CT Conference--Day 2

My head is spinning, my mind is on overload. There is so much information that the problem becomes how to make sense of it all! I have not been disappointed in any of the sessions I have attended.

So, I am going to go through my notes and attempt to synthesize them all here.

Morning Sessions:

Forget Coursecasting: Podcasting as Educational Inspiration at UConn

Presenter: David B. Miller

Why do podcasting?

• Course enhancement
• Add depth/content to course
• Promote Interacton
• Student-Student
• Student-Instructor
• Student generated content
• Shrink a large class
• Deliver content
• Review sessions
• Snow Days/Holidays

Format
Audio
Examples: Kids Book Review (iTunes)
Enhanced: audio + images+ chapter stops
Example: CU Boulder News (iTunes, can also save as a .mov file)
Video
Example: John Barrows (PBS Series) Learning Matters

Content

• iTunes U
• CourseCast

Pros:
fill in notes
Con:
not an enhancement
undermines note taking

Strategies

• Give regular in-class quizzes
• Don't record everything
• Wait 10 days before uploading
• Stop if attendance drops

Pre-record lecture

• example/applications
• demonstration
• video
• clickers
• student presentations

Discussions
Pro
reflection & expansion
clarification
interaction (student-instructor-student)

Con
scheduling & location

Calls it iCube (Issues in Intro)

• Weekly discussions after class
• Precasts-preview
• Postcasts (only if professor feels need to clarify something)

Outcomes

• Most students (74%) felt the podcasts/precasts enhanced their learning
• International student audience he had not anticipated
• International students use it to work on their English language skills
• Rediagnosis example

Honors Conversion at UConn
Pros:

• Honors Credit
• Reflection & expansion
• Clarification
• Interaction
• Student generated

Con:

• Scheduling
• Location

Review Session (before tests)
Pros:

• Clarification
• Accessible

Cons:

• ?? (couldn't list any)

Peer Advice
Pros:

• Acknowledge students
• Empower students
• Assist other students

Cons

• ?? (couldn't list any)

Study Abroad
Pro

• Reflect on unique experiences
• Audio diary to share
• Observed students maturation over time

Cons:

• Equipment access overseas
• Access to server

Other Types of Podcasting Activities

• Student Interviews
• Freshman impresssions
• Exiting Seniors
• Freshmen Orientation--his talk on academic differences between high school and college

How do you podcast?

1. Record
2. Edit
3. Upload

Audio Capture Advice

• Stereo or mono
• Adjust gain to proper level
• Theme song identifier
• Introduce each episode
• "Animate" your voice, exaggerate more than normal
• Only use students first names
• Avoid distracting noises
• No background music
• Be mindful of copyright

Audio Editing Advice

• Edit out silence and speech fillers
• Mono (smaller) or Stereo (quality)
• Adjust levels
• Dynamic compressor or The Levelator (http://theconversationsnetwork.org)

Software:
Podcast Producer/Podcast Capture

Resources

• Podcasting for Dummies
• Expert Podcasting Practices for Dummies
  
• ProfCast (Mac only)
  
• iTunes links to podcasting tutorials (Learn to Podcast)

Second Session:

Worldware and the New Personal Learning Environments

Presenter: Gary Brown, Washington State University

Poster Sessions:

Emerging Technologies for Undergraduates

Presenter: Amy Slate, Boston University

Assessing the Unassessable: Using ePortfolios in Philosophy Classes

Presenter: Micholas Hunt-Bull, Southern New Hampshire University

Creating an Avatar

I went to the Voki web site to create my own avatar. It wasn't too difficult, but I am not sure I have the code copied correctly. I have inserted it in this blog post. I used a "canned" voice, but the site will allow you to record your own voice and you can choose the size--I chose the smallest one.
Hope this works:



Get a Voki now!
If you click on the Conversation icon (bottom right) you can leave a comment. I have added a comment so that you can see it in action.

Campus Technology Conference, Boston, 2008

This conference, Campus Technology, has been very enlightening. The sessions I attended today were inspiring and well worth the trip.

Let me begin...

July 29, 2008

Morning Keynote:

A New American University for Next Gen Learners

Presenter: Adrian Sannier of Arizona State University.
His main points were Access....Excellence...Impact.

He mentioned a book, The Creation of the Future by Frank H. Rhoades which sounds like a good read.

He (the presenter) said we need to move from:

1. Context to Core
2. Cattle-Car to 1:1
3. Cop to Concierge
4. Physical to Digital
5. Traditional to Hybrid

Other books he mentioned:

Does It Matter? by Nicholas G. Carr
The Big Switch by Nicholas G. Carr

"The future is mobile."

Words he coined:
Prune Concentrate: prune your website; concentrate on developing the high traffic web pages.

Morning Sessions:

The Carolinas Virtual World Consortium: Exploring Virtual and 3D Worlds

Presenters: Steven Bronack & Richard Riedl, Appalachian State University and James Witte, Clemson University

Using Second Life in Higher Education

Presenter: Sarah Robbins, Ball State University

Poster Sessions:

Thinking Outside the Box: Using Mediasite to Engage Faculty and Extend University Outreach

Presenter: Jim Jorstad, University of Wisconsin-LaCross

The Next-Gen Classroom: A Flexible, Student-Centered Active Learning Space

Presenter: Steve Fitzgerald, Universith of Minnesota

A Course-Wide Blog at Harvard to Foster Discussions and Debates in a Large Moral Reasoning Undergraduate Course

Presenter: Daniel Jamous, Harvard University
http://icg.fas.harvard.edu > Teaching with Technology > Best Practices Essays

Afternoon Session:

10 Web 2.0 Tech-Enhanced Strategies to Engage Your Learners

Presenter: Bethany Bovard, New Mexico State University
Applications she talked about:
Azooca (free) http://www.azoocacapture.com
Voki http://www.voki.com
Skype
Clustr Maps

Her Resources: http://www.protopage.com/tektrekker
Her Wiki: http://techtrekker.pbwiki.com