November 5, 2007
Upcoming events: Workshops on Second Life, Picasa, Wimba recording software, and responding to student writing, tablet PC users group meeting, Science Blogging Conference
Service or program spotlight: Blackboard course retention policy announced
Teaching resource of the month: Wimba Voice Tools pilot now underway
New and cool: Writeboard collaborative writing tool
Project profile: Blackboard.com Greenhouse Program provides grants for exemplary courses and Blackboard innovations
Upcoming events
Upcoming workshops and Science Blogging Conference
Sessions in the next two weeks:
Teaching IDEAS: Responding Efficiently and Effectively to Student Writing
Tue, Nov 6, 2007 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Introduction to Second Life for Teaching
Tue, Nov 6, 2007 3:00 PM - 4:15 PM
Using Picasa to manage personal images
Wed, Nov 7, 2007 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Language Technology Roundtable: Creating rich communicative activities using comics, video simulations and animations
Wed, Nov 7, 2007 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
AND
Thu, Nov 8, 2007 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Introduction to Wimba: Fast, easy and built-in audio recording in Blackboard
Fri, Nov 9, 2007 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
AND
Thu, Nov 15, 2007 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Digital media 201: Creating enhanced media with sound, images, text and audio
Tue, Nov 13, 2007 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Tablet PC Users Group
Wed, Nov 14, 2007 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Faculty image use in courses: focus group and demonstration
Thu, Nov 15, 2007 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Multimedia-enhanced student research
Fri, Nov 16, 2007 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Science Blogging Conference: Saturday January 19, 2008
http://scienceblogging.com/
Register now to reserve your place to discuss the future of science communication. The conference addresses a variety of issues and perspectives on science communication, including science literacy, the popularization of science, science in classrooms and in homes, debunking pseudoscience, using blogs as tools for presenting scientific research, writing about science, and health and medicine.
Service or program spotlight
Blackboard course retention policy announcedhttp://blackboard.duke.edu/about/retention.html
After getting significant feedback from Duke faculty, students, and administrators, a new Blackboard Course Retention Policy is now in effect. Course sites will be retained for four years and then deleted. Instructors will have an option to retain older courses if they wish. This policy is effective starting with Fall 2007 Blackboard course sites and later. Blackboard course sites created Summer 2007 and earlier will be retained until further notice. For example, a Blackboard course site created Fall 2007 term will be deleted after Fall 2011.
Teaching resource of the month
Wimba Voice Tools pilot underway
http://cit.duke.edu/help/ddi/0708_wimba.html
Wimba Voice Tools allow instructors to integrate live audio recording and playback functionality into almost all areas of their Blackboard course, including announcements, quizzes or surveys, and content items. In this phase of the pilot, instructors can request to have the Voice Tools enabled in their Fall 2007 Blackboard courses. For more information visit the URL above.
New and cool
Writeboard collaborative writing tool
http://www.writeboard.com/
Writeboard is a free web-based application for collaborative writing. After creating a document, you can invite others to edit and Writeboard can allow you to compare different versions. In addition, you can also "subscribe" to a document via an RSS feed and be notified of changes. Writeboard uses simple codes for formatting, so it's suitable for shorter papers and documents or brainstorming in groups.
Project profile
Blackboard.com Greenhouse Program provides grants for exemplary courses and Blackboard innovations
http://www.blackboard.com/greenhouse
Blackboard.com invites faculty to a November webinar series for the Blackboard Greenhouse Program, an industry-leading program providing resources for clients to improve the way they use technology in their educational environments.
GREENHOUSE EXEMPLARY COURSE PROGRAM
https://blackboard.webex.com/blackboard/onstage/g.php?d=352349215&t=a
Join in at 12:00PM (US Eastern Time) on Wednesday November 7, 2007 to hear more about the Greenhouse Exemplary Course Program, a project that helps identify online courses that model best practices in course design, interaction and collaboration, assessment and evaluation. Winners will receive full conference passes, airfare and hotel for BbWorld 2008 (July 15-18, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada)
GREEN HOUSE GRANT
https://blackboard.webex.com/blackboard/onstage/g.php?d=351909340&t=a
Join in at 12:00PM (US Eastern Time) on Tuesday November 13, 2007 to hear more about Blackboard's Greenhouse Grant, which is designed to help build a collective body of knowledge, and encourage clients to successfully develop and deploy initiatives that promote best practices in the adoption of Internet technology in the educational environment.
