strangers that you are confident about what you are going to say, and that wins you some credibility. Also – if you are well-rehearsed, you should be confident about what you are about to say.

Pace the Handouts: Don’t load up your audience with a bunch of reading materials at the start of the presentation. Audience members will be so busy reading that they may just ignore what you are saying. A few sparse handouts which give the main ideas are best – and then more detailed information can be provided at the time for questions and answers (or after the presentation concludes).

Request Feedback: No matter what, you should have your audience give you some critique and feedback. Maybe your “super-great” presentation left most people confused or bored. Isn’t that a very useful thing to know? Also – the critique helps give you insight into how others interpreted your presentation’s points. Always ask open-ended questions such as “what was the best part of the presentation?” and also “what needs to be improved in this presentation?”

Fun Use of Vocal "AutoTune"

2010-03-05T11:58:00.002-06:00

There are vocal effects "stomp boxes" for singers, the same way that guitar players have "stomp boxes" for special effects for their instrument sounds.

Here is one of the funniest (and best) uses I've seen for the "auto-pitch correction" (or Auto Tune) feature on one of these boxes.

The way the device works is that it takes a musical input and changes the speech to match the pitch of the input.
This funny video features politicians and newscasters saying outrageously stupid things -- set to music. Awesome!

BLIO eReader for Textbooks

2010-03-01T15:32:00.002-06:00

I saw an interesting webinar for BLIO eReader. The software-based product was developed by KNFB Reading Technology, Inc. This is an electronic book / textbook reader program which allows students to use their own digital ink to highlight passages and to also type electronic notes. There are built-in tools for text-to-speech synthesis, and there are also tools to synchronize spoken words with typed text.

Unfortunately, one of the main selling points is 508 and ADA accessibility - and the person presenting the webinar linked to and displayed materials which outright failed to meet 508 accessibility (video clips without closed-captions, interaction activities which required mouse-based navigation, lack of ALT text captions in images, etc.).

The company uses a proprietary software application (rather than Adobe Reader which would have been a preferable implementation - for accessibility and market penetration reasons). This looks like a product that has some merit for the future, but it looks as though it needs to get some solid textbook partners involved in offering titles AND to have those partners ensure that the media and image materials make best use of accessibility features in the tools.

Top Tips for D2L

2010-02-26T15:46:00.002-06:00

Top Tips for Using D2L from RSP / ITeach 2010 Super Roundtable "Embrace Your Inner Geek"

Demonstration of SkyDrive folder

2010-02-16T08:24:00.005-06:00

This is a demonstration of the SkyDrive folder holding presentation materials relating to Podcasting and also relating to Stepping Up PowerPoint presentations.

James' Skydrive Public Folder

Hibbing Presentation:

Audacity Training Video
Audacity Program Download
Audacity Documentation and User Manuals
Adding the LAME encoder for MP3 files
Other Audacity FAQs

Online Looping Music Editor

2010-02-16T01:06:00.005-06:00

Dubstep Studio (Learning Jam001) - use the CLICK TO MIX button to hear the composition.

I stumbled across a FREE online editor to create loops-based music. The site provides a large number of Midi-loop phrases, and you "paint" the loops along a timeline to indicate when each sound loop should play. After the creation is made, you can embed the music or provide an email link to friends to "remix" your creation.

The Case for Developmental Courses offered Web-Based through Customized Training

2009-11-04T13:11:00.010-06:00

Colleges and universities which cater to open access and open enrollment are finding that more students are testing at developmental levels.

THe work-around to getting students prepared for college-level coursework is to enroll students in developmental courses at the same time the students are enrolled in program-based courses. The reason is financial; students need a full load in order to quality for full financial aid, and many students would elect not to attend if they weren't eligible for financial aid.

The problem is that "credit-based" courses have to be charged at "credit-based" tuition prices, which make the developmental classes extremely expensive to take, and even more expensive if the student gets overwhelmed (trying to do a full load of courses while being academically ill-prepared), and some students fail-out of the system. When they do fail-out, they are responsible for paying back the financial aid they have received, leaving the students in a far worse situation than before they come to the campus. Additionally, these students have marks on their transcripts which will limit their ability to be accepted by other institutions.

Developmental classes should be about a student improving their communication and math skills for their own self-benefit, as separate from a program of study. Students should be able to take their developmental courses before they are applying to a program of study -- to ensure they have the root skills which will give them the potential for success in the courses within the programs.

One Possible Solution

Developmental courses could be moved out of the "credit-based" side of higher education and instead be delivered as a customized-training or outreach type of course. These courses should not have a grade, but they should have regular assessments to allow students to understand where they are in their skill development and track their successes and progress.

Nothing should end up on a transcript - and students should be able to repeat the developmental courses as much as they need to develop the skills to be successful for collegiate work.

Developmental courses can be designed by a team of subject-matter experts - who are paid to create self-encapsulated learning objects which help students acquire and practice the skills they will need in their future academic programs. If the courses are developed in a careful and thoughtful manner, the course content could "run itself" -- allowing the teacher of the course to leverage his/her time to providing feedback and guidance to students, assessing their progress, and providing additional small-group study sessions online (through web-conferencing).

Students would reflect upon and assess their own progress with the assistance of the instructor. Self-assessments would help students understand where they are placing (on knowledge and skills tests), and the automatic feedback could give students suggestions on which content in the course might be useful to review.

While suggested assignments would be offered - the course has no grade, so the assignments would be optional. Students who are eager to learn will take advantage of the personalized feedback from the instructor, and students who have "life happen" will not be permanently penalized with low marks.

This requires a major mindset change from a community college being an institution which delivers degree programs to one of a college serves the learning needs of its communities.

By separating out the developmental courses "before acceptance" to the college, the side-effects will likely be better retention (students who gain success are likelier to continue), improved rigor (instructors will not feel the need to "dumb down" a course), and better results for all learners (if the instructor does not have to slow content delivery to a developmental level - then all learners can cover content in a broader and deeper manner and use more course time for problem solving and critical thinking.

Twitter as "Social Bookmarking"

2009-11-04T13:06:00.003-06:00

The more I participate on Twitter and see how others are using it, the more I am coming to realize that the professional use of the tool is not to tell others when you are in the bathroom, or which cab you entered, but rather to share links to interesting articles and stories you've read.

This "social bookmarking" use of Twitter is something that will likely grow -- since it becomes a useful informational resource (rather than simply a "social status" tool to let your fans know "here's what I'm doing and where I'm at").

When you are following someone, you can get a quick and instant digest of the links they've been sharing. This makes it easy to catch up on your reading in a controlled and thoughtful manner.

Fake Office

2009-11-04T13:03:00.003-06:00

Zoho.com was recently panned by Microsoft as the free "Fake Office" program.
Hmmm....
Marketing never came so easy. Now Zoho has registered the domain name for
"FakeOffice.org" and has taken a bit more control over the publicity machine.

Course Evaluations

2009-10-13T16:55:00.003-05:00

A faculty member recently asked what should be done in online course sites about course evaluations (when students provide feedback about a course after grades are posted).

Most Instructional Management Systems allow the construction of surveys which can collect results anonymously.

Here are some questions I would consider as part of a course evaluation in an online course site.

(Likert scale – from Never to Sometimes to Frequently to Always)

The course topics and learning objectives matched those found in the college catalog.
The course content was delivered in an organized and structured manner.
The course resources (textbooks, online articles, media resources) were appropriate for a college-level course.
The assignment instructions and grading criteria were clearly stated.
The instructor was respectful toward me and other students in the class.
The instructor was knowledgeable about the content and its related applications.
The instructor was willing to answer questions within a reasonable timeframe.
(Open ended questions / essay style)
The part of this course I enjoyed the most was…
The part of this course which was most difficult was…
This course could be improved by…
(Self reporting)
On average, the number of hours I spent studying and completing assignments for this course was ___.
I feel the grades I received on assignments fairly reflected the amount of effort I put into those assignments. (Never Sometimes Mostly Always)
This class had been a good investment of my time and my tuition dollars. (Agree / Disagree)

Marco Images in Webcamera

2009-09-09T12:22:00.003-05:00

There are lots of web-cameras on the market, but I was able to find a bunch of Hue webcams on clearance, and I grabbed a bunch.

The camera has a manual-focus ring, and I tried dialing it all the way out (for closest focus). I found that I could get it into a "super-macro" distance (within 1/2 cm of the item). Here is an example of my F1-Help key on my keyboard.

The application is that the lens of the web camera could be mounted into a telescope or microscope to capture the images for those optics.

More Free Tools for Educators and Students

2009-09-09T12:08:00.002-05:00

I've received a link to a site which provides a new list of free tools and websites for educators and students.

http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2009/09/100-free-productivity-tools-to-get-you-through-school/

The categories include:

Class Helpers (study tools and resources)
Time Management (advice and tools)
Shortcuts for forms, passwords, and hotkeys
Organization
Networking
Workplace Success
Blogs with Advice
Money Matters
Unwinding (fun and entertainment)
Personal Wellness

Up Your Productivity with Twice the Desktop

2009-08-28T15:56:00.004-05:00

In the market for an LCD television? Make sure that you get one which has computer inputs (VGA/PC or DVI). Run a cable from the TV to your laptop and work on a second desktop.

According to an article in USA Today, having the second monitor increases your work productivity by as much as 50%.

I've used dual monitors for almost a decade, and I can really feel the slowdown when I have to work on one screen.

If you would like to try using a dual screen with your laptop - simply borrow any LCD monitor and connect it to the external video port. On my campus website I have added a link to provide instructions.

Skydrive for 25GB of Sharable Web Space

2009-08-21T15:31:00.003-05:00

Microsoft is offering 25GB of online web space in their Live.Com accounts. The space is called Skydrive, and you can set each folder to different permissions (private, public, networked friends, specific email addresses).

This might be a great way to distribute self-generated media to students without all the extra hassles and delays associated with posting content on a campus web server. Also - the site handles the login / password authentication for you -- making the distribution as easy as setting up a list of email addresses which can access the content.

Adobe Offers Free Curriculum in Digital Video

2009-08-18T17:18:00.005-05:00

I just stumbled upon a site within Adobe which offers a free curriculum in digital video. Follow the link above for more information.

Quoting from the Adobe Website:

The Digital Video project-based curriculum develops career and communication skills in video production, using Adobe tools. You can use the Digital Video curriculum in career and technical education courses as well as courses involving video use in academic courses.

The Digital Video curriculum develops knowledge in storytelling, capturing and editing video and audio, and finalizing content for DVD or web through emphasis on design, communication, project management, and video technology. Key skills are developed in a spiral as each project adds more challenging skills on foundation proficiencies.

The Digital Video curriculum aligns to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Students (2007).

