It’s hard to go anywhere or listen to anything without hearing something about Twitter these days, but how does it apply in an academic setting? Can the same technology that was used to communicate during Iranian political protests, following their presidential election, be used to help students learn?

You and several other faculty members can explore that topic during monthly brown bag lunch sessions. We’ll talk about ideas of how Twitter can be used in your course and look at tools that can make using Twitter for teaching easier. The first one will be on September 10th at 12pm. Sign up to join us!

Read more about this year’s Duke Digital Initiative programs.

This fall, CIT offers several faculty funding options to support innovative projects using instructional technologies.

Our Strategic Initiative Grant program seeks applicants with high-impact project ideas which directly support Duke’s strategic goals, and have school or departmental support. Proposed projects should be feasible to accomplish in one to two years, involve multiple courses or faculty members, and support such strategic goals as interdisciplinarity, internationalization and knowledge in the service of society. See the full program description on our website; initial applications are due Monday September 28, 2009.

Faculty with smaller-scale ideas for pilot or “proof-of-concept” projects are welcome to apply for a Jump Start Grant. These grants may be awarded for projects focused on one course, particularly if the project has potential to be expanded to other courses or faculty if successful, or if the project could be used as a model for others. More information and examples of previously funded projects are on our website. Applications for Jump Starts are accepted on a rolling basis.

Other funding options include Invited Speaker Grants and Instructional Technology Faculty Fellowships. More information about both is on the CIT website at the pages linked above, or email cit@duke.edu.

Librarians hold the keys to a wealth of resources and techniques that can help faculty with teaching and research, and they’re sharing their knowledge in several workshops in a series titled “Beyond the Stacks.” Faculty are invited to learn more about Refworks (8/26) and Endnote (9/2), data and GIS resources at the Library (9/3), finding images and securing copyright (9/10) and making use of digitized and physical primary sources (9/14). All sessions are held in Bostock Library 023, and registration is requested.

Now that many students carry a single device that can make phone calls, take pictures, record audio and video, store data, music, and movies, and interact with the Internet, how can we use this in teaching?  This fall, meet with other faculty to discuss and test ideas and software for using cell phones or other small devices in teaching.  We’ll meet once a month, for demonstrations and discussions.  Come and share your ideas and learn.

On Tuesday, September 8th at 10 am, we’ll discuss topics and ideas for this semester.  In addition, Owen Astrachan will talk about his plans for using Poll Everywhere, a simple polling system that uses student cell phones as “clickers” to gather student responses.  We’ll try it out.  Sign up to join us!

Read more from the Duke Digital Initiative.

Get more ideas and share the future of education.

Guest post by Emily Daly, Instruction and Outreach Librarian

If you use Blackboard at Duke, you may have noticed an addition to your course site’s menu this past spring. The new Library Guides button automatically directs you and your students to a page of research tips and resources developed, in many cases, by a librarian who specializes in a subject area related to your course.

See a general research guide or a page that doesn’t accurately reflect the goals of your course? Feel free to contact your subject specialist, who will replace the Library Guides link with a more appropriate page or work with you to design a guide specific to your objectives and assignments like the one below, which was created for a Writing 20 course:

Librarians are also available to lead course-specific instruction sessions for your students as they begin research papers or projects – again, contact your subject specialist for more information and to schedule a session in Perkins/Bostock, Lilly or even your classroom.

Still have questions about this CIT/Libraries collaboration? Feel free to email Emily Daly, or check out Blackboard support for more info.

The H1N1 influenza virus could cause significant absences from your class sessions this Fall if an outbreak occurs on campus.  Duke administrators have set up an informational website for students, faculty and staff on flu updates and policies.  The CIT is contributing to this effort by offering a series of blog posts to help you think about contingencies in your own courses.

If you have a significant number of students absent from class or if you have suspected flu symptoms and are unable to hold a class session, there are options available at Duke to deliver your lecture session online.

Adobe Connect is an online collaboration tool that allows you to stream a live audio or video session and share your desktop, web pages and PowerPoint with students.  Adobe Connect also includes a chat tool for real time interactions with students.  OIT offers information on Adobe Connect; your local IT support staff can work with you if you need to set up an Adobe Connect license and session for your class.  (Faculty in Trinity can contact Trinity Technology Services for more information and to obtain access to a Connect license).

