Ocotillo Emerging Learning Technologies

ELT Report from Mesa Community College!

Emerging Learning Technologies (Jim Patterson, co-chair) visited Mesa Community College, Tuesday 26 October from 2 to 3pm.

Mesa Community College folks present (forgive me if I get your names wrong… I am reading handwriting!):

Mary Zimmerer, Reading
Minford Doran, AG/Technology
Cin Ippolich, Library
Kathi May, Communication
Sarah Henderson, Learning Enhancement Center
Peggy Johnson, CTL
Donna Gaudet, CTL
Matt Williams, Student
Gregg Pratt, Social Science

Jim used the ELT slideshow as a way of stimulating discussion. The entire event moved quickly and lasted about an hour. Attendees thanked me for keeping it under an hour.

“What Comes to Mind When Thinking of ELT?” Was the first question posed. Participants saw a number of examples of ELT’s without my commentary. Some comments were: “Whatever we create, we must consider what equipment students have, how is it is to access. It must be active, not passive.” “How much does it cost?” “What is its ease of use, is it practical?” “What kind of years of usage will we get out of our investment?” “Usability of ELT must be high so cost is a concern.” “What can you do to make the technology different?” “How much work will it take to learn this new technology versus the benefits to learning???” “How vulnerable is the technology? What can go wrong with it?” “We have to be flexible – time flexible, and know we learn in different ways. Can we use technology to create lessons in various ways people learn and let them choose???”

Next question: “What are the major learning challenges, barriers to higher education, or problems we face at Maricopa within the next ten years?” Some responses includes… “If the bond doesn’t pass = MONEY!” “Our demographics… half are 40 or older.” “Students who like technology are older it seems and more appreciative of what technology will do for them.” “Students are coming to us less prepared for success – hae to teach special needs, international students, etc…” “Many part-timers have jobs to juggle.” “Another challenge is the expectations professional adjuncts come with … they expect the technology to be here and to work.”

The next question for discussion was, “What emerging learning technologies will impact your college in the next ten years?” Some answers: “How to make multimedia part of the classroom.” “Hybrid/blended learning.” “Wireless!” “Much faster connections.” “Research grants, conflict of interest… the ethical component of faculty control of curriculum…” “Competition between private and public colleges?” “What can delivery of bad training cost us?” “How can we get faculty to push the edge on using technology?” “Would like to see more mini grants to let faculty have time to learn new technologies.” “There is a demand from faculty but they often don’t have the time to learn the technology – they need time and need help to use and learn the technology.” “Avoid assumptions that everybody is familiar with the equipment.” “PowerPoint is an emerging technology that spread like cancer… being used too predictably by too many.. how can you enhance it?”

Emerging Learning Technologies for the Week of 25 October

Welcome to Ocotillo’s Emerging Learning Technologies for the week of 25 October! I’m Jim Patterson, ELT co-chair along with Dr. Roger Yohe.

Tuesday at 2 pm I will be listening to the faculty of Mesa Community College as we dialogue about their view and uses of emerging learning technologies.

From the DEOS-L listserv, there are a few interesting things.

USA is named the Official Partner Country of LEARNTEC 2005. For more than 12 years, LEARNTEC has been instrumental in showcasing the best of education and technology advancements. Designating the US as the official partner country recognizes its role in stimulating and developing the global expansion of online learning. For the most up to date information and program highlights visit www.learntec.net

There is a new survey on quality in e-learning - How can quality in e-learning be improved in your organization, in your country, or in general? Quality strategies and instruments are used already, but to what extent and which strategies are successful? We invite you to participate in our online survey which is available at http://www.eqo.info/survey (15 Min.) In return, you can get privileged access to the research findings which will be available from mid Jan 2005.

This in from Converge Magazine Technology Roundup. Begun in 1990, The Campus Computing Survey is the largest continuing study of computing and information technology in American higher education. According to new data from the 2004 Campus Computing Survey, colleges and universities are beginning to experience some relief from the budget cuts that have cast a large shadow over campus IT efforts and investments for the past few years. See http://www.campuscomputing.net/ for more information.

