Learning Technologies and Online Education (LTOE) is proud to announce this year’s Spotlight on Faculty,  to be held on Wednesday April 18, 2012. This popular event gives instructors a chance to present to their peers technologies they use at Plymouth State. Proposals are welcome on a variety of instructional technologies in the classroom, whether it be face to face, blended, or online. Proposals focusing on administrative, professional development, and research applications are also welcome.

Please fill out the form below to submit your proposal.

LTOE staff will be collecting proposals through Monday March 5, 2012 and will be contacting those selected to present at that time. Please contact a member of LTOE’s staff if you have any questions.

UPDATE (4-28-11, 3:00 pm): All of the presentations are available to view. Please enjoy!

Time	Presentation	Watch
3:15 pm	Opening Remarks by Provost Julie Bernier
3:30 pm	Craig Nevins (Social Sciences) – iPad
3:45 pm	David Talbot (College of Business Administration) – TurningPoint
4:00 pm	Leo Sandy (Counselor Education and School Psychology) – Mahara
4:15 pm	Liesl Lindley (Health and Human Performance) – Moodle
4:30 pm	Bob Nadeau (College of Business Administration) – TurningPoint
4:45 pm	Christine Rine (Social Work) – Big Blue Button
5:00 pm	1st Half Panel Discussion/Questions
5:15 pm	Mary Ann McGarry (Center for the Environment) – Mahara
5:30 pm	Terry Downs (Art) – Moodle
5:45 pm	Eric Cintron (Language and Linguistics) – Mahara
6:00 pm	Terri Dautcher (College of Business Administration) – Facebook
6:15 pm	Kathleen Norris (Education) – Mahara
6:30 pm	Dana Ernst (Mathematics) – Mendeley
6:45 pm	2nd Half Panel Discussion/Questions

To see event details in PDF form, click here

Program Details:

3:15 pm – 3:30 pm:

Opening remarks by Provost Julie Bernier

3:30 pm – 3:45 pm:

Craig Nevins (iPad) – In the past, Craig has used DVD’s and VHS tapes to provide meaningful visuals for his students. With the emergence of online file storage, Craig now uses an iPad to display content straight from his iTunes library. Join Craig as he discusses how the iPad has enhanced his classroom experience.

3:45 pm – 4:00 pm:

David Talbot (TurningPoint) – A Student Response System (or “clickers”) is a tool that can be used in traditional lecture-based lessons to assess students’ comprehension of complex material. It provides both the instructor and the students immediate feedback so that instruction can be tailored to student needs (formative assessment). Join David as he will discuss his use of theTurningPoint system in his Real Estate Investment course.

4:00 pm – 4:15 pm:

Leo Sandy (Mahara) – Mahara (Plymouth State’s ePortfolio platform) provides users an excellent opportunity to showcase their talents and skills. Join Leo as he demonstrates his electronic “brag sheet”, created via Mahara. He will share his goals, creation process, reason he chose Mahara, and the challenges that he encountered.

4:15 pm – 4:30 pm:

Liesl Lindley (Moodle) – Liesl has created a course in Moodle that looks and acts just like a professional web site. Join her at this presentation as she discusses her outcomes, techniques, and the reaction from her students.

4:30 pm – 4:45 pm:

Bob Nadeau (TurningPoint) – Over the past few years Student Response Systems (or “clickers”) have been utilized to incorporate student interaction and real time assessment into face to face classes. Bob has been able to operate TurningPoint, Plymouth State’s student response system, with high levels of success. His unique approach focuses on collaborative group questions. When his groups compete against each other to answer a series of questions, the classroom gives way to active student learning and reinforcement. Join Bob as he discusses his experiences with using the TurningPoint system.

4:45 pm – 5:00 pm:

Christine Rine (Big Blue Button) – Big Blue Button, which was introduced via Moodle in early January, has opened up a variety of possibilities for student learning and connectedness with ease of accessibility. This synchronous virtual meeting room has been used in a variety of ways here on campus. In a very short period of time, Big Blue Button has been successful in: students receiving tutoring from the PASS office, facilitating remote guest speakers, conducting online office hours, overcoming weather challenges, and aiding in various aspects of process teaching. Join Christine as she discusses the benefits of using Big Blue Button in her face to face and online classroom.

