15 Minutes a Day: How to Photosynth

Tracy, Jared, Jerry and I have been exploring Photosynth technology, which creates 3-D environments from overlapping photographs.  With a little screen capturing, some Public Domain music from Internet Archive and a bit of video editing we turned it into a little tour for the library.  If your curious how we did it we will be going over the process in an upcoming Thursday@3@Addlestone session.

Curious how we did it? Watch the YouTube video below, read about and download Photosynth for yourself, or watch some other videos:

Holiday Crafts and Community Workshops from Human Resources

Make a Journal – THIS THURSDAY!!!!!
November 29
2:00-1:15
Berry Hall Activity Room

Pam Niesslein will be repeating her very popular Journal Making Workshop. You’ll leave the session with a personalized Journal that will make a great gift (for you or someone else). Note: This is mine from the summer and I have filled it with many moments I can now savor!!

We’ll have lots of materials available for you to make a great journal…even if you think you’re not creative, this session will show you that you are!

Basket Making
December 4 and 6
1:45-1:15
Berry Hall Activity Room

$5 Material Fee (approximate)

Join Basket Maker Dorinda Harmon. She’s thinking of cornhusk angels – “good for gifts, tree-toppers, or you know it never hurts to have an angel hanging about” – but she is open to suggestions! If you have attended Dorinda’s sessions before, you know that she’s a great teacher and the session is full of fun and laughter. This is the one I gave as a gift last year with an iTunes gift certificate in it!

Boxes and Bags
December 11
12:00-1:00
Berry Hall Activity Room

Need just the perfect Box or Bag to house a special gift? Join us to craft and decorate some individualized boxes and bags. A fun array of materials will be provided. Guys…this would be perfect for that perfect gift!

Origami Ornament
December 13
12:00-1:00
Human Resources Conference Room

Regina Semko will lead us in making an Origami Crane.  The Crane or “tsuru” in Japanese is one of the oldest birds on earth and has a long history in Japanese tradition and legends. Cranes stand for peace, happiness, eternal youth and long life. They are used in Japanese weddings, as cranes mate for life and are devoted to their partners. Folded paper cranes are given to wish a speedy recovery to those ill. It is said that 1,000 folded paper cranes will make a wish come true.

A selection of pretty papers will be available.

And last but not least…don’t forget to check out the recipes website and send recipes! http://cofc.edu/hr/recipes/recipes.htm

For more information contact:
Linda A. McClenaghan
Training Specialist
Human Resources
College of Charleston
66 George Street
Charleston, SC 29451
843 953-8238

CFD Fall 2007 Brown Bag Lunch Workshops

Center for Faculty Development
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This fall, our lunch workshop strand will address classroom assessment from meaningful assessment of ourselves to effective evaluation of our students’ work. Other special topics workshops will be announced later in the semester.

  • How to sign-up: Sign up for workshop dates by emailing daviss@cofc.edu so that we may prepare sufficient materials for the group. You will receive a confirmation email.
  • Refreshments: We will provide soft drinks, water, dessert, etc. since our assessment workshops will be during lunch hours. Please bring your lunch.
  • Reminders: Please mark your calendars when you have signed up for a workshop. Reminders will be emailed the week of the workshop.

__________________________

  • M, Sept 10 1:15-2:30 & T, Sept 11
    12:15-1:30
    Dean’s Conf Room, Second Floor, 86 Wentworth
    ASSESSING OURSELVES: PEER COACHING

    Peer coaching is a non-threatening assessment method in which two faculty members who trust one another observe each other on meaningful, pre-selected criteria.  Bring a friend with whom you wish to peer coach. If you don’t have a partner, join us anyway and learn about the process.

  • M Sept 24 1:15-2:30 & T Sept 25 12:15-1:30
    Dean’s Conf Room, Second Floor, 86 Wentworth
    ASSESSING OUR TEACHING: MOVING FROM TEACHER-CENTERED OR TO STUDENT-CENTERED LEARNING

    Want to learn some strategies to support student engagement in your subject? We will discuss some ways we can move beyond the lecture to methods that promote student interaction and active student participation in learning.

  • M Oct 8 1:15-2:30 & T Oct 9 12:15-1:30
    Dean’s Conf Room, Second Floor, 86 Wentworth
    ASSESSING OUR QUESTIONING: FOSTERING CRITICAL THINKING IN THE CLASSROOM

    Want students to engage in higher levels of thinking during classroom discussions and tests? We will look at just what entails critical thinking in terms of the questions we ask in class and on our tests. Additionally, we will examine some oral and written questioning techniques. Bring your ideas to share.

