What's New with Wimba
Scott Smith, Wimba, Inc.

Many instructors now consider web conferencing to be an essential element of online learning. With Wimba Classroom you can build an interactive learning community. Faculty and students can engage in real-time audio, video and text chat for lectures, presentations, and discussions. Using video from document cameras, video cams, even microscopes, can enliven online courses. Capturing your classroom lectures and archiving them for later review reinforces student learning. Wimba can record the audio, video, chat, or whiteboard content ly capture the traditional offline lecture environment. You can easily create and distribute MP4 files from Wimba to Blackboard Vista, YouTube, Facebook, or even iPhones and smart phones, so students can view your content anywhere. Find out how in this workshop on sharing live video with your students.

Classroom Presentation

9 - 9:45 AM

Room 240

The Embedded Librarian: Tailored Reference Services for Online Graduate Courses
Dawn Cadogan, Odum Library, Valdosta State University
Laura Wright, Odum Library, Valdosta State University
J. Patrick Biddix, Curriculum Leadership and Technology, Valdosta State University

The library science literature on distance education suggests that graduate students will sacrifice quality of information to the convenience of using Internet sources. To help address this problem, Odum Library';s Reference Department provides the embedded librarian service to online courses. This service has been particularly marketed to online graduate courses with heavy research components. Embedded librarians collaborate with teaching faculty to provide customized reference assistance for courses by answering questions, recommending information resources, providing research tips, and answering questions. This presentation explains the service and its utility for online graduate courses, provides background from both the librarian and teaching faculty perspectives, and summarizes both the successes and challenges in implementing the service.

Classroom Presentation

9 - 9:45 AM

Room 243

Accessibility in Online Courses
Jessica Klotz, Access Office, Valdosta State University

This is a training intended for faculty and instructors of online and hybrid courses. The goal of training is inform faculty and staff about the possibilities available through the use of WebCT VISTA and Wimba to make online classes accessible to all students regardless of disability or learning style. The training is presented through Wimba Classroom to allow the tools available to be demonstrated.

Distance Learning Presentation

9 - 9:45 AM

Room 304

Classroom Technology and Distance Learning Enhancements in a
Large Introductory Physical Geography Course
Donald Thieme, Instructor, Valdosta State University

Introductory courses in physical geography are popular choices by undergraduate students in Georgia for satisfying laboratory science requirements in their core curriculum. At Valdosta State University, the "Introduction to Landforms" course (GEOG 1113k) has sometimes been offered as a "super-section" with over 100 students enrolled. The course makes use of PowerPoint animation as well as graded worksheets for classroom video presentations to maintain student interest. Lecture notes and a variety of other course materials are provided online to students through our "BlazeVIEW" implementation of the Blackboard Vista 8 distance learning software package. During the fall of 2009, Bb Vista's assessment tools were used to prepare students for exams. The practice test used an online test bank provided by the publisher of the course textbook, Pearson/Prentice Hall. The Vista implementation provides more options than the publisher's own online service. These experiences with integrating classroom and online technologies to support teaching in large class sections are discussed.

Hands-on Activity

9 - 9:45 AM

Room 360

The Nuts and Bolts of Using Student Response Systems to Enhance Instruction
Scot Raab, Assistant Professor, Valdosta State University
Sonya Sanderson. Assistant Professor, Valdosta State University

Participants in this hands-on session will use the TurningPoint Student Response System 'Clickers' in an interactive learning environment. Attendees will participate in a hands-on orientation as if they were students learning the process and becoming familiar with the technology in their own classroom. The presentation will include university students, who have used the response systems in previous classes, to provide first hand feedback from their perspective. The university students will also be available to answer participants' questions. Participants will use the system to create general and specific answers to questions presented during the presentation. This participant feedback will drive the remainder of the presentation and the applications of the 'Clickers'. Specifically, participants will see how to create PowerPoint slides using the TurningPoint software. The various types of slides are open answer, Likert items, multiple choice, and agree/disagree. Methods for implementing clickers into classroom teaching and learning will also be discussed.

Classroom Presentation

11 - 11:45 AM

Room 240

New Developments in Mobile Learning (mLearning)
Frank Lowney, Senior Director for External Projects, Georgia College & State University

The wirelessly connected portable computing devices (laptops, smart phones etc.) that students use so comfortably today also enable mLearning where the work of teachers and learners is unbound from traditional classroom places and times. Effective teaching and learning is still all about communicating. As commercial interests seek to leverage this trend, new products and services will emerge but they will not be primarily aimed at educational objectives. Thus, our challenge is to notice these new things and then adapt them to our purposes. First, we look at very recent, in-hand technologies such as iPhone access to iTunes U, the prospect of interactive eTexts and several new features of the USG Podcasting Server. Second, we look at very recent announcements, possibly an Apple device that will "redefine print" and other things as well. Attendees will gain a general understanding of where mLearning is today, where it is heading and learn about recently emerged and emerging technologies with specific suggestions as to how they may be adapted and used to serve educational goals and objectives.

