Software for HCC Faculty

HCC has software that faculty can use! Go to CITT's website to see what is available. From CITT's home page, Software is listed under Tools.

Place the CITT Blog Feed on Your Homepage!

The CITT blog can now be added to your personalized Google, netvibes, newsgator and Yahoo page, or Atom account. Click the Feed button (top of the right hand column) and select the site to which you would like to add the feed. Follow the instructions on the page that pops up to finish setting up the feed.

Online@HCC Planned Outage 12/28/10

As part of Blackboard Managed Hosting team's initiative to improve our environment and take advantage of new technologies, they will be undergoing a project to swap out their existing core switches in both the VA2 and VA3 data centers. This swap will enable them to upgrade to their vendor's latest technology switches while expanding their capacity so that they can better support our growth.

The maintenance work is scheduled to happen on Tuesday December 28th from 12:00 - 8:30 AM Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Why is the maintenance window 8½ hours instead of the usual 4 hours?

This project is larger in scale than most of the maintenance work Blackboard Managed Hosting does during their regular windows. Their standard maintenance generally requires adding or replacing a card or upgrading code whereas this maintenance requires the replacement of both the A & B side switches. While the work itself should not take the full 8½ hours, they have built a buffer into the window to resolve any problems that might arise and/or enact a rollback plan if needed.

Will Online@HCC be offline the entire window?

The Managed Hosting Engineering Teams will take all necessary steps to minimize the impact to our site. However, because the maintenance requires redirecting traffic in addition to physically removing equipment, HCC faculty and students may experience extended periods of latency and/or packet loss at anytime during the entire window. My recommendation is to prepare for the site to be offline for the full eight and a half hours. You may find the site available sporadically but you should not plan to do any work as it may not be saved if the site becomes unreachable.

In other words, please do not log in and do any work on your classes as the work may not be saved.

Faculty Interest Groups (FIGS) are Now Forming!

Faculty Interest Groups (FIGS) at Hillsborough Community College are groups of faculty that have a mutual interest in a specific aspect of teaching and learning. These groups have an anticipated goal to foster teaching and to develop pedagogical advances in the teaching field. FIGS offer opportunity to all faculty members - adjuncts, non-tenured, and tenured that have common interests in a specific subject.

Members of FIGS have the opportunity to gather and share best practices, do research about their subject, support each other in the application of their methodology, and provide peer evaluation of their relevance with student learning.

Visit the FIGS Website for information on creating and/or participating in a FIG.

Are you currently involved in a FIG or have an idea for a FIG? Comment on this post to share!

Faculty Spotlight - Ed Ericsson

Radio and Television Production
Teaching Radio and Television Production requires the use of technology. The application of that technology requires the ability to perform under pressure. Stressing performance and creativity along with the technical knowledge and operation of production equipment keeps the students working both of their brain hemispheres. I usually start my Introduction to Broadcasting students with PowerPoint. It is the easiest way to make a stand alone audio/visual project. They move to basic Electronic Field Production and iMovie. As they progress through the curriculum they gradually work up to FinalCutPro and Adobe Premiere.

Hawk Radio is the perfect learning environment for budding Disc Jockeys. The beginners start out broadcasting on the internet, a place where as we know amateur broadcasts are commonplace, and work toward having a show on 1520 AM between 8 AM and 2 PM Monday through Friday. In the radio class we use Audacity because it is free and easy to use. There is also a tutorial link on Hawknet. I often use videos from the websites Expert Village and How Stuff Works. I test my Careers in Film and Video with a Webquest. I use one-on-one assessment to check the ability of students to operate the equipment and creative projects to stretch their minds. Another great free tool for writing and creating a variety of projects is Celtx.

Ed Ericsson is the Program Manager for Digital Television and Media Production at the Ybor City Campus.

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Faculty Spotlight is an excellent way to share what you are doing with the HCC Community. It is also a great opportunity to recruit coworkers, collaborate and exchange ideas. Interested in being our next Faculty Spotlight? Contact us at cittfacdev@hccfl.edu.