5:00 pm – 5:15 pm:

1st Half Panel Discussion

5:15 pm – 5:30 pm:

Mary Ann McGarry (Mahara) – Mary Ann has recently been asked to write a journal article for Journal Science Scope. Unfortunately, there was a word limit that proved to be difficult to work around. Mary Ann then turned to Mahara and created a public web page that showcased all of the information she wanted to discuss. When she wrote the article, she directed the reader to her Mahara web page for more information. Come join Mary Ann as she discusses how to use Mahara for showcasing information and content.

5:30 pm – 5:45 pm:

Terry Downs (Moodle) – Using an adaptation of just-in-time teaching (Novack & Paterson 1998), Terry will discuss how he generated enhanced conversations with his Art Senior Seminar students. The night before his face-to-face class discussion, Terry visited his Moodle classroom and observed numerous student forum posts. The next day in class, he was able to use his findings to facilitate thought-provoking dialogue. Join Terry as he discusses his experience with using this strategy.

5:45 pm – 6:00 pm:

Eric Cintron (Mahara) – At the end of each semester, Eric asks his students to create a DVD full of the projects and assignments worked on throughout the course. Now that Mahara has become available, Eric has further digitized this process by allowing students to submit their work via a template that he has designed. Join him at this presentation as he discusses the decision to move away from DVDs, the pros and cons of using Mahara, and some examples of his student submissions.

6:00 pm – 6:15 pm:

Terri Dautcher (Facebook) – Wishing that your students were more engaged with content outside of the classroom? Facebook forums (closed groups) can connect students to content and encourage them to share ideas without sacrificing their privacy. This presentation will present examples of Facebook forums that have been used in both online and face-to-face classes. Terri will discuss the pros and cons of this tool and share ideas for expanding the use of Facebook to support learning communities.

6:15 pm – 6:30 pm:

Kathleen Norris (Mahara) – The Summer EdD Cohort recently decided to use Mahara and its Groups feature as their location for online collaboration. Join Kathleen as she explains the rationale for choosing Mahara as well as demonstrating its use.

6:30 pm – 6:45 pm:

Dana Ernst (Mendeley) – Mendeley is a free cross-platform application that allows scholars to manage, annotate, and share their research collections. With Mendeley you can create a bibliographic database, read, search, annotate, and highlight PDFs, synchronize database across multiple machines and share it with colleagues, quickly cite papers in Word, OpenOffice, and LaTeX and create bibliographies with one click. Join Dana as he discusses his experiences using Mendeley.

6:45 pm – 7:00 pm:

2nd Half Panel Discussion

Back by popular demand, Learning Technologies and Online Education’s January Jamboree is returning this January. For those of you unfamiliar with the event, the Jamboree is a month filled with workshops, presentations, and discussions that focus on instructional technologies and their application within the classroom. Use the registration form below to sign up for your desired workshops. Also be sure to check back here for any updates to the program. Click here to revisit last year’s January Jamboree.

Workshop Descriptions:

3D web – Interested in seeing the future of education? Virtual worlds and augmented reality are quickly becoming popular topics in the world of academia. Register for this workshop and learn all about Second Life and other virtual worlds as well as uncovering the vast potential of augmented reality.

Classroom Technology Services (CTS) – Did you know that PSU has numerous video cameras and other equipment that can be loaned out to students, faculty, and staff? Join Todd Kent, Plymouth State’s Technology Coordinator for Classrooms and Events, as he discusses these available technologies here at Plymouth. Todd will also discuss the equipment reservation process as well as an overview of the computer cart available in most classrooms.

Collaborative learning – Have you ever been frustrated by sending files to others via email? By using collaborative products, such as wikis and Google Docs, information can be shared in easier to manage formats. This also makes group work easier and less confusing. Join us at this workshop as we discuss the benefits of using wikis and Google Docs in the classroom environment.

Converting a face-to-face class to an online format - Converting a face-to-face class into an online format is not a simple process. Since both environments are completely different, it requires a different approach to building a quality online course. Join us to learn more about common problems found in making such a conversion. Issues such as VPN requirements, Internet access, and general course design will all be addressed.

