iTech Lab@Sierra College - Recently Updated Pages

mmacfarlane — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:28:34 CST

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Camtasia

mmacfarlane — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:24:41 CST

To download the document you see below, please scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the PDF attachment.

Welcome to the iTech Lab at Sierra College!

mmacfarlane — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:30:34 CST

Sierra College is pleased to announce the opening of the iTech Lab, a resource dedicated to the teaching, learning and communication needs of the 21st century. The iTech Lab is a resource for all staff at Sierra College interested in revitalizing the way they communicate with students, colleagues and the community.

These webpages are offered as a collaborative space for Sierra College employees to share ideas about integrating technology into the Sierra College landscape. They are extended to you in an effort to inspire creativity and innovation, as well as increase collaboration and the sharing of ideas among staff. We look forward to seeing the members of this site grow so please take a moment to "join" and contribute to its development.

Click Here for the Fall 2009 iTech Lab Schedule

Enroll for iTech Lab workshops through Sierra College's LearnerWeb System.

To navigate the content of this website, please use the buttons and tabs in the left toolbar. If you'd like to contribute content to a page, you are invited to "join" this site. After joining, you may simply click on the "Easy Edit" button at the top of a page and share your tips and tools to help us build a more robust repository of technology tools.

A great big thank you is extended to the Sierra College Foundation and Staff Development for generous funding of the iTech Lab equipment.

Feedback, suggestions, comments? mmacfarlane@sierracollege.edu

Workshop Schedule

mmacfarlane — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:57:22 CDT

Fall 2009 - Schedule

Click here for the Fall 2009 iTech Schedule

Enroll for any of these workshops through Sierra College's LearnerWeb System.

Workshop Descriptions

mmacfarlane — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:54:36 CDT

Be part of Sierra College on iTunes U!
Sierra College’s new iTunes U site is experiencing roughly 800 downloads each week! What will be the topic of your podcast…your class, your program, your department, conversations about a hot topic, student clubs? Use your imagination! Get started with your podcast debut this semester by enrolling in podcasting workshops in the iTech Lab!

It’s easy to design your own podcasting training path! Just select at least one workshop that fulfills each of the three basic podcasting steps:
Step 1: Getting Started, Step 2: Content Creation, Step 3: Go Live! Look for the iTunes Logo to select your classes.
Need FERC Credit?? 1 unit of FERC is available for faculty attending all 5 podcasting workshops.

Workshop Descriptions

What’s a Podcast? – 3 hours
This introductory workshop demystifies podcasting. You will learn the basic components of podcasting, explore how podcasts are being used in education around the nation, and gain hands-on experience locating, downloading and subscribing to podcasts in iTunes.
Podcasting Step 1: Getting Started

Camtasia (Windows Only) – 4 hours
Create your own videos (screencasts, lecture movies or video tutorials) using this powerful program! You will learn the basics of recording and editing your movie and export your finished product into a variety of file types (including an iPod movie for your podcast on iTunes U).
Podcasting Step 2: Content Creation

Creating an Audio Podcast – 4 hours
Welcome to the wonderful world of audio! Personalize your students’ learning experience with your own voice, create a radio show with your colleagues or students, interview guest speakers, the opportunities are endless! In this workshop you will learn to record and edit your own audio files using Audacity, a free software program for PC and Mac users, and export these files into an mp3 file formatted for a podcast episode.
Podcasting Step 2: Content Creation

Creating a Video Podcast - 4 hours
This isn’t your parents’ video! Welcome to the video revolution! Experience a simple way to use a handheld digital camera to record a video perfectly formatted for a podcast episode or to be uploaded to YouTube!

Using iTunes U for Podcasting – 4 hours
This workshop is for participants who have developed podcasting content (audio or video files) and are ready to host these files on Sierra College’s iTunes U site! You will learn to add metadata to your files, log-in to your employee iTunes U account, customize your podcast page and upload/manage your episodes.
Podcasting Step 3: Go Live!

Blackboard Training* - 3 hours
Before enrolling in this workshop you must have skills covered in the “Essential Web-Based Skills for Blackboard” workshop. Get knowledge and skills necessary to effectively utilize Blackboard in an online and web-enhanced class. All primary functions of Blackboard will be covered. Since you will begin to work in your own online/web-enhanced course shell, please bring instructional material, such as a syllabus or a lecture, on a flash drive to the workshop.

Advanced Blackboard Training* - 2 hours
This workshop is intended for participants who have been using Blackboard and want to learn to use latest features of the system. Explore items such as SafeAssign, Adaptive Realease, advanced test management features, performance dashboard, learning units, and embedding HTML links. *Basic Skills for Blackboard are required to attend this session.

Social Networking Using Ning – 3 hours
Social Networking & Course Design...the Mashup!
The power of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook can be seen all around us. Learn how to apply the power of social networking to your classes. You will create a social networking site for a course and learn the basics of how you can use it to create community and engage students with the course content and one another.

