Piazza Integration with D2L

Piazza is an online discussion site, best used for student Q & A. It has some advantages over the D2L discussion board, such as a wiki functionality to allow for editing/collaboration, a way for students to initiate discussion topics, and a simple way for the instructor to validate responses without having to reply. An economics professor found Piazza, thought it might meet some needs that D2L was not meeting for her class, and noticed that it integrated with D2L. We explored this option and determined that moving forward with Piazza integration was a good idea. Our D2L admin, Roxie Muldoon, set up the integration and had some "lesson  she said I could share here:

·         I originally did not create the link for Piazza at the organization level on our D2L instance; once I recreated the link at the org level and also shared the link with every org unit within our organization:

then I was able to create the Piazza link in any D2L course

·         Also, create an institutional account in Piazza, not a personal account, to link to Piazza for the organization; I originally created an account in my name which resulted in other UWEC users seeing me as the “logged in” person in Piazza:

Piazza staff severed the connection between the Piazza link on our instance and my personal account

Users who want to add Piazza to the navbar or other course locations won’t see the that tool in the tool list as they may expect. To add Piazza or any integrated  tool to the navbar, follow these steps:

·         Access the navigation bar for your course (Edit Course à Navigation & Themes) and copy and activate the existing navigation bar if not already done

·         To add Piazza to your copied navbar, click on the name of the copied navbar in your course; in the desired area of the navigation bar, press  rather than “Add Links”

·         In the Create Custom Link dialogue box, name the link, i.e., Piazza

·         Press 

·         The Insert a Quicklink dialogue box appears

·         Choose External Learning Tools in the Type dropdown menu

·         The External Learning Tools dropdown menu appears; choose Piazza from the list and press Insert below

·         The Insert a Quicklink dialogue box disappears

·         Choose Same window or New window in the Behavior dropdown menu on the Create Custom Link dialogue box

·         Press Create

·         The Create Custom Link dialogue box disappears

·         SAVE your changes to your navigation bar; activate if not already done

·         The Piazza link should now appear on the navigation bar in your D2L course

LTDC Meeting: MOOCs, Google Apps, UW updates

I attended the LTDC meeting April 29-30 in Wisconsin Dells. LTDC stands for Learning Technology Development Council. Each University of Wisconsin including colleges and extension nominates a rep and a back up. I'm the UWEC rep. The reps' jobs and titles vary, but all have something to do with learning technology. It was a great experience to network with other learning technology professionals and to learn what is going on at other UWs. I’ve only been to a few of these meetings since I’m fairly new to the LTDC and they have been extremely valuable experiences. Here are the highlights of what I learned at this LTDC meeting - apologies for the length - it actually is a summary. It may not be very relevant to people outside of the UW system.

Keynote: Digital Learning and Data Systems Moving Forward Statewide - Kurt Keifer, WI Department of Public Instruction (DPI)

This was a joint keynote with all the other groups in the ITMC (Information Technology Management Council) about the Wisconsin K-12 movement toward incorporating more online learning into the curriculum. There are about 450 K-12 schools in WI, many who are very small, and the goal is to offer some standardized/vetted online content so that educators don't all have to spend so much time finding it individually. He also spoke about incorporating a standardized LMS across all K-12s, like the UW system has done with Desire2Learn. 

He had a Chrome book and indicated that they are becoming very popular in the K-12 environment because they are inexpensive and many K-12s use Google Apps for Education, so the integration works out well. A UWEC faculty member in Education mentioned this to me after my Windows 8 post - we have to remember who is going to be in the UW system in a few years and understand their experiences coming in to meet their expectations. Much of this was over my head, since I have limited knowledge of and experience with the K-12 system, so it was good for me to at least become aware of it. 

LaCrosse Math MOOC

This was also a joint presentation with the ITMC. Bob Hoar from UW-LaCrosse discussed their math MOOC. It started with a project the summer before in which they provided remediation to 37 students to get them to the level to take a for-credit math class (I may be off on my terminology!). They created online tutorials and all but one student gained the skills. When he saw the advertisement from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for a grant, they decided this would be a great project to pursue. About 1300 people signed up and about 10% have completed, typical of a MOOC. However, the course is technically not over. They are offering both a synchronous session and asynchronous lessons to meet learners' needs. This seems like a good use of a MOOC to me. There will be no credit offered, since the goal is just to build students' skills to move on and take math for credit. 

