Category: social networking

Accessibility, Accounts, Mobile, social networking

App Recommendation: 1Password

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Are you tired of trying to remember every password you have or worried about using the same one over and over?  Try 1Password!  1Password is an app that stores all of your passwords in one area, locked securely by one main password.  You enter this one password and it will sign you into any of your accounts.  It will also generate and save secure passwords for any new accounts you may create.  1Password is integrated into your web browser and on as many devices as you need.

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This app uses a combination of encryption and key derivation to ensure that no one can see your data while in use and everything is fully encrypted when you are not actively using 1Password.  

You can try it free for 30 days and after it’s $2.99 a month or $4.99 a month for a family subscription.

Check it out: 1Password

Collaboration, Conferencing, discussion, Mobile, social networking, TLT, Web 2.0

App of the week: Blab

Laura Plotts

What is Blab?

From Blab’s site “a platform for publicly broadcasting live video conversations or talk shows.” Blab allows for live video conversations. In addition to a host you can have 3 other people talking live at once on a split screen.  All Blabs are public so an unlimited number of people could also just watch.

Use it for debates, discussions, or a podcast which you as the host have the option to record.  The recording can then be accessed via a url, but as host you will also be emailed a copy ( an MP3 & MP4). A Recording  or “Replays”cannot be deleted, but  as the host you can make your “Replay” public or hidden.

There is also a screen share and co-host option .

If you did not want to host a Blab then watch other live video conversations on topics or specific content that you are interested in.  Search by a keyword then choose a Blab that interest you by clicking the “Watch” button.

Things to be aware of:

You need a Twitter account in order to log in

Although you can choose which callers to let into your Blab and they are the ones then that can ask questions and you can screen share with, “Blabs” are always public.  I suggest you review the Privacy policy before you host a Blab: http://cdn.blab.im/blab-assets/privacy-policy.pdf

Price: Free
App – https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blab-live-video-conversations/id1023962293?mt=8

Desktop – https://blab.im/

Platform: Desktop ( using Chrome browser) or iPhone. On Android devices the Chrome browser works

More Information: https://blab.im/

Getting started with Blab at https://medium.com/blab-daily-digest/how-do-i-start-my-first-blab-5b862c5741e8#.g0qf431yb  and https://medium.com/blab-daily-digest/getting-started-on-blab-9606ec9566ac#.svi141ong

Blab tutorial at http://www.marc-levy.com/blab-im-tutorial/

Blab Daily Digest at https://medium.com/blab-daily-digest

Best Practices, Collaboration, discussion, Distance Ed, Events, Information Session, Innovative Instruction, instructional technology, Mobile, Pedagogy, social networking, TLT, Training Opportunities

TLT’s Distance Education Resources Blog

Amy Ostrom

TLT has a new resource available exclusively for our faculty who teach, or are interested in, online instruction!

http://blogs.cofc.edu/dereadiness/

There are two paths to choose from depending on your role:

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Choose this path if you:

  • Have never taught online before
  • Have taught online at another institution, but not CofC
  • Plan to teach online at CofC in the future

Start learning more about teaching online at CofC!

New to Distance Education

Choose this path if you:

  • Have completed the DE Readiness Course
  • Are currently teaching online at CofC
  • Are looking for resources related to online teaching and support

Explore more about online learning and support!

Currently Teaching Online

Make sure that you follow #CougarsOLI on all social media outlets to stay up to date on information and research pertaining to Online Learning Initiatives at College of Charleston

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Innovative Instruction, instructional technology, Mobile, social networking, Teaching Advice, Tech Generation, TLT

Teaching Digital Natives

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Did you know that the average college student spends 8 to 10 hours per day on a mobile phone? Whether texting, using social media applications, or browsing the internet, we can all agree that students are more connected than ever. But what does this mean for our teaching? Continue reading “Teaching Digital Natives” →

Faculty Technology Center, instructional technology, social networking, TLT, Training Opportunities

Come See What’s New at TLT!