Mahara – You may have heard of electronic portfolios (e-Portfolios) as they are quickly becoming popular in academia as of late. Join us as we explore Mahara, Plymouth State’s new e-Portfolio system. Mahara will be your approach to digitizing your resume, sharing important artifacts with others, or even building your own website. There are countless uses for Mahara within your class, come join us as we discuss it’s advantages for you and your students.

Mahara Day - This day is dedicated to using Mahara, Plymouth State’s new e-Portfolio system. Learn how to set up and use templates, create blogs, organize student projects, and build your own professional portfolio. Also included will be demonstrations by PSU faculty and students on their own Mahara projects. * Refreshments will be served.

Mobile technology – The world is abuzz with mobile devices flooding the market. Items such as the iPad, iTouch, and various types of Smart Phones (phones with Internet access) are being used frequently by students. Join us as we discuss the pros (and cons) of using these mobile technologies in your classroom. There will also be a hands on portion of this workshop where you can explore some of these products on your own.

Moodle Day – Advanced – Looking for more advanced Moodle features? From student reporting to incorporating multimedia, Moodle can be used in numerous ways. Topics covered within this time period will include creating and managing your Gradebook, embedding and storing multimedia (audio, video, etc.), wikis, course blogs, and student tracking.

Moodle Day – Beginner – Looking to get started with using Moodle? Come to this workshop to learn about the Moodle basics. Topics covered within this time period will include a general overview of the Moodle environment, adding your syllabus, and creating assignments and forums.

Moodle Day – Intermediate – Interested in expanding your Moodle use? Come to this workshop to learn more about Moodle’s interactive activities. Topics covered within this time period will include quizzes, polls, groups, groupings, and the chat features.

Moodle Tips and Faculty Showcase – Over the past few semesters, we have seen numerous Moodle features that are well received by faculty and students alike. However, we’ve also seen some features that don’t work so well. Join us during this session as we point out some of the best Moodle tips that we’ve encountered so far. We will also spend some hands on time in the computer lab, exploring the best ways to design and organize your course. We’re also interested in showcasing a few faculty volunteers who are willing to share their Moodle experiences so far.

PowerPoint games – Looking for a new way to get your students active in the classroom? Why not try a PowerPoint game such as “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” or “Jeopardy”? Utilizing student response systems, or “clickers”, your students will have the opportunity to interact with your lecture. These clickers are handheld devices that allow a user to “ring in” an answer to a question posed via PowerPoint. Using a game format has proven to be quite effective for student learning as well as for the instructor. Join us as we discuss the steps in using PowerPoint games in your classroom.

Presentation software – Tired of using the same old PowerPoint presentation? Join us at this workshop as we explore several different PowerPoint alternatives. Web based products such as Prezi and SlideRocket will be covered. We will also cover some PowerPoint tricks for those who are interested in expanding their PowerPoint knowledge.

Screen capturing – Looking for a new way to deliver content to your students outside of class? The term “screen capture” refers to recording your computer screen as you deliver lectures, tutorials, or feedback to your students. The use of screen capturing, in pairing with a microphone, allows you to provide guidance to your students without meeting face to face. Join us as we demonstrate and explore the art of screen capturing.

SMART Boards – Commonly referred to as an “interactive whiteboard”, a SMART Board lets you use your finger as a mouse, allowing you to interact with the screen. Draw, write, and insert objects and text right on to the board. When you are done, save your work as a picture or PDF to be sent to the entire class. Join us as we discuss and explore the endless possibilities of a SMART Board.

Storing multimedia (audio, video, and images) – Looking for the best way to store multimedia for your students to access? Register for this workshop to explore Plymouth State’s new multimedia repository system. We will also discuss the many ways of utilizing multimedia into your course, whether it’s face to face, blended, or online. Note: if you have sample video files, bring them along on a USB key or on your laptop.

The Computer Ate My Homework – As we increasingly rely on technology for our online course work, we inherit many of technology’s mishaps. However, many of these situations can be avoided by learning some ”tricks of the trade”. Did you know that Moodle has in depth tracking features, so you can tell if your students really submitted on time? Are you also familiar with saving a word document in generic formats (such as PDF or RTF), which will result in easier access? Come join us at this workshop as we discuss common excuses and mishaps when dealing with technology.

