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New to Teaching Online?

Have you ever wondered what eLearning is, and how it differs from face-to-face learning? We decided to ask some of our Newark Campus faculty members. Here’s what they had to say:

Wow, just think of the possibilities! Incredible, huh? Wondering where you can go to learn more?

Then I have good news for you: The telCenter has developed a free (five-week) online course about the pedagogical foundations of teaching online. If you’re new to teaching online, or even just starting to think about translating one of your courses into an online or blended format, then this course is for you!

The course is entirely online and will run from Monday, March 23 – Friday, April 24, 2015. During the five weeks, we’ll explore the following key topics related to teaching online:

  • Effectiveness of online learning
  • Student and instructor roles and expectations
  • eLearning tools and ideas for interactivity
  • Classroom management
  • Communication and presence

You’ll get to share your own experiences and ideas, and discuss them with other instructors from The Ohio State University and Central Ohio Technical College. You’ll also create specific resources you can use in your own online or hybrid course.

If you’d like to sign-up for this course, then head on over to our Eventbrite page and get registered today. We hope to “see” you in the class!

What’s Your Story?

book-419589_640Have you ever wanted to tell a story or show a powerful example in an online course, and just found it too dull or boring to create in PowerPoint?

Do you need to put together a software, compliance, or training tutorial for your department?

Have you always wanted to engage your students with activities that simply aren’t possible in Carmen?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you may be interested in learning more about Articulate Storyline 2. Storyline 2 is a powerful (yet simple to use) tool for enhanced teaching and learning. It gives you the power to:

  • Tell digital stories
  • Create drag and drop or matching activities
  • Engage your students with interactive reviews, quizzes, and activities
  • Create software tutorials, compliance training, and other assessments
  • And much, much more!

Are you ready to learn more? If so, the telCenter is hosting an “Articulate Storyline 2: Build a More Engaging Online Learning Experience” workshop on Friday, February 20th in Founders Hall 180 from 10 am to 12 pm.

In this workshop, we’ll discuss the capabilities of the tool and usage scenarios. Then, you’ll have the opportunity to get hands on with it and create your own project. We’ll have materials on hand for you to play with, or feel free to bring your own images or PowerPoint files to transform into a Storyline project!

So…what IS your story? Are you ready to tell it in an exciting and engaging way? If so, then head on over to our Eventbrite page and register for Friday’s workshop. We hope to see you there!

The Power of Photoshop

The Power of Photoshop

Have you ever wondered how creators have perfect photos, or have seamlessly integrated text into images?

The answer is… Photoshop! Adobe Photoshop is the number one photo editing software on the market today. Being able to unleash the power of this software will help you make the most of your photos and images.

Photoshop is often thought of as a complex tool that requires a degree in graphic design or years photography experience to completely understand and be able to use effectively. There is good news… This is simply not the case. Yes the tools available in Photoshop can be complex and sometimes very overwhelming, however, with a little bit of practice anyone can begin to understand the tools available and use them to their advantage.

On Friday, February 13th we will be hosting a workshop in Founders 180 called “Photoshop: The Basics”. In this workshop, we will go through an overview of the tools in photoshop, basic photo editing techniques, and integrating type into photos. The best part about this workshop is that it will be “hands on”. It is our belief that the best way for someone to learn is to “get you hands dirty” and play with the software. There will be photos available for you to work on, but we also encourage you to bring your own to play with and edit!

If you are interested in learning about the Adobe Photoshop software and would like to attend Friday’s workshop, you may sign up at: Eventbright.

As always, if you have any questions or would like to see more workshops like this, let us know!

Roadshow Recap

Last week, Valerie Rake and John Votino visited the Newark Campus for three hands-on sessions: Using U.OSU.EDU, Carmen Update Roadshow, and Using Mediasite. Members of the telCenter staff were in attendance and let me tell you…with all of these tools at our fingertips, it’s an exciting time to be involved with teaching and learning at OSU!

If you missed the workshops, have no fear! You can always schedule a one-to-one appointment with the telCenter staff to discuss using these technologies in your classroom.

Looking for a brief overview? We’ve got you covered there, too. U.OSU.EDU, Ohio State’s new website platform, can be used in a number of ways to establish your professional web presence. Many faculty and staff members are creating sites to function as a blog, professional profile, or research showcase. Mediasite, Ohio State’s lecture capture tool, is a great technology for use in online courses and “flipped” classrooms. You can easily manage, edit, and share your recordings, all from the Mediasite portal.

