1. Team Christina Crespo Jason Ingrao Roseline Telfort Marie
Val 2007 Virtual Case Study Florida International University
2. Scenario A Technology Assessment Committee has been
assembled by the Deans Council at Florida International University
to determine five hot topics in technology relevant to higher
education. Council members need to be put up to date on technology
trends, and resources available to them. Our committee has been
asked to present our findings to the Council.
3. Trends in Higher Education Over the last 35 years, higher
education has undergone an increase in the enrollment of
non-traditional students. Research has shown that these students
are much less likely to complete courses or programs due to other
priorities in life. Statistics also show that many students are
taking longer than the traditional 4 years to graduate from college
with a bachelors degree. Challenge # 1: Provide ALL students
quality education that fits students life circumstances. Including:
Non-traditional Economically challenged Disabled students Challenge
# 2: Get students to persist and complete their studies: RETENTION
Focus needs to be on persistence and attainment
4. Retention/Persistence According to Vincent Tinto of Syracuse
University, there are five factors that impact persistence:
Expectation Advice Support Involvement Learning
5. Technology and Higher Learning While many forms of
technology have become mainstream in higher education, not every
student is seeking to enroll in distance education courses/degree
programs Many students continue to search for interaction with
faculty and other students. How can students that are distracted by
other life priorities, disabled students and even traditional
students achieve better interaction and reach the heart of their
learning experience? Through tools that help them learn more
efficiently and effectively such as: Virtual Learning Environment
(VLE) Webinars Blogs Assistive technology These technological
pedagogy tools must be user-friendly so that the majority of
faculty can use them easily. However, the classroom still needs to
be the center of learning interaction and engagement. Growing trend
toward hybrid programs which combine online and classroom
experiences.
6. Promoting Active Learning through Technology Active Learning
engages students in the learning process. However many professors
feel they need help in imagining creative active learning
activities. The following PowerPoint presentation gives examples of
rising technology that can be easily employed in the classroom as
well as resources available to instructors. Experince of Doing
Dialogue with Others Experience of Observing Dialogue with Self
Active Learning
7. Hot Trends and Topics in Educational Technology Assistive
Technology Virtual Learning Environment (Course Management Systems)
Blogs Webinars SPAM
8. Assistive Technology in Higher Education
9. What is Assistive Technology? Assistive or Adaptive
Technology (AT) commonly has referred to any physical device that
is used to assist an individual with a disability in performing any
work- required or personal task (Scherer, 2004). A broader
definition according to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
(2002) defines it as any item, piece of equipment, or system,
whether acquired commercially, modified, or customized, that is
commonly used to increase, maintain, or improve functional
capabilities of individuals with disabilities. The latter
definition includes all language modifications software, and
curriculum adaptations that are directly related to Higher
Education.
10. Benefits of Assistive Technology Facilitates inclusion of
persons with disabilities by providing them with the independence
needed to assimilate into society. The goal of every technology
should be to provide that independence as transparently as
possible. As a result, it increases their self-confidence and
productivity. Promotes an equitable environment- one in which
accommodations for the disabled are seen as regular, normal,
expected, and integrated into the mainstream of school and society.
Enhances their quality of life.
11. Types of Technology Available o Communication Aids Products
and equipment designed to help persons with speech disabilities or
writing difficulties to communicate. At its very simplest,
augmentative communication can be a page with picture choices or
alphabet letters that a person points to. It can also involve
highly sophisticated speaking computers with on-screen
communication boards and auditory or visual scanning. Common
sub-categories are: o Speech and Augmentative Communication Aids
Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) involves alternate
methods of communicating needs, feelings, ideas, and perceptions
through the use of electronic and non-electronic devices that
provide a means for expressive and receptive communication for
persons with limited or no speech. Includes communication boards,
speech synthesizers, text-to-speech software and hardware, head
wands, light pointers, mouth sticks, signal systems, telephony
equipment, etc. o Writing and Typing Aids Includes tactile devices,
Braille devices, note taking devices, spelling devices, word
prediction/completion software, modified typewriters, portable
typewriters, etc. Does not generally include products intended to
facilitate computer access and usage (see Computer Access
Aids).