Madison MOOC Pilot

MOOC was the word of the day. Madison partnered with Coursera and will be offering 4 MOOCs in their pilot, possibly 16 later.

• More Than Just a High Score: Video Games for Learning (September 2013)

• Markets with Frictions (October 2013)

• Human Evolution: Past and Future (January 2014)

• Globalizing Higher Education and Research for the Knowledge Economy (January 2014)

At the time of this presentation there were already over 30,000 people registered; on average 518 registrations were coming in per day. 

Why did Madison decide to get into MOOCs? From Cheryl Diermyer, the Project Lead: "One of the reasons UW-Madison started the MOOC pilot is because it aligns with our campus wide Educational Innovation efforts (http://edinnovation.wisc.edu/). MOOC is just one of the many innovation efforts we are exploring. Another reason is because it aligns with The Wisconsin Idea (http://wisconsinidea.wisc.edu/)."

How is it funded? (Also from Cheryl) "The pilot is supported with philanthropy funds through the UW-Foundation. Coursera is grant funded and currently there is no expense to UW-Madison to use the Coursera platform.  We choose Coursera because many of our CIC institutions are already using Coursera and it's a good opportunity to learn from them. Also, because there is no cost to UW-Madison."

Kaltura

Kaltura is a media streaming solution that integrates with D2L and was recently piloted by some institutions in the UW system, including the College of Business. Programs that have been piloted and incorporated into common systems are the D2L e-portfolio and Blackboard Collaborate; learning analytics and Canvas are currently being piloted. The Common Systems Review Group has determined that Kaltura should be part of the common system and is included in the proposed budget. The budget will be voted on this summer. It has not increased since last year. It will be interesting for UWEC if we are able to use both V-Brick and Kaltura around the same time. 

Cooperative Extension Nexus 7 Pilot and Google Apps for Education

Extension is in the UW system but is bit of a different animal because their territory is the entire state. Therefore, mobility is particularly important. They decided to use Google Apps for Education because it allowed for easy collaboration and mobile access on all types of devices. They are still using traditional office products too, and they have not switched to Gmail. So their staff may have a personal Google account, along with their work Google account, and their UWEX account...that's a lot of usernames and passwords, but they said it is nice to have work/personal separation. 

They went with the Nexus 7 because of the price ($199) and how well it works with Google Apps, since it is a Google product. They chose the device after examining what they needed and decided on Google Apps. All staff received Nexus 7s. They emphasize that it is not meant to be a laptop replacement. The 7 does not allow a projector connection. 

Oshkosh uses Google Apps heavily and has integrated it with active directory so people use the same username and password for everything at UW-O. Milwaukee, LaCrosse, Whitewater, and Colleges also use it. So the contract has been approved by system attorneys and incorporating it elsewhere should not be particularly problematic.

Advantages of using Google Apps for Education over the regular, public version are that you can have 15 users in a Google hangout vs 10, there are more sharing options within your network, and Google does not "mine the data" or advertise. I think the last is the most important. 

Google Apps for Education is free. (Business and Government have costs though). However, Extension has 1 FTE dedicated to the Apps/Nexus situation. A challenge they cited was that Google keeps changing! 

Google does not attempt to take any intellectual property and all materials created by the user are the property of the user. This is true with the public/regular version. The only difference is the "mining" of data to provide advertisements. 

Institutions can choose which Apps they want. Common ones to include are Drive (formerly Docs), Google+ (which includes Hangouts), and Sites. Extension is using Google+ kind of like how we would ideally use Yammer. It is working very well for them and is creating a nice sense of community, particularly as they work through the initial phases of the Nexus pilot. 

A while ago, a faculty member asked about using Google Apps for Education because he wanted to have Hangouts with 15 students. I knew nothing about it at that point and asked the LTDC folks, who shared a lot of information and spurred this session. My conclusion was that implementing it was not as small of a task as Google's website makes it seem to instructors! 

Screencast-o-matic Saves the Day!

I just learned that students who had created an amazing movie with iMovie weren't able to export it for some reason, but LTS staff Beth and Brandon worked together to use Screencast-o-matic and Soundflower to record it while it was playing through iMovie. Soundflower was necessary to record the system audio, so the audio they recorded could be used at its original quality, rather than recording the audio coming out of the speakers with a mic.

