Use Our Services :: Skill Building

Online Images: Ideas and Options for Use in Your Course Site

The use of images greatly enriches instruction in many subjects and adds interest to any course site. These days images can easily be managed and integrated into class web sites through a variety of means. In this lunchtime learning session, we will survey several tools and services for managing digital image collections on both Mac and Windows and sharing them via campus-provided resources as well as free and low-cost external online services. Included will be demonstration and discussion of how various Web 2.0 (Participatory Web) features can facilitate student contribution of images and discussion as well as access to huge repositories of existing images already online and established communities of interest on just about any type of related subject area. Tools and services demonstrated and discussed will include iPhoto (Mac), Picasa (Windows), the Flock browser, Netfiles, Illinois Compass, and Flickr. Come and consider how online images might enrich your course!

Creating and Using Question Test Banks for Exams, Quizzes, and Other Activities

Do you use Microsoft Word or any other software to create and print your exams? Do you save these exams to disk? Do you eventually type exams over and over again as textbooks change? We have the answer for you. Respondus and StudyMate software can make your jobs much easier. Respondus focuses on creating a database of questions for your course that allows you to create a paper copy for written exams. StudyMate focuses on using the same database to create both study activities for students and preparation for exams using a stand alone publishing system to your department or course web site. Additionally, Respondus and StudyMate can be used to upload your question test banks and study activities into Illinois Compass.

Audacity to XnView: Promising Shareware and Freeware for Teaching and Learning Applications

A plethora of free software is available on the Internet to serve all sorts of functions. In this session, we will explore free software that can be useful to online education, particularly when used in concert with Illinois Compass.

After Netscape and Beyond Internet Explorer: New Breeds of Web Browsers Offer New Opportunities - and Challenges- for Teaching with Technology

In recent years, computer users have had the option to choose among a range of web browsers offering more advanced features. These features include RSS feeds, tabbed browsing, and full-screen mode. In this workshop, we will discuss how certain features of browsers like Opera and Mozilla Firefox can add to students' educational experiences, and we will explore ways that instructors can take advantage of these new technologies.

Preparing Documents for Illinois Compass to Improve Student Access and Use

Distributing course documents to students is the most common use of Illinois Compass. In this session, we will explore ways to prepare documents to be distributed online. How can we make sure that all students can access course content? How can we ensure that students will make the most of course documents? We will also see the Illinois Accessible Web Publishing Wizard for Microsoft Office in action. This program allows you to turn Office documents into accessible, useable web sites.

Blogs, Wikis, and Podcasts: Possibilities for Teaching, Research, and Classroom Presentations

New technologies such as blogs, wikis, and podcasts have mushroomed in popularity. In this session, we will explore both the technical aspects of using these technologies, and also the pedagogical applications of blogs, wikis, and podcasting.

Creating and Using Question Test Banks for Exams, Quizzes, and Other Activities

Do you use Microsoft Word or any other software to create and print your exams? Do you save these exams to disk? Do you eventually type exams over and over again as textbooks change? We have the answer for you. Respondus and StudyMate software can make your jobs much easier. Respondus focuses on creating a database of questions for your course that allows you to create a paper copy for written exams. StudyMate focuses on using the same database to create both study activities for students and preparation for exams using a stand alone publishing system to your department or course web site. Additionally, Respondus and StudyMate can be used to upload your question test banks and study activities into Illinois Compass.

 

Integrating Content and Tools in the Illinois Compass Learning Module

Illinois Compass offers several components to help you design your class to meet your instructional goals. In this workshop we will examine the learning module tool and how it can be used to organize, deliver, and track course material and student activities.

By the completion of this workshop, you will be able to:

• Create and manage learning modules
• Organize content in learning modules
• Create goals for learning modules
• Track student activity in learning modules

Integrating Interactive Content in Illinois Compass

In Illinois Compass, it is possible to record the results of student work using stand-alone web-based learning activities and quizzes in the Grade Book. This allows a new degree of student accountability in the use of interactive and multimedia resources. SCORM is the name of the industry standard that makes this possible. In this demonstration participants will see examples of interactive activities integrated into Illinois Compass, learn about benefits and pitfalls of SCORM in Compass, and brainstorm/discuss how this functionality might enhance learning in their own instructional contexts. Useful tools for working with SCORM and Compass will be introduced and participants will be given access to a Compass course site with helpful resources and examples.

Creating a Custom Illinois Compass Course Web Site

Learn how to control the appearance of your Illinois Compass home pages and organizer pages to fit the needs of your courses. We'll cover everything from changing background colors and icons to working with external HTML editors like Dreamweaver and Homepage to create custom web pages within Compass.

Online Assignments: Faster, Frequent Feedback

The assignment tool allows students to complete assignments online, turn in files and publish assignments for public viewing. The goal of this workshop is to illustrate the use of the tool to give students fast and frequent feedback. We will survey best practices and techniques for integrating the assignment tool into teaching.

Before, During, and After the Lecture: Use of Online Discussions

We will explore ways in which selective, weekly use of online discussions can help students prepare for, engage with, and return to course lectures, content, and work. Examples of online discussion assignments that incorporate hyperlinks, images, and web pages will be introduced. In addition, we will cover important features of the Illinois Compass discussion tool that make managing online discussions easy by using powerful teaching tools such as: "gradable topics," navigation strategies, compiling messages, and reviewing "Discussion Activity Overview" information.

Are the Students Getting It? Using Surveys, Self-Tests, and Quizzes

Assessments in Illinois Compass (surveys, self-tests, and quizzes) have a lot of often overlooked potential for enhancing teaching and learning in the online environment. In this brief workshop, we'll be exploring and discussing how assessments can be used for a range of purposes from assessing student understanding to increasing opportunities for student learning. Rather than focusing on the basic button-pushing involved in creating assessments, this workshop emphasizes the higher-level issues of the interplay between assessment design and pedagogical purpose.

Quick Uses of Media Resources to Enhance Course Sites

We will demonstrate some of the straight forward ways course designers may enhance their Illinois Compass course through the use of various forms of multimedia. Topics such as borrowing images from the Internet and other places; creating and using audio and/or video files; and using established resources like e-Reserves will also be covered.