The eLog

If You’re Not in the Cloud, You’re in the Fog

Scott — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 22:21:46 +0000

Our multimedia production and processing facility is now available to online and hybrid teaching faculty and we welcome you to tour your new eLearning Technologies Center, or the ETC, where we have full service lecture capture capabilities providing everything from recording to cloud.

Lecture capture is very popular with students, who report they can repeat certain sections for improved comprehension and understanding. It has also been shown to increase retention in the online course and we see it as an important aspect of Clark’s online and hybrid offerings.

Cloud delivery is the preferred method, allowing efficient streaming instead of downloads or DVDs, and bandwidth scalability when large numbers of students are viewing all at once. After your recording is processed, we provide you with an access link which you can place directly in your course. This helps to keep your course file size down for backup, copy, and import processes. Streaming is also more accessible for the online student and helps to keep their costs down.

The ETC has many options for a variety of lecture captures from iPods with cameras and mics for eLearning faculty checkout, to a lab with a private recording booth, to a studio with a fully equipped Smart Classroom style podium and wall mounted cameras. For more details, you can visit our ETC page and contact Scott for a tour, iPod checkout, or to discuss your multimedia needs.

A Tale of Two Moodles

Scott — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:10:48 +0000

We have two servers at our disposal with our hosting service, Moodlerooms. The Faculty Development Server is for faculty and staff access only and functions as an online workspace for training, course development, and course content storage as well as a testing site for administrative processes, new developments, and joule product enhancements. The Production Server is for teaching or participating in student organizations and activities and allows access for faculty, students, staff, and Quality Matters reviewers.

Each server has its own web address and must be logged into separately with separate accounts. Even though your usernames may be the same, any changes you make to your profile or password will remain with that server. Here are the addresses for the two servers…

Development Server: http://clarkdev.mrooms3.net/
Production Server: https://moodle.clark.edu/

To request shells on these servers, we have a page here on The eLog with two shell request forms, one for each server. The links to this page and the eLearning shell request policy will be found in the sidebar under eLearning and below…

Shell Request Policy
Shell Request Forms

Moving course content from one server to another requires a process called backup and restore where you create a backup of the shell on the Development server, which you download to your computer, and then restore that shell into a live (teaching) shell on the Production server before making it available to your enrolled students. The link to download the document with instructions for the backup and restore process can always be found in the sidebar to the left of this post, or you may prefer to watch the backup and restore video on our Moodle Joule Tutorials page. There are many other videos there as well, including one on importing (copying) a course on the same server.

March of the Penguins

Scott — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 07:08:30 +0000

Reminder: Blackboard is going away…

The time to migrate to Moodle is now!

We will no longer have access to Blackboard after June 30, 2011:

•   No access for grade disputes
•   No access for incompletes
•   No access to course content (including your gradebook or anything else)

When our contract with Blackboard expires, no one will have access to the Clark College Blackboard system for any reason. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you backup your gradebooks and look through your Blackboard course shells, preshells, and organizations to determine which have content to be migrated to Moodle. Once you’ve identified the shells to keep, either download an archive package of each shell and save the zipped files in a safe place or, if you’ve gone through the Moodle training and have an account established on our Moodle Development Server, visit our Course Migration Project page to learn about your options.

Lights, Camera, Action, ETC!

Scott — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 07:56:43 +0000

Almost everyone at Clark is aware of the LMS migration which is now underway, but few know of another ongoing project here in eLearning… the fulfillment of our grant, funded by the good folks at the Meyer Memorial Trust and other generous donors. Although it hasn’t received much mention lately, it has required a great deal of money, time, and effort to transform our out-of-commission TV studio and its adjoining rooms into a modern digital multimedia production facility. As the last of the new equipment and furnishings have arrived and we connect and test each of these new tools, we continue to expand our ability to produce quality online deliverables.

The MMT Grant specifically involves the creation of online course content for the Healthcare Core Curriculum, which we are now pursuing. It incorporates the technology required for quality lecture captures, audio and video production and editing, streaming and pod/vodcasting capability, as well as screen-casting, tablet productions, and other rich media generation. It also includes virtual meeting or “distance collaboration” capabilities to help increase access.

