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Online Survey Tools 101
Presenters: Julie Allmayer, Steve Chestnut, Rich Varenas
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In this course, we will demonstrate a number of online tools that can be used for surveying, including Snap, Blackboard (Bb) Vista, SurveyMonkey, Zoomerang, SharePoint, and GoogleDocs. A comparison of the accessibility, cost, advantages, and disadvantages of these products will also be offered.
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Library Resources for Online Education
Presenters: Jay Bhatt, Beth Ten Have
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Blackboard (Bb) Vista can be a very useful tool for creating a customized collection of course-specific library resources for faculty members teaching those courses. This collection would help students successfully complete their research projects or assignments using more authoritative and higher-quality resources. Through this interactive session, participants will learn how to find, use and link appropriate library-subscribed electronic resources based on course content and student requirements.
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Creating and Editing Web Content for the Non-Expert
Presenters: Dan Allen
View Presentation You no longer need to be well-versed in HTML or CSS to have your say on the Web. There are an ever-increasing number of products and services available today that allow any of us with an interest or need in publishing content to the Web to do so, regardless of our technology background.
But these technologies are a double-edged sword. While they allow easy access to the Web, they also leave the door wide open to a host of bad practices that can adversely affect the usability of your web site, its accessibility to users with disabilities, the ability of search engines such as Google to find and index your content, and the ease with which you can update or reuse your work in the future.
In this workshop we will demonstrate best practices and show you how to avoid the pitfalls. We will begin with some overarching principles that will serve as guides, and then focus on specific techniques that will ensure your content meets your requirements as well as the needs of your users.
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E-Books and Book Readers: Is it Soup Yet?
Presenters: Scott Beadenkopf, Tim Siftar
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A convergence of economic, social and technology trends have created a storm of interest in electronic textbooks in both commercial and academic circles. Traditional publishers are offering electronic review copies and student editions through the CourseSmart standard, while new and open source publishers are experimenting with their own channels of distribution. Students are reading the classics on iPods and eBook readers or listening to texts through text-to-speech converters. This workshop will report on the latest events and trends in the electronic textbook and will demonstrate and review the major hardware and software platforms for reading and browsing. As library book collections go increasingly electronic, new opportunities to collaborate arise between academic departments and librarians for addressing the required reading needs of students. The session will also examine both the pros and cons of the e-book products of major vendors in relationship to the library, and suggest best practices for optimizing the relationship between academic departments and librarians. This portion of the talk is drawn from the experience of librarians at Drexel University’s Hagerty Library.
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Adobe Acrobat Connect
Presenters: Michael Shelmet, Chris Shields
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There are many choices out there for online collaboration. Some offer the ability to have audio and video chat, others will allow you to share your desktop and some will let you post digital materials to work cooperatively. Based in Flash, Adobe Acrobat Connect will allow you to do all of this and more. This workshop will review the functionality of the software as well as go over how the different roles interact with one another.
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DragonDrop, Part I
Presenters: Charles Dennis, Steve Tolton, Karissa Demi, Matt Kaminsky
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View Presentation - Ins and Outs
View Presentation - Infrastructure
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This session will provide a high-level overview of the DragonDrop system for content capture, creation and publication of rich media, as well as take a closer look at the system components that comprise DragonDrop including the web application, routing engine, encoding infrastructure, and media and application servers. In particular, the use of Flash and Flash-based technologies in the context of DragonDrop will be explored. A look ahead to the "DragonDrop, Part II" session will be provided at the end.
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DragonDrop, Part II
Presenters: Charles Dennis, Steve Tolton, Karissa Demi, Matt Kaminsky
All presentation materials listed under DragonDrop, Part I
A brief recap of "DragonDrop, Part I" will be provided at the beginning of the session. We will then examine external systems that both leverage and enhance the DragonDrop system, including the Camtasia Relay screen capture software; Drexel's upcoming video portal, DrexelView; and Drexel's iTunes U site. Users with laptops will be invited to test drive DragonDrop for themselves.
