ETC677 Dipity

Thursday, April 29, 2010

ETC677 Lesson 6 Discussion Grades/Feedback

ETC677 Lesson 6 Discussion grades & Feedback posted. See Vista E-mail & grade book for details.

 

 

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Participate in Blackboard Vista Replacement Decision

#ETCNAU

e-Notes

2010/04/27

LMS DECISION PROCESS

NAU has launched the process for selecting a new Learning Management System (LMS) to replace Blackboard Vista, our current LMS. The Provost's Academic Computing Advisory Committee (PACAC) invites your participation in the decision process.

Now is the time to indicate how and to what extent you wish to participate in the selection of the successor to Blackboard Vista!

This email briefly outlines how you can be involved in the decision process. After reading the rest of this email, please spend a couple of minutes filling out the interest form to indicate your desired level of participation.

FLASH - Attend a webinar, Friday April 30th 10:00am-11:30am, offered by e-Learning to discuss the two options, Blackboard Learn and Moodle. This is but one of many coming opportunities to learn about these options.
(To resister see  http://www.nau.edu/~d-elearn/training/scheduleDetail.php?ID=3815)

How To Be Involved

You can help in any of the following ways:
(To indicate your interest in one of the following, please go to the interest form. There will be future general university communication about public forums as well as specific followup information for those expressing interest in deeper involvement.)

1.   Come to public events, review online materials and videos where the options are discussed, then provide your thoughts through the detailed survey we will be sending out in early Fall 2010.

2.   Spend some time in the test environments to experience the potential options, then complete surveys or participate in focus groups to share your thoughts and recommendations. Times TBA.

3.   Develop materials in one of the systems we review in pilot/test mode for one of your online classes or as a supplement for an in person class offered summer 2010 or Fall 2010. In Fall 2010 we will present results of these test courses and feedback from the faculty and students involved.

4.   Wait until the decision is made, then attend training to be prepared to happily either move old material or to develop new material in the new system.

Background on Replacement of Bb Vista

Our current Learning Management System (LMS) is Blackboard Vista. Blackboard announced that Vista will no longer be available for our use sometime in 2013. Working backwards, accounting for 12-18 months to take care of incompletes and grade challenges, our last courses offered in Vista should be no later than Fall 2011. Assuming it will take about 9-12 months to migrate all our existing course content, we need to start the process by January 2011. Therefore, our decision must be made no later than mid to late Fall 2010. As we collect information and have materials to share, see the LMS Decision Committee site at http://www2.nau.edu/~provo-p/pacac/subcommittees/LMS_decision/index.htm

E-Learning and ITS can and will support whatever system the university community can come to consensus as the best direction for NAU's online course activities. As a result of this process the decision/recommendation to the President and his Cabinet will be made by the Provost's Academic Computing Advisory Committee.

Response to the question:

"Why now, why are you making this change now? Is Vista not working or too expensive or what?

The answer to your most basic question of why, is that once Blackboard purchased WebCT a couple years ago, always on their agenda was to reduce product lines by merging their two Learning Management Systems, Bb Classic and Bb Vista, to a single new platform called Learn. Blackboard recently announced, as they have done with every other product they have purchased over the years, that by 2013 everyone must transition from Vista. By the way, that is also true for their original customers using Bb Classic. NAU has been involved in the design and beta testing of their replacement product called Bb Learn.

Is Blackboard Learn equal to or better than Vista? Well, in some ways yes, but in others no. There will be changes in names and some changes in functionality for various features. There are some new features and some features lost. As we work through the testing and pilot phase for making our decision, ELC will do the best we can to compare and contrast, but mostly to help design the transition to be as smooth as possible. Once the replacement system is selected, ELC will create documentation, FAQs, and tutorials as aids for faculty and students to learn the new system. There will be training. The basic migration of courses will be done by ELC, but in the end, with a totally new look and feel no matter the final choice, it will require some faculty time to learn the new system and adjust courses to map course activities, methodology and pedagogy to the new system. We are requesting funds from the Provost and the President to eas e this pain for faculty.

To be sure, this is really not something any of us wanted at this time, but it is not our choice. That said, it is important we make a selection that provides the best environment for out students, faculty, and online course activities.