Search the .EDU Underground

Looking for educational websites to supplement a lecture or a unit in your course?

Check out Life Hacker's Digital .EDU Underground http://lifehacker.com/software/technophilia/discover-the-edu-underground-307427.php. This is compilation of academic websites, separated by subject. Links include Yale University's online art gallery, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's virtual microscope and George Mason's University's Speech Accent Archive, among others.

After viewing the .EDU Underground, if you still can't find what you are looking for, try searching Google. Use this search string: site:.edu "insert subject here" to find additional educational sites.

Also, don't forget to share your findings! Post sites you use in your course in our comments section.

Use a Podcast to Enhance Your Course

A podcast is a digital media file that is distributed over the internet. These can be played via an internet browser, an iPod or a Smart Phone.

Podcasts are valuable resources for students in online and face-to-face courses. Professors can record their lectures and place them on their website. Students can then download the lecture and listen to it any time, day or night.

Are you interested in putting your lecture online? Faculty and Staff at HCC have access to a program called Camtasia. Camtasia allows you to record and edit your lectures and then publish them in a digital format. Tutorials on how to use Camtasia can be found here:http://citt.hccfl.edu/Tutorials.cfm?TopNum=1&SubTopic=Camtasia&AllResource=Camtasia. You can also contact the CITT for additional assistance in using Camtasia.

For further information on using podcasts to enhance your course, check out this article - www.educationonline.com/new-trends-podcasts - from Education Online.

Blackboard Learn Implementation Tentative Timeline:

Blackboard Learn Implementation Tentative Timeline:

• Nov. – December 2010 – Faculty Identify Courses to Migrate
• Nov. 2010 – Update Online@HCC environment from CE 6.2.3 to CE 8
• Nov. 2010 – March 2011 – Datatel/BB integration (OIT)
• Dec- Jan 2011 – Courses Migrated to BB Learn 9.1
• Feb. – July 2011 – Faculty Training
• Feb. - Early August 2011 – Faculty Complete Courses in BB Learn
• May 2011 – BB Learn Summer Pilot
• Fall 2011 – BB Learn Implemented College wide

Also, beginning Friday, November 26th through Sunday, November 28th 2010, the Online@HCC environment will be unavailable due to a planned system upgrade to CE version 8. This upgrade is required in order to prepare the Online@HCC database to migrate courses to Blackboard Learn 9.1 over Winter break in December and early January in preparation for a Blackboard Learn 9.1 implementation in early May of 2011.

How to Merge PowerPoint Presentations

Have two (or more) PowerPoint presentations that you would like to play as one presentation? Have slides from a presentation that you would like to add to another presentation? This can be done easily in PowerPoint 2007.

1. Open the PowerPoint presentation that you would like to appear first
2* Scroll to the last slide of your presentation. Click on this slide to make it
    active, so that the slides you add will appear immediately after it.
3. On the Home tab, click ‘New Slide’
4. Select ‘Reuse Slides’ (last option)
5. On the right hand slide, a box will pop up. Click Browse and select “Browse
    File.”
6. Search for the next PowerPoint you would like to add to your lecture
7. The slides will populate in the box on the right hand side.
8. Click them in the order that you would like them to appear in your lecture.

*You can also add slides to the beginning or middle of a lecture following these same steps. Just make sure the slide they will immediately follow is highlighted in your original presentation.

Keyboard Shortcuts - Windows

Keyboard Shortcuts are amazing. They save time and eliminate unnecessary mouse clicks. Below are some of the most common shortcuts. These shortcuts will work with Microsoft Windows 95 - Windows 7. For specific information on compatible operating systems, as well as additional shortcuts, visit: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449#appliesto.

Windows system key combinations:
* F1: Help
* CTRL+ESC: Open Start menu
* ALT+TAB: Switch between open programs
* ALT+F4: Quit program
* SHIFT+DELETE: Delete item permanently
* Windows Logo+L: Lock the computer (without using CTRL+ALT+DELETE)

Windows program key combinations:
* CTRL+C: Copy
* CTRL+X: Cut
* CTRL+V: Paste
* CTRL+Z: Undo
* CTRL+B: Bold
* CTRL+U: Underline
* CTRL+I: Italic

What other program's shortcuts would you like to learn? Let us know and we will post them here.

