Google Drive is now available at Colgate! Google Drive is a cloud storage solution a lot like DropBox and it will be taking over what is currently Google Docs. Don’t be alarmed when you transition because your documents will all be in Google Drive. You start with 5GB and we are looking into ways of provisioning more storage as necessary.

Some Cool Features:

• Upload anything as long as you have space
• Google Drive Viewer can view multiple file types such as word, photoshop, autocad…..many more
• Accessible from mobile devices
• Desktop client for syncing files across multiple computers and devices

Here is an example of how it could work for you: You have an Adobe Photoshop file you want to present but the computer you will be presenting on doesn’t have photoshop. You could either export the file as a picture and then email it to yourself or you could save the file to your Google Drive and use the viewer to show the file anywhere you have access to the Internet, including your mobile phone. And as a bonus Google will keep a revision history for you just in case you want to revert to a previous version.

As of this date Google Drive is available but requires you to take a few steps to upgrade Documents to Drive. If you would like to try Google Drive go to drive.google.com and click on “Get started with 5GB free”. The link will take you through a series of prompts that will set up your drive and also provide you with a link to download the client for your computer. For more information on how to use Google Drive click here. If you would like additional help using Google Drive email itshelp@colgate.edu with your request. Also don’t forget to tune into our webinar on Google drive August 29.

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One of the things that we have discussed regarding classroom workflow, is the amount of time spent preparing a video for class especially, if only showing clips and not full titles. Something that we recommended to a few faculty and which has worked well in these instances is digitizing the necessary video clips so they are ready to go for class. This saves having to queue up the DVD before class or spending time looking for it. This would also work with those youtube video clips that you saved after reading Zlatko’s post on keepvid. A great tool for this is HandBrake.

With HandBrake you can digitize clips from dvd’s and blu-ray disks into modern video formats. Handbrake is not limited to digitizing physical media such as DVD’s and blu-rays, it can also convert existing files from older formats to newer formats that are compatible across more devices. With HandBrake you have a couple of options for selecting clips. The two easier ones are chapters and seconds. You can specify which chapters you want to digitize or a time range of the desired segment. HandBrake can also bring over subtitles if those are needed. If you would like to try it you can download a copy from handbrake.fr. If you would like additonal information and help using please contact itshelp@colgate.edu.

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Video Narrative

June 6 – 8 
560 Case-Geyer Library
Lead by Sarah Kunze and Debbie Krahmer

The Library and ITS staff are once again offering a three-day video narrative workshop in
June. Many faculty participants from lasts year’s workshop went on to assign video
narrative projects in their classes this academic year. With our new Digital Learning &
Media Center on level 5 of Case library slated to open in the Fall of 2012, we now have
dedicated learning spaces for new media, allowing us to offer even better support for
students and faculty.

In order to feel comfortable assigning a video project in a class, our experience has
shown that a faculty member must first create their own video project to get a sense of
what is involved. This workshop offers an opportunity for this to happen. Learn how to
construct a simple video narrative using photos, text, voice recordings, and music.
During the three-day, hands-on workshop we will cover both the aspects of writing a
narrative for video and the technical steps to editing video.

The goal of the workshop is not to make you a video expert, but rather to give you an
appreciation of the process so that you can extend the option to your students as a part
of your course assignments.

Wikipedia Editing

June 12 – 13 
345 Case-Geyer Library
Lead by Sarah Kunze and Debbie Krahmer

Why should you include an exercise in Wikipedia editing in your course? Hear from Prof.
Noor Khan, along with her Senior Seminar students who completed a project doing just
that for their HIST459 project. Learn how these types of projects improve student engagement
and leave your students with 21st century skills that most will use in their careers and
personal lives. Learn how Campus Ambassadors can assist you with sample syllabi, course
handouts, and help in mapping out a project to address your specific learning goals for
your course.

The Cure for Cartophobia – A CEL Web Mapping Workshop

June 18 – 19 
345 Case-Geyer Library
Lead by Zlatko Grozl, Jesse Henderson, Peter Rogers, and Dan Wheeler

This workshop will introduce web-based mapping as a teaching tool that can be used in
the classroom and for student projects. The first day will start with Google Maps, move
on to Google Earth including how one can create and add features to Google Earth,
and conclude with a look at user-friendly sources of digital map data such as the
Google Earth Community, geoportals, and the U.S. government’s National Atlas. The
second day will be optional and provide an opportunity for participants to work on a
personal web mapping project with the CEL members leading the workshop.