12. Current Trends in AT for the Physically Disabled
Physical/motor challenges that limit an individual's ability to
manipulate and handle (things), e.g. writing, press keys on
keyboard or telephone. Solutions: 1. Speech recognition systems
allow people to give commands and enter data using their voices
rather than a mouse or keyboard. This is useful because some
students may not have the dexterity needed to operate standard
input hardware. 2. On-screen keyboard programs are programs that
allow a keyboard to appear on the computer screen. Users can then
input data using a touch screen, trackball, joystick, switch, or
electronic pointing device. 3. Keyboard filters can include word
prediction utilities, and add-on spelling checkers, that can reduce
the number of keystrokes needed to input data. They can also enable
users to access only the letters they need while ignoring lighter
touches on other keys.
13. Current Trends in AT for the Physically Disabled 4. Touch
screens are devices placed on the monitor that allow direct
selection or activation by touching the screen. 5. Alternative
input devices can include alternative keyboards which include
smaller keyboards, head controlled pointing systems, electronic
pointing devices, sip-and-puff systems, wands and sticks, joysticks
and trackballs that allow people to control the computer by means
other than the keyboard or mouse. (Microsoft, 2004) 6. Keyguards
are plastic or metal shields that fit over a standard keyboard.
Holes are drilled into the guard to help the user press only the
desired keys. (Burgstahler & Comden, 2002) 7. Students with
dexterity problems have many options for accessibility, but lots of
practice is needed to operate many of the alternate input
devices.
14. Current Trends in AT for Visual Difficulties and
Impairments Sensory challenges that limit an individual's ability
to send/receive information, e.g. seeing, speaking, hearing;
Solutions: 1. Braille translation software. It is an assistive
technology for blind and visually impaired people. Uses 6 raised
dots grouped in different patterns to represent letters and
numbers. People read Braille by running their fingertips across the
dots. Some screen readers also output content in Braille format
using a Braille display. This translation software provides
translation and formatting facilities to automate the process of
conversion from regular print to Braille (and vice versa).
15. Current Trends in AT for Visual Difficulties and
Impairments 2. Screen readers are software that read the content of
a computer screen aloud. Screen readers can only interpret text
content, so all graphic and multimedia must have alternative text
descriptions using ALT (Alternative Text: Descriptive text included
in IMG tags that appears when the mouse is held over the image),
captions, transcripts, or other methods. JAWS is the most widely
used screen reader. 3. A screen magnifier is a software program
that magnifies all or part of a computer screen to make the content
visible to users with visual impairments. Voice browsers interpret
voice markup languages to generate voice output and interpret voice
input. Their most common use allows users to access the Internet
using a telephone. The Gus Talking Keyboard is a text-to-speech
program that combines an on-screen keyboard with a synthetic voice.
Type (or scan) whatever you want to say and it will verbalize it
for you. 4. Finally, voice recognition allows a user to use his/her
voice as an input device and dictate text into the computer or give
commands to open files, save them, etc. Dragon Naturally Speaking
made by Synapseadaptive.com is an example of such a software.
16. Current Trends in AT for Learning Difficulties and
Impairments Solutions: 1. Students with learning difficulties and
impairments mostly use some of the same tools as many of the other
students who need assistive technology. 2. A couple of these tools
are speech synthesizers which receive information going to the
screen in the form of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks, and
then speak it out loud. This can allow students with learning
difficulties to hear their input rather than struggle with reading
it themselves. 3. Speech recognition systems allow people to give
commands and enter data using their voices rather than a mouse or
keyboard. Again, this helps students by minimizing the processing
tasks one has to do.
