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Newsletter produced by Howard Community College's Instructional Media Department
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http://www.howardcc.edu/students/campus_services/library
Connecting Faculty with Resources Learning Studio Debuts
Duncan Hall 202’s transformation
from traditional classroom into a robust learning studio was complete this semester with the arrival of students and faculty. The room designed by the Herman Miller Company is serving the dual purpose of learning space and research project. Associate VP of Academic Affairs, Steve Horvath, explains ““the Learning Studio is a ‘sandbox’ classroom that enables faculty to explore teaching in new ways. Assessing what works and what doesn’t through surveys, focus groups, and comparative data will be provide faculty with ideas for renovation
older classrooms and for learning spaces in new buildings”.
“I feel spoiled having this room” says faculty member Dr. Alan Goodman about his experience teaching in the Learning Studio. Dr. Goodman teaches a course in Business Ethics and has a teaching
At the Library—Faculty Feedback Wanted!
EasyBib vs. Noodlebib – We have subscribed to a new
citation tool EasyBib which can enhance critical thinking skills and research habits through the inclusion of website evaluation tools. These tools help students learn to distinguish between sources that are
credible from those that are not. EasyBib allows students to organize notes, build outlines and makes the citation process intuitive.
Currently, students have access to both EasyBib and NoodleBib. We are soliciting faculty feedback on the Easy Bib system. If you think EasyBib does the job – and much more – then the library will suspend the subscription to NoodleBib as of January 1, 2012. Please be assured that any student who requires support transitioning from NoodleBib over to Easy Bib will be able to obtain one-on-one assistance here in the library. Please take a moment to check out this resource and send comments to Gail Hollander, Information Literacy Librarian at [email protected]
Connecting Faculty ................ 1
Learning Studio Debuts ......... 1
At the Library ......................... 1
Copyright Corner ................... 2
Learning Studio Tour ............. 2
Second Life ............................ 2
Library/What’s On Menu ....... 3
Hints and Help/PPT ................ 3
Projector Patrol ..................... 3
Lights, Camera, COOK! ........... 3
Continued on page 2
Innovative teaching is an established part of
the culture here at HCC and a shared point of pride among faculty. Yet, staying up-to-date on the resources, services, and training available to support teaching and learning can be a challenge—particularly given the recent growth of the campus. In launching this newsletter, the Teaching & Learning Services Division seeks to highlight what’s available and what’s new to allow faculty to create significant learning experiences. Providing exceptional support for academic programs is our mission. We hope that this newsletter helps connect faculty to tools and services that make a positive difference in our classrooms and online. - Steve Horvath, Associate VP of Academic Affairs
Information about Instructional Media and Library
Services for Faculty, Staff and Students at
Howard Community College
Comments/Suggestions? Please contact Amy Chase Martin at
approach that focuses on case studies and discussions - “I can’t imagine having to have students just sit at stationary desks and behind computers [in my class]. But access to computers is essen-tial in some courses such as English teacher Sylvia Lee’s Canvas-supported sections of ENGL-121. The room’s laptop cart with 24 fully-charged Dell laptops is an essential resource for some of her class meetings. Professor Lee observed that, even while using the laptops, “[students] are not inclined to hide into their “nests” and are more open to easy conver-sation and discussion...not having anything physically in between the students’ faces does wonders in how they communicate, not just with me but with each other.”
The room is equipped with eight fixed whiteboards and four portable ones which means that student and teacher notes can be retained for longer because of the multiple writing spaces available. MaryBeth Furst embraces the room’s various technologies but also expressed how she appreciates not having to erase a traditional whiteboard
[and lose content I’ve posted there]”. The positioning of the whiteboards and projection systems on several sides of the room also means that every student has a front row seat.
The instructor has complete mobility as well. The room’s wireless keyboard and mouse allows an instructor to teach from anywhere in the room. The touch screen instructor’s station provides the ability to control all the media in the room.
Drop by to visit the future of classroom design and view some sample lessons.
Copyright Corner
“What can I use in my online class” by Peggy
Hoon, Copyright Education Specialist for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) and 2011-2013 IP Scholar for the Center of Intellectual Property, outlines three steps for evaluating the copyright status of materi-als to be used in online courses. If you have questions, please contact Alesia McManus, Director of the Library.
