Winter 2010

Volume 1, Issue 1

TECH FAIR & COMMUNITY GROUPS

This year’s Tech Fair was a great success. Not only were there

120 attendees, but DEIT’s participation brought in two represen-

tatives from Apple Computers. Tom, a higher education sales rep,

and Dave, a senior systems engineer, presented a session called

“Is Mac really that cool?” The Apple reps also hosted a display

answering questions about iPhones and Macs in education.

Due in part to a new faculty and staff users group called Muggles,

Apple will now be involved with DEIT to pilot iTunes University.

Instructional Technologist Cheryl Leuthe created Muggles, a new

community group in ANGEL, it is DSU’s first Mac Users Group.

Muggles meets monthly.

There were also sessions on social networking, getting organized

online, promising technologies for education, advanced Word

2007, and an APA and MLA 2009 update. One of the highlights of

the day was a DEIT-sponsored iPod Nano giveaway. Sharon

Jezick won the iPod.

If you were unable to attend the Tech Fair on January 12th or if

you just want to relive the day, the Tech Fair community group in

ANGEL is a great way to access and interact with content pre-

sented that day.

Two new community groups you do not want to miss out on are

Muggles and TechFair. To find them in ANGEL, go to your ANGEL

home page and search in the Groups and Non-Credit Courses

nugget. Or you can send an email to angelinfo@desales.edu

Word of Mouse Published by the Distance Education &

Instructional Technology Department

Our goal is to

encourage

authentic,

engaging active

student learning

with technologies

that facilitate

collaboration,

creative problem

solving, and the

development of

higher-order

thinking skills.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Faculty Workshops……..… 2

Student Workshops.…...… 3

Tech Survey Results….…… 4

Special Interest Groups..... 5

Design for Accessibility.…. 5

Community Chest.............. 6

iBoard…………………………… 7

What’s New…………………… 8

Technology Workshops for Faculty

MARCH

2

ANGEL Fundamentals 2-Mar-10 7-8:30 p.m. ONLINE

Podcasting I 5-Mar-10 9-10:30 a.m.

ANGEL Fundamentals 6-Mar-10 10-11:30 a.m.

ANGEL Collaboration Tools 9-Mar-10 6-7:30 p.m. ONLINE

Advanced Database Searching Tips and Tricks 10-Mar-10 3-4:30 p.m.

Grading and Gradebook 11-Mar-10 6-7:30 p.m. ONLINE

Camtasia 6 13-Mar-10 10-11:30 a.m.

Elluminate II 15-Mar-10 9-10:30 a.m.

Elluminate II 15-Mar-10 7-8:30 p.m. ONLINE

iLife: Garageband 16-Mar-10 12:30-2:00 p.m.

Librarians and Research Assistance in Online Course 16-Mar-10 7-8:30 p.m. ONLINE

ANGEL Fundamentals * 17-Mar-10 10-11:30 a.m. ONLINE

ANGEL Communication Tools 18-Mar-10 6-7:30 p.m. ONLINE

Beyond ANGEL Basics: Agent Technology and Tokens 19-Mar-10 9-10:00 a.m.

ANGEL Fundamentals * 20-Mar-10 10-11:30 a.m.

Testing and Assessment Features 22-Mar-10 6:30-7:00 p.m. ONLINE

Photoshop 22-Mar-10 3-4:30 p.m.

Successful Video Conferencing 23-Mar-10 3-4:30 p.m.

APA Citation Style 23-Mar-10 7-8:00 p.m. ONLINE

Online Course Interactivity * 23-Mar-10 7:30-8:30 p.m. ONLINE

Advanced Database Searching Tips and Tricks 24-Mar-10 6-7:00 p.m.

Powerpoint Plus: Narrating Powerpoint 24-Mar-10 7:30-8:30 p.m. ONLINE

Assignment Features * 25-Mar-10 12-12:45 p.m. ONLINE

Using Master Courses and LORs * 25-Mar-10 6-7:00 p.m. ONLINE

ANGEL Fundamentals * 26-Mar-10 12:30-2:00pm ONLINE

Powerpoint Plus: Advanced Powerpoint 27-Mar-10 10-11:30 a.m.

ANGEL Course Management 29-Mar-10 9-10:00 a.m.

ANGEL Course Management 29-Mar-10 7-8:30 p.m. ONLINE

iLife: iMovie and iDVD 30-Mar-10 12:30-2:00 p.m.

Beyond ANGEL Basics - Power of HTML 30-Mar-10 3-4:30 p.m.

Grading and Gradebook * 31-Mar-10 7-8:30 p.m. ONLINE

* New workshops added!

Faculty, Go to www.desales.edu/workshops

to learn more about all of our faculty workshops.

Student Technology Workshops

3

Podcasting I 5-Mar-10 9-10:30 a.m.

Advanced Database Searching Tips and Tricks 10-Mar-10 3-4:30 p.m.

Camtasia 6 13-Mar-10 10-11:30 a.m.

iLife: Garageband 16-Mar-10 12:30-2:00 p.m.

Librarians and Research Assistance in Online Course 16-Mar-10 7-8:30 p.m. ONLINE

Photoshop 22-Mar-10 3-4:30 p.m.

APA Citation Style 23-Mar-10 7-8:00 p.m.

Advanced Database Searching Tips and Tricks 24-Mar-10 6-7:00 p.m.

Powerpoint Plus: Narrating Powerpoint 24-Mar-10 7:30-8:30 p.m. ONLINE

Web 2.0: New Google Tools for ANGEL 25-Mar-10 6-7:00 p.m. ONLINE

Powerpoint Plus: Advanced Powerpoint 27-Mar-10 10-11:30 a.m.

iLife: iMovie and iDVD 30-Mar-10 12:30-2:00 p.m.

MARCH

Students, Go to http://www.desales.edu/deit

and click on the Student Technology Workshop link.

Ms. Julie Brugger, fresh-

man year Medical Studies

major is the winner of the

Red Robin gift card.

Dr. Gregory Kerr, Professor-

Department of Philosophy

and Theology, is the winner

of the Amazon.com gift card.

2009 Technology Survey

Winners

Technology Surveys Results

4

During the Fall 2009, DEIT surveyed faculty and students about their current technology experiences and

future needs. DEIT relies on this survey data to influence its technology acquisition, professional develop-

ment offerings, and improve its services. Each Fall a student and faculty drawing is conducted to show

everyone our appreciation for his or her feedback.

This year, Ms. Julie Brugger, freshman year Medical Studies major won the Red Robin gift card. Ms Brug-

ger participated in the student technology survey. Dr. Gregory Kerr, Department of Philosophy and Theol-

ogy, won the instructional technology grant for his participation in the faculty technology survey.

Of the 444 student participants, 345 students (or 77.7%) completed the entire survey. Students repre-

sented all the various DSU majors and programs with the majority of respondents identifying themselves

as full-time students (51%) and 24.8% as graduate students. Most students (89.9%) reported taking a

class using ANGEL. The majority (56%) described their ANGEL experience as positive or very positive

and 33.5% as neutral while 10.4% as either negative or very negative.

Student comments about DSU Technology:

“Instructors try hard to add web based instruction to the class, which I think is a nega-tive. Web based education is available on the web from a million sources. My reason for attending DeSales is to receive a quality education from quality instructors in the man-ner of Catholic humanism.”

“Angel was a bit of a challenge for me when it was first introduced, however that's not the case anymore I am quite comfortable with the program now.”

“Having access to online databases through the Trexler Library has been very helpful.”

“I think once everyone gets used to Angel it will go very well....we are all still learning the system.”

Of the 65 faculty participants, 57 faculty (or 87.7%) completed the entire survey. Faculty representa-

tion spanned a wide range of departments and disciplines — Nursing, Performing Arts, Sports, Criminal

Justice, Theology, Math and Computer Science, MBA, Nursing, and ACCESS. When instructed to choose all

that applied regarding their professional development preferences, the majority (65.6%) preferred face-

to-face workshops, followed by (52.5%) individual consultations and (44.3%) online. Hybrid (32.8%) and

small group consultations (37.7%) were least popular.

Faculty comments about Professional Development:

“Give me the information in smaller doses, let me use it for awhile, then come back for more. “

“It's very difficult to carve out time to attend face to face workshops - if I could attend these for everything I'd like to know I could spend all of my time attending workshops! hoping that more online options will be offered.”

“I haven't taken advantage of many of the PD at DSU. I do need to start doing more of that. I did get great help at the beginning of this semester when I stated using Angel.”

We appreciate the time and care everyone took to fill out the survey. The results indicate the opportuni-

ties we have to work with in the future.

5

Technology News

In a recent article of Distance Educa-

tion Report, Jennifer Lorenzetti em-

phasizes the need for faculty to understand their

online students’ requirements for accessible con-

tent. Like their counterparts in traditional classes,

students in online programs also have special

needs, and meeting certain standards for accessi-

bility is required by law. In her article, Lorenzetti

recounts guidelines that Patrick Ryan, assistant

director of distance learning and alternative pro-

grams for Erie Community College, has assembled

as a quick tips list of common sense, good design,

and best practices for accessibility.

Students with sight deficiencies may use a screen

reader to convert written words into spoken

words. Ryan cautions when using MS Word to

create documents for class. Visual elements such

as text boxes are not picked up by these electronic

devices. Color may add visual interest to your

course, but avoid using it to emphasize content or

convey message. This can be information lost to a

person with low vision.

BENEFICIAL DESIGN FOR ACCESSIBILITY

Also, when using MS Word, use styles not font

formatting to format text. Embedded style sheets

are unproblematic for the electronic reader. For

example, the title of this article, BENEFICIAL DE-

SIGN FOR ACCESSIBILITY, will be announced as

“Heading 1” (if using styles) instead of “Times

New Roman, 12 pt, bold, paragraph, space…”

PDFs that are created by SCANNING are digitized

images and are also invisible to the screen reader.

Using MS Word to create PDFs are acceptable.

Students with hearing disabilities will need ac-

cess to transcripts of audio presentations.

These considerations will benefit visual and audi-

tory learning styles as well.

___________________

Lorenzetti, J. P. (2010, Feb. 15) . Quick Tips for Improving Accessibility. Distance Education Report, v14(4),1-2. Magna Publications, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.magnapubs.com/newsletters/index.html

One of twenty special interest groups of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE),

SIGML is an advocate for mobile learning worldwide. SIGML is dedicated to issues related to the support for

integration of mobile devices in learning environments. This support covers issues such as equity, the digi-

tal divide, acceptable use, safety, Special Needs students, and English-as-a-Second-Language. Sigml mem-

bers also recommend and create effective research tools and methodologies, and promote best practices.

SIGML is conducting an online book study of Mohammed Ally’s Mobile learning: Transforming the Delivery.

Join the discussion at http://sigmlbookstudy2010.ning.com/ . Ally’s book can be downloaded free from

http://www.aupress.ca/books/120155/ebook/99Z_Mohamed_Ally_2009-MobileLearning.pdf

SIGML will host a Forum at the ISTE 2010 Conference in Denver this year in June. The Forum is slated for

Tuesday, June 29. More information for the ISTE 2010 can be found at http://www.iste.org/ .

Links to other ISTE SIGs can be found at http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Membership/

SIGs/SIGs.htm

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS MOBILE LEARNING

Community Chest

6

DEIT is implementing a Community Chest initiative to share DSU’s wealth of treasures—

the novel and creative tech innovations by our talented faculty. Our first interview in the

Community Chest series is with Jason Martineau, a political science faculty member in

the DeSales University Department of Social Sciences.

Wiki technology finds a place in Jason Martineau’s cultural geography class as an additional way to

connect with students outside the United States. After communicating by wiki to access weekly wrap-

ups about his third grade daughter’s progress in school, Martineau’s idea for using wikis in the cul-

tural exchange project developed.

Martineau had always used email as a tool to engage students in a pen pal assignment with students

in other countries as described in Penny Savakis’ 2009 press release: DeSales Students in Cultural Ex-

change Project Help Make the World a Smaller & Friendlier Place http://www.pashakespeare.org/

default.aspx?pageid=10192 . But, Martineau found wikis to be more flexible and accommodating for

the type of exchange he wanted to accomplish.

Martineau began looking for students to participate in the wiki project by emailing the University of

Nottingham in China, University of Rwanda in Africa, and the University of Namibia, also in Africa.

Some of the students contacted were email pen pals already from earlier cultural geography classes.

A requirement of the course is to contribute to the wiki by starting discussions and conversations

about culture. Martineau states that, “email only offers one-to-one correspondence while a wiki offers

the opportunity for the students to interact with each other in a discussion type setting.”

He goes on to say that when a student is paired with a foreign student who has trouble expressing

herself/himself, a better exchange through the wiki is possible. More students can communicate with

each other at a time enabling a more uniform level of sharing.

He also adds that, “students are able to share graphic material and organize discussions around top-

ics.” As part of his class requirement, Martineau requires his students to use the wiki for assignments

such as posting pictures and sharing recipes.

Another added benefit of using the wiki in his class, a course requirement for education majors, is

that students learn another technology platform for collaboration that they can use in their career as

educators. Martineau also uses wikis in his professional business.

Although wikis are free to use, Martineau preferred to upgrade one level by paying $50.00 for his

cultural exchange class to be able to discuss ideas in a fairly secure environment without advertise-

ments.

To learn more about using wikis in your course, email angelinfo@desales.edu

CULTURAL EXCHANGE PROJECT

http://shar.es/aBDGO

7

Tech-Time Thursdays - 7:30 to 8pm

angelinfo@desales.edu

What’s New ?

8

Distance

Education

Instructional

Technology

Tech work-

shops

One-on-one

consultations

Video-

conferences

Smart Class-

room imple-

mentations

Online course

review

Distance edu-

cation orienta-

tions

Web resource

development

Technology

support self-

study

During the 2010-2011 school year, DeSales will take advantage of

an ANGEL upgrade that will bring more functionality to course

management.:

Improve grading quality with unique program rubrics.

Manage all gradebook activities via one screen.

Integrate real-time Web information with RSS feeds.

Secure testing environment and improved course survey.

Here is a link to training videos from another school that has gone

through the transition from ANGEL 7.3 to 7.4 . Enjoy!

http://www2.kumc.edu/ir/tlt/angel/74videos/

ANGEL is now a division of Blackboard Learning and will be avail-

able to us until 2014.

DEIT looks forward to bringing you more news soon.

But, if you need help during office hours, call our new shared

phone number… 610-282-1100 x2290. Your call will be

answered by any available member of the DEIT department.

Do you have a real-time class session scheduled on Saturdays

or a multi-national Web conference after hours? If you experi-

ence problems accessing ANGEL or Elluminate during these

time, call DEIT’s Emergency Pager… 484-551-DEIT (3348)

NEW CONTACT NUMBERS

ANGEL 7.4 UPGRADE