Spring Seminars
This spring, FCLD is offering seminars and demonstrations on a variety of educational technologies for use in e-learning. All seminars are in the Woods Classroom of Mortensen Library unless otherwise noted. Interested faculty should register by calling 768-4661, or emailing fcld@hartford.edu.
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iCame, iSaw, iConquered: iPad Essentials Series |
There has been a growing interest in tablets, iPads and mobile technologies for use in teaching and learning. Tablets such as iPads are proving to be an effective learning and scholarship resource with exciting possibilities for collaboration, flipping, and highly effective visual simulations, images and modeling. If you’re just getting started with your iPad or just interested, please join us to learn the essentials for getting the most out of the iPad.
What It is and What It’s Not
Tuesday, February 19, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
iPads are light, portable, and great for research, teaching and learning. However, they are not itty-bitty PC or Mac computers. iPads have unique input methods – where’s the mouse, keypad, and keyboard? iPads have unique output and saving methods – where is the printer? Where are the folders? iPads elegantly enter the personal, fun side of life, too, as a photo album (and camera!), a book, a TV and movie theatre, a newspaper, and game center…come find out what it is, what it’s not, and how to get the most out of it.
Using Your iPad for Scholarship and Collaboration
Tuesday, February 26, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
The portability of the iPad makes it a great research tool. Not only can you read and organize links, articles and files, you can also take notes and even make scans of hard copy articles to read later. In this seminar, we’ll discuss what works (and what doesn’t) when using the iPad for research, including tools and tips for working with documents, sending email, organizing materials and collaborating with your colleagues.
Teaching and Presenting with your iPad
Tuesday, March 5, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
Tired of being tethered to the podium when you teach? With the iPad, you can write on a virtual whiteboard from anywhere in the room, project it on the screen and record your writing to share with students later. And it’s not just limited to writing on the board…you can show websites and images, play music, work on documents together or even give a PowerPoint presentation. In this seminar, we’ll share tools and tips for teaching and presenting with the iPad, including which apps to use, how to project your iPad on the screen, and how to share your work with students after class.
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iPad Circles |
FCLD, in collaboration with Dr. John Williams, College of Arts & Sciences, Department of Mathematics, is continuing a faculty development program on the effective use of iPads in teaching and learning. The program, open to all instructors, is designed to provide a forum for sharing ideas and effective techniques for using iPads in the classroom. These informal Friday afternoon gatherings, called iPad Circles, typically include a brief (15-20 minute) presentation by a faculty member on his or her use of iPads in the classroom, followed by an informal – and lively - conversation. This conversation provides faculty an opportunity to:
On Friday, March 15, hear Drs. Mako Haruta, Associate Professor, Fei Xue, Associate Professor, and Larissa Schroeder, Assistant Professor, from the Department of Mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences, discuss how they use iPads for presenting and teaching in the classroom.
On Friday, April 12, hear guest lecturer Ally Hunter, Instructor, Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, talk about using iPads to foster active learning strategies, thus enhancing better classroom management and engagement.
These presentations will be held in Dana 236 from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. and refreshments will be provided. We hope you will be able to join us for this exciting faculty development opportunity. If you are a faculty member using iPads or would like to use them in your classes, please contact FCLD at fcld@hartford.edu. FCLD and the faculty members helping to coordinate iPad Circles are actively recruiting presenters for future sessions.
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WebEx Web Conferencing |
Part I: Hosting a Meeting Using WebEx
Thursday, February 28, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
Web conferencing is useful for advising, office hours, study reviews and conducting classes when face-to-face meetings may not be possible. FCLD will introduce participants to the basics of setting up, starting, and facilitating a web conference meeting. Participants will be able to experience WebEx from both a host and attendee point of view. Note: This is an in-person workshop. Instructors who attend this workshop are encouraged to attend the following seminar.
Part II: Participate in a WebEx Meeting
Thursday, March 7, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
In this virtual session, FCLD will introduce instructors to the basics of setting up and facilitating an actual web conference meeting. Since FCLD will be conducting this introduction as a WebEx meeting, instructors should pre-register with FCLD, (860) 768-4661 or fcld@hartford.edu. Instructors should plan to use a headset with a microphone to connect using computer audio.