Virtual classrooms – Have you ever wanted to have a meeting with your students in a secure, online location? Our new virtual classroom system, known as Big Blue Button, allows you to meet virtually with your class in a private meeting room! Completely integrated with Moodle, Big Blue Button allows for live online lectures, screen sharing, webcam and microphone support, and more. Come join us at this workshop to learn how to use this exciting new tool and ideas to integrate it into your course.

Web 2.0 tools - We hear the term “Web 2.0″ quite often but what exactly does it mean? Web 2.0 represents the new “information era”, where information is available in interesting and interactive formats. Web 2.0 tools allows any user to create and share content, quickly and easily. Join us as we discuss some of the best Web 2.0 tools available online and how they can be used effectively in your course. Topics such as Twitter, VoiceThread, Delicious, and more will be covered.

Video Presentations

Opening Remarks – Ellen Murphy, Plymouth State University:

Mahara (Elementary) – Danielle Bolduc and Sonja Gonzalez, ORCSD:

Mahara (Middle School) – Carol Liss and Sherry Hegstrom, Timberlane Regional Middle School:

Sakai (K-12) – Deb Boisvert, Deerfield Community School, and Theresa Schneiderheinze, Three Rivers Middle School:

Mahara (High School) – Kathy Weise, Windham High School:

Date:

Monday, October 4th, 2010

8:30 am – 3:00 pm

Location:

Heritage Commons (in Samuel Read Hall)

Plymouth State University

Plymouth, NH 03264

Click here for a map

Click here for directions

Click here for the campus shuttle route

Click here for the Visitor Parking Permit

Registration:

https://www.events.unh.edu/RegistrationForm.pm?event_id=7593

(Please be aware that seating is limited)

Presentation Descriptions:

Mahara (Elementary) – Danielle Bolduc and Sonja Gonzalez, ORCSD:

• Oyster River Cooperative School District, ORCSD, has used Mahara in conjunction with Moodle in their K-12 environment. The use of Mahara at the elementary level is to gather artifacts by uploading them into folders. We will review who is actually pressing the keys at these early learner levels, how the artifacts are organized, and what the plan for the artifacts is.

Mahara (Middle School) – Carol Liss, Sherry Hegstrom, and Jim Smith, Timberlane Regional Middle School:

• The Technology Teachers from Timberlane Regional School District will present how their students use Mahara to create ePortfolios. Their presentation will include how the students have set up profiles, uploaded artifacts, created views, and reflected on their artifacts.

Sakai (K-12) – Deb Boisvert, Deerfield Community School, and Theresa Schneiderheinze, Three Rivers Middle School:

• The Sakai Collaborative consists of 12 + districts across the state of New Hampshire who support each other in the use of Sakai for portfolios and course management. Portfolios are used at different sites to meet local needs, with focuses on ICT Digital Portfolio needs k-12, HS competencies and graduation portfolios and Professional Staff Portfolios. Portfolios are used as formative and summative assessment in both dynamic working and showcase formats.

Mahara (High School) – Kathy Weise, Windham High School:

• Windham High School is a new (opened September 2009) NH high school with one-to-one laptops and high technology use throughout the curriculum. Windham teachers use Moodle extensively to enrich their classrooms. Mahara was implemented as an online portfolio solution for all students to fulfill the portfolio graduation requirement. Kathy will describe last year’s portfolio requirements and share her stories of the first year of student ePortfolio creation in a high school.

Panel Discussion (Breakout) – Judy Ciesielski, Plymouth State University:

• Panel discussion on the future of ePortfolios in teacher education

Managing Backend Issues (Breakout) – ITS Staff, Plymouth State University:

• Tech-coordinators will meet with ITS Staff to discuss backend issues with supporting LMS and ePortfolio systems

Presenter Bios:

Cathy Higgins, State Educational Technology Director, New Hampshire Department of Education

• Dr. Cathy Higgins works in the Office of Educational Technology at the New Hampshire Department of Education. In her position as State Educational Technology Director, she provides assistance to schools in planning and developing educational technology, information literacy, and online learning programs. Dr. Higgins facilitates the distribution of federal educational technology grant funds to schools to support learning powered with technology and serves as the New Hampshire Project Director for a multi-state E-Learning for Educators online professional development program. Cathy has a B.A. from North Park University, M.Ed. from University of Massachusetts Amherst, C.A.G.S. from Plymouth State University, and Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Argosy University.