  • M Oct 22 1:15-2:30 & T Oct 23 12:15-1:30
    Dean’s Conf Room, Second Floor, 86 Wentworth
    ASSESSING STUDENT WRITING: HANDING THE PAPER LOAD

    Want to use more writing in your course but don’t feel like you have time to grade all those papers? We will share various methods for evaluating student writing including ideas for using writing successfully in large classes.  Bring typical writing assignments or topics.

  • M Nov  12 1:15-2:30 & T Nov 13 12:15-1:30
    Dean’s Conf Room, Second Floor, 86 Wentworth
    ASSESSING STUDENT PERFORMANCE: DESIGNING RUBRICS

    Rubrics enable us to provide students the criteria by which their assignments will be assessed so that they can self-evaluate their own work and peer review that of others.   Bring course assignments or topics.

  • M Nov 26 1:15-2:30
    Dean’s Conf Room, Second Floor, 86 Wentworth
    REAKING THE GOOGLE HABIT:  INTRODUCING LIBRARY E-BOOKS AND ONLINE DATABASES FOR ACADEMIC RESEARCH

    Sheila Seaman from Addlestone Library will help us kick the Google habit and go to more efficient and productive ways of conducting academic research. Don’t miss this one!

Sara Calhoun Davis, Ph. D.
Director, Center for Faculty Development
College of Charleston
daviss@cofc.edu
www.cofc.edu/~cfd

College of Fall 2007 HR Computer Workshops for faculty and staff

The College of Charleston Human Resources department will offer an exciting array of computer courses for faculty and staff during Fall 2007.

Some of the courses will be taught by Trident Tech Continuing Education staff but represent a significant savings.  Each Trident course will have a cost of $100 per day or $60 per half day; however, half of the total cost ($50.00 for full day and $30 for half day) will be refunded by Human Resources upon successful completion of the course. An IDT made out to Human Resources is required as soon as possible or 14 days in advance of the course start date.  The IDT must be made out to Human Resources for the entire amount ($100 per day or $60 for half a day) and any non-attendance will be charged the entire amount.  Please make out a separate IDT per person per course – I will put the HR account in and change the amount upon completion of the course. All courses come with a reference workbook.

There is limited space available so registration will be on a first come first serve basis based on receipt of the IDT or upon e-mail registration mcclenaghanl@cofc.edu for the “no cost” workshops.

Course Descriptions

  • Excel Basics ($60)
    Date:  Sept. 11
    Time: 9-12:30
    Location: Bell Building Room 500

    This course is for those who have little or no experience using Excel. It introduces the essential tools necessary to create basic business worksheets that use simple calculations and print on a single piece of paper. Topics include the mechanics, essential commands and features, basic data entry, formatting basic spreadsheets, range names, split windows, and freeze panes.

  • Excel Formatting ($60)
    Date:  Sept. 18
    Time: 9-12:00
    Location: Bell Building Room 500

    Construct a basic spreadsheet and learn how to create numeric, label and date formats; insert and delete rows and columns; change column or row width; sort larger workbooks; and filter. Other topics include copying pasting tips and tricks using clipboard and printing features.
  • Excel Charts ($60)
    Date:  Sept. 25
    Time: 9-12:00

    Location: Bell Building Room 500

    Learn how to use the charting feature in Excel Learn how to create, modify, enhance and print charts.

  • Excel Simple Formulas ($60)
    Date:  Oct. 2
    Time: 9-12:00
    Location: Bell Building Room 500

    Topics include creating basic formulas and using more advanced functions such as date, mathematical, financial, logical and IF; data list functions; and unusual uses for formulas and functions.  Look-up functions are demonstrated.  Emphasis is placed on designing formulas to be linked and copied, and linking cells to other workbook pages and files.

  • Excel Pivot Tables ($50)
    Date:  Oct. 9
    Time:  9-12:00
    Location: Bell Building Room 500

    What are they? Why would I use them? They make life easier and more efficient! Creating neat, informative summaries out of huge lists of raw data is a common challenge. And while Excel gives you all the tools you need to create such summaries, the actual work of writing formulas, cutting and pasting information, and organizing your totals into a new table can be extremely tedious. Even worse, this approach isn’t very flexible. For example, once you’ve created the perfect summary that compares, say, sales in different regions, if you want to compare sales across different product lines or different customers, you’ll need to start from scratch and build a whole new report.

    Fortunately, Excel has a feature called pivot tables that can solve all these problems. Pivot tables quickly summarize long lists of data. By using a pivot table, you can calculate summary information without writing a single formula or copying a single cell. But the most notable feature of pivot tables is that you can arrange them dynamically.

