Blogging the sabbatical
We were all delighted to see Shirley's (Shirley Gedeon, the CTL's former director) blog about her sabbatical in Bosnia - a lively read and vicarious getaway. Wow, Shirley, you GO.
January 25, 2008
January 2, 2008
UVM Member of Educause's Learning Initiative
The University of Vermont is now a member of Educause's Learning Initiative (ElI).
ELI explores the interaction among learners, learning principles and practices, and learning technologies. Membership benefits include reduced rates on ELI events and access to all resources on their web site, including archived web seminars and podcasts.
There are three upcoming events that may interest you:
January 14: Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0 (online event)
January 28 - 30: ELI 2008 Annual Meeting - Connecting and Reflecting: Preparing Learners for Life 2.0 (San Antonio, TX)
March 18 - 19: Real World and Technology-Rich: Learning by Doing, Learning in Context (Raleigh, NC)
To access ELI resources and register for events, you will need to set up a member profile that connects you as an UVM affiliate. Go to the the Educause home page and follow the directions in the "Manage your personal profile" (under the "What would you like to do?" section).
We hope that you will explore the resources on the ELI site. If you find these resources valuable and/or are interested in attending an event, please let us know.
November 27, 2007
Library: Get This Book
Just stumbled upon a new service at the Library. It's called "Get This Book." If you search for a book and the Library doesn't have it, but it is in the catalog of one of several university presses (including Oxford Univ. Press), you will see the usual record and this logo: 
If you click on the logo the Library makes you this offer:
"Get This Book! is a service available to UVM students, faculty, and staff. Bailey/Howe Library does not currently own this book, but we want to purchase it for your use and the library's permanent collection. If you need the book immediately, we will do everything we can to have the book in your hands within 3 working days."
Neat!
September 15, 2007
We're Hiring!
Come join a team of talented professionals who are passionate about their work. Here's what we're looking for:
Multimedia Development Specialist
To assist faculty and staff to produce and manage digital multimedia content for instructional applications. Provide coordination of a Mac/PC multimedia computer lab and develop and facilitate workshops for faculty on digital multimedia. Provide general faculty and student support in the Center for Multimedia Development facility.
You can find more information on this position at the UVM Jobs site (search for requisition #032064).
August 20, 2007
Migration, Migration, Migration
On August 22 your WebCT course may disappear.
Where is it?
Have you recently requested a new course for Fall or Spring 2007/2008 (i.e. have you filled out the "Request a WebCT Course Space" form at https://www.uvm.edu/webct/?cat=6)?
If yes, your new
course may be found on https://diamondback.uvm.edu
until August 22. After August 22 you can get to it the usual way,
through UVM A-Z page or from http://www.uvm.edu/webct
Do you have a course from a previous semester that you want to re-use this semester?
If yes, you must migrate
that course. This means you must request a new course space, backup and
download your previous course, then upload and restore it to the new
space. This process only takes a few minutes. Complete instructions can
be found at https://www.uvm.edu/webct/?cat=20&p=77
Do you have an older course that you want to archive for future reference?
If yes, you should migrate
that course. You should request a new course space (so the course will
still appear in your WebCT space even though there will be no new
students in it), then backup, download, upload, restore as described in
the instructions at https://www.uvm.edu/webct/?cat=20&p=77
As of September 15 the old WebCT server will be gone. Any materials you have not migrated will be unrecoverable. Between August 22 and September 15 you can find your old courses at http://moccasin.uvm.edu/
Let us help! You can visit the Dr Is In (303 Bailey/Howe) from Mon-Fri 10:00-3:00 for help with this process. You can also make an appointment by sending e-mail to | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
August 16, 2007
BlackBoard and plagiarism
According to David Nagle of Camus Technology "Blackboard this week debuted a new tool called SafeAssign, which is designed to eliminate plagiarism in student assignments. The service detects plagiarized works in student papers and delivers reports on such incidents through the Blackboard Learning System."
More information about SafeAssign is available at BlackBoard.
