Annotated PowerPoint Presentations with a Wacom Tablet and Tegrity

Posted on by uwbdl

Following up on a previous tutorial, here is another way to enhance PowerPoint Presentation with annotations in conjunction with Tegrity to create a more interactive online course recording for students to view. In this example we use a Wacom Bamboo drawing tablet which lets instructors easily annotate, hand write, and draw in applications such as Photoshop or PowerPoint using a stylus. This is useful for courses that are math-heavy with lots of equations or where natural hand motions present a superior figure to using the mouse such as in an art class.

The video below goes through the basics of using the Wacom Tablet as well as some possible uses for instructors. Before getting started, you will need a Wacom Tablet which is available for checkout in the Learning Tech Studio.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkRJs-Ar2QU?rel=0]

Tips & Tricks for Your Google Search

Posted on by uwbdl

On the surface, Google Search seems like a very simplistic tool…but did you know there is much more to it than typing in some keywords and hitting “enter”? In fact, you can use Google to search filetypes, within a url, conversions, current time, flights, and more.

Here is an interactive infographic that David Andrade posted on his blog last week. Created by OnlinePhD.org, the infographic goes over ways to make your Google Search as effective as possible:

http://onlinephd.org/phd-in-googling/

EDIT: A day after we published this post, Edudemic released a related list called 181 Google Tricks That Will Save You Time. This list covers Google Search tips and also touches on specific tricks for using Google in an educational setting, Google Docs, Google+, Google Calendar, Gmail and more. Read them both and really become a Google wizard!

Immune Attack Review

Posted on by uwbdl

After reading my introduction to learning and video games, it is quite appropriate that I follow up with a short review of a game. Below is a trailer of Immune Attack, a game that teaches players about basic immunology. The game puts the player in the role of a nanobot traveling within the body of a person who is afflicted with disease. The player’s vehicle allows them to attack bacterial/viral infections as well exploring the different cells and their functions. The game itself is a bit dated but it does integrate elements of the learning principles such as probing and exploring areas of the body to complete objectives as well as actively learning about the various functions of the cells that the player encounters. It is also a great way to reinforce certain concepts that players have learned in class. The game, produced with collaboration between the NSF, the FAS, and several universities  is available to download for free.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKgroDE4DHo]

iPad + Dropbox + Airsketch = Cheap & Easy Interactive Whiteboard

Posted on by uwbdl

Have you ever wanted to annotate pictures, slideshow presentations, class readings, or any other files during a lecture? For example, say you’re examining a work of art that is full of visual symbolism. When discussing this art work, it would be helpful to highlight the symbolic objects in the painting for the whole class to see, right? Now, using only an iPad, ePodium, and two apps…you can very easily do this!

The video below shows the process of turning your iPad and projector into an interactive whiteboard. Before you get started following the tutorial, you will need to download two apps to your iPad: Dropbox and Airsketch. Note that you will need to create a Dropbox account. You will also need to convert the file you wish to annotate to PDF format and upload the file to Dropbox. Here are links to tutorials from the Learning Technologies website that will guide you through this process:

[vimeo 42785175 w=500 h=281]

Full transcript available here via Google Docs

Tegrity User Conference Sessions Now Online

Posted on by uwbdl

Last month, (4/18-20) the 6th annual Tegrity User Conference took place in Seattle, WA. UWB Learning Technologies’ own Andreas Brockhaus and Ian Porter were able to attend, along with many other administrators, IT specialists, faculty members and users of the lecture capture system.

But for those who weren’t able to make it, we’ve got good news: conference sessions are now available through the Tegrity website. Topics of interest include:

There are many more sessions to choose from, and they are all very interesting regardless of how experienced with Tegrity you are.

Please note that these sessions are actual Tegrity recordings and may require an additional plugin to play (although we’ve found that using Internet Explorer allows them to run without complications)

Click here for more information about Tegrity at UW Bothell.

And once more, the list of Tegrity sessions from the conference.

UWB LT Blog Included as a “Must-Read” by EdTech Magazine

Posted on by uwbdl

We’re proud to report that this blog was included in The Dean’s List: 50 Must-Read Higher Education Technology Blogs, an article by EdTech Magazine highlighting 50 fantastic educational technology blogs. Learning Technologies is absolutely honored to be included among some incredible writers and institutions. We are also pleased to see that some of our favorite edtech blogs made the list, and are excited to explore and discover new ones!