  • Dreamweaver Introduction
    Date: October 11 and 18 (2 day class – IDT for $200)
    Time: 9-4:30
    Location: Bell Building Room 500

    Learn to use one of the most popular Web design tools to build attractive, dynamic Web pages.  Apply special features of the software to enhance Web pages, and learn efficient file management for web sites and techniques of FTP and remote server interaction.

  • Microsoft Outlook Calendaring (no cost)
    Dates: Sept. 20 – 9:30 a.m./ Oct.  22  – 3:00 p.m./Nov. 19  – 10:30 a.m.
    Location: Bell Building Room 500

    Outlook Calendaring is an amazing and powerful tool that can assist you in organizing your work and personal life.  This 75 minute workshop will start with the basics, but also give you tips and tricks that will save time and effort.  If you can get your whole department on calendaring…it becomes even more powerful.

  • Microsoft Publisher (no cost)
    Dates: Sept. 14 – 9:30-11:30 /Oct.   12 – 2:30-4:30/Nov.   20 – 9:30 – 1130
    Location: Bell Building Room 500

    Make great looking documents that adhere to the high standards of the College of Charleston Style Guide.  You will learn all of the exciting feature of Publisher and practice with pictures, layouts, and text so that you will be ready to make your own personal or business documents.

Professional Grant Development Workshop

Professional Grant Development Workshop
Master the techniques of writing superior and winning proposals

Proposal Writing I – September 10 – 12, 2007
North Carolina State University
McKimmon Educational Conference Center
Raleigh, NC

Sponsored by:
The Grant Training Center
(Online at: http://www.granttrainingcenter.com)

This intensive three-day grant proposal workshop is geared for: 1) those who wish to strengthen their grant writing skills and 2) beginners who wish to acquire and master the techniques of preparing, writing and winning proposals from various funding agencies. The center of attention will be on how to effectively tell the story that leads to funding, be it for the researcher in the sciences and social sciences, educator and non-profit professional.

Participants Will Learn How To:

  • Comprehend the diversity of the grant funding community
  • Research and identify potential funding sources
  • Create the right fit with the funding agency
  • Address the guidelines of proposals
  • Identify and effectively write the key elements of a proposal
  • Integrate each component of the grant into the final product
  • Develop focused and realistic budgets
  • Package professional grants submissions
  • Registration

Space is limited, and since this class fills-up quickly, it is on a first-come-first serve basis.

Workshop fee: $595.00, including tuition, materials, certificate of completion, and continental breakfast. Rebate of $50.00 per person is given for two or more registrants from the same organization.

Click here to register: http:/www.granttrainingcenter.com

Using Web-based learning tools to build technology skills, campus-wide

Campus Technologies Webinar Series
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Date: August 9, 2007
Time: 11:00am Pacific Time
Duration: One hour
Sponsored by: Atomic Learning

https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&eventid=59691&sessionid=1&key=AC26A1A5E53A37667C1636316BD4A1B5&ppartnerref=newsletters&sourcepage=register

Abstract
Online software and technology training is a flexible, cost-effective way to train users on a myriad of commonly used software applications. With step-by-step instruction on everything from Microsoft Office, to Blackboard, to Adobe Dreamweaver and more, these web-based tools enable users to access training resources, on demand, to learn, practice and reinforce essential software skills.

Join us Thursday August 9 for a fast-moving, 60-minute panel discussion on the benefits of online technology and software training in a free webinar sponsored by Atomic Learning. Philadelphia University’s Jeffrey Cepull and Rappahannock Community College’s Ruth Greene reveal how they use Atomic Learning’s web-based tutorials to train faculty and support professional development programs; supplement course material and integrate technology into courses; and provide users with around-the-clock technology support—a benefit for your helpdesk and distance learners. Attend this one-hour presentation moderated by Campus Technology’s Geoff Fletcher and learn how to:

  • Engage students and increase performance and retention
  • Boost technology integration amongst faculty and staff
  • Incorporate tutorials into assignments, in-class lectures and course design
  • Drastically reduce calls to your IT helpdesk while improving service to your end users

Presenters

  • Jeffrey Cepull, vice-president for Information Resources and CIO, Philadelphia University
  • Ruth Greene, associate professor of Business Management and Information Systems Technology, Rappahannock Community College

Moderator

  • Geoff Fletcher, project editor, Campus Technology

Find out how online tutorials can help you provide better support to your students, faculty and staff. Mark your calendars now and come armed with questions for our experts. An open Q&A session will follow the live presentation.