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January 25, 2007 – 4:19 pm

Individual attention

This semester faculty members wishing to work on projects in a more private setting than the instructional technology lab will be able to work in Taylor 211 on Thursday afternoons. They will also be able to get one-on-one help from Jon as he will be holding instructional technology hours in Taylor 211 from 1-5 on Thursday’s for the 2007 Spring Semester. The space is equipped with three stations for doing anything from video editing to slide scanning. No appointment is necessary but if you want to send him an e-mail indicating you will be there feel free to do so.

By Jon Breitenbucher | Posted in Training | Comments (0)
January 25, 2007 – 4:13 pm

woodle training for Spring ‘07

Over the break we announced several sessions for woodle. Two were held in the first week of the semester and three were held during the second week. The sessions were very successful with about 20 faculty attending over the course of the two weeks. Because the class sizes were small we were able to focus on specific pedagogical uses of woodle for each faculty member. More sessions will be held at the end of the semester to bring more faculty members up to speed and prepare them for the Fall. Over the summer we plan to upgrade to a newer version of Moodle and will hold refresher sessions at the end of August.

By Jon Breitenbucher | Posted in Training | Comments (0)
January 25, 2007 – 3:51 pm

Training sessions for Spring ‘07

This semester instructional technology will offer training on Dreamweaver, iMovie, iDVD, flatbed scanning, and Audacity. These sessions will be held Monday through Thursday each week and will begin at a very low level. As the semester progresses it is hoped that users will become more advanced which will allow the sessions to include more advanced topics. The schedule for these training sessions will be

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday
Dreamweaver iMovie & iDVD Flatbed scanning Audacity

What will you be able to learn at these sessions? You will learn how to create a simple Web page and how to manage a Web site; how to import, storyboard, and edit digital video and burn it to a DVD; how to scan photos at appropriate resolutions and scan documents to multi-page PDFs; and how to create an audio project using a number of different sound tracks. Again this may change as users become more advanced.

By Jon Breitenbucher | Posted in Training | Comments (1)
January 22, 2007 – 12:34 pm

Classroom maintenance

Instructional Technology will be preforming regularly scheduled maintenance on a daily basis to keep the classroom technology up to spec. for the faculty.

Here is the script:

The idea is to test and clean any piece of equipment that belongs to IT, including the classroom computer (where applicable) as it hooks to the projector system.

We use compressed air on keyboards, the remotes, the Pixies, and the OHP projectors. Next, We fire up the equipment and look for proper color information and sync. this checks the VGA and Dongles

After that, verify the wireless equipment and batteries.

Next, cycle to video inputs and use the DVD info screen for most applications and VHS where it applies.

Adjust volume and check amp settings to make sure nothing is maxed or overdriving. Also check the computer audio where it is availalble.

Head cleaning is done once a month to VHS players.

A damp cloth (misted with glass cleaner) is the final application after the equipment is shut off.

Finally, wire managment, this is key. Untangle the VGA and tighten the connections, we untange power cords so there is usable distance on the hardware. This also stops equipment from becoming unplugged.

Here is the schedule, maintenance is done Mon-Friday 4:30 to 5:45pm.

Mon is Morgan, Eibert
Tues is Taylor
Wed is Wishart,Mateer
Thurs is Severance, Scovel
Friday Kauke

All emegency calls will be dealt with as soon as the room becomes availalbe based on the schedule from the Registrar. Often the ten minutes between class is enough time to fix missing audio or wrong source problems. Even an OHP bulb can be done in less than ten minutes.

All Problems Call X2204 or 330.201.6165 for immediate help in the classrooms.

Administrative Assistants will get an e-mail update of any problems or fixes, this will keep the faculty up to date also.

By Blaise | Posted in Site | Comments (0)
December 18, 2006 – 5:51 pm

Janet’s projects

Megan Werely and i are planning to work together in her methods class.  We will have the students take a typical lesson and spin it out using a SMARTBoard.  Of course our state has some pretty serious criteria for using technology in teaching and this particular assignment with both be in alignment with those critieria and be an artifact the students can put in their electronic portfolios as evidence of their adeptness with technology.

