Classroom Response Systems at TTU

03Jan12

Classroom Response Systems, or clickers, are everywhere.  Ever since
“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”, instructors have been polling the
“audience” for the correct answer. For a couple of years now, these
polling systems have been used at TTU. Chemistry and Physics, just to
name a few departments, have had great success applying this technology
in their large lecture sections. But these systems do require an expense
by the student. The expense may be in the purchase of the clicker itself
or in the registration of the clicker with the polling system company.
Although this is usually a modest cost to the student, this past fall
semester five different polling systems were used in classrooms across
campus. To keep students from having to purchase or register for
multiple clicker systems, the following actions were taken by the
Technology Institute.

This past November an invitation was made to all departments to come to
an expo given by various participating clicker technology companies and
hosted by the Technology Institute. The expo, held later that month,
allowed interested parties to try out the different clicker systems and
ask questions of the company representatives. The companies present at
the expo were CPS, iClicker, Turning Technologies, and Top Hat Monocle.

In early December another invitation was sent to all departments
interested in clicker technology to help form a clicker committee.  The
mission of this committee was to decide which clicker company would be
the sole provider of classroom polling technology for Tennessee
Technological University. From the responses given, a committee was
formed and its function was carried out.

After careful deliberation, Top Hat Monocle was chosen as the classroom
response system for TTU starting this spring semester, 2012. By using
Top Hat Monocle, students need only register once (at a cost of $38 for
five years) and then use their own cell phone, smart phone, iPod, iPad,
or laptop to participate in polling (If a student does not have a web
appliance, they may contact the Technology Institute). Likewise, faculty
should find this system very convenient because polling can be done
using any computer in any classroom.  Also, since it is a purely web
based system, no hardware or software needs to be installed. If you or
any of your faculty would like to see a demonstration of Top Hat
Monocle, please go to http://www.tophatmonocle.com/.

Finally, the Technology Institute has been tasked by Academic Affairs to
form another committee.  This committee will be writing policy regarding
the use of classroom response systems on campus. If you have an interest in the writing of this policy, please do not
hesitate to send an email to institute@tntech.edu.  Thank you.

Michael Allen
Director
TTU Technology Institute

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iLearn Upgrade to version 9.4.1 for Spring 2012

20Dec11

iLearn will be upgraded to version 9.4.1 on December 21^st-23^rd. You will not have access to it during this time.

Some New & Improved Features of iLearn:

• Notifications via email and/or SMS about course activity via email.
• The calendar has been updated with more features and an easier interface where you can manage more of your course (more like Google Calendars).
• The Feedback area for the Dropbox has been redesigned and you can view several types of documents within the Feedback area without having to download them first.
• You can record audio feedback within some tools.

We will have more information online including updated documentation at www.tntech.edu/ilearn.

If you are looking for training workshops for iLearn and other tools, please visit our web site to register online.

http://www.tntech.edu/technologyinstitute-workshops/

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Automated Lecture Calendar

11Nov11

TTU Math professor, Jeff Norden shares a tool of his own invention.  He has automated the process of delivery for his Camtasia Relay produced lecture recordings and PDF lecture notes.  ”My basic motivation was laziness—I got tired of having to copy and paste the link for each lecture,” Norden said. The script he wrote generates green highlighted links to his lecture videos on a calendar corresponding to the day of the lecture.

Dr. Norden has provided instructions for setting this up.  If you would like to try this method and need a little help contact Jeff Norden at jnorden@tntech.edu, 372-3592 or the Technology Institute at institute@tntech.edu, 372-3675.

Filed under: Classroom Technology, Clickers, Content Creation, Creating Content, Presentations, Screencapture   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: CamtasiaRelay, links, Recording, video

Respondus Test Bank Network is a great option for faculty!

08Nov11

At TTU, we have been using Respondus products for several years.  The products work well with iLearn (Desire2Learn) and are pretty simple to use. The products we use and that are available to faculty at no cost to them or their department are:

• Respondus – a tool for creating and managing exams and surveys that can either be published to iLearn (D2L) or printed on paper. At this time it only runs on Windows machines.
• StudyMate – a tool you can use to help students master certain materials or glossary terms with different learning activities, self-assessments and games.
• Respondus Lockdown Browser – a browser that you can require students to use to take online exams through iLearn. This tool makes it difficult for students to print or copy exams or access other applications or URLs during testing.
• For more information about this software and to download the products go to the TTU Respondus information page (http://www.tntech.edu/its/respondusinfo/).

Many of the current textbooks are beginning to provide different content and resources for instructors who adopt their books. For a while now we have been helping faculty get their quizzes from a textbook company into a format that is easily put into iLearn (or Respondus and then to iLearn). This usually requires some manual formatting on the instructors part. Now, we have another tool available to help save faculty time on developing their courses and exams.

The Respondus Test Bank Network is a great tool that will allow faculty to have access to these test banks and make it easier for them to create exams, self-assessments, learning activities and games for their courses. These test banks can be used with both Respondus and StudyMate.

All you have to do to get started is:

• Go to http://www.respondus.com/testbank/index.shtml
• Select the Search for Publisher Test Banks (you can also do this inside Respondus 4.0)
• Enter the search criteria to find your book
• Request access to the test bank
• Once you receive the information to access the test bank you will need to go into Respondus to setup the link to the test bank.

Make sure you have the latest version of Respondus installed on your computer. To check, go to the TTU Respondus information page. You can only download the program from on the TTU campus network.

