Category Archives: Announcements & News

Announcements and news on technologies

LTDC Virtual Showcase 2019 Call for Proposals

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The education session proposal deadline for the 2019 UW System Learning Technology Development Council Virtual Showcase (https://www.wisconsin.edu/learning-tech/events-conf/ltdc-virtual-showcase-2019/) has been extended to December 21, 2018.

The UW System’s annual LTDC Virtual Showcase will be held on April 2nd and 3rd, 2019. The theme for this year’s showcase is Building the New: Innovate, Integrate, Motivate.  We want to hear your tips, tricks, and tales from the trenches as it relates to teaching, learning, and technology.

LTDC Virtual Showcase April 2-3 CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Please consider submitting an education session proposal (https://uwex.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eP9Str1A4qJz2hn). It’s a great way to present at a national conference without having to leave your campus or department. Presentations during concurrent sessions will be 45 minutes: 30 minutes for presentations and 15 minutes for questions and answers. All sessions will be given via a web conferencing tool. Sessions will be recorded and available for archive viewing. The LTDC highly encourages collaboration, use of appropriate and acceptable technologies, multiple institutions, and multiple discipline proposals.

Proposals will be selected and placed into one of the conferences tracks. The tracks are:

  • Digital Learning Environment – What have you learned about the DLE that you’d like to share? Discovered interesting features that everyone should know about? 
  • Teaching & Learning – Have you used technology to prepare instructors to teach or to assist students with learning? What train-the-trainer opportunities have you created?  
  • Technology and Other Resources – Have you created a wonderful set of resources for faculty and students?  What new tool have you discovered that you want to share?
  • Student Engagement – What are you doing to promote student engagement in your classes? How are your students connecting with each other and you?
  • Library and Digital Media – How have you incorporated media or leveraged the library into your classroom? Let’s hear about your LibGuides, user guides, knowledge bases, and instructional videos.
  •  Open Educational Resources – What type of Open Educational Resources have you discovered in the public domain or introduced with an open license?

Recent LTC Staff Conference Presentations

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Over the last two months, some LTC staff members have made presentations, and co-chaired a workshop, at national conferences.

Learning Technology Center

In October, Director of Learning Technology Nicole Weber co-presented Improving the learning experience through innovative strategic partnerships at the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado.

In November, Learning Technology Specialist Andrew Cole co-chaired a workshop, Playing with Open Educational Resources (OERs): What communication faculty need to know, at the Annual Convention of the National Communication Association in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Also in November, Director of Learning Technology, Nicole Weber and Matt Vick presented Adaptive learning 101: How professors and learning technology centers can collaborate to launch a new adaptive course and
A discussion about adaptive learning and discussion boards: What role can they serve and what value can they have? at the Online Learning Consortium’s Accelerate International Conference in Orlando, Florida.

For more on the Learning Technology Center, please see the LTC website.

Celebrating Teaching and Learning Conference 2019

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Save the date: Wednesday, May 22, 2019 from 8:30am-3:30pm

Celebrating Teaching and Learning, May 22, 2019

This special event is meant to showcase the wide variety of ways we are all transforming the lives of our students through teaching and learning.

Themes will include:

  • Integrating Teaching and Technology
  • Student Engagement
  • High Impact Practices
  • Civil Discourse and Diversity
  • and other topics

Fall 2018 “Teaching with Webex Teams Bootcamp” Begins Next Week!

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The LTC’s Fall 2018 “Teaching with Webex Teams Bootcamp” begins next week in McGraw 19A. The three sessions take place on a series of Wednesday afternoons (10/10, 10/17, 10/24) from 3:00 pm to 3:45 pm. Any instructor interested in using Webex Teams is welcome; registrations are encouraged. You do not need to attend all sessions, but session two and session three build upon the knowledge of the first session.

Webex Teams

Wednesday, October 10, 2018: Why Should I Use Webex Teams?

This first session introduces participants to Cisco Webex Teams, and why instructors and students might benefit from incorporating it. Participants will be introduced to the concepts of “Teams” and “Spaces.” Facilitators will provide examples to help participants understand what Webex Teams is (and is not), how Webex Teams works, and the purpose in using Webex Teams.

Wednesday, October 17, 2018: How Do I Use Webex Teams?

This second session provides participants with a hands-on technical training with Cisco Webex Teams. Participants will practice creating “Teams” and “Spaces,” as well using Webex Teams to communicate and collaborate with others.

Wednesday, October 24, 2018: Now What Do I Do With Webex Teams?

