Twice a year, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Learning Technology Center (LTC) offers an Institute for Online/Blended Teaching. One area of interest for many instructors that complete the Institute for Online/Blended Teaching has been continuing a community of practice around online and blended teaching, that extends beyond the end of the Institute.
Recently, UW-Whitewater began using Cisco Spark, as a tool for communication and collaboration. Spark allows users to share files, hold discussions, and place video calls (among other features). Spark can be accessed through a web browser, or downloaded onto a computer or mobile device.
The LTC has created a Spark team for alumni of the Institute for Online/Blended Teaching, as a way to extend the community of practice for instructors in a virtual space outside and beyond the conclusion of the formal Institute. Instructors teaching online and/or blended courses are invited to join the team so that they can discuss challenges, ask questions, share “best practices,” and contribute any and all other ideas within this Spark team.
If you have completed the LTC’s Institute for Online/Blended Teaching, and would like to be added to this Spark team, please contact Andrew Cole at ltc@uww.edu.
In preparation for the upcoming Canvas transition, we will be holding a two part hands-on workshop series to help clean up some of the old content in your D2L courses. This will be a repeat of the same series we offered in January. We will provide a brief overview of common areas that can be cleaned up, and then we’ll dive in and help you clean out the closet! The majority of the time will be work time for you to ask questions and cleanup your course(s).
Registration is required; click on dates below to register.
What this workshop isn’t: We will not be talking about Canvas, or showing any of the Canvas platform during this session. The purpose of this session is to focus on and prepare your D2L courses for the upcoming transition.
From left to right: Elaina Barr (Media & Training Specialist), Shane Degen (LMS Administrator), Nicole Weber (Director of Learning Technology), Aaron Axelsen (Operations Manager), Andrew Cole (Learning Technology Specialist), Sarah Klingman-Cole (Technology Promotion & Adoption Specialist).
The UW-Whitewater Learning Technology Center (LTC) is here and ready to help you! Our team of experts have a wide range of skills to tackle all of your instructional course-related needs.
Desire2Learn to Canvas Transition
The UW-System Board of Regents has signed a contract with Instructure for their Canvas product. Canvas will be replacing Desire2Learn as our next Learning Management System. The earliest opportunity to migrate courses to Canvas is expected to be Fall 2018. For more information about the overall project, go to http://go.uww.edu/canvas-transition
Over the last few years, the UW-Whitewater campus had the chance to conduct, and evaluate, a few pilots using Canvas. These pilots allowed UW-Whitewater instructors to use Canvas in their courses. In the video below, see what some of your colleagues who took part in these pilots thought about the educational opportunities offered by Canvas!
What is the current status?
Currently, there are several teams working across the entire University of Wisconsin-System. These teams are testing all aspects of the Canvas system, and working towards getting things setup for use in your courses. In the coming months, we will be able to provide a better timeline on when you will be able to access and use the system. What can you do now? Check out the sessions below!
Canvas Show and Tell
During the course of the Spring 2018 semester, we will offer a 3 part workshop series to help you get up to speed with Canvas. These workshops will be 1 hour long and are designed to show you a comparison of Canvas and Desire2Learn functions. Feel free to pick and choose which sessions you would like to attend. These workshops will NOT be hands-on. We will offer hands-on workshops once you have the ability to start transitioning your course material.
Registration is required; click on dates below to register. All workshops will be held in McGraw 19a.
Canvas Show and Tell – Part 1
Part 1 will provide a brief overview of the vision for the Digital Learning Environment (DLE). Afterwards, we will show you how the following items work in D2L and in Canvas.
For full details of what will be covered and signup access, please check our Blog Post.
Desire2Learn Closet Cleaning
In preparation for the upcoming Canvas transition, we will be holding a two part hands-on workshop series to help clean up some of the old content in your D2L courses. This will be a repeat of the same series we offered in January. We will provide a brief overview of common areas that can be cleaned up, and then we’ll dive in and help you clean out the closet! The majority of the time will be work time for you to ask questions and cleanup your course(s).