Classroom Presentation

11 - 11:45 AM

Room 243

Second Life: Real Learning in Your Virtual Classroom
Cindy Tandy, Associate Professor, Valdosta State University

Second Life is an online virtual environment with growing educational applications. Many distance students need to learn and develop real life skills. Second Life provides situational learning for Social Work students to practice interviewing and counseling skills, with interactive visual elements that present clues about the people involved and the situation. Represented by an "avatar," instructors can join students in this virtual environment to participate in a discussion, a class lecture (complete with PowerPoints), or practice a particular skill. Participants will gain knowledge of practical ways to use Second Life in the classroom and for assigned activities, creating and navigating Second Life avatars, and an understanding of the basic technological and pedagogical issues. Second Life land and islands (sims) with an educational focus of history, art, psychology, and social work will be explored including a demonstration of the presenter's structure built with rooms that represent various social work practice settings. Lessons Learned will include bad building decisions, student connectivity issues, dealing with "griefers," and how to help students reduce the inevitable "learning curve."

Distance Learning Presentation

11 - 11:45 AM

Room 304

Beat the Tweet: Anticipating Web 3.0 and Movements in Student Receptivity to On-line Instruction
Edward Braun, Instructor, Valdosta State University

Hands-on Activity

11 - 11:45 AM

Room 360

Turning Technologies at Valdosta State
Larry Hilgert, Valdosta State University, Psychology & Counseling Department
Viki Soady, Professor, Valdosta State University
Linda Floyd, Assistant Professor, Valdosta State University

Panel participants will briefly describe their individual experiences in using Turing Point and Testing Point Technologies for a variety of courses. A summary of common advantages and challenges in use of these technologies will be provided. Recommendations for implementation will be offered. Future implications and possible uses for "clickers" at Valdosta State will be offered.

Panel

1:30 - 2:15 PM

Room 240

Tracking Online Students And Connecting Them To Your College Community
Joe Kirkland, Starfish Retention Solutions

How do you know which of your students are not logging in from week to week? Would you like to provide your students with an easy way to connect to the support services available to them? How would you like to know from an entire program or departmental perspective, which students are struggling during those critical first few weeks? Starfish can help.....Through seamless integration with your Learning Management System, Starfish can help you increase student retention and success by identifying and tracking your at-risk students. The system enables instructors to raise observed concerns or set thresholds around inactivity, missed assignments and low grades. Starfish will then notify the appropriate individuals who can intervene all while connecting students to campus resources through the online service catalog and online appointment scheduling. The analytics included in Starfish will drive evidence-based decisions for process improvement. Hear how Tulsa Community College and other Starfish clients are keeping track of their online students. A system demonstration will be included in the presentation.

Classroom Presentation

1:30 - 2:15 PM

Room 243

Can't get there from here? Take a virtual field trip
Dianne Dees, Assistant Professor, Valdosta State University

Have you ever wondered how you could provide field experiences to students who are distance learners? A virtual field trip using qualified inservice practitioners is a great way to provide students with examples of exemplary programs or practices. Another option is to provide real time discussions between students and practitioners in the field. Major points for the session include the necessary planning for a successful event, hardware needs, set up for Wimba Classroom, and archiving. Also included will be how to rename archived sessions for easy retrieval. This project evolved from a need to provide quality field experiences for library media interns who lived some distance away. It is also more convenient for guest librarians in terms of availability for real time sessions and the virtual field trips. Following this session participants should be able to set up Wimba Classroom for a virtual or regular class session, plan and implement a virtual field trip, archive the session, and rename the archived session for easy retrieval.

Classroom Presentation

1:30 - 2:15 PM

Room 304

The Rhetoric of Creating on Online Personality
Pat Miller, Professor, Valdosta State University

This hands-on presentation will take participants through a rubric designed to identify their rhetorical situation and then to develop an "online personality" effective for that situation. We will discuss three modes of presentation: written material, avatars, and real-time presentations (primarily Live Classroom). Participants should be able to immediately use the information and techniques they take from this presentation to revise and/or create a rhetorically effective presence online.

