Dr. Laura Graves and Stacey Plant present during a poster session at the 2009 WIPTE Conference (Workshop on the Impact of Pen-based Technology on Education) held at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg Virginia. The abstract summarizing the TTASA-SWLD research-to-date is accepted for publication in the WIPTE 2009 Monograph journal to be published by Purdue University Press in January 2010.
Filed under: Presentations, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Tags: Conference, Presenations, TabletPC, Tablet Computing, STEM, Pen Technology
Inking capabilities in Windows Journal on a Tablet PC are fluid and easier to manipulate than most inking applications. Import your Power Point slides into Windows Journal and ink away without stray lines that randomly appear and get in the way of clear communication.
- Launch Windows Journal
- Select File >> Import (A popup window will appear and inform you that Windows Journal will print a document image of the file into Windows Journal. This may take a few seconds.)
- Select Next. The slides will appear in a new Windows Journal file. You may need to close the original file to see it.
- Navigate to each slide by clicking on the sections displayed at the bottom of the screen.
- Print to a PDF with Adobe PDF or PDF Creator.
Filed under: Content Creation, Tablet Initiative, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Tags: digital-ink, journal, Pen Technology, Tablet Computing, Tablet PC
Accessing the CMAT Server
CMAT is a new server intended for faculty use as a storage place for Course MATerials. These materials can include text files, videos, etc. and can be easily linked to in your iLearn course. To access your CMAT folder, open your favorite FTP program (I will be using FileZilla [download here]). From the ‘File’ menu, select ‘Site Manager…’:
In the Site Manager window, click on the button labeled ‘New Site’:
Now, in the pane on the right, under the ‘General’ tab, click on the pull-down menu labeled ‘Logontype’ and select ‘Normal’:
Make sure the ‘Servertype’ menu shows ‘FTP – File Transfer Protocol’ (it should default to this choice) and then fill in the ‘Host’ field with the server address–cmat.tntech.edu. Then, put your normal username (e.g., hkaller) in the ‘User’ field and your password in the ‘Password’ field. It should end up looking something like this:
Now, click on the button labeled ‘Connect,’ which is located at the bottom of the box:
Back in the main FileZilla window, you can navigate to your personal directory under the pane labeled ‘Remote site,’ where you can view, upload, download and otherwise manage your files:
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Creating Content Using eXe
eXe logo
This summer we found a very useful and affordable tool (because it is free!). It is called eXe and it is for creating learning materials for your class. It runs on Mac, Windows and Linux and even has a version that will run from a USB drive or CD. This one runs on Windows only though. You can download the program by going to http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/exe/wiki.
The more we use the tool, the more we like it. You can create modules of content that can be exported into IMS content packages and put into Desire2Learn (or other Learning Management Systems like Moodle). The best part is that you can also export it as a web page if you prefer to just put your content on a web server and it will create the navigation for you. You can even add pictures and media. I even embedded YouTube and Camtasia Relay videos into the page and it worked great!
eXe works by adding pages (which builds your module outline) and on those pages you add iDevices. There are several pre-made iDevices that include Preknowledge, Objectives, Reading Activity, Case Study, Reflection, Wiki Article, External web site and Assessment questions like Multiple-Choice, True-False, and Multiple-Select. There are more and you can even create your own if you like. Each of these has a specific setup that might include a title and content or as the Reading Activity there are three sections that include What to Read, the Activity and Feedback. To try the different iDevices just select them and see what they do. If you like it, select the green check mark. If you do not, select the red X.
View a short tutorial on using eXe. Let us know what you think about the program!
Filed under: Content Creation, Creating Content, Website Development, iLearn | Leave a Comment
Here is another great web app that will do just that.
webresizer.com
“This free online image Web Resizer helps you optimize photos for web or email. Easy to use. Amazing results!
The pictures that come out of a digital camera are too big for use on the web. Whether you want to use your pictures on a social networking site like Myspace, Facebook, on auction site such as eBay, on your own web site or blog, or sending via email, you’ll need to reduce the size of the picture.
