The UC Second Life Wiki provides a valuable resource for any educator or student who plans to utilize Second Life as a teaching and learning tool. Second Life is a popular persistent online virtual “world” where users from around the globe can explore digital environments and interact with other users. More and more institutions of higher education are using Second Life to create unique virtual learning experiences. The UC Wiki provides essays of experiences from others, FAQ’s, tutorials and numerous other audio and video resources.
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!
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Second Life, Teaching Tips, Tech Tips June 15, 2007
With the proliferation of technology in the classroom, there is a rise in the use of available media for integrating new ideas. What started out as making copies of paper documents has now turned into duplicating software, video, and digital documents. Along with this shift in copying and exchanging digital media, the need for regulation must shift for protection of licensed media and information.
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!
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Copyright/Creative Commons, Teaching Tips, Tech Tips June 6, 2007
Click play to view a brief comic sketch on how NOT to use PowerPoint. This video is great to show your class before assigning class presentations. It may encourage originality and make people think about how the audience will respond to a presentation.
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!
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: PowerPoint, Teaching Tips, Tech Tips June 6, 2007
For over half a century the work of Benjamin Bloom and his colleagues has played a major role in understanding substantive thinking about planning and evaluation in an educational atmosphere. Bloom’s Taxonomy was originally designed for educators to think about objectives, communicate with one another, and formulate a curriculum. With advances in technology following the release of Bloom’s Taxonomy, there now exists a New Bloom’s Taxonomy.
This new approach to the classic taxonomy incorporates emphasis on contemporary research in learning and metacognition to evaluate learners’ experience and how it has been enhanced through the use of technology. The table below shows the changes made to the classic taxonomy for technology-using educators. In all, using the elements of The New Bloom’s Taxonomy could be beneficial when used in higher education because it serves a way for students to think deeply.
Reference:
Cochran, D., Conklin, J., & Modin, S. (2007). A New Bloom: Transforming Learning. Learning & Leading with Technology, (5), 22-25.
For more information about the original and New Blooms Taxonomy go to:
http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/bloomrev/index.htm
How can the the original and New Bloom’s Taxonomy help you assess students knowledge in the classroom? How is either taxonomy useful when developing a new course? Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Assessment, Learning Outcomes, Teaching Tips June 4, 2007
Lilly Conferences are annual retreats that combine workshops, discussion sessions, and major addresses with many opportunities for informal discussion about excellence in college and unversity teaching and learning. Internationally-known scholars join new and experienced faculty members and administrators from all over the world to discuss topics such as gender differences in learning, incorporating technology into teaching, encouraging critical thinking, using teaching and student portfolios, implementing group learning, and evaluating teaching.
The Lilly Conferences are held at national and international levels. The nearest 2007 National Conference is in Traverse City, Michigan from October 4th until 7th. The 2007 International Lilly Conference will be held at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio from November 15th to 18th.
To be a presenter or copresenter at the Lilly Conferences, submission of a proposal and registration is required. For the International Lilly Conference the proposal must be submitted by June 15, 2007 and the early bird registration deadline is October 1, 2007. For Traverse City, poster presentation proposals are being accepted until September 5th and early registration rates are available through July 11th.
For more information on the conferences go to
http://www.lillyconferences.org/
How would attending a Lilly Conference help someone improve their teaching methods? What are some of your experiences at this or other teaching conferences?
Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Conferences May 30, 2007
The Center would like to thank Anthony Fontana and the wide range of faculty and staff who attended our first Second Life workshop. The workshop focused on the teaching and learning possibilities in the online virtual world called Second Life. The enthusiasm and questions generated will provide momentum as the University continues to explore the possibilities of Second Life as a environment for learning.
Over 20 interested BGSU community members attended yesterday’s discussion, sharing both possibilities and concerns associated with using a virtual environment in the classroom. The Center is offering “open lab” times today from 10-12pm and 2-4pm; additionally we encourage anyone to make an appointment for a one-on-one Second Life consultation. The Center is currently planning additional SL workshops, discussions and “open lab” times for the summer and fall semesters.
In case you missed yesterday’s event, here are some of the highlights:
- The artistic and community aspects of Second Life were briefly discussed.
- Existing educational endeavors in Second Life were explored.
- Issues with research in Second Life were considered and discussed at length.
- The BGSU “island” in Second Life was revealed, and the possibilities surrounding its use by the BGSU community of educators and students was explored.
Workshop times include:
* Open Lab, Friday, May 25th, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
* Open Lab, Friday, May 25th, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
For those who attended the seminar, what are the most promising educational uses for Second Life? What concerns or suggestions do you have regarding Second Life? Do you have any helpful tips or experiences to share with other people that have just started exploring the “Wild West” a.k.a. Second Life?
Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Second Life, Web 2.0 Tools, Workshop Extension May 25, 2007
How can I filter my database entries when I use check boxes?