Fun Animated Movies for Free

2009-08-18T13:04:00.003-05:00

Devolver (formerly Dfilm) allows you to create quick and easy animated movies. The story-lines are short and the amount of dialog is limited, but you can select different backgrounds, settings, characters, and music. Check it out!

High Tech Cheating

2009-08-17T22:13:00.003-05:00

Cheating Goes Graphic Design

There is a new wrinkle in cheating - thanks to easy and inexpensive graphic design software. Students are scanning in labels of soda bottles and then replacing the label with one full of formula, crib notes, and vocabulary. Yet one more reason to replace traditional multiple-choice exams with assignments which require problem solving and research.

HTML MailTo Link Generator

2009-07-28T15:47:00.002-05:00

I was helping to migrate webpages for our campus website. For security reasons, we were temporarily doing away with an online forms-registration system and replacing it with a simple "email" which contained the necessary information. Well... making sure that the email contained all the needed information was a dice-shoot, so I stumbled upon a site which helps you generate a complex HTML mailto: tag - so that the body of the email is pre-filled with certain information. The website I used was http://www.cha4mot.com/t_mailto.html
It has a simple interface with options for TO:, CC:, BCC:, SUBJECT, and BODY. Great find!

ScreenJelly - Fun, Free Screen Recording

2009-07-27T16:18:00.002-05:00

If you need to explain to students how to turn on "Track Changes" in a Word document, or to print PowerPoint slides as "handouts" (rather than one per page), or how to navigate an online website or database, sometimes "showing" works much better than "telling."

ScreenJelly.com is a website that allows you to create "show & tell" videos. Whatever is on your screen can get recorded into a Flash-based video. Link to the video or embed it in your courses or blog sites.

The application allows you to record up to 3-minutes at a time.

Blogs and Surveys Enhance Face-to-Face Course Commnication

2009-07-24T16:32:00.002-05:00

Two professors at the University of Westminster in London have completed research which shows that face-to-face communications in classes can be made more efficient when supplemented by surveys and blogs.

The professors provided surveys after tests and assignments to get feedback from students. Students also post entries to online blogs about these assessments; the listings are then read by tutors who reply back to the student. Tutors are using RSS feeds to aggregate the blog postings, and this allows quicker individualized feedback to students. In the student, each student was assigned a specific tutor for the course (which allows the student to build a relationship with that tutor).

The communication processes are made more efficient while still providing the face-to-face contact that the students expect.

Federal Government Encourages Free Online Classes

2009-07-24T15:58:00.003-05:00

As reported at InsideHigherEd.com, the Federal Education Department is planning a program to provide Federal funds to community colleges and high schools who are willing to create free, online courses. Part of the effort would be to support job training programs.

Colleges which participate would be responsible for tracking and reporting on student progress and outcomes, including employment-related outcomes.

Creating high quality online courses will enhance opportunities for learners in rural areas as well as those who are under-employed (and seeking career advancement). I am hopeful that these initiatives to offer free online courses will shift the pricing model of online deliver from one of premium/luxury pricing to one of "self-service/discount" pricing. Too few institutions are using strategic design and economies of scale to deliver skills and knowledge. After all -- how different is the course College Algebra from state-to-state and from institution-to-institution? Rather than having each institution re-invent the wheel, creating highly engaging content which receives ongoing and thorough peer review will lead to more consistent outcomes among learners.

Once the curriculum for the free courses is developed, the next vital step is to ensure they are being taught by highly talented and engaging faculty members who will provide the needed guidance, personalized feedback, and careful assessment which students need to be successful in their online learning environments.

Prezi.com Presentation Tool

2009-07-24T10:31:00.004-05:00

Normally at conferences I’m already “up” on most of the Web 2.0 tools being shown, but I was surprised and happy to learn about a new one called Prezi.com.

It allows you to create more dynamic presentations, with the great application of doing “mind maps” which allow users to drill down into details.

After the webinar that I gave yesterday on “Student Readiness for Online” – I decided to build a Prezi.com presentation from my materials.

The result is at: http://prezi.com/134940/

Use the arrow keys in the bottom of the screen to navigate, or simply click your mouse on an object and use the mouse scroll-wheel to zoom in or out of objects.

The site provides 100MB of file storage at no cost (text is very tiny of course), and full year licenses are $39Euro for 500MB and $119Euro for 2GB of space. Even with the free site you can download your presentation to a ZIP package which has an Adobe Flash application (so you can off-load your content even if the site goes out-of-business).

Since it is a free tool – it would be useful for faculty and students alike.

Do It Yourself (DIY) Lighting

2009-07-19T17:20:00.004-05:00

Martin Catt posted a great DIY article on how to create your own video lights out of aluminum cake pans. The advantage of the cake pans is that they can be grounded for safety. Also - they are light weight for easy mounting to light stands.

Richard Wright demonstrates how to rebuild "brooder" style clamp lights into video lights which can mount to traditional light stands.

Cool Lights provide a demonstration for adding barn-doors to outdoor halogen and clamp lights.

The site CreativityToSpare.com has posted a YouTube video on how to create easy DIY lighting.

Thinking Like an Innovator

2009-07-19T13:06:00.005-05:00

I came across a great video from Brainpark.com which gives tips on "Thinking like an Innovator." The video should be mandatory viewing by all faculty and staff in higher-education.

The video is embedded below; I suggest that you use the Full-Screen toggle to view the video.

Online as Utility

2009-07-17T11:58:00.002-05:00

I just replied to a Facebook question about the online / hybrid / face-to-face modes of teaching.

For those of us who grew up with computers from an early age, we just expect to have the information and resources available on-demand.

Online course sites will become a "utility" in the same way that we expect to have electricity to turn on the lights. It is something that all users will expect to be there - and the control will be more in their hands whether they want to "flip the switch" or not. Just like electricity - they will consume online course sites at different times and rates based on personal preferences -- and they will become instantly frustrated when they are missing or inaccessible. (Ever attempt a PowerPoint presentation with a blown-out bulb in the LCD projector? Multiply times 30 students in a section.)

We're over-thinking the questions relating to online education. There has always been distance education; the only things that have changed are the tools we use to accomplish the task. I think that the "trinity" is actually "on-site / off-site / independent." Instructors who are not willing to support the service of Online Course sites are basically removing the fuse and ensuring their students sit in the "virtual" darkness.

Plagiarism: Preventing or Punishing?

2009-07-17T10:03:00.004-05:00

I stumbled across a great set of presentations from Douglas Johnson who serves as the Director of Media and Technology for Mankato Public Schools in Minnesota.

Of particular interest is a presentation titled "The Fence or the Ambulance: Are You Punishing or Preventing Plagiarism in Your School?" When you view the handout he has posted online you will see Doug's Qualities of LPP (Low Probability of Plagiarism) guidelines.
Here is the list:

LPP projects have clarity of purpose and expectations.
LPP research projects give students choices.
LPP projects are relevant to the student's life.
LPP projects ask students to write in a narrative rather than an expository style.
LPP projects stress higher level thinking skills and creativity.
LPP projects answer real questions (which students would ask).
LPP projects involve a variety of information finding activities.
LPP projects tend to be hands-on.
LPP projects use technology to spur creativity.
LPP projects use formats that use multiple senses.
LPP projects can be complex, but are broken into multiple steps.
LPP projects are often collaborative and produce results that are better than individual work.
LPP projects have results that are shared with people who care and respond.
LPP projects are authentically assessed.
LPP projects allow the learner to reflect, revisit, revise, and improve their final projects.
LPP projects are encouraged by adults who believe that given enough time, resources, and motivation, all students are capable of original work.

Each of these points is accompanied by a paragraph which gives context and strategies.

The presentation handout then goes on to present grading rubrics and assignment instructions which would be delivered to students.

Bloom's Taxonomy updated for the Digital Classroom

2009-07-16T23:19:00.007-05:00

I found a presentation by Joshua Coupal on Prezi.com which explains Bloom's taxonomy of learning as it relates to the digital classroom. If you haven't yet seen Prezi.com - it is a free way to create dynamic and interactive presentations (rather than the same old PowerPoints).

Joshua Coupal created a great presentation which also demonstrates extremely well how Prezi.com might be used.

Check out his presentation at: http://prezi.com/128821/

11 Reasons Why a Tablet is Better than a Whiteboard

2009-07-01T12:34:00.003-05:00

I came across a great article written by Jim Vanides of HP in which he argues 11 Reasons Why a Tablet PC is Better than a whiteboard.

Three key points are the ability to continue without erasing, the ability to capture and share notes from your presentation, and the ability to face your audience (rather than facing the whiteboard).

Great article on points I've similarly argued in the past. (But... if an expert from HP says it, it might carry more weight. *grin*)

Charter Cable Out of Service in St. Cloud

2009-06-30T22:35:00.003-05:00

Something is gone horribly wrong again with Charter Cable. I can only get to a few websites (like Google) with almost all others resulting in a "Network Timeout" message. I can't even check my email or send a message to complain (even Yahoo.com is failing to load) - so... I decided to "say something" here. It has been down for 2 hours so far (maybe more... I only checked after I got home from work).

New Studies Suggest eLearning Advantage over Traditional Classrooms

2009-06-29T12:09:00.002-05:00

The article "The Evidence on Online Education" posted in today's Inside Higher Ed website suggests that online learners have definite advantages over face-to-face learners.

Evidence suggests that the students in well-designed "blended" classes perform the best, followed by online students, followed by face-to-face students.

This is an improvement over past studies which have suggested "no difference" between face-to-face and online modes of delivery. The key factor appears to be the "time to study" which is more flexible using online delivery methods.

MnSCU eFolio Summit

2009-06-29T12:03:00.002-05:00

The 2009 eFolio Summit will be held on August 5th and 6th at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College.

eFolio is an web-based software application which allows any resident of Minnesota to create a free, online portfolio.

The summit will cover how the eFolio site can be used in assessment of student learning, in building program pages to support accreditation, and tips and techniques for building content in the application.

The website for more information is:
2009 eFolio Summit

OpenOffice as substitute for Microsoft 2007

2009-06-24T17:35:00.004-05:00

OpenOffice is a free, open source software suite which provides virtually the same productivity tools as Microsoft Office 2007. The software uses the familiar menus structures of the Microsoft 2003 Office suite. In May 2009 the OpenOffice version 3.1 was released. For students on a tight budget, this is an easy and legal way to get productivity software for completing assignments.

The "hitch" is that for best compatibility, everyone should save their documents in the 2003 "Compatibility" mode. At this time, instructors should do this anyway as not to disenfranchise students using older computer systems and software.

OpenOffice Ninja is a site with articles to help users of OpenOffice get the most utility from the software.

Inkscape - open source drawing program

2009-06-24T17:07:00.003-05:00

Inkscape is an open source drawing program available on SourceForge.
What GIMP is to Photoshop, Inkscape is to Illustrator.