On OIT’s website on web collaboration, they also mention free publicly available tools – dimdim and argoo – that you can use to set up an ad-hoc collaboration session with a webcam on your computer.

Some classrooms on campus are equipped with Lectopia, a technology that allows you to automatically record a class session and have it uploaded to streaming servers, Blackboard or iTunes U for later viewing or downloading by students through a service called DukeCapture.  More information about the service is available at the OIT website and Trinity Technology Services.  If you are teaching in one of these equipped classrooms, this may be a good option for you.

If you do not wish to capture and stream a live or recorded class session, you may wish to consider recording a “mini lecture” using the Wimba voice recording tools in Blackboard.  Wimba is a plug-in that gives you an easy way to record audio directly in Blackboard using a mic attached to or built-in to your computer.  Wimba could be used to do a short lecture summary after your class session for students unable to attend, or to create a short lecture with still images if you happen to fall ill and are unable to conduct a class session.

Other options for recording presentations for later viewing include Camtasia or Jing screen recording software. Camtasia is available for instructor use in the CIT lab, and Jing is available online (free for a limited version, or for a small fee for the “pro” version).

An alternative to broadcasting or recording lectures, if you or numerous students are unable to come to class, is to substitute other types of activities for lecture, such as assigning additional readings or viewing topically-relevant online media which covers the same course content.

If you would like to talk more about course planning and options available on campus for streaming your lectures, contact the CIT for a consultation.  For more information, see the CIT’s website for a summary of resources to flu-proof your course.

The H1N1 flu virus has the potential to keep students out of class for up to a week.  Duke officials are preparing for any possible suspected incidents of flu outbreaks on campus.  This series of blog posts from the CIT examines ways that you and your students can be prepared.

Coursework in a university depends on a constant dialogue among students and faculty.  Your class depends on the interaction and engagement of your students.  But, if illness makes it impossible for some of your students to attend class sessions, how do you keep them engaged and in touch with you and their fellow students?

Blackboard’s discussion board feature is an easy way to take course dialogue online.  You can add a forum for discussion and students can post responses to each other.  They can even add attachments, such as a Word document or image, to discussion board posts and link to resources on the Web.

Faculty already use the discussion board feature before class sessions as a “starting point” for students to consider a topic or question and post their initial thoughts before talking face to face in class.  The discussion board can also be used as a “follow up” to continue the debate after the class session or address points that might have been unclear to the students.

You can view materials on the basics of using the discussion board, including how to use tagging to organize posts, grading discussions, or subscribing to forums via email at the Duke Blackboard support site.

If your students engage in ongoing research or a series of readings during your course, you might also investigate use of the Blog tool in Blackboard.  Students can use the tool to make posts or comment on other posts on the blog.  A blog is structured so that the most current posts are most visible and easy to access, making it a good choice for situations where topics being discussed change on a frequent basis.

Depending on your class and the situations of you and your students, you may prefer to use Adobe Connect to provide real-time discussion with voice and shared visuals. Connect requires a bit more preparation to use than the Blackboard discussion board, both because a license is needed to host Connect sessions with more than 3 people, and because the tool itself typically requires a little practice to use effectively. However, in certain circumstances, Connect can be an ideal and powerful way to continue your class discussions.

Contact the CIT for training and office visits on Blackboard tools, to learn more about Connect or to set up a consultation to talk about planning your course.  For more information, see the CIT’s website for a summary of resources to flu-proof your course.

As we head into the Fall semester, Duke officials are preparing for possible incidents of the H1N1 flu virus.  Influenza has the potential to keep students out of classes for up to a week and could have an impact on keeping all of your students on task and up to date in your course.

In our previous post, we considered how disruptive absences from your course can be to individual students and the class.  One way to keep your students participating in the course is to use the Assignments tool in Blackboard.

The Assignments tool allows you to set up a point in your Blackboard course where students can submit files – Word documents, images, or virtually any electronic material.  The Assignment shows up as a column in Blackboard’s Grade Center where you can download the submissions, examine them and make comments, and send a notated document and comments back to the student. Or, if you choose, you can print and grade the assignments offline (although returning these paper assignments to students may also be difficult if flu is still impacting the class).

