Teaching, Learning & Technology in Higher Education : Training & Prof Dev

Beyond Video Chat - Making Conference Presentations via HP Virtual Rooms

jgvanides — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:12:00 GMT

Let's face it - there are more conferences on the planet than one can possibly attend. While I always appreciate the opportunity to participate and share stories about "Re-Imagining the Classroom", I simply cannot be traveling all the time. So I have recently tried using HP Virtual Rooms - and it's a whole lot of fun!...

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First-time Tablet PC User? Try My Favorite "5 First Steps"

jgvanides — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 06:30:00 GMT

I recently had the privilege of introducing 50 middle school teachers to their new tablet pcs. It was great fun, and everyone left with something simple they could try the first time they fired up their tablet in class. If you've just acquired a tablet pc to enhance your teaching, or if you're still thinking about it, below are my favorite, simple, "5 First Steps" that I shared during my workshops...

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Successful EdTech: First the Verbs, then the Nouns

jgvanides — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 20:00:00 GMT

With all the "Race to the Top" coverage in the US media as of late, there's a resurging interest in using technology to enable breakthrough innovations in education. But let's make sure the national, state, and local district discussions get it right: If we want to positively impact student achievement through the effective use of technology, we have to ensure that the strategy, planning, and implementation begins with (learning) VERBS, not the (technology) NOUNS...

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Education Talk-show in Second Life? You bet! ISTE Eduverse archive treasures...

jgvanides — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:14:00 GMT

In our ongoing quest to find ways to share the expertise of innovative educators, we have been collaborating with ISTE in the use of Second Life as a professional networking venue. The education talk show, "ISTE Eduverse Talks" has just completed its 8^th episode - and each one is worth watching...

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Revolutionizing Instruction With Tablet PC's - Interview with Clemson U (in Second Life!)

jgvanides — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:50:00 GMT

The tablet pc project at Clemson University continues to grow. With grants provided from the HP Technology for Teaching initiative, teaching and learning is taking on new forms - with measurable improvements in student success. Marilyn Reba, Lisa Benton, and Barbara Weaver (all from Clemson) took the time to tell their story during a recent ISTE Eduverse Talks "show" in Second Life....

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Math/Science Online Poster Session in Second Life - June 11th 6pm SLT

jgvanides — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:52:00 GMT

Back by popular demand, next Thursday, June 11, 6:00 pm-7:00 pm SLT (6:00 pm-7:00 pm Pacific Time) is another virtual poster session in Second Life, this time focused on science & math Education...

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Tablet PC conference at Purdue (WIPTE) Oct 15-16 2008

jgvanides — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:36:00 GMT

Registration is still open for the upcoming "Workshop on the Impact of Pen Technology on Education" (WIPTE) conference. The acronym may be mysterious, but the event is excellent.... ...(read more)

Jim's 2nd Life Epiphany

jgvanides — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:26:00 GMT

Having recently exposed my newbie-ness regarding 2nd Life (see "Questions from a Second Life Newbie") , I am pleased to give you an update. After participating in the Second Life Education Community Conference hosted on ISTE Island (with streaming content live from Tampa, Florida), I have to say I'm finally internalizing the value and the implications of 2nd life as a venue for professional networking......(read more)

Why I'm Looking Forward to the Future of Learning & Technology

jgvanides — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 23:03:00 GMT

I was recently asked by a school district to describe "the future of technology and learning". It's a great question, even though we all know we should distrust anyone who says they have THE answer. However, there are enough clues and innovations in the works today that I can honestly say I am excited about what the Future of Learning could look like......(read more)

More Tablet PC Tips: Virginia Western and the University of Dayton

jgvanides — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:10:00 GMT

As more faculty explore the benefits of Tablet PCs, I am hearing about more “Tablet PC Tips” being made available to help accelerate their effective use. I thought you might be interested in seeing what Virginia Western Community College and the University of Dayton have created – and I suspect there are more hidden gems out there…

Diane Wolff, Professor of Information Technology at Virginia Western Community College, has been busy creating Tablet PC tips for her colleagues. Step-by-step instructions, such as “Using Tablet to Edit Text Documents” and “Techsmith’s SnagIt Tool” are downloadable in PDF format at http://virginiawestern.edu/istgrants/tablettips.html. (Nice job, Diane!)

At the University of Dayton, they have created some basic tablet pc tips that are presented in the form of Flash movies created using Camtasia software. The movie clips explain how to use basic “digital pen” functions and use some commonly available applications like MS Journal, MS Ink Flash Cards, and MS OneNote. Visit http://learn.udayton.edu/tablets/studentResources.jsp for more information.

If you have any Tablet PC tips online that you would like me to share with the world, post a comment with a link! The community welcomes your assistance and contribution…

Jim Vanides, B.S.M.E, M.Ed.
Program Manager - Worldwide Higher Education Philanthropy
Hewlett-Packard

For information about the HP Technology for Teaching philanthropy initiative in higher education, visit www.hp.com/go/hpteach-hied

Tapping into Student Talent to Enable Innovations in Teaching and Learning @ Colorado School of Mines

jgvanides — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 21:32:00 GMT

Looking for some IT talent to drive innovations in teaching with technology? At the Colorado School of Mines, students stepped up to the challenge…

Students are amazing, and Frank Kowalski tapped into their talent and drive to create a Technology in the Classroom Committee comprised entirely of students. It’s a terrific model – but in the spirit of full disclosure, I’m a bit biased since the Colorado School of Mines is the site of terrific project supported by an HP Technology for Teaching Leadership Grant.