Tuxmagazine has an "Introdcution to Inkscape" (pdf) which helps new users get started.
Additional tutorials are available from Inkscape, InkscapeTutorials, and a step-by-step lesson in how to create a logo with arched text is available at Sixthings.

Inkscape is available in multiplatform (Windows, Mac OSX, Linux) and is also available in a portable version to run off a USB memory drive.
There is even a plug-in which assists in creating 2-D animation.

Nursing by Cell Phone

2009-06-17T21:28:00.002-05:00

I just heard a great program on Minnesota Public Radio (The Story - by American Public Media).

The show was an interview with Jo Holt, a student in nursing school.

She is using patients' own cell phones to record photos and detailed voice instructions for follow-up care once patients leave the hospital (especially relating to wounds and dressings). This helps the patient understand exactly how to care for their own health - providing easy and individualized patient care.

Also - this use of technology could help patients communicate back with doctors and nurses to determine if a follow-up visit is needed.

When I heard it ... it made so much sense.
It could probably extend to dental and other health professions - to help patients know "what to look for" in the follow-up care.

Here is the link:
Nursing by Cell Phone Story and Podcast

Video Tutorial on Audacity

2009-06-11T12:32:00.006-05:00

I've put together a 25-minute video-based learning object on how to use the free, open-source software Audacity. Audacity is a program which allows you to do audio recording and editing, and also allows you to do multi-track production (if you want to fully produce music).

The Introduction to Audacity video walks you through the install process, presents an audio-production model, and shows how to use some of the editing controls and effects available in the tool.

Audacity is multi-platform (Windows, Mac OS, Linux) and is also available in a version which runs off a USB Flash Drive, called Audacity Portable.

FREE Audio Books!

2009-06-01T09:59:00.007-05:00

You and your students can download hundreds of audio books for free!
Finding the free books is very easy with a set of lists compiled by the site OpenCulture.com.

You also can go into iTunes and do a search on "audiobook" or "ebook" and then sort the column titled PRICE to be ascending (the free books will list first).

Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia

2009-05-27T16:16:00.003-05:00

The Consortium of College & University Media Centers has a set of Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia (pdf).
While these guidelines are not part of copyright law, they are agreed upon standards which can guide the non-commercial, educational uses of multi-media.

An important point in the use of multi-media in online courses is that materials must be password protected and prevent students from downloading the work (which normally means using a streamed media server). If the network cannot prevent downloads, then the materials can be placed on a secured network (password protected) for a period of 15 - and then removed (and students must be advised that they cannot make any copies of the multimedia).

Guidelines for the amount of work are also provided. The following assume that non-commercial, educational uses are being made and that materials are not copied by the students to their own computers.

Motion media: 3 minutes or 10% whichever is less.
Text materials: 1000 words or 10% whichever is less.
Music, Lyrics, and Music Video: 10% or 30 seconds, whichever is less.
Illustrations and Photographs: 10% or 15 images from a collection, whichever is less.
Numerical Data Sets: 2500 cells or 10%, whichever is less.

The site also provides a caution against using materials found on the Internet and labeled as "public domain" - because most often these works are protected by copyright and mislabeled (intentionally or otherwise).

Also - a reminder that any sources and materials must be attributed to the copyright owner. The © symbol followed by the year of publication and the name of the copyright holder is expected. (© 2009 James Falkofske)

It is recommended that multimedia productions include a notice on the opening slide or title which indicates "certain materials included in this presentation are under the fair use exemption of the U.S. Copyright Law and have been prepared according to the fair use guidelines and are restricted from further use."

LSC Workshop for Online Course Peer Review

2009-05-22T13:47:00.004-05:00

2009 May Faculty Peer Review Workshop by LSC

Summary of Notes – James Falkofske
The last two days I was in Duluth, MN attending the Online Faculty Peer Review Course Design Workshop presented by Susan Brashaw and Amy Jo Swing of Lake Superior College. Here are some notes from the workshop about their faculty peer review process for online courses.

Peer Review is Strictly Voluntary Participation

Instructors are invited to participate, but there is no requirement (due to labor contract concerns of “on-ground” versus “online” responsibilities and review).
About 60% of the online faculty members have been part of the review process at some point.
Faculty volunteer to have their courses reviewed; they aren’t eligible for this until they have had the training.
A coordinator (Susan Brashaw) is given release time to recruit faculty, recruit courses for review, handle paperwork, and provide training to reviewers. Also, the coordinator helps “teach how to teach” online (which is more than having technical training on how to use D2L tools). This was seen as a critical factor in the ongoing use of the peer review process.

Review Process

Rubric adapted from the Maryland Online Quality Matters Rubric while still under the FIPSE Grant (which required results be public and sharable). LSC allows others to use, adopt, and adapt their rubric. The LSC rubric is simplified to meet the best practices and needs of LSC.
LSC review process uses local faculty only (no outside reviewers), and instructor / designer must approve the review team prior to review.
Reviewers receive 2 to 3 hours of instruction prior to their first review. Faculty are only eligible to become a reviewer after one of their own courses has been reviewed.
Three reviewers are assigned to review a course, and one is designated the leader who meets 1-on-1 with faculty designer and has other reporting responsibilities. The leader receives a $300 stipend for this activity.
Instructor completes a checklist – helping reviewers identify where certain standards are being met in the course.
A passing score of 60/70 means course is “certified;” otherwise the course is scored as “in progress.” Roughly half the courses are given “in progress” scores upon first review.
Even if a course is “certified,” the reviewers provide recommendation for improvements to the course design, flow, and appearance. The review process examines structure and design much more than “quality of content.”
“In process” courses can have the leader of the review team review the changes to determine if the course then meets certification standards.
All the information is held as confidential; review team signs statements of non-disclosure; faculty may choose to share results with administrators, but administrators alone cannot request results from any review. All documents (paper and electronic) are “shredded” after one year.
Since starting 4 years ago, 53 courses have been reviewed and 21 reviewers trained (review of roughly 15 courses per year)
Reviews are only made for fully online courses; there are thoughts of expanding the review process to hybrid / web-enhanced courses

D2L Best Practices Notes

Much of the workshop was sharing of best practices for online instruction and course design; I enjoyed hearing that other faculty were using the same types of online activities which I recommend, and I was able to provide some technical assistance to participants in specific D2L settings and tools.

The LSC Presenters felt this was especially important: D2L Site Administrators should turn on all possible tools for faculty to control themselves; this allows faculty to be innovative and be able to have maximum control over the presentation of their online courses. This includes changing navigation bars, creating custom widgets, and modifying course run dates.
Provide faculty with a “Starter Course” from which they can copy & paste ideas they want. The course provides brief “how to” instructions for embedding different types of content, changing D2L tool settings, etc.
The processes of satisfying the rubric can be simplified by creating special tools that faculty can cut and paste into their courses (the official Virtual Campus Student Support Widget as one example)
Faculty and students need to have access to technology tutorials which demonstrate how to use tools (D2L, wikis, photo editors, etc.) for online courses.
Encourage students to express creativity using Web 2.0 tools, but don't make the use of Web 2.0 tools a requirement for an individual student's assignment.

D2L Setting Custom Content Homepage

2009-05-21T13:03:00.006-05:00

If you use Desire2Learn and want to help guide your students through your course week-by-week, you can set a custom Content Homepage for each week, by picking which Content Topic should open automatically when students click Content.
Students will always get to see a Table of Contents link - so that they always access any Topic from the course.

Go to Content > Settings > then use the checkbox for Create a Custom Content Homepage. Then choose which File should be loaded automatically by using the button Change File.

D2L - Creating Private Discussions

2009-05-21T09:22:00.014-05:00

Why Create a Private Discussion?

If you are using Desire2Learn (D2L) then private discussions will allow you and your students to communicate confidentially within the online course site. Rather than receiving emails from unknown personal accounts (and likely ignoring the emails), or being asked to reply to a cryptic email which lacks basic details (such as which course, which section, which student), a private discussion area allows you to easily manage your 1-on-1 communications with students.

Setting Up Private Discussions (pdf) - how to set up a 1-on-1 private discussion with each student.
Video Demonstration of Private Discussion Process (Flash)

Not only does this help keep your email box clean, but it also assists with FERPA issues, so that students who have private concerns are not feeling compelled to post them in a public discussion forum.

Are Students Ready for an Online Course?

2009-05-21T08:13:00.004-05:00

Some students sign up for online courses thinking they will be a breeze, since they "won't even have to go to class!" Other students sign up - because their work schedules don't allow them to take classes when the face-to-face sections are offered.

This results in some students in the "virtual chairs" not having the skills, tools, are attitudes required to succeed.

Here is a self-assessment checklist I wrote in JavaScript to counsel students if they are ready for the online environment.

Here is an exercise I created for students to assess their ability to use Microsoft Word formatting and tools.

Here is a site which offers a free keyboarding / typing test - for students to check how fast they can keyboard.

Here is a site which offers a free connection speed test for student Internet connections.

What Sections Should Your Syllabus Share?

2009-05-21T07:26:00.007-05:00

A syllabus for an online course needs to account the integration of the technologies being used and also should be much more thorough than a syllabus for a face-to-face course in order to avoid the small questions which students will have (which might raise their anxiety). Over-explaining is encouraged in an online course; students who are nervous will get the answers they need, and all others can quickly skim through the documents feeling reassured that if they have a question later, they will be able to find the answer quickly.
Here are some specific sections you might include as headings in your syllabus for an online course.

Instructor(s) and Department Contact Information
Instructor(s)'s Teaching Philosophy and Course Pedagogy*
About the Course

Course Description (University Catalog)

Prerequisites

Competence Statement and Course Learning Objectives

Required Textbook and Resources

Are You Ready for This Online Course?

Course Methods

Measurement of Learning Outcomes

College / University Policies

Drop/Withdraw

University Grading Policy
Disability Services

Communications

Questions and Answers about the Course

Email: When to Use and What to Include

Major Life Trauma

Return of Assignments / Feedback

Attendance and Course Communications

Instructor Policies and Requirements

Preparation

Quality of Response

Professionalism and Respect

Collaborative Work

Plagiarism and Copyright

Course Incomplete

Late Work

Extra Credit Policy

Technology Expectations

Backup Copies of Assignments / Save of Returned Assignments

Online "Snow Days"- What to do if the IMS is down (alternatives)
Technology Requirements and Expectations
Computer Hardware and Software
File Management
Document File Names
Campus Resources
Other Free Resources

Evaluations and Grading

Required Competency Activities (if these are not completed; student fails course)

List of Assessments and Instructions for Completion

Course Orientation Assignments

Chapter Quizzes

No Trick Questions - Obvious Answers are Correct*

Exams

Discussions - Participation and Posting Expectations
Weekly Research and Analysis Activities

Peer Reviews

Written Papers

Projects and Presentations

Grade Scale:

Bonus / Extra Credit Opportunities

* Students in online courses might not get as much of a chance to see your personality or to gauge whether or not you are a "trickster." If you like to play "Devil's Advocate" in Discussions, or if you use humor to try to make your points - disclose that to students right up front - so that they know you are not making fun of them. Also - to reduce testing anxiety, it is helpful to clearly state something like "when taking quizzes and exams, you will not face any trick questions. If you are very well-studied, the answers should be obvious. Don't 'over-think' a question; always pick the answer which works best in the widest variety of situations."