Registration is required; click on dates below to register.
What this workshop isn’t: We will not be talking about Canvas, or showing any of the Canvas platform during this session. The purpose of this session is to focus on and prepare your D2L courses for the upcoming transition.
Did you know that you can get a weekly email update about what’s going on in the LTC? Every Monday morning, you’ll get an email that contains a summary of the latest items from our blog. To signup for these updates, just fill out the form below!
Technology Training for All
If you find yourself wanting to learn more about the software that is offered on campus, why not take some technology training? We offer live, hands-on workshops for all faculty and staff members. These sessions are taught in the ICIT Training Center in McGraw Hall room 112. Workshops usually last an hour and a half.
The atmosphere is relaxed, making it ideal for trying out something new or brushing up your knowledge on something you may not use very often. We focus on introductory level skills and cover the current versions of popular software used on campus. Current workshops include Google Docs and Drive, Cisco Jabber, Outlook Email Basics, Ingeniux Website CMS and more! Registration is required, sign up for training’s at signup.uww.edu.
Summer 2018 Institute for Online/Blended Teaching
Summer 2018 Institute for Online/Blended Teaching: Are you currently teaching online or blended? Are you thinking about converting a course to an online or blended format? Each year the LTC holds two offerings of the Institute for Online/Blended Teaching. The Institute consists of a series of face-to-face and online meetings aimed at supporting instructors in the best practices of teaching online and blended courses. The Institute is not focused on specific tools, but rather pedagogically sound online/blended course design and delivery. If you are interested, be on the lookout for more information and the call for applications for the Summer 2018 Institute for Online/Blended Teaching, that will be posted in mid-February 2018.
What does the Learning Technology Center do?
We are proud of the work we do to support the learning management system (LMS), and the assistance we provide to instructors teaching online and blended courses. However, our department focus goes beyond the LMS. Our mission provides insight into some of the other initiatives we have in the LTC.
WE BELIEVE in integrating pedagogy and technology to assist instructor in developing effective learning experiences.
WE SUPPORT instructors in their pursuit of excellence in teaching and student learning.
WE INNOVATE with instructors by initiating emerging technology exploration projects and conducting research studies.
WE CONNECT people on campus and beyond to create community among instructors who teach with technology.
WE PARTNER collaborate, and communicate with colleges, programs, departments, instructors and tech-liaisons.
WE LEAD learning technology initiatives focused on increasing student access, enhancing engagement and supporting success.
Guided by an advisory group, made up from instructional representatives from each of the colleges, we value a data-driven approach taken from what instructors report to us in the annual Instructor Support Survey and trends we see in research related to technology, student engagement, and success in higher education.
On Wednesday, January 3, ICIT deployed the VBrick Rev 7.18 update to our environment. There are a number of fixes and enhancements that came along with this release. The way that videos are restricted to a course has changed. Restricting access to a course is now available in the “Teams” tab. Documentation is available here.
Some of the other notable new features are:
Email Notifications. The system will now send you an automatic email once a video has been uploaded and processed. The email will contain the title of the video and a link to it.
Online Video Editor. The system now includes a basic video editor that works right in the browser. We are still testing out the best use cases for this – stay tuned!
Embedded Playlists. Playlists may now be embedded in the same manner as individual videos.
The “My Media” Kaltura integration with Desire2Learn has received an update. The update offers an enhanced file upload tool, and also a direct link to CaptureSpace Lite. The overall process has not changed – it is still accessed via the “Insert Stuff” tool.
Kaltura My Media – Old Interface
Kaltura My Media – New Interface
Adaptive Learning
The LTC is currently exploring some adaptive learning options. If you are interested in potentially utilizing adaptive learning in your course in the Fall of 2018, be on the lookout this semester for a call for participants on the LTC blog.
