FeedTier - RSS Web Feed Generator for Web Pages without Syndication

FeedTier is a web feeds generator for web pages without an existing syndication format. FeedTier performs content analysis, picks-up the most prominent cluster of hyperlinks and automatically generates RSS web feeds from web pages without existing sydincation options. FeedTier is an experimental service and free for personal use.

Blackboard and Microsoft - Sharepoint Services

Blackboard Media Center: "Blackboard and Microsoft Cooperate to Integrate Administrative and Academic Collaboration Products

New Development Initiative Provides Enhanced User Experiences That Are More Easily Managed Through Joint Standards-Based Integration Project

ORLANDO, FL, Oct 18, 2005 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX News Network) -- Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) and Microsoft announced today at the EDUCAUSE 2005 annual conference, a joint development project intended to help academic institutions achieve a higher degree of integration and interoperability between their respective portal and collaboration products. The project will result in tighter integration between The Microsoft Office System and The Blackboard Academic Suite(TM) via standards-based integration of The Blackboard Community System(TM) and Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server.

'With this program we plan to bring closer together the administrative power of Microsoft SharePoint with the academic collaboration capabilities of the Blackboard Community System and the Blackboard Content System,' said Todd Gibby, Executive Vice President of Operations at Blackboard."

The Campus Computing Project

The Campus Computing Project
Begun in 1990, The Campus Computing Project is the largest continuing study of the role of information technology in American higher education. The project's national studies draw on qualitative and quantitative data to help inform faculty, campus administrators, and others interested in the use of information technology in American colleges and universities. The US Campus Computing Project also provides the foundation for affiliated research projects in other nations, including Brazil Canada, China, and Hong Kong.

Each year some 600 two-and four-year public and private colleges and universities in the United States participate in the annual Campus Computing Survey, which focuses on campus planning and policy issues affecting the role of information technology in teaching, learning, and scholarship.

Research Resources

Research Resources (ResearchResources.info) is a Subject Tracer™ Information Blog developed and created by the Virtual Private Library™. It is designed to bring together the latest resources and sources on an ongoing basis from the Internet for research which are listed below. We always welcome suggestions of additional sites and resources to be added to this comprehensive listing and please submit by clicking here. This site has been developed and maintained by Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A.; Internet expert, author, keynote speaker, and consultant. His latest white papers include Searching the Internet, Academic and Scholar Search Engines and Sources, and Knowledge Discovery Resources 2005. All of his Subject Tracer™ Information Blogs and his white papers are available from WhitePapers.us.

WFU first with campus pilot of pocket PC phones

WFU first with campus pilot of pocket PC phones

By Cheryl Walker
Aug. 24, 2005

Pocket PC phones will be in the hands of about 100 Wake Forest University students this fall as the university begins what may be the nation's first pilot program to explore potential campus uses for the latest in converged mobile technology.

The pilot program, called MobileU, will explore the ways students are already communicating and find out if one mobile device can meet their needs and enhance academic and student life.

A Pocket PC phone.

"What we've seen over the past two or three years is students moving away from more traditional messaging like e-mail to newer technologies such as instant messaging and text messaging," said Jay Dominick, chief information officer at Wake Forest. "Student communication patterns are diverging. We want to find out if we can use mobile technology to close that gap, to deliver new things in ways students want to get them."

The Pocket PC phones in the pilot combine the functions of a cell phone and a mobile computer with wireless access and are equipped with instant messaging, text messaging and various customized software. Participants in the pilot will provide feedback on specific applications, but are also encouraged to come up with their own creative uses for the devices.

The pilot program will focus on three key functions: mobile messaging (such as instant messaging, text messaging); mobile access to information (including a calendar, the campus information network and specialized features such as campus shuttle bus tracking and laundry monitoring); and control over the device (including features such as turning off the ringer during a student's scheduled class times).

Using voice as the unique way to interface with the device is a key part of the pilot, Dominick said.

Some of the voice-enabled software applications students will test were developed by four interns, including Wake Forest junior Thomas Whaples, working this summer in IBM's Extreme Blue internship program. One application uses GPS tracking to allow students to ask the Pocket PC phones how many minutes it will take for a campus shuttle bus to arrive at their stop. Another application, LaundryView, allows students to use voice commands to find out how many washers and dryers are currently in use to avoid wasting time in the laundry room waiting for available machines.

Herecast, a location-based software application that will be on all of the pilot program's Pocket PC phones, allows messages to be "left" in a particular physical space and accessed through the wireless network by anyone who enters that space. For example, a professor could leave a virtual message describing how a particular painting in a university gallery relates to a class discussion and anyone using the Herecast software could see the message on a PocketPC phone.

About 60 of the pilot participants volunteered for the project. They range from incoming freshmen to seniors.

A group of about 10 students in the pilot program live together in the university's Technology Quarters, a theme house for those with a special interest in technology. This group will test the PocketPC phones as well as other technology and provide feedback to the Information Systems staff.