Web sites often have two requirements for uploaded pictures: a maximum height and width and a maximum file size. Webresizer helps you with both of these by displaying the dimensions of your picture and the file size. You can adjust the image size and the quality setting to ensure that the resulting picture meets your requirements.” Retrieved 7/6/09 from http://webresizer.com/
Filed under: Content Creation, Website Development | 1 Comment
Tags: Image-size, Photos, Resolution
Lifehacker.com, a great productivity blog, has done a couple of really useful posts in the last week or so regarding some free utilities for malware removal and data recovery.
For anyone who is unfamiliar with these terms, malware–often called spyware–consists of tiny, sneaky programs that usually install themselves without your knowledge and are often difficult to get rid of (but less so than viruses). They usually track certain user behaviors, such as Web sites visited, and may even report sensitive information, such as passwords and bank information, so it’s a good idea to check for malware regularly. I can personally vouch for their first recommendation, Spybot Search & Destroy, as an indispensable utility.
Read the entire post on malware removal here.
As for data recovery, if you’ve ever plugged your camera’s memory card into your computer and all you got out of it is an error message, such as “There is no data on the disk. Would you like to format it now?”, even though you just took a bunch of pictures with it, then you could use one of these tools to try and salvage some or all of the pictures. This strategy will also sometimes work for recovering files on faulty USB flash drives or failing hard drives.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
If you have ever said “I need more hours in a day” then check out these time-saver apps for what can be tedious tasks. They may not give you back hours in your day but every minute counts. The sign-up alone for most applications is time consuming requiring specifically formatted passwords and account verifications with spam to follow in your in-box. These apps are hit-and-run with no personal information required.
- HTML to PDF Converter
- Webresizer – optimize photos for web or email
- Picupine – free photo sharing
- 1link – combine multiple links into one short link
- uSend.io – send files up to 100 mb to email recipients and share in drop.io
- Collab.io – setup a collaboration space quickly for file sharing, chatting, blogging in drop.io
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Tags: Collaboration, open source, sharing, Social Media, Tools
Jessie Daniels (Distance MBA Productions Manager) recently presented at the MTSU IT Conference. Her presentation, titled “Confessions of an IT Poser” focuses on tools, tricks and tips to help you achieve your distance education goals. She looks at different open source, free and fee-based software options that are available. This presentation covers some great tools that anyone can use in their classroom. (Thank you Jessie for sharing!)
Our mission in the Technology Institute is “to foster the effective and innovative use of technology supporting excellence in the educational mission of the faculty of TTU“. Something we like to do is try out new software to see how it can be a solution in the classroom. Faculty will come to us with an issue (or just a wish list) and we look for a way to solve it (or make it happen) at the lowest cost and, of course, the easiest solution we can find. We do not use technology because it is new, we experiment and try to find the best use and sometimes we just find it is “cool” but not useful. However, many times we find software that does help provide a solution. All of the software mentioned in Jessie’s presentation is great for the classroom (on-ground, online or hybrid) and just might fit a need of yours.
Look at her presentation online: http://docs.google.com/Present?docid=dd5pj94c_214ghj66nhh&skipauth=true
What software have you found that can be used for education purposes effectively? In these times of budget crunches we are always looking to see what we can do within our realistic constraints. Post a comment!
Filed under: Software, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Tags: open source, Software
by Stacey Plant
Select Site from the top menu bar….select New Site
Select the Advanced tab
Under the Local Info Category give the name of the site.
Ex: MyiWeb
Dreamweaver Site Definition screen capture
(You are setting up a file structure for the same website files on your local computer that will be on the live server. You will work on the files here and then publish updated files to the server for display on the Web.)
Local root folder: Select the folder on your computer you wish to store these files
Select Remote Info under the category column on the left
Select the drop-down menu next to Access and choose FTP
dreamweaver site definition advanced tab screen capture
FTP host: iweb.tntech.edu (www.tntech.edu if you are managing a department site)
Login: ttu\username
Password: ******
Select the Test button and you should receive a message saying this was successful
Dreamweaver connection verification screen capture
Select OK
Select the Done button
Connect to the server under the files area on the right
dreamweaver file panel screen capture
Highlight the root folder /username/
Select the green down arrow to download the entire site onto your computer.
