Blackboard 101

Blackboard is the Learning Management System that Butler University utilizes to deliver course content to students. This session will guide faculty members through Blackboard's basic features and communication tools. You will learn how to: 1) organize your course; 2) create and display course content/information; 3) integrate interactive tools (e.g., discussion forums and journals); and 4) measure student performance through tests and assignments. You will also learn about the Grade Center during this hands-on session.

Session highly recommended for first time Blackboard instructors and staff users.

 

Blackboard Assignments & Discussion Boards

NOTE: The "Digital Dropbox" has been integrated within assignments.

This session will guide users through Blackboard's core features: Assignments & Discussion Boards. You will learn how to: 1) post and manage Assignments, 2) set up and use discussion boards, and 3) download and grade student submissions/responses. You will indirectly learn about the Grade Center during this hands-on session.

Session recommended for Blackboard instructors and staff users.

 

Blackboard Grade Center

This session will guide users through Blackboard's grading feature: Grade Center. You will learn how to: 1) weight course grades, 2) manage graded Assignments and the rest of the Grade Center, 3) download and upload individual or all columns within Grade Center, 4) add columns for "external activities," and 5) hide columns until you've completed grading. You will indirectly learn about graded activities (e.g., Discussions, Assignments, etc.) during this hands-on session.

Session recommended for Blackboard instructors and staff users.

 

Blackboard Open Consulting

This session will be an open lab where faculty members can come get personalized help in a group setting with any issues they may be having in setting up their course with the Blackboard 9.1 interface.

Session highly recommended for Blackboard instructors and staff users

Basic Google Apps

This session will demonstrate how to effectively use certain Google Apps in an educational and professional context. Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs will be covered. Some of the activities will include:

• Organize your Gmail more effectively
• Add events to your Google calendar and share your calendar
• Create and collaborate using Google Docs
• Deliver and collect surveys, quizzes and feedback

Introduction to Chalk and Wire

Chalk and Wire allows Butler University Faculty, Staff and Administrators to gather relevant data and generate meaningful reports. Chalk and Wire also allows Butler University Students the ability to build an assortment of portfolios to display skills, artifacts, accomplishments and fulfilled assignments. This session will introduce faculty to the Chalk & Wire e-portfolio system. Faculty will develop an ePortfolio, just as their students will for their courses. They are also encouraged to create personal portfolios. After this session, participants will:

• Be familiar with the Chalk and Wire ePortfolio product
• Be able to create an ePortfolio
• Be familiar with submitting an assignment for assessment
• Be able to share an ePortfolio with others

iPad Open Consulting

This session will be an open lab where faculty and staff members can get personalized help in a group setting with any questions or issues they may have regarding an iPad.

Intro to iPads

The iPad is an innovative tablet technology that can transform a classroom and your daily routine in many ways. The Center for Academic Technology has the ability to checkout an iPad to you or even an iPad cart of 20 for your classroom to use. After this session, you will:

• Sync the iPad to iTunes and download apps
• Connect to BU Secure Wireless
• Organize your apps
• Other tips and tricks

Have you considered attending a Mac Conference to collaborate with experienced individuals on how to use Mac technology in education?  What if neither cost nor travel were involved?  If these enticements appeal to you, here's your chance!  The Macintosh Learning Community has redesigned the 2011-12 presentation schedule to include discussion-based exploration and a poster session format which allows greater opportunity for individual visits with each person who uses a Mac to create his or her unique learning environment.

These sessions will be open to all Macintosh users (and explorers) in the Butler community.  Light refreshments will be provided.  Come, find out what others on campus are doing with Macs.  If you'd like to feature your work at one of these sessions, please email jcroger1@butler.edu.

Transition to Office 2010

This workshop walks you through the switch to Office 2010 and the key differences users need to understand, including the Ribbon interface and changed file formats. This course provides in-depth information on working in a mixed Office environment and dealing with file compatibility issues, and also demonstrates how common MS Office tasks are performed in MS Office 2010 in comparison to previous MS Office versions.

 

Word 2010 Basics

This session will introduce participants to paragraph formatting and styles. After this session, participants will be able to:

• Add space before or after paragraphs
• Change line spacing
• Create first-line indent
• Indent paragraphs
• Align paragraphs
• Apply paragraph styles

 

Excel 2010 Basics

This session will introduce participants to electronic spreadsheets using Microsoft Excel. You can use Excel to organize data into rows and columns and performs mathematical calculations. After this session, participants will be able to:

• Create a basic spreadsheet
• Enter data
• Move around a worksheet
• Create basic formulas
• Add basic formatting

PowerPoint 2010 Basics

This session will introduce participants to Microsoft PowerPoint. With PowerPoint, you can easily create professional presentations. After this session, participants will be able to:

• Create and edit slides
• Apply a theme
• Run the presentation

Access 2010 Basics

This session will introduce participants to database creation using Microsoft Access. With Access you can design and deploy a database to keep track of important information. After this session, participants will be able to:

• Create a database from scratch
• Import data from a spreadsheet or other program
• Use an earlier-version database in several versions of Access

Outlook 2010 Basics

This session will introduce participants to Microsoft Outlook. With Outlook you can read and send email, schedule appointments and maintain a contact list. After this session, participants will be able to:

Moodle Essentials for Instructors

This session introduces you to the Moodle learning management system and prepares you to build a Moodle course. Through a combination of demonstrations and hands-on activities, you will learn about Moodle features; basic navigation; course layout and settings; and how to add blocks, resources, and activities to your Moodle course. Upon completion, you will be able to:

• Complete the setup process for a Moodle course
• Define basic Moodle features and navigate a Moodle course
• Edit profile and upload a picture
• Manage course settings and choose a course layout
• Use the editing interface in Moodle to edit your course
• Add blocks to your course page to enhance your course
• Create and add resources (e.g. files, web pages, and labels) to your course
• Add learning and assessment activities to your course
• Participate in a Moodle community of practice

Moodle Assignments & Activities - 1 hr

Moodle has many learning and assessment activities, both graded and ungraded, that you can use in your course. The social constructionist learning philosophy is reflected in many of these activities that enable students to learn collaboratively and actively contribute to the learning experience.

In this session, you will learn about the following assignment and learning activities:

• Assignments
• Forums
• Choice
• Chat
• Glossary
• Wiki
• Questionnaire
• Lesson

So that you can effectively select activities for your course, we will review the essential features of all the activities, but we will set up and manage a few in greater detail. You will have access to an online "Assignments & Activities" course that will enable you to continue learning about Moodle activities on your own. You will also learn about some of the other Moodle features that can be used in conjunction with activities to customize the learning experience for students (including the Groups/Groupings feature and Assigning Roles and Overriding Permissions).

Prerequisite: Experience teaching with Moodle or completion of Moodle Essentials training session

 

Moodle Gradebook - 1 hr

The Moodle Gradebook has many features that allow instructors to track students' performance efficiently. In this session, instructors will learn how to set up a new gradebook. The main topics of this hands-on workshop include:

• Setting up your letter grade scale in the gradebook
• Choosing the right aggregation (calculation) method in the gradebook
• Creating gradebook items and category structure
• Entering grades and feedback for students
• Viewing a student's user report
• Curving grades
• Offering extra credit
• Viewing basic statistics on gradebook items
• Importing and exporting grades in Moodle gradebook

Moodle-in-a-Day/Course Redesign Workshop Schedule

8:30-9:00 a.m. - Set up and log into computers; access/archive Blackboard courses (coffee and pastries provided)

• Zipping & downloading files
• Creating & managing folders

9:00-10:30 a.m. -Moodle: Essentials

• Designing and organizing course content & structure
• Deciding upon the right style of teaching/learning for you and your students (Constructivist, Social, etc.)
• Organizing your site and adding blocks
• Uploading and structuring content

10:30-11:00 a.m. -Moodle Lab & Session Break

11:00-12:15 p.m. -Moodle: Communications & Social (think Facebook)

• Creating announcements
• Sending messages
• Setting up a Socially constructed course/organization
• Viewing and configuring alerts and activity streams

12:15-1:00 p.m. Lunch & Session Break (lunch will be provided)
1:00-2:00 p.m. -Moodle: Assignments & Activities

• Assessing through graded and ungraded assignments
• Adding discussion boards/forums (four different pedagogical frameworks)
• Engaging students through polls, glossaries, wikis

2:00-2:30 p.m. -Moodle Lab & Session Break
2:30-3:30 p.m. -Moodle: Gradebook

• Entering grades and feedback for students
• Adding grade columns
• Creating gradebook items and categories.

   

My.Butler Advisor Training

Whether you are a new academic advisor or simply looking for a refresher, this session will cover the important academic advisor functions that advisors use most in My.Butler. You will learn how to release advising holds for continuing student advisees, change term code settings, register incoming students as part of New Student Registration, and much more! This session is facilitated by Registration and Records and the Learning Resource Center.

 

Get to Know Windows 7

"Get to Know Windows 7" is a one-hour, hands-on session primarily designed for users who are transitioning from Windows XP to Windows 7. All Windows 7 users are encouraged to attend. The target areas for training include:

• Essentials & Navigation (How do I continue to do what I've been doing?)
• Functionality & Features (What improvements/enhancements affect me?)
• Browser (IE 8 & Firefox) - trusted sites; secure vs. unsecured (when to click "yes" or "no" within IE8)
• Butler Environment
• Answers to specific department/personnel questions

This session is highly encouraged for faculty and staff who recently scheduled/received a replacement computer or Windows 7 upgrade.

 

Mac 101

Get to Know a Mac Computer in a one-hour, hands-on session primarily designed for users who are new to Macintosh computers.