Forty-five of the students in the pilot are enrolled in a chemistry 111 class taught by Professor of Chemistry Bob Swofford. The class will help the university figure out potential academic advantages of the devices.

"It will tie in the penchant students already have for messaging," Swofford said. "We'll find out if we can improve our ability to contact them and their ability to communicate with each other and if they take advantage of wireless networks and PDA capability."

Swofford wants to explore what these devices can do to help get students more engaged with course material outside the classroom. He will experiment with sending audio attachments directly to students to preview topics for class or review key points. He will also look for other ways he might get students to stay more connected with their classmates.

Feedback from the students will help the university decide whether or not to consider providing similar devices to all students in the future, Dominick said.

The latest survey of the Pew Internet and American Life Project released in July highlighted the increasing importance technology plays in the daily lives of most teens. Of those surveyed, 45 percent had their own cell phones and 33 percent used text messaging. Sixty-five percent of teens said they used instant messaging and more than 90 percent said they had a computer.

"Somebody's going to be providing the technology," Dominick said. "We want to investigate whether we as a university can do it and integrate the technology so that it provides some advantage."

Known as a technology leader in higher education, Wake Forest was among the first universities in the country to provide laptop computers to its students. For the past four years, the university has been experimenting with mobile computing pilot programs to find out what technology is most useful in an academic environment. This is the first pilot involving the Pocket PC phones and the campus wireless network.

Podcasting News: Purdue Plans Academic Podcasts

Podcasting News: Purdue Plans Academic Podcasts: "Purdue Plans Academic Podcasts
August 29, 2005

This year at Purdue University, students won't just be listening to the latest tunes on their MP3 players. Students also will be using the devices to replay class lectures.

'Many universities are experimenting with podcasting, but I'm not aware of any other university that is deploying a podcasting service on the scale that we are,' says Michael Gay, manager of Broadcast Networks & Services for Information Technology at Purdue. 'As far as I know, we are the only university that is offering both streaming and podcasting of lectures in this manner as a central university service.'

Students and faculty will be able to listen to podcasts of some large lectures on campus beginning immediately. Any faculty member can request that their course be available via the podcasting service, which is called BoilerCast.

'Once the students have this set up, they don't have to revisit the Web site to get the content,' Gay says. 'The most recent lectures of the courses they've subscribed to will be downloaded to their computer - and possibly to their media player - automatically.'

Justin Williams, a senior in computer technology at Purdue, says that he's been asking individual instructors to podcast their courses for the past year.

'Having the audio of lectures and review sessions is a great way to complement the presentation slides many professors already offer,' Williams says. 'Being able to subscribe to the BoilerCast feed and have the new lectures automatically synchronized with my iPod sweetens the deal even more.'

BoilerCast audio content also can be streamed to a person's computer if they don't want to download a file.

BoilerCast lectures have several advantages. Among them:

* Students are able to repeat lectures at their convenience, whether that's while exercising, driving or walking on campus.
* Non-native English speaking stud"

Blogger Help : About Blogger for Word

Blogger Help : About Blogger for Word: "About Blogger for Word

Blogger for Word is a free add-in for Microsoft Word that lets you save a Word document as a post to your Blogger blog with just a few clicks, and without even opening up a browser. Blogger for Word makes it even easier to express yourself online, save your documents to the web, and edit your work both online and off.

With Blogger for Word, publishing a Word document to your blog is just as seamless as saving it to your computer, and it's easy to get started; all you need to do is download and install the Blogger for Word add-in, and three buttons appear in your Word toolbar:

* Publish creates and publishes a new post from the text in your document.
* Open Post enables you to edit your last 15 Blogger posts in Word.
* Save as Draft enables you to keep a post unpublished; it will appear in your Blogger account, but not publicly on your blog.

System Requirements

The Blogger for Word add-in requires Microsoft Windows 2000 or higher and Microsoft Word 2000 or higher. You can use your existing Blogger username and password; if you need a Blogger account, sign up now for a free account and blog."

Blogger: Download Blogger for Word

Blogger: Download Blogger for Word: "Blogger for Word

Now you can use Blogger right within Microsoft� Word. Just download and install the Blogger for Word add-in and a Blogger toolbar will be added to Word allowing you to:

* Publish to your blog
* Save drafts
* Edit posts"

elgg.net :: the learning landscape

elgg.net :: the learning landscape: "What is Elgg?

Elgg is a personal learning landscape with the goal of connecting learners, instructors and resources creating communities of learning. More: About Elgg.
Elgg - concept diagram

What does Elgg do?

Elgg lets you set up a personal presence online and then use it to interact with others!

Create your own weblog, journal, store of files like photos and Word documents, communities, social networks.

Use Elgg to enhance reflective thought, your development, your resource base.

Share them with your friends, teachers, instructors and other Elgg users. YOU decide who can see what!
More: Elgg Features"

Online Course Readiness - A Rubric??

