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Presentation for NIU Council of Deans by Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center , July 14, 2010
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Teaching with Technology Updates
Presentation for Council of DeansFaculty Development and Instructional Design Center
July 14, 2010
Presentation Goals
• Share information on supported instructional technologies
• Highlight new features now available in Blackboard and Wimba Classroom
• Explore emerging “cloud” technologies that are becoming increasingly popular in higher education today
• Discuss implications for use of “cloud” technologies in teaching
Supported Technologies
Blackboard
• Learning management system available campus-wide for teaching since 2002
• Used for posting electronic materials, grades, communications, etc.
• 94% of NIU students and 73% of faculty use Blackboard
More details: www.niu.edu/blackboard
Use of Blackboard by (individual) Students
02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 100
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
Spring Summer Fall
Year
No.
of S
tude
nts
Usage % for spring ‘10 with 22,705 enrolled is 94.46% of total number of students
21,447
Use of Blackboard by (individual) Faculty/Staff/TAs to Teach
02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 100
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
1,400
Spring Summer Fall
Year
No.
of F
acul
ty
Usage % for spring ‘10 with 1,661* faculty/instructors/TA/teaching staff is 72.45%*1,661 includes only those providing direct instruction
1,205
Number of Course Sections in Blackboard
02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 100
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
Spring Summer Fall
Year
No.
of C
ours
e Se
ction
s
Usage % for spring ‘10 with 5,378* sections is 42.2%*No. of course sections including thesis, dissertation, and independent studies is 5,378
2,269
Number of Enrollments in Blackboard
02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 100
10,00020,00030,00040,00050,00060,00070,00080,00090,000
Spring Summer Fall
Year
No.
of C
ours
e En
rollm
ents
Students enrolled in several courses in a semester that use Blackboard
77,580
Blackboard Portfolio Tool
• Bundled with current Blackboard Content System that NIU has licensed (no additional cost)
• Limited customization• At the recommendation of NIU Computing
Facilities Advisory Committee (CFAC), faculty input is being sought for implementation
• Faculty pilot this summer and fall
Blackboard Portfolio Tool
Portfolio Features
• Store portfolio artifacts in the Blackboard Content Collection
• Create portfolio for either personal (student, faculty, staff) accomplishments or course requirements
• Link to coursework artifacts in Blackboard• Use pre-configured portfolio templates
Portfolio Features (cont.)
• Share portfolio with faculty for comments• Share portfolio with other classmates as well
as non-NIU users• Control access to who can view portfolio and
for what duration of time• Export portfolio for offline access outside
Blackboard or archive to CD
Upgrade to Blackboard 9.1
• Major upgrade planned for May 2011– Redesigned interface– Many new requested features added
• Testing beginning this summer, support materials and training to be developed this fall
• Faculty pilot of Blackboard 9.1 during Spring 2011
• More details coming this fall
Wimba Classroom
• Live collaboration with students
• Fully-integrated with Blackboard but also available for access without Blackboard login
• Archives available for online or on-demand offline or mobile viewing
CPS (e-Instruction Clickers)
• Student response system allowing faculty to receive feedback from students wirelessly
• Can be used in conjunction with Blackboard with results from class assessments automatically uploaded to Blackboard Grade Center
New Blackboard Features Now Available
Blackboard Mobile Learn
More details: www.niu.edu/blackboard/mobile
Blackboard Mobile Learn
• Through a partnership with Sprint, Blackboard currently only offers the free Mobile Learn app on Android and BlackBerry devices on the Sprint network in addition to iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch over Wi-Fi
• Additional apps and access on other networks available for licensing
More details: www.niu.edu/blackboard/mobile
Increased Video Device Support
• While Wimba previously only recognized specific USB web cameras, existing video hardware and infrastructure can now be leveraged.
• If your computer supports the video camera, so does Wimba Classroom!
• Data cameras and video equipment used for other specialized lab procedures, such as those used in the physical and health sciences, can now be used with Wimba Classroom.
Higher Quality Video
• Default window size and video window encoding size have been doubled
• The default video encoding bit rate has also been doubled
Archive Reminder
• Presenter is reminded to start archive at beginning of session
Hand Raised Chime
• Chime is now played when a hand is raised to alert presenters when students raise their hand
Shortened Guest Access Link
• Shortened link for easier distribution to guests via email
MP3 and MP4 Download Links
• Easier for students to now download either the audio (.mp3) or video (.mp4) archives directly from the list of archives for the room
Educause.edu/cloudcomputing
What is Cloud Computing?
• IT Perspective: delivery of scalable IT resources of the Internet, as opposed to hosting and operating resources locally on a college or university network
• User Perspective: accessing, creating, and consuming content using web-based software services available from any Internet-connected computer; content and even software is hosted completely online
Teaching with Technology Institute
Teaching with Technology Institute
• Collaborating in the Cloud (Google Wave)• Creating Tutorials in the Cloud (Screenr,
Screencast-o-Matic)• Writing in the Cloud (Wikis, Blogs)• Presenting in the Cloud (Prezi, Slideshare)
Technology Showcase
Featured hands-on opportunity with new technologies, including: Tablet PC, Kindle, iPad, iPod Touch, iPod Nano, clickers, netbook
Google Wave
• Web-based application representing a rethinking of electronic communication
• Rather than sending separate copies of multiple messages to different people, content resides in a single space
• Part conversation, part document creation, combining features of both synchronous and asynchronous communications
wave.google.com
Screencast
• Digital recording of computer screen output, often containing audio narration
• Why use a screencast?– Demonstrate and teach software features– Demonstrate technology steps or processes– Providing “virtual tour” of Blackboard course
Blog
• Online chronological collection of personal commentary and links
• Easy to create and use from anywhere with an Internet connection, including mobile devices
• Educational Applications– Journal development of ideas– Interact outside the “walls” of Blackboard
Wiki
• Web page that can be viewed and modified by anyone with access to the Internet
• Collaborative documentconstruction
• Educational Applications– Class or topic web site– Group project presentation alternative – Collaborative data collection / analysis– Peer editing and review
Presentation Tools
prezi.com
slideshare.net
Realities
• Instructional technologies continue to advance rapidly
• Technology use varies• Students are using these technologies and expecting
to use them in learning• Faculty are experimenting with new technologies
that may not be officially supported by the institution
• New faculty may bring different technology expectations
Questions for Consideration
• How does the institution support emerging technologies?
• Are “free” tools available from Google and others truly free?
• How are openness and opportunities for inter-institutional collaboration managed?
• How is student data protected?• When “walls” are removed, what must be
considered?
Summary
• Faculty Development’s focus:– Promote technology for enhancing teaching and learning,
and not just for the sake of using new technology– Recommend technology that can be learned quickly and
easily, and is free or affordable
• Emerging Trends in Learning Technologies– Increase in the use of mobile and “cloud” technologies– Increase in more platform-independent learning tools– Blurring lines between the use of institutional and non-
institutional technology (e.g. email)
