With all the encouragement to integrate active learning techniques into your teaching, it’s easy to get confused about what to use when. Specifically, deciding which technological tools to use can seem overwhelming. Three of the most common tools instructors use in their classes are blogs, wikis, and dicussion boards. To guide you in the process of choosing which tool to use, we have collected information and dveloped a chart.

• What is the purpose of using the tools?
• What features are most important for you?
• What level of privacy do you need?

The answers to these questions and others can be found by looking at the chart. Make sure to use the left-most colomn labeled “Topic” to guide your selection.

You can download the document here.

And don’t forget that you can always schedule a consultation at the Center for help on how to use your tool in class by calling the Center at 372-6898 or emailing the Center at ctl@bgsu.edu.

This music can be used in iMovies, PowerPoint presentations, background music for live presentations and many other uses. If you wish to use this music for purposes other than BGSU educational projects, contact Denise Kisabeth.

How do you use music in your teaching or presentations? Have you used music in your for presentations at conferences? How else could you use this music?

Click on the COMMENTS link below to post your thoughts!

Along with browsing over 250,000 quality stock photos by more than 25,000 photographers, you can share your own personal photography as well.
If your search doesn’t yield a large number of free results, there is a linked site, stockxpert.com, which produces results at the bottom of the page showing images available for purchase.

All you need is a free account to begin your search!

How do you use images in your teaching or presentations? What other image sites have you or your students used?

Click on the COMMENTS link below to post your thoughts!

Well today your prayers have been answered! Below are three great YouTube videos that help to explain what a the concepts behind wikis, RSS feeds, and social bookmarking

Wikis

RSS

Social Bookmarking

Did these quick videos help with your understanding of these technology concepts? Do you have any other questions regarding Wikis, RSS, or Social Bookmarking? Do you have any other great YouTube videos to share?…Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

1. The Facebook isn’t going away. While Facebook.com may not last forever, a service like the Facebook will always be present and useful on a college campus. The logic to this is quite simple: students are forced to renegotiate their social networks every semester. The Facebook supports and answers the student’s information needs. Put simply, our students are curious; they want to know anything and everything about the students around them. If you had the Facebook when you were an undergrad, wouldn’t you have wanted the same?

2. Almost all of your institution’s undergraduates are on the Facebook. I found that 94 percent of UNC’s Freshman class was on the Facebook. Techcrunch reported in November that 85% of all college students were on the Facebook, and surely that number has increased. You can’t fight numbers like this. More importantly, you can’t ignore them.
Both of these services can provide useful tools that can be utilized from home, office, or dorm room.

Do you have a Facebook account? How can Facebook be used to stay in contact with our students?…Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

What tasks have you tried? What ideas or tools you would add to this tutorial? What is your favorite Web 2.0 tool? …Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

What is your opinion of the video? Do your students have similar concerns? How can you or the University help to change and encourage better student interaction? …Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

The Library of Congress offers an Ask-a-Librarian service, where they provide the ability to choose a research area and then ask a librarian via either online chat or email.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/

Another option is to use BGSU’s own Ask-a-Librarian service, The library offers help via online chat, email, phone, and one-on-one consultations.

http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/infosrv/ref/ask.html

Both of these services can provide useful tools that can be utilized from home, office, or dorm room.

What luck have you had with either service? Have you shared these resources with your students? Are there any other similar services that you use?…Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

AL’s answer for Excel 2007
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=28638

AL’s answer for PowerPoint 2007
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=29120

AL’s answer for Word 2007
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=28723

Do you think ribbons are more effective than drop down menus? What other new features have you used in Office 2007? …Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

BGSU has unveiled a new service for Faculty, Staff, and Students…

MyFiles is a network-based, file storage system. It can be accessed at myfiles.bgsu.edu, simply login using your BGNet Username and password. MyFiles provides 1 Gigabyte of disk space per person and allows an individual to store copies of important documents such as homework, notes, papers, and graphics on a system that is accessible from anywhere on the Internet.

What is MyFiles?

• Files stored on MyFiles can be accessed from any computer connected to the Internet through a web browser such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Safari.

• Files can be shared with friends, colleagues, collaborators, conference attendees, project team members, and others, both on and off campus. File owners are able to provide access that can be read-only or read-write, allowing for controlled access and collaborative editing.
• Files can be tracked to see who has read the file and who has made changes to the file. MyFiles can even store multiple versions of a file to keep a history of revisions.
• Files are secured by BGSU authentication username and password, and can be accessed by others only if the account owner gives permission. Access can be assigned based on BGSU usernames and passwords, or by electronic ticket that allows individuals not associated with BGSU to gain read-only or read-write access.
• Files can be accessed by clicking on a designated web URL. Each file has a specific web URL that can be sent to others through email instead of sending entire files as attachments.