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Scholarship in the Digital Age |
A Better (Scholarly) Life Through Google Searches
Wednesday, March 6, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
What's the first thing you do when you have a new research project? If you answered (sheepishly) "Google it," you are not alone. And don't feel like you have to hide your googling behavior! While it is not the be-all and end-all of academic research, Google is a powerful tool to have in your arsenal. Come join FCLD and the Libraries in this seminar to explore the joys of Google Scholar and learn how to get the most out of a Google search.
"Internet" is Not a 4-Letter Word
Thursday, March 14, 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
We live in a world where it is increasingly possible to be on-line, on-call, plugged-in and inter-connected 24/7, and academia is no exception to that trend. Come join the Libraries and FCLD for a lively discussion about the place of the Internet in academic scholarship, and find out why "Internet" is not a dirty word in the classroom.
Wikipedia and Scholarship
Tuesday, March 19, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Wikipedia information is often maligned as inaccurate and lacking credibility, especially when it comes to scholarship. But did you know Nature cited its accuracy as nearly equal to that of Encyclopedia Britannica when it comes to science entries? That the National Archives has a Wikipedian in Residence? Or that some of your colleagues spend their evenings copy-editing Wikipedia entries? FCLD and the Libraries will show you the ins and outs of editing wikis, take a look at Wikipedia behind the scenes, and share ideas about how instructors are using wikis to increase information literacy, improve student writing, and help deter plagiarism. Whether you think Wikipedia is the ultimate expression of crowd-sourced knowledge or a just cheat sheet for lazy students, come find out how Wikipedia and other wikis may be more informative then you think.
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Blackboard |
Getting Started with Blackboard – Every Tuesday
Tuesdays, 12:15 to 1:30 p.m.
Woods Classroom or FCLD Lab (Mortensen Library)
This session is designed as a general orientation to Blackboard, the application used to put courses online. You’ll learn strategies for organizing your Blackboard course, review the many tools and features available in Blackboard, and start adding course content items like your syllabus and web links to your Blackboard course. Be sure to bring a digital version of your syllabus and/or other course materials; this is designed as a hands-on seminar.
Using Tests in Blackboard: Making Online Assessment Useful
Tuesday, March 12, 12:15 to 1:15 p.m.
In this session, FCLD will demonstrate the step-by-step creation of quizzes and surveys in Blackboard, tips and tricks to improve online assessment experiences, and discuss strategies for using Blackboard surveys and quizzes that may improve student learning outcomes.
Setting up an Assignment ‘Drop Box’ Using Blackboard’s Assignment Tool
Wednesday, March 13, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Blackboard’s Assignment Tool is the perfect way for students to “hand in” assignments electronically. In this session, you’ll learn how to set up, retrieve, grade, and return assignments using the Assignment Tool and the Grade Center.
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Additional Seminars for Spring |
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Smart Podiums
Thursday, March 21, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
SMART Podiums allow you to write with a digital pen on a computer screen and project your writing to your students, just like an overhead projector, but they also allow you to save your annotations to file and send them to your students later. Join FCLD in an informal demonstration of the SMART Sympodium. Participants will be able to try out this new technology and learn how these interactive, computerized white boards can be used to annotate PowerPoint slides and other computer applications, or capture in-class lecture notes directly to a computer for later distribution to students.
Zoom in on a New Presentation Tool: Prezi
Monday, April 8, 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Tired of the linear, expected presentation style of PowerPoint? Come learn about Prezi.com, a website that allows you to create presentations where you can zoom in, zoom out, move left, move right, and literally turn the presentation on its head.
Getting Started Using Ensemble, the University of Hartford’s “YouTube”
Friday, April 19, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.
This spring, ITS and FCLD worked together to pilot a new media server called Ensemble. Ensemble works like an in-house YouTube, allowing faculty to quickly and easily upload videos, and then link to them from Blackboard and other websites. Faculty who are flipping the classroom, teaching online, using video clips in instruction, or working with student video projects should plan to attend this special information session about Ensemble and learn how to access and start using it in instruction.
Interested in one of the Spring Seminars listed above? Please register by calling 768-4661, or emailing fcld@hartford.edu.