You can read all about these amazing students in an article entitled, “Expanding Educational Frontiers” by Millicent Schmidt, which appears in the recent Colorado School of Mines Magazine, Winter 2007-08.

Congratulations to Frank and the TICC students!

New Tablet PC Book from ISTE!

jgvanides — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:54:00 GMT

Check out the new book from the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), entitled Tablet PCs in K–12 Education. Sure, it says “K-12”, but even higher education faculty will find it to be useful…

From the ISTE catalog:

http://www.iste.org/source/Orders/ISTE_current_catalog.pdf

Edited by Michael van Mantgem, with contributions by Dave Berque, Edward J. Evans, Tracy Hammond, Kenrick Mock, Mark Payton, and David S. Sweeney

Despite the many advantages of computer-aided instruction, standard notebook computers are restricted by their keyboard and mouse inputs. Not so with tablet PCs. Using the tablet PC—basically a notebook computer with an interactive screen—teachers and students can write, draw, and sketch directly onto any computer document, in real time, and at a fraction of the cost of hard copy documents.

This book is a practical guide for educators who would like to use tablet PCs to instruct, communicate, and collaborate in the classroom. You’ll be introduced to tablet PCs as a:

• Powerful and portable computing device

• Note-taking, sketching, writing, and collaborative learning tool

• Presentation tool that far surpasses any other existing platform

• Personal productivity tool for both you and your students

You’ll also find examples and case studies taken from real teachers in real classrooms, advice for implementing tablet PCs in your organization, and lesson plans designed specifically for tablet PC instruction.

Enjoy,

Top Ten Teaching and Learning Issues (Educause Quarterly)

jgvanides — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 18:13:00 GMT

A colleague just referred me to a thought-provoking article that ran recently in the Educause Quarterly. John Campbell (Purdue) and Diana Oblinger (Educause Learning Initiative), and colleagues, provide us with a thoughtful list of important issues faced by academic technology professionals…

The article, “Top-Ten Teaching and Learning Issues, 2007”, was written by the EDUCAUSE Advisory Committee for Teaching and Learning (ACTL). Their objective is that the “…critical issues in teaching and learning identified here will help our community create professional development opportunities and programs that effectively address the needs of the “Instruction 2.0” world…”

Topping their list is one of my favorite issues, “#1 - Establishing and supporting a culture of evidence”. Student success outcomes, whether driven by accreditation bodies or government agencies, are in the spotlight like never before. Of course, for those of you who know me, I’m far more interested in the “culture of formative evidence” that helps teachers teach and students learn – as contrasted by the incessant emphasis on summative assessment that gives a rear-view mirror snapshot after the learning has ceased.

Also on their list is “#3 - Translating learning research into practice”. They describe a novel approach: “Perhaps our greatest challenge as academic technologists in moving learning research into practice is finding active learning techniques that meet faculty’s needs. Rather than telling faculty about learning research, perhaps we should create ways for them to experience it.”

The article is terrific – I highly recommend you take a look. Thanks, John and Diana!

Tablet PC Tip #4 – Record Sound and Ink in Sync with MS OneNote

jgvanides — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 22:00:00 GMT

Microsoft One Note uses an “electronic binder” metaphor to organize your life. Students use it for replacing a shelf full of 3-ring binders and lab books. Some faculty are using it for presentations in the classroom. But have you tried recording audio while you write?...

MS OneNote has some of the same advantages as MS Journal, in that the digital “paper” is stretch-able, and the objects you place on the page can be re-arranged. But one feature MS OneNote has that Journal does not is the ability to search throughout all of your sections and tabs for hand-written notes. You don’t even have to convert them to text – MS OneNote can search “unconverted” handwritten words (provided your notes don’t look like a doctor’s prescription).

The focus of Tip #4 is one particular feature of MS OneNote that many people are not aware of: You can record audio while taking notes, and the two are time-sync’d together. Remember reviewing your notes from Calculus just prior to the mid-term, and you can’t decipher what your drawings really mean? Simply click on the ink and play the audio that was being recorded at that time, and you can hear the discussion that was recorded while you were inking at that moment.

This is very cool – I’ve used it while interviewing people. When I want to revisit a pithy quote, I can go back to my notes and re-listen to the complete statement – and rewrite my sloppy notes so the quote is more accurate.

Here’s how:

Let me know what you think – especially if you’ve ever tried this with a webcam!

And in case you missed them, here are the other Tablet PC Tips I've posted so far:

Enjoy!

Tablet PC Tip #3 – Save Time with Digital Homework Markups

jgvanides — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 18:48:00 GMT

I’ve received several emails from faculty who are using their tablets to markup homework. You’ll find this particularly helpful if your students are already creating and submitting digital projects in MS Word, PowerPoint, or Adobe PDF formats…

For PowerPoint projects, use the same “ink your slides” instructions I provided in my Tablet PC Tip #1. Only this time, the PowerPoint is something your students submit to you. You simply run their “show” and mark it up with your handwritten comments. Press ESCAPE to finish, KEEP to save your ink, resave the file, and then send it back to the student.

For MS Word, I’ve provided a brief (~1min) clip on using the Ink Annotation tool:

Finally, if your students are creating other digital artifacts, consider having them sent to you in Adobe PDF format. This allows you to mark up documents such as Web Pages, spreadsheets, drawings, or anything that can be printed to PDF. Professor Gupta from Imperial College London recommended to me some software that makes this easy – it’s called PDF Annotator. I haven’t tried it yet, but it sounds perfect.

If you’ve had experience with digital homework markups, please post a comment and share any tips you’ve learned along the way!