Online Course Readiness: "Curriculum and Instruction
Faculty Responsibility and Support
Roles and Mission
Library and Learning Resources
Student and Academic Services
Evaluation and Assessment
Academic Honesty
Online Pedagogy Principle of Course Readiness"

Creating an RSS Feed File

Stephen's Web ~ by Stephen Downes ~: "How to Create an RSS Feed With Notepad, a Web Server, and a Beer

Stephen Downes
July 29, 2003

An RSS (Rich Site Summary) feed is an XML file used to describe the contents of your website. As your website content changes, your RSS feed changes. Other computer systems, known as 'aggregators' or 'harvesters', read your RSS feed everyt once in a while. If you have provided new information, the aggregator takes that information and sends it to readers around the world. Thus information about your site's contents is 'syndicated', that is, rebroadcast to a much larger audience."

VT Faculty Development Institute Home

VT Faculty Development Institute Home: "
The Faculty Development Institute (FDI) seeks to improve the quality of teaching and research at Virginia Tech by offering comprehensive programming grounded in sound principles of learning. FDI provides a supportive environment in which faculty can explore the ways in which the integration of technology improves the effectiveness of teaching and learning as well as expands the horizons of current research practices."

Learning Objects and Training on Academic Integrity- CIP, UMUC

Learning Objects - CIP, UMUC

NVC Faculty Resource Kit: Encouraging Academic Integrity

NVC Faculty Resource Kit: Encouraging Academic Integrity: "
Online Instructional
Design & Pedagogy
Encouraging Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is essential to learning. Northwest Vista College is committed to creating and fostering an environment that encourages and rewards academic integrity at all levels. To do this, we foster the fundamental values of academic integrity: honesty, trust, respect, fairness, and responsibility in all our actions, assignments, assessments and communications. (These values were identified by The Center for Academic Integrity in their Fundamental Values Project.)

To achieve our goal, we are committed to the Ten Principles of Academic Integrity, as defined by Donald L. McCabe and Gary Pavela:

1. Affirm the importance of academic integrity.
2. Foster a love of learning.
3. Treat students as ends in themselves.
4. Promote an environment of trust in the classroom.
5. Encourage student responsibility for academic integrity.
6. Clarify expectations for students.
7. Develop fair and relevant forms of assessment.
8. Reduce opportunities to engage in academic dishonesty.
9. Challenge academic dishonesty when it occurs.
10. Help define and support campus-wide academic integrity standards."

Learning Resources - Academic Integrity at FSU

Learning Resources - Academic Integrity
While using the Internet, you'll want to retain your academic integrity and help your students retain theirs. Such integrity includes understanding intellectual property and the correct use of copyrights, and detecting and combating plagiarism. To help you, we provide links to online courses, tutorials, and documents.

Technology-Enabled Teaching/eLearning Dialogue

Technology-Enabled Teaching/eLearning Dialogue: "Distributed Learning Meets Intellectual Property Policy: Who Owns What?

By Dr. Veronica Diaz,
Learning Technologies Manager,
Adjunct Professor
University of Arizona

The rise of eLearning and technology in higher education—including distance education, digital repositories, and electronic courseware products—has changed the way faculty and institutions regard ownership and control of these materials. A new market exists for products that previously had little or no commercial value, especially as institutions become more adept and profitable at delivering and marketing distributed learning courses and programs. In turn, this has created a need for higher institutions to revise their existing intellectual property (IP) policies.

The authority and responsibilities of faculty members in this digital era regarding how courses are developed, taught, and maintained are in flux, and many existing institutional policies fail to address important questions raised in this changing environment. Distributed learning is vastly different from what has traditionally been covered with copyright (books, articles) and brings with it several important areas that must be addressed to ensure its long-term viability and proliferation."

eLearning Advisory Group - UMB

Resource Directory: "The campus eLearning Adivsory Group was formed in January 2001 (as the Blackboard Advisory Group) to make recommendations on the configuration, use and administration of Blackboard and other eLearning technologies at the University of Maryland Baltimore. The group is composed of administrators, faculty, and staff from each school, the HS/HSL, and the Center for Information Technology Services (CITS). The group meets monthly to discuss eLearning issues on campus.

If you have issues that you would like to be addressed by the committee, please contact your School or department representative:"

Georgetown University - Blackboard Advisory Group

E-NOTES, SPRING 2001 -- BLACKBOARD: "The other new body is the Blackboard Advisory Group. This committee, consisting of staff and faculty from many different departments, will assist in the development of policies and procedures for the Blackboard system. The collaboration of this committee with the Blackboard implementation team will strive to provide a robust, yet fully functional and user-friendly course management system."

Blackboard Advisory Group at Duke University

Blackboard at Duke Help - About Blackboard at Duke - Advisory: "Blackboard Advisory Group

The Blackboard Advisory Group was formed in Spring 2002 to advise Blackboard administrators on the configuration, use and administration of Blackboard at Duke. The group is composed of faculty and/or IT support staff from each Duke school, Duke Libraries, the Center for Instructional Technology and the Office of Information Technology. The Group meets about once a month during the school year.