Mapping and Geospatial Solutions at http://imgs.intergraph.com/education/ presented a total of six scholarships, awards and grants to students and educators who have demonstrated exemplary performance in advancing the future of GIS at the 2004 GIScience conference.

From LangaList at http://www.langa.com comes some interesting things. First is An essential and free tool for recording anything from your microphone or line In inputs which automatically converts to several digital formats is HarddiskOgg. You can find it at http://www.fridgesoft.de/harddiskogg.php The unique advantage of this program is adjustable "on the fly" normalization. Works great for recording live or for copying LPs and cassette tapes.

Ray Trygstad, a computer instructor, has posted a wonderful list of tools he recommends to his students. The list is too long to include here, but you can go to
http://www.informationweek.com/forum/fredlanga and scroll down to Ray's post.

All of the above is in reference to an article Fred Langa posted at
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=49901840 .
There, you'll find his personal list of must have tools, the links to a variety of setup secrets, and the place to add your own favorite tools to the list. Click on over!
From the THE Journal, comes word of some interesting classes on digital photography from San Diego. Photo class focuses on digital age — From The San Diego Union-Tribune. Spooling 35 mm film onto a steel reel in the dark – bumbling and dropping film or developer tank – has gone the way of the abacus and eight-track at Rancho Bernardo High School. For the full story, visit:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20041008- 9999-m1m08tfrbdo.html

Oh, did you see Google has an interesting product that allows you to search your own computer for files. It is pretty cool. Go to http://desktop.google.com/ for the download.
And from PC World, The free Picasa automatically finds photos on your camera or photo CDs and organizes your pics. This photo organizer lets you browse photos and watch slide shows. You can touch up red-eye and other imperfections without any danger of saving over the original. And if you'd like to share your photographic wonders with the world, e-mailing a photo is made much easier. Download Picasa now at
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,23129,tk,hsx,00.asp

That is all for now! Have a great technology week.

Jim Patterson

Addendum... Here are a few additional things I found that might be of interest.
Experience the thrill of flight in the safety of your own home with X-Plane. This realistic program lets you design the plane you want to fly--from instrument panel to fuselage to weapons. X-Plane lets you soar the skies of either Earth or Mars. With help from the vendor's site, you can even download current weather conditions to fly through (on Earth, anyway). Beware: This demo is 140MB, so it's going to tie up your Internet connection for a while. But according to our editors, it's worth the wait.
Download X-Plane now at:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,23136,tk,hsx,00.asp

I also found an interesting case study on how to apply Camtasia Studio. Here is the link to TechSmith, makers of Camtasia. http://www.techsmith.com/spotlight/ctate.asp?DCMP=NLC-news61&ATT=csspotlight

EDUCAUSE Conference Update

Here is the latest report from the technology convention from EDUCAUSE from the Chronicle of Higher Education.

EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology.

Call for Presentations

This is something I found on the edtech listserv recently. It is a conference at Purdue in February. They are looking for presenters. The great news is the conference is FREE. I don't know about you, but I detest the fact these organizations will not waive registration fees for presenters. For instance, I am presenting at the TechKnowledge conference in Las Vegas in February and ASTD is waiving the hefty registration fee for me, which is only fair.

Here is the information. By the way, I was at Purdue last summer for an institute and hung out with the folks in the technology department. It is first rate!

Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference 2005

"Teaching Today's Students"
Purdue University
February 15-16, 2005

Please join us for the eighth annual Teaching and Learning with
Technology (TLT) Conference at Purdue University's West Lafayette
campus.

With the rapid changes in technology, educators are faced with
challenges and opportunities they could not have imagined even ten years
ago. Instructors are also teaching a new kind of student who has
different expectations about the educational use of technology both
inside and outside the classroom. Please share with us how you have met
these challenges and seized the opportunities of teaching today's
students.

Conference Tracks and Topics

Track A: Tools, Techniques, and Toys: Inform educators and IT
professionals about the latest and greatest tools, techniques, and toys
that you have employed to enhance your teaching and engage your
students.

Track B: Educational Technology and Instructional Design: Examine the
practical and pedagogically sound implementation of instructional
technology in K-12, higher education, and business from an instructional
design perspective.