• Essentials & Navigation
• Functionality & Features
• Mac specific applications
• Browser (Safari & Firefox)
• Butler Environment
• Playtime and answers to specific department/personnel questions

This session is highly encouraged for faculty and staff who are new to Macintosh/Apple computers or want to learn more about the Mac operating system.

Panopto: Set Up Your Course

Are you planning on using Panopto in the fall to record your classroom content, create learning modules or student presentations? In order to get your course set up this fall we are no longer requiring a survey to be filled out but instead we are providing a training session. After this session, you will:

• Get your course Panopto ready
• Learn to modify access privileges for recordings

At any point during the session, once your course and access privileges are set up to your satisfaction, feel free to leave. It's very informal! If you have questions please contact the Center for Academic Technology at (x8575) or panopto@butler.edu.

Required for Panopto faculty and staff users.

Panopto Unison (Upload Video)

Panopto Unison allows you to leverage existing audio, video and PowerPoint files by simply uploading them to Panopto. Panopto Unison is a simple, easy to use browser-based interface. No software to download. No complex editing required. Simply drag and drop your existing video files right into your browser and let Unison convert and host them for you on Panopto. Learn more about this great new service by attending this hands on class.

Session recommended for Panopto instructors and staff users.

Pedagogical Use of Panopto

In this session, you will learn how to use Panopto to create learning modules for your course. You can generate short recordings using your desktop/laptop computer to: 1) address the commonly asked questions in class and 2) introduce a new concept or present a project or assignment. All it takes is the Panopto Recorder (free download) and a USB microphone. We will discuss pedagogical uses of this technique and demonstrate how to create a learning module and post a link to it on Blackboard.

Session recommended for Panopto instructors and staff users.

SMART Board Technology

SMART Board Interactive whiteboards allow Butler University faculty and staff to deliver dynamic lessons, write notes in digital ink, and save your work - all with the touch of a finger. This session is designed to introduce faculty and staff to SMART Board interactive whiteboards. After this session, you will:

• Be comfortable using the SMART Board as a simple display device and as an interactive whiteboard
• Understand how to annotate on the SMART Board over web pages and other applications displayed on the screen
• Be familiar with the SMART Notebook software and understand how to choreograph your class using the software
• Know how to install the software on your computer

Blogs 101

This session is a hands-on session that will give you the tools and information to create a blog site for yourself, your course or department using the Butler University WordPress platform. After this session participants will be able to:

• Design the look and feel
• Create posts
• Add documents, videos, links and other files
• Utilize various tools and plug-ins to enhance your blog
• Learn how to monitor and manage comments

This series, presented to you by the Center for Academic Technology, is an opportunity for Butler University faculty and staff to learn more about different ways to effectively integrate technology into their pedagogy. Session dates and topics are listed below and more will be added as they are finalized. No reservations are required for any of these sessions.

 

Making the Most of Your Digital Presence

Wednesday, February 29, 3-4pm - Brad Matthies, Butler University Libraries

Having a digital profile is quickly becoming a necessity for university faculty and staff.  For example, according to a recent survey conducted by Michigan State University, 36% of  surveyed companies now use social media for recruiting.  Moreover many conference organizing committees, journal editors, and the local press often turn to the internet when seeking experts. Join Brad Matthies as he discusses simple and effective strategies for building and maintaining your own digital profile.  Included in the discussion will be an introduction to various free social media services including Twitter, Google+, and Academia.edu.

 

Best Practices for Designing your Course on a LMS

Tuesday, March 20, 3-4pm - Robin Turner, College of College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Join Professor Turner as she discusses her process for organizing and designing her courses to be engaging through the Moodle learning management system. She will discuss best practices in course design and the online grade book.

 

WordPress and Google Docs for Your Course

Tuesday, March 27, 2-3pm - Bryan Furuness, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Interested in exploring an alternative method to a traditional learning management system?  Join Bryan Furuness to discuss a solution that is intuitive and user-friendly, both for you and your students.

 

Exploring Stories Digitally

Tuesday, April 3, 2:30-3:30pm - Chris Bungard, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Join Professor Bungard as he discusses using digital stories in a variety of courses in order to push students to think about how the tools of the digital age can be employed to think critically about the stories of the past.  He will share his process experience along with logistical matters and share examples from his courses. 

 

Using Social Bookmarking to Build Course Resources

Wednesday, April 11, 3-4pm - Julianne Miranda, CAT/Jordan College of Fine Arts

Social Bookmarking is a way of collecting online resources in a single place accessible from any computer, anywhere.  As such, it is a powerful tool for aggregating course resources into a single site. Julianne Miranda will lead a discussion that includes the tool Diigo and includes relevant examples from courses across campus.

 

iPad Technology

Wednesday, April 18, 3-4pm John Lucich, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

The Physicial Assistant Program began a new mobile technology initiative to evaluate the iPad 2 in the classroom.  Join John Lucich as he updates on how the program is progressing and discusses lessons learned and best practices.