Online@HCC Upgrade - Thanksgiving Weekend

Beginning Friday, November 26th through Sunday, November 28th 2010, the Online@HCC environment will be unavailable due to a planned system upgrade to CE version 8. This upgrade is required in order to prepare the Online@HCC database to migrate courses to Blackboard Learn 9.1 over Winter break in December and early January in preparation for a Blackboard Learn 9.1 implementation in early May of 2011.

This upgrade does not affect course tool functionality nor does it change the user interface. In other words, you should not see or experience any changes in using the system after the upgrade.

Please adjust the due dates in your course as needed.

A message has been posted in Online@HCC for students.

Additional reminders will be sent leading up to the upgrade date.

OCTOBER 2010

Making Technology Work: Meeting the Demand for More Students

Are you experiencing increasing enrollments? Are students rushing to enroll in classes? Join us as one college, Northcentral Technical College (NTC), shares how it went from 300-400 courses per semester to 4,000-5,000 fully automated classes. Partnering with Dynamic Campus, NTC developed a fully automated system, creating efficient online courses for faculty, while addressing the growing student demand for accessible, easy-to-navigate coursework. This session will leave you with ideas on how to maximize technology to better serve your students.

Thursday, October 28, 2010
Pacific: 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Mountain: 12:00-1:00 p.m.
Central: 1:00-2:00 p.m.
Eastern: 2:00-3:00 p.m.

Presenters:
Chet Strebe, CIO, Northcentral Technical College (WI)
Leonardo de la Garza, Chancellor Emeritus, Tarrant County College District (TX)
Evelyn Waiwaiole, Suanne Davis Roueche NISOD Director (Moderator)

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NOVEMBER 2010

A Change for Good: Using Student Engagement Techniques to Transform Student Success

How can we make a real difference in the success, retention, and persistence of our at-risk students? In an effort to promote meaningful change and sustain long term results, New Mexico Junior College (NMJC) is collaborating with Dr. Elizabeth Barkley to train a core team of motivated professors to improve the success of students in high-risk core courses. Join us as we share a multi-faceted, data-driven strategy for helping face-to-face and online instructors become central to the improved success of students at this comprehensive, residential community college. NMJC instructors are becoming more effective in their engagement practices and efforts to build early and sustained student success using the lessons learned in this focused professional development program.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Pacific: 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Mountain: 12:00-1:00 p.m.
Central: 1:00-2:00 p.m.
Eastern: 2:00-3:00 p.m.

Presenters:
Elizabeth F. Barkley, Instructor, Music, and Author, Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers
Larry Sanderson, Director of Institutional Effectiveness, New Mexico Junior College
Terry Holloman, Faculty, New Mexico Junior College
Mia Leggett, Membership Liaison, NISOD (Moderator)

Goodbye to the Greatest Coach in History - Remembering My Breakfasts with Coach Wooden

June 4, 2010, was a day of inevitability. John Wooden, legendary basketball coach, passed away a few months short of a century of life. The media was filled with stories, statistics, and reminiscences of this extraordinary man. In terms of college basketball, which accomplishment would be considered the most significant? Ten NCAA championships for the University of California at Los Angeles? His induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach? UCLA winning 88 straight games? Coaching the only basketball team in history with seven back-to-back undefeated seasons in the NCAA championship games?

As a young man in Southern California, I became a UCLA basketball fan—just in time for Coach Wooden to lead the Bruins to their first national championship in 1963-64 (in his 15th year at UCLA). A few years (and several NCAA titles) later, I was a UCLA graduate student, studying geography. Being on the campus gave me the chance to see some of the basketball players. Even at a university with 25,000 students, Swen Nater, Keith (Jamaal) Wilkes, and Bill Walton were easy to spot.

