International Online Conference for Teaching and Learning (formerly Illinois Online Conference) March 30 – 31, 2009

Attend the 7th Annual International Online Conference for Teaching and Learning from the comfort of your home or campus computer! This year’s all new two-day format brings engaging keynote and workshop speakers right to your desktop. Interact with peers from around the globe, March 30-31, 2009.

Each day of IOC 2009 features sessions that will provide the kind of insights and take-aways you can put to work immediately. The conference includes live online sessions at times suitable for working professionals. Watch what you can live, and tune in later for recordings of any sessions you can’t attend. Learn more at http://www.illinoisonlineconference.org/.

Contact Sarah Stark at sstark@harpercollege.edu before registering to find out if the limited number of DoIT-sponsored registrations to this exciting conference opportunity are still available.

Engaging Today’s Students – Connecting with Generation Y in Your Classroom (Free Webinar )

*** Please note that due to unforeseen circumstances, the March 6 Webinar, “Engaging Today’s Students – Connecting with Generation Y in Your Classroom” has been rescheduled to March 13 at 1:00PM.***

Looking for more information on how to reach the students in your classrooms? Attend this free Webinar on March 6, 2009 at 1:00PM from the comfort of your own desk!

Title: Engaging Today’s Students – Connecting with Generation Y in Your Classroom

Date: March 6, 2009 ***Rescheduled to March 13 at 1:00PM.***

Time: 1:00PM

Location: Online via Elluminate Live!

Description:

They text instead of talk; they have been using computers since first grade; they expect learning to be fun and they are easily bored if they have to read a lot of text on a page or concentrate on just one task at a time. They are Generation Y or the Net Generation. They are challenging us to think differently about how we teach and interact with them. This presentation will highlight the distinctions in their learning expectations and provide a selection of teaching strategies to engage them.

Registration: Contact Karen Herold at kquattro@harpercollege.edu to reserve your seat and receive the link to the online seminar

Seats are limited, so register today!

Sarah

Sarah Stark

Director, Center for Innovative Instruction (formerly DoIT)
William Rainey Harper Community College
1200 W. Algonquin Road
Palatine, IL 60067-7398
Voice: 847.925.6805
E-mail: sstark@harpercollege.edu

Free “Enriching Learning Environments Through Technology” One-Day Conference at Elgin Community College

Date: Friday, March 6, 2009

Time: 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Place: Fox Valley University and Business Center, Elgin Community College

Cost: Free (continental breakfast and lunch included)

Who should attend: Faculty members and anyone involved or interested in using technology in the classroom. Visit the conference webpage for more detailed information on the sessions at http://instruction.elgin.edu/distance_learning/index.html

Registration Information: Registration deadline is Friday, February 27, 2009 at http://instruction.elgin.edu/distance_learning/index.html.

Sarah Stark

Director, Center for Innovative Instruction (formerly DoIT)
William Rainey Harper Community College
1200 W. Algonquin Road
Palatine, IL 60067-7398
Voice: 847.925.6805
E-mail: sstark@harpercollege.edu

Free Sloan-C Workshops Now Available

Are you interested in learning more about course material development or distance course delivery? DoIT is able to provide a very limited number of registrations for the following online workshops offered through the SLOAN-C organization:

• Getting Started in Second Life
• Using the Community of Inquiry Framework to Design and Assess Online Courses
• Delivering Content, Fostering Student Interactivity, and Assessing Learning in Blended Courses
• Video Tools for Teaching and Learning

Visit http://www.sloan-c.org/2009ws_schedule to view more information about each February workshop and then let Sarah Stark know via email (sstark@harpercollege.edu) you are interested. You will receive an email reply letting you know if registration support is still available, and if so, how to register for no cost to you.

Sarah Stark

Web 2.0 Free and Ungraded Online Course

Do you want to learn more about how free Web 2.0 tools work and how you might be able to use them in your classes? If so, check out this free and ungraded online course. Do as much or as little as you like.

Course information from Barry Nab Dahl, course developer and instructor: Right now there are plans to look at four different modules in the course (that’s plan A). We might decide to expand on that if we like how it’s going. I also have plans B, C, and D in mind if we need them. Your plan E might be the best idea of the bunch. We’ll figure out the future when it gets here. For now we’re going to start with using Google Reader for RSS feeds (module 1) and then take a look at Delicious and Diigo for social bookmarking tools (module 2). In each case these are things that you can use for your own productivity and efficiency, and you can also use them with your students if you so choose.

