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Maximize your laptop's battery's life
If you have a Windows based laptop computer (i.e. not a Mac), lifehacker.com provides some useful tips for getting the most time out of your laptop's battery.

Educating, Not Punishing, is the Best Way to Discourage Plagiarism
A recent study conducted by the University of Michigan and Swarthmore College found that incidents of plagiarism among students could be drastically reduced if students participated in an online plagiarism tutorial. Campus Technology magazine has a nice write-up and a link to the study.
Apple's iPad: Worth the Hype?
Billed as the "Jesus" tablet--apparently for the ability to perform tech "miracles," Apple unveiled its latest gadget, the iPad. Think of a big honkin' iPhone or iTouch and you get the picture. For those not "in the know," the iPad is a tablet computer that uses touch interaction and a virtual keyboard. PC Magazine provides an overview of its capibilities.

Also, check out:
- What's Surprising About the Apple iPad
- Apple iPad: What's Missing
- 10 Things I'd Do With My Apple Tablet 

Want one? Apple's iPad will be available in late March. Price depends on storage, ranging from $499-$699. Models with Wi-Fi and 3G access will be available in April and will range from $629-$829.

What's New on the Technology Horizon?
Each year EDUCAUSE, the higher education technology association, and the New Media Consortium, produce the "Horizon Report" which details new technologies to watch and estimates their timeline for widespread adoption. Over the years, their predictions have been made with a good percentage of accuracy.

So what's on the horizon for 2010 and beyond? Between now and the next couple of years, EDUCAUSE and the New Media Consortium predict that mobile computing and open content will have the biggest impact and will be readily adopted. In 2-5 years, the focus will be on e-books and augmented reality. Further down the road, gesture-based computing and visual data analysis will play a key role in teaching and learning.

Want to know more? Check out the 2010 Horizon Report.


Catching the Wave
Have you caught the wave? Google Wave, that is! Billed as a "personal communication and collaboration tool," Google Wave attempts to combine services such as e-mail, instant messaging, collaborative work spaces, and social networking applications into one convenient space.

EDUCAUSE, the higher education technology organization, provides a nice overview in 7 Things You Should Know About Google Wave. The Chronicle of Higher Education "Wired Campus" blog offers up some ideas on how it can be used for teaching. There's some talk that Google Wave could be used in lieu of course management systems (Blackboard, Moodle) and campus e-mail systems to communicate more effectively with students.

Want to know more. Check out the Google Wave video on YouTube. Want an account? Let me know. If I have Google Wave "invites" to send out.

 

Moodle: Getting Set-Up for Spring Semester
With classes about to begin, here are a few reminders for instructors about getting your course set-up in Moodle:

1. Training sessions will be offered on Moodle. Click here for dates/times.

2. Moodle courses are automatically generated and enrolled with your students. However, MuOnline contains your OFFICIAL course roster.

3. Adds/Drops - New improvement! Students who add or drop your course (through the Registrar's Office), will be removed from your Moodle course during the next nightly update (please allow 24 hours). The update process will run nightly (Mon-Fri) throughout the duration of the semester.

4. Course Start Date - You will need to set the start date for your course. I recommend choosing the Sunday BEFORE the first day of classes (Jan. 17th for the traditional Spring semester) as your start date--this allows your course to run in a traditional weekly format. Click here for the steps. You will also need to select the correct number of weeks: Choose "17" for a traditional spring semester. Click here for the steps.

5. Adding the Quickmail (E-Mail) Application to Your Moodle Course - If wish to be able to e-mail your class from Moodle, you will need to add the Quickmail application to each of your courses. Click here for the steps.

6. Teaching Multiple Sections - If you teach multiple sections of the same course, and you only want to use one Moodle course shell, contact Joe Hardenbrook. He will set you up with a manually-created course shell that you can use.

7. Teaching Cross-Listed Courses - If you teach a cross-listed course, you will have Moodle course shells for both cross-listed courses. Your students will be displayed in both Moodle course shells. Pick one of the cross-listed course shells to use. Re-title the "full name" of the course (use the Settings link on your course page, but DO NOT change the Short Name) to reflect both course numbers. Then make the course shell you are NOT using unavailable

8. Moving Content from Old Courses to New Courses - You can transfer all documents/files/labels from old courses to new ones. Click here for the steps. Quiz content must be transferred separately.

9. Fall 2009 Moodle courses have been made unavailable to your students. On instructors' Moodle accounts, these courses will appear "grayed out" and below active courses.

10. More Moodle Tips - http://www.millikin.edu/staley/edtech/Pages/moodle.aspx.


Educational Technology Training - January 2010
All sessions meet in Scovill 010 (Faculty Development Lab). Contact Joe Hardenbrook at jhardenbrook@millikin.edu if you plan to attend a session.

Tuesday, January 12
6:00pm - Moodle Quickstart
Provides a general intro to get you started. Covers Moodle course-set up, how to add your documents, electronically collect assignments, use the online discussion forums, and a brief overview of the gradebook. Ideal for those new to Moodle, or those that would like a "refresher." 30-45 minutes.


