ATDL

Academic Technology
and Distributed Learning

FALL 2013 NEWSLETTER

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Academic Technology and Distributed Learning

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Academic Technology and Distributed Learning

From the editor

The topic of active learning is trending in
this issue of the Newsletter.The reasons may
be twofold: the topic has been generating lots
of print lately; Im inclined to read articles
on that topic. So, lets see whats being said.

Strategies that promote

engagement and interaction
As part of a workshop on the topic of teaching geoscience
online, four professors from Shippensburg, and the Universities
of North Dakota, New Mexico, and Michigan collaboratively
published their findings on Interactive Activities in Hybrid and
Online Courses. [Retrieved on 6/13/2013 from http://serc.
carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/online/interactive.html]
Building upon their collective belief that a very important
pedagogical tool in teaching online learning is to make the
learning process active rather than passive, (p. 1) they offer
up a collection of activities that encourage students to learn
by either engaging in an activity on their own or collaborating
with their peers (p. 2).

Dr. C Prescribes PBL

Problem-based learning (PBL) has proven to be
an effective strategy for actively engaging students
in authentic learning experience through their
course work.

Blackboards own Dr. C (actually a number of professors who

contribute to a helpful user forum) took up the topic recently in
a short piece on Using Blackboard for Problem-Based Learning.
[Retrieved on 4/19/2013 from http://ondemand.blackboard.com/
r91/documents/drC_using_blackboard_for_problem_based_
learning_brian_morgan.pdf]
Brian Morgan of Marshall University assumed the persona for
the article. As an admitted firm believer in the PBL strategy,
he was drawn to it because PBL exercises involve students in
many different aspects of learning and expose them to real-world

In turn the article explores both individual and collaborative

activities, providing several examples of each type and offering
practical considerations for use. Additionally, the writers
explore both the benefits and challenges of preparing for
and carrying through on the active learning experiences they
describe. They also offer assessment suggestions (rubrics) for
both types of activities.
It struck me as I read the article that the examples they offer
are very generalizable beyond the discipline of science. Their
many references to face-to-face instruction make clear that
the activity types may find a valuable place in the instructional
strategy toolkit whether one teaches web enhanced in a
traditional classroom, a hybrid, or a fully online course. If you
wish to investigate the logic behind active learning practices
and additional ways to have your students interactively
engaging with content and each other to enhance learning
outcomes,(p. 1) this article may prove to be a worthwhile
resource.

situations while learning. As he sees it, PBL raises learning from

the level of artificial classroom exercises to real-world since
principles of PBL shows that a student, when exposed to such an
exercise, tackles a class project in the same manner that they will
when working in a number of different industries and professions
after graduation.
Since this piece is posted in Blackboards On Demand help area,
its clear purpose is to show how the tools in the Bb course
space can assist one in preparing and facilitating PBL activities. In
doing so, Morgan describes the roles of the Discussion Forum,
the Assignment tool, and those PBL affordances available through
a real-time, synchronous tool such as Collaborate. Interested
in diagnosing ways in which PBL might support your learning
outcomes? Dr. C may have a remedy.

http://ctl.utexas.edu/ctl/sites/default/files/flippedgraphic%28web1100px%29_0.png

Promoting Active Learning

in the Online

If your primary instructional modalities

are the hybrid classroom or the fully
online space, perhaps youd like to dig
a bit deeper into the strategies that
might more fully engage your students
in active learning. If so, the Faculty
Focus article for January 29 of this
year [Retrieved on 2/13/2013 from
http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/
asynchronous-learning-and-trends/
ideas-for-active-online-learning/] is an
excellent resource.
Titling his post Ideas for Active
Online Learning, Rob Kelly highlights
the practices of Heidi Beezley, an
instructional
technologist
from
Georgia Perimeter College. As Kelly
tells it, Beezley strives to instill

Space

online courses with active learning,

providing opportunities for students
to meaningfully talk and listen, write,
read, and reflect on the content, ideas,
issues, and concerns of an academic
subject. Those opportunities are
advanced by having students take
turns summarizing the threaded
discussions to promote a shared
learning experience and common
understanding. Student summaries
are posted using a wiki tool to
make them more accessible to all
and available for accuracy checks
and emendation. Additionally, for
knowledge checks, Beezley uses the
small-group, breakout rooms in the
Wimba (soon to be Collaborate) tool
to facilitate collaboration for learning

and to promote the synchronous

exchange of ideas. Seems to me that
when students are encouraged to talk,
listen, read, reflect, and write, active
learning and knowledge generation
can be expected results.