Jessica Smith

On a college campus, each semester offers the opportunity to start fresh.  We meet new people, teach new classes, start new research projects, and discover new places that make Charleston such an amazing city.  At TLT, we’ve spent the summer crafting exciting trainings, events, and resources that we are eager to debut to our faculty!

Webinar Wednesdays
TLT is excited to announce a new opportunity for College of Charleston faculty: Webinar Wednesdays! We understand that you are very busy during the semester, and sometimes you simply cannot leave your office. Your crazy schedule makes it a challenge to attend events or trainings on campus. Webinar Wednesdays makes it possible to attend TLT training sessions from the convenience and comfort of your home or office. All you need is a computer with an Internet connection and a headset! If you do not have a headset, you may call a specific phone number to access the webinar.  All this information will be provided to you in advance.  During the webinar, an instructional technologist from TLT will lead you through a virtual training session – you will be able to hear us, see what we are doing on our computers, and ask questions.

Webinar_Wednesday_Simple

Our upcoming sessions include iMovie on the iPad, OAKS Quizzes, Twitter, and Explain Everything (iPad app)! We will continue to offer innovative and useful sessions throughout the semester. And let us know if you have any requests for topics.

Be sure to register for a webinar at tlt.eventbrite.com.

Innovative Technology Trainings
Did you know that TLT offers numerous face-to-face small group trainings every day?  Not only do we cover OAKS tools and Google Apps for Education, we also lead sessions on a variety of iPad apps and Web 2.0 technologies.  Here are a few sessions that may pique your interest:

Augmented Reality in the Classroom:
This session explores two augmented reality applications for the iPad:  Aurasma and Layar. Augmented reality involves viewing a real-world environment whose elements are supplemented by computer-generated input such as sound, video, graphics, or GPS data.  Augmented reality can make static entities such as poster sessions or pictures more interactive.

Animate Your Presentations with PowToon:
three people talking about iPads and AirsketchPowToon is an online tool that allows you to create dynamic slideshows.  It allows users to make lectures and presentations more unique, fun, and engaging.  PowToon offers a simple dashboard with a vast number of options to customize and animate your slides.

Spice Up Your Lectures with Prezi:
Have you grown tired of the predictability of Power Point?  Looking for something more lively?  Prezi could be just what you’re looking for!  Prezi is the zooming presentation aid that allows for a dynamic and non-linear sequence of information.  Prezi not only can be used to revitalize your lectures but can also be used collaboratively, making it ideal for student projects.

For the Tech Masters:
TLT does not simply offer introductory sessions for those first learning about a tool.  We also offer more advanced sessions for those who already use an application and want to take their skills to the next level.  Look for advanced sessions on tools such as Google Docs, Twitter, iMovie, and Evernote.

This is just a sampling of our upcoming training sessions.  We add to the list often, so make checking tlt.eventbrite.com a habit!  And if you don’t see a topic or tool you’re looking for, let us know!

Connect With Us Via Social Media
In addition to small group trainings, TLT provides faculty with a huge repository of resources through our blog and social networking sites.  Each week, we update our blog with new tutorials, which provide step-by-step instructions on how to use a variety of applications and tools.  These are fantastic resources whether you are learning a tool for the first time or need a refresher.  Check out our offerings at: blogs.cofc.edu/tlttutorials.

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We also share resources via social media.  If you’re interested in staying abreast of our upcoming events and newest trainings, definitely follow us on Twitter and Facebook.  If you’d like to see videos, blog posts, and infographics from other innovative educators, check out our Pinterest page.  And if you want to watch tutorials, we have plenty on our YouTube channel.  Stay in the loop and follow us!

Twitter:  twitter.com/TLTcofc
Facebook:  facebook.com/CollegeofCharlestonTLT
Pinterest:  pinterest.com/tltcofc
YouTube:  youtube.com/user/teachandlearn1

As much as we love sharing resources, we don’t want these social media sites to simply be a place for us to post and you to consume.  We’d love to interact with you!  If you’ve used a technology tool and want to share your experiences, consider posting to our Facebook wall.  If you come across a cool article or resource, send us a tweet or a pin.  Join us in making these sites collaborative virtual communities!

