Save the Date: Flipped Classrooms

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ClassroomJoin your colleagues Chris Henige, Beth King, and Katrina Liu as they share their experiences with flipped classes.  This session is scheduled for February 11, 2014, from 1:00 – 2:00 pm, in the University Center, room 259.

Typically, “flipping” is considered to be the practice of using video segments to disseminate content-rich lessons outside of the classroom, thereby allowing classroom time to be used for interaction and hands-on activities.  However, the flipped classroom model can take many forms and may also involve a wide variety of technologies and methodologies.  Join your UW-Whitewater colleagues as we consider what it means (and does not mean) to “flip” a classroom and discuss the potential benefits and pitfalls of this practice.

Reserve your seat today at https://my.uww.edu/signup/ under LEARN Center.

This event is sponsored by the Learning Technology Center (LTC) and the LEARN Center.

‘Is my class canceled?’ and other things you actually care about.

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Update (2/3): The original post had the number convention wrong.  It has been updated below.  Enjoy!

Hey guys, Elaina here again!

Now I know that all of you are just as bitter as I am about the fact that though we are in the middle of a polar vortex and yet school continues to march on. The good old UW-Whitewater has decided to prove its students are tougher than the rest and stick it out through the icy winds. There is no other disappointment that stings quite like having to go to class when your friends are all off playing.  Even worse would be to make the icy trek to class and find out that the professor (who has to commute forty minutes every day to class) canceled anyways.

Today I am going to tell you to keep the faith alive! Keep hoping that your classes may yet be canceled. There have been many of those glorious and overwhelmingly generous professors that sacrificed their vacation days for our safety. One of the ways to help you keep this faith alive would be to set yourselves up for notifications from the school directly to your phone.

Now you may already get email notifications from D2L one way, and that is probably email. This is because your school email is the notification default under your account settings. I realize that we all get busy sometimes or we just plain don’t like checking our school email.  Sometimes it would just plain be easier if we didn’t have to go to the trouble and just get a text send directly to our phone about updates.

Here’s how you enabled D2L notifications:

First click on your name and face in the top right corner of your D2L homepage. From there click on notifications.

Elaina's login dropdown menuClick on the mobile number link and select your country in the window (I assume most of you will be United States) and your mobile carrier. The last thing you have to do is fill the blank with your digits, which should not include the beginning 1. (ex. (262-123-4567) and click SAVE.

mobile settings windowYou are now all set up to get notifications directly to your phone. Now all you have to do is toggle the controls to show you anything you want to know about your D2L notifications.

check boxes for notification settingsWhen you are done with those, click ‘SAVE’ at the bottom.

blue save button for settingsThere you have it, being an informed student is now just a text away. Now you can get real time updates about those class cancellation-! Er…news update; that is what you guys want to see, more news from D2L.

That’s all for now! Thanks for your time!

Elaina

Turnitin Net-ID Authentication Available!

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tii-logoInstructors and students can now login to Turnitin services using their UW-W Net-ID.  If you have an existing account with the service, the first time you login in you will need to enter your turnitin.com password to link your accounts together.  If you have forgotten your password, you can use the forgot password option to reset it.  Previously, instructor accounts were created as needed by the Learning Technology Center.

Google Chrome Users: There is currently an issue preventing you from accepting the terms of service box (this only happens during your first login).  Until the issue is fixed, you will need to login initially from an alternate browser.

To access Turnitin, initiate the login by going to http://go.uww.edu/turnitin.

Wait, I thought Turnitin was integrated into D2L?
Turnitin has three core services: OriginalityCheck, GradeMark and PeerMark.  Currently, only the OriginalityCheck and GradeMark are integrated into the Desire2Learn Dropbox.  Additional information is available here: Configuring Originality Check in the D2L Dropbox.

When do I need to login directly to turnitin.com?
There are two main reasons why you would need to login to turnitin.com

  1. If you are looking to utilize PeerMark in your course, then you will need to login directly to the Turnitin website.
  2. If you have a single paper from a student that you would like to submit to the originality check, this currently cannot be done via Desire2Learn.  This can be accomplished from the Turnitin website.

If you have any questions about Turnitin, please contact the Learning Technology Center.

Snackable Series: Spring 2014

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Snackable Bag Spring 2014The innovative use of technology in higher education continues to provide new possibilities for enhancing teaching and learning.  The Learning Technology Center (LTC) Spring 2014 “Snackable Series” showcases three current approaches to leveraging technology to promote active learning and improve student learning outcomes.  Feel free to bring a lunch and join us!

Gamification, February 19 – 20, 2014

Gamification is the application of game elements and game-like thinking to course materials to encourage active learning and deepen student engagement.  Gamification can improve student motivation, inspire increased interactivity in your classroom, and allow you to reward successful completion of learning outcomes in new ways.  Models of gamification, along with simple yet creative ways to add gamification techniques to your D2L course, will be discussed.

Gamification Sessions:
Wednesday, February 19, 2014 from Noon to 1 p.m
Thursday, February 20, 2014 from 11 a.m. to Noon
Location: iCIT Training Center, McGraw 112

Digital Badging, March 19 – 20, 2014

A digital badge is an earned credential, which validates a person’s specific accomplishment, knowledge, or skill.  “Badging” can be used to supplement letter grades, combat grade inflation, instill motivation to advance their level of competency, and showcase learning outside of the formal classroom.  Badges are currently awarded by Purdue University, Carnegie Mellon, the Smithsonian, Intel, Disney-Pixar, and some MOOCs as well.  In this snackable, the basic principles of badging, models of badging, and ways you can use badging in your course will be considered.