Read the rest of this article
Instructional Technologist
Supports Second Life
Twice each week, sections of HCC’s Arabic culture and
language students meet with professor Abdelrahim Salih, Ph D., to immerse themselves in Middle Eastern culture and speak to each other in Arabic. These meetings are interactive, engaging, and virtual. Each of the students is participating from home with a headset and microphone using SecondLife, a free virtual environment.
Speaking with one another is free, easy, and the sound quality is excellent. Virtually, students meet and sit near each other as a group in an airy Middle Eastern lounge. They are surrounded by posters that work like web pages with links to their online course materials, including each week’s audio recordings.
This lounge is located on HCC’s land in SecondLife, which was created and is maintained by Karen Evans in Instruc-tional Media. During the last year Dr. Salih has discovered that his students like to meet this way, so every semester for the next few years he plans to add one section to his virtual meetings. Contact Karen Evans at 443-518-4836 if you would like more information or click here to take a look at SecondLife.
On the Web http://www.free.ed.gov/ - Teaching and Learning Resources from Federal Agencies is a wealth of free videos, photos and instructional materials for a variety of disciplines.
Learning Studio Debut continued...
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Lights, Camera, COOK!
The pastry chef demonstrates flawless technique when tempering the chocolate for an exquisite dessert. The audience watches the projection of each step as they sit comfortably viewing the demonstration on flat panel displays in rooms near the kitchen. Through the speakers in each room, they can hear the chef’s description of the
delicious process. A screen in each room displays three different angles of the kitchen, so the audience can get an unobstructed view of each step. This is not the Food Network. This is our own Culinary Kitchen in ST 040 and the “audience”
are HCC culinary and hospitality students.
The installation of HCC’s new AV system started with Director Vinnie Rege’s vision for a highly functional media space that supported a high technology learning experience. His desire was to present live cooking demonstrations to students who might be sitting in one of four separate classroom locations. In this way, a single chef could be working in the kitchen while instructors and students in adjoining rooms watched and listened via the audio visual system. The system would also have the capability to record and
archive these demonstrations for post production.
Instructional Media’s Scott Bohandy worked directly with Mr. Rege and his team to bring this vision to life. Overall the AV system for HCC’s Culinary Facility is the most elaborate AV system that has been installed on campus. The system also includes two way audio communications. This gives the instructors the ability to be heard in the adjacent classrooms during a live demonstration. In turn, the students located in the adjacent classrooms have microphone capability to communicate verbally with the instructor in the kitchen. Included in the AV design are several interactive projectors to further enhance the learning experience.
On the Web http://avtote.howardcc.edu/todaysrequests/ - Have you submitted a request to Instructional Media/AV Services? Use this handy link to see if your request has been scheduled for today. This information is also posted on the tote board outside N112.
Hints and Help with...
Microsoft PowerPoint
To launch your slideshow: Open the presentation in PPT and press the F5 key.
To hide your screen during the presentation: Press the B key.
To reveal the presentation: Press the B key again.
Projector Patrol– Where’s the Remote?
Projector Patrol is an on-screen remote
control for multimedia projectors. It makes using the classroom multimedia projectors simpler for faculty and staff. The HCC Audio-Visual department recently installed a new version of Projector Patrol to over 70 classrooms across the HCC campus. Projector Patrol’s on-screen remote control has large, clearly labeled buttons for the most commonly used projector functions, is easy to see even in dimly lit presentation environments and is always available on your PC’s desktop. Projector Patrol has saved the college money in several ways: it has eliminated the need to replace missing remote controls, eliminated the need to replace remote control batteries and it extends the life of the projector lamps by turning the projector off automatically when the user designated timer expires. Projector Patrol is available via the desktop icon pictured above and any questions about its use should be directed to Instructional Media/AV Services at X-4819.
What’s On the Menu at the Library?
E-Reserves – is a convenient, online, way for your
students to view assignments, readings, videos. The system has a new look and functionality as of this fall. If you would like to put materials on e-reserves, please contact Megan Gonzalez, E-reserves Coordinator, or you can fill out an online form.
Library Guides by Subject – Link students to relevant
library resources with these librarian created guides to online and print resources for your classes. If you would like a Library Guide for your course, please contact Gail Hollander, Information Literacy Librarian.
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