17. Current Trends in AT for the Hearing Impaired Solutions:
Assistive listening devices hearing aids infrared/personal
amplification systems audio/FM loop systems FM amplification
systems TV amplifiers TV decoders visual signaling and alerting
systems tactile alerting systems telephony and accessories text
telephones TDDs/TTYs devices adapted phones, etc.
18. VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
19. VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT A virtual learning environment
(VLE) is a software system designed to facilitate teachers in the
management of educational courses for their students. VLES are most
often used to supplement the face-to- face classroom. This computer
program facilitates computerized learning or e-learning. These
systems usually run on servers, to facilitate the course to
students as internet pages.
20. VIRTUAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT Such e-learning systems are
sometimes also called: Learning Management Systems (LMS) Course
Management Systems (CMS) Learning Content Management Systems (LCMS)
Managed Learning Systems (MLE) Learning Support Systems (LSS)
Learning Platform (LP)
21. Importance of Virtual Learning Environment Virtual Learning
Environments (VLE) are an increasingly important part of academic
systems in higher education because they play an important role in
the academic enterprise of teaching and learning. VLEs also help
manage the administrative aspects of teaching a course.
22. COURSE MANAGEMENT SYSYTEMS (CMS) An internet-based software
that manages student enrollment, tracks student performance, and
creates and distributes course content. CMSs provide an educator
with sets of tools and a framework that allows the relatively easy
creation of online course content and the subsequent teaching and
management of that course. CMSs enable a
professor/instructor/teacher to extend the classroom beyond its
traditional boundaries of time and space by giving them enough time
during the semester to cover all course material.
23. COURSE MANAGEMENT SYSYTEMS (CMS) The most significant
vendors by volume and size are WebCT (Web Course Tools) and
Blackboard. However over 25 systems exist to date, not including
the various open source products some institutions in the USA have
created as an alternative to commercial vendors.
24. WebCT
25. Blackboard
26. Of institutions of higher learning granting doctoral
degrees: - 87.3% have a designated instructional technology center
- 80% report students have own computers - 99.3% offer high-speed
connections in residence halls - 95.5% have deployed some central
course management system - 97.8% of these have at least some use by
faculty - Most had implemented a course management system by 1999 -
40.2% use WebCT, 34.6% use Blackboard -Educause Core Data Service,
2002 Summary Report
27. Benefits of Course Management Systems (CMS) Place course
materials online Most CMSs provide pre- programmed buttons for the
course syllabus, course schedule, and course materials linked to
specific lessons, such as copies of readings and PowerPoint slides
from lectures. Track student progress through assessment features
which enable instructors to give quizzes and tests online, and an
online gradebook, where instructors can post student grades.
Discussion board Where instructors and students can discuss
readings and continue class discussions between formal class
sessions. Other communications tools which let instructors send
announcements to classes and communicate individually with students
Lock box for students Where students can store class materials in a
safe placeeither a presentation to give later in class or backing
up class assignments in a safe place. Course statistics Which
provide information on the use of the course site, including who
used the course site and when
28. Challenges Course Management Systems (CMS) Most CMSs
provide instructors with a limited flexibility in designing course.
CMSs typically come with standard sections that instructors must
provide, and the section names are not easily altered. Limited
capability to provide interactive e- learning. Although they let
instructors test students online, the tests must usually conform to
templates and e-learning primarily consists of reading transcripts,
like the one in Figure 1. To add more imaginative and interactive
e-learning via authoring tools like Flash and Dreamweaver,
instructors must link to separately created materials. That is, the
lesson cannot be created and uploaded in the CMS. The material must
be created with different tools and stored elsewhere. Cost. As the
market matures and software publishers add complex features
(especially to appeal to the corporate market), prices for CMSs
have risen sharply in recent years. Although cost has driven some
universities to strengthen their commitments to their CMSs, it has
driven other universities to drop their CMSs and provide open
source tools that do Limited testing and record keeping abilities.