So, remember that Screencast-o-matic (and Camtasia) can be used to record pretty much ANYTHING!

Tips for Recording Audio

Many people find it odd to record audio by themselves for online courses. Here are some tips to increase the quality of your recorded audio:

• Sit up straight or stand: Your breath and voice are obviously related. Good posture will help you project your voice better and let you take longer, deeper breaths. Standing will also make you feel more like you're presenting to an audience. 
• Smile: This sounds silly, but it is possible to hear when someone is smiling. Your voice will sound brighter and you'll seem more positive and personable. 
• Talk with your hands: Even if you're by yourself, try to act like you're speaking with another person or presenting to a group. Using your hands is part of that. 
• Be dramatic - add intonation: Speaking in your normal tone of voice in a video will seem more monotone than would if you were talking with someone face-to-face because we don't have the other communication cues. Turn it up a notch when you're recording audio, especially if there is no video to go with it. It may seem to you like you're exaggerating, but to your listeners it will seem normal since we're used to television voices that are way more dramatic than those in real life. 
• Speak from an outline, not a script: When you read a script, it is usually going to sound like you're reading a script. Having a conversational voice is important. Just make an outline with a plan of the things you need to cover so that you still sound extemporaneous but you cover everything. Reading a script also sometimes causes people to stumble because it's hard to look back and forth between the script and what's on your screen. 
• Don't speak too fast...or too slowly! There is a happy medium. If find you're out of breath, you're speaking too fast (or nervous - why are you nervous?! Chill out.). But speaking too slowly can cause your audience to be bored. If you're not sure about your pace, show the video to a few people and then ask if they thought you spoke too fast, too slowly, or just right. Don't bias them by telling them what you're looking for before they watch it though. 
• Do a test: If you're new, record a small bit and then listen to it and learn from what you're hearing. It's hard to determine what you sound like while you're recording. Recording an entire tutorial with something wrong is really disappointing. You may notice you overuse a transition word like "so" or "um."
• Start with something easy like a story, or your favorite topic: If you start by telling a story or with something you feel comfortable with, you could reduce the learning curve since you'll naturally have more intonation in your voice if you're excited about it. In online course development in general I recommend starting with whatever you find easiest so you have some small successes under your belt. 
• See if you can find someone to talk to, if you're into that kind of thing. I always prefer to record by myself so I can do it over and over again and not worry about someone watching me, but if you're used to talking to people, finding at least one person to talk to could help you get acclimated. Good people to snag would include significant others, family members, or student workers. Just make sure you still have a good mic set up.
• Have a drink nearby. Not that kind of drink! Hot water or tea with lemon or honey is best, but have at least a glass of water handy. I read you should avoid milk products 15 minutes before recording, I think because they cause you to produce more mucus. I find that when I'm highly caffeinated, it is not a good time to record because I speak really fast, plus I always use a ton of creamer in my coffee. 
• Pause and take a drink here and there. Don't treat it like a marathon. 

Speaking of mics...

• You can do everything above perfectly, but if your mic is messed up it won't matter. 
• Sometimes it is necessary to go into the control panel and adjust the levels if it's too quiet or loud. 
• Other times, the positioning isn't right and there are a lot of pops or mouth noises (you don't want your students to nickname you "the mouth breather"). If you're wearing a headset mic, you may need to move it up or down.
• One time I had a mic that picked up the air coming out of my nose too much and I had to position it awkwardly to get it further from my face. It sounded like I was wheezing! 
• Sometimes the program you're using continues to record from the built-in mic rather than the USB so it sounds like you're in a really big room. This can happen if you open the program and then plug in your mic. Always plug in the mic and then open the program. 
• If you're having trouble with the mic, ask for help. I am happy to help UWEC faculty. 
• Get the best mic you can. If you're going to be recording a lot of audio, invest in a good mic. I used to be happy with cheap Logitech mics, but it turns out Logitech is no longer producing consumer level mics and the last batch we got was just ok. I think I'm going to get a Blue mic soon but just haven't done the research yet. 
• If you use a free standing mic (vs a headset) speak very closely to it. 
• You can get even fancier and use a pop filter when you're recording with a free standing mic to avoid those popping p's. 