I started going for breakfast with a few of my fellow grad students in the UCLA student union. One day, we were seated when Coach John Wooden came over to our table and asked: “Would you fellows mind if I joined you?” He sat down with us, introduced himself, and proceeded to ask each of us who we were and what we were studying at UCLA. We chatted for a half hour or so, and then he excused himself. My friends and I could hardly believe it. This man, at the peak of his success as a coach, had taken the time to visit with us. He was genuinely interested in each of us.

A few months later, John Wooden sat with a different group of graduate students. Again, he went around the table gathering information about the students and why they were at UCLA. I was stunned when he looked at me and said, “Larry how is your research on conservation coming?” How could he have remembered that? Before my time at UCLA was over, I had a couple of other breakfast meetings with the Coach. He knew me and every other student with whom he dined.

I began to pay even more attention to this great man. He had transcended from an athletic coach to a life coach. Ultimately, that is what Coach John Wooden really was—an amazing coach of life who happened to be the greatest basketball coach in history.

I encourage teachers, leaders, and mentors to embrace the role Coach played. For the sake of our students, we should become even better teachers of life, not just content. Coach Wooden once observed that a Seven-Point Creed, given to him by his father, Joshua, upon his graduation from grammar school, was his life plan.

* Be true to yourself.
* Make each day your masterpiece.
* Help others.
* Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.
* Make friendship a fine art.
* Build a shelter against a rainy day.
* Pray for guidance, and give thanks for your blessings every day.

Lawrence G. Miller, Chief Academic Officer

For further information, contact the author at Snead State Community College, 220 North Walnut, Boaz, AL 35857. larry.miller@snead.edu

Bridging the Gap Between Student Services and Faculty

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my office and received a phone call from a co-worker who worked in student services. As an English instructor, I had received these phone calls in the past. He called to ask why I had dropped one of his favorite students from my class. I informed him the student missed seven classes which, at that time, was 40% of the class meetings. My syllabus allowed students to miss four classes, so the student had violated the course rules.

The student and student services worker had formed a close relationship, as he was his student success advisor; and his goal was to persuade me to let his “guy” back into my class. He told me about how this student was commuting from 30 miles away, worked two jobs, and had a wife and kid. Basically, he wanted me to cut the student some slack because of his extenuating life circumstances.

I liked the student. Ironically, he was one of my favorites. When he came to class, he was polite, smart, and engaging. I desperately wanted him to succeed. Once he had missed two more classes than the syllabus allowed, the other students in the class began to notice I was not enforcing the rules that were set out in the syllabus. I had no choice but to drop him from the course.

As an English instructor at a community college, I teach six courses a semester. Each course has, on average, 20 students each. Therefore, I am responsible for 120 students learning how to read and write. Only approximately 30% know how to write well when they enroll in the class. Usually 75% of the students come to class every day, pay attention to everything I say, and work overtime to pass the course.

While student services sees one student, the faculty members see all the students. Student services are able to work one-on-one with students and receive the intimate details of a student’s life. While, as faculty members, we get to know our students, and we always have to think about the class as a whole. Students are able to go to their success advisor and tell their daily troubles; however, faculty have a different role. For example, if I allowed a student to miss more that the allowed classes because he or she had to work, I would have to allow every student I teach the same. The result would be mass anarchy, and attendance would be poor. Few students would be in class to receive the necessary instruction to learn the skills to pass the course.

I believe student services plays an important part in student success. In community colleges, most students are not ready for the demands of a post-secondary education. They need to have a strong support system to succeed. Student services can provide that support, but they have to work with faculty to achieve that success. The following are suggestions about how faculty and student services can work together.

Student services needs to encourage students to adhere to rules as explained in the course syllabus. Often, faculty list policies about attendance, cell phone usage, talking while others are talking, and personal conduct. These rules and policies, may not seem important to the student, but faculty know they are vital to student success. Student services workers can help faculty enforce those policies, as they see the students on a one-on-one basis. They help by reinforcing their importance.
Not every concession can be made. Faculty are responsible for students learning the content of their courses. For example, our state is beginning to assess our graduating students’ writing ability. The philosophy of passing students along cannot apply to us any longer. Students must learn the content of the course.