Only you and the individual student can view their submission, along with anyone you have set up in your Blackboard course in the role of Instructor, Teaching Assistant, or Grader.

If you have one or more students unable attend courses due to illness, but still feel well enough to keep up with coursework, the Assignments tool can be an invaluable resource, allowing them to submit work electronically.

You can learn more about the Assignments tool and view a short video about how it works on Duke’s Blackboard support site.  In addition, the CIT offers training and office visits on Blackboard features.  For more information, see the CIT’s website for a summary of resources to flu-proof your course.

As we prepare for the new school year, it’s a good time to think about how you might deal with an emergency in your class.  Duke News reported that the Duke TIP had to cancel a summer session due to a flu outbreak and recent news reports indicate that there is still the potential for outbreaks of the H1N1 flu virus this Fall.

Duke University and Duke University Health System officials have been working this summer to prepare for detecting and managing the H1N1 flu virus, pulling together a team that has prepared plans, information and updates on how the university is prepared.  Students will be receiving information about protecting themselves from the flu and what to do in case they become ill.

The CIT will be publishing a series of blog posts with ideas, suggestions and links to resources that you can use to prepare if the flu hits you or students in your classes and offering events and other information to help you prepare.

The most immediate and simplest thing to do is to look over your syllabus and attendance policies.  Students are being advised that if they are diagnosed with or have suspected influenza to not attend class and avoid contact with others for at least 24 hours after their fever resolves – student might be out of classes for a full week.

You can help by reminding students about the Duke flu information website and guidelines and by letting them know at the start of the course the plans you have in place to help them keep up with their coursework.  Be sure to tell them how you will issue updates about changes in your class plans or update them on assignments – the Blackboard announcements feature, email, Facebook or Twitter updates can be used, but your students need to know where to look for new information.

A case of influenza might take a week to resolve, causing a student to miss two or three class sessions.  You may wish to be more flexible with attendance policies in your course, encouraging students, if they feel well enough, to participate in online discussions or forums such as blogs to continue engagement with class activities.

If you have assignments due, students might miss deadlines because of illness.  In your syllabus and grading policy, outline how you will handle late assignments or missed exams – you might want to consider how to fairly assess late work from students and keep them informed so they know what to expect.

You may want to review the Trinity College policies and academic requirements for undergraduates, including documents on Class attendance and Missed Work and the forms for Short-Term Illness Notification.

Also think about what might happen if you have to miss some class sessions due to your own illness.  You might plan alternate activities for your students or discuss possible plans with your teaching assistant.  Be aware of your options for technologies which can help. If illness strikes, planning ahead can make things easier for you and your students.

In other posts in this series, we’ll look at some tools on campus that can help if your class is disrupted by illness including ways to use Blackboard to carry out online assignments and discussions and how to deliver lectures online if a significant number of your students are unable to attend class.

If you would like to discuss your syllabus and planning for contingencies in your course, you can contact the CIT for a consultation.  For more information, see the CIT’s website for a summary of resources to flu-proof your course.

Since its inception in 2004, the Duke Digital Initiative (DDI) has explored the application of a range of new and emerging technologies, including iPods and tablet PCs, in teaching and learning. Funded by the Provost’s Office, the program provides training and support to help faculty and students use the tools effectively.

This year’s DDI programs explore new ways to connect and collaborate using digital media, mobile devices and social networking tools.  Programs for 2009-10 are described on the DDI website and include:

• exploring web-based virtual collaboration such as online office hours, virtual guest speakers, web conferencing and more
• providing flexible web publishing for courses using WordPress MU
• investigating how Twitter could be used to support teaching and other academic work
• several options for learning about and using mobile devices students already have, in and outside the classroom
• creating new and flexible teaching spaces with micro-projectors so small they can fit in your pocket
• continuing to use the VoiceThread online media annotation tool to provide easy ways for students to share and comment on media from their instructors and classmates.

Undergraduate faculty interested in learning more or joining one of these explorations should visit the DDI website to apply, or contact cit@duke.edu.

Faculty and students interested in digital video can still check out a variety of equipment – including high-definition Flip video cameras, video camera kits and web cameras – available for loan at the Link in Perkins Library. No application process is necessary, but see the DDI website for specifics of availability.

To learn more, visit the DDI site: http://dukedigitalinitiative.duke.edu/