Feel confident that you'll continue to improve. The more you do it, the better you'll get. Same with anything. If it's your very first time recording audio, expect a slight learning curve. But don't be a perfectionist. It's usually not worth it. 

Oh, you may also want to put a note on your door that you're recording so you're not bothered when you're in the zone. Of course, turn off those outlook notifiers and your phone. 

Add any other suggestions in the comments, please! Thanks to Beth Kranz in LTS and the following websites (along with my experience) for the content.

• TechSmith YouTube Video
• Articulate article
• Random blog
• Videomaker article

Using Adobe Captivate for Branching Scenarios

Last semester I worked with a few faculty to try using PowerPoint for branching scenarios. What I mean by "branching scenario" is this: the learner clicks on the screen to make a decision and then they go to a different slide depending on what they chose, then they can continue to the next question or go back and try again. Another use would be a software simulation so that students get some practice clicking on the place on the screen they would if they were actually using the program. So, it's a low stakes way for students to practice and gain familiarity with feedback.

PowerPoint didn't work very well for this. So, I decided to re-explore Adobe Captivate. I used Captivate a lot at my last job and kind of hated it. I think it was version 4 then, and now 6 is out. It's like all Adobe products - lots of options. Although I used it a lot, I never felt like I really knew what I was doing. However, it has gotten better and now it publishes into HTML5 so it's accessible on iOS devices.

The biggest advancement in Captivate, to me, is it's integration with PowerPoint. You can do most of the work in PowerPoint - a much more user friendly environment - and then pull it into Captivate to add the buttons, branching, and quizzes. While you're working in Captivate, you can edit in PowerPoint and then go back to Captivate. Then it publishes into a Flash/HTML5 video so it plays much more consistently than it did when we were just using PowerPoint.

Another cool thing about Captivate is that it can create roll over captions, which means you put your mouse over something and then info pops up about it to explain a bit more. A very user friendly option for this functionality is Thinglink, but Thinglink is pretty much a stand-alone deal, whereas these Captivate roll overs can be incorporated right into a tutorial.

Captivate also does a great job with quizzing right in the tutorial and it now offers some advanced interactions like Articulate.

I haven't used it a lot, but I made a video showing what I know now about adding click boxes, buttons, and roll over captions. You'll probably want to make it full screen. It is in HD but takes a minute to focus once in full screen.

Windows 8 Tablets Part 2: Educational Applications

First, a little background...

I've been really interested in mobile learning for about two years. I read that mobile learning was going to be this amazing, innovative way to change individual classrooms and the entire landscape of education. All the technology blogs were, and many still are, mobile! mobile! mobile! I attended workshops and full conferences about mobile learning that psyched us up for it, mostly with the rationale: "This is where things are going. Everyone has a mobile device. We need to take advantage of that. We need to be prepared for it." But I'd walk away still wanting more specific information and examples of how it impacts higher ed. The examples were often really vague or the applications were really obvious ("use mobile devices to take pictures!").

Most of what I read about mobile learning/teaching in the elementary or middle school realm makes a lot of sense because touch screens can increase engagement in younger kids, but I don't think a lot of that applies to older students or college students.

The reality I've seen in higher ed is mobile devices being used as laptop replacements, often with limited or no app usage. Without a 1-1 program in which every student has the same type of device, determining apps that can work across multiple platforms is not easy. And what if the apps have a cost? Who pays for it?

Not all students at UWEC have a smart phone or tablet and we don't have classroom sets for most of the campus, so what I consider "true" mobile learning activities (things that really take advantage of the mobility of the device and apps) are a bit difficult to implement here. I've offered my help to figure out how to do things across multiple devices, with little interest.

Most of the uses for mobile devices I read about I thought could be done more simply, easily, and better on a computer. The vast majority of students here do have a laptop, so that's an advantage. Many faculty I worked with just wanted to do things how they do them on a computer - using Microsoft Word or saving on the hard drive, for instance (saving in the app is still a weird concept). There are so many work arounds with an iPad - it's possible to use it for a lot, but it just doesn't seem efficient.

Some mobile pilots I've heard about focused on e-books, but we have a text rental system here, so we will probably have paper for quite a while.