If you would like to have an issue addressed by the Blackboard Advisory Group, please bring it to the attention of a representative from your school or department."

Seeing Math™: Bringing Mathematical Thinking Into Focus

Seeing Math™: Bringing Mathematical Thinking Into Focus: "Today's students need a strong grasp of mathematics to succeed both academically and in the job market. Seeing Math™ helps teachers, schools and districts rise to the challenge. Seeing Math™'s online professional development programs use interactive software, illustrative video, guided discussion and standards-driven content to:

* Equip teachers with the knowledge and instructional strategies to engage, motivate and lead students to math success.
* Provide schools and districts a flexible and cost-effective solution to address rigorous standards, meet staff development needs and improve student achievement.
* Help new and veteran teachers gain insight into how students think about mathematics."

eSchool News Ed-Tech Insider

eSchool News Ed-Tech Insider:

The Worst Thing About Best Practices

MarketingProfs.com - Printer Friendly Version: "The Worst Thing About Best Practices
by Michael W. McLaughlin
June 21, 2005

Excerpts from an interesting perspective...

Granted, best practices can jog your thoughts and maybe even inspire you. But as a tool for guiding strategic initiatives, it's a real loser. One company's best practice can too easily become another company's sunk cost.

Here are four reasons you should dump best practices:

1. They rarely work. A company's best practices work in the context of its business processes, culture, systems and people. Plucking a best practice and trying to graft it onto another organization will produce unpredictable results.

In one instance, a company forced its entrepreneurial salespeople to adopt a tightly controlled sales process, with automated tools for all large accounts. The company mandated the new process and system because it was touted as a best practice in sales force management. After a year of trial and error, the company's salespeople dumped the tool, complaining about declining sales productivity. For the company, it was a multimillion-dollar mistake.

2. It's a follower's strategy. In an era of demands for innovative products and services, why give your customers recycled answers? A company that really wants a customer order process that looks like everyone else's is likely to lose the battle of market differentiation. Relying on best practices will doom your customers to mediocrity in the long run, and hurt your reputation as well.

3. Change comes from within. People rarely respond well to implementing some other company's ideas. In fact, having best practices come down from on high usually causes resentment. Let people create their own solutions using their in-depth knowledge of the company's customers, suppliers, employees and processes. That will result in ownership of the ideas and determination to get results.

4. They don't come with a manual. Business books and benchmark reports are full of snippets about best practices, yet they rarely explain what to do with them. You may have read that it's a best practice to process a customer product return in 24 hours, but there's little guidance for meeting that objective. It's also quite possible that the organizational change necessary for your customer to achieve the goal isn't even remotely feasible.

Designing Dynamic Online Lessons with Multimedia Representations

SnelsonFinal.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Designing Dynamic Online Lessons with Multimedia Representations Chareen Snelson, Boise State University Abstract The focus of this paper is on the use of multimedia representations in the online lesson. The information presented here may be of interest to online instructors with varied levels of experience, yet it is geared more toward those who are new to online teaching. A central feature of this paper is the importance of the lesson plan, which can include identification of how multimedia will be used to create instructional messages for the lesson. The potential exists to increase the quality of instruction through the careful use of static and dynamic multimedia representations. Support for the use of multiple representations is documented in the research literature.

student retention - student experience

student retention - student experience: "The Beatty-Guenter Retention Strategy Model:
Beatty-Guenter categorises retention strategies into 5 groups; sorting, supporting, connecting, transforming students and transforming the university.

Sorting and Supporting Strategies are both Reactive in that they are a coping response to either the characteristics of the applicants or to the students recruited. Connecting strategies are Integrative as they attempt to bridge the world of the student and the world of the university. Transforming strategies are Proactive as they aim to effect profound change on both the student and the institution.

Beatty-Guenter, concludes that the key to truly effective overall approaches to improving retention is balance between the five categories - both in terms of ensuring that the retention approach is not too heavily focused in one or two areas, but also ensuring that strategies in one category are complementary to those in another. "

Blogtalk Downunder � Papers & Presenters

Blogtalk Downunder � Papers & Presenters

WCET 17th Annual Conference

WCET 17th Annual Conference: "Join us….and re-imagine the academic ecosystem!

The WCET annual conference will be held at the Astor Crowne Plaza hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 2-5, 2005.

In response to the increasing demands on higher education, institutions are finding creative ways to use e-Learning and other technology-supported services. Can some of the best practices from institutions around the world inspire a new image for higher education in a global economy? Can we develop a cohesive vision for a new academic ecosystem that incorporates what we have discovered about e-learning, both from our past errors and “e-llusions” and our current successes in policy, pedagogy, and services? Join us and find out.

Check out the program and make plans to attend the best conference on higher education's e-learning policies, practices, and services."

Faculty Development Resource Links

Program Design Long laundry-type list of online resources for faculty development.

