ePortfolio from TILT

I attended the ePortfolio workshop hosted by The Institute for Learning and Teaching (TILT). Mike Palmquist presented on Using ePortfolios to Engage and Assess Students.

The talk centered on a new web-based application that can be used by students and faculty to create electronic portfolios. You can view Dr. Palmquist's PowerPoint presentation on the Tilt Website. Dr. Palmquist continues to drive web-based innovations from a "grass-roots" level incorporating "what the writer would want." Working from this perspective, TILT and the Writing Center, continue to produce useful applications that attract a large world-wide audience.

To explore the ePortfolio tool visit http://writing.colostate.edu/ and create an account. Within your workspace you will find "writing tools" the ePortfolio tool should be available (see below).

Side note: Academic Computing and Networking Services (ACNS) and TILT are working with a new technology called MediaStation. This technology will be available (in the future) for instructors who want to record their lectures (live) and stream them simultaneously over the Internet. I will keep posting as I learn more about this technology.

RamCT – Fundamentals

There are several features of RamCT that I found to be interesting. Some of these are new within RamCT and some are new to me as a user of WebCT or RamCT. I wanted to share those.

• Groups: First, you can create and organize student groups. This is a new feature and exciting feature. You can then assign groups to class activities such as group discussions. To use this feature go to the "teach tab" and look for "group manager" in the right hand column.
  

• Who's online tool: This tool allows you to see who is online when you are logged in RamCT. Yes, your students can also see that you are logged on. However, you can change this setting by switching your visibility within "My Tools."
  
  
• Email: Forward your RamCT mail to your work email. I don't know if this is available in WebCT but – I could have used this a long time ago. There are two steps to this process. 1) enter your work email within "my settings" and "my profile" and 2) select forward mail within "my tools"

• Hyperlinks: I am also encouraged by the ease of adding hyperlinks throughout the course. This will be extremely useful.
  

I look forward to working in these new tool. I will be making regular posts as a experiment and learn about RamCT. I will also be posting on several additional RamCT workshops - stay tuned.

ISTeC Research Retreat – Emerging Economies

I enjoyed facilitating the 2007 Information Science & Technology Center's (ISTeC) – research retreat breakout on "information technology (IT) to benefit emerging economies." The discussion was lively and interesting and in part has motivated me to author this blog – titled "Switchspace." There was interest from those in attendance to continue the discussion and I am hoping that those who read "Switchspace" will comment and think about future collaboration.

Of interest to those in attendance were projects like MIT's One Laptop per Child initiative and other open source educational concepts. There are many other examples such as Rice University's Connexions, a collaborative environment for freely publishing and sharing educational content over the internet, and MIT's OpenCourseWare a free and open source for educators and students from around the world.

We talked about how we are all experiencing shifts in our thinking, opening up to global opportunities and challenges. However, our discussion seemed to return to our current paradigm – that of how to work within the confines of the university. The discussion turned toward finding funding to support student and faculty exchanges, identifying university expertise and connecting that expertise to emerging economies (all fine goals). I think that this is what we currently do, but I feel that we may be missing the "mindshift." If we follow this model, do we not remain the "center of the universe" (the University), and does this stifle creativity and innovation on a global level? I argue that we currently make our identity by controlling content? Is this identity sustainable in a future where information is so readily available? Do we need to "Switchspace?"

To me Switchspace is the need to think and act "open" – releasing ideas and content. We are at the forefront of this "mindshift" but others (Rice, MIT, provide other examples if you have them) are creating "hubs" out of this of activity.