Track C: Risks and Challenges: Discuss the new legal problems and issues
in security, plagiarism, and e-cheating that have come into play with
your use of instructional technology.

Types of sessions: Poster sessions, corporate sponsor booths,
presentations, workshops, and tours will be held on February 15 and 16,
2005, from 10 am to 5 pm.

Proposal Deadline

Deadline for proposals: November 30, 2004
Acceptance notifications sent by December 15, 2004

For further information, please e-mail tlt-showcase@purdue.edu or visit
our Website at http://tlt.purdue.edu .

We look forward to your participation in this exciting event. This
two-day conference is free and open to the public.

The Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference 2005 is hosted by
Teaching and Learning Technologies, a division of Information Technology
at Purdue, and the Purdue Association of Educational Technology.

------------------------------------------------

Contact:

Alyson Lindsay
alindsay@purdue.edu
Information Technology at Purdue

Enjoy,

Jim Patterson

Ocotillo Emerging Learning Technologies for the week of 18 October

Ocotillo Emerging Learning Technologies for the week of 18 October

If you can, do try to join us virtually this Tuesday at 3pm for a Horizon Wimba demonstration. Anybody will be welcomed to logged on, even though they are not physically at the meeting. Here is the information (please save)

Live Meeting URL:
http://208.185.32.74/launcher.cgi?room=mapdemo
For the EventID/RoomID: Use mapdemo (small letters no spaces) and type in your name and click on enter You will then enter the lobby, click on "Melissa Channel"

You will be able to either use headsets and/or speakers or click on the phone icon once you enter the room to get the dial in number associated with this session and you can be connected via the telephone.

Live Event Wizard:
http://208.185.32.74/wizard/launcher.cgi?wc=hmqt
Please run the wizard at least an hour beforehand-

Horizon Wimba develops web-based collaboration software for online distance education, language learning and live interactive communications. Experience Horizon Wimba first-hand! See a high level demonstration of their products: Live Classroom, Eduvoice and WebLab. *microphone suggested but not required.

Alan Levine reports from Campus Technology, the successor of Syllabus magazine -

A Student View of CMS

By Ryan Tansey

At the end of the last school year my son made an interesting comment:
"My teachers are finally learning how to use Blackboard." The statement
immediately struck home as a missing component to our explorations of
eLearning. Here are his current thoughts on the impact of the CMS on
his education.
http://www.campus-technology.com/news_article.asp?id=10122&typeid=155

This is pretty far out there -
Paralysed man sends e-mail by thought by Roxanne Khamsi
Brain chip reads mind by tapping straight into neurons.

An pill-sized brain chip has allowed a quadriplegic man to check e-mail and play computer games using his thoughts. The device can tap into a hundred neurons at a time, and is the most sophisticated such implant tested in humans so far

http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041011/full/041011-9.html

The following are from the latest THE Journal –

Chintan Hossain used to dread walking down his middle school's halls. Students teased him for taking eighth-grade math in the seventh grade, but the classes still bored him senseless. “I wondered how I would make it through five more years of school,” he says…
For the full story, visit:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20040928/oplede28.art.htm

The spread of high-speed Internet is improving distance learning for the deaf through transmissions smooth enough to allow sign language instruction.
Educators are increasing the use of video streaming - the progressive feeding of small chunks of information that can be viewed as they are downloaded - to supplement onsite teaching. Some hope the technology will enable them eventually to offer full degrees online…
For the full story, visit:
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/10/04/loc_loc3deaf.html

The relationship between the effective use of technology in classrooms and improved student achievement is confirmed in a new research white paper released recently. The paper, “Technology Integration, Curriculum, and Student Achievement: A Review of Scientifically Based Research and Implications for EasyTech,” was commissioned by Learning.com and authored by Gregory L. Waddoups, Ph.D., associate director of Brigham Young University's Center for Instructional Design. For a summary of the report, visit http://www.learning.com

Have a great technology week!

Jim Patterson

UMUC Information and an Upcoming Event!