Student services should be encouraged to have an open dialogue with faculty. Most faculty picked teaching as a career to help students. Unfortunately, at times, we cannot focus on the details of individual students’ lives because we have so many students to teach. Student services should keep faculty informed. We want to help, but we need to know what is going on.
And, faculty need to keep student services informed. For example, sometimes when I am grading papers, I will notice a student needs more help than I can give. He or she needs a learning specialist or someone trained to work with students with learning disabilities. Faculty members need to alert student services about such issues.

Student services and faculty can work together to achieve student success. Bridging the gap is possible.

Brian Dudak, Instructor, English

For further information, contact the author at Phillips Community College, 2009 Magnolia Manor Drive, Hernando, MS 38632. bdudak@pccua.edu

Call for Proposals - Lilly Conference

Lilly Alums and Friends,

We are pleased to host the Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching at Greensboro for the 7th year. Last year, over 400 individuals attended the conference representing 70 different institutions.

Lilly Conferences are retreats that combine workshops, discussion sessions, and major addresses, with opportunities for informal discussion about excellence in college and university teaching and learning. Internationally-known scholars join new and experienced faculty members, teaching assistants, and administrators from all over the world to discuss topics such as creating community, diversity in learning, incorporating technology into teaching, encouraging critical thinking, using teaching and student portfolios, implementing group learning, and evaluating teaching. Featured tracks include: Advancing Active Learning, Teaching Well with Technology, Engaging and Motivating Students, Promoting Diversity, Service/Experiential Learning, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and Faculty Development.

The 2011 Conference will be held February 4-6, 2011 at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, NC. The 2011 conference theme is Evidence-Based Learning and Teaching. Additional information about the conference is available at
http://www.uncg.edu/tlc/lillyconference/

The deadline for proposal submission is November 1, 2010 and proposals may be submitted at
https://freyr.uncg.edu/conference/lillyconference/form.jsp

Proposal review will begin when proposals are received. An earlier submission date will ensure an earlier response.

Upcoming Webinar

"Making Technology Work: Meeting the Demand for More Students"
Are you experiencing increasing enrollments? Are students rushing to enroll
in classes? Join us on October 28 and hear how one college, Northcentral
Technical College (NTC), went from 300-400 courses per semester to
4,000-5,000 fully automated classes.

To learn more or to register, go to
http://www.nisod.org/webinars/index.html#October.

This webinar is a membership benefit free to Hillsborough Community College.

Innovation Abstracts

In "Engaging the New Learner! Or What is Multimedia Anyway?!" Phil McLimont,
Professor of Chemical and Biological Sciences, at Lambton College of Applied
Arts and Technology (Canada), describes a teaching/learning experience in
which instructors find new ways of using multimedia in their classrooms that
far exceed the current boundaries of what they believed were available in
their own resource portfolios.

Access this article at:
http://www.nisod.org/password/abstracts/XXXII_22.html
(*The username is member and the password is nisod2011.*)

CITT Faculty Spotlight - Dr. Peter Germroth

View CITT's new faculty spolight. This month, the spotlight is on Dr. Peter Germroth, biology instructor at the Dale Mabry campus. Congratulations Dr. Germroth!

STEMtech Participants Announced

CITT Faculty Professional Development is sponsoring three faculty teaching in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) disciplines to attend the League for Innovation in the Community College STEMtech conference in Orlando from October 31-November 3.

Congratulations to the 3 STEMtech participants:

• Debarati Ghosh (Brandon)
• Jessica Olney (Ybor)
• Carlos Ortiz (SouthShore)

Read more...

Does your college have innovative programs that are worthy of replicating and funding at a national scale?

Applications for the Bellwether Award are now being accepted through Nov. 1st

Fill out the online application to have your program considered for the award

The Bellwether Award recognizes outstanding and innovative community colleges programs and practices. The 2011 conference theme is Workforce 2020. To read about the learning exchange opportunities provided through the 2011 conference please visit the Futures Assembly website.