Saturday Instructional Events
During the Fall 2017 semester, the LTC held two different Saturday Instructional Development events targeted towards adjuncts and other faculty members who are not as available during the work week. We are looking to hold more of these events in the future.
Celebrating Teaching and Learning
Thank you to everyone for the interest in the Celebrating Teaching and Learning Conference. We were unable to secure a date for this years event and have opted to start planning for 2019. If you would like to be part of our planning team, please email ltc@uww.edu!
Exploration: New Technologies
We have been exploring a number of cool technologies and have some new things for you to try out!
Digital Badging for Professional Development! The LTC chose digital badging as a way to provide a visual recognition of the technological professional development accomplished on campus. Starting this semester, Spring 2018, the LTC is providing an opportunity for you to earn badges in any of our technology training sessions (Google Apps, Outlook,Jabber, Excel, etc.). Instructors in the Institutes for Online/Blended Teaching are also eligible to earn a badge. The badges can be displayed on the UW-Whitewater white pages, in your email signature or on LinkedIn. We are in the process of expanding our badging initiative, so be on the lookout for opportunities to participate in digital badging on campus!
TurningPoint 8 is the latest version of the campus supported student response system which will be available in Fall of 2018. With TurningPoint 8 in your class you can transform a lecture into an interactive presentation. You can create polls instantly and display results, play ice breaker games, track attendance, assess student learning and more! This can be used in any sort of classroom environment, from quizzing on undergraduate introductory comprehension to graduate level discussions where you can facilitate difficult discussions without hesitation.
Need Desire2Learn Help?
We are here to help you with all your Desire2Learn (D2L) course needs! The best way to request support is by using our online support form which is located at http://d2l.uww.edu/contact
We do our best to respond to all support request within 1 business day of receiving them. We do monitor the box on evenings and weekends for critical issues on a best effort basis.
Don’t forget to request for fall semester courses! Course creation must be completed every semester, and it is a manual process on our end. Courses created by 3pm on business days are typically available the next day. Request for your courses at http://my.uww.edu/d2lrequest
GooseChase
GooseChase is an easy way to organize and run point-based scavenger hunts for your class or event. We have recently acquired a campus-wide license of GooseChase for the 2017 – 2018 Academic Year!
You can Mix and Match Mission Types!
Photo & Video: Student’s will have to submit a photo or record a video to complete a mission. All done right from the students mobile device.
Text: Submit a simple text response. Great for riddles, puzzles and surveys.
GPS: Utilizing the GPS on the mobile device, students will need to physically visit places to check-in to complete the mission.
In order to get started, just create an account using your @uww.edu email address. Make sure that your password IS NOT THE SAME as your Net-ID.
Are you still with us? If so – great, you made it to the end! Be sure to stop by the LTC throughout the semester to visit. As a reminder, we are located in McGraw Hall, Suite 120 and are available between 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM weekdays. We can also be reached at ltc@uww.edu or 262.472.1004. We’ll always be willing to help, and have plenty of treats on hand for your sweet tooth. Have a great semester!
The “My Media” Kaltura integration with Desire2Learn has received an update! The new update offers an updated file upload tool, and also a direct link to CaptureSpace Lite. The overall process has not changed – it is still accessed via the “Insert Stuff” tool.
During the course of the Spring 2018 semester, we will offer a 3 part workshop series to help you get up to speed with Canvas. These workshops will be 1 hour long and are designed to show you a comparison of Canvas functions to Desire2Learn. Feel free to pick and choose which sessions you would like to attend. These workshops will NOT be hands-on. We will offer hands-on workshops once users have the ability to start transitioning their course material.
Registration is required. All workshops will be held in McGraw 19a.
Canvas Show and Tell – Part 1
Part 1 will provide a brief overview of the vision for the DLE (Digital Learning Environment). Afterwards, we will show you how the following items work in D2L and in Canvas.
