Issue 2: January, 2007

SOE Tech Info Newsletter

Tech@CofC

Classroom Training:

If you’re new to CofC’s technology-enhanced classrooms or if you’d just like a refresher, make sure to attend a classroom training session.  During these sessions, Mike Carlyle will go over how to use all the equipment in the rooms and answer any questions.  You can even have hands-on time with him if you ask for it.  The schedule for these sessions is below in the Calendar.  If you can’t attend one of these sessions, give me a call and we can set up something later in the semester.

Ode to Tomas Mendez

As many of you already know, Tomas left the College before the holiday break to work at the Franke at Seaside as their Director of Fitness I believe.  He will still be teaching in the Health and PE department but he won’t be in JC Long and we’ll miss him terribly.  We all wish him well in his new job.�

CHANGES TO CLASSROOM SUPPORT

The Classroom Support folks, Helpdesk,  and the Instructional Technologists have been meeting over the month of December to come up with some solutions to the problems with classroom support voiced by the Deans in November.  Let me begin by saying that the classroom support folks have been doing a fabulous job over the past year considering that there are only two technicians and one software person to maintain and repair ALL classrooms and labs on the entire campus including the North Area and Grice Marine Lab.  They should be commended for holding it together as well as they have.  Given that they are committed to providing the best service possible and have come up with solutions to the Deans’ concerns.  

 One of the first things to address is the problem of immediate support.  So, beginning January 4th, there will be a new option when calling the Helpdesk.  If you are experiencing ANY problems in a classroom, call the Helpdesk and then press “1”.  This option will connect you to a live person.  Our goal is to have this phone answered always.  When you press “1” the call will be transferred to a classroom support person who will attempt to diagnose the problem with you over the phone.  If it can’t be fixed quickly over the phone a technician will be dispatched to come to the class to fix your problem.  
Like I said, the goal is to always answer that phone so if the line is busy the call will roll to another phone.  Be patient.  You may need to wait through 5 or so rings before the phone is picked up.  When you do reach a person be sure to be specific about the problem.  Also, if possible, try to call from the classroom.  Unfortunately this means you’ll need to bring your cell phone or use a student’s phone.  If you call from the room the technician will do their best to help you fix your problem right there.
 

The second problem to address is that of evening support.  We currently do not have a technician on campus in the evening hours.  To address this problem the classroom support group will employ a team of students to man the Helpdesk phone from 5:00-10:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.  This is for classroom support only and will not apply to regular office computer problems.  While this will not be the same level of service that is available during the regular operating hours it should alleviate the majority of the problems that occur in the evening.
 

The final problem to be addressed is that of equipment preparedness and maintenance.  To help ensure that the classroom equipment is working properly on the first day of classes we have divided up the campus and have check each classroom and tested all the equipment in each room.  I personally have checked all the SOE rooms in ECTR and SILC.  Given that, I feel confident that all the rooms are in good working order at least for the first day of classes :)

I really hope this is going to help alleviate many of the classroom problems.  Remember,  you need to do your part.

★Call in any problems as soon as  you notice them.  Don’t assume someone else has called it in.

★Test your multimedia at least two days in advance. Items such as DVDs, Quicktime movies, etc. are the most finicky in the classroom.

★Plan ahead.  Make sure the software you need is on the machine before you come into the class.  If it’s not, the software technician will need at least a day to install it.�

Calendar

Classroom Training Sessions

  • Friday, Jan 5, 2007 - 9:00 to 11:00 in Education Center 216
  • Friday, Jan 5, 2007 - 3:00 to 5:00 in Tate Center 202
  • Thursday, Jan 11,  2007 - 3:00 to 5:00 in Education Center 103
  • Friday, Jan 12, 2007 - 9:00 to 11:00 in Education Center 103
  • Friday, Jan 19, 2007 - 9:00 to 11:00 in Education Center 216
  • Friday, jan 19, 2007 - 3:00 to 5:00 in Education Center 103

Spring Faculty Technology Institute

  • Application Deadline: January 15 and it is for prior FTI attendees only.  Dates are March 7-9.  To apply, contact me at benignim@cofc.edu.

Summer Faculty Tehnology Instutute

  • Application Deadline: February 6. 

Tech in K-12

United Streaming

United Streaming is a video library sponsored by Discovery Education geared toward K-12 education.  The videos are divided by subject, grade and thematic focus.  They can also be searched by curriculum standards.  It’s cool because the videos are divided into segments so you can use the entire video or only portions.  Also, many of them come with lesson plans, teacher guides and quizzes.  They can also be viewed online or downloaded to a computer for later viewing.  United Streaming is password protected but the State of SC has purchased licenses so it is available free to all state educational agencies and schools.  If you are interested in looking at this yourself let me know and I’ll send you the super-secret passcode that you’ll need to create an account :)

Social Bookmarking

Have you ever wanted to share a bunch of weblinks with your students easily and quickly and without having to know html or keep links organized by multiple classes or research projects?  Well now you can.  It’s called social bookmarking and basically consists of services that compile your bookmarks and make them available to others.  So why is this cool.  Because it’s easy to add and compile bookmarks that others, like your students, can access.  These bookmarks are categorized and some even allow you to rate them.  It’s also a nice tool for when you are doing research, to help you compile all your sources.  Citeulike is a site that is mainly for academic research and is suppose to create the cite from the articles your bookmark.  I, however, didn’t find it to work that well.  These sites are all free and most are pretty easy to use.  

To learn more you can check out these articles online:

 If you are interested in getting started and would like some help feel free to email me (benignim@cofc.edu)