Wednesday, January 13
2:00pm - Moodle Quickstart
Provides a general intro to get you started. Covers Moodle course-set up, how to add your documents, electronically collect assignments, use the online discussion forums, and a brief overview of the gradebook. Ideal for those new to Moodle, or those that would like a "refresher." 30-45 minutes.


Thursday, January 14
11:00am - Moodle Quickstart
Provides a general intro to get you started. Covers Moodle course-set up, how to add your documents, electronically collect assignments, use the online discussion forums, and a brief overview of the gradebook. Ideal for those new to Moodle, or those that would like a "refresher." 30-45 minutes.

2:00pm - Moodle Advanced: Gradebook & Quizzes
A more detailed explanation of the enhanced gradebook, set-up and organization, weighting grades, and extra credit. If there's interest, I will wrap up with training on how to create online quizzes. 30-45 minutes.


Wednesday, January 20
2:00pm - Moodle Quickstart
Provides a general intro to get you started. Covers Moodle course-set up, how to add your documents, electronically collect assignments, use the online discussion forums, and a brief overview of the gradebook. Ideal for those new to Moodle, or those that would like a "refresher." 30-45 minutes.


Thursday, January 21
11:00am - Turnitin Plagiarism Prevention Training
Turnitin is a powerful online prevention service that checks student papers against four targets: material on the Web, the "archived" Web, selected Library databases, and other student papers. Learn how to collect student papers and use Turnitin with your classes. 30 minutes.

3:30pm - Clicker Technology Training
Commonly referred to as a student response system. Working within PowerPoint, you pose a question, poll the students, and get instant feedback. Clickers are useful for examining students' prior knowledge on a topic, reviewing content, or helping to serve as a lead-in to classroom discussion. Learn how to use clickers to promote active learning in your classes. 30-45 minutes.

6:00pm - Moodle Advanced: Gradebook & Quizzes
A more detailed explanation of the enhanced gradebook, set-up and organization, weighting grades, and extra credit. If there's interest, I will wrap up with training on how to create online quizzes. 30-45 minutes.


Friday, January 22
1:00pm - Clicker Technology Training
Commonly referred to as a student response system. Working within PowerPoint, you pose a question, poll the students, and get instant feedback. Clickers are useful for examining students' prior knowledge on a topic, reviewing content, or helping to serve as a lead-in to classroom discussion. Learn how to use clickers to promote active learning in your classes. 30-45 minutes.

2:00pm - Moodle Advanced: Gradebook & Quizzes
A more detailed explanation of the enhanced gradebook, set-up and organization, weighting grades, and extra credit. If there's interest, I will wrap up with training on how to create online quizzes. 30-45 minutes.


Monday, January 25
4:00pm - Moodle Quickstart
Provides a general intro to get you started. Covers Moodle course-set up, how to add your documents, electronically collect assignments, use the online discussion forums, and a brief overview of the gradebook. Ideal for those new to Moodle, or those that would like a "refresher." 30-45 minutes.


Tuesday, January 26
3:30pm - Moodle Advanced: Gradebook & Quizzes
A more detailed explanation of the enhanced gradebook, set-up and organization, weighting grades, and extra credit. If there's interest, I will wrap up with training on how to create online quizzes. 30-45 minutes.


Wednesday, January 27
1:00pm - Turnitin Plagiarism Prevention Training
Turnitin is a powerful online prevention service that checks student papers against four targets: material on the Web, the "archived" Web, selected Library databases, and other student papers. Learn how to collect student papers and use Turnitin with your classes. 30 minutes.


Thursday, January 28
11:00am - Clicker Technology Training
Commonly referred to as a student response system. Working within PowerPoint, you pose a question, poll the students, and get instant feedback. Clickers are useful for examining students' prior knowledge on a topic, reviewing content, or helping to serve as a lead-in to classroom discussion. Learn how to use clickers to promote active learning in your classes. 30-45 minutes.



Millikin University Educational Technology Statistics, Fall 2009
Educational Technology Questions received by Joe Hardenbrook: 711 TOTAL
- Moodle questions: 469
- Turnitin questions: 40
- LiveText questions: 40
- Clicker questions: 74
- Other questions: 88

Scheduled technology consultations with faculty/staff: 41
Training Sessions/Workshops: 25
Technology Instruction Sessions for Courses: 21
Tweet + Heckle = Tweckle
Been to a professional conference lately? If so, you may have noticed attendees busily typing away on their laptop or smartphone. But just what are they doing? A new trend has developed: attendees "tweeting" about conference sessions and presenters. Using Twitter, the popular microblogging service, attendees post a short "tweet" about the session topic, the presenters, and general goings-on. However, it occasionally devolves into snickering and more. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports the fallout from one professional conference and reaction from readers. The Social Media Group also reports about it too. Check it out and be on the lookout the next time you are presenting at a conference.


Research on the go? Yep, we do that!
Did you know that you can now search the Library's popular EBSCO databases on a web-enabled smartphone? Check it out on the Staley Library Blog.


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