n o t e s&NEWS Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology
Volume 5, Issue 2 • August 2004
Finding the Right Support: Outsourcing
by Dan Madigan
Many faculty use technology in their course to enhance the way students are learning in a particular content area. While using technology can be an effective way of learning about a concept or idea, it may also cause problems when a faculty member has to take time out of their course instruction to teach specific software to their students. Here is the problem. You want to have your students learn the latest technology and how it can enhance their learning in your content area. Yet, you don’t want to take too much class time to teach the technology at the expense of learning the necessary content. Teaching can really be a Catch 22. Finding the right balance between teaching the technology and teaching students to think critically about content is not always easy. Many issues come to mind. What do you do, for example, if some of your students already know the technology you require for your course? When would redundancy be a waste of their time…and yours? You may want to think about this issue in terms of outsourcing part of your teaching. No, we are not advocating that faculty shirk their responsibilities as teachers. But we would like them to think about this technology issue in a broader sense.
ITS supports the Student Technology Center so that they can provide workshops and one-on-one tutoring to students in need of assistance in learning software and hardware (such as video and still cameras) that their instructors might be requiring them to learn for a course. Faculty should take advantage of this service and “outsource” some the teaching that can be done well by this support group. Another way of outsourcing is to have your students learn the technology on their own through tutorials that either you create (CTLT can show you how to create video tutorials) or that are created by Atomic Learning for BGSU students. Your students can log on to the ITS supported Atomic Learning site at http: //www.atomiclearning.com and do the tutorials on their own. These great tutorials help students learn about such software as Excel, Microsoft Word, iMovie, Photoshop, PowerPoint and more. So, do yourself and your students a favor, when you are having trouble balancing the teaching of content with teaching the technology in your course. Where you feel it is appropriate, try outsourcing!
Most faculty know where to go to learn about the latest technology and how to integrate it into their coursework. CTLT, for example, conducts workshops and works one on one with faculty to help them learn about new technologies and how to use it for professional development and teaching. What many faculty don’t know is that there is a unit on campus that provides a similar service for students. That is, the Student Technology Center in Saddlemire, 372 9277.
check out our workshop SCHEDULE
on page two!
To access the Atomic Learning Tutorials from off campus, you will be propted for an ID and password. Call the Student Technology Center at (419) 372-9277 and they will provide you with the logon information.
201 University Hall • (419) 372-6898 • http://ctlt.bgsu.edu
Fall Semester 2004
Visit the Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology for the newly launched brown bag lunch series Lunch “Bytes”. These one hour presentations are designed to provide information for faculty about miscellaneous topics on technology and it’s impact on teaching. Lunch “Bytes” dates and topics are listed below. Bring your lunch and learn about technology in a relaxed environment. Soft drinks and dessert will be provided. Seating is limited and registration is required. Call (419) 372-6898 to reserve a seat Lunch “Bytes” Fall 2004 schedule of events COMPUTER VIRUSES, SPYWARE, AND ADWARE Friday, September 10, 2004 Can your computer get sick? Well, sort of. Here are some symptoms: • Your computer seems to be very sluggish. • When you are surfing the web, advertisements constantly pop up on your screen. • People tell you that they are receiving emails from you that you never sent. These are just a few of the things that can happen if you have a computer virus or if adware/spyware have been installed on your computer. What are these things? Learn about viruses and unwanted programs and ways to protect yourself against them in this presentation.
To register for the noon to 1:00 Lunch “Bytes” or any CTLT workshop, call the CTLT at (419) 372-6898 or register online at: http://ctlt.bgsu.edu/workshops/registration.php. For a list of CTLT workshops, go to: http://ctlt.bgsu.edu/workshops/ list.php. For questions or additional information, contact Connie Molnar, Assistant Director at 372-7900 or via email at cmolnar@bgnet.bgsu.edu.
workshop SCHEDULE
All workshops will be held on site at 201 University Hall. Register for workshops online at http://ctlt.bgsu.edu/ workshops/registration.php or call 372-6898. For updated information on our workshops please visit http:// ctlt.bgsu.edu/workshops/list.php.
BLACKBOARD
*New* CTLT Brown Bag Lunch Series
BLOGS Friday, October 15, 2004 Is it a shoe? A creature from the X-Files? No, it’s a Web-log or “blog”, an online diary of sorts; a shared online journal where people can post entries about any topic. Blogs may also contain articles, links, discussions, and commentaries. Learn more about blogs including how to create one using free resources. In addition, discuss ideas for their use in the classroom.
WWW SEARCHING TECHNIQUES Tuesday, December 14, 2004 Have you ever searched for something on the WWW and your search returned thousands of entries? Have you ever gotten unexpected results from a search? Discover ways to refine your searching techniques in this final presentation of the semester. Learn to use Boolean logic and advanced searching methods to get faster and more concise search results.
MISC WEB
OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE Tuesday, November 9, 2004 Open source (OS) software, by definition, is software that allows open access to the software source code. However, there is much more to it than just source code access. Programmers can read, modify and redistribute the code for the software. What are the effects and benefits of utilizing OS software? Find the answers to these questions as well as learn about OS operating systems, current open source trends in academia, free OS tools and products, and view demonstrations of products you can use in the classroom.
Introduction to Blackboard W August 4 9:00-11:00 T August 17 9:00-11:00 W August 18 9:00-11:00 W Sept 8 9:00-11:00 T Sept 14 9:00-11:00 Blackboard Gradebook M August 9 1:00-3:00 Th August 12 9:00-11:00 M August 23 1:00-3:00 Th August 26 1:00-3:00 Blackboard Assessment Tool T August 10 9:00-11:30 Th August 12 1:00-3:30 T August 24 1:00-3:30 F August 27 9:00-11:30 F August 31 9:00-11:30 Advanced Blackboard-Text Documents M August 9 9:00-11:30 M August 16 1:00-3:30 M August 30 1:00-3:30 Advanced Blackboard-Presentation Documents F August 13 9:00-11:30 Th August 19 1:00-3:30 Advanced Blackboard-Audio/Video Documents W August 11 9:00-11:30 W August 18 1:00-3:30 Creating a Banner for a Blackboard Course W August 25 9:00-11:00 T Sept 21 9:00-11:00 Online Communication Tools T August 24 9:00-11:00 T Sept 28 9:00-11:00 Effective Online Design Th August 26 9:00-11:00 Th Sept 16 9:00-11:00 Introduction to HTML M August 30 9:00-11:00 W Sept 15 9:00-11:00 Introduction to Powerpoint F August 20 9:00-11:00
Published by The Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology