ET@MO Tips & Tricks Newsletter

Mizzou › ET@MO › Archives › May 2009

Final Grades and the Blackboard Grade Center

Meeting the deadline for entering final grades is easy with help from ET@MO. Enter grades in the Blackboard Grade Center and transfer them directly to MyZou in these hands-on help sessions. Online tutorials are also available. All sessions are in the Technology Studio for Instructors (266 Heinkel Bldg.) during these dates and times: Monday, May 11 from 1:00 - 3:00; Tuesday, May 12 from 10:00 - 12:00; Thursday, May 14 from 1:00 - 3:00. RSVP to etatmo@missouri.edu.

Academic Transformation / Course Redesign

The Series on Academic Transformation is for departmental teams committed to redesigning one or more key large-enrollment courses for teaching and learning improvement. Up to four teams will be funded annually, each receiving up to $10,000. Proposals should be submitted to Dr. Danna Vessell, 249 Heinkel, by May 29, 2009. Complete information is available at ET@MO's Web site.

Apply now for the summer TeAchnology! Workshop

This workshop balances group discussions and individual work sessions focusing on each participant's innovative solution to their teaching and learning challenges. The 2009 summer workshop is each morning of Monday, June 22 - Friday, June 26. Participants must apply and be accepted to attend. The deadline to apply is Wednesday, June 3. Read more and apply online.

7 Things You Should Know About Live Question Tool

Live Question Tool is a web-based service that lets audience members at a presentation post questions for the speaker. As questions are added, other participants can submit comments and cast votes for the questions they hope to see answered first. Live Question Tool offers an opportunity to constructively rethink the lecture. Like student response systems, the Live Question Tool helps build interactivity into the lecture, providing a backchannel for conversation and inquiry and allowing students to help shape the class discourse. Live Question Tool and other interactive applications are changing the nature of lectures and presentations. These applications, which push tools from physical spaces into the online arena, create a new middle ground for instruction that is collaborative and participatory. Download the PDF of this full article. This information is provided by the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative's (ELI's) 7 Things You Should Know About… series which provides concise information on emerging learning technologies and related practices.

TECHNOLOGY NEWS

Easy approach to licensing Web content
Ozmo is the easy and convenient way to license content on the web. Ozmo makes it easy for content creators to license, set the price, and get paid for the commercial use of their material. A "thank you" goes to John McCormick from Chemistry for forwarding us this tip!

Introduction to eXe - the eLearning XHTML editor
The eXe project developed a freely available Open Source authoring application to assist teachers and academics in the publishing of web content without the need to become proficient in HTML or XML markup. Resources authored in eXe can be exported in IMS Content Package, SCORM 1.2, or IMS Common Cartridge formats or as simple self-contained web pages. A "thank you" goes to Jason Aubrey from Mathematics for forwarding us this tip!

EDUCATION NEWS

Assignment Calculator from the University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota Libraries’ Assignment Calculator has been adapted by dozens of college and university libraries and writing centers around the world. Now the University of Minnesota Libraries are proud to announce a new, enhanced version of the Assignment Calculator that gives instructors and students greater control over their assignments and allows for seamless integration into courses. Guest ID and password: assigncalc@gmail.com, Lk5hievC.

Three Challenges to Wiki Use in Instruction
There are always challenges in the actual use of technology in instruction, not only in practical terms with familiarity with the technology itself, but more importantly, in a pedagogical sense as the benefits to teaching and learning are examined more thoroughly. How can the instructional uses of a wiki be maximized to ensure this higher level of engagement with students?