Register Online:

https://sites.google.com/a/colgate.edu/instructional-technology/workshops

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One of the main functions of an LMS (learning management system, AKA Moodle) is the creation of a course silo, or stack. That is, the LMS creates a place where students, faculty, and associated others connect with course materials and participate in classroom activities, a place where only enrolled or invited people can work. The silo exists while the course is in session and usually is deactivated shortly after the semester is ended.

There are some excellent — even some essential — reasons for creating this course stack. One obvious requirement is copyright law, which restricts the open posting of some course content, be it text or media. One particular advantage is maintaining the privacy of discussions of potentially controversial or embarrassing topics.  Perhaps less obvious in the privacy arena is maintaining the long-term privacy of even non-controversial topics — former students may find that old, non-controversial but still-public blog posts are not in keeping with their current views or those of their employers.

The silo fits less well in the overall concept of an ongoing personal educational process, where course content, student submissions, and other materials may be (should be?) relevant to one’s growth during a four-year evolution. A seminal paper in the silo for Course I is likely to retain relevance in Course II, and may even have important meaning in unrelated Course B. Yet it is stuck in the Course I silo.

So this course silo which is so convenient in many ways is in other ways antithetical to what we want our students to become; life long learners. What are the alternatives? Open courses in Moodle? Moodle courses need not be restricted to a semester’s length.  Other open systems? An environment which is open at least to the Colgate academic community (without some copyright-restricted materials, of course) might be used to facilitate this more open learning. But even these tools can’t make students want to participate, and then actually participate, in this more broad, developing learning process.

More reading on the topic…

• Learning Management Systems: Hub or silo? 
• Learning Silos — the biggest barrier to learning in post-secondary
• Course Management Systems: Trapped Content Silos or Sharing Platforms?

…dan wheeler

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Faculty members that I work with, often express their need to save youtube clips for offline viewing and editing. Unfortunately, Youtube does not provide any avenues for this on their site. Saving streaming web clips can often be impossible, especially without expensive 3rd party applications for capturing streaming content. I wanted to let you know about a site which allows users to do just that – download youtube clips!

keepvid.com is a free web resource that allows users to save youtube clips in a variety of formats. Keepvid.com has a sister site, known as snipmp3.com, which, as the name implies, allows users to extract audio from youtube clips, and save that audio data in form of an MP3 file. Both of these sites are free, but they do deliver advertisements, and they do require Java to function properly.

To get started, simply copy the youtube link, and navigate to keepvid.com using your favorite web browser. Paste the youtube link on keepvid.com, and click “Download”. After a few seconds, Keepvid will display several download options. Downloadable formats are as follows:

FLV – 240p FLV – 360p FLV – 480p MP4 – (Max 480p) MP4 – 720p WebM – 360p WebM – 480p WebM – 720p 3GP – 240p

It really is that simple! Remember, you must obtain permission from the video authors, if you wish to use their footage in your work. It’s also important to keep in mind that keepvid website is not associated with Youtube, and so there is no way of knowing what the future has in store for keepvid.com and snipmp3.com. I’ve been using them for years, and so far these sites have been tremendously helpful. Have fun exploring youtube, keepvid and snipmp3!

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Poll Everywhere is a popular polling application that enables one to post a question and have everyone in the class post their answer via a smartphone, an iPad, or any type of computing device that has access to the web.  It uses a simple text messaging system so even a flip-phone can be used to submit an answer.   The poll is displayed to the audience, they can then vote by sending SMS messages to a special short number.  Participants’ responses can be displayed in real-time on a large screen in your class. Additionally, you can import your results into PowerPoint or Apple Keynote without any additional software. You can also download your results as an Excel file.

The free version is limited to an audience of 40 participants.

Note:  since cell phone network access is spotty in some of Colgate’s classrooms, you should definitely run some tests prior to attempting to use in your course.

http://www.polleverywhere.com/

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Digital posters share the same goals as printed posters: to provide text and visual content in an informative, attractive and concise manner. The digital/virtual posters that we have done so far have been held in the library.  We do need a specialized room that is equipped with computers and additional projectors, (we are currently limited to Case-Geyer 501 and 560). Some of the benefits to the digital poster approach include: no submission limitations to printing, it’s much greener, and we can display more than just powerpoint slides. One additional advantage that can be consider moving forward is the ability to include movies/ animations int he poster as opposed to static images. Click here for more information on the digital/virtual posters.

We just wanted to make everyone aware of this option so that if you decided that you would like to have your students do a poster you are not limited to the poster printing schedule. If you would like more information about posters please visit our academic poster site or contact itshelp@colgate.edu and request more information. 

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