Hands-on Activity

1:30 - 2:15 PM

Room 360

Now You See It, and Now You Don't: Negotiating the Hybrid Classroom
Darrell Fike, Associate Professor, Valdosta State University
Jeannie Lugo, Lecturer,  Valdosta State University
Bobbie Warren, Lecturer,  Valdosta State University
Karen Morris, Lecturer,  Valdosta State University
Kristi Williams, Instructor,  Valdosta State University

Offering flexibility of scheduling to both students and administrators, the hybrid class is an increasingly commonplace mode of instruction for the modern college campus. Hybrids, however, require a nuanced management much different from what is required of either a wholly online class or a face-to-face class setting. Instructors not only must prepare materials and activities suitable for both online and traditional dissemination but they also must learn to efficiently manage multiple means of contact and types of interaction with students. Paradoxically, hybrid classes with their promise of both online and face-to-face interaction can strain communication between instructor and students and result in modal confusion with less than positive results. To avoid this modal confusion, hybrid classroom management requires adjustment of expectations and rethinking of methods that might work for the online or face-to-face class but falter for the special needs of the hybrid class. This panel will examine concerns and problems faced by instructors in the English Department over the past year as they negotiate the in-between of the hybrid classroom.

Panel

2:30 - 3:15 PM

Room 240

Bringing the Classroom into your home with AttainResponse/Helloworld
Melanie Partlow, Assistant Professor, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
Gary Story, AttainResponse/Helloworld Consultant

AttainResponse/Helloworld is a hosted video messaging and video collaboration application suite. LiveF5, a powerful yet easy to use live webcasting system for transmission of audio and video, interactive text chat, image display, scheduling and archiving. LiveF5 allows the user to broadcast to hundreds of simultaneous viewers that can interact with the broadcaster. LiveF5 is Flash-based for cross-platform compatibility. LiveF5 is being used for education, training, business, churches, entertainment and more. Now anybody with a PC or MAC can web cast their message to the world. MarketingF5 is an email marketing solution that enables you to easily create, target, send, and track email campaigns and autoresponders. You can easily add video to your campaigns to better communicate your message. Other applications include the ability to send HTML email newsletters that focus on fund raising, video email campaigns, online training videos, personal tutoring and much more AttainResponse/Helloworld is completely web-based, and does not require downloading any software. Simply login to a complete digital suite of services right at your fingertips. Accounts are required to create video, but anyone may view.

Classroom Presentation

2:30 - 3:15 PM

Room 243

Making Quality Matter: Using the Quality Matters Peer Course Review Rubric as a Course Design Tool
Ellen W. Wiley, Professor, Valdosta State University

The most recent upgrade to BlazeVIEW at VSU gave me the opportunity, or impetus, to rebuild my current online courses from a blank electronic canvas. Since spring 2009 I have rebuilt five online courses using guidelines from the Quality Matters training program I completed. Many of the courses had been taught several times with updates along the way. The rebuilding process helped me to refine the course content, activities, and assessments. It was a daunting, but worthwhile task. I used the Quality Matters Peer Course Review Rubric as the map for rebuilding my courses. Many of the guidelines were already part of my courses. While others needed to be clarified and strengthened. My goal was to make the standards more explicit throughout my courses. I worked my way through the Specific Review Standards as I rebuilt the courses. The presentation will provide an overview of how the Peer Course Review Rubric was used and the lessons learned along the way.

Classroom Presentation

2:30 - 3:15 PM

Room 304

Online Student Orientations: Live and (not) in Person!
Jane Zahner, Professor, Valdosta State University

Our online program previously required students to come to Valdosta for a one-time six hour orientation to the program of study, technology requirements, online learning skills, distance library use, workload and time management expectations, Adobe Acrobat, APA, Blackboard Vista, and online community building among faculty and students. Although traveling was a hardship for many students, we, as skilled online instructors, clung to this chance to meet face to face. When Tropical Storm Faye forced a last minute cancellation of the Fall 2008 on-campus orientation, we provided an online orientation instead. Some activities were carried out in asynchronous discussion groups, but took place on a timed schedule and so were quite dynamic. Other activities required student participation in Wimba Classrooms or chat rooms. We were able to cover nearly all the topics we would have done in person. Faculty and students worked together, and the outcomes, both in skills and attitudes were positive. I-75 lost, online orientations won. This session provides hands-on experience with strategies for designing and conducting online student orientations that combine content with online learning skills practice.

Presentation type

2:30 - 3:15 PM

Room 360