I found an interesting website for you to review. It is from UMUC – The University of Maryland University College located at http://www.umuc.edu . I happen to do some adjunct work for them and they are a good place to be associated with. They are one of the largest providers of education, both face-to-face and online, in the world. Many military people have gotten degrees from UMUC, either online, in Europe, or in Asia.

They do many innovate things. I wanted to share their website “Center for the Virtual University” at http://www.umuc.edu/distance/odell/cvu/ Take a look at the Distance Education Scholars program at http://www.umuc.edu/distance/odell/cvu/de_scholars/de_scholars.html where they talk about the use of “intelligent agents.” There is also a link for the “UMUC-Verizon Virtual Resource Site for Teaching with Technology” located at http://www.umuc.edu/virtualteaching/

NEXT: Please mark your calendars for 3pm on Wednesday 19 October. I am hoping to have more information on an interesting presentation on interactive tools we can use in education presented by Horizon Wimba at http://www.horizonwimba.com/

If this comes about, you will login to a special site they are setting up. Make sure you have speakers or headphones. The virtual two way presentation will take about 30 minutes. I will have more information on that event right here in the next few days, so do come back!

Jim Patterson

P.S. HERE IS THE INFORMATION ON THE VIRTUAL EVENT TUESDAY OCTOBER 19 at 3:00 pm !!!

Hi Jim,

A pleasure to speak with you as well. Anybody will be welcomed to logged on, even though they are not physically at the meeting. Here is the information:

Live Meeting URL:
http://208.185.32.74/launcher.cgi?room=mapdemo For the EventID/RoomID: Use mapdemo (small letters no spaces) and type in your name and click on enter You will then enter the lobby, click on "Melissa Channel"

You folks will be able to either use headsets and/or speakers or click on the phone icon once the enter the room to get the dial in number associated with this session and you can be connected via the telephone.

Live Event Wizard -
http://208.185.32.74/wizard/launcher.cgi?wc=hmqt
Please run the wizard at least an hour beforehand-

Here is more on Horizon Wimba -

Horizon Wimba develops web-based collaboration software for online distance education, language learning and live interactive communications. Experience Horizon Wimba first-hand! See a high level demonstration of their products: Live Classroom, Eduvoice and WebLab. *microphone suggested but not required.

SCC's Media Technology Day on Wednesday, October 20th

Although not an official Ocotillo event, it is still of interest to us!

From Scottsdale Community College, Terry McGowan says

Please join us for SCC's Media Technology Day on Wednesday, October 20th in the SCC Peridot Room, 10:30 am to 2:00 pm (lunch provided).

Hands on demos of classroom technology will be presented including videoconferencing and distance learning applications between SCC and the CGCC campus.

The Peridot Room is located in the Northwest section of the campus. Follow entrance drive west and wind around the campus, parking in the Student Center lot. Terry’s cell is 480.518.5380 don't hesitate to call if you have any questions.

Emerging Learning Technologies for the Week of 11 October

From my friends at Penn State who run the DEOS-L (Discussion Forum for Distance Education Learning) at http://lists.psu.edu/archives/deos-l.html
The inaugural issue of Innovate, a peer-reviewed bimonthly e-journal
featuring cutting-edge research and practice in using information technology
to enhance education is now available at http://innovateonline.edu You can do more than simply read the journal. Use the one-button features to comment on articles, share material with colleagues and friends, and participate in webcasts with authors in the Innovate-Live forums.

Teaching, Learning and Technology Cooperative online courses - Don't Miss
Out - Classes Start Soon! The SUNY TLT Cooperative in partnership with the SUNY Training Center is offering eight-week, non-credit online professional development courses. Registration is now open and courses begin October 12, 2004. Course titles
include:

* Math Notations and Diagrams in E-Learning Courses
Instructor: Mary Pat Traveras, Stony Brook University

* MERLOT for Faculty Development Professionals
Instructor: Lisa Pirinelli, Niagara County Community College

* Best Practices in Online Learning: Lessons Learned from the SUNY
Learning Network
Instructors: SUNY Learning Network Multimedia Instructional Design Team

* Delivering Web-based Multimedia via Distance Learning Courses
Instructor: Harry Wandell, Broome Community College