As a separate document, a Schedule of Assignments should be created which indicates specific due dates, readings and topics, and activities/assignments which needs to be completed. Rather than burying this information in a syllabus, placing this information in a separate document makes it much easier for your students to reference.

Making Your Documents Accessible

2009-05-21T07:00:00.004-05:00

Here are some videos which will walk you through the basics of making accessible documents.

Please view ALL of the following videos to ensure that you know the skills needed to make your Microsoft Office documents accessible.

These videos require the Adobe Flash Player. The player is available as a free download (if not already installed on your computer).

For other videos - scroll down beneath the video window.

Video: Preparing Your Documents for Online Use (3 min 40 sec) | Handout: Making Your Word Documents Accessible (pdf)

Specific Skills
Video: Using Heading Codes in Microsoft Word (interactive)
Video: Adding Image Accessibility to Microsoft Documents (1 min 34 sec)
Video: Renaming Hyperlinks in Microsoft Documents (1 min 45 sec)
Video: Ensuring Tables Meet Accessiblity Guidelines (2 min 30 sec)
Handout: Installing the Office 2007 PDF Plug-in (pdf)
Video: Saving Word 2007 Documents as PDF files (1 min 45 sec) - screen reader voices
Video: Saving PowerPoint 2007 as PDF files (2 min 5 sec) - screen reader voices

You should convert your content documents to the PDF format so that they open directly in D2L. Microsoft Office documents uploaded directly to D2L create browser security errors; they also force a student to own Microsoft Office software to use the files (or to having to use Microsoft Internet Explorer and additional special plug-ins before files will display).

Video: Security Issues Caused by Microsoft Office Documents in D2L (0 min 55 sec)

NOTE: If you have worksheets or other homework which students must complete using Microsoft Office programs, then it is appropriate to post those files directly in D2L with additional instructions for students on how to properly download and save the files for editing.

D2L Tips and Tricks

2009-05-20T20:10:00.004-05:00

The following are some of my favorite tips and tricks.

Encourage Undocking: Remind students that they can use the "Undock" icon to view documents in a new window free of the D2L navigation. This allows better use of the screen real-estate, and when they close the window - D2L still remains in the background window.
Multi-Edit Content Topics: If you need to update short titles or dates inside content titles, you can multi-select the topics for change and then use the "multi-edit" button. This saves time over opening and saving each individual document.
Edit in Raw HTML: For those who are tech-savvy, you can directly edit your HTML codes in the built-in HTML editor. This allows you to link to external CSS style-sheets, so that you can create ADA accessible documents which are also rich in color and design.
TIP: The HTML editor allows you to resize the editing panel to any size you desire. Bigger can be better.
Discussion Deadlines: if you have weekly discussions, set the availability of the discussions in the FORUM level rather than each individual TOPIC.
Quizzes Mixed Up: Build all of your quiz questions directly in the question library. Then, when you make your quiz, you can use a Random Section folder which will give every student the questions in a different (random) order. Much less worry about "hey, what did you get for question 3?"
Quizzes as Homework Worksheets: Online quizzes are essentially insecure. Unless you have someone standing over the shoulder of your student making sure they don't use their cell phone, another computer, a walkie-talking, text note files on an iPod or MP3 player, or any various other ways of scheming the system, students who "cheat" have an unfair advantage over the rest of the class. Instead, consider the quiz tool as a way to ask really tough homework problems. Students solve the homework and then post their answers into the Quiz tool. They get automatic grading, feedback when they've guessed incorrectly, and the ability to "redo" by using the quiz's ATTEMPTS (suggest using LAST ATTEMPT or AVERAGE OF ALL ATTEMPTS). Multiple attempts are very helpful in giving students incentive to go back and study harder - to make sure they know the materials before going onto the next topic / chapter.
Launching Other Websites in New Windows: If you are linking to any external website, you should open the link in a new window. Many websites "reload" themselves into the outer-most browser frame - thereby "taking over" the browser and breaking the connection to D2L. When opened in a new browser window - you don't have to worry which sites misbehave. Use the LINK property to OPEN IN: NEW WINDOW.
Gradebook PASS/FAIL Item Type: Online students tend to procrastinate. Breaking up any assignment into a series of "completion exercises" (all or no credit) helps motivate students to keep on task. The PASS / FAIL grade item type allows you to easily award full or no credit. I suggest using the GRADE ALL item to set everyone to PASS, and then individually setting to NONE those students who did not complete the assignment (or FAIL to those who missed the deadline and didn't do the assignment sufficiently).
EXAMPLE: RESEARCH PAPER
5 pts P/F - Select a Topic (Week 2)
5 pts P/F - Turn in 8 credible sources for the topic (Week 3)
5 pts P/F - Turn in Preliminary Outline (Week 4)
5 pts P/F - Turn in Draft of Point 1 (Week 5)
10 pts P/F - Turn in Bibliography (Week 8)
10 pts P/F - Turn in Draft of Full Paper (Week 10)
60 pts - Turn in Final Version of Paper (Week 12)
(notice that student will "fail" assignment unless they do all the completion exercises)
Grade Attendance as a NEGATIVE BONUS Item: If you take deductions for missing class, then the best way to handle that in the gradebook is to create a numeric type grade item which is set to type BONUS. Since Bonus items are not added to the denominator when calculating Final Course Percentage, any score (positive or minus) is not a "graded" item. D2L allows negative scores, even in the Bonus item. Use the Comments balloon in the grade to keep track of the specific dates and times missed, and then enter a negative number to reflect how much of a deduction so far (cumulative).

Tips for Online Course Content Design

2009-05-20T17:44:00.005-05:00

Here are some of my tips on Course Content design for online courses.

Falkofske's Growing Your Garden Analogy-Perennials, Annuals, Cut Flowers: Make your content very granular and keep mindful of the "lifespan" of each piece of information you are presenting. This will help you avoid excess editing each time you offer the course.

Perennials: Permanent Policies, Procedures, and Proofs - what information will stay the same unless there is an "Act of God?" Theories and concepts normally persist over time. For example, when is the last time the theory of gravity was updated? What about the last time a major campus policy was changed? Didn't it take great effort and years of development? Isolate your "relatively" permanent information into separate documents. To twist a phrase, then you can "ed-it and forget it."
Annuals: Applications, Assessments, Activities - what information needs to be updated on an annual cycle to improve the quality and accuracy? Schedules of due dates for learning activities, assessment descriptions and grading (including quiz and exam questions), and current applications and uses of theories and concepts should all be updated at least once a year. Separate these items to constrain the editing to specific documents which you know need regular updates (such as the "Course Schedule").
Cut Flowers: Current News and Controlled by Others - have you every built a hyperlink to another site only to find that when students tried it later in the course, the link no longer worked? Any content which you did not create (or control) should be separated out as a "cut flower." These are items that should be edited / written immediately before they are needed, so that they don't "wilt and die" before students need them. I suggest putting your "weekly links" into a News item. This will help avoid outdated links in your course content and also provide you with special incentives to create News postings with the "latest and greatest" links for the current week's assignments. It also gives you an opportunity to scan the industry news feeds to find articles which pertain to an aspect of your course (showing the topic is noteworthy and newsworthy).
Think "Transplantation" - is it easier to transplant a 45-foot tall Oak tree, or a rose bush? If you decide that you want to re-use content in a future semester (or different course), or if your textbook changes, or if the course learning objectives change, how easy will it be for you to prune and transplant the content? It is a lot easier to create lots of small objects (which are easy to sort and shuffle) than creating a few large documents. Example: rather than a 50-slide Powerpoint on the whole chapter, what about seven 10-slide PowerPoints with one for each major topic?

It is YOUR Course, Not the Publisher's: too often instructors base their entire course design on the Chapter Numbers in the textbook. This creates a myopic view. Things that aren't in the textbook seem like they "don't fit / don't belong" in the online course site. Instead, start with the course Learning Objectives and use them as the Titles for the sections / units in your course. Focusing on the learning objectives and their related assessments allows the textbook to become a "resource" and not the "course." There will be less renovation of the course if the textbook changes or if a different textbook is adopted.
Over-explain Everything! In a face-to-face class, it is easy to get audience feedback and determine if instructions are confusing or too sparse. In an online class, trying to "save time" by giving brief instructions results in a lot of time expended in answering questions and concerns, or worse, having students complete assignments in the wrong manner (because the instructions were open to interpretation). If you worry about providing too much detail and "boring" students, realize that students can easily skim through your content. This design tactic also serves as a CYA - if a student issues a challenge to a grade; if everything is explicitly placed in writing - it should be easy for any third party to determine what the expectations were for the student.
Make it Accessible! When explaining an assignment, always write instructions as though you were explaining them over a telephone. Rather than "click here, then click here," use language like "click the Content Link, then find and click Manage Content." Also, learn how to use the simple operations in Microsoft Office software to make your documents accessible. These are:

Create Well-Structured Documents: use the Styles > Headings to indicate the outline-based structure of your document (Heading 1 for title, Heading 2 for Major Sections, Heading 3 for Sub-Sections, etc.).
Use Text Alternatives for All Visual and Auditory Information: add ALT TEXT to your images (right-mouse-click, choose SIZE, then ALT TEXT) to provide blind users with image captions which are machine readable. If you have a particularly complex image or diagram, add a paragraph beneath the image which explains what principles the image is illustrating (this benefits sighted students as well). If you have a video or audio podcast, make sure that you post a text-transcript of the recording (often, textbook publishers have these available for the asking).
Add Column Headings to your tables: If someone cannot see your data table, they need to know the layout before they hear the data. Making sure that you have headings for each of your columns is an accessibility requirement. If your table has a particularly complex design, add a paragraph directly before the table which explains the layout and structure (again - as you would describing it over the telephone).
Save in Universally Accessible Format: I strongly recommend using the Adobe PDF file format for online files. This format preserves document layout (if instructors want a multi-column layout), preserves images, and allows documents to be viewed without the cost of special software (the Adobe Reader is a free plug-in). Adobe has added special features to the Reader so that it can work directly with assistive technologies (like screen readers, Braille devices, etc.).