Grassroots Real-Time Collaboration Tools And Their Differences With Enterprise Conferencing Solutions - Robin Good's Latest News

Grassroots Real-Time Collaboration Tools And Their Differences With Enterprise Conferencing Solutions - Robin Good's Latest News: "Grassroots Real-Time Collaboration Tools And Their Differences With Enterprise Conferencing Solutions"

More Information about RSS Feeds

More Information about RSS Feeds: "More Information about RSS Feeds

This is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to RSS Feeds, but the following resources may be of assistance."

FRC Blackboard Faculty Resource Center - Joliet Junior College

Good working example of a Blackboard support site...

Blackboard Faculty Resource Center - Joliet Junior College

The Blackboard Faculty Resource Center is an online resource developed to aid instructors in the use and navigation of the Blackboard course management system.

FRC

JJC: Distance Education: Blackboard Pre-Semester Checklist

JJC: Distance Education: Blackboard Pre-Semester Checklist: "Blackboard Pre-Semester Checklist
Before instructors begin the semester, it is recommended that they use this checklist as a guide to review their course sites and prepare for the upcoming semester."

Too Cool (or Too Much Time Spent in Front of a Computer)

TWU Family Sciences Team Wins International Online Course Contest

TWU Family Sciences Team Wins International Online Course Contest: "TWU Family Sciences Team Wins International Online Course Contest
4/13/05

Blackboard (R)DENTON — A Texas Woman’s University family sciences team has brought international recognition to the university with a winning entry in a contest that recognizes outstanding online courses.

The team was one of five winning teams in Blackboard’s Bbionic Course Contest™. Educators from the international, K-12 and U.S. higher education communities submitted a total of 69 entries representing a diverse range of course titles. Each of the five winning teams received $5,000 during the Blackboard� Users Conference, held April 12-14 in Baltimore, Md.

The TWU team’s entry was its first in a Learning Management System contest. The team — comprised of assistant professor Mary Bold, associate professor Karen Petty, professor Lillian Chenoweth, and family sciences graduate assistant Sadguna Anasuri — chose to enter the Blackboard contest because it’s the primary web-based course delivery system for TWU, Dr. Bold said.

The course the TWU team chose for its entry was family sexuality, a regular course in the online family studies master’s program. Though the course has been taught for nearly two decades on campus, 2004 marked the first year it was taught completely online, Bold said.

“We had intentionally built a lot of interaction into (the online course),” she said. “We knew we had produced a rich environment.”

The Blackboard Bbionic Course Contest™ was designed to recognize technologically rich and pedagogically sound online courses. The contest featured a lengthy set of guidelines, Bold said, including requiring participants to explain the choices they’d made in implementing the online course. The judges also considered the number of different supports (for visual learners, technical learners, etc.) built into the course.

“Because we teach a graduate program, we do expect our students to be engaged learners,” Bold said. “Still, we did put a lot of attention into the online course, blending many different styles of interaction.”

The team was surprised and excited at winning the contest, Bold said. No decision has been made as to how to spend the prize money, which will be divided among the four team members."

Techlearning > > The Five Essentials of Technology Facilitators: Successful On-Site Help for Technology Integration > April 1, 2005

Techlearning > > The Five Essentials of Technology Facilitators: Successful On-Site Help for Technology Integration > April 1, 2005

BlogMatrix - Sparks!

BlogMatrix - Sparks!: "BlogMatrix Sparks! 2.0 gives you a one-stop solution for recording, sharing and listening to podcasts. In one package, you get:

* a multi-track recorder and mixer designed especially for the needs of podcasters
* automatic uploading of your podcasts to the BlogMatrix server
* a full featured podcatcher for listening to other’s podcasts

Sparks! 2.0 removes the technical and financial barriers to podcasting. Now everyone can easily share their views, thoughts, experiences and interests and join the emerging podcasting community."

Stephen's Web ~ by Stephen Downes ~ Projects & Collaborations

Stephen's Web ~ by Stephen Downes ~ Projects & Collaborations: "Projects & Collaborations

Some of the most interesting thinking on learning and technology I've seen . . .

timeline creator - faculty resource for teaching...

timeline creator: "This tool allows individuals without multimedia development skills to create an interactive timeline for teaching or presentation purposes that can be published on the World Wide Web or displayed directly from a computer. The interface can display up to six simultaneous timelines to compare and contrast various 'events' with descriptive text and digital images."