Don
~~~~~~~~~~
 Don Carter
 NAU e-Learning Center, Director
 tel: (928) 523-1605 | fax: (928) 523-1662 | don.carter@nau.edu | http://www.nau.edu/elearning
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"To have a great idea, have a lot of them."        Thomas Edison
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Monday, April 26, 2010

To win Ed Tech Books: 4 more days to go

Have you participated the “To Win Educational Technology Books” event?! It will end April 30, Friday. #ETCNAU

Please share your experiences with other ETC students to win education technology books. Join ETC Community on Facebook Page and share your learning experiences with other ETC students.  The more you share; the better chance to win; the more books you can win. For more information see: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flagstaff-AZ/ETC-NAU/105567158813?v=app_2373072738

 

·         What books can I win?

·         http://delicious.com/tag/ToWinBooks+ETCNAU

 

·         Course experiences that I had were from last year? Count?

·         Yes!

Wish to be removed from ETC Listserv.

 

Thursday, April 22, 2010

ETC Community Series: Integrating Second Life in Teaching & Learning Foreign Languages #ETCNAU

Guest Presenters:  Drs. Hong Zhan, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott & Hsiu-Jen Cheng, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan.

Date/Time: April 23, 2010, Friday, 7-8 pm Arizona Time

Location: ETC Community Elluminate.

Second Life (SL), a 3-D virtual world, has been found beneficial to foreign language education because of its immersive and interactive environments. The presenters will share an on-going study exploring integrating SL into teaching and learning Mandarin Chinese. The presenters will describe the process of the collaborative study involving a teacher training program in Taiwan, an undergraduate degree program in the US, and an information technology institute in Taiwan. The presenters will demonstrate SL teaching and learning task design samples and show SL video clips demonstrating how teaching and learning Chinese can take place in the 3-D virtual environment. Results of their pilot study will be also shared.

Wish to be removed from ETC Listserv.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Peer Evaluations on Units

Please avoid initiate any new threads on “Unit Presentations & Evaluation” discussion board.  Each person has his/her own thread.  If you do not need it, scroll down to the bottom of the discussion thread and change “Page” to “All” so you can see all threads in one screen.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Unit Presentations

Each of you receives three common questions from me in regarding to your unit presentations.  Be sure to address all questions on Vista discussion boards.

L7 Summary 04/19-05/02

 

  • Vista LogoLesson Moderators: Team 7

04/21 Wednesday

  • Google Docs LogoDue: Team 6's Lesson 6 discussion grade sheet

04/22 Thursday

  • Due: 1st posting period for Lesson 7 discussions: One posting at least: Respond to discussion question

04/25 Sunday

  • Due: 2nd posting period for Lesson 7 discussions: One posting at least: Respond to discussion question and/or respond to others' postings.

04/29 Thursday

  • Due: 3rd posting period for Lesson 7 discussions: One posting at least: Respond to discussion question and/or respond to others' postings.

05/02

Sunday

 

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Course Evaluation Available

Online Course Evaluation now open. Please visit http://www.nau.edu/course_evals to take the evaluation.

 

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

ETC677 Lesson 5 Discussion Grades/Feedback

ETC677 Lesson 5 Discussion grades & Feedback posted. See Vista E-mail & grade book for details.

 

 

A6 Group Treatise Paper

If your group submitted A6 Treatise Paper via Google Docs, please visit Google Docs for the feedback & Grade.

 

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

A6: Group Treatise Paper

Grades & feedback posted.  See Vista E-mail & grade book.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Win Educational Technology Books

Dear ETC students & alumni,

 

Have you joined ETC Community on Facebook yet?  Our “To Win Educational Technology Books” event is back and in the process now.  Please share your experiences with other ETC students to win education technology books. Join ETC Community on Facebook Page and share your learning experiences with other ETC students.  The more you share; the better chance to win; the more books you can win. All postings should be posted to ETC Community Facebook Page between April 1 and 30, 2010.  For more information see: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flagstaff-AZ/ETC-NAU/105567158813?v=app_2373072738

To be eligible to win books

·         Become ETC Community Fans

·         Post your course experiences to ETC Community Page.

Be sure to check out these recommendations before you enroll in any ETC courses.

****************************************************************************

Event Facilitator:

We need a student facilitator to facilitate this event.

Duty: Facilitate the discussion event. Encourage community members to become ETC Community Fans and share course experiences.

Reward: Select one book from our given away list.

Contact Dr. Chih Tu at Chih.Tu@nau.edu ASAP.