This grant is significant for our elearning faculty because multimedia has an important future in the modern online course. Multimedia content has been shown to improve student retention by supporting diverse learning styles, promoting student engagement, and allowing students the repetition of audio-visual content for a deeper understanding of more complex topics. Without a doubt, this grant will help us continue to improve the quality and variety of elearning courses offered by Clark, with the additional “green” benefit of online access that we can all appreciate.

We’re calling this soon to be available facility the eLearning Technologies Center, or ETC. Due to our limited scope during the LMS migration, priority access must be given to the Healthcare Core Curriculum faculty as we fulfill our obligations to the sponsors of the grant. However, use of the ETC and its equipment will later be extended to all faculty teaching online or hybrid courses as staffing, scheduling and construction allows (contact Scott). For more detailed information about the progress on the ETC and what we all have to look forward to, check out our new ETC page here on the eLog.

Elluminate Practice Sessions

Cindy — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 22:59:44 +0000

Elluminate is a quick and easy way to add synchronous communication to your online and hybrid courses. Consider setting up an Elluminate session for virtual office hours, review sessions before an exam, group projects, etc. It is really quite easy to set up and a simple email with a link is all it takes for the students to join in.

There are several practice sessions scheduled where you can try it out to see if it is something that you may want to use to enhance student-to-faculty, and student-to-student interaction in your eLearning courses.

One and all are welcome to drop into a practice Elluminate sessions. Whether you have never used Elluminate or would like to brush up on rusty skills, come check it.

Practice using Elluminate

Elluminate is a live web conferencing tool available to all faculty and staff members within the community and technical college system. Come practice with colleagues in a casual setting. These sessions, led by Ann Garnsey-Harter and Larry Cheng of Shoreline Community College and Scott Dennis of the State Board, are open to all interested parties.

Connect from your computer, by clicking on the following link:

http://goo.gl/zgHY

Just enter your name – you do not need a password to participate.

Sessions remaining this Quarter:

Wednesday, Nov 17, Noon – 1 PM, Larry Cheng

Wednesday, Nov 24, 10-11 AM, Scott Dennis

Tuesday, Dec 1^st, Noon- 1 PM, Larry Cheng

Tuesday, Dec 7^th, 2-3 PM, Scott Dennis

Thursday Dec 16^th, 11:30-12:30 PM, Ann Garnsey-Harter

Monday, Dec 20^th, Noon-1 PM, Scott Dennis

For questions or comments, contact:

Scott Dennis, eLearning Professional Development Manager

WA State Board, Community & Technical Colleges sdennis@sbctc.edu

Voice: 360.747.7211

The Clark College eLearning staff will be happy to assist you as well! Give it a try, its a great tool.

Cynthia

NW eLearn Conference is Coming to Vancouver

Cindy — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 17:11:21 +0000

I would like to encourage all Clark College eLearning faculty to attend the fifth-annual Northwest eLearning Community conference taking place Thursday and Friday, October 21 & 22, 2010 at the Corporate Learning Center located at the Columbia Tech Center (CTC).

Look over the tentative schedule and you will recognize the names of several Clark College presenters: Zachary Grant, Lori Wamsley, Ann Synder, Sue Kusch-Tepper, and Kitty Mackey.

Overview of NW eLearn Conference

The keynote speaker will be Alec Couros, Ph.D., who is an influential scholar and advocate of openness in distributed learning environments. He has spoken, blogged and given workshops on topics such as openness in education, social/networked learning, instructional design, digital citizenship, and critical media literacy.

The NW eLearning Community Conference is a cost-effective, high-quality regional conference. There will be an online option for some of the sessions for those who can’t make it due to travel or budget difficulties.

Registration is now available! Go directly to the registration page and/or check out the NWeLearn web site. The conference will cost $45 for both days, or $30 for a single day. Registration fee covers continental breakfast and lunch each day.

Plan to join the eLearning team as we take advantage of this exciting professional development opportunity!

See you at the Conference!

Clark’s eLearning is Moving to Moodle!