What MyFiles is NOT:

• Not a place for instructors to store class notes for students, Blackboard should be used for this.

• Not a place to share unauthorized copies of media or other digital files.

How could (or have) you as a faculty member or student utilize(d) MyFiles?
–> Click on the COMMENTS link below to post your thoughts!

Slideshare can be an alternative to Blackboard, when you want your presentations to be available to a wider audience than only your current students or community members, such as conference attendees, colleagues, future/prospective students, etc.

Here are the simple steps to create your own SlideShare show:

• Upload your PowerPoint presentation file to Slideshare
• Go to edit slide show > Create Slidecast tab and enter your URL here
• Synchronize slides and audio using the synchronization tool and click publish
• Your Slidecast is now ready for public viewing on SlideShare or anywhere else you embed the presentation, such as in a blog, wiki, or other web page.

How could you use Slideshare to enhance student learning? What types of “shows” would you like to share or view?…Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

AL’s answer for Mac
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=31064

AL’s answer for PC
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=31064&format=1

Question 2
How can I set up a pbwiki site?

AL’s answer for Mac
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=31071

AL’s answer for PC
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=31071&format=1

Do you currently use wikis in the classroom? If so, how? Can you think of any instances where wikis could improve communication and collaboration amongst your students?…Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

To register go to: http://wiki.teachuohio.org/page/Register

Additional Webinars in the 2007-2008 TeachU Series Include:

October 4th @ 2:00 pm:
The Web 2.0 Classroom: What’s Available, Where to Begin, and Innovative Integrations
Presented by Garrick Ducat, Mercy College and Terence Armentano, Bowling Green State University

November 8th @ 3:00 pm:
Stretching Into the Future
Presented by Kay Strong, Bowling Green State University

January 17th @ 11:00 am:
Creating a Course and Open Source Portfolio for First Year Students
Presented by Jason Tetzloff, Owens Community College

January 24th @ 2:00 pm:
Mobile Learning
Presented by Sheri Stover, Bryan Beverly, Frank Carone, Terri Klaus and Chris Roberts, Wright State University

February 14th @ 1:00 pm:
Reverse Benefits: How Teaching Online Improves Face to Face Teaching
Presented by Paul Pennington, Dean of Distance Education and Institutional Research, Cincinnati Christian University

March 20th @ 2:00 pm:
Making CENTSS of Web-based Student Services
Presented by Melody Clark, University of Cincinnati and George Steele, The Ohio Learning Network

April 24th @ 11:00 am:
Blogs and Wikis in an Integrated Curriculum
Presented by Lisa Meloncon, University of Cincinnati

May 29th @ 11:00 am:
Creating Hybrid Courses
Presented by Antoinette Perkins, Judith Anderson, Ingrid Emch, and Sharon Barnewell, Columbus State Community College

In the film “Master and Commander,” 19th-century British sea captain Jack Aubry is handed a wooden model of a new warship. He examines it carefully, noting its many innovative features. Finally he sets it down, saying, “What an age of wonders we live in.”

If he had only known what was just over the horizon.

…For those of us who teach (and who directly support the teachers), this is a huge challenge. Many of our students know far more than we do about the new tools and toys. Others struggle with basic skills most of us mastered years ago.  Every semester faculty come to me and say, “Please get me set up with Blackboard. My students say I need to use it.”  

But in truth, the technology doesn’t matter all that much. Regardless of the tools they use, people are still people.  We all have the same basic human needs: for food and shelter, for security, for love and belonging, for esteem, for self-actualization.  Under the iPod and Razr, behind the email or discussion board post, is a human being with the same fundamental needs as his or her great-great grandparents.  

They just meet those needs in different ways, that’s all. iTunes is not so very different than the traveling minstrel of Chaucer’s time.  It just has a larger repertoire.

A tool is merely a set of affordances and constraints – stuff it lets you do easily, and stuff it makes it hard to do. That applies to tools used for teaching, too.  You can teach in the 3D simulated world of Second Life, where people can fly and a student may appear as an alien with an orange mohawk (ok, bad example – that can show up on campus, too).  But you also can teach while sitting on a log and using your finger to draw in the dirt (hey – digital interactive multimedia!)  

…Is that good? Is it bad?  Neither.  It’s just different.  