****************************************************************************

Q & A:

Q: I posted a few messages last year. Can I post again?

A: Yes, please share your thoughts with us again.

 

Q: I graduated. Am I eligible to post and to win books?

A: Yes, ETC Community is for all ETC current students, alumni.

 

Q: Currently, I did not enroll in ETC courses.  Am I eligible to post and to win books?

A: Yes, your shared experiences count.

Wish to be removed from ETC Listserv.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

MS Plugin Connects Office to Moodle

Have anyone tried this?

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2010/04/06/microsoft-plugin-connects-office-to-moodle.aspx

Monday, April 5, 2010

Lesson 6 (04/05-04/18) Highlight

   Vista LogoLesson Moderators: Team 6

04/07 Wednesday

  • Google Docs LogoDue: Team 5's Lesson 5 discussion gradesheet

04/08 Thursday

  • Due: 1st posting period for Lesson 6 discussions: One posting at least: Respond to discussion question

04/11 Sunday

  • Due: 2nd posting period for Lesson 6 discussions: One posting at least: Respond to discussion question and/or respond to others' postings.

04/15 Thursday

  • Due: 3rd posting period for Lesson 6 discussions: One posting at least: Respond to discussion question and/or respond to others' postings.

04/18

Sunday

  • Due: 4th posting period for Lesson 6 discussions: One posting at least: Respond to discussion question and/or respond to others' postings.
  • Due: Assignment 7: Distributed Learning Professional Development Unit
  • Due: Team 7 post discussion question.
  • Due: Lesson 7 Reading

 

ETC Community Series: Integrating Second Life in Teaching & Learning Foreign Languages

Guest Presenters:  Drs. Hong Zhan, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott & Hsiu-Jen Cheng, Chung Yuan Christian University, Taiwan.

Date/Time: April 23, 2010, Friday, 7-8 pm Arizona Time

Location: ETC Community Elluminate.

Second Life (SL), a 3-D virtual world, has been found beneficial to foreign language education because of its immersive and interactive environments. The presenters will share an on-going study exploring integrating SL into teaching and learning Mandarin Chinese. The presenters will describe the process of the collaborative study involving a teacher training program in Taiwan, an undergraduate degree program in the US, and an information technology institute in Taiwan. The presenters will demonstrate SL teaching and learning task design samples and show SL video clips demonstrating how teaching and learning Chinese can take place in the 3-D virtual environment. Results of their pilot study will be also shared.

Wish to be removed from ETC Listserv.

 

ETC677: L6 Highlight

Lesson 6 (04/05-04/18)

   

  • Vista LogoLesson Moderators: Team 6

04/07 Wednesday

  • Google Docs LogoDue: Team 5's Lesson 5 discussion gradesheet

04/08 Thursday

  • Due: 1st posting period for Lesson 6 discussions: One posting at least: Respond to discussion question

04/11 Sunday

  • Due: 2nd posting period for Lesson 6 discussions: One posting at least: Respond to discussion question and/or respond to others' postings.

04/15 Thursday

  • Due: 3rd posting period for Lesson 6 discussions: One posting at least: Respond to discussion question and/or respond to others' postings.

04/18

Sunday

  • Due: 4th posting period for Lesson 6 discussions: One posting at least: Respond to discussion question and/or respond to others' postings.
  • Due: Assignment 7: Distributed Learning Professional Development Unit
  • Due: Team 7 post discussion question.
  • Due: Lesson 7 Reading

 

Friday, April 2, 2010

Thursday, April 1, 2010

ETC: Win Ed Tech Books Event is Back

Dear ETC students & alumni,

 

Have you joined ETC Community on Facebook yet?  Our “To Win Educational Technology Books” event is back and in the process now.  Please share your experiences with other ETC students to win education technology books. Join ETC Community on Facebook Page and share your learning experiences with other ETC students.  The more you share; the better chance to win; the more books you can win. All postings should be posted to ETC Community Facebook Page between April 1 and 30, 2010.  For more information see: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Flagstaff-AZ/ETC-NAU/105567158813?v=app_2373072738

To be eligible to win books

·         Become ETC Community Fans

·         Post your course experiences to ETC Community Page.

Be sure to check out these recommendations before you enroll in any ETC courses.

****************************************************************************

Event Facilitator:

We need a student facilitator to facilitate this event.

Duty: Facilitate the discussion event. Encourage community members to become ETC Community Fans and share course experiences.

Reward: Select one book from our given away list.

Contact Dr. Chih Tu at Chih.Tu@nau.edu ASAP.

****************************************************************************

Q & A:

Q: I posted a few messages last year. Can I post again?

A: Yes, please share your thoughts with us again.

 

Q: I graduated. Am I eligible to post and to win books?

A: Yes, ETC Community is for all ETC current students, alumni.

 

Q: Currently, I did not enroll in ETC courses.  Am I eligible to post and to win books?

A: Yes, your shared experiences count.

Wish to be removed from ETC Listserv.