Thomas Winston Thorpe » Blog Archive » BB UC 05: Mobile Learning with Blackboard: Using PocketPC in a Wireless Environment

Thomas Winston Thorpe » Blog Archive » BB UC 05: Mobile Learning with Blackboard: Using PocketPC in a Wireless Environment: "BB UC 05: Mobile Learning with Blackboard: Using PocketPC in a Wireless Environment

Access to Blackboard with a PDA"

Blackboard Building Blocks Open Source Free Downloads

Blackboard Building Blocks Open Source: "
Search Content This tool allows students/staff to search for text within a course. The extension will allow the user to choose whether to search folder names, item names, and/or item descriptin fields. Full regular expressions are supported.
My Faculty Tools Provides tools that allow instructors to create a course, copy a course, delete a course, and import a course.
Who's Online tool allows Blackboard system administrator to determine how many active users are on the system.
LinkMaker LinkMaker is a Blackboard Building Blocks plugin that facilitates inclusion of links to various electronic resources provided by a library in course content pages.
Frequently Asked Questions Tool This extension is a Tool that staff can use to develop a list of Frequently Asked Questions for viewing by students. The questions are grouped into categoreis to help manage large banks of questions. The interface is closely modelled on the Dicussion Forum - categories/threads can be expanded to view the list of questions/messages. Categories and questions can be collated for viewing or printing and there is a search facility.
RefWorks " This open source RefWorks Bridge Extension for Blackboard (a "Building Block" in Blackboard parlance) developed jointly by RefWorks and Northwestern University provides one-click access to RefWorks databases

Blackboard Building Blocks Open Source

Blackboard Building Blocks Open Source: "About BB-OpenSource.Org

Welcome to the Blackboard Building Blocks Open Source distribution site. This site contains open source and freeware Building Blocks software tools built for use with the Blackboard 5.5 e-Education Suite of Software.

The primary purpose of this site is to provide a resource for Blackboard customers to find and use Open Source Blackboard Building Blocks applications. The open source software available on this site has been authored by many generous individuals and organizations. It is through their efforts that these useful and high quality software packages exist.

This site also provides a community home for developers who are interested in creating Open Source Building Blocks applications. Support for developers is available through the Bb-Open_Src listserv (see sidebar). Within the community, we hope to:

* Provide great examples of open-source, full-featured Building blocks applications.
* Encourage the development of an abundance of new, high-quality Building blocks.
* Provide a starting place for developers who desire some help in getting started with Building Blocks development."

Bblog: The Blackboard Weblog

Bblog: The Blackboard Weblog: "Did we forget to post about this yesterday? It definitely deserves it's own post.

During his Product Roadmap speech, Matthew mentioned the RSS Building Block under development by Matt Hartman of the University of Cincinnatti. Matt's got a few more tweaks to make before he's ready to release it, but the demo he gave in the Building Block booth today was sweet.

Basically, the RSS Building Block defines RSS as a content type in the Blackboard Learning System. The instructor can now grab an RSS or Atom feed, insert it into the course content, decide whether students will view headlines or the full item, and set caching on the feed. When the student views the course, it will automatically go out and grab the RSS feed (depending on the caching parameters) and display the updated content inside the course. Great way for instructors to include weblog content, news feeds, etc. in their course.

Kudos to Matt Hartman and his collaborators on the bb-opensource mailing list for their work on this cool Building Block."

Archives of BLKBRD-L@ASU.EDU

Archives of BLKBRD-L@ASU.EDU: "March 2005
"

Techlearn - Emerging Technologies

Techlearn Introduction: "TechLearn provided advice and support to further and higher education on new and emerging technologies that support learning and teaching.
The portfolio of technologies and issues covered is listed below. Please select for further details."

Blackboard China

Blackboard China: "CERNET-Blackboard Information Technology Company
CERNET-Blackboard Information Technology Company (CerBibo) serves the e-learning needs of universities, schools, and other education institutions throughout China. Combining the client relationships and local expertise of CERNET Corporation (http://www.cernet.com) , a spin-off of the Ministry of Education, with the product set of Blackboard Inc. (www.blackboard.com), the world's leading provider of e-learning software solutions, the company is well-situated to offer Chinese education institutions a unique approach to their e-learning strategic planning and implementations.

CERNET was begun by the Chinese Ministry of Education in 1994, and over the last decade has developed a network linking more than 1,000 uniiversities in China. Today it provides internet and other network management service to universities as well as schools located throughout China. CERNET is the second largest internet network operating in China today, serving more than 15,000,000 registered users.

Blackboard and CERNET have created a joint venture company, CerBibo, in 2003 in order to meet the needs of the Chinese education system. Today the company has sales, marketing, and operations staff located out of its headquarters in Beijing, China.

For more information, please viist the company's website at www.cerbibo.edu.cn, or contact them via email at: cbb@cerbibo.edu.cn"

UMUC-Verizon Virtual Resource Site for Teaching with Technology

UMUC-Verizon Virtual Resource Site for Teaching with Technology

FeedBurner - Point your feed here. We'll do the rest.

FeedBurner - Point your feed here. We'll do the rest.

EDUCAUSE | Resources | Educating the Net Generation

EDUCAUSE | Resources | Educating the Net Generation: "The Net Generation has grown up with information technology. The aptitudes, attitudes, expectations, and learning styles of Net Gen students reflect the environment in which they were raised one that is decidedly different from that which existed when faculty and administrators were growing up.
This collection explores the Net Gen and the implications for institutions in areas such as teaching, service, learning space design, faculty development, and curriculum. Contributions by educators and students are included."