Here's the most important thing: Much of what I read about mobile learning was, and still is, "here are a bunch of cool apps." We need to focus on the teaching/learning need and then determine the technology rather than letting the technology dictate the teaching. When I found myself trying to make mobile work rather than integrating into my toolkit of options for use when it was most appropriate, I realized I needed to scale it back.

I believe that Windows 8 tablets change all of this. 

As of right now, I'd recommend Windows 8 tablets for any school with students 7th grade or higher considering purchasing mobile devices for a classroom set or a 1-1 program. That's a strong statement because I'm basically saying forget about iPads.

I believe iPads are best used for/with

1. Personal use for fun. There are so many games and I think they are nice to read on for pleasure, like a Kindle with more functionality. 
2. Young kids who don't need productivity software yet (the interface has always seemed kid-ish to me). They are very intuitive and now that iOS devices are so popular, skills transfer from one device to another. 
3. Discipline-specific apps, like those for special education, communication, etc. Apple will probably corner the market in disability accessibility for a long time. 
• My husband works in the audio industry and he kind of wants an iPad because they finally have created apps to control the devices he works with, but right now the apps are only on iOS. So, there are specific reasons, at least now. 
4. People who are in love with Apple products for no logical reason. Can't change them. 

People using iPads for mobile computer labs can now have the full computer experience with a Windows 8 tablet. They don't have to download apps (which is good because there aren't many) - they can just use a browser or download software. The IT department can make images for the devices that have the necessary software and they can be integrated with the university system so people can use their university credentials, no Apple ID required. (I'm not a "real" IT person, so correct me if my wording is off!) Basically, they are meant for enterprise management whereas iPads are more difficult to manage since they were primarily meant for personal use.

The main activity I thought had true value on a mobile device, that would work across OSs, are things involving taking pictures or video. The Windows 8 tablets have a camera facing both ways and a camcorder function, PLUS they can run real video editing programs. Students can really do all their video work on one device, plus everything else they need to do.

They are still ultra mobile, allow for writing with a stylus, and have a small profile. By "small profile," I mean they don't stick up high, putting a barrier in between the user and a person in front of them. There's value in that. 

When I attended a workshop a year ago on mobile learning, I thought the main thing we should do is provide mobile access to course content. The cool thing is that's not really necessary with Windows 8 tablets, but most students will not purchase one so mobile accessibility is still a good idea.

Faculty Use

Like I mentioned in the last section of Part 1 of my Windows 8 post, I think that it's a personal choice. There are faculty in math, science, and economics who need a way to to use their handwriting in order to create online tutorials - I'd definitely recommend a Windows 8 tablet to them because they are less expensive than a tablet PC (like the Dell XT3) and more functional than an iPad. My other recommendations now are a Wacom Bamboo (pretty unpopular, due to the effort required to have good handwriting) or a Livescribe pen. 

Overall, I would make sure to mention a Windows 8 tablet to anyone who is interested in purchasing an iPad since it may meet more of their needs and work as a crossover computer/tablet for them. 

Windows 8 Tablets Part 1: Review of the Surface Pro & Dell Latitude 10

Back in November I tried out the Surface RT tablet and liked it quite a bit, although at that time I still preferred my MacBook. This weekend I got to try out the Surface Pro and Dell Latitude 10, both with Windows 8. You can find the details and professional reviews all over the place, so I won't get into them here but basically these are basic laptops in tablet form - like an iPad that's actually a computer running Windows 8. I didn't get to really dig in and customize them over a long period of time, but I think I got a decent feel for them.

I got them at a perfect time, because I was training faculty on Camtasia a few hours later and I wasn't sure if everyone would have a laptop, so I decided to get the free trial of Camtasia on these tablets to see how they fared. Camtasia is a really important program to me for online course development. It can be used for screencasting as well as video editing in general. Two people used the the tablets during the training and it seemed fine. They jumped right in. I'd say the only difficulty was figuring out how to navigate between applications, which would be an issue with getting used to Windows 8. The only pervasive problem was that the tiny screen is not made for serious work, especially multimedia editing - but if you're doing this, you're typically going to have an external monitor. The mousepad built in to the Surface Pro's keyboard was important; the Dell definitely was found lacking without it. Overall, it was great to have them for this training because we were short on devices. The person who used the Surface wants to try it out for a longer period of time.