Descriptive Title Links: Ever click a link and not know what is going to load? Frustrating? Did you ever get a "file" instead of a web page (and not know how to view the file)? Make sure that your hyperlinks have "human text" contextual labels (Creating Accessible Adobe Documents (.pdf) instead of http://www.adobe.com/enterprise/accessibility/pdfs/acro6_pg_ue.pdf ). If the link brings you to anything other than a web page, indicate the file type which will load (such as .pdf).

Tips for Online Discussions

2009-05-20T15:44:00.005-05:00

If you are running an online discussion, here are some tips to consider to have students interact more effectively.

Dual Deadlines: have the initial post due by mid-week and then follow-up posts by end of week. This ensures that students have something to react to as part of their follow-up activities.
Hyperlink the instructions. If you have instructions or a grading rubric, create a hyperlink which is easily accessible to all students. It is best is this document can open in a pop-up window. (For HTML gurus, this is the target="_blank" )
Problem Solving / Critical Thinking without the details: If students are asked factual questions, there is very little to discuss after one student answers correctly. If instead students are given "case study" questions in which they are given only part of the information, then students will need to analyze what questions they can answer, what additional information they will need, and what course of resolution they recommend.
HELP ME!!! It is very powerful to both students and instructor to create a Questions discussion in the course. This allows the instructor's answer to be "heard" by the whole course - rather than just one email recipient. Additionally - student peers will often jump in and answer the questions (allowing other students to get back on task more quickly). I normally have 3 discussion threads for Questions and Answers:

Questions about the Content: what students don't understand in the textbook, articles, handouts, videos, podcasts, and supplementary resource materials.
Questions about the Assignments: what students seek for clarification.
Questions and Tips about Technology: how to navigate and use the course more effectively.

Students Answer Their Own Questions: I ask that students post very specific questions AND also give me what they feel the correct answer is. This allows me to congratulate them when they are on the right track, and similarly it helps me identify where they might have gotten off-track. It is also a huge time solver, because I can properly scope the answer to the specific need... rather than writing huge blocks of text to try to re-explain the content.
Private Discussions Instead of Email: I set up private 1-on-1 discussions between myself and each student. I have students use those areas instead of email, since I know immediately the student's name and the course when a question is posted. Also - this allows me to quickly see a history of interactions (no searching through old email).

Hulu - brings you Dr. Horrible

2009-05-02T13:39:00.004-05:00

Neil Patrick Harris was featured in an online musical called "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" - which is now available at Hulu.com.

If you didn't see this when it came out last summer... you ought to see it now.

Also check out the official Fan Site for Dr. Horrible's Sign-Along Blog.

Hardware, software, and underwear

2009-04-27T16:36:00.002-05:00

James says...
Hardware, software, and UNDERwear,
should be kept clean,
and then thrown out and replaced at least every three years
to get rid of the holes and to improve performance.

Webinars for Online Learning Tips and Techniques

2009-04-21T14:06:00.012-05:00

I am presenting some webinars relating to Online Tips and Techniques on Thursdays until the end of summer. Anyone from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System is welcome to join in on the sessions (email me for details). Here is the list of dates and topics. The sessions run Thursdays from 12:10pm to 12:45pm.

Date	Topic
4/23/2009	Google Blogger (free tool)
4/30/2009	Audacity Audio Recording and Editing (free tool)
5/7/2009	Modifying Word 2007 Paragraph Styles
5/14/2009	Adobe Presenter Turning PowerPoint into Flash-based Lectures
5/21/2009	7 Basics for Making Your Word 2007 Documents Accessible
5/28/2009	NO SESSION
6/4/2009	Using and Creating YouTube Videos for D2L Sites
6/11/2009	NO SESSION
6/18/2009	Blemish and Wrinkle Retouching in Photoshop, and other tricks
6/25/2009	Google Groups – Free Tools for Collaboration, Editing, and File Sharing
7/2/2009	Skype Online Phone Conference Calls for up to 10 Callers (free / low-cost)
7/9/2009	Speech Recognition in Microsoft Vista – Turning Speech to Text Transcripts
7/16/2009	Introduction to Creating Tutorial Videos with Adobe Captivate
7/23/2009	Student Readiness for Online Courses – A Model for Orientation and Certification of Online Learners
7/30/2009	Respecting Copyrights: Strategies and Resources to Keep You Out of Trouble
8/6/2009	Creating PDF Handouts from PowerPoint Files
8/13/2009	Podcast Your Classroom Lectures with a Pocket-Sized Voice Recorder
8/20/2009	Virtual Office Hours: Tips, Tricks, and Technologies
8/27/2009	Creating Custom Cartoons for Courses (free tool)

Blackboard vs. the World... continuing Saga

2009-04-21T08:34:00.002-05:00

The Chronicle of Higher Education posted an article that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has now preliminarily rejected all 57 patent claims by Blackboard. This is great news for any school using the software by Desire2Learn -- the company which continues to fend itself against lawsuits by Blackboard over patent infringements.

Mineral Oil Cooled Computer

2009-04-18T10:43:00.008-05:00

This is a very interesting idea - cooling your computer with mineral oil. The main advantage is no noise (no fans whirring in the background). This might be especially useful in audio and video recording applications in which the background noise needs to be kept at a minimum. Also, the mineral oil distributes heat to a wider area, and a submersible pump can ensure that the oil circulates and dissipates the heat.

Video by Puget Custom Computer Systems.

Here is a demonstration using Vegetable Oil. Because vegetable oil can turn rancid, I would suggest the mineral oil suggested above.
Video from Tina Wood and Laura Foy.

More information on this topic from Tom's Hardware - Cooling with oil.

How NOT to do PowerPoint

2009-04-17T19:09:00.003-05:00

Here are a few fun videos about how NOT to do PowerPoint.

Don McMillan - How NOT to use PowerPoint

Alexei Kapterev - (Avoiding) Death by PowerPoint

Talent = 10,000 hours plus luck

2009-04-16T07:58:00.000-05:00

What does it take to succeed? What is talent? Finally - you have your answer! (not workplace safe)

Batteries, Batteries, and Where Will They Go?

2009-04-07T15:39:00.002-05:00

Wonder what to do about a dead battery? Can it be safely tossed out with the wilted lettuce and over-ripen cucumber? Or, does it need to be treated as highly-hazardous material?

TWICE magazine has put together a guide on how to dispose of and recycle batteries.

Common Cartridge Standard for IMS Materials

2009-04-07T14:47:00.003-05:00

Common Cartridge is a new standard which allows content developed for one Instructional Management System (IMS) to be exported and imported by another. Moving beyond the SCORM standard, the Common Cartridge allows better integration of collaborative tools and activities.
Here are some FAQs about Common Cartridge and also a Chart of Common Cartridge as it relates to an IMS.

Music Tools

2009-03-20T23:08:00.002-05:00

More tools for music...
Making Music Blog
Musician's Friend - great low-cost gear
American Musical Supply - more great low-cost gear
Denemo - Open Source Sheet Music Editor
Audacity - Open Source Multi-track Sound Recording and Editing

Sounds of Silence

2009-03-20T21:35:00.003-05:00

As the school term ends, I'm starting to think about summer evenings writing and recording music. Apartment living has its drawbacks, and a major one is that inspiration can't over-ride the rights of others to sleep in peace, and the "daily buzz" of life tends to get picked up on microphones.

As I was surfing around for new ideas on building a small "voice box" to sound-insulate the microphone from the rest of the apartment, I stumbled on some other great resources relating to soundproofing.

Here is some links to consider if you are building your own audio recording studio in a home, basement, or garage.

Construction Tips and Materials for Floors and Walls
Soundproofing Supplies - Residential and Commercial
Tips and Materials for Soundproofing an Apartment
Soundproofing Basic Theory
Portable Sound Control Booth - Homemade
Double Studwall Technique
Practical Sound Proofing including Windows and Ceilings

Access to MySQL Conversion

2009-03-06T16:33:00.002-06:00

I'm doing some web design experimentation with Joomla, Drupal, and Moodle. As I am exploring these open-source applications, I also have an interest in converting some Microsoft Access databases into MySQL.

The big application would be a simplified, self-service helpdesk system which would allow users to pick a major category, sub-category, and task for which they need tips / advice. I think this is easier to build and populate in Access and the "push" into a MySQL database. (Or at least those are my thoughts for the moment - unless other can recommend some really easy GUI-based MySQL interfaces which allow CSV imports.)

Here are some articles I've come across relating to converting Microsoft Access to MySQL.
MySql: Migrating from Microsoft SQL Server
Bullzip.com tool Access To MySQL
Drupal Taxonomy Quick Find module
Joomla FAQ Extensions
Joomla MultiSites Extensions (helpdesk as separate site from main)

What are Digital Tablets?

2009-02-25T12:39:00.004-06:00

Digital tablets are computer input devices, very much like a mouse, but very much cooler. The tablet allows you to use an electronic pen, and this gives you much better control and resolution when drawing on the screen.

A simple application is signing your name on an electronic document.
With a mouse, your name would look childish or undecipherable.
With an electronic pen and digital table, the familiar motions of a ball-point pen are recorded to your screen.

A better application of this technology is a digital whiteboard. Using your laptop computer and an LCD projector in a classroom, you can use your digital tablet to take notes and project them on a screen. After class, you can make your handwritten notes available as an electronic file.

There are many vendors in the Digital Tablet marker, but one of the better known vendors is Wacom. Here is a company "pitch" video for their Bamboo Tablet line.

Faster Bookmarks

2009-02-05T11:21:00.007-06:00

I have a new homepage on my Internet browsers.
I've decided to create a webpage which has my most frequently accessed links, and I've saved it to my local network drive (so it follows me around campus). This allows me to create quickly access my bookmarks regardless of which computer I'm using, and yet it keeps my set of links private (stored on my campus network drive/not on an open website).
Part of the reason for "hiding" this - is that I have so many usernames and passwords, I can give myself reminders of my usernames for the sites I am accessing.

Click the image above to view a full-screen version of my bookmark setup.

If you already are using a social-bookmarking tool, another suggestion might be to make that your home page.

I use SeaMonkey (web browser suite) to edit the page. It has a built-in webpage editor called COMPOSER which allows you to easily create web pages without knowing HTML coding. Then the page can be saved wherever you wish.

This idea might be extended to online course sites, since faculty could create a series of resource links for students and then upload the HTML file into their course management system to share with students.

Video "Helicopter" Overhead Shots

2009-02-03T11:34:00.004-06:00

I did a bit of video atop a paint-roller extension pole. I strapped the camera to the top of the pole and did a few quick overhead clips to demonstrate the potential for this project.

The video is a bit shakey because I'm walking and also the wind was gusting to 15MPH. On a warm, still day - the quality could be much better.