Projects vs. Project-based Learning

If you are intrigued (as I admittedly am) by the strategies and principles associated with active learning and Project-based learning, a
recent posting on the edudemic blog for June 14 offers a side-by-side comparison between employing projects and implementing
project-based learning in ones teaching.
Jeff Dunn, the posts author, presents a table originally constructed by a fellow blogger, Amy Mayer, on her site, regarding projects
(simple or complex) and full-blown PBL. Some of Mayers original assertions:

Projects

Project-based Learning

Can be done at home without teacher guidance or team

collaboration.

Requires teacher guidance and team collaboration.

The teacher work occurs mainly after the project is

complete.
Are closed: every project has the same goal.

The teacher work occurs mainly before the project starts.

Is open: students make choices that determine the outcome
and path of the research.

Cannot be used in the real world to solve real problems.

Could provide solutions in the real world to real problems

even though they may not be implemented.

Are not particularly relevant to students lives.

Do not include scenarios and background information or
are based on events that have already been resolved.

Is relevant to students lives or future lives.

The scenario or simulation is real or if it is fictitious, is
realistic, entertaining, and timely.

Are sometimes based around a tool for the sake of the tool
rather than of an authentic question (e.g., Make a Prezi).

Use technology, tools, and practices of the real world work

environment purposefully. Students choose tools according
to purposes.

Happen after the real learning has already occurred and

are just the dessert.

Is how students do the real learning.

(exerpted from Amy Mayer, @friEdTechnology, The Original WOW! Academy www.friEdTechnology.com)

Dunn concludes from examing the entire table that it may be slanted in its presentation of differences. But he believes it can initiate
valuable conversations around the topics of active and authentic learning. Should you wish to be a part of those conversations, visit
Mayers full table and determine its accuracy for yourself.

Role of ATDL

come partner with us

New paradigms such as MOOCs and flipped classrooms have
captured our imagination, but the real work of transforming post
-secondary teaching and learning will depend on partnerships
between faculty, educational technologists, learning designers,
librarians, and other education professionals. We look forward
to assisting you to achieve your goals for the students you teach.
http://www.robcottingham.ca/cartoon/archive/2007-08-07-crowdsourced/

CenterPoint Endorses the Gold

If you have read previous issues of this
Newsletter (available from the archive
at the ATDL web site), you know that
I periodically like to drop-in on the
home of Regent Universitys Center for
Teaching and Learning to see whats new
on CenterPoint, its self-styled national
online video magazine for innovative
educators. The current number, Issue
008 - May 2013, includes hosts Kwame

Rakes and Kelley Davis describing the

Quality Matters Program. In our spring
2013 Newsletter, Sharon Felegie, ATDL
Director of Instructional Design Services,
gave an in-depth explanation of the
Program and its purposes, and how Saint
Josephs University planned to adopt its
Standards Rubric to assist in the design
of online courses. If you missed Sharons
article, do pay CenterPoint a visit. As

Standard

always, in acknowledgement of the need

to make its own video presentations
accessible, a text transcript is provided.
And speaking of accessibility, Kelley
provides a review of a free captioning
tool, CaptionTube, which may provide a
solution for videos created for courses.

Have you heard

about our Academic License with the

Copyright Clearance Center (CCC)?
Trying to determine whether or not you can use an article or chapter from
a book in your blackboard course space? Without first reaching out to the
copyright holder for permission to use?
If so, head over to www.copyright.com and see if the item you want to use
is covered under our Academic License with the Copyright Clearance Center
(CCC). To navigate the website, follow these simple steps:
Step 1: Enter the title of the item in the Get Permission search box.
Step 2: Click on the title and then click on the academic license options
tab. A green check mark denotes permission to use under our license; a
slashed red circle signifies we are not able to use the material under the
license. When you are able to use the material, roll over the TERMS
to review the rights holders terms specific to that item. There may be
conditions placed on how much of the material may be used.
There are two important principles to remember when using copyright.com:
(1) CCC shares with you those items that you may use under our academic
license, and identifies the ways you may share the material with your students,
but it does not actually provide the material. You must have a legal copy of the
material to be used; and (2) When locating the material, there may be more
than one journal with the same title; use the ISSN to assist you in locating the
exact journal you want. One ISSN may be the print version, one the electronic
version.
Questions related to SJUs license or how to use copyright.com, please contact
Mary Ann McMenamin, JD, Copyright & Compliance Officer, ATDL, at X3257 or
via email, mstrecke@sju.edu.

http://visual.ly/how-technology-schoolshas-changed-over-time

When things go wrong again

When things go wrong in our Blackboard course spaces, our
goal becomes to find a resolution to the issue as quickly
as possible. So we fire off an email request for assistance,
usually to the IT Help Desk [techhelp@sju.edu]. Our post
may read something like, Students cant access the wiki in
my Instructional Design course. Please help. We may even
include our students original email to us to confirm the
problem: I tried to get into the wiki, but it wouldnt let me.
Believe me, when that email is received, Help Desk personnel
stand ready to help. However . . . where to start? Its a good
practice to be as specific as possible in identifying the location
of the problem, particularly if you teach multiple sections of
the same course, or the problem is especially vexing. May I
suggest that when emailing the Help Desk that we provide
the full course name and ID for quick identification?