Interested: See below for how to enroll:

• Longer path: (going through the front door)

a)      Go to the ITC website at http://www.itcnetwork.org and login to your account.

b)      If you don’t have an account you can create one for free and then use it to login.

c)      After login, you will see a “My Courses” widget. Click the link that says “all courses … “

d)      You’ll see the category called Using Free Web Tools to Engage Students. Choose the course in that category.

e)      Confirm that you want to enroll in the course and you should be all set to go. (There is no enrollment key needed)

• Shorter path: (going through the side door)

a)      Go to Using Free Web Tools 101

b)      Login to your account or create one.

c)      Confirm that you want to enroll in the course.

Hope to “see” you online!

Sarah Stark

Director, Center for Innovative Instruction (formerly DoIT)
William Rainey Harper Community College
1200 W. Algonquin Road
Palatine, IL  60067-7398
Voice: 847.925.6805
E-mail:  sstark@harpercollege

Online Video Tutorials for Blackboard are Now Available!

Six new online video tutorials are available for the new features in Blackboard. These new videos were produced by the Harper College department of Instructional Technology to show faculty how to use the following new features in Blackboard.

• Messages (current student email addresses no longer needed)
• Discussion Board grading (now built in)
• Adaptive Release (require specific performance levels before providing further course materials)
• Early Warning System (set up rules that measure individual student performance based on attendance and items in the online gradebook)
• Performance Dashboard (track course site access, view discussion board posts, view grades, access early warning system and more by individual student

To View these tutorials click on the “Blackboard Tutorials” link in the right column of this page, then choose the video that you wish to view.

Motivating Millennials and Digital Natives

Seminar Title: Motivating Millennials and Digital Natives

Location: online on demand

Dates: December 15, 2008 – January 16, 2009

Cost: Free (sponsored by DoIT)

Login at any time between December 15 and January 16 from your home or office to participate in this online seminar!

Many Millennial college students are also “digital natives,” people born into a tech-focused world. However, many of us are “digital immigrants,” people who joined tech culture later in life. This divide can be hard to cross, especially when we’re trying to motivate students to greater success.

Attend this online seminar to help you understand Millennials and digital natives and motivate them toward lasting student success. In 90 minutes, Dr. Jerry Pattengale will share research, best practices, and motivational techniques. In addition, the seminar will include cameos from North America’s leading student success scholars.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• Understand the Millennial student and “digital native” profile
• Learn how the profile affects student life, teaching and admissions
• Gain a better understanding of using media in marketing to and teaching digital natives
• Review new literature on Millennials and what other institutions are doing to work with them
• Converse more effectively with students about college choices
• Tap into a wide array of resources, including best practices

Discuss two simple but powerful motivational techniques–the “wedge principle” and “crossroads application”–to help Millennial students reach greater success

To access the seminar:

• Test your computer’s capabilities by viewing the demonstration on the computer you will be using to view the seminar. More detailed technical information is available on our website.
• For video demo: http://magna.mediasite.com/magna/Viewer/?peid=26355335-585c-4d58-8f05-5c8ba111b0f9
• For audio demo: http://magna.mediasite.com/magna/Viewer/?peid=385599e5-6cf4-4145-a02e-724f71f2dcd3
• For seminar’s handouts: http://www.magnapubs.com/handouts/121508RR.html
• At least 15 minutes before the start time, access the presentation at: http://www.magnapubs.com/handouts/121508RR.html

Please note: You will get a “Presentation Unavailable” error if you attempt to connect before 11:45 am CDT on the day of the seminar.”

Need Help?

• For further assistance please contact our Customer Service Staff at custserv@magnapubs.com or call 800-433-0499.

Thanks!

Sarah Stark

U of I Now Offers a Master of Education (Ed.M.) Degree With a Concentration In E-Learning

Through a partnership with the University of Illinois Global Campus, the top-ranked Department of Human Resource Education in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign now offers a new series of online programs in e-learning:

• Master of Education (Ed.M.) degree with a concentration in E-Learning
• Graduate Certificate in Foundations of E-Learning
• Graduate Certificate in Management of E-Learning

With a focus on design and delivery of e-learning, these new programs can strengthen your skills in online learning and training. Global Campus students in the E-Learning program gain the knowledge necessary to create higher quality e-learning courses, as well as the skills to deliver and assess e-learning programs for tomorrow’s students and workforce.

