Month: January 2015

Remember clickers?

I haven’t posted about this neat tool for the classroom but was just catching up on some articles and found some good pointers for using them this is from i-clicker blog here are some thoughts on how they can be helpful in your class!

“Increased the chance students did the required reading

  1. Helped the instructor engage all students
  2. Gave students a focused opportunity to share their thinking and to learn from their peers

Another study . . . found the following additional benefits:

  1. The class became more active and vibrant
  2. Students became less passive
  3. Absenteeism was reduced
  4. Students seemed to like the addition of clickers
  5. More students were able to share their ideas with the whole class, promoting an emphasis on explaining and listening to reasoning. Students were also better able to hear their classmates.”

They are just sitting in my office cabinet why not try them out?

Catching Up!

So much going on so many emails.  I even missed sending last week’s blog so will do double duty today!

First here is a neat slide show on Disruptive Technologies 2015-2106 will give you something to think about.

Now if you have missed the recent posts from ECU Learning Technologies Digest let me just highlight some of the postings!

Classroom Selection for Summer and Fall 2015: New Options

As you consider your future classroom technology needs, here is a description of some of the equipment you will find in the classrooms across campus. New options include AirMedia, which allows you to present wirelessly from any device, Desktop Recording with MDR or Tegrity, and Video Conference using Saba or Jabber. Visit the Classroom Technology Database for even more options and to see the complete list of equipment offerings per room.

Read more

A New Year, a New Semester and there is cold and flu out there!

All does not have to stop.  Yes please all be careful but with the aid of our technological devices, we can continue to deliver course material to students during a shutdown.   Preparedness is the key.

All faculty should have all course content on blackboard or some other web site for students who can’t get to class.  Such blackboard sites need not be elaborate.  OET can help set up these “emergency” blackboard courses but it does need to be done in advance.

Students can’t make it to class but the faculty can

If a class with absences is normally scheduled in a classroom with mediasite recorders, we can simply activate the recorder during class.  We can then deliver these lectures to selected students.  Note that we have fine granularity and can make the presentation available to individual students for instructor-specified time periods.

But if you can’t make it in there is Mediasite Desktop Recorder (MDR) which can be used from any location with an up to date operating system, Windows or Mac. Contact OET for access.

For courses currently being recorded but not normally providing viewing access to in-class students, upon faculty request we can give access to selected (or all) in-class students for a faculty-specified period of time.

Faculty absences or university closure

If we know about this enough in advance, we can make some recordings before the university shuts down.  Students can watch them during the closure since the mediasite and blackboard servers will, presumably, remain up during closure.

OET absences

OET personnel have access to all necessary equipment from home.  To such extent as the security of our own homes allows, we will continue operations as usual from home.  We can consult with faculty by e-mail, skype, lync or telephone.  We can manage mediasite recordings and delivery.  We can provide on-