Miss a tech session and would like more information? Interested in “greener” eHandouts from our sessions? Looking for Smart Classroom or Procure+ training? It can all be found in one convenient location! Our Employee Development Training Library now houses links to both PDF manuals and online training modules. From the ClarkNet page, click “Tools” in the left sidebar and select “Training Library” under “Employee Training.” Our library will be expanding as we digitize more of our manuals and expand our online training offerings, so definitely check back in from time-to-time.
While we collaborated on a blog project, a lab assistant mentioned that students generally reacted to the prospect of a department area blog by stating that “blogs are where people rant about their daily lives.” It’s a stereotype, but it raises an important issue. Many web tools carry a certain connotations that may affect their ease of integration. While the lab assistant wished to use the blog as an electronic bulletin board–an ideal use that makes full use of blogging features–students were tied to a more narrow, but also more popular perception of “blog culture.”
An artist under the pseudonym elontirien in the online artist social network deviantart provided the illustration below for a story entitled Welcome to Internet University (by another “deviant,” TheJoyfulTurnip) in which popular internet sites including Google, WolframAlpha, Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace are personified as characters in a university environment. It’s a lighthearted and short read, taking playful jabs at websites defined by their general image and stereotypical user behavior (since the user age demographic wouldn’t be entirely accurate based on this data).
Both the graphic and story illustrate an important point about technology integration. Knowledge of the popular perception of web tools holds equal importance to the knowledge of how to use them. In fact, the former may inform the latter more than you think. Like it or not, incorporating technology in the curriculum also binds it to learning outcomes. Embedding an education-related YouTube video not only shares content, but models to learners that YouTube has information-sharing potential beyond clips of bootleg music concerts and segway crashes.
Social media (blogs, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, wikis, etc.) has expanded from buzzword to a behemoth in just under ten years. In these short videos promoting his book Socialnomics, writer and social media advocate Erik Qualman shares some thought-provoking statistics and factoids on the undeniable effect social media has had on marketing, economics, and the fundamentals of how people communicate.
As part of our push to support alternative delivery, faculty and staff may now download software training handouts and tutorials from ClarkNet in PDF format. Handouts will be posted as they become available, and you must have a Clark username and password to access ClarkNet. To view our available offerings:
Navigate to ClarkNet.
Click “Tools” in the navigation bar.
Under “Employee Training” click “Training Handouts”
Naturally, please consider the environment before printing these handouts in their entirety.
In the never-ending quest to engage learners, classroom clickers have generated quite a bit of buzz. No, I’m not talking about the dog training tool (it’s not a bad idea though…), but handheld personal remote devices which enable fast, real-time assessment. This technology is hardly cutting edge, but many institutions are just now investigating its capabilities. If you are not familiar with them, the Center for Instructional Innovation at Western Washington University produced an effective introduction:
It’s easy to see the appeal of clickers, but the choice to incorporate them into the classroom is far from a no-brainer. While clickers may ease or enable certain classroom interactions, there are a number of important issues to consider before determining that clickers are appropriate for you. These may include:
Cost: A set of controls, a base unit, and software rarely comes cheap. Is the result worth the cost? Perhaps there may be another way of achieving the learning outcome you have in mind.
Class size: Clickers may not be worth the expense for small classes. While effective for large classes, a greater number of units will be necessary, which is an important consideration during the purchasing process.
Teaching/assessment style: A discussion-heavy class will typically have less use for clickers than a lecture class. Clickers generally benefit multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank exams rather than essay or oral exams. What, if any, adjustments will need to be made to your syllabus and/or grading rubric to incorporate a classroom response system?
Preparation: While the results may be attractive, vendors often understate the generous prep time involved in preparing question slides and quizzes. It takes time (and sometimes trial and error) to smoothly integrate new technology into a classroom setting.
Compatibility: Certain software and hardware requirements may be necessary to make use of the clickers. This may include projectors, laptop computers, or specific software. Be sure that your classroom is equipped to handle these requirements.
Systems vary widely by price, features, setup time, design, portability, and peripherals. For a wealth of additional information on classroom responses systems, the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching and Learning has compiled a comprehensive bibliography of clicker resources which includes case studies, discipline specific recommendations, books, literature reviews, vendor comparisons, and scholarly articles. Faculty at University of California Berkeley recently tried clickers in four large lecture classes and produced a video of faculty sharing their experiences.
If you’ve done some reading are interested in purchasing a classroom response system, links to some of the top vendors are included below.
For those looking at the horizon for the “next big thing,” Google has recently generated buzz with Google Wave. A collaborative tool to end collaborative tools, co-developer Lars Rasmussen describes Wave as what
e-mail would look like “if it were invented today, rather than several years ago.”
From the first looks, Wave appears to be a synthesis of the sleekest features of gmail. Wave users communicate in a manner combining e-mail, wikis, message boards, and instant messaging. The service also extends its use into blogging, Twitter, and social networking. I must agree with blogger Eric Stoller (where I got the tip about Wave) who comments that “If Google Wave catches on, [Facebook creator, Mark] Zuckerberg will wish that he’d sold Facebook when he had the chance.”
Perhaps this may be a step toward the scenario Instructional Technologist Jim Groom has predicted in which free, open-source web tools surpass learning management systems (Blackboard, Angel, eCollege, etc.) as the implement of choice for online learning. In his video interview, Groom even names Google as a possible candidate for toppling the LMS.
Posted by Julio Appling 