Submit proposals in the following three categories:

1) Instructional Programs & Services
2) Planning, Governance & Finance"
3) Workforce Development

The application deadline is November 1st, 2010.

Please enter your online application at http://www.coe.ufl.edu/Futures/application.html

Send comments or questions to futures@coe.ufl.edu

Community College Futures Assembly
University of Florida
229 Norman Hall
Gainesville, FL 32611

Phone 352 273 4300
Email dfc@coe.ufl.edu
Website http://www.coe.ufl.edu/Futures/

CITT Faculty Professional Development will sponsor three faculty teaching in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) disciplines to attend the League for Innovation in the Community College STEMtech conference in Orlando from October 31-November 3.

The STEMtech conference allows educators, industry leaders, and others will gather to discuss increasing student access into and success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors and careers. The 2010 STEMtech will also help educators explore the strategic use of information technology to better serve their students, campuses, and communities. Over 400 sessions will cover everything from recruiting and retaining students for STEM-related programs to using information technology to improve organizational and student learning. Tracks for this ground-breaking conference include Health and Science; Energy, Environment, and Sustainability; Mathematics, Engineering, and Architecture; Manufacturing, Industry, and Agriculture; Technology, Multimedia, and Telecommunication; Technology Systems and Applications; and E-Learning Resources. More information can be found on: the conference Website. Read descriptions on the sessions at here.

If you are interested in registering for an opportunity to attend the conference, please fill out the registration form on the CITT website.

Campus Cruiser Experience

Many of you are grasping the Hawknet Campus Cruiser LMS, with huge gusto. There are others who have slightly peeked at it and some who may never discover it.
Use this blog, if you wish, to help each other. It could lead to a vast resource of tips and tricks and serve as an efficient way to mentor your fellow colleagues.
Experience has the greatest impact when it is shared.

CITT Summer Institute: Faculty Explore Web 2.0 - By Brenda Watkins, Instructional Designer

The CITT Faculty Professional Development Department hosted a 4-day faculty institute, Teaching and Learning in a Web 2.0 World, on August 16 - 19. Fourteen faculty members representing every campus participated in the Institute to learn teaching strategies for implementing Web 2.0 tools including blogs, wikis, Twitter, and Facebook into their classrooms. An abundance of resources were provided including templates, tutorials, sample strategies, web resources, and a copy of Learner-centered Assessment: Real Strategies for Today’s Students. During the Institute, participating faculty created blogs, wikis, Twitter feeds, and Facebook pages for their chosen course. As part of the Institute, participating faculty will implement a minimum of one of the Web 2.0 tools during the Fall, 2010 semester, survey students for feedback regarding learning value and ease of use, and reconvene in December to share their experiences. It is the goal of CITT Faculty Professional Development to collaborate with participating faculty members to facilitate future workshops and Institutes for Web 2.0 tools so that future endeavors become “by faculty, for faculty” initiatives.

Five Quick Tips for Using Streaming Media in Your Blended or Online Courses

Five Quick Tips for Using Streaming Media in Your Blended or Online Courses

CITT Website Gets a New Look

Over the past few months, CITT staff have been working with a team of faculty to help remodel our site. Special thanks to Barry Hubbard, Sharon Moran and Rich Senker for all of their hard work and suggestions.

The new site includes the same content as the old site, as well as a new feature, "CITT Interact." When launched, CITT Interact will function as a sounding board for faculty and staff to post questions and suggestions related to Technology, Assessment, Teaching and Learning Strategies and Online@HCC. Check this blog for more information on CITT Interact as it gets closer to going live.

Please visit our new site and let us know what you think. We would love to hear your input!

CITT Website

Welcome!

Welcome to the Center for Innovative Teaching and Technology's new blog.  Feel free to read and comment on articles.  We are excited to hear what you have to say!

And, don't forget to visit our website: http://citt.hccfl.edu