Sierra Online Summit (SOS) - 28 hours
New! 2 Units of Lower Division FERC Credit are available!
This intensive four-day workshop will cover the nuts and bolts of successful online course design and will explore best practices in online instruction, innovative uses of technology, and methods for increasing student success and retention. Contact Suzanne Davenport at sdavenport@sierracollege.edu for details.

VoiceThreads – 3 hours
“What’s a VoiceThread,” you ask? It's an online media album that can hold essentially any type of media (Powerpoints, PDFs, images, documents and videos) and allows people to make comments in 5 different ways - using voice (with a microphone or telephone), text, audio file, or webcam. These visual conversations can be shared with one person, a group of people or the whole world...the choice is yours. In this workshop, you will explore effective applications of VoiceThread in your role at Sierra College, participate in a VoiceThread discussion and, in exchange for your commitment to use VoiceThread at Sierra College, you will receive a free PRO VoiceThread account (a $59.99 value!!). Oh, and they can be exported and used as a podcast episode!
Podcasting Step 2: Content Creation

Jing – a free application for PCs and Macs for creating video screencasts of your computer screen that are instantly uploaded to the web. Make videos in minutes and share them with your students or colleagues to visually answer their questions! This will rock your world! Preview Jing on your own!

Animoto – Produce your own MTV style videos with your own photos. Create videos in minutes that are as quality as the stuff you see on TV. Preview Animoto on your own!

Embedding and Linking Videos in BB

mmacfarlane — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 09:30:15 CDT

The video below illustrates how to link to videos in Blackboard. Scroll down for a video on how to embed videos in Blackboard.

Image Resources

jimwilson — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:20:40 CDT

Flickr
Flickr is actually an image sharing tool that gives users the ability to upload and share images. The great thing about Flickr is that it allows others users to search these images (by tags). The other great thing about Flickr is that millions ofimages in this database have been licensed under a Creative Commons license which gives you permission to use them without worrying about copyright violation. To give this a try, you need to create a Flickr account. Then click on search and scroll down in the menu to Advanced Search or just click here. Enter your keywords and at the very bottom of the page look for the Creative Commons logo and select "Only search within Creative Commons licensed content." Have fun!

Google Image Search
The mother of all image searches...something for everyone! Be aware, however, the images you located may be subject to copyright laws.

FEMA Image and Audio Search
A public online databases of images from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Click on "Photo Use Guidelines" for details about possible copyright restrictions.

The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci
About 50 examples of original drawings by Leonardo da Vinci.

Library of Congress: American Memory
Provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. It is a digital record of American history and creativity. These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America, serving the public as a resource for education and lifelong learning.

Make your contribution to the page.

NASA Image and Multimedia Search
Online image and multimedia search from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

NOAA Photo Library
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Photo Library contains impressive images of nature including "fish stocks, ozone content of the atmosphere, sun spots, tornadoes and coastlines."

Investintech.com
A great reference resource for all things PDF and all things Investintech!

Old Pictures
This is a great collection of old, historical photographs spanning the past 150 years. Although it seems that most of these images should be public domain, the administrator of the site requests permission before using.

Symbols.com
Online Encyclopedia of western signs and ideograms.

Thor's Image and Video Links
Thanks to Thor Tivol for sharing his personal collection.

Web Gallery of Art
a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture of the Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassicism and Romanticism periods (1100-1850), currently containing over 18.400 reproductions.

CGFA: A Virtual Art Museum
One of the finest collections on the Web of paintings by European and American artists.

CalPhotos - UC Berkeley
For those who love biology! Check this site out. Huge image database = 167,505+ images of: Plants, Animals, People, Landscapes, Fungi and more! You can browse for hours or search on names, etc. Like other sites there are some usage guidelines and restrictions.

Microscopic Images (Biology) - Sierra College Biological Sciences Web site!
This is the first of two image databases that we are building. We have only 235 images now, but it will start growing again with our digital microscope fixed! Like other sites there are some usage guidelines and restrictions.

Getting Started with Camtasia

mmacfarlane — Fri, 01 May 2009 11:02:08 CDT

Below you will find a PowerPoint presentation to get started using Camtasia.

YouTube Closed Captioning Video

mmacfarlane — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:31:58 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Ning: Social Networking

mmacfarlane — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 08:35:07 CDT

The handout below can be downloaded at the bottom of the page.

Creating Social Networks

mmacfarlane — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:05:38 CDT

Creating a Social Network Inviting Members to your Social Network

Joining, Leaving and Deleting Social Networks

mmacfarlane — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:59:21 CDT

Joining a Social Network via an Invitation

Ning Video Tutorials: New Account

mmacfarlane — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 23:51:41 CDT

The screen shot videos below illustrate common tasks and frequent activities performed on Ning.