* The Theory & Structure of Blended Learning
Instructor: Eric Machan Howd, Tompkins Cortland Community College

* Creating Online Learning Activities and Assessment for Adult Learners
Instructors: Fabio Chacon, Center for Distance Learning, Empire State
College

* Basic Web Page Design: Using HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language)
Instructor: Bob Yavits, Tompkins Cortland Community College

* Designing a Course in BlackBoard
Instructor: Michael Phillips, SUNY College of Technology at Canton

* Designing a Course in WebCT
Instructor: Eric Machan Howd, Tompkins Cortland County Community College

* Online Pedagogy: Creating a successful web-enhanced course
Instructor: Bill Pelz, Herkimer Community College

* Teaching Foreign Languages via Telecommunications
Instructor: Carla Meskill and Natasha Anthony, University at Albany

FOR COURSE DESCRIPTIONS & TO REGISTER ON-LINE go to:
http://www.tc.suny.edu

$95 SUNY Training Center Member
$145 Non-SUNY training Center Member

DEO-L also recently mentioned a Maki and Maki article that directly attributed higher learning results to multimedia comprehension in online courses:
http://www.apa.org/journals/xap/press_releases/june_2002/xap8285.pdf
And an upcoming conference is looking for proposals. The Distance Education Administration Conference focuses on the administration and management of distance learning. The conference specifically addresses the needs of those who plan, manage, and support distance education activities. Proposals are due December 15, 2004 For more information go to http://www.westga.edu/~distance/dla2005.html
Alan Levine tells me to plan to participate in the new seminar series offered by the Center for Academic Transformation:

INCREASING SUCCESS FOR UNDERSERVED STUDENTS:
REDESIGNING INTRODUCTORY COURSES

Greater access to higher education has increased student diversity on
campuses. Now we must increase success by those students who have
previously been underserved--adult students, students of color, and
low-income students.

These seminars will focus on specific techniques from the Program on
Course Redesign that led to increased success and retention among these
underserved students. Faculty members will discuss the methods that led
to better learning at reduced costs at their institutions, with an
emphasis on those approaches that fostered greater learning among
underserved students.

* March 18, 2005, in Phoenix, Arizona

So that you can:

* Learn firsthand how to increase student success and retention among
underserved students: adult students, students of color, and low-
income students
* Speak with experienced faculty from multiple institutions about how
their redesign decisions led to greater student learning
* Find out how to design learning environments using technology that
will increase student success by tapping the expertise of those who
have done it

For further information and registration materials, please visit
http://www.center.rpi.edu/LForum/LdfWrkSe.html

These seminars are supported by Lumina Foundation for Education.

From the THE Journal: I like free stuff. See the SMART BoardTM interactive whiteboard in action. Order your free video CD-ROM before October 8, 2004 and receive a FREE glow pen. Visit www.smarttech.com/the7 and read the article on digital whiteboards in action at http://www.thejournal.com
Sun Microsystems, Inc. convened the first meeting of the advisory board committee of the Java Education and Learning Community (JELC; http://community.java.net/edu-jelc). Gathering the key influencers in technology and education, the meeting is focused on developing the Java technology community's collaborative open standards-based projects and tools for teaching and learning. The JELC Portal is the host site for the group’s initiatives. Currently the site hosts more than 130 projects initiated by the more than 900 members of the global community, representing over 20 countries. Several of the collaborative projects utilize the portal's infrastructure for posting content, accessing dissuasion forums, blogging and wikis
One more thing… this just in my email: TechSmith’s Camtasia Studio has announced an upgrade to 2.1. For more details see http://www.techsmith.com/products/studio/whatsnew.asp

October 26 I will be talking to the faculty and interested folks at Mesa Community College! See you then.

Jim Patterson

Report from Rio Salado Visit, 10/6/2004

Emerging Learning Technologies (Jim Patterson, co-chair) visited Rio Salado College, Wednesday 6, 2004, from 9 to 10 am.

