February 2005 News

February 28, 2005 PRESENT offers an exciting opportunity for students to work with faculty applying technology to teaching. Students hired this spring will be considered for summer work and future assistantships. Qualifications:

• excellent communication skills
• technology savvy
• an interest in applying technology to educational problems
• matriculated at UD

Qualified students should e-mail Jeff Whisler with their resume indicating relevant work and technology experience.

February 28, 2005 The Dell™ UltraSharp™ 2005FPW 20.1-inch Flat Panel LCD Monitor is a wide aspect desktop display with advanced functionality. In addition to improved productivity with less scrolling and toggling, this monitor provides an excellent option for video editing as both source and destination video can be viewed in a single window. With 4 USB 2.0 ports, the 2005FPW provides convenient access for digital cameras and secondary hard drives. It also supports advanced features such as PIP (picture in picture) and PBP (picture by picture). To take a look, please schedule an appointment with PRESENT.

February 26, 2005 On March 4, 2005, from 1:00-2:00 p.m., the EDUCAUSE Live! series presents "Podcasting Possibilities." If you've never heard of podcasting, here's your chance to learn about it. If you've heard it's just a techie toy, this is your chance to learn otherwise. Podcasting could become a new way to connect students to higher education. Learn what podcasting is now, and what it is on its way to becoming.

This webcast will be available for viewing in PRESENT or you can register to view it elsewhere. Related sites:

• Podcasting page at EDUCAUSE
• iPodder site (not just for iPods)
• Podcasting pioneer Adam Curry
• Podcasting (and blogging) pioneer Dave Winer

February 24, 2005 Nancy O'Laughlin is joining the Information Technologies/User Services professional staff as an instructional designer. Regular readers of this web page may remember Nancy's first welcome as a doctoral graduate assistant in October, 2003. Since then, many faculty have come to appreciate Nancy's participation in their projects and assistance with their requests. Nancy brings experience in technical support and in teaching, including working with the National Assessment for Educational Progress. She finishes up her course work this spring and will move on to the next phase of the Ed. D. program.

February 22, 2005 Three faculty who have worked with PRESENT have written about their approaches to student writing in the January edition of UD Writing Center's "Writing from the Center" newsletter.

Joshua Duke, recipient of a 2004 Instructional Grant, describes his experience with student peer review in his Food and Resource Economics course in “Student Peer Review of Writing: Quality Improvements Beyond the Comments”.

James M. Dean's “Blogging as a Writing Tool” shows how blogging engages students in reflective thinking and informal communication that sharpens writing. This was also the basis for a January 2005 presentation at a WebCT Retreat for English 110 TAs.

In Louis F. Rossi’s article, “Writing as a Means of Facilitating Mathematical Reasoning in Students,” the 2004 Instructional Grant recipient demonstrates how implementing writing milestones engages students in the process of writing and encourages thoughtful, informed revision on longer mathematics projects.

For the full articles, visit the Writing Center's newsletter page.

February 21, 2005 This year's Winter Faculty Institute was a big success with excellent sessions and outstanding attendance. In keeping with the "win/win winter" theme, attendees at each session were entered into a raffle. Here is a list of the prizes and winners.

• Kingston USB flash memory (256 MB)
  • Eric Kmiec, Biological Sciences
  • Jo Kallal, Consumer Studies
  • Elizabeth Mansley, Sociology
• L. Dee Fink's book, Creating Significant Learning Experiences
  • Carolyn Bitzer, Women's Studies
• LogicTech QuickCam Pro
  • Susan Groh, Chemistry
• IOGear Phaser remote mouse
  • Dene Klinzing, Individual and Family Studies
• Olympus Stylus 500 digital camera
  • Barbara Lutz, English
• Apple iPod Mini
  • Jane Noble Harvey, Biological Sciences
• Apple iPod Photo
  • Ajay Prasad, Mechanical Engineering

Thanks to Apple Computer for their support. Pictured from top to bottom are Jo Kallal, Ajay Prasad, Jane Noble Harvey, and Dene Klinzing. For more information about any of the technologies listed above, contact PRESENT.

February 21, 2005 Innovate-Live webcasts offer an opportunity to synchronously interact with the authors of recent articles from Innovate. Produced as a public service by ULiveandLearn, online registration is required. Webcasts will be archived within the features section of the respective article.

Two Roads Diverged in a Wood: Productive Digression in Asynchronous Discussion
Joseph Ugoretz, author
Tuesday, February 22, 12:00 p.m.

February 9, 2005 You are invited to submit nominations for WebCT courses with exemplary instructional value. More details are available at WebCT Exemplary Application Contest.

February 8, 2005 March 9, 2-5 p.m. The creators of LabWrite will present the workshop "How to Use LabWrite: Helping Students Learn Science by Writing Better Lab Reports." See more info about LabWrite or register for this session online.

March 9, 2-5 p.m. "Searching the Web for Grants and Funding Sources for Museums" is for current or former participant in the Curatorial Apprenticeship Program, or other interested persons in museums or allied professions. Register for this session online.

April 12, 3:30-4:45 p.m. Thinking about developing a new winter or summer session study abroad program? Then please join us for an introductory "how-to" session, "The World as Classroom: Developing a Study Abroad Program Proposal." Register for this session online.

February 4, 2005 The "Digital Future" series examines changes in the way information is organized and classified. Upcoming shows air from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on C-SPAN and include the following topics.

• February 14: David Levy will discuss the shift of the experience of reading from the fixed page to digital, and the effect that has had on language.
• March 3: Lawrence Lessig will discuss digital copyright issues.
• March 14: Edward Ayers will address the implications of creating and distributing knowledge in today's digital environment.
• March 28: Neil Gershenfeld's talk is titled"From the Library of Information to the Library of Things."

More information is available from C-SPAN.

February 3, 2005 University of Delaware Information Technologies staff hosted visitors from the University of Ulster.

February 3, 2005 On January 28, User Services staff demonstrated portable technology for educators such as tablet computers, Apple iPods, hand-held video devices, and personal digital assistants. Product web pages are listed below:

• Archos gMini 400
• Creative Zen Portable Media Center
• Fisher FVD-C1 CameraCorder
• Margi Presenter-to-Go

For more information, contact PRESENT.