Hello everyone,

I would like to invite you to my CII  Faculty Fellowship Presentation, on December 1, 2009 at 1:40p in F-124. I will be introducing Microblogging for Developmental Students . In the Department of Academic Success, we teach reading, writing, and learning skills for developmental students. As such, we are consistently striving to be innovative in our approaches to teaching as developmental students wrestle with overcoming challenges in basic literacy. The Microblog project used various forms of “TWITTER” type applications to get students to meaningfully articulate their understanding of narrative text using 160 characters or less.

Working with Kevin Crow, the students were able to practice these skill sets in the computer labs and from home dialoguing around questions dealing with major and minor conflicts, theme, and character development. Their insights will be shared at this presentation.

I look forward to sharing this accomplishment with you. I want to thank all those who made this exciting project possible! I think the project has great potential for collaborative scholarship with other colleagues and uses for other texts and disciplines.

Thank you and I look forward to seeing you there!

Shante’ SH Bishop, EdD
Assistant Professor
Department of Academic Success
William Rainey Harper College
847/925-6959

Dear colleagues and friends,

I would like to invite you to a presentation in which I will discuss and demonstrate the results of my Fall 2009 CII Faculty Fellowship, “Implementation of a graphics tablet and PDF Annotator software in presenting graphical and computational concepts to chemistry students.” Over the past semester, I have used a graphics tablet and PDF Annotator in class to create electronic notes.  I prepared PDF lecture outlines before class, which the students downloaded from Blackboard, and then we drew chemical structures to fill in the outlines together. This allowed me to have notes in an electronic format while preserving the chalkboard-style structure drawing crucial to organic chemistry.  Also, I used CamStudio, a free, open source screen recording program, to record my lectures as screen capture videos.  With Chris Dobson’s help, I then built a website to display the videos to students through Blackboard for review.

I look forward to sharing my experiences working on this project, so please join me on Thursday, December 3rd at 10:00am in room F124. I have gotten many positive responses from my students and I believe that this technology is broadly transferrable across disciplines. I also believe that it is quite easy to do, even for the computer-uncomfortable. For examples of my work from this semester, please visit http://dept.harpercollege.edu/chemistry/wachter/CHM%20204/videos/video1.html.

I would like to thank everyone who helped me to make this project possible, and I hope to see you at the presentation!

Joe Wachter

Join Sarah Stark as she shares how to create and use this very interesting mini-lecture format for all types of courses! Experience an actual 60-second lecture and then participate in brainstorming how you might be able to use this format to in your own course.

• Date: November 17 from 12:00-12:30PM
  
• Location: F124
• BYOL (Bring Your Own Lunch)
  

Educause Annual ConferenceDates:

• November 3-6, 2009More
• Information: http://www.educause.edu/E2009

Are Digital Natives for Real? (ION Webinar)

• November 19, 2009
• More Information: http://illinois.online.uillinois.edu/institutes/webinars/monthly/upcomingevents.asp

Congratulations to Shante’ Holley and Joe Wachter, recipients of the CII fall Faculty Fellowships! These competitive fellowships are semester-long projects that are intended for the development of applications and workshops that enhance the use of instructional technology.

Shante’ (AE/LS Division) is completing a Micro-blogging for Developmental Students project. She is researching the idea that asking questions of students reading a graphic novel using a micro-blog similar to that of TWITTER to will help them overcome challenges in basic literacy.

Joe (Math/Science Division) is investigating the Implementation of a Graphics Tablet and PDF Annotator Software to  present  graphical and computational concepts to chemistry students. He is using an electronic method of content delivery in the classroom with a PC Tablet and the PDF Annotator Software, as opposed to the more traditional whiteboard style.

Sponsored by The League for Innovation in the Community College

This technology conference has sessions geared to community college educators, administrators, and technology professionals. The League for Innovation’s annual Conference on Information Technology (CIT) offers a diverse program and cutting-edge.

When: October 11-14, 2009
Where: Detroit, Michigan

There’s something for everyone….