Select the drop-down menu that says Remote view and change to Local view
You can work on any of these files (notice they are green, green is for local files) and then Put Files by highlighting the file and selecting the blue up arrow
dreamweaver file panel put operation screen capture
this puts the updated file on the server and is live on the Web.
Test the Webpage through several different browsers. Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari
Filed under: Server Connect, Website Development | Leave a Comment
Tags: connection, Dreamweaver, FTP, Site Definition, webpage, website
By Hunter Kaller
In general, Microsoft Office 2007 and OpenOffice.org v3.1 have similar features and capabilities, and either office package may be recommended to faculty and students with confidence that it will adequately meet their academic needs. However, there are some differences between the products that potential users should be aware of.*
Overall, OpenOffice has the clear advantage of cost between the two products, insofar as it is free to download and use for any purpose, while Office 2007 carries a cost of between $400 and $679 (or approximately $150 $100 with a student discount). Likewise, MS Office 2007 only supports use on Windows and Apple’s OS X, while OpenOffice supports alternative operating systems, such as GNU/Linux, Irix, and Sun’s Solaris, in addition to Windows and OS X.
Similarly, OpenOffice has the advantage of greater support for “open” formats relative to Office 2007, in addition to support for MS’ proprietary office formats (.doc, .docx, etc.). However, this difference will be eliminated in late May 2009 when MS releases its Service Pack 2 for Office 2007, which will introduce support for OpenOffice’s native Open Document Formats. In the meantime, to minimize the risk of file incompatibilities, documents intended for distribution or submission should be saved/exported in established and well-supported formats, such as rich text format (.rtf), portable document format (.pdf), and html, when using either office suite.
One last thing to consider when selecting an office package is familiarity and ease of use. For the most part, MS Office is considered to be the industry standard for office applications and, as such, most users will be familiar with its interface and layout. However, with Office 2007, MS introduced a new interface and menu layout (known as ‘the ribbon’) that some users find awkward to use. These users may prefer the interface and layout of OpenOffice because they more closely resemble those of prior versions of MS Office.
If you would like to learn more about the differences between the two products, follow these links:
http://www.linux.com/feature/119546
http://www.linux.com/feature/118986
http://www.linux.com/feature/119513
http://documentation.openoffice.org/manuals/oooauthors/PresentationDifferences.pdf
http://documentation.openoffice.org/manuals/oooauthors2/0606MG-DifferencesInUseCalcExcel.pdf
http://documentation.openoffice.org/manuals/oooauthors/TextDocumentDifferences.pdf
*With respect to individual components of the office suites, MS Powerpoint has a number of multimedia functions, such as support for voiceovers and mouseover actions, that are missing from OO.org’s presentation tool Impress, while OO.org’s Writer offers predictive word completion, which is not offered in MS Word (though this is admittedly a minor and little-used feature). In contrast, both office suites’ spreadsheet programs (MS Excel and OO.org’s Calc) have similar functionality for most uses (though Excel may have certain advantages for very advanced users).
Filed under: Content Creation | 2 Comments
Tags: office, open source, OpenOffice, Software
Recent Entries
- Effects of Teaching with Tablet PC’s with Asynchronous Student Access in Post-Secondary STEM Courses on Students with Learning Disabilities.
- Ink Your Power Point with Windows Journal
- Accessing the CMAT Server
- Creating Content Using eXe
- Resize My Digital Pictures Please
- Free Tools for Malware Removal and Data Recovery
- No Cost, no sign-up, hassle-free web apps
- Confessions of an IT Poser by Jessie Daniels
- Website Server Connect thru Dreamweaver
- Microsoft Office or OpenOffice for Faculty and Students?
- Creating Content for the web (and D2L) using MS Word
Categories
- Collaboration (3)
- Content Creation (5)
- Creating Content (1)
- Discussions (1)
- Email (1)
- File Sharing (1)
- iLearn (5)
- Presentations (1)
- Screencapture (1)
- Server Connect (1)
- Social Media (1)
- Software (9)
- Tablet Initiative (1)
- Uncategorized (11)
- Website Development (3)
- Workshops (3)