Ning Account Creation

Video Tutorials for iTunes U

brocansky — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:56:55 CST

How to create a link from your podcast page in iTunes U to your course in Blackboard.

Using iTunes U for Podcasting

brocansky — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:28:16 CST

About Sierra College on iTunes U
Sierra College's iTunes U site went live in Fall 2008. Since then have consistently had more than 700 downloads each week...with absolutely no advertising! Needless to say, students are excited about the option to access learning content in podcast form. Podcasting enhances learning through meeting more learning styles, providing opportunity for repetition as needed and extends the option for mobile learning with an iPod.

This workshop provides you with an iTunes U account. In the workshop you will use your account to share the files you've created as outcomes of the Camtasia, Creating an Audio Podcast and/or Creating a Video Podcast workshops, resulting in a fully functioning, LIVE podcast.

Sierra College iTunes U Guidelines

• Employees of Sierra College and students affiliated with an ASSC sponsored activity, club or organization may host a podcast on iTunes U.
• Podcast content is intended for educational use and should directly contribute to Sierra College's rich, diverse learning landscape.
• Individual podcast episode creators are responsible for adhering to copyright regulations.
• The views expressed in the podcasts are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily represent the views of Sierra College.
• Empty podcast folders may be removed in an effort to maintain quality.

At the bottom of this page, you may download the following handouts:

iTunes U Account Request Form
How to Access iTunes U
How to Add Metadata to Your Podcast Episode Files
How to Edit your Podcast Folder in iTunes U

Check Us Out!

Sierra College's iTunes U site is only accessible through the web at the following address: http://itu.sierracollege.edu.
iTunes must be installed on your computer in order for the site to open (iTunes is a free download for both Mac and PC users).

Creating a Video Podcast

JBasque — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:58:28 CST

This is a four-hour workshop that provides hands-on experience with recording digital video files and converting them into the appropriate file format for a podcast. Sharing videos on online hosting services such as YouTube will also be discussed.

To download the handout you see pictured below, please scroll to the bottom of this page and locate the PDF in the Attachments area.

Workshop Resources

JBasque — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:29:05 CST

The pages in Workshop Resources contain handouts distributed in the iTech Lab workshops. The PDF of each handout may be downloaded by scrolling to the bottom of the page on which it is pictured.

Creating an Audio Podcast

brocansky — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:49:23 CST

Welcome to the wonderful world of audio! Personalize your students’ learning experience with your own voice, create a radio show with your colleagues or students, interview guest speakers, the opportunities are endless! In this workshop you will learn to record and edit your own audio files using Audacity, a free software program for PC and Mac users, and export these files into an mp3 file formatted for a podcast episode.

This is a 4-hour workshop that may be taken for flex credit or one unit of lower division FERC credit may be earned by individuals who complete the entire podcast workshop series.

Necessary Downloads

Audacity is an open-source software that you will receive hands-on experience with in this workshop. Audacity is available for free download online for both Mac and PC users. The workshop will utilize the Beta version of Audacity - 1.3.7. Please be sure to download the correct version or your application will not align with the screenshots in the handout provided below.

LAME mp3 Encoder - this is a plug-in that is required to convert your Audacity recording into an mp3 file (a condensed audio file) that can be used as a podcast episode.

PC Users: Download an unzipped copy of the required lame_enc.dll file (click on the link under All Users). After you have downloaded the .dll file, save it anywhere on your hard drive.
Mac Users: Go to the LAME Download page and download the LAME Library.

Online Workshop Resources

The presentation portion of the workshop that includes the training overview, workshop outcomes, discussion of educational benefits of audio and tips for recording is available as an enhanced podcast (audio with still images of slides). You are welcome to download and view the file through Sierra College's iTunes U site. Note: you must have iTunes installed.

Take me to the iTech Lab Podcast on Sierra College's iTunes U site. (Note: This link will launch iTunes on your computer and take you to the iTech Lab podcast page. Scroll to the bottom, locate the Creating an Audio Podcast episode, click GET to download the file and then play the file through the Sierra College/iTech Lab PLAYLIST in your right column toolbar. You should see the images play in your video playback window and hear the presenter's voice. If you do not see the images, check your iTunes Playback Preferences tab to double check your video playback options are enabled on your iTunes panel.).

The detailed, step-by-step handout explaining how to create an audio podcast episode (.mp3 file) is embedded below and may be downloaded in PDF form by scrolling to the bottom of this page and locating the ATTACHMENTS area.

Introduction to VoiceThread

brocansky — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:50:23 CST

This is a handout that was designed to be distributed to students as a guide to help them navigate the VoiceThread interface and understand how to leave a comment. You may download this handout at the bottom of this page in the Attachments area.

VoiceThread

brocansky — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:42:06 CST

To download the document you see pictured below, please scroll to the bottom of the page and locate the PDF in the Attachments area.