Enrollment Management Committee

Couldn't "TWU" be inserted for "MU" in all 7 statements below? Glad to see we aren't the only one dealing with this, but then again we knew that.

Enrollment Management Committee: "The key recommendations of the subcommittee related to the charge

1. 2. The ultimate size of MU�s distance learning program must be determined by the aggregation of the efforts of the divisions. Departments/divisions must assess their individual programs, opportunities, needs, resources, incentives and ability to deliver a quality product consistent with on-campus offerings and campus expectations. All distance learning degree programs and for credit courses work must have an academic home in an appropriate academic department or division with the curriculum controlled by the faculty of the area offering the program. The MU infrastructure which supports distance learning must be improved to be more student friendly with better and more consistent services, if growth is desired.
3. Ways to remove barriers that exist for nontraditional and distance students must be identified. These barriers include admissions and registration procedures and the provision of advising and financial aid services, among others.
4. The funding model for distance learning should be reexamined to assure the provision of appropriate shared infrastructure with minimal redundancy, high quality student services, and departmental incentives for distance learning efforts.
5. Assessment and program review efforts should be enlarged to include distance learning programs.
6. It is essential to address the CDIS enrollment issues. Reduction of barriers to the use of CDIS credits would allow more aggressive marketing of the evening BGS program and other on-line degree completion programs. This would increase participation of students in CDIS.
7. Registration and admission procedures must be developed to allow the inclusion of all distance learning, CDIS, and other non-traditional enrollments to be included as part of MU�s student counts."

NACADA Standards for Advising Distance Learners

NACADA Standards for Advising Distance Learners: "NACADA Standards for Advising Distance Learners"

Student Evaluation of Distance Learning Courses

The American Journal of Distance Education: "The Development of an Instrument to Evaluate Distance Education Courses
Using Student Attitudes
T. Grady Roberts
Department of Agricultural Education
Texas A & M University
Tracy A. Irani, Ricky W. Telg, and Lisa K. Lundy
Department of Agricultural Education and Communication
University of Florida

This study sought to adapt and test a methodological framework designed to produce a course evaluation that addresses the unique aspects of distance education while maintaining consistency with current evaluation instruments commonly used to evaluate an institution's on-campus courses. Using the four-step process adapted from Biner (1993), twenty items were identified for inclusion in the instrument. The authors concluded that the four-step process yielded an instrument for the evaluation of distance education courses that provides both functionality and flexibility to be used across a variety of courses."

Predicting Retention in Online General Education Courses

The American Journal of Distance Education: "Predicting Retention in Online General Education Courses
Libby V. Morris and Sz-Shyan Wu
Institute of Higher Education
University of Georgia
Catherine L. Finnegan
Advanced Learning Technologies
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

A classification rule was developed to predict undergraduate students' withdrawal from or completion of fully online general education courses. A multivariate technique, predictive discriminant analysis (PDA), was used. High school grade point average and SAT mathematics score were shown to be related to retention in the online university courses. Locus of control and financial aid were able to identify dropout and completion with 74.5% accuracy."

Understanding Why Students Select Online Courses: Criteria they Use in Making that Selection

go top: "Understanding Why Students Select Online Courses: Criteria they Use in Making that Selection"

IDEAL - Improving Distance Education for Adult Learners

IDEAL - Improving Distance Education for Adult Learners: "The
goals of Project IDEAL are best realized when states implement their distance
program as a set of experiments carefully designed to yield information about
best practices. IDEAL Support Center staff work with each state to develop a systematic
research plan that will help the state gather sound evaluative data to inform
state and national policy."

Streaming Media in Higher Education: Possibilities and Pitfalls: Campus Technology

Streaming Media in Higher Education: Possibilities and Pitfalls: Campus Technology

Distance Learning Reports and Abstracts

Distance Learning Reports and Abstracts: "
General Education
Reference"

Distance Learning at TCC - A Faculty and Student Guide

Distance Learning at TCC - A Faculty Guide

Best Practices for Administrative Evaluation of Online Faculty - Works Cited

Best Practices for Administrative Evaluation of Online Faculty: "Allen, I. Elaine and Jeff Seaman. Sizing the Opportunity, the Quality, and Extent of Online Education in the United States, 2002 and 2003. Needham, MA: Sloan Foundation, 2003. http://www.sloanc.org/resources/sizing_opportunity.pdf.

Colaric, Susan and David Jonassen. 'Information Equals Knowledge, Searching Equals Learning, and Hyperlinking is Good Instruction: Myths about Learning from the World Wide Web.' The Web in Higher Education: Assessing the Impact and Fulfilling the Potential. Eds. Cleborne D. Maddux and D. LaMont Johnson. New York: Haworth, 2001, 159-69.

Cornford, James and Neil Pollock. Putting the University Online: Information, Technology, and Organizational Change. Philadelphia: Society for Research into Higher Education / Open UP, 2003.