Danielle Bolduc, Director of Learning, ORCSD, and Sonja Gonzalez, Director of IT, ORCSD

• Danielle Bolduc worked at ORCSD for over 10 years as a Technology Integration Specialist before being promoted to Director of Learning. In this role, one of her responsibilities is curriculum where she can work with teachers to integrate technology. Sonja Gonzalez is the Director of IT at ORCSD. She has worked in IT in schools for the past 10 years, and previously had been in sales, marketing, and engineering. Bolduc and Gonzalez work together to make sure the systems are functioning well, workflow is in place, and students and staff understand how to use the portfolio system.

Carol Liss, Technology Educator, Timberlane Regional Middle School

• This is Carol’s 9th year at Timberlane, 3rd year as a teacher at the Middle School and 6 years of prior experience teaching students with special needs. Carol’s technical background stems from working at Hewlett-Packard Company for over 15 years, where her computer knowledge expanded along with the technology advances.

Sherry Hegstrom, Timberlane Regional Middle School

• Sherry Hegstrom has her Masters in Computer Education from Plymouth State University. She is an active presenter and participant of classroom 2.0. She has been teaching for 5 years and has enjoyed working for TRMs.

Deb Boisvert, Technology Coordinator, Deerfield Community School, and Theresa Schneiderheinze, Technology Integrator, Three Rivers Middle School

• Deb and Theresa have been active leaders of the Sakai implementation at SAU 53 which developed into the state wide collaborative. The collaborative provides sharing and support for Sakai users.

Kathy Weise, Technology Integration Specialist, Windham High School

• Kathy Weise is Windham High’s Technology Integration Specialist who ensures that all teachers have the continual training and support to utilize the technologies available to them. Prior to Windham, Kathy worked in Exeter as the district webmaster and online learning specialist and at the Seacoast Professional Development Center teaching workshops on Moodle, Mahara and many aspects of technology integration.

Gene Fahey, Senior Associate Director, Plymouth State University

• Gene Fahey, head of undergraduate admission, came to Plymouth State in 1975 from Mercyhurst College (PA), where he served as associate director of admission.

Judy Ciesielski, Graduate Programming and Assessment Coordinator, Plymouth State University

• Judy Ciesielski has over a decade of experience in higher education, with the past six of those years working with teacher certification candidates in a variety of areas. One of those areas is the use of ePortfolios with pre-service teachers in the IHE setting; both piloting and implementing eportfolio usage. “At Plymouth State University, the conceptual vision of how ePortfolios will be used to support pre- service teachers both academically and developmentally is one that I whole heartedly support”. Judy is the graduate programming and assessment coordinator in the College of Graduate Studies at PSU, and holds an MS in Business Education, and an MEd in Curriculum and Instruction.

We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!

Date:
Thursday April 1, 2010
3:15 PM – 6:30 PM

Locations:
HUB Multi-Purpose Room (MPR)
HUB Room 109
HUB Room 123

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To see event details in PDF form, click here

Presentation Descriptions:

3:15 pm – 3:30 pm:

HUB MPR – Opening remarks by Provost Julie Bernier

3:30 pm – 3:45 pm:

HUB 109 – Virginie Gindoff, Satellite Radio & PowerPoint Games - In her Fundamentals of French class, Virginie uses technology everyday. Not only does she use movie clips and PowerPoint games,but the textbook comes with online resources. However, her most unique technology is one that she uses to start class everyday. Virginie turns to the internet to access a french radio station to which her students listen and learn. Join Virginie as she demonstrates and discusses her use of technology in the classroom.

3:45 pm – 4:00 pm:

HUB 123 – Louise McCormack, Inspiration - Visual learning through the use of mind mapping tools can help students to comprehend, create, communicate and collaborate. Louise McCormack has successfully used the “Inspiration” software (www.inspiration.com/educators) as a instructional method with the teacher certification students in her classroom.