Rio Salado folks present:

Lorelei Wood, Physical Science Faculty Chair
Kerri Specker, CIS Faculty Chair
Tom Lombardo, Psych/Phil Faculty Chair
Mary Hannaman, Business/Mgmt Faculty
Angela Ambrosia, Faculty Chair for Web Technology & Innovation
Hazel Davis, Faculty Chair Library Science
Pat Case, Faculty Chair Sociology/Anthropology
John Jensen, Faculty Chair Mathematics

Jim used the ELT slideshow as a way of stimulating discussion. The entire event moved quickly and lasted 45 minutes. Attendees thanked me for keeping it under an hour. One comment heard before I started was a wish that some of the events could be “doubled up” because of the fear that there would be lower and lower attendance at these meetings.

“What Comes to Mind When Thinking of ELT?” Was the first question posed. Participants saw a number of examples of ELT’s without my commentary. Then participants began talking about simulations. “The more realistic the simulation the better; things that affect all the senses and not just one or two.” We should learn from what they do with kids software and apply it to education.

Next question: “What are the major learning challenges, barriers to higher education, or problems we face at Maricopa within the next ten years?” Some responses include… “Money, Time, and Expertise.” “Would like to do more with technology but are limited by time and needed expertise.” “Challenges are changing demographics to put the technology in the hands of students. We can develop the technology but students stuggle to work with it… must help students become more comfortable with the technology.” “Another challenge is students coming not prepared for college work… solutions we generate may be all different because all the Maricopa colleges are different.” “Use palm pilots and cellphones some how.” “More simulations.” “Get graphic calculators for students to use in science courses to measurements not just in class but at home.” “But what about cost to students???”

The next question for discussion was, “What emerging learning technologies will impact your college in the next ten years?” Some answers: “With Internet2, we see faster speeds and ability to offer more multimedia and simulations online.” “Ten years out? All I can do is 2 to 3 years out!” “Develop more interactive technologies between teachers, students, and learning material.” “More standardization of equipment and software.” “More and more interaction besides just drill and practice.” “DO the case study instead of reading about it.. more simulations… anything to get students to practice.” “Holographic classrooms.” “Learning Cafes… understand there are other places than the classroom where learning occurs.” “Wi-fi’s to connect, portable interactive systems to hook on the head.” “Rio students like to print out material so a device that is not heavy but bigger than a Palm Pilot to read material.” “Problem with e-books is there was no standardization… that is why it failed.” “Too many devices to carry around… a coordinating device is needed to allow all these other things like cell phones and palms to talk with one another, maybe through an ‘agent’ software?”

I'll start a discussion board for Rio Salado faculty who wish to continue this discussion!

Thanks RIO!!!!

Take a Look at Learning Spaces

Last month I was fortunate to get a tour of the showroom from Goodman's Interior Structures in Central Phoenix. Goodmans has provided design expertise to Estrella Mountain and other Maricopa Colleges.

This thin screen video display hangs from the ceiling and has in front of it an audio "cone of silence" that demonstrates how an information kiosk could be set up that would not disturb other areas.

Take a look at a few images in this slideshow from their showroom (they were thoughtful and loaned me nice Canon digital camera). The showroom has fascinating examples of flexible meeting and working space, innovative audio visual and acoustic design, smartboards, creative floors that provide cooling/heating/and conduit wiring, etc. Everything seems to be interchangeable for form and function. One of the more interesting things is that this is a 30+ year old building that has been re-designed with a modern approach. And it is not just a "show" room, it is their working room as well.

A sliding wall opens up to reveal a high tech conference room.

The folks from Goodmans are offering to set up small group tours in November for this group -check with Jiim or Roger for details.

Goodmans is alsooffering to bring Maricopa an expert in design of learning space (a nice followup to the 2002 Technology Visioning forum with Phlip Parsons, on "Designing The Hybrid Campus"

Emerging Learning Technology for the Week of 4 October

Welcome again to Emerging Learning Technologies or ELT for short.

This week we visit with the Rio Salado faculty (contact, Angela Ambrosia) on Wednesday 6 October from 9am to 10am. I hope to report back on all the interesting things RIO faculty are doing! Here is a link to the wonderful PowerPoint presentation put together by co-chair Dr. Roger Yohe: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/mlx/mine.php?id=540

This time around, I wanted to point you to a few pieces of nifty software that can be used for educational purposes: Camtasia and Swish.

