Professor BJ Roche from the UMass Amherst Journalism Program shares her thoughts on the benefits of student-created podcasts as well as tips for other instructors considering having students podcast:
The WebCT CE system will be officially retired at 12:00 noon on Tuesday, July 1, 2008.
As of July 1st, all faculty accounts will be removed from the WebCT CE system and courses will no longer be accessible. If there is any course material in WebCT you wish to keep that has not already been migrated to SPARK, you must download it prior to 12:00 noon on July 1st.
Help is available! Register for a “Convert your WebCT Course to SPARK” workshop: http://www.umass.edu/accoprod/workshop/register.php
Or, contact the Instructional Media Lab: 545-2823 | instruct@oit.umass.edu
Before trying to troubleshoot a computer problem, take a deep breath. Relax! Most computer problems seem more serious than they are simply because you were not expecting them. Taking a step back and assessing the situation without viewing the problem as catastrophic will help.
Whether you’re digitizing audio for archives, making mp3s of your record albums, or hoping to add taped interviews to that documentary video you’re making, converting audio from analog format (i.e., cassette tape, vinyl record, etc…) usually requires format-specific audio equipment.
Learning new technologies becomes increasingly more important as computers change and new software is released. Students and faculty are constantly introduced to new technologies and expected to become familiar with them quickly.
Can technology really make learning easier? While there may never be a catch-all technology solution that will make learning easier for everyone in the classroom, there are some general principles to follow when designing instructional presentations that can at least help. The following suggestions are meant to cut across both technology-meager and technology-rich environments, and with proper implementation and consideration, technology can certainly supplant the creation of more effective presentation materials.
Starting this week will be the first of what we hope to be a regular series of posts from our intrepid graduate students in the Instructional Media Lab. Through these posts we hope to shed light on some of the key issues in teaching with technology that our consultants see every day, as well as to provide a space for them to share information new tools and current research into Education Technology issues.
For those who are not familiar with the Instructional Media Lab, it is Academic Computing’s front line support service for instructors using technology in their teaching and research. The Instructional Media Lab is staffed by a team of graduate student employees, many of whom are studying technology and teaching as part of their graduate work. In addition to being a place to consult on topics such as SPARK, blogs, and pedagogical benefits (and pitfalls) of a new tool, the Instructional Media Lab also provides access to specialized hardware such as slide scanners and digital video capture equipment.
Our current Instructional Media Lab team of staff and graduate students:
Left to Right: Tony Sindelar, Michele Turre, Nick Wilson, JC Sawyer, Alex Deschamps, Kate Strub-Richards, and Yan Zhu.
Contact the Instructional Media Lab at 545-2823 or instruct@oit.umass.edu
We are approaching the end of yet another semester - time to wrap up any loose ends. If you use SPARK, here are some reminders to help you out.
Atomic Learning provides a vast collection of short video tutorials about software. These videos cover everything from Word and Photoshop to Access and SPSS; at levels from basics to advanced. The University has a site license which provides everyone on campus free access to these videos. The current license expires on May 31, 2008, so try it out now and let us know if we should keep it!
On Campus: http://www.atomiclearning.com/highed
Off Campus: http://silk.library.umass.edu:2048/login/atomiclearning
(requires OIT NetID and UMail password)
Virtual worlds are an emerging technology that has received a decent amount of coverage in mainstream press over the last year. Popularized by Second Life, virtual worlds are three dimensional spaces in which people can communicate, explore environments, and construct their own virtual objects and spaces. Research into the possible applications of virtual worlds frequently refers to them as MUVEs, Multi-User Virtual Environments. Second Life has popularized virtual worlds by providing free access to expansive worlds, populated with objects and environments created by the users. Though Second Life is the most well known, there are a variety of other tools for creating virtual worlds, including tools such as Active Worlds for building closed virtual spaces that only a select group of individuals would participate in.