Cindy — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:34:10 +0000

It is official, the new LMS for Clark College is Moodle Joule hosted by Moodlerooms. The eLearning staff along with a small pilot group of Clark faculty dedicated their summer months to learning the new LMS. We are now ready to introduce the rest of our campus community to Moodle Joule, beginning with informational sessions at Fall Orientation, workshops for eLearning faculty, and approximately 12 live fall classes taught by the pilot group during fall quarter.

The LMS Migration
Faculty Training Plan

Between fall 2010 and spring 2011, eLearning will present three phases of Moodle workshops in defined stages:

The first stage will take place fall quarter. The fall quarter training is designed for current Clark College online/hybrid faculty. A faculty member who has taught online or hybrid for Clark College using Blackboard prior to winter 2011 and is identified to teach online or hybrid courses for Clark College in the 2010-2011 academic year qualifies as a course migrator. Three phases of Moodle training will be available to migrating faculty during fall quarter.

Phase I: Strategies for Moving from Blackboard to Moodle.
Phase II: Developing Courses in Moodle Joule: hands-on computer workshop emphasizing tool training. Faculty will receive their Moodle course shells and login information during this workshop.
Phase III: Teaching with Moodle Joule: online workshop emphasizing student engagement and retention.

*Each of the phases is approximately 3 hours in length; flexible scheduling is available upon request.

Migrating Faculty can register now for Phase I, II, and III Workshops:
eLearning Faculty – Click here to register for Fall Quarter Moodle Workshops

The second stage will begin winter quarter (January 2011). Winter and spring 2011 training is designed for faculty who are new to online teaching and faculty who use the LMS to enhance their face-to-face courses. Phases I and II are strongly recommended for all users.

Blackboard will remain available throughout the academic year. The migration process will be complete on June 30, 2011.

Recruitment for Project Manager: Open Education Project

Cindy — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 17:30:50 +0000

I wanted to pass along this job announcement as a follow up to early announcements about the Open Course Library Project of the Washington State Student Completion Initiative (a.k.a. the Gates Grant) . The project is underway and a project manager is needed. Clark College participants in the project are: Kathy Chatfield in her role of Instructional Designer, and Travis Kibota as course re-designer for Microbiology.

The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) invites applications from qualified individuals for the position of Open Education Project Manager.

SBCTC is seeking a visionary “Open Education Project Manager” to join the SBCTC team. This critical, full-time position will provide active leadership and expertise in managing open education projects. This position is preferably based in Washington State (State Board has office locations in Bellevue, Olympia and Spokane), though qualified out-of-state candidates will be considered and are strongly encouraged to apply. This position is funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which will last two years with the possibility of funding extensions thereafter.

The annual compensation for this full-time position is $60,000. Washington State has a generous benefit package (health, dental and life insurance, retirement, and an optional deferred compensation program). This recruitment will be ongoing until the position is filled. First screening of applications will begin on Monday, September 20, 2010. To ensure consideration, return your completed materials by 5 p.m. Friday, September 17, 2010.

For more information about this position and the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, visit http://www.sbctc.ctc.edu, or contact SBCTC’s Human Resource Office at (360) 704-4301.

Please feel free to share this position announcement with anyone who might be interested in an exciting 2 to 3 year eLearning position in the Pacific Northwest.

Quality Matters = Quality Courses

Cindy — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:50:17 +0000

What’s the one tool every faculty member should have in their instructional tool box?

(Here’s a hint: it’s easy-to-use, and highly effective, for course design and review…)

It’s Quality Matters! The eLearning department at Tacoma Community College has created this well-produced 9 minute video about Quality Matters. Grab a cup of coffee and take the time to watch every minute of it!

(click for video) Enjoy the video!

Although QM was designed for review of online courses, the QM review rubric is quite helpful for designing face-to-face courses, as well.

You will learn about:
· QM Faculty Learning Communities
· How individual colleges are using QM
· Why we’re using QM in Washington State’s Open Course Library Project
· What makes QM effective in designing and reviewing online courses
· Using the QM rubric

Everyone in the CTC system may use the one page, condensed, QM rubric, which is posted on the State Board website. Also, each campus has 50 copies of the full length, annotated rubric.

Want to learn more about Quality Matters?

Contact Boyoung Chae, bchae@sbctc.edu or 360.704.1011. Boyoung would be happy to answer any questions and help you use QM!