The UW-System Board of Regents has signed a contract with Instructure for their Canvas product. Canvas will be replacing Desire2Learn as our next Learning Management System. The earliest opportunity to migrate courses to Canvas is expected to be Fall 2018. For more information about the overall project, go to http://go.uww.edu/canvas-transition
On Wednesday, January 3, ICIT deployed the VBrick Rev 7.18 update to our environment. In this latest update, the following fixes and enhancements will be included:
(New) Email Notifications. Rev will now send you an automatic email once a video has been processed and uploaded. The email will contain the title of the video and a link to access it. Remember to check the video access settings before distributing the link to others.
(New) Online Video Editing. Rev now includes the ability to edit video clips you have uploaded. The editor requires no browser plug-ins, Flash or Java to use in supported browsers.
It contains the ability to cut multiple segments from the front, middle or end of the video.
Video Chapters enable you to set and jump to specific locations. Additionally, you may define chapters by name or by slide title with a PowerPoint upload.
(New) Embedded Playlists. Playlists may now be embedded in a similar fashion to an individual video asset.
(New) Video Filter Enhancements. A new video filter interface has been implemented that includes multiple attributes that you may now search on to filter video searches.
(New) Podcast Support. VBrick Rev now features podcast support through .mp3 file uploads.
(New) Teams Update and Enhancements. Rev now has a new way to create better content organization using Teams. This feature will allow you to organize content by functional area giving users a simpler method to ensure videos are seen by the right users.
(New) Content Expiration Rules. Expiration rules may now be set on different content types.
(New) Media Menu Update. The Media menu has been enhanced and divided into two sub-menu drop-downs Videos and My Teams. Each of these options provide quick access to several video and team features.
(Updates) Bulk Edit. Bulk editing in Rev has been updated to add the ability to bulk edit Teams video access features and expiration dates and rules.
(Updates) .mts file support. Files created in the .mts format can now be uploaded to Rev.
(Fixed) Default Search Criteria. Corrected minor problem where the default search for a video was by Title and not by Relevance.
(Fixed) Tool Tip on Hover for List View and Grid Button. Provided an improvement on the videos page when hovering on the view icons to show a tool tip as to which view – list view or grid view – is being displayed.
What’s VBrick Rev? Rev is a Media Management System that we have available for use by all Instructors and Students at UW-Whitewater. You can access Rev by going to: http://streaming.uww.edu
We need your help planning our next Celebrating Teaching & Learning Conference! We have developed a short survey to help us gather some feedback to start the planning process. The survey is located at:
During the course of the Spring 2018 semester, we will offer a 3 part workshop series to help you get up to speed with Canvas. These workshops will be 1 hour long and are designed to show you a comparison of Canvas and Desire2Learn functions. Feel free to pick and choose which sessions you would like to attend. These workshops will NOT be hands-on. We will offer hands-on workshops once you have the ability to start transitioning your course material.
In preparation for the upcoming 
Did you know that you can get a weekly email update about what’s going on in the LTC? Every Monday morning, you’ll get an email that contains a summary of the latest items from our blog. To signup for these updates, just fill out the form below!
Summer 2018 Institute for Online/Blended Teaching: Are you currently teaching online or blended? Are you thinking about converting a course to an online or blended format? Each year the LTC holds two offerings of the Institute for Online/Blended Teaching. The Institute consists of a series of face-to-face and online meetings aimed at supporting instructors in the best practices of teaching online and blended courses. The Institute is not focused on specific tools, but rather pedagogically sound online/blended course design and delivery. If you are interested, be on the lookout for more information and the call for applications for the Summer 2018 Institute for Online/Blended Teaching, that will be posted in mid-February 2018.
We have been exploring a number of cool technologies and have some new things for you to try out!
GooseChase is an easy way to organize and run point-based scavenger hunts for your class or event. We have recently acquired a campus-wide license of GooseChase for the 2017 – 2018 Academic Year!
We need your help planning our next Celebrating Teaching & Learning Conference! We have developed a short survey to help us gather some feedback to start the planning process. The survey is located at: