May 2009 Archives

Distributing files via Blackboard is convenient for both faculty and students, but what about the type of file that is being distributed? This blog post will take a look at how saving files in various formats can reduce download time for students, and provide for greater accessibility!

Microsoft PowerPoint has become a common method for creating course content. The chart below illustrates the differences in file sizes of a 35 slide presentation that was created in PowerPoint 2007.

While the PowerPoint 2007 file is smaller than the PowerPoint 97-03 file, not all students will be able to open PowerPoint 2007 files.

The PDF version of the presentation is the smallest, at under 1mb. The PDF format is also the most universal file format with Adobe Acrobat Reader available for multiple computing platforms including PC, Mac, Linux, and Mobile devices.

While the Flash version of the presentation is not the smallest, it is less than half the size of the PowerPoint 97-03 file! The Flash format, like the PDF format, is able to be accessed on a variety of computing platforms including PC, Mac, and Linux with a free Flash Player.

Converting a presentation from PowerPoint to PDF is easy with Office 2007. Simply select File --> Save as --> PDF. For faculty who do not have Office 2007, the PCSS Consultation Desk located in Corrigan Hall room 29 will be able to assist you in upgrading to Office 2007.

authorPOINT lite is a free application that will allow you to convert a PowerPoint file into a Flash file. Please see the attached PDF guide to download and install this application.
authorPoint Lite.pdf

With the upgrade to Blackboard version 9 this summer, you will see several new features that will help you to work more efficiently in your Blackboard course. Some of the main enhancements include "drag and drop" functionality, which allows you to easily change the order of announcements, discussion board forums, test questions, and items within a content area of your course. Additionally, the Control Panel is now accessible from any page in your course without requiring you to click several times to get to the desired location. Drop-down menus now enable you to access any area quickly and efficiently!

There is a new "course homepage" feature which allows you to customize what the students see upon entering your course. Options include a "To Do" and "Tasks" area, alerting the students to items that need to be completed or are due in the near future. Also, students will be notified of changes and updates made to the course so that they can stay updated on all the latest information in the course.

Stay tuned for more detailed information about Blackboard 9 and upcoming training sessions!

The Spring semster is finally over and it's time to gear up for the TLTC Summer Series. Every Summer the Teaching, Learning and Technology Center holds a series of day-long workshops centered on technology in teaching in learning. The series starts on Monday, May 18th and runs through August 11th. To register today go to http://tltc.shu.edu/register !
We hope to see you there.

Creating an online presence has become an essential task for most professionals. Whether you are looking to connect to others with common interests, build a career or start a small business, this task can be daunting. It is important to realize that the process takes time however, it can be done well with some planning and patience.

One of the first items to consider creating is a blog. A blog traditionally provides commentary on a particular subject, typically combining text, images and links to other blogs. However, the word blog has taken on a looser meaning in the past few years where any type of media can be used to express opinion or talk about something. There are many advantages to creating a blog to represent yourself online, one of which is to connect with others that have similar research interests. You can also use the blog as a narrative of your professional life to include conferences attended, academic presentations delivered, papers published and current interests.

During the 2008-2009 academic year, Dr. Michael Taylor, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies, has been one of the faculty leaders of SHUmobile, our campus-wide initiative for determining how mobile devices can be effectively used in teaching, learning, and social networking for the campus community. Dr. Taylor has incorporated mobile devices (Nokia N95), digital storytelling, blogging/vlogging (video blogging) and live video streaming in two of his courses: Introduction to Environmental Studies and Introduction to Public Policy.

In the Fall of 2008, students in Dr Taylor's Introduction to Environmental Studies course worked on two digital storytelling projects. The first project, "New Jersey Environmental Narratives," involved students creating digital stories about a place in New Jersey that has been especially important in terms of shaping their own attitudes toward the natural environment. Dr. Taylor feels that

"the creation of these personal narratives of place allowed for a deeper discussion of the roles of culture and world view in the development of environmental consciousness and that these reflective stories that were created and shared among the students led to a better understanding of each other and themselves."

Students were required to geo-code their images and all of the digital stories were linked to their spatial location using Google Maps. Future Environmental Studies classes will build upon this map/database of special environmental locations in the state of New Jersey. Examples of these digital storytelling projects can be found on Dr. Taylor's blog, Using Mobile Technology in the Classroom.

The second digital storytelling project for this course was called "Green Consumer Ethnographies." Students were required to create short digital ethnographies that detailed their feelings about what it means for a specific product to be "green" and how that impacts their purchasing decisions. The digital ethnographies were created using images (still and/or video) captured using the Nokia N95 and compiled using Adobe Premiere Elements. This project was done in conjunction with EarthSense, a green marketing firm in Maplewood, NJ. Kimberly Franko, a student from this class, recently won the Student Technology Showcase award from the TLTR Committee in the Media category for her work on this project. Check out Kimberly's winning video: Green Poultry

During Dr. Taylor's Environmental Studies course, he also takes students on weekend field trips to various New Jersey environmental locations. Because these trips are on the weekends, not all students are able to attend. This time, Dr. Taylor took his students on the Meadowlands ecotour and with a free mobile application called Qik, he was able to livestream the tour from the boat. Students that were unable to attend the trip could view the steam live or were able to view the captured video clips at a later time. Additionally, students on the trip used their N95s to take geo-tagged photos during the ecotour and those can be seen, mapped using OVI, here.

In the Spring of 2009, students in Dr. Taylor's Introduction to Public Policy collaborated with a course blog where students blogged/vlogged about public policy positions. Students used the Nokia N95s to record their own video commentaries that were uploaded directly to the blog from the device. Students also wrote a term paper that analyzed a public policy issue of their choice. The Nokia N95s were used to conduct interviews with individuals who are affected by that public policy. Students then used Adobe Premiere Elements to cut the interviews into mini-documentaries. The mini-documentaries are being graded as you are reading this but you can see examples of student public policy position posts on the course blog, for example, this student post is about the New NJ Driving Law.

Dr. Taylor is an inspiring educator with a long list of new and exciting projects that he is developing for his upcoming courses. If you have any questions or comments for Dr. Taylor, this is his contact information, including his QR Code!