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!
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Ask AL, Tech Tips May 23, 2007
The following is a brief overview of the accomplishments that were shared during the Learning Community Celebration Dinner, hosted by the Center and the Office of the Provost on May 3rd, 2007. This year, 164 faculty, graduate students, and administrative staff participated in 12 learning communities. The Center thanks all facilitators, participants, and the Office of the Provost for their continued dedication to and support of learning communities as a means for transformative professional development.
Active Learning in the Natural Sciences
Discussing, designing, implementing, and adapting new interactive engagement learning strategies for the large enrollment and/or introductory level science course
Grant Writing
Engaging in extensive peer review of members’ grant proposals, resulting in revision and development and submitting four federal-level grant proposals and several state and local grant proposals
Initiatives for the Future (IF)
Integrating futures thinking exercises into twelve courses, Office for Educational Outreach catalog, and BEST Partnership Customized Training catalog, while creating a visioning strategy for the “Shaping the Future of the Firelands,” community revitalization project
Life Science Scientific Teaching and Reform
Discussing, designing, implementing, adapting, and presenting new, interactive learning strategies focused on teaching reforms and teaching scientifically
Mentoring & ePortolio
Developing mentoring skills and strategies, including team and peer models through the creation of electronic identities and the implementation of professional development plans throughout the academic year
New Faculty
Sharing, discussing, and applying focused pedagogical strategies that can transform student engagement and learning; exploring university learning resources available for students and faculty such as the Writing Center, Chapman Residential Learning Community, IDEAL, scholarly communication, and teaching portfolios
Pedagogies in the Arts and Humanities
Researching and planning the Arts Pedagogy course to be offered summer 2007 to BGSU graduate students and sharing strategies for teaching non-arts majors in the various disciplines
Publication
Fostering interdisciplinary collegiality through reading, discussing, critiquing, editing and revising faculty members’ conference presentations and essays in-progress
Reflective Teaching
Reflecting on teaching and students’ learning through collaborative problem-solving—culminating in the development of new activities, assignments, and teaching portfolios
Research and Teaching
Engaging in discussions about research and writing goals and the challenges inherent in research and teaching, including group authorship of a manuscript on “The Ripple Effect,” submitted to the peer-reviewed Journal on Excellence in College Teaching
Research in Science & Mathematics Education
Engaging in critical discussions of research about how people learn and presenting STEM education research, leading to the creation of collaborative research paper presentations, publications, grant proposals, and a spin-off seminar on research and statistics in STEM education
Transition to Digital
Gaining an awareness of BGSU technology resources, increasing knowledge and experience using various tools to actively engage students inside and outside the classroom; developing a collaborative, peer-reviewed conference presentation on technology-related learning communities
This year’s faciliators (L to R): Jodi Haney, Karen Sirum, Mary Natvig, Andrew Hershberger, Mark Earley, Kay Strong, Lara Martin Lengel, Amy Robinson (not pictured: Kris Blair, Paul Cesarini, Radhika Gajjala)
For more information on this past year’s learning communities, visit The Center’s CTLT Learning Communities webpage. Applications for new learning communities will be available here for download in June.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Learning Communities May 21, 2007
Learning and Teaching in Second Life
This workshop and series of related “open lab” times are presented by the Center as a means of introducing attendees to the possibilities of Second Life as they pertain to the classroom.
The workshop will consist of two distinct phases – the “official” workshop, presented by guest speaker Anthony Fontana, and the “open lab” times, where Center staff will be available to assist you in more personal and direct explorations of the environment of Second Life.
Attendees will be introduced to various pedagogical tools and resources as related to Second Life – as well as guided through the practical steps of creating a free account, using the interface, and finally exploring resources located entirely within Second Life.
Second Life is a popular persistent online virtual “world” where users from around the globe can explore digital environments and interact with other users. More and more institutions of higher education are using Second Life to create unique virtual learning experiences. The technologies powering Second Life are similar to those that power various popular computer games, but are directed to a purpose more in line with so-called “Web 2.0” applications – essentially focusing on communities of users and user-generated content within the virtual spaces. Second Life has currently surpassed six million registered users, and has in excess of forty thousand users logged in at any given time.
Workshop times include:
* Anthony Fontana – Presentation on Second Life, Thursday, May 24th, 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
* Open Lab, Thursday, May 24th, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
* Open Lab, Friday, May 25th, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
* Open Lab, Friday, May 25th, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
To register for these workshops visit our CTLT Workshop page and sign-up.
Have you ever used Second Life before? If so, how? What positive possibilities could online interactive classes create in the future?
Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Uncategorized May 11, 2007
If you’re looking for a good book or two to read this summer, below is a small sampling of “best bets” from our CTLT lending library.
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!
TEACHING & LEARNING
- 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!
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Books/Library, Teaching Tips, Tech Tips May 8, 2007
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