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.