TLT’s New Toys!
Over the summer, your instructional technologists were busy playing with a few new toys, such as a MakerBot 3-D printer!  We’ve been designing and printing a variety of awesome objects including a miniature model of the Great Pyramid of Egypt, an ethanol molecule, and a Mammoth skeleton!

3d mastadon model

We also purchased a green screen and lighting set to be used for photography and filming.  If you’re interested in using our equipment, contact your instructional technologist.

Finally, we hung two 4K monitors on our wall to showcase upcoming events, trainings, and a slideshow from our most recent Faculty Technology Institute!

Please stop by TLT to check out what’s new!

Make Over
Assessment, Faculty Showcase, Innovative Instruction, social networking, TLT

Activity Makeover – Transforming a Current Events Assignment

Mendi Benigni

Twitter? Tweet? Hash tag?  What does it all mean?  Well to Louise Ackerman, in Health & Human Performance, it means a way to transform a traditional current events assignment into something more fluid and relevant using Twitter *. 

The Old Assignment

So here’s the old assignment:  The goal is for the students to stay abreast of what is happening in global health.  Before each class period students must:
  • Find a health related current event in a reputable publication.
  • Read it.
  • Copy it, print it, or cut it out and bring it to class.
  • At the beginning of each class, if called upon, come to the front of the class and talk about the event or article.
  • Class will discuss the issues from the article.
Sound familiar?  Given that the field of public health is ever changing this method was feeling stale to Professor Ackerman.  In addition, most of the students were going to the same publications (Washington Post, New York Times, etc.) so there wasn’t much breadth in the articles and topics being discussed.  It just wasn’t delivering her desired outcomes.

The New Assignment

When Professor Ackeman decided to revamp the assignment to make it more current she selected Twitter as the vehicle.  Here’s the new assignment:
  • Each student must establish a Twitter account
  • Each student must follow 8-10 people (experts) or organizations in the health field (see Twitter Tips and Getting Started) – those followed can (and should) change over the semester as the student’s interests evolved. (Students were not required to Tweet, only Follow.)
  • Each student must check their Twitter feed daily.  They could set up notifications if they desired to keep them informed when new items were posted.
  • At the beginning of each class, if called upon, the student must speak for 2-3 minutes, from their seat, about what they learned from the their Twitter feed. (3-5 students were randomly selected each class).
Louise was thrilled with the results of the makeover.   The amazing discussions, sparked from these topics, were so engaging that she often had to stop them in order to continue with the class. She states, “(Stopping the discussion) was killing me because it was exactly what I wanted to happen.”  Only one student over the entire semester was not prepared when called upon.  All the rest were ready and waiting to be selected.  As the semester went on, she found that the students branched out from the obvious organizations, such as the World Health Organization, into specialized areas and were really able to expand their knowledge.  They began choosing articles and events that related to the topics currently being discussed in the class and made connections between the two.
She didn’t give a lot of direction on who to follow as she didn’t want to influence their choices.  She instead gave direction on how to search for appropriate people to follow.  This resulted in a much broader collection of articles and topics.  In addition, they were able to follow subjects and organizations that interested them so it made the assignment more relevant to the students.  As the class progressed Professor Ackerman would mention people in her lectures and encourage the students that were interested in the topic to follow them on Twitter.    In addition, as they did research for other assignments in the class they would follow more people based on that research.  The current events assignment became relevant to the students in a way that the old assignment never did.
It’s important to note that Louise had never used Twitter before embarking on this adventure.  She tried it and felt that it was easy to use so she had no qualms about asking her students to do it.  When asked what she thought of her assignment makeover she said, “Twitter made it straightforward and simple.  I loved it, just loved it.”

Resources

Original and Made over Assignments:  ASSIGNMENT_MAKEOVER_ACKERMAN
Twitter Tips and Getting Started:  http://goo.gl/KfR3z6
Twitter Basics: http://goo.gl/m86C2k
Twitter Glossary:  http://goo.gl/DQPovt
*Twitter is an online, social, microblogging application that allows people to read and “tweet” short 140-character messages.