They both functioned the same for me overall: fine. The Dell seemed a little slow when I had 6 tabs open in Internet Explorer, a few in Chrome, and Outlook running. I had difficulty using my finger to close tabs or switch between tabs in Chrome - I could have used a stylus, but I don't want to. I'd definitely lose it. Also, it is not possible to make a Chrome window bigger just by pinching out with your thumb and forefinger, like you can on IE, so Chrome was basically unusable unless a monitor was connected because it was just too small to read (that was difficult to explain - hopefully it makes sense). Unfortunately, IE works much better than Chrome with the touch interface but when I used a mouse and a big monitor, Chrome was fine.

My only actual complaint is that I had a lot of difficulty connecting to wireless and it was slow to reconnect. You can't count "always on" as a benefit of a mobile device when it won't easily connect to the wireless. I don't know if this was an odd situation for me or a common problem, but it was frustrating and it happened both at my house and a coffee shop. When I got back on campus it was fine though.

The Dell is probably a better option because it is a lot less expensive and it has a longer lasting, removable battery and a docking station. I really didn't have a preference between the two as far as functionality goes though. I read that there are issues with the speakers going out on the Dell right now, but they are covered under the warranty.

Accessories

Dell with Kensington Keyfolio case & keyboard

Surface Pro with Type Cover

Dell Latitude 10: The Dell came with the Kensingon keyfolio Bluetooth case and keyboard and I really was not impressed. First, the keyboard had trouble connecting for me and I had to restart it to work (could be user error, I admit, but I didn't have any problems with the Surface). It is very odd how the tablet just sticks to a sticky area in the case; I wonder how long the stickiness will last. Finally, there's just a lot of material that makes up the case. I don't think it's cleanable either.

Surface Pro: I am a big fan of the Surface Pro's kickstand and the awesome click-in type cover keyboard with mousepad (don't bother with the weird touch cover keyboard). I admit there is something about the click that is appealing. I just want to emphasize that having a mousepad on the keyboard was a huge advantage over the Dell case. That makes it truly a combo tablet and a laptop. It seems well thought out and is very cleanable - a key characteristic to me. The kickstand is brilliant. The Surface is the clear winner in the accessories department, compared to the Dell case I have now. However more cases will come out, so this is probably just a temporary win (I hope, because the Dell is better in the battery and price department).

Would I Buy One? (or ask my supervisor if I can get one?)

I'm on the fence right now, mostly because they are so new and there will probably be a better option soon (Samsung?). I don't feel I'm lacking with a Macbook Pro and an iPad because I don't mind using the Mac primarily and the iPad when I need portability, which isn't often. The main reason I have an iPad is to test things at work - I don't think I ever would have bought one myself. I kind of dislike Apple in general, but I love my Mac. My first smart phone was an iPhone but since then I've had Motorola Droids. So I try to be technology agnostic. But I digress.

If I was deciding between an iPad or Windows 8 tablet right now, I'd definitely get a Windows 8 tablet. Not a bit of hesitation - I primarily use a browser or apps that are fine within the browser on the iPad anyway. YouTube on the iPad has been really annoying every since they got rid of the YouTube app; the Windows 8 tablets' wide screen is amazing for watching videos. I could deal with IE until other browsers get better. I don't hate Windows 8, on a touch screen anyway.

However, if I had to decide between a new computer - let's say a Macbook Air, which I've been wanting for years - or a Windows 8 tablet right now, I think I'd go Macbook Air, assuming I already have a tablet since I do. This is because I like a bigger screen all the time and don't really care that much about having a touch screen, personally.

But if I didn't have anything and I needed something now, I'd go with a Windows tablet because it can do it all. I think I'd go Surface Pro mostly because of the case if money was not a big concern. I'd want to try it for a longer period of time and really customize it before deciding for sure though.

That's just my opinion! The beauty of technology now is that there are so many options to meet peoples' needs. 

Check out Part 2 of my Windows 8 Tablet posts: Educational Applications.

Kensington keyfolio case image from http://www.dell.com/Learn/us/en/26/help-me-choose/hmc-latitude10-accessories?c=us&l=en&s=k12
Surface Pro image from http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/five-great-things-about-the-microsoft-surface-pro-20130212/