Tech Tool Exploration

Module 1

Module 3

Module 6

Lesson on Carmen Connect

 

7 thoughts on “Tech Tool Exploration

  1. Tamara,
    Very nice use of Google presentations for your first announcement. You require action on the part of the learner, so this piece has good interactivity built in. The screenshots are helpful. I have to say that the disadvantage of including those is that they must change every time Carmen is updated, but then so must the text instructions (usually). It’s much better to include them than to not include them, of course. Your suggestion of a professional headshot is good. How could they go about getting one in the CON? The ability to download this presentation as PDF is very helpful in terms of just seeing the tiny text better. You might include a brief statement near the presentation that tells learners they can click on the settings gear and to view the presentation in a larger format. Well done!

    The Module 3 Prezi also has a good deal of interactivity in that it requires a fairly major assignment. Very good introduction to that module. I also like that it leads to some thoughtful reflection about bringing potential questions to the F2F orientation.

    Your Screencast is really quite nice! It’s concise, direct, and very clear. The audio is excellent. I truly like that you have them access the tools *before* they come to the orientation. This is going to be so helpful, based on what I observed in the F2F orientation last summer. It sounds as if you’ve thought through many of the modules fairly extensively already. Good work!

    Overall, you’ve produced three very nice announcements that appear to be pieces you can use in your actual course. The level of interactivity in each of your pieces is quite high. Very nice work!

  2. Tamara, very nice SoftChalk lesson! Your instructions are clear, and you ask the student to demonstrate what they learn, which is so important. I am looking for a clearly stated objective at the beginning of the lesson, and although I can infer one, I am not seeing it stated explicitly or implicitly.

    Have you found the heading styles in SoftChalk yet? You can highlight your headings (the words you have in bold currently, like “Key Information”) and apply a heading style to them. Please see this document and read the information under “Headings” (http://www.icc.edu/innovation/PDFS/softchalk/SoftChalkQuickGuide.pdf). As the instructions mention, headings not only make the important text stand out, they are also important for screen readers and accessibility. They are the elements that build your table of contents in SoftChalk, too.

    For your basic steps to enter a Connect room, I have some additional information, if you would like to meet and just add a few helpful things. For example, students can now log in using their name.#, and this is what triggers the creation of their account in CarmenConnect. It might be a good idea to ask them to do that. If you’ve copied the steps from existing information, and I can completely understand why you would have made that choice, I might be able to help you with some updates, if you wish.

    Asking the students to leave a message behind in the chat box is brilliant! You might leave a poll open, too, and ask them a question such as “Were you able to complete the Audio Set-up Wizard successfully?” You can also upload a little screencast (Connect accepts MP4 format) telling the specifically what to do once they are in the room. (I have lots of “helpful” ideas; I definitely don’t want to overwhelm you. Just making suggestions!)

    The ODEE Resource Center has two extremely helpful pages for students (and faculty) new to CarmenConnect:
    Getting Started (Participants): http://odee.osu.edu/resourcecenter/carmenconnect/getting-started-participants
    QuickStart Checklist: http://odee.osu.edu/resourcecenter/carmenconnect/quickstart-checklist

    I can highly recommend these two resources speaking from my personal experience. Overall, you’ve done a really good job with this lesson. I’m looking forward to seeing it as part of your course!

  3. Thanks for your feedback! My learning objective is stated in the first paragraph of the Carmen Connect for DNP Orientation: “The goal is to allow you time to practice using Carmen Connect.” I know practice may be a difficult objective to measure, but in this case I’m asking them to do specific assignments as they practice which I can then see. I thought I had spelled out the objective clearly, but if I’m off-track on the objective itself or the way I’ve phrased it I would welcome feedback!
    I did not use the Headings in SoftChalk, but I am familiar with them from Word and can adapt this or future modules to use them. Building in accessibility is definitely something I need to become a habit as I design courses.
    I am aware of the ability of a student to log in using their name.#, which is a feature I love, and I didn’t make the connection that they would have to have their OSU account set up to access Carmen so they could also use it for Carmen Connect. My thinking was that they might not have their login yet! LoL
    The other thing Will mentioned in our Carmen Connect training Monday is that we have to permission people into the meeting if we want to have a specific cohort as registered users so it’s easier to just make people guests, but looking at the meeting setup it appears that registered users are those with Ohio State accounts? That means I can set the permission to be “registered users only” and the DNP students can access without me having to permission them in?
    Thanks for the kudos on the message idea! I actually did a poll in there too. It was in the bottom right corner, and asks them how comfortable they feel after completing the Carmen Connect lesson. I like the idea of adding a video, and will keep that in mind for future modules.
    The OCIO Resource Center is hyperlinked in the first paragraph of my lesson, and I now see that ODEE also has a Participant Resource page. My guess is OCIO’s was set up first, since ODEE is new. I like the ODEE version better, I think. Thanks!

  4. >>>My learning objective is stated in the first paragraph of the Carmen Connect for DNP Orientation: <<>>and I didn’t make the connection that they would have to have their OSU account set up to access Carmen so they could also use it for Carmen Connect. <<>>looking at the meeting setup it appears that registered users are those with Ohio State accounts<<>>My guess is OCIO’s was set up first, since ODEE is new.<<<

    –Right! The OCIO site is not bad, but ODEE's is better and more current. OCIO used to manage CarmenConnect and now ODEE manages it, so I go with their resources. Those two that I mentioned above have been very valuable! I try, whenever I can, not to create my own tutorials and resources. I let the entity that manages the resource do that, because they can keep it up-to-date with the changes in the tool and provide the most generic support. I resort to creating my own resources when the manager of the tool does not have them or when I need my students to do something very specific, like I did with some of the blog videos. I use the ODEE blog support as far as possible, then I create the resources that are very specific to what I need my students to do.

    Super work on this lesson! I'm so excited to see the course getting off to such a good start.

  5. Tamara,
    The clarity and professionalism of your speaking voice is exemplary. Your students are very fortunate to be working with such an articulate and detail-oriented instructor.
    Carolyn

  6. as one of Tamara’s DNP students….you’re right Carolyn; WE ARE LUCKY TO HAVE HER!!
    Well done Tamara.

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