UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Academic Technology Services

Participants Wanted: Annotate the Web With Your Students

The academic technology services & innovation office is seeking faculty participants to pilot digital annotation software for teaching and learning. ATSI will be partnering with Hypothesis, a non-profit and open-source tool allowing any webpage to be collaboratively annotated, commented on, and discussed. Initial research suggests that the social reading this technology allows can improve comprehension, foster deeper engagement, and encourage students to consider multiple perspectives. Ask your students to mark up a recent scientific article, comment on the latest news, or collaboratively a analyze a social media post – there are many interesting potential use-cases.

This brief video gives an introduction to the power of open digital annotation.

Participants in the pilots will be able to use Hypothesis within Moodle, so that private groups are automatically created for students in each course. Training, consultation, and instructional design resources from the experts are also available as part of the pilot program.

If you would like to learn more about participating in the pilot or about open annotation, please contact Ben Kahn at kahn@up.edu.

TLC From The TLC: Need a Moodle Question Answered?

Do you have Moodle questions? Maybe you are new to UP and are coming from using a different learning management system like Blackboard or Canvas. Perhaps you’ve been using Moodle for a while but want to leverage it more to create efficiencies or open up new opportunities. Or maybe you are brand new to the world of Moodle – in any case, the Office of Academic Technology Services & Innovation is here to help, according to Ben Kahn, information services. You can always reach us at atsi@up.edu – you can get questions answered, or get connected to more resources if you need hands-on tech training or instructional design consulting to enhance your use of digital resources in your teaching and learning.

Click through to the Teaching and Learning blog for some additional Moodle resources.

TLC Tip of the Week: Instructional Designers

Have you ever worked with an instructional designer to improve a course? According to a recent study released by Inside Higher Ed, the chances are good that you haven’t. Fewer than half of faculty participants in the study have experience working with instructional designers, but those who have reported that they “overwhelmingly appreciated the experience” – a full 93 percent of respondents rated their time with an ID as positive. So what gives? Why are IDs underutilized in higher education institutions? The truth is that there is sometimes a dearth of information about available ID resources on campuses, coupled with lingering misperceptions about what, exactly, that IDs can do for you.

So, what can time with a UP instructional designer do for your course? To find out more, please visit this week’s TLC from the TLC blog post over on the Teaching and Learning Community Blog.

“Taking On The Digitocracy” With UPCrossroads

“Taking on the Digitocracy” is the theme for the new season of UPCrossroads, the thought-provoking discussion series that tackles topics at the intersection of teaching and technology. Anne Santiago, political science, will lead a roundtable exchange on “Media Literacy and Digital Citizenry” on Friday, October 26, at 3 p.m., in the Digital Lab of the Clark Library. All are invited to attend and participate.  Refreshments will be provided.

UPCrossroads is sponsored by Academic Technology Services and Innovation in collaboration with the Clark Library. For accommodations, please contact Maria Erb at x8841.

Check Out Offerings By Academic Technology Services & Innovation

Academic Technology Services & Innovation is pleased to offer professional development and training opportunities for faculty to successfully integrate technology into the classroom and beyond. Supported tools and services include:

  • Moodle training & professional development
  • Instructional Design consultation
  • Screencasting/instructional videos
  • TechSmith Relay, Camtasia, & Snagit
  • MediaSpace streaming video
  • Office 365
  • Microsoft Teams
  • WordPress for professional sites and blogs

Please contact us at atsi@up.eduto learn more or request a consultation.

New Professional Development Workshops Available

Academic technology services & innovation is pleased to offer a catalog of on-demand professional development workshop opportunities, available on your schedule, and designed to help faculty develop the skills to successfully integrate technology into their practice. The Spring 2018 catalog has been updated with new offerings including training on Moodle, Office 365, WordPress, Padlet, Skype and more. Please use this link to view professional development offerings or request a session using the sign-up form at the bottom of the page. Sign up for a training you are interested in, and an ATSI staff member will reach out to you to schedule an individual or group training.

New Resources From Academic Technology Services & Innovations

To better serve the academic community, Academic Technology Services & Innovation will not offer drop-in workshops this term, according to Ben Kahn. Instead, ATSI is pleased to offer a catalog of on-demand professional development opportunities, available on your schedule, and designed to help faculty develop the skills to successfully integrate technology into their teaching. Our spring 2018 catalog includes training on Moodle (including the gradebook!), Office 365, WordPress, multimedia tools, recording video lectures, and more. Please use this link to view professional development offerings or request a session using the sign-up form at the bottom of the page. Sign up for a training you are interested in, and an ATSI staff member will reach out to you to schedule an individual or group training.

 

TLC Teaching Tip of the Week: Digital Tools in the Classroom

The Digital Lab welcomes faculty looking to increase their students’ multimedia skills to arrange a consultation with the lab’s coordinator (and TLC member) José Velazco, velazco@up.edu. Recent collaborative student projects include:

  • Interactive Digital Presentations: Apple’s iBooks Author (or Adobe’s InDesign) allow students to create and send interactive presentations complete with photographs, audio and video. Class members studying political science recently used iBooks Author to present statistics and narratives related to international issues.
  • Digital Posters: Students can use Piktochart, an online poster design software, to create posters. Class participants have used the software to create infographics related to a variety of topics across disciplines
  • The Lab also offers workshops regarding multimedia best practices. This semester’s topics include Photoshop, Illustrator and Creating Electronic Music. Click here to register for a session.

Faculty are welcome to visit the Digital Lab (located on the upper floor of the library) or contact José Velazco, digital initiatives coordinator, at velazco@up.edu for a consultation and learn how to integrate these technologies into the classroom.

 

Teaching With Technology Workshops: They’re All That!

The Office of Academic Technology Services & Innovation is hosting a number of Teaching with Technology Workshops this September. Topics will include:

  • What’s New in Moodle
  • Snagit for Capturing Screen Shots
  • Creating Video Lecture for Flipped Learning
  • VoiceThread for video-based instruction, discussion, and feedback
  • Office 365 Basics
  • Microsoft Teams and Planner
  • And much much more.

All workshops below will take place in the Clark Library Digital Lab (on the top floor of the library). For more information, workshop descriptions, and to RSVP to any of these workshops, please visit the Teaching with Technology page on the UP Teaching & Learning site.

UP Crossroads Speaker Series Welcomes Dan McGinty, Sept. 19

The UP Crossroads speaker series kicks off a new season with the theme of “Ethics and Technology” for the 2017-2018 academic year. The engaging series features an informal roundtable discussion hosted by a guest speaker on a topic at the intersection of technology and teaching. Dan McGinty, Dundon-Berchtold Institute, will start the first conversation on September 19 at 3 p.m. in the Digital Lab. Join us for a lively exchange on a compelling topic.  

For more information on upcoming speakers and dates, go to this link. Students, faculty, and staff are welcome. Light refreshments will be served. UP Crossroads is sponsored by Academic Technology Services and Innovation in collaboration with the Clark Library.