OET for CAHS Blog . . . .

Tagging onto the today’s Technology Digest if you haven’t checked it out I recommend it as there are some neat tips and good information.

One I want to highlight is Skype for Business/Microsoft Lync which can be used for communication and interaction in the classroom.  Guest lecturers can join your class and even present content from their computers.

I attended the Blackboard Analytics information session today.  This could be a handy tool for generating reports on courses within a department providing data on student access, tool interaction, activity reports by time, dates, device as well as analyzing what content is being accessed and what tools being used.  More to come on this tool and whether it will be adopted!

Contact OET for more information.

14 Essentials of the Connected Classroom – some might not be for you but others are quite interesting!

Distance Education Proctoring Center

The ECU DE Proctoring Center is an approved site in the UNC Online Proctoring Network.  This site serves students enrolled in distance education courses that require proctored exams. If your professor is currently using this system, you must submit your appointment information through the UNC Academic Services Portal; otherwise, we will not have access to your exam materials. If your professor is using this system, you must schedule all exam appointments with the ECU DE Proctoring Center through the system (not via phone). It is your responsibility to check with your professor to find out if they are implementing this automated proctoring system.

Information about the UNC Online Proctoring Network is available at http://online.northcarolina.edu

To quote a colleague “this is one of the easiest systems to use on the network”

You planned your semester and all was going well, of course until we have had these class cancellations.  Yes I talk about lecture capture and that is always available but perhaps you planned on having your students do something different this semester and you were going to review the “how-to” during class.  Perhaps there is a solution to avoid using class time for “how-to”  by adding Lynda.com video courses to any content area of your Blackboard class. If your students need to learn how to use software such as PhotoShop, Microsoft Office, GIS, and AutoCAD, be sure to check out the Lynda.com library: ECU Lynda.com.

This is also a great resource to enhance your own skills in any number of different topics.  Check it out!

You know the same old in case of closings, lecture capture is a great tool to makeup class time either in the classroom or a desktop recording but came across this article which is a testimony to the use of video for classroom organization

Sonic Foundry: 2016 Online Video Industry Prediction – Communication is the New Video Content

But if you don’t want to hear any more about lecture capture do check out the tips from your Blackboard Administrators sent out this morning  Blackboard Grade Center Best Practices and take their survey click this link.

First exams are being taken and assignments handed in.  How are your students doing?  Hopefully they are doing well but if not perhaps you might want to change something, add student response questions using Turning Point or the recent app I wrote about Socrative.  If you are in one of the general classrooms we can easily record your lecture, you can control whether students view the lecture and/or how long it is available.  We can even make podcasts or vodcasts for those students who have to commute daily.

Perhaps you would like to explore different ways students can collaborate or create their own content to share with class.

As I posted in the summer ITC’s can help with online and face to face classes.

Check out the training calendar or schedule something specific.

Every so often I come across something that I think everyone knows but just in case here are some iPad tips!

Helpful Hint:  How to copy and paste.

Tap and hold finger over area/item to copy.  A copy dialogue option will appear.

Expand the selection handles over the entire area of text to copy.

Tap to paste.

Helpful Hint:  How to take a screen shot (screen capture).

To capture the screen image or take a screenshot on your iPad, just press and hold the Home button and then press the On/Off button at the top of the device so that you are holding down both buttons simultaneously for a brief second.  The iPad screen will flash and the image will be automatically saved and stored in the photos area.

Helpful Hint:  How to lock screen orientation (portrait or landscape).

Start by holding the iPad in the direction you’d like to lock it, and then press the Home button twice quickly, like a double-click.  The new task switcher will show up at the bottom of the screen, and then you’ll want to slide your finger over to the right to access the new screen hidden on the left.  Once you can see the new screen, click the button on the bottom left-hand side of the screen, and it will lock.

Helpful Hint:  How to delete an icon.

Read more

One of your colleagues turned me on to this really neat software/app that can be used across devices and is really simple.  It is called Socrative and here are is what your colleague had to say about it –

“I love that app – it really works well. . .easy to use!”

It is a free student response system that works on any device, phones, tablets, computers.  It provides real-time data and saves a ton of time on grading. Like Turning Point but without clickers!

Stop by OET for a demo, it takes minutes to start using!

An idea I found and would work well with the Air Media Tool in all our classrooms.

“. . .prepare a set of questions, that students will be able to answer by paying careful attention to a video presentation. Ask the students to bring their laptop or tablet to class for an assignment they’ll complete during class.  Before showing the video, have the students gather into groups, look at the questions, and decide how they will approach answering them.  Explain that if they pay careful attention to the video, they’ll be able to answer the questions.  You can make it a friendly competition involved with this activity.  At the end of the video, students are given the chance to view each group’s answers and then vote for the group that’s produced the best learning resource, which cannot be their own group.  Donuts are always a good incentive!

Students indicated afterwards that they appreciated the exercise because it kept them engaged in the video and they found the sharing of the online questions and answers helpful to their thinking and processing of the ideas presented by the speaker on the video. “

Might be worth a try!  Contact OET for an Air Media demonstration.

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