Now for my favorite part, the Carmen Update! One of the biggest enhancements we’ll see in this year’s update is the redesign of the Discussions tool. The new look and feel of the Discussions List is very socially-oriented and user-friendly. Feel free to check out the recorded session for more details, or hop on over to the Carmen Sandbox to take a look for yourself. (Note that the Carmen Sandbox is available only from an on-campus computer or wireless network.) Feel free to play around as much as you’d like; it’s an isolated environment, so you can’t “break” anything. That’s right, it’s just like Vegas — what happens in the sandbox, stays in the sandbox!

As always, let us know if you have any questions, we’re happy to help!

Subscriber Winners

Giveaway-WinnersThank you to everyone who subscribed to the new telCenter site. As mentioned in our last post, all subscribers will be entered into a drawing for using technology tools. Today was the drawing and we congratulate our winners: Terri Hessler, Tezra Inscore, Niles Johnson, and Liz Weiser.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Feeling Lucky?

lucky

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

After doing a little “googling” about the holiday,  it is clear it means different things to different people.

For the telCenter team, we all have varying opinions about the lore of this long-standing holiday. However, one thing we do agree on is that the mysterious, swift moving mascot — known as the leprechaun — brings good luck and it’s not always a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Nope, not at all! Sometimes the luck comes in the form of a technology tool or resource to support our jobs.

Oh and one more thing about these little green guys — they often use bribery tactics so they can feel a little lucky, too. In the spirit of this holiday and leprechaun legend, the telCenter wants to bribe you.

What’s in it for us.
You subscribe to this blog so you automatically get weekly updates about current telCenter happenings like training, grant opportunities, new technologies, drawings/giveaways and so on. Once you do, click the “Leave a comment” link below this blog post and let us know your name and that you subscribed.

What’s in it for you.
In return, you will be entered into a drawing for a lucky prize. Prizes include: stylus for a tablet, year long subscription to Lynda.com, webcam, or customized training for your department on the topic of your choice (technology related, of course).

Winners announced this Friday!

Spring Break: To-Do Lists

springbreakAhhh….spring break is upon us! A week we reserve in our minds for plowing through our to-do lists and addressing those loose ends that have been nagging us since the start of the semester. Of course, this is the mindset of someone not going to a warm destination where the to-do list is much shorter and includes reading on the beach and ignoring time schedules. For those of you doing the latter, your Newark Campus colleagues are very happy for you. Really — we are.

For those of you who are resisting the warm weather temptation, we thought we’d  offer up an idea for your to-do list. Consider creating/updating your faculty/staff webpage using U.OSU. The interface is user-friendly and does not require any web design skills. Visit https://u.osu.edu/ to learn more. Start small with a bio page and it can grow from there.

Oh, and the telCenter team will be here at campus all week so feel free to stop in if you need help.

See you next week!

Corri

telCenter’s New Site

telCenter’s New Site

spring-landscapes-tree-blossom-walkway_33681_600x450Like many of you, the telCenter staff is ready for the blooms of spring! Looks like we have 14 more days to go, but who is counting!

While we wait for spring blooms, we are thrilled to share an early “bloom” of our own. We are excited to announce that our website got a complete makeover and is updated and current. We have taken advantage of OSU’s recent resource — U.OSU. You may have heard some buzz about this. U.OSU is the university’s easy-to-use professional website platform. Simply put — It’s awesome! All OSU students, faculty, and staff can create a site to blog, share a profile, host and share resources, and so on.

This leads me to my second announcement.

Now that we are fully staffed, we can devote more time to professional development workshops. We will have three workshops on Friday, March 21 and yes, one of them is U.OSU. Registration is required. No worries if you cannot make things that day, we will be offering more sessions and you can always make a one-to-one appointment that works with your schedule.

We encourage you to click around our new site and let us know if there is anything we should change/add. Also, consider subscribing to this site as we will be blogging regularly about noteworthy things related to teaching and learning with technology! To do this, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the subscription icon RSS and from there select the reader you want it sent to.

(Quick Side Note: If you are like me the first time I heard of “subscribing” I was like, what? Go to this site for what I have found to be a nice, simple explanation. Oh, and just so you know, the fancy technical term for “subscribing” is RSS (stands for Real Simple Syndication), but I like less fancy and more practical! Let us know if you have questions.)

Hope to see you at one of the upcoming workshops!

Corri