This third, and final, session provides participants with a forum to discuss potential applications of Webex Teams in their teaching. Facilitators will provide participants with “best practices” for using Webex Teams based on recent pilots at UW-Whitewater.

Please note: There is no stipend associated with attending the “Teaching with Webex Teams Bootcamp.” However, if you complete all three sessions, you will receive a badge. The “Teaching with Webex Teams Bootcamp” is the same program as Spring 2018’s “Teaching with Spark Bootcamp.”

If you have any questions about the “Teaching with Webex Teams Bootcamp,” or any other LTC training or workshop, feel free to contact the UW-Whitewater Learning Technology Center.

Still Time to Apply for the LTC’s Spring 2019 Adaptive Learning Project!

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Cerego
Adaptive Learning Platform

There is still time to apply for the LTC’s Spring 2019 Adaptive Learning Project using Cerego! 

Instructors participating in the adaptive learning project will receive a stipend to compensate the work they put into their course redesign. If all required components are completed, participating instructors can expect to receive a stipend of $1000.

Instructors have flexibility in determining the course in which to implement the adaptive learning platform. By taking part in the project, instructors agree to fully participate in, and complete, all project requirements. The following semester-by-semester breakdown conveys the expectations for participating instructors:

Cerego phone app
Cerego Phone App

Fall 2018

  • Attend faculty development sessions with LTC staff (dates TBD); and
  • Create, and present, a detailed plan for use that specifies how adaptive learning will be used in one Spring 2019 course.

Winterim 2018-2019

  • Revise detailed plan for use, and submit revised plan to LTC.

Spring 2019

  • Conduct at least one course using adaptive learning (as described in your plan for use); and
  • Complete early semester “check-in” form for LTC staff; and
  • Attend faculty development session focused on sharing experiences using adaptive learning (date TBD); and
  • Support the LTC in administering an end-of-semester (IRB approved) survey about the course to students.

Summer 2019

  • Complete video reflection on using adaptive learning in the course. This video reflection will be scheduled during late Spring semester or Summer 2019, at your convenience. The purpose of the video reflection is to share what was learned with other instructors who may be interested in using adaptive learning in the future.

Ready to get started? See the full call for participants, and apply here.

Need more information on the project? Attend an information session or contact the Learning Technology Center.

Need more information on Cerego and student learning? Read about how instructors at Western Idaho transformed their Microbiology course using Cerego.

Webex Teams Outage Update – Services Restored

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As of this afternoon, Webex Teams messages, spaces, and teams appear to be fully restored. Cisco reports that a few issues may persist for the next day or two, but services are more-or-less fully restored.

You can continue to monitor the updates on Cisco’s website, or reach out to the Learning Technology Center with any questions.

New “Competitions” Feature Available in Poll Everywhere

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Looking for some competition? This month Poll Everywhere released a new “Competitions” feature that allows you to create questions for a trivia-like activity.

Students can compete live in class to earn points based on getting correct answers, as well as how quickly they answer. The feature includes a Leaderboard that updates with each round.

If you are interested in learning more about the “Competitions” feature in Poll Everywhere, Poll Everywhere has released a
short Webinar that introduces and explains the feature. 

If you need any help setting up Poll Everywhere, please feel free to contact the Learning Technology Center. 

Webex Teams Unscheduled Outage *Update*

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As of 7:45 AM this morning, Webex Teams is still not fully restored. Cisco is continuing to work to address the issues that caused the outage. At this time, the LTC still does not have an estimated time for when services will be restored. 

For more information, you can monitor the outage directly from Cisco’s website, or reach out to the Learning Technology Center.

Webex Teams Unscheduled Outage

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The Learning Technology Center has been made aware of an unscheduled Cisco Webex Teams service outage today (9/25) that appears to be impacting all users. As of 10:15 AM this morning, the service outage had been impacting users across the UW-Whitewater campus for an indefinite period of time (possibly as early as Monday 9/24 evening). Cisco is working to restore services, but we do not currently have an estimated time in which services will be fully restored. LTC staff will continue to monitor the situation, and provide updates as they come.

For more information, you can monitor the outage directly from Cisco’s website, or reach out to the Learning Technology Center.

Upcoming Poll Everywhere Scheduled Maintenance

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Poll Everywhere is scheduled for maintenance on Saturday, September 22nd and Saturday, October 6th beginning at 10:00 pm. You may experience issues accessing Poll Everywhere during these times.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact the UW-W Learning Technology Center.