At Clark College contact Kathy Chatfield, Senior Instructional Designer and QM Master Reviewer, kchatfield@clark.edu.

‘Open’ Those Textbooks, to Spokane, WA

Brendan — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 20:19:57 +0000

Spokane Community College Campus

Due to increasing demand for the Open Textbook Workshop in Seattle, there will now be another workshop held at Spokane Community College. The workshop will be on April 22th, starts at 10:00 am until 3:00pm. Lunch will be included.

To register, you must sign up for the Open Textbook Advocates and Trainers Ning, then join the Spokane WA Cohort Group to officially register for this workshop.

Faculty Elluminate Meeting

Brendan — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:41:22 +0000

Be at your computers on March 18, at 3-4:30, there will be an Elluminate session held to study the instructional design tool: Quality Matters.

Here is the Elluminate link. (just type in your name as you do not need a password)

https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/launch/meeting.jnlp?password=M.CB2CB2664979AE8F3065444E874D4E

Course Shell Availability

Cindy — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:08:07 +0000

There has been a slight change in policy here in eLearning, which will affect the date that Blackboard course shells are made available to faculty each quarter. Our team has studied the reasoning behind the original model and the technical aspects involved, and we’ve come to the conclusion that an earlier shell build date would be worth trying since this would greatly benefit our faculty. The goal is to make the upcoming quarter’s shells available to faculty during finals week of the current quarter so that prep work can be done before the quarter break. Students will not be added to the shells until the mid-break enrollments change, as usual. As we assess the process results we may decide to adjust the shell build date policy again. You will see the modification reflected in our Faculty Blackboard Planner page and in Scott Coffie’s Systems Administrator quarterly email announcements as we implement this change, effective immediately.

‘Open’ your Textbooks, Please

Brendan — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:01:32 +0000

North Seattle College is hosting a Open Textbook Workshop on April 20, 2010, from 10-3, with lunch included. Come and join the effort in making textbooks more affordable. Become an advocate and trainer for Open Textbooks.

This event is sponsored by the Community College Open Textbook Project and The Washington State Board of Community And Technical Colleges (SBCTC) and free for all who want to attend. SBCTC is also offering to pay for mileage of those who are traveling more than 50 Miles to attend the event.

Advocates and Trainers will learn how to:

Foster interest in open textbooks
Assist faculty with discovering, selecting, and adopting open textbooks
Assist students in choosing a format (online, downloaded, printed, bound)
Work with all the stakeholders on campus including bookstore, print
shop, library, and administration
Provide feedback to the authors and educational community
Plan, market, and deliver an adoption workshop
Find textbook usage and costs on your campus

In addition to travel reimbursement, Advocates and Trainers will receive a $1,500 stipend to assist in their development, as well as to present a faculty workshop about Adopting Open Textbooks at their local college campus.

To register for the Seattle workshop and for information on becoming an Advocate and Trainer, and locations for other workshops please visit http://opentextbookadvocatetrainers.ning.com/.

Practice Your Ellumination

Brendan — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:35:20 +0000

Get some practice using the collaborative online web conferencing tool, Elluminate. There is a practice session, hosted by Shoreline Community College, happening on Wednesday, March 3, from 2-3 pm. Connect from your computer by clicking this Elluminate session link:

https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/launch/meeting.jnlp?password=M.CB2CB2664979AE8F3065444E874D4E

No need for a password, just enter your name after you click the link.

Ticket, Please…

Scott — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:27:48 +0000

eLearning has a new resource available on Smart Penguin for students, faculty, and staff. Although Smart Penguin provides the solutions to, or the prevention of, most technical issues that Clark College Blackboard and Moodle Joule users may experience, things may still go awry. To help students and faculty get back to their online coursework more quickly, the tech support team in the eLearning Department now provides a system called Tech Ticket, which can be used to submit the details of a technical issue. In a series of short questions about their computing environment, online users can quickly convey some of the important keys needed for an accurate diagnosis. Tech Ticket then allows direct communication with eLearning tech support for improved collaboration and information exchange to aid a swift resolution. You and your students can find the link to file a Tech Ticket in the sidebar on the Smart Penguin main post page, among our links at the bottom of that page, or in the following post on Smart Penguin:

That’s the Ticket!