Video / Photo Shooting Table

2009-01-27T11:06:00.011-06:00

Shooting Table Setup and Lighting - Video shows the setup and use of a video and photography shooting table constructed out of 3/4-inch PVC plumbing pipe and a translucent white portable filing box (for hanging file folders).

Overhead Laboratory Camera Mount - Video shows the setup and use of an overhead "tripod" for mounting a small camera or video camera to document laboratory procedures from an overhead view.

Video Equipment Projects

2009-01-18T12:04:00.007-06:00

Professional video gear is outside the budgets of most instructors.
Here are some innovative projects for "home-brew, do-it-yourself" construction of projects to extend your filming tools.

Radio Control Pan / Title Rig -- RC controller moves camera for aerial shots.
$14 Camera Stabilizer - shoot handheld video without the roller-coaster results
PVC Fig Rig stabilizer - shoot handheld video
Underwater Housing - for small video cameras (plans)
Underwater Camcorder Housing - Larger cameras
Near Infrared Filter - heat signatures'
Helmet Camera - Hands-free recording for point-of-view videos
Camera Crane for $60 - for very lightweight DV cameras
Camera Jib Crane and Tripod for $200 - for heavier cameras.
Track Dolly System for $100 - smooth "rolls" of camera along a path
Homemade Dolly for $50 - another version using PVC
Make a Greenscreen for Chroma Key - substitute background images (weathermap)
Timelapse Panning using an old clock motor
Microscope Video in Macro Mode
In Car Headrest Camera Mount
Dash Cam Mount
Bicycle Camera Mount
Motorcycle Camera Mount
Giant Tripod
Tripod Dolly - Rolling base for video
Camcorder Clamp Rig - clamp your video camera to most surfaces
USB Webcam Telescope - Turn an old USB camera and a Zoom lens into web-telescope
Build a Teleprompter - Less than $50 requiring software
Microphone Blimp / Boom - less noise and wind on your recordings

Photo Construction Projects

2009-01-18T11:09:00.013-06:00

Photography can be a central part to the design of a technical or health course, in order to show steps in a process, details of tools and materials, and to contrast and compare different items.

Taking effective photographs can be made simpler with the right tools. One of these tools is a "shooting table" on which items to be photographed are placed and lit.

Commercial Shooting Tables
B&H Photo Video - Shooting Tables
Adorama - Still Life Photo Equipment

Here are some links to construction ideas and parts for building a shooting table.

Kee Lite Fittings - Aluminum pipe fittings - for use with aluminum electrical conduit
Hartnagel - Specialy PVC Pipe Fittings - for use with PVC plumbing pipe
PVC Fittings - Specialty Pipe Fittings - for use with PVC plumbing pipe
Simplified Building Concepts - build your own shooting table with Kee Lite fittings
PVC Light Tent - photograph objects with even lighting
Build a Shooting Table for under $80 - from Worth1000 tutorials
Shooting Table and Light Tunnel - in use
Super Cheap Shooting Table - for macro photos
PVC Light Box - Super Simple design

More FREE Software for College Students

2009-01-05T14:37:00.004-06:00

Here are a few sites with recommendations on FREE software for college students.

College Crunch Free Software Guide - descriptions and screenshots
Campus Grotto - simple list of links
Microsoft DreamSpark - free development software to highschool and college students
Bill Mullins Blog on Best Free Software - links and descriptions
PortableApps.com - Free software that runs from a USB Flash Drive
Make Use Of Portable Software - 100 portable applications for a USB Flash Drive

Computer Programming in 3D

2009-01-05T13:46:00.005-06:00

I stumbled upon a site from Carnegie Mellon University which is a FREE programming environment which allows students to learn the concepts of object oriented programming through building and animating virtual world scenes. After downloading and unzipping the program, you are given a step-by-step tutorial on how to use the application. It is quite fun, and you can build your own animation within minutes.
To get Alice, go to the downloads area of http://www.alice.org/

Alice runs on Windows, OSX and Linux.

Effective Demonstration of Video - FreeDrumLessons.com

2009-01-03T09:12:00.004-06:00

I am not a fan of "talking head" uses of video in online and hybrid courses. I feel that audio is a better vehicle if you aren't demonstration a process or procedure.

However, video can be essential to the success of students in an online course.
View a great set of FREE videos which are very effective at teaching techniques to students at FreeDrumLessons.com. The videos have the instructor explain the process, then demonstrate the process, and then provide sheet-music instructions for viewers.

Even if you've never drummed before, this site will get your fingers tapping!

HTML_Cleaner Program Updated

2008-12-24T09:52:00.006-06:00

Just a quick notice that I've updated my HTML_Cleaner program, and the current update will run through May 31, 2009.

The program performs the following actions:

strips out all the inline "Microsoft junk" added into HTML files which are FILE > SAVE AS > FILTERED HTML. It makes "plain vanilla" HTML out of these files.
creates thumbnail-sized linked images (to the full size versions) and enforces ALT tags for all <img> tags found in the document
allows the inclusion of an external CSS stylesheet link.

Get the update at: http://www.pedagogyonline.com/OnlineTools.asp

Web and Media Accessibility Standards for Minnesota

2008-12-24T09:34:00.005-06:00

If you are an educator in Minnesota, here are some links to check out regarding your obligations for making content accessible to individuals with disabilities.

Minnesota Star Program - Minnesota's Assistive Technologies Act Program
MnSCU Board Policiy 1B.4 -- Access for Individuals with Disabilities
16C.145 Minnesota Statutes – Nonvisual Technology Access Standards
Section 713 of the Communications Act, 47 U.S.C. § 613 – Requirements for closed captioning of English video programming.
Section 508 - Federal Rehabilitation Act revised in 1998 requiring electronic information and information technology (including intranet and internet accessibility) be accessible to persons with disabilities

MnSCU Webmasters have developed a series of Web Accessibility Guidelines based on the W3.ORG and Section 508.

Network Speed Test

2008-12-19T09:23:00.005-06:00

Does your Internet connection seem to be creeping along?
Is it your connection, or all the "junk" in your browser and background applications?

A quick way to test is to go to the SpeakEasy.Net website for their Internet Connection Speed Test. The test allows you to choose servers from various parts of the country. It has even has a "car-like" speedometer.
Check out the Speedtest.

Moodle Tutorials in YouTube

2008-11-20T11:45:00.004-06:00

The following are some interesting videos relating to Moodle which I found in YouTube.

Intro to OpenShare for Moodle 1.9 - allow specific content to be "open" to the general public within a course (Moodle Add-In)

MoodleMan - YouTube user with tutorials about how to use Moodle
- setting up parent roles as "mentors"

Uploading eXe SCORM content to Moodle

Correcting Student Writings within Moodle

Adding Wikis in Moodle

Maintaining Course Sites in Moodle (hiding articles)

Embed YouTube video in Moodle

Best Practices in Web Page Development

2008-11-19T14:54:00.008-06:00

Here are good sites for developing better user experiences for users of your website.

Yahoo's Steve Souders - 14 Rules for Fast Web Pages
(PPT, video lecture)
Plaxo's Joseph Smarr - High-Performance JavaScript
(video lecture)
Yahoo's Matt Sweeney - Web 2.0: Getting It Right the Second Time
(video lecture)

Other Best Practices for the Web videos from Yahoo Videos

SCORM-Compliant Content Editors for Course Design

2008-11-10T13:28:00.006-06:00

SCORM is an acronym for Sharable Content Object Reference Model.

Connexions - Rice University (cnx.org)
OpenLearn - The Open University
SoftChalk (commercial product)
uDuTu Online Course Authoring (Moodle Plugin)
eLearning XHTML editor (exe) - open source (creating new styles)
Reload Editor 2004
Xerte - University of Nottingham (open source)
Microsoft Learning Essentials for Office 2007
CourseLab

Web Conferencing Tips

2008-11-10T11:58:00.003-06:00

Here are some easy tips to help web-conferences run smoothly.

Send out Agenda and all Documents to be distributed ahead of time.
Initiate the connection/conference 15-minutes early ( to make sure technology works).
Set documents to be released by all users, and allow documents to be saved from the session.
Send out motions and reports ahead of time.
Use “track changes’ when editing motions in "application sharing" - so that all users see the updates simultaneously.
Let users know ahead of time if web-cams are preferred to be used or not.
Inform users how to keep their microphones muted until they have something to say.
“Share” the presentation role with those who are presenting materials - so that they have control over the pace of the slides, etc.
Have people introduce who is speaking before making their points.
When a group is meeting in one room, pass around the headset / microphone so that remote users can hear. Also make sure that the “Group” can see the WebConference screen (for Chat comments – and also to “enforce sharing” of documents under discussion through the web conference interface).

Portable Voice Recorders and Audacity

2008-10-28T15:05:00.011-05:00

I have a couple digital voice recorders which allow me to record lectures, interviews, and conference presentations which I can later share electronically.

Two of the recorders create files in the Microsoft WMA format, but my favorite (and FREE open-source) editing program, Audacity, does not import WMA files.

I use Apple's iTunes to convert the WMA files to WAV files (which can be edited in Audacity).

Here is the process.

Go into iTunes.
Use the menus EDIT > PREFERENCES >
[ADVANCED]..[IMPORTING] >
IMPORT USING: WAVE ENCODER // SETTING: AUTOMATIC

The use the menus FILE > ADD FILE TO LIBRARY, and select your WMA file(s).
As they are added to iTunes, the WMA files will be converted into .WAV files

The imported files are normally stored in your
MY DOCUMENTS > MY MUSIC > iTUNES > iTUNES MUSIC > UNKNOWN ARTIST folder
(or another subfolder if there is identifying track information from your recording device).

MP3 Uses in the Classroom

2008-10-27T14:42:00.008-05:00

Sure, iPods and MP3 players can be used to listen to content in face-to-face, hybrid, and online courses, but how can students be engaged in learning through use of their portable music players.

Most MP3 players also have a microphone and a recording function - so that you can use the MP3 device as a portable audio recorder.

Here are some interesting uses to consider.

1. Training Health Care Professionals
What does a normal heartbeat sound like? An abnormal one? What does chest congestion sound like in different areas of the lung? What about common phrases in different languages, such as "where does it hurt?" and "how badly does it hurt, a little, some, very bad?"

2. Interviewing Professionals
When students interview professionals working in the field, they can gain critical insights into the work roles they will soon be performing. When students record these interviews, they can concentrate more on the professional and using active listening rather that furiously scribbling notes. The recording can be reviewed later to prepare work for the homework assignment.

3. Audio Tour Guide
Can't afford to take the class on a field trip? Consider doing a walking tour through the site you wish students to visit and then give your students the audio files along with a map which indicates which audio track is associated with each location at the site.