Once installed:

1. Select the Test Bank Network button (you can also search for test banks here)
2. Select the Register a test bank using a file code and password
3. Click Next and enter the information from the email you received
4. Click Link Test Bank
5. Once the test bank is linked, choose Select questions from one of the following publisher test banks
6. Click Next
7. You can choose to Create a new file or Open an existing file
8. If you choose to Create a new file – give it a name and type a short description
9. If you choose to Open an existing file – select the file from the existing list
10. Click Next
11. Choose the correct test bank from the drop-down menu
12. Select the chapter and/or type of questions you would like to import
13. You can view the questions in the default view or you can select the Expanded View link and see the entire question and the answer options
14. When the list opens, you can choose your questions to import in two different ways. Under Question Selections:
1. Manual – allows you to pick the questions individually for import
2. Automatic – allows you to just let the program pick a specific number randomly from the list (or all of them)
15. Once you have chosen the questions, select Add to End of List or Insert into List to add the questions to your Respondus file.
16. You can select the Add More Test Bank Questions button to go back and select more questions from another section of the test bank.
17. When you are done adding questions, click Finish.

If you already have a file open in Respondus and just want to add questions from the test bank to it, click the Test Bank Network button under the Edit tab (under the types of questions you can create) and it will take you into the editing options listed above starting at step 11.

For more information about using Respondus and Respondus Test Banks:

• Instructor Quick Start Guide
• Videos about using the Test Bank with Respondus and StudyMate

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Try Lurking with Twitter

05Oct11

The thought of Twitter may seem like an unnecessary waste of time. I could not disagree more.  Gleaning information from experts in your field at a conference happens all too infrequently. Blog posts like this one happen more often but not daily. Following those who lead the way in your areas of interest can be quite enlightening and often lead to valuable resources.

Who to Follow:

1. Get your own Twitter account at http://www.twitter.com/
2. Select the link “Who to Follow” to search by people or topics.
3. Or search for one of your favorite speakers or authors.
   
4. Select that person from the left column.
   
5. Select the button to follow.
6. Notice the “about” area on the left
   
7. Select the number above “Following” to find who this person is following and who those people are following etc.

How to Tweet (http://goo.gl/uW0Qw):

1. Retweet and Reply. Use existing information (other people’s Tweets) on Twitter to find your own voice and show others what you care about.
   
   Retweet messages you’ve found and love, or
   Reply with your reaction to a Tweet you find interesting. Tip: If you’re a new user, others are more likely to find your messages if they are retweets or replies.
2. @Mention. Include others in your content. Once you’re ready to begin authoring your own messages, consider mentioning other users by their Twitter username (preceded by the @ sign) in your Tweets.  A mention will draw more eyes to your message, and can even start a new conversation. Try posting a message mentioning a celebrity or person you admire – they often respond to fans. You’ll see their response on your Mentions tab. Tip: Can’t think of anything to write? Don’t worry! Like I said, the real magic lies in locating and reading content on Twitter.
3. #Hashtags. People use the hashtag symbol # before relevant keywords in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets to show more easily in Twitter Search. Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category.

Follow @caffeinerush

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Tags: @hashtags, Communication, networking, resources, Retweet.com, Social Media, twitter

Harvard Prof’s Alternative to Lectures

03Aug11

Lauren Neal came across this interesting article about a Harvard professor who uses special student response software to spend less class time (or even none at all) on lectures and instead uses student engagement and group activities to teach concepts. Leave a comment and tell us what you think of his method.

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New Training Workshops Preparing for Fall 2011

03Aug11

We just posted our new workshop schedule over on the Institute’s homepage. These workshops are in preparation for the Fall 2011 semester, including iLearn training, an introduction to using iPads in the classroom, training for the Turning Point Classroom Response System and more. iLearn training includes introductory training for new faculty and those who have not used iLearn in the past, as well as intermediate-to-advanced training for faculty members who wish to broaden their knowledge and explore some of the new features introduced in recent updates. Interested faculty may register for training online at the Institute Web site.

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Does Universal Design matter in my discipline?

25Apr11

Designing instructional strategies with an inclusive goal in mind will increase the quality of instruction all around.  Students in the classroom are likely to have any number of disability issues, some obvious and many not obvious. Keeping this in mind when designing instruction in all disciplines can only make the opportunities for learning greater for all. I encourage you to attend the upcoming Universal Design Workshop.

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Where Did my Tablet XP Power Toys Go?

20Apr11

Have you upgraded your Tablet PC to Windows 7 yet? Do you want things like the Music Composition Tool back? You can run most older programs in Windows 7 in compatibility mode.

1. Download and run desired application(s). Microsoft Power Toys for Tablet PC http://bit.ly/MYj9
2. Right-click the program icon.
3. Select Properties 
4. Select the Compatibility Tab
5. Select the Compatibility Mode for Windows XP.

Cool Toys:  Microsoft Dots!, Tablet PC Music Composition Tool, My Font Tool for Tablet PC.

What are your favorites?

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“When Fools Rush In” Discussion Panel April 1

26Mar11

On April 1, from 3 pm to 5 pm, the Technology Institute will host “When Fools Rush In,” a showcasing of technologies useful for the classroom and/or meetings, in honor of April Fool’s Day.   We will also have a panel discussion covering some of the classroom technologies we support, including tablets, clickers, Wacom interactive monitors and a few other items. The event will be held in Bruner Hall auditorium (room 119) and all faculty and staff are invited.

Many of these technologies are becoming familiar on campus, so we think other faculty would be most interested in hearing real-world experiences from peers who have actually used the technology “in the trenches,” so to speak.

This event is your opportunity to get involved in the discussion about these different technologies and share your experiences with them in the classroom.

Presenters will include Tommy Elliott, Stephen Click, Ken Wiant, Michael Allen and Steve Robinson, with added discussion from Jeff Plant, Peter Li and Mike Wheeler.

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