How to challenge students to apply classroom learning and theories from course readings in practical ways off campus? How to bring what’s learned elsewhere back into the classroom? This perennial dilemma can be addressed by constantly moving back and forth between praxis and practice. This can be further intensified by asking students to learn from…
The Dilley Room Is Back!
Over the January break we installed a new, state-of-the-art videoconferencing system in the Dilley Room, located on the third floor of Shain Library. The room’s Cisco SX80 videoconferencing system enables connection to other locations with similar or compatible systems. Faculty can share high quality video, audio and course content with students at the other sites,…
Important Workshop on Friday: Open Educational Resources
Access to course materials for all students is critical to their success in our courses. Are your course materials cost prohibitive? Join us on Friday for a workshop to learn about Open Educational Resources (OER). We will present strategies for finding and implementing OER and hear from members of our own faculty who have replaced…
P-Card Accounting On the Fly (or in Vietnam)
Institutional credit cards, or purchase cards (‘p-cards’ for short), are quickly becoming part of the routine work habits of some faculty and many staff in higher education. Although the adoption of the p-card has obvious benefits to an institution, it can also create more work for more people, resulting in a net uptick in time…
February Teaching with Technology Workshops
Don’t forget to add the following Teaching with Technology workshops to your calendar! Workshops are open to all faculty and staff. We’ll see you there. Get out of your inbox! Gmail Productivity Tuesday, February 9, 12:00-1:00 PM Neff Lab, Second Floor, Shain Library Spending too much time in your inbox? In this session you will…
Technology Assignments When You Are Not the Expert: Part II
Perhaps because InDesign was as new to me as it was to my students, changing a course project by incorporating new software felt like a bold move. With the support of faculty and staff peers, however, I began the project confident and prepared with what I offer to you as recommended practices: Make sure the…
Technology Assignments When You Are Not the Expert: Part I
As covered previously on Engage, lynda.com can be a treasure trove for faculty looking to brush up skills in various applications (i.e. Photoshop) and even strengthen habits in life skills such as time management. For me, Lynda is like one of those old friends you don’t get to see very often but when you do,…
Weatherproofing Resources Recap
Today seems like an appropriate time to dig up our weatherproofing posts from the past. As always, feel free to contact an instructional technology liaison for help in planning technological solutions for inclement weather (ideally before inclement weather arrives!). Our post from February, 2014 includes four simple ideas for communicating with your students and staying…
Exploring Global Current Events through Twitter
I learned about Twitter in a trip that I took a couple of years ago to Granada in Southern Spain to participate in a forum on the political future of Spain. In the long way back to Madrid, my friends helped me to create an account and since that day I have been using Twitter…
Visualization Wall Update
Fall 2015 was the first full semester since the Diane Y. Williams ’59 Visualization Wall was installed in the Technology Commons of Shain Library. We saw new and innovative uses of the wall by professors and students in a range of departments. Here are just some of the ways courses made use of the wall…