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Adobe Acrobat In Depth
Presenter: Krystle Adkins
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Adobe Acrobat can do more than just generate documents that are easy to distribute via e-mail or download from a Web site. This powerful software application has a number of features and tools that both faculty and students can use for instructional purposes. After a brief introduction to the application and its basic features, you will learn about some of the tools that can be employed to produce interactive PDF (Portable Document Format) documents. Through examples and demonstrations, see how you can use audio and text comments to grade student papers, create a learning module that includes a Flash movie or audio instructions, easily create fillable forms, and enable students to key information into a PDF document. You will also hear tips for getting the most from this versatile tool and learn about some free Adobe applications that you may find useful for engaging students. Participants are encouraged to install the latest version of Adobe Reader on their laptops (from www.adobe.com/reader) and bring them to this session.
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Painless User Testing
Presenter: Dan Allen
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Most everyone agrees that user testing provides important insight into the usability of websites, but it is often dismissed from the design process due to fears that it is too costly, complicated and time-consuming.
User testing, however, can be administered quickly and easily, and the information it provides is invaluable. When conducted properly, it identifies major problems early on, resolves disputes that arise among members of the design team, and ultimately provides a positive experience for end-users.
This workshop will show you how to implement user testing efficiently and in a way that improves the design process rather than interfering with it.
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SharePoint in an Academic Environment
Presenters: Brett Cohen, Chris Shields
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Microsoft SharePoint is a platform that supports collaboration, process management, and document management functions within an organization. In this course, we will present specific examples of how SharePoint can be used in academic settings. The use of SharePoint will also be compared and contrasted with the use of an LMS (Learning Management System) in an academic context.
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iWebfolio Pilot Project: Professional Portfolios for Graduate Nursing Students
Presenters: Renee A'Hearn, Fran Cornelius, Rich Varenas
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Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions recently piloted iWebfolio, a new e-portfolio application. This project was undertaken to explore whether iWebfolio could help develop a final portfolio template to be used by Masters of Science in Nursing students as a means of highlighting their professional and academic accomplishments while capturing important programmatic outcome data. The pilot provided an opportunity to test our template as well as receive valuable feedback from students and faculty on their experience as iWebfolio users. This presentation will review the technical aspects of portfolio administration, highlight key decisions in template design and evaluation and discuss the lessons learned from student, faculty and administrative perspectives.
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Bridging the Digital Divide between Faculty and Students
Presenters: Jennifer Gay, Daniel Stuart
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As new technologies emerge, it gets harder for faculty to keep up with students. This session will highlight several Web 2.0 applications and services that can be used in combination with existing learning modules.
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Emerging Trends in IT
Presenters: Joe Lynn, Katie Ierardi, Mike Wolk (Apple), Pete Bernard (Apple)
With the change in technology trends on campus and new Windows & Mac operating systems on the horizon, what is changing and what will remain the same? This session will highlight the trend of increasing Mac use on campus and explore the implications of Apple popularity. It will highlight new features of Apple’s new MacOS, Snow Leopard (by our friends at Apple). It will also include an overview of Microsoft’s newest OS, Windows 7.
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Synchronous and Asynchronous: A General Guide to Classroom Video Capture Technology
Presenters: Rob Rasberry, Cory Schmitt, Sean Brown
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This session will present an overview of video capture techniques and practices in the classroom. We will highlight a few synchronous and asynchronous applications that are popular in classroom environments and discuss how they can benefit students and staff.
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Free and Open Source Software for Teaching and Learning
Presenters: Chad Kealey, Jeffrey Berman
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Handout
Software costs can be prohibitive towards teaching and learning for both instructors and students. Software that is free (as in thought as well as cost) can alleviate this burden while still meeting classroom objectives effectively. In this workshop, we will cover the basics of Free and Open Source Software, discuss the advantages and disadvantages compared to proprietary software, explain how to get support for open applications, and demonstrate some useful examples.
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Free and Open Source Software for Communication & Collaboration
Presenters: Chad Kealey, Jeffrey Berman
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Software costs can be prohibitive towards small businesses as well as work or study groups. Software that is free (as in thought as well as cost) can alleviate this burden while still meeting business and educational objectives effectively. In this workshop, we will cover the basics of Free and Open Source Software, discuss the advantages and disadvantages compared to proprietary software, explain how to get support for open applications, and demonstrate some useful examples.