Eaton, Judith S. Maintaining the Delicate Balance: Distance Learning, Higher Education Accreditation, and the Politics of Self-Regulation. Washington: American Council on Education, 2002. http://www.acenet.edu/bookstore/pdf/distributed-learning/distributed-learning-02.pdf.

Graham, Charles, Kursat Cagiltay, Byung-Ro Lim, Joni Craner, and Thomas M. Duffy. 'Seven Principles of Effective Teaching: A Practical Lens for Evaluating Online Courses.' The Technology Source (Mar./Apr. 2001). http://ts.mivu.org/default.asp?show=article&id=839.

Holcomb, Lori B., Frederick B. King, and Scott W. Brown. 'Student Traits and Attributes Contributing to Success in Online Courses: Evaluation of University Online Courses.' The Journal of Interactive Online Learning 2.3 (Winter 2004). http://www.ncolr.org/.

IDE (Innovations in Distance Education). 'An Emerging Set of Guiding Principles and Practices for the Design and Development of Distance Education: A Report of the Faculty Initiative Funded by a Grant from the AT&T Foundation to the Pennsylvania State University in Collaboration with Lincoln University and Cheyney University.' 1998. http://www.outreach.psu.edu/de/ide/.

Knolle, Jon. 'Good Online Instruction: Self-assessment for Online Instructors.' Internal training document. California State University, Chico. Fall 2001.

Loane, Shannon. 'Distance Education and Accreditation.' ERIC Database ED464525. Washington: ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education, 2001. http://www.ericfacility.net/ericdigests/ed464525.html.

North Central Association Commission on Institutions of Higher Education (NCACIHE). 'Guidelines for Distance Education.' 22 Jul. 2000. http://www.ncacihe.org/resources/guidelines/gdistance.html.

Roblyer, M. D. and Leticia Ekhaml. 'How Interactive are YOUR Distance Courses? A Rubric for Assessing Interaction in Distance Learning.' Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration 3.2 (Summer 2000). http://www.westga.edu/~distance/roblyer32.html.

Spector, Michael J. and Ileane de la Teja. 'Competencies for Online Teaching.' ERIC Digest (Dec. 2001): 3-4.

Sunal, Dennis W., Cynthia S. Sunal, Michael R. Odell, and Cheryl A. Sundberg. 'Research-Supported Best Practices for Developing Online Learning.' The Journal of Interactive Online Learning 2.1 (Summer 2003). http://www.ncolr.org/.

Woodley, Alan, and Adrian Kirkwood. 'Evaluation in Distance Learning.' Commonwealth Co-operation in Open Learning: Background Papers. J. Jenkins, ed. London: Commonwealth Secretariat, 1998, 291-98. Rpt. as 'Evaluation in Distance Learning: Course Evaluation.'
http://www1.worldbank.org/disted/Management/Benefits/cou-02.html."

Index: Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration

Index: Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration

TC Student Services Survey Distance Learning

TC Student Services Survey Distance Learning: "Taft College review 14-Jan-2002
Search Results of the Student Services Survey"

Distance Learning

Distance Learning: "STUDENT SERVICES

Student services available to UM-Dearborn online students include:

Individualized Advising

UM-Dearborn advisors are available to answer questions about course registration, assist with academic program planning , and provide appropriate personal support as needed. Students may talk with advisors via phone or e-mail. Advising includes at least two points of contact with students during the term. All students will be monitored by the distance learning office during the first two weeks of class to make sure each person is technically ready to start the course. Students appearing to have difficulty will be contacted. The second point of contact will be with the midterm progress report. The report allows students to receive feedback from their instructors, as well as offer their feedback to the program. An attempt will be made to reach all students first by phone and then by e-mail.

Technical Support
A technical hotline is available to UM-Dearborn online students. The hotline can be reached via e-mail or phone. Student questions and problems will be addressed within one working day.

Academic Services
UM-Dearborn instructors are the primary source of student academic support. Online instructors are full-time UM-Dearborn faculty, and the majority have the PhD degree. Students will be able to contact their course instructors by e-mail, through Internet discussion, fax, and by telephone. Academic services also include online library services, and online access to the UM-Dearborn Writing Center."

Student Services: Distance Learning, UC Davis Extension

Student Services: Distance Learning, UC Davis Extension

CTDLC: Student Services

CTDLC: Student Services: "Student
Services "

CTC Distance Learning | Services and Support

CTC Distance Learning | Services and Support

ALA | Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services

ALA | Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services
Library resources and services in institutions of higher education must meet the needs of all their faculty, students, and academic support personnel, regardless of where they are located. This is the undergirding and uncompromising conviction of the "Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services." The principle applies to individuals on a main campus, off campus, in distance learning or regional campus programs, or in the absence of a campus at all. The principle likewise applies to courses taken for credit or non-credit, in continuing education programs, in courses attended in person or by means of electronic transmission, or any other means of distance learning.