January 3, 2007
Connectivism Online Conference (February 2 - 9)
The evolution of teaching and learning is accelerated with technology. After several decades of duplicating classroom functionality with technology, new opportunities now exist to alter the spaces and structures of knowledge to align with both needs of learners today, and affordances of new tools and processes.
...
Connectivism Online Conference is an open online forum exploring how learning has been impacted by ongoing changes. The conference will run from February 2 – 9, 2007.
Key themes: trends in K-12 sector, trends in higher education, research and net pedagogy, technological and societal trends, and connective knowledge and connectivism.
Format: Presenters will deliver a 50 minute presentation followed by 10 minutes of questions. After each presenter, conversation will occur online in Moodle, allowing participants to challenge, critique, explore, and extend ideas presented.
More information and (free) registration: http://umanitoba.ca/learning_technologies/connectivisim/
Spotted by: Charles Rathbone
August 29, 2006
'Dr Is In' Back in Session
With the return of the students comes the return of our regular Dr Is In schedule.
The Dr Is in Program offers faculty one-on-one help in using instructional technologies in their teaching. Activities that faculty receive help with include:
- preparing WebCT course content,
- working with course blogs,
- scanning and editing images,
- creating and editing websites,
- building image collections,
- learning about new applications like wikis or podcasts,
- using supported software like EndNote, Office programs, etc.
Our "doctors" are instructional technology professionals from Academic Computing, Media Services, and the Center for Teaching & Learning. You can see who is available, when, on our schedule.
To ask a question or set up an appointment, send e-mail to ctldoc@uvm.edu or stop by the CTL Commons, 303 Bailey/Howe Library, during our open hours: Monday through Friday, 10:00-3:00.
May 31, 2006
todo: take quiz, do laundry...
Blackboard to Resell e-Suds Internet Laundry to Higher Ed
Blackboard Inc. said it has become a reseller of the e-Suds online laundry service. e-Suds’ parent, USA Technologies, said Blackboard will start to offer e-Suds to customers that use the Blackboard Transaction System. e-Suds is an Internet connected laundry system that lets students monitor the availability and status of washing machines and dryers via the Internet.
Users will swipe their Blackboard transaction card to activate the laundry system, and will be notified by e-mail on their PC, or receive a cellular phone text message when the laundry is done. The cost of the service will be automatically deducted online from a student's Blackboard account.
For more information, click here.
May 19, 2006
BSAD/SoE TabletPC Grant
External Research & Programs: Tablet PC Technology, Curriculum, and Higher Education 2005 RFP Awards
BSAD and SoE have received funds from MiscroSoft to explore enhancing student use of TabletPCs in their respective departments. According to the blurb they also intend to "develop training seminars on Tablet PCs and associated software."
May 15, 2006
Systems at Civil & Environmental Engineering
After a month or so of design, development, edits and fixes, we're pround to announce the launch of the Systems at Civil & Environmental Engineering website.
The site serves as a launch pad for a curricular reform initiative, sponsored in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation, whereby students will be asked to think about civil & environmental engineering problems as being part of a greater system. In other words, how one problem/solution set might impact many other problem/solution sets.
Over the course of a student's civil & environmental engineering education, they will work with their classmates to help solve a particular problem in a particular town. These Catamount Communities are signing on for four years of service learning work with an entire graduating class of budding engineers, which promises to help enrich and enhance the overall educational experience.
Visit Systems at CEE
March 31, 2006
Welcome to the CTL blog
Well, we (the Center for Teaching & Learning staff) decided it was finally time to set up our own blog. We'd like this to be a place for all of us, and our colleagues and friends, to exchange ideas, discoveries, and even ruminative meanderings
As you might gather from the nature of the posts, and even the banner images, we like to have fun. That's part of what this space is about (even if we're up burning the midnight oil crafting a new post or putting together funky banner images).
If you arrived here by accident, you might check out the official CTL site.
Obligatory Disclaimer: Please note that the views expressed on this blog are strictly those of the respective authors, and are not reviewed or approved by the University of Vermont, the CTL, or any other organization.