We have a great team here at UWB Learning Technologies, and we couldn’t do it without one another! Thank you to all of our readers and Edtech Magazine for including us in this list. We’ll keep doing what we’re doing!

Introducing Google Drive

Posted on by uwbdl

Google has announced the arrival of its file sharing service, Google Drive. Similar to other cloud file sharing services like Dropbox and Evernote, Google Drive allows users to upload files that are stored in a cloud storage system. These files are then accessible from any device where Google Drive is installed (mobile devices, desktop, laptops, tablets).

What sets Google Drive apart from the other aforementioned services? For starters, Drive is integrated with Google Docs and the tools that come with it. Any file uploaded to Google Drive can be available for collaboration, and files can be edited directly from Google Drive. Another perk is that files from Google Drive can be accessed through an internet browser–no software install needed! This way, you can access your files on any given computer with internet access. Google Drive also uses text recognition (as Evernote does), making the process of searching through your documents for something much less tedious. It seems as though Google Drive may be the best of all worlds!

The features and space do come at a cost, however. Google Drive gives users their first 5GB free (comparable in space to an inexpensive USB flash drive). If they feel they need more room to store files, upgrade options are as follows:

  • 25GB = $2.48/month
  • 100GB = $4.99/month
  • 1TB = $49.99/month

Source: Google Drive is here! Really!…

Bookshare: An Online Library for the Print Impaired

Posted on by uwbdl

Bookshare is a site that provides free digital books to those whose disabilities make reading a traditional printed book very hard or impossible. Since Bookshare just celebrated 10 years in business, we thought it would be a great opportunity to highlight the great resources the site provides for students with disabilities.

Bookshare is completely legal, as it operates under the Chafee Amendment. This amendment is an exception to US copyright law that allows books to be freely distributed to those with certain disabilities, as long as the books are in a format that accommodates those disabilities. Bookshare serves those with visual impairments, physical disabilities (those that prevent one from holding a book or turning pages, for example), as well as those with severe learning or reading disabilities.

To accommodate different disabilities, the books come in a few formats. Bookshare supplies ebooks with additional text-to-speech, braille, and large print options. Most books are scanned and turned into ebooks by Bookshare volunteers, while some are even donated directly from publishing companies. Once you become a member of Bookshare, you are free to browse and download the entire ebook collection.

With hundreds of thousands of accessible, print-impaired-friendly books, Bookshare is an incredibly valuable resource for students, teachers, or parents.

An Introduction to UW Blogs

Posted on by uwbdl

Last month, we announced the coming release of the UW Blogs Network for faculty and staff, powered by WordPress. For those of you who couldn’t wait to get started on your own UW blog, we have good news: it’s now available! By going to blogs.uw.edu, you can learn more or start creating your own UW WordPress-powered blog. Please note that you must activate the UW Blog Network through your myUW account (these steps will be covered in the second half of the post).

We at Learning Technologies would like to help get you started. If you continue reading, we will provide a quick step-by-step tutorial on getting started with a UW blog. If you feel you need to get a little more inspired first, check out some existing UW Blogs.

Update: Thanks to the UW Bothell Web Team for informing us about the custom Bothell theme that has been developed for UW Bothell pages. See below for details on changing the default theme.

Continue reading →

ViDA gives students access to UW software 24/7

Posted on by uwbdl

Wish you could access the software available on campus in the privacy of your own home? For students this spring, it’s possible! UW has adoped ViDA (Virtual Desktop Access), an online remote access software that will allow students to access both the Adobe Creative Suite and Windows 7 Enterprise from wherever there’s an internet connection.

ViDA is funded by the student technology fee, so it is a student-only service. To access it, students can log in with their UW NETID at vida.uw.edu. The site will work from a desktop browser on OS X, Windows, Linux, UNIX  or mobile device running Android, Blackberry, iOS or Windows Mobile. Keep in mind that although files can be saved locally, students should always save their work somewhere else as all files are erased upon logging off of the system.

To read more about ViDA, visit it’s UW IT page.

ViDA can be added to the list of exciting new technology UW has adopted this year, which includes Tegrity and UW WordPress Blogs.