• Track I – Emerging and Future Educational Technology
• Track  II – Teaching and Learning
• Track III – Student and Community Services
• Track IV – Leadership and Organizational Development
• Track V – Enterprise-wide Systems and Infrastructures
• Track VI – Workforce Partnerships and Collaborations
• Track VII – Math, Science, Allied Health, and Vocational Education

More Information: http://www.league.org/2/conferences/cit/2009/

Consider applying for a Technology Grant to attend this conference:
http://www.harpercollege.edu/facdev/grants.htm

Questions about Technology Grants?
Contact:
Terry Morris (x6818) tmorris@harpercollege.edu or Michele Ukleja (x6859)
Instructional Technology Committee Co-Chairs

Thanks,
Terry Morris!

TUG (Technology Users Group)
This group meets every month with the exception of August and January.  Each 45-minute session focuses on a discussion of current issues that arise when using technology in teaching, a learning session that shares pedagogy tips for distance teaching, or a hands-on opportunity that allows participants to try a new technology tool that has potential to positively affect student retention and success.

For the 2009-2010 academic year, TUG will center on the exploration of teaching strategies in both face-to-face and distance classrooms by having faculty guests sharing classroom strategies and activities with the Harper College Faculty community.  This year’s anticipated TUG topics include the following:

•    Millennials
•    Designing Assignments / Cheating, Plagiarism
•    Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs)
•    Building an Online Community for Face-to-Face and Online courses
•    Technologies for Creating Interactive Instruction
•    Accessibility
•    Discussion Strategies
•    Lecture Strategies
•    Teaching with Cases
•    Rubrics as a Grading Tool

You are invited to watch the CII Calendar of Events for the monthly events and to attend the topics that interest you.

There is a known issue with IE8 and Blackboard when a student is taking a Timed Quiz.  In normal IE8 mode, the Submit button will be obscured by the Elapsed Time Clock which will block the ability to record their response and move on to the next test question.

We can offer the resolution below, as well as continue to recommend that students use Firefox.

How to Set Compatibility View Settings in Internet Explorer 8

1.    Launch Internet Explorer

2.    Select Tools

3.    Select “Compatibility View Settings”

4.    Type harper.blackboard.com in the “Add this website:” text box

5.    Click Add

6.    Click Close

7.    Restart Internet Explorer

How to Set Trusted Sites in Internet Explorer 8

1.    Launch Internet Explorer

2.    Select Tools

3.    Select Internet Options

4.    Select Security Tab

5.    Click on Trusted Sites

6.    Click on Sites

7.    Type blackboard.com in the “Add this website to the zone:” text box

8.    Click Add

9.    Click Close

10.  Click Ok

11.  Restart Internet Explorer

This just in!

The 15th Annual Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning – CFP Extended to June 1st

DEADLINE APPROACHING! Deadline to Submit is June 1st!
The Call for Papers is ending soon for the Orlando Conference! We invite you to submit a proposal for the 15th Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning: “The Power of Online Learning: Opportunities for Tomorrow.” The conference strongly encourages proposals that reflect the implications for the field of specific e-learning experience and practices. Proposals that address blended learning, issues of diversity, international applications of online learning, open educational resources and/or social networking are especially encouraged.

Last year’s annual conference attracted over 1100 participants to Orlando for more than 180 presentations, as well as exhibits, pre-conference workshops, keynote and plenary addresses, and a variety of other special events.

Proposals must be submitted by June 1st, 2009 at www.sloanconsortium.org/aln/cfp .
Follow Sloan Consortium on Twitter for updates on these conferences and more! Join us at www.twitter.com/SloanConsortium .

Faculty Summer Institute

The conference addresses the needs of administrators, educators, trainers, and designers who are involved in the application of Web-based technologies to the teaching and learning process and in the planning, administration, and management of online education programs.

The Institute will:

• introduce participants to the use of the internet and computer technologies in teaching and learning
• advance the knowledge of those already familiar with the World Wide Web and its uses in education
• create a network for sharing in the development of the curriculum and use of learning technologies
• provide an opportunity for faculty teaching in similar disciplines to share best practices.

• Date: -May 18-21, 2009
• Location: Urbana, Illinois
• More information: https://iteach.cites.uiuc.edu/fsi2009/home

CII will provide up to $400 to support registration and travel to this event on a limited basis (full-time faculty are encouraged to submit a Technology Grant, and adjunct faculty are encouraged to email me to see if funding is still available)