 

I also plan to produce some literature (both digital and print) for our students and faculty on using some of the great tech tools we have available but which are currently getting little attention.  For example…a series called something obvious like “how would i use…” and which would include topics such as”
wikis
blogs
podcasts…etc.

By jarussell | Posted in Site, Multimedia Projects for Spring '07 | Comments (0)
December 18, 2006 – 5:38 pm

Spring projects

i.t. is looking forward to the following collaborative work…

DW

Nick Kardulius will have his students use websites to communicate their learning to themselves and one another.  i.t. will meet with the class and do at least one class session on the HTML editor, Dream Weaver, to facilitate student design of their pages.

 

Audacity

Both Sharon Shelly and Linda Lengacher will use the sound editing program, Audacity, in their spring courses.  Sharon’s students will record themselves reading–in French–a script which will then be sent via Woodle to Sharon.  Linda–who is taking Alison Schmidt’s spot this year–will continue the project Alison started of having students produce a digital story or narrative in the course, Theories and Practices in Teaching Reading.  More on the narrative below under iMovie, but students will use Audacity for their voice overs.

iMovie/iDVD

As noted above, Linda Lengacher will use a project called “digital stories.”  This project is a spin on the traditional reading narrative in which students reflect on their early reading experiences, their current relationship to reading, and how both might impact the kind of reading teacher the students become. Students collect artifacts from their lives and use those to tell this story “digitally” rather than in traditional text.  The product is a quick time movie produced using iMovie.  See more at our web site:


http://www.wooster.edu/technology/it/digitalnarrative.php

 

Karen Taylor will also use filmmaking in her class.  Karen, what is your assignment?

By jarussell | Posted in Site, Multimedia Projects for Spring '07 | Comments (1)
November 13, 2006 – 12:20 pm

Stopping the Cable during VHS play

A common problem that occurs when showing a VHS tape: As soon as you stop the tape, a cable channel comes on and may distract the class. The reason this happens is because the VCR is also the cable tuner. Here is how to fix it: Turn on the cable TV and select “channel down” until you reach L1. This is located below channel 2 in the VCR. By setting the tuner to L1 (line 1) there will be no input, so the screen will reman blank and the audio will be silent.

By Blaise | Posted in Classroom Troubleshooting | Comments (0)
November 9, 2006 – 3:25 pm

The 038 fix….

  1. Good News Indeed: The final work was done to complete 038. Anyone can now use both projectors to display a varitey of sources. For Example; you can show the computer on one screen while a DVD or VHS plays on the other. The only addition to the controls in the rooms is another small Pixie, that simply turns on the other projector and lowers the screen.On the main Pixie you will see clearly labled source buttons for Projector 1 and Projector 2. Of course you can just use one projector or send the same source to both, the choice is yours. The audio inputs have also been adjusted so you can adjust the level at the Pixie (like all the other rooms in Kauke) and clearly hear what you have seleceted. We will be holding training cessions on Nov 9th and Nov 13th at 4pm on location. See you there…..

By Blaise | Posted in Classroom Troubleshooting | Comments (0)
November 7, 2006 – 3:39 pm

no sound in new kauke rooms?

if you find yourself staring at a beautiful projected picture in kauke but can’t hear a thing, try this:
*look at the amp, if there is no blue light in the center of the amp this means it has been turned off
*turn the amp on and adjust the two knobs so the white lines, or blobs of white out actually, line up
you should be all set!
if not, call 2204 (the i.t. lab in taylor 205) and we’ll come over to help.

By jarussell | Posted in Classroom Troubleshooting | Comments (1)
November 2, 2006 – 10:28 pm

Google video in the classroom

As Google videos increase in popularity many of you might wish to use them in your classes. At this time it appears that there is an issue with our network and Google videos. The videos are choppy and take a very long time to download. As a result we are recommending that people download the Google Video Player onto the computer being used for presentation. Also download the video to the presentation computer (do this well in advance of the presentation). When it is time to watch the video you can open the Google Video Player and then open the video you downloaded. When the network issue is resolved we will alert you.

By Jon Breitenbucher | Posted in Classroom Troubleshooting | Comments (0)