LTDC Online News

• Two faculty members, Mark Fenton (Business) and Michael Lawler (Psychology), have recently completed the Quality Matters Peer Reviewer Training, since the initial Applying the Quality Matters Rubric Training, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County.
• Learning Technology Services is in the process of expanding their collection of D2L-related tip sheets and video (Camtasia) tutorials as just one attempt to prepare for a potential pandemic. Tutorials and videos include all D2L tools, features, and functions for beginner, intermediate, and advanced user levels. Tip sheets and video tutorials will also include design, teaching, software, distance education, Web 2.0, and video themes. All tip sheets and video tutorials will be posted on the new Learning Technology Service website, once it is complete. In addition, regarding the complete Pandemic Flu Plan, it can be viewed under the H1N1 Updates for Campus heading at: http://tinyurl.com/l9fjml.
• Learning Technology Services (LTS) recently added an additional Echo 360 room on campus, giving Stout a total of four rooms for faculty to record lectures and other electronic inputs during a class period. These “recordings” can then be streamed to the Web to be view asynchronously.
• The Nakatani Teaching and Learning Center has added a theme-based Word Cloud to their website. Each “theme” leads the user to an archived, faculty member video interview, which includes dialogue on that particular topic. To access the Word Cloud, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/lloknz
• D2L usage for web-enhanced and online courses increased 6% for 2008-2009 school year. In other words, 82% of all course sections at Stout used D2L. This is a total of 3,509 sections.

Recent UW-Stout Instructor Publications Related to Technology and Learning

• The latest Tech Tips for Educators from Stout’s School of Education, edited by Karen Franker, was published on September 11. It can be viewed at: http://tinyurl.com/mth478.
• Four faculty from the School of Education have written books that were recently published, or are forthcoming. They are: Ann Bell, Kay Lehmann, Lisa Chamberlin, and Susan Manning. Book images and product details can be viewed using the corresponding Amazon.com links, listed below.

Exploring Web 2.0: Second Generation Interactive Tools – Blogs, Podcasts, Wikis, Networking, Virtual Worlds, and More by Ann Bell
http://tinyurl.com/lwb582

Making the Move to eLearning: Putting Your Course Online by Kay Lehmann and Lisa Chamberlin
http://tinyurl.com/ko4l28

Online Education for Dummies by Kevin Johnson and Susan Manning
http://tinyurl.com/lcspru

Submitted by Jamison Olson, UW-Stout

At UW-Stevens Point, faculty are helping evaluate tablet computers as teaching tools, and additionally whether a tablet and projector can be used in the classroom to do much of what they would be able to do with a SmartBoard.  

A tablet computer is similar to a regular laptop but additionally allows the user to manually write and draw using the accompanying stylus/pen. The screen can be rotated and then folded down so the tablet flattens and can be held when writing, much as a clipboard or paper notebook would be held. Handwriting can be saved to a document, though handwriting can also be converted to typed text and then inserted where a cursor is placed.

Being able to manually write and draw digitally helps to eliminate some of the barriers instructors face when attempting to translate what they traditionally do in the face-to-face classroom, or with pen and paper, to the online environment.

Outside of the classroom the tablet’s portability also allows instructors to record more in-depth audio and screen-capture explanations of course material, using the tablet stylus to draw symbols and characters. In the office or at home they can download student papers from D2L or from their email, and use the tablet stylus to hand-write comments. Once graded, the graded assignments can then be sent back to the students – no paper needs to be printed.

UWSP’s tablet initiative is offering up to 12 instructors the opportunity to explore the use of a tablet PC for a semester to enhance instructional objectives. 

Examples of how tablets are being used at UWSP:

• In physics, a tablet is being used as a virtual whiteboard in the classroom.
• In foreign languages, special characters, written more fluidly on a tablet, are captured with accompanying instructor audio using Camtasia Relay to provide reviewable segments of class lecture.
• In mathematics, a tablet is being explored to record voice and equations written to the tablet screen to create brief, in-depth explanations of particularly difficult concepts.
• In history, a tablet is being used to grade student papers digitally, using the tablet’s stylus to do editing similar to that done on hard-copy documents.
• In forestry, a tablet is being used to generate notes to construct a tree inventory out in the field.

Tablets are also being introduced on the UWSP campus through the Help Desk’s equipment check out program. Tablets are included in the list of equipment available for up to a two-week check out period.  Their availability helps to slowly introduce this new technology to the UWSP campus.

Submitted by Mary Mielke
UW-Stevens Point

The UWS LTDC (Learning Technology Development Council) is proud to announce a new online series to showcase notable accomplishments and best practices on using technology in teaching and learning. This series features past LTDC’s Curricular Redesign and Emerging Technology grant awardees presenting the outcomes of their grant projects, as well any faculty from UW campuses willing to share their expertise and experience. Any faculty interested in presenting on a technology topic is cordially invited to contact the campus LTDC representative.
View the e-pedagogy sessions at: http://www.uwsa.edu/olit/ltdc/epedagogy/index.html