4:00 pm – 4:15 pm:

HUB 109 – Elliott Gruner, Teaching and Texting – Texting has proven useful for informing, instructing, and otherwise communicating with students in and out of the classroom; however, since texting is usually used for more informal communication and isn’t usually supported by academic technology, some question its legitimacy and appropriateness for pedagogical work. And many claim that texting is, at best, a nuisance (something to be regulated in the classroom) and, at worst, destroying literacy skills because textspeak is showing up in more formal writing. We’ll take on these issues and explore how best to consider, use, support, and mind texting in and for the classroom.

4:15 pm – 4:30 pm:

HUB 123 – Lynn Davis, Mahara - E-portfolios can be used to capture evidence of students’ development and learning, as well as contain reflections on that evidence and their growth, and used to communicate this information to others for academic, professional and lifelong learning purposes. Lynn Davis will discuss her experience using the Mahara e-portfolio with her Childhood Studies students.

4:30 pm – 4:45 pm:

HUB 109 – Douglas Fife, Digital Projects - Over the past decade, Douglas Fife has used video and image editing projects within his Adulthood and Aging course. His students enjoy working with digital video and image manipulation as they work toward understanding key concepts. Join Douglas as he discusses the use of digital projects within his classes.

4:45 pm – 5:00 pm:

HUB 123 – Terri Dautcher, Flip Videos – Camcorders are now made small enough to be easily portable and affordable.Terri will discuss her use of a flip video camera in the classroom to help students evaluate their presentation of self and track progress in their performance over the semester. She has also been using it to create introductory videos for online classes and assignments.

5:00 pm – 5:15 pm:

HUB 109 – Philip Inwood, Blackboard and ARTstor – ARTstor is a digital image library that is accessed through Lamson Library’s online databases. Phil will present some of his positive experiences with ARTstor and Blackboard with regards to expanding the possibilities in the classroom and beyond.

5:15 pm – 5:30 pm:

HUB 123 – Michelle Fistek, Tablet PC with Ubiquitous Presenter – Using a Tablet PC and a Ubiquitous Presenter can incorporate digital presentations with automatic archive of materials and impromptu annotation of previously prepared slides. This combination of technologies provides students with timely clarifications, customized diagrams, and step by-step in-class examples.during lecture.in addition, students can have access to the archive of materials from their class and can take part in lectures through laptops or cell phones. Michelle will demonstrate her use of these technologies in the classroom.

5:30 pm – 5:45 pm:

HUB 109 – Matt Cheney, Blogs – This past semester, Matt Cheney has decided to utilize a class blog to complement Blackboard. Using WordPress, a popular blogging software, Matt has turned his Intro to Film class into a thriving community of articles, student postings, and feedback. Join Matt as he discusses his experiences with his WordPress blog.

5:45 pm – 6:00 pm:

HUB 123 – Bruce Wiggett, Tablet PC – The Tablet PC is a portable laptop which allows for hand held drawing and writing. This has become extremely useful for Bruce Wiggett and his Personal Finance classes. With the ability to quickly save drawings, graphs, charts, and notes to PDF format, Bruce’s time spent in front of the chalkboard has diminished. Join Bruce as he discusses his experiences with his own Tablet PC.

6:00 pm – 6:15 pm:

HUB MPR – Dana Ernst, Wikis – In the Web 2.0 world, more and more of reading, writing, and communicating occurs online. A popular Web 2.0 product is called a Wiki, which is a type of website that allows users to add, remove, or edit content quickly and easily. Dana Ernst is a proponent of their use, as they provide his students with an opportunity to collaborate together. Join Dana as he discusses the use of his wiki (http://ma4140.wikidot.com/) with his Algebraic Structures class.

6:15 pm – 6:30 pm:

HUB 123 – Bob Nadeau, TurningPoint - Over the past few years Student Response Systems (or “clickers”) have been utilized to incorporate student interaction and real time assessment into a face to face class. Through the use of these hand-held clickers, students can ring in their answers to instructor-made PowerPoint slides. Their responses appear in real time, with accompanying graphs and charts. Come join Bob Nadeau as he discusses the many uses of TurningPoint, Plymouth State’s student response system.

6:30 pm:

HUB MPR – Concluding remarks by Learning Technologies and Online Education

For a list of the workshops offered, click here