Camtasia. Many of you may already be familiar with it. You can, as the TechSmith people say, create demonstrations and tutorials with ease. And that is about right. I got an evaluation copy and within minutes I was creating a screen movie and my voiceover. I like that. I think many times some of these things are interesting but we see they are so overly complicated we don't bother using them! I'm a tech guy and frankly if it is something too terribly deep in the weeds and I can't see any payoff, heck... I'm going to something else. Anyway, go to this TechSmith site to download an evaluation: http://www.techsmith.com/download/studiodefault.asp?lid=DownloadCamtasiaStudio Here is a good description of the product: http://www.techsmith.com/products/studio/default.asp?lid=CamtasiaStudioHome You can also use it, for example, with Real Video creations. And here are some customer-done products using Camtasia: http://www.techsmith.com/spotlight/cssamples.asp And the TechSmith folks are willing to make deals with educational institutions, so do give them a hollar if you are interested in site licenses.

Swish. Swish is an Australian-made product that is the Flash alternative. It can make Flash movies, buttons, and other doo-dads and is cheaper than Flash. http://www.swishzone.com And here are some Swish examples: http://www.swishzone.com/index.php?area=products&product=sites

Oh heck, let me add another: Impatica for PowerPoint. It produces web-ready slides for the Internet without the use of plug-ins. Swansea University has a demo of Impatica; in this case, how it is used in BlackBoard. According to the Impatica site, "Impatica for PowerPoint simply converts the PowerPoint file into a compressed format that is optimized for streaming over the Internet. The Impatica file is typically 95% smaller than the PowerPoint HTML files."

One more thing this time around... a great website I found for you. It is called "tech soup." This is one you really should bookmark or save as a favorite. There are discussion boards and news you can use regarding technology, and some of it has to do with educational technology.

This in from fellow Ocotilloean (I made up that word, haha) Shelly Rodrigo comes from the U.S. Miltary Academy at West Point: "A recent study of West Point first-year students, all of whom have laptop computers, examined teaching techniques, lessons learned, and student performance during the integration of laptops in teaching and learning psychology in the traditional classroom. The study found statistically-significant improvements in learning for student using laptops. A report of the study, "Miracle or Menace: Teaching and
Learning with Laptop Computers in the Classroom" by James Efaw, Scott
Hampton, Silas Martinez, and Scott Smith, is available online at http://www.educause.edu/pub/eq/eqm04/eqm0431.asp (EDUCAUSE Quarterly,
vol. 27, no. 3, 2004, pp. 10-18). Or go to the West Point site at "A recent study of West Point first-year students, all of whom have laptop computers, examined teaching techniques, lessons learned, and student performance during the integration of laptops in teaching and learning psychology in the traditional classroom. The study found statistically-significant improvements in learning for student using laptops. A report of the study, "Miracle or Menace: Teaching and
Learning with Laptop Computers in the Classroom" by James Efaw, Scott
Hampton, Silas Martinez, and Scott Smith, is available online at
http://www.educause.edu/pub/eq/eqm04/eqm0431.asp (EDUCAUSE Quarterly,
vol. 27, no. 3, 2004, pp. 10-18). From West Point comes this interesting piece about computing at the Military Academy: http://www.dean.usma.edu/Computing/

MCLI's own Alan Levine reports that wi-fi ("wireless fidelity") is on the upswing. In an article from Wi-Fi Planet, "In 2004, over 64 million Wi-Fi systems are expected to be sold, up from 24 million in 2002, according to IDC. That rapid growth will soon accelerate, with home users accounting for much of the surge." More and more we are seeing students going wireless. This will have implications as to where students connect (school, home, by the pool, at a "hotspot" in town, etc...). Schools will be under more pressure to offer hotspots to students, too. The article is located at http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/news/article.php/3416331

So, here are a few easier-to-use products you might want to consider, a great website, and some of the latest ELT news. As always, I am up for suggestions. And I'll see Rio folks Wednesday!

Best,

Jim Patterson