Digital Badging Sessions:
Wednesday, March 19, 2014 from Noon to 1 p.m
Thursday, March 20, 2014 from 11 a.m. to Noon
Location: iCIT Training Center, McGraw 112

Challenge-Based Learning, April 16 – 17, 2014

Challenge-based learning is a model for achieving learning outcomes, similar to project- or problem-based learning.  The students work together to solve “challenges,” while the instructor serves as a guide and mentor through the process.  Normally leveraged through digital whiteboards, asynchronous discussions, and presentations, challenge-based learning is collaborative, “hands on,” and oftentimes multidisciplinary.  Examples of challenge based learning and approaches for adding these elements to your course, will be examined.

Challenge-Based Learning Sessions:
Wednesday, April 16, 2014 from Noon to 1 p.m
Thursday, April 17, 2014 from 11 a.m. to Noon
Location: iCIT Training Center, McGraw 112

To register for one or all of these “Snackable Series” sessions, please sign up at: http://signup.uww.edu Seating is limited.

If you have any questions regarding the Snackable Series and its sessions, please contact the UW-W Learning Technology Center.

D2L Inline Document Viewer Issue with Flash Modules

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With the overhaul of the Content area of Desire2Learn (D2L), we discovered that the new inline document viewer has an issue that impacts some Flash modules/activities that may be embedded in your content.  We know that Flash versions of iSpring and legacy eTEACH presentations trigger an issue with the inline document viewer.  It appears to only impact Flash modules that are designed to scale to fit the size of the window they are in.

The easiest workaround to view these presentations is to use the “View content in new window” link.  This however will not stop the module from running in the parent window which may be confusing to students.

Unfortunately, there is currently not a clean workaround to update the links in D2L.  Follow the steps below to correct the issue:

  1. In the content area, click “New” and choose “Create a File”
  2. In the course file, use the html editor to “Insert a Quicklink”
  3. From the “Insert a Quicklink” screen, select “Course File”, click “Add File” and choose the file from the “Course Offering Files”.
  4. Enter text into the “Link Caption” field.
  5. Under “Open In” be sure to choose “New Window”
  6. Click “Insert” and then “Publish” to save and post the new course file
  7. Remove or change the status to “Draft” for the old link.

If you have any questions concerning this, please contact UW-W D2L Support.

Last Call for LTDC Virtual Conference Proposals

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LTDC Logo

Last Call for Proposals!

Date: April 10-11, 2014
Location: Virtual Conference, no travel required

The UW System Learning Technology Development Council (LTDC) Showcase 2014 will be held virtually April 10-11, 2014. Faculty, teaching staff and learning technology support staff – please join us and submit a proposal to present or facilitate by January 24, 2014!  Proposals may be submitted at the following website: http://goo.gl/NaWyWY

This virtual conference offers an opportunity for sharing your successes and challenges in teaching with technology – in your face-to-face, online, blended/hybrid, flex, flipped or MOOC. This conference will provide you with the opportunity to virtually connect with other practitioners and requires neither travel expense nor a significant time commitment.

All presentations will be conducted virtually with technology training and orientation available prior to the conference. The presentations will be approximately 30 minutes in length with 15 min Q&A following. Proposals are sought in the following six general categories:

  • Innovative Approaches (Hot Topics) – Tell us about how you’re working and teaching. Are mobile applications a part of your learning and knowledge portfolio? How have you taken traditional teaching and enhanced it through an innovative approach? Can you share a successful case study?
  • Engagement of Students – How are your students connecting with each other and you? What works now or what do you expect might be a future method of engaging students? Can you share a successful case study?
  • Faculty Development – How are you supporting your faculty? Are you facilitating learning communities? How are you engaging faculty to try new approaches to teaching and learning? Do you have a successful case study to share?
  • “How To” and Resources – Do you have a skill to share? Have you created a wonderful set of resources for faculty and students? We’re interested in successful case studies; what can you share?
  • Best Practices – Are you using a particular learning technology (or set of technologies) and know through evaluation that it definitively engages students and promotes learning?
  • Emerging Topics – Do you have a proposal that doesn’t quite fit into the other topics?

We look forward to learning more about your teaching and learning experiences!

Hello and Welcome Back to the Good old U-Dub Dub!

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I hope you all had a good break filled with nothing but catching up on your reading and appreciating being back at home! …no? Me neither.

Allow me to introduce myself; my name is Elaina and I work at the LTC and today I am here to talk to you about the new D2L changes.  At this moment I can already sense your distress at the word, ‘changes’. Cue the B-movie horror screams.

I can assure you that they are both new and scary to professors and students alike, but not to fear because we at the LTC have taken the time to make super cheesy videos for your entertainment and higher learning.

Here is a link to the first video in a playlist of different videos we have made, try not to be distracted by our overly excited introductions:

You might note than many of these changes that take the time to painstakingly list in the videos are neither scary nor all that surprising.

“We got a due date column now? Okay.” That’s generally the reaction were expecting from the students.  I might mention just for comparison’s sake that professors tend have a more emotional reaction.”Due date column?! YOU MONSTERS!! Why must you change everything I love?!”

That is all I have for you guys right now. Remember that if you have any questions or concerns, do not be afraid to contact UW-W D2L Support.

Thank you for your time!