When we log into our course space, the full ID information

is available in two places: at the very top of the course (e.g.
Instructional Design - Fall 2009 - Section: OL1 EDU_5335_
OL1_200940) and above the left hand Course Menu

That single piece of information provides our course number,

section number, as well as year and semester identifier. Now,
Help is on the way!

The preceding article originally appeared in the spring 2012 issue of the Newsletter.

ATDL Instructional Designers Chontel Delaney

and Sharon Felegie have become the campus go-to
experts on using Blackboards web-conferencing
tool, Collaborate. Here, Chontel asks,

Shall We Collaborate?
In 2015, Wimba will be retired. So what does this mean for learning? Dont worry; Blackboard
has a new web conferencing tool that will replace Wimba called Collaborate. Like Wimba,
Collaborate allows you to create an engaging learning experience in both the online and
traditional classroom. In preparation for Wimbas retirement, ATDL initiated a soft rollout
of Blackboard Collaborate during the fall 2012 semester, and we are pleased to announce
that we have received wonderful feedback. During this rollout period, the Saint Josephs
University community used Collaborate to hold office hours, conduct departmental meetings,
invite guest speakers into the classroom, and present lecture materials in a virtual learning
environment.
A lot of the tools and features that were commonly used in Wimba are also available in
Collaborate. For example, Collaborate sessions can be recorded, archived, and viewed at
a later time. In addition, Collaborate includes features such as an interactive whiteboard,
continued on page 7

continued from page 6

application sharing, and a web tour. Using these tools, instructors can upload PowerPoint presentations
and images, share applications from their desktop, as well as allow students to be more active in the
learning experience through the use of web tours.
Blackboard Collaborate also allows you to customize your session interface. The Collaborate interface
has three primary panels: audio/video, participants, and chat. Each panel can be detached from the main
interface and relocated or resized to suit your individual preferences.
To ensure a seamless transition from Wimba to Collaborate, ATDL will be conducting virtual Collaborate
office hours. These office hours will take place on Mondays in August and September from 2-3 pm
and will be conducted using Blackboard Collaborate. To access the virtual office hours, login to the Bb
Tutorial course and click on the Virtual Office Hours link, under the Collaborate sub-header.
ATDL will also conduct workshops every Tuesday in September during free period. The hands-on
workshop schedule for September is as follows

Tuesday, September 3 in the Wachterhauser conference room in the Post Learning Commons
Tuesday, September 10 online in the Bb Tutorial course
Tuesday, September 17 in the Wachterhauser conference room in the Post Learning Commons
Tuesday, September 24 online in the Bb Tutorial course

If you have any questions about Collaborate or would like to practice using Collaborate, please consider
attending one of the workshops or virtual office hours. We look forward to collaborating with you!

The Padagogy Wheel V2.0

visualizing how the multitude of
internet apps support teaching
and learning outcomes in
Blooms revised taxonomy.

http://www.unity.net.au/padwheel/padwheelposter.pdf

DMZ support now available

seven days a week!

The Digital Media Zone (DMZ) offers a choice

of either open or private spaces for students
and faculty to collaborate, create, and innovate in
teaching and learning. The DMZ is equipped with
cutting-edge technologies and equipment for
audio, video, graphics, 3D, and animation projects.
Below is a heat graph of DMZ support staff
coverage. The darker the green, the more DMZ
staff members are available to support your
creative endeavors.

8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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ATDL Fall 2013 Newsletter

Editor

Steve Gary, Director e-Learning

Academic Technology & Distributed Learning
(ATDL)
610-660-3163
sgary@sju.edu

Contributors

Chontel Delaney, Instructional Designer

ATDL

If you have been asked or are planning to teach an online course,

ATDL has a resource available to support you. The Online
Faculty Readiness Program is a two-course, four week, fully-online,
instructor-led initiative designed to assist faculty in becoming more
comfortable and confident in teaching in an online (or blended
learning) space. Benefits of the program in-clude the opportunity
to experience online learning from the student viewpoint as well
as to engage in mentored, hands-on activities with several distance
learning tools. The Program incorporates modeling of best-practice
in online teaching.
If youd like to learn more about the Readiness Program, contact
Steve Gary.

Mary Ann McMenamin, JD,

Copyright & Compliance Officer
ATDL

Layout and Design

Karen Pinto, Digital Media Technologist

ATDL

Photography

Stephanie Mosher, Digital Media Technologist

ATDL

ATDL

Academic Technology
and Distributed Learning

sju.edu/atdl