Inside this Issue
- Focus on E-learning
- E-learning website and blog
- Resource guide to e-learning software and resources
- Sympodcasting
- Instantly Collaborative Spaces
- RSS Feeds and Public Health
- SPH Podcasting Update
- E-learning Guide
- PHLI Summer Schedule
- E-learning Bibliography
- Annual User Survey
- Announcing Merit Online
- Posters and Public Health
- PHLI Technology Update
- New Web Statistics Software
- New Staff Bios
- Librarian Exchange
- Staff Notes
- A Day in the Life
E-Learning Guide
BlueStream
Description: BlueStream allows for archiving, searching, analyzing and drawing connections between large amounts of educational material collected in a wide array of formats. BlueStream has unique features for using digital video, audio, images, and documents in higher education. Unlike traditional repositories, BlueStream generates and synchronizes time-coded metadata to media – empowering you to peer directly into the content itself. BlueStream incorporates state-of-the-art media analysis tools to automatically generate metadata from the spoken and printed word, recognized faces, and scene changes.
Use in education: The Center for Proficiency in Teaching Mathematics and the Mathematics Teaching and Learning to Teach used BlueStream to create a collection of video, audio, teaching notes, interview notes and classroom records which can be used to study the knowledge, skills, sensitivities required for the practice of teaching. “Composite documents” which pull together excerpts of the video, audio, text, and images have come to form a significant portion of the collection.
Further information: http://sitemaker.umich.edu/bluestream/home
Camtasia
Description: Camtasia Studio is a software package that can be used to record your computer screens, with narration, to create online learning modules. In addition, a PowerPoint plug-in allows you to easily record narrated slide presentations. Camtasia may also be used to record screen action for software demonstrations. Camtasia Studio recordings can be produced in popular file format and they can be viewed using any of the commonly available players, including the Video iPod.
Use in education: Instructors are using Camtasia to deliver lectures, provide solutions to homework problems involving mathematics or software use, and to create permanent resources such as a discussion of previous years’ exams. Instructors can record their lectures, including slides, and post them online to a course website. These online learning modules may be used for both distance education and lecture review.
Further information: http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp
Centra
Description: Centra is a web-conferencing software used to replicate typical classroom interaction for distance learners. Centra allows for highly interactive, effective group learning—bringing together voice, video, data and graphics in a structured online learning environment. True interactivity with students can be achieved with yes/no polling, instant surveys, hand raising, laughter/applause, public/private text chat, and “open floor” audio chat features. The live sessions can also be recorded for later viewing.
Use in education: Web-conferencing using the Centra system has been used in the Executive Master’s Programs with much success by a majority of the faculty teaching the Health Management & Policy Executive Master’s Program for the past several years. It is being used by students and faculty to conduct virtual classes twice a week.
Further information:
http://www.saba.com/centra-saba/
Classroom Response Systems
Description: Classroom response systems, or clickers, allow instructors to query students and receive immediate feedback. Resembling simple TV remote controls, classroom response systems use wireless technology to send student answers directly to a receiving station which then transmits the responses to the instructor’s computer. Responses may be displayed to the class as charts, graphs, or spreadsheets and may also be saved for later analysis.
Use in education: Clickers have been making inroads in college and university courses since about 1998, as faculty explore how to increase student interaction. Clickers can be used to ensure students understand fundamental concepts; getting the answer right is less important than identifying a knowledge gap or misconception. Faculty—across all disciplines—use these devices to help keep their students motivated and engaged in what’s going on in class.
Further information: http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7002.pdf
ConferenceXP
Description: ConferenceXP enables interaction and collaboration in a virtual collaborative space. ConferenceXP has multipoint real-time audio and video capability, real-time digital ink on an electronic whiteboard, distributed PowerPoint presentations, and online chat. As a peer-to-peer application, ConferenceXP sends audio, video, and data streams between ConferenceXP clients, instead of sending these streams to or receiving them from a server. To support simultaneous users while keeping network traffic to a minimum, ConferenceXP uses multicast. This way, a ConferenceXP client can send a stream just once to all ConferenceXP clients that are set up to receive the data.
Use in education: ConferenceXP will be used for conferencing between institutions (distance learning sites/satellite classrooms) in the future at SPH. ConferenceXP can be used in conjunction with Tablet PCs, because it has deep support for digital ink technology.
Further information: http://research.microsoft.com/conferencexp/
CTools
Description: CTools is a web-based system of interactive tools to manage and enhance a course you are teaching. CTools features include a course schedule/calendar, announcements, a resources section for posting documents and web links, a discussion area for structured written conversations, real-time chat, an assignments area for posting, submitting, and grading online, “drop boxes” for private file-sharing between instructors and students, and a course e-mail archive. New tools available this spring include Gradebook, Modules (the Melee lesson builder tool), and a Wiki tool.
Use in education: CTools is used in courses throughout the University as a tool to aid in class management and instruction. The various tools can be used to provide primary and supplemental information to resident or distant students, and to enhance instructor-student and student-student communication and collaboration.