…We often feel like hamsters on a wheel that’s spinning faster than we can run.  But we keep up as best we can with what’s going on “out there.”  We try new things.  Sometimes they work better than we’d planned.  Sometimes they crash and burn.  We pick up the pieces, learn from the experience, and try, try again.  

We have to, if we want to prepare our students for the next Age of Wonders.  It’s just over the horizon.

This is distrubuted with the author’s permission and a Creative Commons license (non-commercial with attribution).

What are your thoughts or observations about this “age of wonders”? How does or will these realities change the way you teach… or change the way students learn — in 3-5 years, 10 years, 20 years? Any other comments regarding the essay?

---

www.igoogle.com
Possible Educational Personalizations include…

-Moon Phases
-Wikipedia Search
-Weather
-News Feeds
-and many others….

www.my.yahoo.com
Possible Educational Personalizations include

-BBC News
-Stock Ticker
-Space.Com Feed
-WSJ and many more…

www.netvibes.com
Possible Educational Personalizations include

-NASA Earth Observatory
-Flickr Search
-Blog Search
-Translator
-News Feeds and many more….

How could customized homepage be used in the classroom? Do you have a personalized homepage? Is it different from the ones listed above…if so what do you use? What information do you have on your homepage?…Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

AL’s answer for Mac using Appleworks 6
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=4720

AL’s answer for PC using Word 2003
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=27397

AL’s answer for PC using Word 2007
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=29244

AL’s answer for PC using OpenOffice.org 2
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=28633

Would this tip improve your ability to send out notices? If you try this, tell us about your success or problems implementing this technique…Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

Do you have a Second Life Account? Have you used the program for teaching in any way? How? Any resources that you would like to share regarding Second Life?…Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

In a higher education environment instructors will likely need to copy various media for use in the classroom. For this purpose, we found a chart designated to inform school leaders of what is allowable under the law. This information would prove to be valuable when you have a question concerning copying, posting, digitizing, and sharing media for educational uses.

For a consice chart displaying current copyright regulations, visit:
http://www.techlearning.com/copyrightguide/index.php

What type of copyright issues occur in your courses? How well do students understand copyright of multimedia?…Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

How many “bad” presenations have you seen like this? Please share any other PowerPoint tips. If you show this in class, please share the students’ responses. …Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

AL’s answer for Mac using FileMaker Pro
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=28796

AL’s answer for PC using Access
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=27285

Would this tip help you organize your database better? Do you have any other databasing tips to share? If you try this, tell us about your success or problems implementing this technique…Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

For a full listing of titles, visit our CTLT Lending Library Webpage. Most titles can be checked out for 2-4 weeks, so give us a call (2-6898)/ email (ctlt@bgsu.edu) to make reservations or just stop in and browse the offerings.

If you have additional selections of interest or suggestions for other faculty or graduate students, please leave them in the COMMENTS area below this posting!

• What the Best College Teachers Do by Ken Bain
• Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice by Maryellen Weimer
• Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses by L. Dee Fink
• The Joy of Teaching: A Practical Guide for New College Instructors by Peter Filene
• Mckeachie’s Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research And Theory for College And University Teachers (College Teaching) by Wilbert James McKeachie
• First-Order Principles for College Teachers: Ten Basic Ways to Improve the Teaching Process by Robert Boice
• Teaching with Your Mouth Shut by Donald L. Finkel
• How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School: Expanded Edition by National Research Council
• My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student by Rebekah Nathan

NEW FACULTY

• Faculty in New Jobs: A Guide to Settling In, Becoming Established, and Building Institutional Support by Robert J. Menges
• Mckeachie’s Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research And Theory for College And University Teachers (College Teaching) by Wilbert James McKeachie

TECHNOLOGY/FUTURE ISSUES

• Teaching Online: A Practical Guide by Susan Schor Ko and Steve Rossen
• A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel Pink
• The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More by Chris Anderson

FACULTY-RELATED FICTION

• The Missing Professor: An Academic Mystery / Informal Case Studies / Discussion Stories for Faculty Development, New Faculty Orientation and Campus Conversations by Thomas B. Jones

PUBLISHING/SCHOLARSHIP

• Publish and Flourish: Become a Prolific Scholar by Tara Gray

Share some of your favorite teaching, learning, or faculty-related books by clicking on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

The Chronicle article “What Web 2.0 Can Teach Us About Learning” is an interesting article looking at the use of course management systems and Web 2.0 tools in the classroom. Edward Maloney explains that most course management systems (BlackBoard and WebCT) have been utilized as a means to disperse media and not as an interactive teaching tool. The article provides some insights into the future uses of Web 2.0 in the classroom.