4. Practice Vocabulary and Pronounciation
Ohhh... those latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes. Remembering them and learning to pronounce them can cause fits! Students can take advantage of using MP3 players in learning any language or vocabulary list.

5. Watch YouTube Videos and Photo Albums
Many MP3 players also can play MP4-format videos and display JPG-format photos. There is a free online site which allows you to download iPod style versions of online videos at http://converttube.com/

6. Research Via Podcasts
There are thousands of free, educational podcasts available as free subscriptions through iTunes. A quick search through the iTunes Store may expose you to some great supplementary (or required?) sites to which students can subscribe for additional course content.

7. Student Presentations Students who would otherwise present a PowerPoint or other presentation in front of a classroom could record their presentation and send the instructor and other students their PowerPoint and audio file. Viewers could click through the presentation as instructed, and audience members could provide feedback through posts on a discussion board or blog connected to the student's presentation.

Voki is a Talkie

2008-08-11T18:00:00.003-05:00

Get a Voki now!

This is an incredibly cool tool for online. Voki.com allows you to create an avatar, record some audio, and then combine the two to create a talking character for your online course site. Use these characters as introductions to case studies to add interest and engagement. I'm trying to figure out if there are ways to capture the video of separate characters to build up a story line which goes back and forth between characters (as a normal video would). I'll post later if I come up with a simple solution.

Comical Content

2008-08-11T15:50:00.005-05:00

If you have very little artistic ability, Toonlet.com is just the site for you.
Easily create cartoons using their built in tools. For each of your characters, you can specify hair, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, body, arms, and other attributes, and then you can stretch, move, and rotate any of these parts -- which is helpful in having your characters express emotion and movement. Save each of these snapshots of your character - and then simply click them into the cartoon cell you wish to edit. Add some words, and presto! Custom comical content!

Wordle.com Turns Your Words into Art

2008-08-11T15:23:00.005-05:00

I stumbled upon a great new site that turns your words into art.
wordle.net generates a word-cloud from your writing, and the size of each word is related to the frequency to which you use the word.

My example above comes from my "Growing Your Online Course" article at www.PedagogyOnline.com.

The application is free to use, and it allows you to cut and paste content into an edit window, or allows you to scrape a blog with an RSS feed, or allows you to enter in the username of a del.icio.us user.

Updated Teleprompter Script

2008-08-09T13:59:00.010-05:00

Updated Teleprompter Script for Word 2007

Here is an updated macro script for Microsoft Word 2007. This turns your script into a WHITE text on black background, auto-scrolled text.

Remember that you can continue to use your MOUSE's SCROLL WHEEL while this macro is running - in case the script gets ahead of your (or behind you).


Sub VideoPrompter()
'
' VideoPrompter Macro
' Macro created 8/13/2007 by James Falkofske
'
' Autoscroll Window
Dim PauseTime, Start, Finish, TotalTime
Dim i, iMax As Integer
Dim i1, i2, i3, i4 As String
Dim fTiming, fFontSize As Double

'How big should the text be?
i3 = InputBox("Enter the Font size in points", _
  "Font Size", 32)
fFontSize = CDbl(i3)

'How many lines of movement are needed?
i1 = InputBox("Enter scroll-down-clicks for script", _
"Teleprompter Motion", 1000)
iMax = CInt(i1)

'How much of a pause between each movement of script
i2 = InputBox("Enter the delay moves (decimal seconds)", _
"Movement Timing", 0.35)
fTiming = CDbl(i2)



 With Selection.PageSetup
     .LineNumbering.Active = False
     .Orientation = wdOrientPortrait
     .TopMargin = InchesToPoints(0.5)
     .BottomMargin = InchesToPoints(0.5)
     .LeftMargin = InchesToPoints(0.5)
     .RightMargin = InchesToPoints(0.5)
     .Gutter = InchesToPoints(0)
     .HeaderDistance = InchesToPoints(0.5)
     .FooterDistance = InchesToPoints(0.5)
     .PageWidth = InchesToPoints(8.5)
     .PageHeight = InchesToPoints(11)
     .VerticalAlignment = wdAlignVerticalTop
     .TwoPagesOnOne = False
 End With

 ActiveDocument.Background.Fill.ForeColor.ObjectThemeColor = _
     wdThemeColorText1
 ActiveDocument.Background.Fill.ForeColor.TintAndShade = 0#
 ActiveDocument.Background.Fill.Visible = msoTrue
 ActiveDocument.Background.Fill.Solid

 Selection.WholeStory
 Selection.Font.Size = fFontSize
 Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory
 ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.Zoom.PageFit = wdPageFitBestFit

For i = 1 To iMax
    PauseTime = fTiming        ' Set duration.
    Start = Timer    ' Set start time.
    Do While Timer < Start + PauseTime
        DoEvents    ' Yield to other processes.
        
    Loop
   'Move down a small scroll increment
   ActiveWindow.ActivePane.SmallScroll Down:=1
Next i

End Sub

Productive Photoshop Sites

2008-07-09T23:20:00.004-05:00

Sometimes you just need to go back to pre-school for some cool "show and tell." Show me something I've never seen before, and tell me how you did it.

To satisfy my curiosity (at least regarding Photoshop), I found a cool new site which provides links to large numbers of tutorials about Photoshop.

The site, http://www.photoshoplady.com/, presents thumbnails from each of the tutorials, so that you can quickly spin through the topics until something catches your eye.

Also, Adobe has a set of RSS tutorial feeds at http://www.adobe.com/support/rss/. I'm a fan of RSS feeds in iTunes, to pull down feeds and then review them on weekends (normally listening to audio casts while running errands and shopping for groceries, and viewing video casts while weight-training).

Speaking Your Mind

2008-07-01T11:05:00.009-05:00

Online courses normally expect both students and faculty to do more writing. Giving comments back to students can be made easier by recording your feedback and then sending your students the resulting MP3 files. Not only is this faster than typing out your feedback, but it also allows your personality and sense of humor to directly reach the students.

To meet accessibility standards, you'll need to poll your students to find out which ones would like and can use audio files. For the students who do not want audio files, post a list of their names near your computer - so that you can remember to provide written feedback instead on their works.

There are a number of audio recording tools which allow you to create MP3 files for your students. I personally prefer to use Audacity with the LAME plug-in (to create MP3 files). Audacity and LAME are open-source software tools which can be used without fee.

You can even save yourself some time while recording! If there are some standard types of mistakes students make, you can record that information once, and then "cut and paste" it into other recordings.

If you do not already have a computer headset with a microphone, I can recommend the Microsoft Lifechat 3000. It is a USB-connected device, so that it works on any computer, and it has the benefit of lower noise (normal sound-cards pick up a lot of line-power hum and suffer from microphones that pick up other electrical interference). On sale, this headset is about $30.

You might also use this technique to give feedback on other graded assessments, such as essay exams, projects, presentations, and discussions.

CAUTION: You probably do NOT want students to submit assignments or questions as audio files. It is a lot easier for you to "quickly scan" a text-comment than it is to listen to an entire recording (think about how you might prefer an email instead of an extensive voicemail message).

Office 2007 Add-In

2008-06-11T10:56:00.003-05:00

There is an add-in for Microsoft Office 2007 that helps you search for commands, options, wizards, and galleries. Type in what you are looking for and the available commands show up to "click."

Find the add-in at:
http://www.officelabs.com/projects/searchcommands/Pages/default.aspx

and go to the right panel under TRY IT to download the add-in to your computer.

Ensuring Online Course Quality Experiences

2008-06-10T16:33:00.006-05:00

The following is a list of Needs that should be discussed when designing online programs and courses.

Need: Student Preparation

Technical preparation (IMS use, homework file uploads and naming, network use from on/off campus, common quirks and workarounds)
Self-motivation and responsibility
Access to hardware / software

Need: Support Services to Students

Technical help
Library services
Tutoring (online services versus on campus services)
Advising and registration (online program plans that show sequence for completing all online)
Marketing and promotion of available online courses
“One-stop” contact for students needing help; standard answers, tracking, and forwarding issues
Feedback mechanisms to students (after registration, after “certification,” new opportunities and courses, etc.)

Need: Faculty Preparation

Technical training
Pedagogy and instructional design training
Assessments for online
Communication strategies for online courses
Best practices

Need: Course Offerings

Suitability of course and content
Strategic importance of online courses (what are the institutional reasons for offering online courses)
How instructors are recruited (and which incentives are provided to course developers?)
Courses which support lifelong learners (continuing education in addition to program completion)
Integration with customized training and workforce development offerings

Need: Course Design

Standardizing navigation, location, and document naming
(Syllabus, Course Schedule, Grading Rubric for ….)
Accessible (508 ADA)
Rigor
Assignment descriptions and grade assessment
Tracking of students (demographics, preparation, and performance in courses)

Need: Feedback and Improvement

Faculty self-assessment
Peer review
Student surveys
Dean’s review

Best Practices in Online Learning - Sites

2008-05-19T16:30:00.004-05:00

The following are some sites relating to Best Practices in Online Learning.

http://www.elearnmag.org/ - check out BEST PRACTICES section
http://www.electronicvision.com/nln/chapter02/index.htm - Best Practices in Online Learning (University of Colorado Health Sciences Center)
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0621.pdf - Web 2.0 - A New Wave of Innovation for Teaching and Learning?
http://web20teach.blogspot.com/ - Web 2.0 Teaching Tools Blog
http://www.aacsb.edu/publications/Archives/ JanFeb08/28-35_Teaching%20Biz_bized.pdf - Teaching Business in a Web 2.0 World
http://cit.duke.edu/help/consult/web20casestudies.html - Duke: Case Studies on Using Web-Based Tools (Web 2.0) for Academic Work

Just for Fun -- SHIFT Happens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhnWKg9B2-8

Standards for Online Courses

2008-05-19T12:40:00.003-05:00

I found that the Tennessee Board of Regents has developed some templates and standard expectations for courses that are delivered online.

Of note is that faculty are expected to become proficient in Microsoft Frontpage in order to develop HTML content for courses.

The standards begin at:
http://www.rodp.org/faculty/standards.htm

It also appears that online courses require a "proposal" mechanism in which faculty must list the course information and also information about their own training and skills related to online technologies.
http://www.rodp.org/RODP_Course_Proposal_Form_f07.doc

Expectations of online faculty are listed at:
http://www.rodp.org/faculty/expected.htm

These are the types of standards which I believe support the success of online course designs which lead to the success of students in online courses.

OOOPS, I did it (finally) - FEATURED on YouTube's Homepage

2008-04-13T17:22:00.004-05:00

I guess I really did it this time....

Below you'll find a blog about "American Election Song" that I did to demo how online sites like YouTube could be used to create collaborations between students at a distance.