Courses start January 7, 2009, so visit http://global.uillinois.edu/elearning/ to learn more about these opportunities!

(Sarah Stark)

Five New Tools Are Now Available In Blackboard!

Five new tools are available for your use in Blackboard for the spring semester! These tools include:

• Messages (current student email addresses no longer needed)
• Discussion Board grading (now built in)
• Adaptive Release (require specific performance levels before providing further course materials)
• Early Warning System (set up rules that measure individual student performance based on attendance and items in the online gradebook)
• Performance Dashboard (track course site access, view discussion board posts, view grades, access early warning system and more by individual student)

Opportunities to learn how these tools work are listed below:

November 19: BUG (Blackboard Users Group) demonstration on Adaptive Release tools at 1:00PM

December 10: BUG (Blackboard Users Group) demonstration on Performance Dashboard and Early Warning System tools at 1:00PM

January 13: Pre-orientation hands-on workshop from 9:00AM-12:00PM (CEUs and/or stipends available) – registration required (contact Karen Herold at kquattro@harpercollege.edu)

January 14: Orientation breakout session demonstration from 1:30-2:00PM or 2:00-2:30PM

January 15: Orientation breakout session demonstration from 3:30-4:00PM or 4:00-4:30PM

January 16: Orientation breakout session demonstration from 9:00-9:30AM or 9:30-10:00AM

January 24: Hands-on workshop from 9:30AM-12:30PM (CEUs and/or stipends available) – registration required (contact Karen Herold at kquattro@harpercollege.edu)

On-Request Workshops: visit http://www.harpercollege.edu/doit/work_bb.html to make your request

Online Tutorials: visit http://harperdoit.net/bb_tutorials/index.html for video tutorials

Blackboard Users Group (BUG) Site: Join this Blackboard site to ask questions about Blackboard tools, view the Instructor User Manual, view tutorials, and more! To join:

1. login to Blackboard
2. click the Find a Course tab
3. click the DoIT Workshops link in the Course Catalog area
4. click the Blackboard Users Group link
5. click the Enroll button and then the Submit button to send your request to Karen to be added to this site

(Sarah Stark)

Clickers Are Here!

On October 8, 2008, Harper College faculty member Chad Taylor demonstrated the TurningPoint Audience Response System (Clicker) to a group of faculty and staff members at the October Bites and Bytes session. During this discussion Chad told the audience about his experiences using clickers in the classroom as he helped facilitate a year-long pilot study of the system. Chad was joined by Tushar Patel from Information Technology (IT). Tushar has been instrumental in the selection and implementation of clickers at Harper. Chad and Tushar demonstrated the Turning Point clicker system and answered several questions regarding this exciting and innovative classroom technology.

Participants were given the opportunity to try out clickers by participating in a hands-on activity. Participants were also informed that the Harper College Information Technology Department recently updated all college faculty workstations so that each station now contains a copy of the TurningPoint Audience Response Software. Additionally, IT is currently in the process of outfitting each classroom on the main campus with TurningPoint Audience Response hardware. The end result being that in the very-near future all Harper College faculty members will be able to utilize clicker technology in every classroom on campus.

Note: If you would like to hear the audio of this meeting simply click on the link below to download a 43-minute MP-3 recording (5 meg). Download “Clickers” Audio

So, What Is An Audience Response Unit Anyway?

Response Card

A clicker is a hand-held, wireless device that is used by a student to submit a response in a classroom. Classroom presenters typically use a modified PowerPoint presentation to ask questions and to register the responses and/or gather data from students for a variety of situations. Students can reply to questions with “Yes” or “No”, numerical input, or by submitting text.  Clickers can be used to gather data for attendance, opinions, quizzes, testing, and so on. If a presenter does not wish to utilize a modified PowerPoint presentation then he/she has the option to download and use a free software application program called TurningPoint Anywhere. This application permits the presenter to poll an audience from almost any Windows-based application and display immediate results. This allows for instantaneous feedback for the presenter and participants. It also helps keep the audience engaged by displaying the input that received from the participants.

More Information

You can learn more about the Turning Point Audience Response System by visiting their website at www.turningtechnologies.com . For more information regarding the implementation of this system at Harper College, please contact: Tushar Patel at (847) 925-6387 or at tpatel@harpercollege.edu

Kevin