• How have you used Web 2.0 Tools to teach online or in a face to face (F2F) classroom?
• What are some limitations of course-management software (BlackBoard)?
• What works well for your students? What have they said?
• Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

Copyright, author’s rights, and licensing of personal works continue to enter into discussions at all levels of university work. From faculty authorship to students’ creative works available on the Internet, each individual can now specify the conditions for the distribution and use of their works using the Creative Commons.

[From the Creative Commons website:]

What You Can Do Here

Creative Commons helps you publish your work online while letting others know exactly what they can and can’t do with your work. When you choose a license, we provide you with tools and tutorials that let you add license information to your own site, or to one of several free hosting services that have incorporated Creative Commons.

With a Creative Commons license, you keep your copyright but allow people to copy and distribute your work provided they give you credit — and only on the conditions you specify here. For those new to Creative Commons licensing, we’ve prepared a list of things to think about. If you want to offer your work with no conditions, choose the public domain.

For more information:

• Here’s an example of a Limited Use License icon that can be placed on your webpage or within the digital work itself:
— This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 License.

• Generate a Creative Commons License

• Choosing a License

• Types of Creative Commons’ Licenses

• How could the Creative Commons be used in your work?
• Why might students want to be aware of this resource? Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

AL’s answer
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=20066

Why would translating a webpage be useful? Have you used this feature before? If so, for what? Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!

Everystockphoto is a search engine that indexes numerous photo sites and has over 1 million free images. Each image has its own ownership license, so when using images from the site be sure to check the license to understand how you can legally use the image in your own work.

Images and photos can be used for numerous projects in an academic setting — they can enhance websites, PowerPoint presentations, blogs, video clips, movies, and any other digital or even print media. The addition of images can help to better explain or demonstrate theory and processes in a classroom setting.

Share your opinion and experiences by leaving a comment below:
• How have you used stock photos in your teaching?
• What other types of projects could utilize the “power of images”?
• Share your experiences and tips on using everystockphoto.com

Today’s topic is Blackboard, and for those who do not use or are unfamiliar with Blackboard, it is a teaching tool that provides an online grade book, assignments posting, calendar, discussion boards, virtual classroom, digital drop box, and much more. This discussion is focused on the following questions…

• What innovative uses of Blackboard have you implemented into your teaching?

• How do students feel about using Blackboard as a learning assistance tool?

If you are interested in learning more about how to use Blackboard to facilitate teaching and learning, contact IDEAL at 2-6792 or ideal@bgsu.edu — For technical questions, visit the ITS Blackboard Help web page or contact ITS at 2-0999.

If you have been reading our newsletter, you are familiar with Web 2.0 tools, which allow for applications to run within your web browser without ever having to download a program. Google has recently provided many Web 2.0 applications as well as other helpful tools. Today’s focus is on Google Docs & Spreadsheets (formerly known as Writely and iRows). They have numerous capabilities that could supplement or even replace Microsoft Word and Excel.

You can:
-Use the Online Editor to format documents, spell-check and more
-Upload Word documents, OpenOffice, RTF, HTML, or text
-Download documents to your desktop as Word, PDF and more
-View your document’s revision history and roll back to any version
Plus since its online you can:
-Invite others to share your documents via e-mail
-Edit documents online with whomever you choose
-Publish documents online to the world, or to just who you choose
-Post your documents to your blog

If you are interested in Google Docs and Spreadsheets visit
http://www.docs.google.com

Or if you want to check out any of the other Google applications skim through those available at http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/

If you have any compatibility problems with your browser we recommend using Firefox . It is compatible with all Google applications and is available free for Mac and Windows. Downloads can be found at http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/

Share your opinion and experiences by leaving a comment below:
How could Google Docs and Spreadsheets be useful in a teaching or learning setting? Have you used either tool before? If so, for what?

AL’s answer for PC using Excel 2003
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=25492

AL’s answer for Mac using Excel 2004
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=25505

Share your opinion and experiences by leaving a comment below:
Why would adding comments to a cell be useful? Would this tip be useful when exchanging information in Excel spreadsheets? Have you used this feature before? If so, for what?

Share your opinion and experiences by leaving a comment below:
Would you or your department utilize this software?

This could be your solution. Delicious Library is available for Mac and only costs $39.95. Feel free to contact us about a consultation or if you would like more information regarding Delicious Library.

AL’s answer for PC
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=25597

AL’s answer for Mac
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=24144

Share your opinion and experiences by leaving a comment below:
Why would a adding images to a table useful? Would this technique help you or your students to present information more effectively? Have you used this feature before? If so, for what?