Further information:
http://www.sph.umich.edu/phli/web/ctools/
https://ctools.umich.edu/portal
E-reserves
Description: E-Reserves is a service provided to SPH faculty and students, and constitutes the provision of electronic versions of required course readings, made available online via CTools. E-Reserves are full-text course readings made available to students by the Public Health Library & Informatics upon the request of an instructor. Students can view, print, or save these readings from any computer that has Internet access and printing capabilities. The advantages of E-Reserves are that they are available anytime, anywhere, their quality doesn't decrease with use, many people can access the same document at the same time, and they are free to students.
Use in education: E-Reserves is one of most popular services among students offered by Public Health Library & Informatics. An average of 26 SPH courses use E-Reserves each term.
Further information: http://www.sph.umich.edu/phli/library/ereserves.html
mblog
Description: mBlog is a new blogging service from the University Library in partnership with ITCS and the Bentley Historical Library. This service allows students, faculty and staff to create blogs for themselves or groups. A blog is an interactive website with frequent postings on specific topics. Blogs generate discussions by allowing readers to publicly comment on individual postings. Blogs may be used as a news service, personal diary, or as a space for presenting one’s opinions. A blog will also generate an archive of past postings and commentaries that may be easily accessed.
Use in education: Blogs are being used by faculty to disseminate announcements, receive feedback, generate discussions on course readings, continue discussions begun in the classroom, and to provide a forum where students can discuss sensitive or controversial issues.
Further information: http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/
Podcasting
Description: Podcasting is a word for a new paradigm in media distribution which complements broadcasting: narrowcasting. Media is distributed through user subscription and is asynchronously available for consumption as compared to broadcasts, which go out to the subscribing audience at the same time. Podcasting is frequently used to find music (e.g., via Apple's iTunes service), but it can also be used to distribute other types of media files including voice recordings and video clips. Users can subscribe to RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to which media clips are automatically downloaded as new ‘episodes' become available. The clips can then be accessed on a computer or downloaded to a portable player such as an iPod for listening/viewing on the go.
Use in education: Students can review audio of course lectures via portable players. Distant and commuter students especially appreciate this option to videos of lectures, but the option is becoming increasingly popular with residential students as well. Podcasts of an SPH Health Behavior/Health Education master’s level class (HBHE 600) were created to meet student demand. The School of Dentistry posts audio podcasts of lectures. The Medical School is also podcasting class lectures.
Further information: http://www.apple.com/education/solutions/itunes_u/
Rich Media Library
Description: Rich media is defined as the design of innovative, engaging presentations using a combination of technologies, such as text, graphics, animation, video and sound, to communicate information. The Rich Media Library serves as a central repository for learning modules, enabling students to search for specific topics and problems. The Rich Media Library features a web-searchable interface to learning modules from 14 courses in the School of Public Health. The 20 minute learning modules are searchable by keyword, department, instructor, course name and number, and topic. The resources available will continue to expand as additional courses are recorded in digital format.
Use in education: With the increase in the number of video modules captured in the Rich Media Library, students have access to an expanded curriculum of learning resources and can cross link concepts from one class to others. Using this framework, distance learning students not only experience the traditional lecture format, but are presented with additional opportunities for applying concepts learned in class to foster development of an array of problem-solving skills.
Further information: https://www.sph.umich.edu/scr/richmedia/
Sympodium Interactive Pen Display
SmartBoard Interactive Whiteboard
Description: The Sympodium allows you to display your desktop on a large screen and make and save notes using a digital pen. The digital ink technology allows you to add annotations to documents, PowerPoint slides, websites, moving video, and more. The entire presentation, including your annotations, can be easily saved in many file formats as a fixed file or as a moving video.
The SmartBoard interactive whiteboard uses the same interface and technology as the Sympodium. The SmartBoard allows you to control computer applications directly on the large screen, write notes in digital ink and save your work to share later.
Use in education: This technology allows the instructor to add spontaneity to digital presentations through on-the-fly annotations. Classroom presentations can be captured and posted to a course website. Tutorials can be created for demonstration and review. At the School of Public Health, a Sympodium is located in the amphitheater, but is easily portable and can be reserved for classroom use.
Further information: http://www.smarttech.com/
Tablet PC
Description: A Tablet PC is a wireless personal computer (PC) that allows a user to “write” on the screen using natural handwriting with a stylus or digital pen on a touch screen. This allows for easy note-taking or annotation of documents, PowerPoint slides, etc. Users can save and share files as is, or use software to convert handwriting to digital text.
Uses in education: Tablet PCs are being used to enhance active learning. By encouraging on-the-fly annotation of presentations and natural note-taking, Tablet PCs can help take the focus off the technology and put it back on the content. Because Tablet PCs are portable and can support many file formats/media (text, audio, digital “ink”, images) they can facilitate a wide variety of learning activities.
Further information: http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/anderson/tpc/
Wiki
Description: A wiki (generally pronounced <wick-ee>) is a type of website that allows users to easily add and edit all content, quickly and easily. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for collaborative writing. A wiki records each individual change that occurs over time so that at any time a page may be reverted to any of its previous states. Because wikis are so easily editable, the content may be not always be accurate.
Use in education: Wikis may be used by students to complete group assignments, with each student adding original content as well as editing the work completed by their partners. Students may also use wikis for project management, to document the progress on completing an assignment.
Further information: http://ctools.umich.edu/
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