Well.... I guess on April 9th that the video was featured on the HOME PAGE of YouTube.

So far it has gotten over 300,000 views!

WOW!!!

Here is the link to the video on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoLYtWUW5e0

You can hear the FINISHED version of the song at:

http://www.snowtunes.com/AmericanElect.m3u

(make sure to listen to this!)

My best friend, Chris Snow, deserves much credit for putting my lyrics to music and using his beautiful voice to record the song.

This is amazing, and it flatters me that so many people have sent me emails of praise about the video (and song). Great, great, great week!!!

James

Instructional Design Tips for Online Courses

2008-02-15T13:38:00.002-06:00

California State University, Chico has developed some good resource materials for faculty who are developing online courses.

http://www.csuchico.edu/tlp/resources/rubric/rubric.pdf provides a series of rubrics to show Baseline, Effective, and Exemplary tactics/processes/information to include in course designs.

A checklist document which provides easy "check-offs" of design considerations is at:
http://www.csuchico.edu/tlp/resources/rubric/instructionalDesignTips.pdf .

The University of Louisville has best practices advice for designing online learning courses at the site http://delphi.louisville.edu/faculty/ids/ - which starts off the list of tips with "Start Slow" because your students may not have taken online courses before.

Virginia Tech has a great primer for new designers at their page http://www.edtech.vt.edu/edtech/id/index.html - including explanations of some popular teaching techniques in distance education (Audio Tutorial, Goal-Based Scenarios, Case-Based Teaching, Guided Design, Cooperative Learning, etc.).

Desire2Learn in Court with Blackboard - Lufkin, TX

2008-02-15T12:16:00.004-06:00

We all knew it was coming, and it has arrived!

Blackboard's patent infringement suit against D2L is finally in court. According to the article at the Chronicle of Higher Education's online site, the case was filed in Lufkin, Texas, where juries have a reputation of protecting patent owners.

Luckily for the rest of us, Blackboard issued a promise last year not to take action against the three largest open source projects, which are Moodle, Sakai, and ATutor.

Desire2Learn has a blog site which is tracking the patent-infringement suit.

Critical Design Factors in Online Course Structures

2007-11-06T12:42:00.000-06:00

When you are developing online and hybrid courses, it is important to take the following design principles into consideration.

Overexplain everything
Students can always skim materials, but they can't comprehend what you were "thinking" when you were writing unless you are specific and comprehensive.
Provide specific examples / samples
Students will use samples and examples as benchmarks, and this also helps ensure that students understand any special formats, designs, or structures you expect in your assignments.
Author content in small “chunks”
Creating your content writings topic-by-topic makes it easier to shuffle if the publisher releases a new version of the textbook. Also, it makes it easier to modify assignments, resources, and website URLs if they are stored in smaller, separate documents (rather than contained within a larger content writing).
Author content to be time-insensitive
It is best to use your NEWS area of your course site to link to specific time-sensitive materials (website links, for instance). Doing so will limit the numbers of materials that will need to be updated each term
Accessible formats
Make sure to caption all photos and graphics and transcript all audio and video segments. For more information about accessibility, view the site http://www.w3c.org/wai/
Note requirements in catalog and Week 1
If you expect students to own and know how to use Microsoft Word 2007, make sure that you state it in writing in catalog and course schedule notes (students should be aware of your expectations and requirements before they sign up for the course). It is recommended that you publicly post your course syllabus; doing so will allow students to fully understand your course policies and expectations prior to registration.

Video Feedback with $100 Point and Shoot Camera

2007-09-24T00:10:00.001-05:00

When critiquing work or collaborating, sometimes there is no good substitute for "face to face." However, with $100 point and shoot digital camera, you are pretty close.

In the following video clip - my best friend Chris Snow came up with some music for lyrics I had previously sent him. He's squashed down the video to about 4MB so that he could send it through email - but his $100 camera actually renders pretty good video and audio when uncompressed.

Consider this as a great way that you could give feedback to students on projects and papers. What about students using video for collaborations and peer critiques (as demonstrated here)?

Incorporating video technology into your online class does not need to be expensive or complicated.

Click on the picture to launch the video feedback file.

http://www.metrorichmedia.com/pods/AmericaElectionSong.mpg

American Election Song
Lyrics by James Falkofske
Music by Chris Snow (http://www.snowtunes.com/)

There are times when I question, what is right and what is wrong
But in this presidential election, I’m just prayin we can get along
There are too many problems, that aren’t just red or blue
Gotta find a uniter, a leader who can pull us through


   A-mer-i-ca, A-meri-ca, A-meri-ca
   Open up your arms, and embrace the world
   A-mer-i-ca, A-meri-ca, A-meri-ca


We all live on this one blue marble, just a fly speck in the universe
Global warming, ozone depletion, oil energy becomes a curse
Making babies, making buildings, making vehicles without restraint
We believe the patient is thriving, even though the pulse is getting faint


   A-mer-i-ca, A-meri-ca, A-meri-ca
   Open up your eyes, and save the world
   A-mer-i-ca, A-meri-ca, A-meri-ca


We no longer love our neighbors, we make no effort to connect as friends
And our children become strangers, watching T-V from birth to Depends
We build our private castles, becoming prisoners within the walls
If we need to talk to a fam-i-ly mem-ber, we grab the cell to place the call


   A-mer-i-ca, A-meri-ca, A-meri-ca
   Open up your hearts, and love the world
   A-mer-i-ca, A-meri-ca, A-meri-ca


What will our great-grand-chil-dren, think of what we leave be-hind
Mortga-ging our whole exist-ence, acting as though we lost our mind
Instead of working sixty-hours, and falling asleep in-front of the television set
Reduce, re-use, recycle, and live within the pay we get


   America, America, let’s save the future, from our selves
   America, let’s lead the way again
   America, America, America
   Open up your minds to another way
   America, America, America

New Free Music Service with a 30-day "hitch"

2007-09-21T10:46:00.001-05:00

There is a new online music service that is delivering music and video content for FREE, however, you are obligated to view their website (and their advertising) on a regular basis in order to keep the music playable.

http://www.spiralfrog.com/

As quoted from the SpiralFrog website:

How come there's no cost – what's the catch?
SpiralFrog is an ad-supported Web site. We sell ads on our pages to advertisers who want to talk to you. And we give the majority of that advertising revenue to the music publishers and labels who own the music you're downloading.
Most of our song and video downloads take a short, consistent amount of time to complete, during which we encourage you to keep discovering new areas of the Web site. Every page you visit allows us to serve more advertising, thus building the revenues we can pay to the content creators.
We do NOT ask you for a credit card. But we do ask for your time and attention. And, for that, we thank you…

You are required to log in every 30-days to keep your account active, and there are currently no limits to the number of songs you can download. If you fail to renew your membership every 30 days - your files become inaccessible after a total of 61 days. And -- SpiralFrog is sharing advertising revenues with music publishers -- so everyone wins (advertisers get verified exposure, publishers and musicians get paid, and users get free music and video).

This is a great concept that is likely to catch on with users.

UPDATED - Video Prompter Macro Script for Word

2007-09-11T13:32:00.001-05:00

NOTE: Someone sent a message asking "where does the macro go?"
In Microsoft Word 2003, go into TOOLS > MACROS > MACRO > EDIT (an existing macro) and then paste in the script to the new "computer coding" window that appears. Then do a FILE > SAVE on that window and close.

To run the script, you go back into TOOLS > MACROS > MACRO > (name of your macro) > RUN.

For more information, consult Microsoft's tutorial for Word 2003 at:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HP051894201033.aspx

Here is the updated script I have for Word that serves as a Video Prompter.

The features now include:

Choose the scroll speed
Choose the font size
Automatically change to screen-width document display
Automatically change to white font on black background

Sub DownBit()
' Created by James Falkofske

Dim PauseTime, Start, Finish, TotalTime
Dim i, iMax As Integer
Dim i1, i2, i3, i4 As String
Dim fTiming, fFontSize As Double

i1 = InputBox("Enter number of Lines to Move", _
 "Teleprompter Motion", 100)
iMax = CInt(i1)

i2 = InputBox("Enter Delay seconds between moves", _
 "Movement Timing", 0.35)
fTiming = CDbl(i2)

i3 = InputBox("Enter the font size in points", "Font Size", 32)
fFontSize = CDbl(i3)

  With Selection.PageSetup
      .LineNumbering.Active = False
      .Orientation = wdOrientPortrait
      .TopMargin = InchesToPoints(0.5)
      .BottomMargin = InchesToPoints(0.5)
      .LeftMargin = InchesToPoints(0.5)
      .RightMargin = InchesToPoints(0.5)
      .Gutter = InchesToPoints(0)
      .HeaderDistance = InchesToPoints(0.5)
      .FooterDistance = InchesToPoints(0.5)
      .PageWidth = InchesToPoints(8.5)
      .PageHeight = InchesToPoints(11)
      .VerticalAlignment = wdAlignVerticalTop
      .TwoPagesOnOne = False
  End With

  ActiveDocument.Background.Fill.ForeColor.ObjectThemeColor = _
      wdThemeColorText1
  ActiveDocument.Background.Fill.ForeColor.TintAndShade = 0#
  ActiveDocument.Background.Fill.Visible = msoTrue
  ActiveDocument.Background.Fill.Solid

  Selection.WholeStory
  Selection.Font.Size = fFontSize
  Selection.HomeKey Unit:=wdStory
  ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.Zoom.PageFit = wdPageFitBestFit


For i = 1 To iMax
    PauseTime = fTiming        ' Set duration.   
    Start = Timer              ' Set start time.   
    Do While Timer < Start + PauseTime
        DoEvents               ' Yield to other processes.   
   Loop   
   'Move down a small scroll increment
   ActiveWindow.ActivePane.SmallScroll Down:=1   
Next i
End Sub

A $250 Video Camera and Lots of Time

2007-08-13T18:02:00.001-05:00

http://youtube.com/watch?v=E1ldL42KKUs
shows a video that I shot with a $250 video camera for my friend Chris Snow, who is a singer/songwriter. We both have more time than money, so we avoided the professional video crew and did it "homebrew."

The video footage took about 4 hours to shoot, and then about another 10 hours to edit, using Adobe Premiere Elements (academic price $65 from www.academicsuperstore.com ).

The most difficult part was getting all the various video clips "in-sync" with the music.

The quality of the results posted on YouTube are not very good compared to the actual file that we rendered. However, hosting your videos on YouTube is free (free account and no bandwidth charges).

Granted, this video does not have the aesthetics of a major music video, but it does a pretty decent job of getting the visual and auditory information tied together. And, the total cost of the "setup" was just over $350 (including the cost of a tripod for the camcorder). Typical charges for production are $1200 per finished minute of video (or about $4800 for this 4 minute video).