Although CMSs let students take tests online, some lack the
security measures to verify that students are really who they say
they are and some have lost tests that students completed before
transmitting them to the instructor for grading. In addition,
although most CMSs have added capabilities to automatically
transfer grades from the gradebook to other systems used to track
student progress, this capability is not available in all CMSs and
often increases the cost significantly. Because most universities
use other systems to enroll students and manage payments, most CMSs
cannot check that students have prerequisite courses. Academic
institutions need a means of making sure that graduating students
have paid their library fines before awarding a diploma, and CMSs
do not provide such capabilities because universities have already
made large investments in other systems to do that. The system that
is most widely used in universities to manage enrollments and
grades, and link to other university records systems is an
administration system called Banner.
29. What is a blog? A blog is: User-generated website, Where
entries are made in journal style and Displayed in a reverse
chronological order The ability for readers to leave comments is an
important part of many blogs. Some function as more personal online
diaries. Can be accessed from any internet connection. The term
blog is derived from web log. Blogs often provide commentary or
news on a subject(s) of interest to the writer or blogger. A
typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web
pages, and other media related to its topic. Most blogs are
primarily text based although some focus on: photographs
(photolog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), or audio (podcasting), and
are part of a wider network of social media As of November 2006,
blog search engine Technocrati was tracking nearly 60 million
blogs.[1] [1] Technorati: about us (2006-11-11). Retrieved on
2006-11-11.
30. Blogosphere Blogoshere is the collective term encompassing
all blogs as a social network. Many blogs are densely
interconnected; bloggers read others' blogs, link to them,
reference them in their own writing, and post comments on each
others' blogs. The key to the popularity of blogs is their
interactivity Before blogging became popular, digital communities
took many forms including: Usenet, a global, distributed Internet
discussion system Email lists and Bulletin board systems
(BBS).
31. Edublogs: The Use of Blogs in Education The use of blogs in
instructional settings is becoming increasingly popular and is
limited only by your imagination. Blogs engage students and
professors in collaborative activity, essential to active learning.
Professors can set-up or assign blogs in a variety of ways: They
can create their own professor-written blogs and provide:
Instructional tips for students Course announcements and readings
Annotated links Interesting developments that relate to the theme
of the class Knowledge management They can require out-of-class
discussion by posing a discussion question every week and have
students debate the question in comments. Require students to
create and write their own blogs as part of their grade. Organize
intensive seminars where students have to provide weekly summaries
of the readings.
32. Sample Edublog which discusses the use of blogs in
education: Reference and link to blog used at Harvard
33. What is a Webinar? A webinar is a real-time web-based
seminar, presentation, lecture or workshop transmitted and
broadcast via the World Wide Web to an audience and/or participants
that are not located in the same physical space. Participants are
able to see the presenters computer screen on their own computer
through screen sharing. Webinars allow all participants to interact
by listening, discussing and giving immediate feedback to each
other. Interaction is achieved either through an audio component
(conducted by telephone communication such as a landline phone or
VoIP - Voice over Internet Protocol technology) or through online
text/chat rooms. Webinars create an interactive learning experience
allowing participating parties to solicit feedback to questions
instantaneously
34. Creating an Effective Webinar Be sure to articulate message
being delivered in presentation and talk in a manner that the pace
can be followed clearly Create your visuals using one to two of the
following mediums to ensure an engaging presentation through
multiple avenues: PowerPoint Electronic white board Email
Discussion board, Links to websites of interest Polls and surveys
Application file sharing, where participants can cooperatively
manipulate an application, such as a spreadsheet on the presenters
screen Annotations - allowing the presenter to highlight or mark
items on the display Web cam Leave ample time for questions and
answer sessions to follow presentation
35. Benefits and Drawbacks of Webinars BENEFITS: No travel
required you can attend a webinar from the comfort of your own
computer! There is a higher impact on learning, than reading
material directly from a book or a website Ideal for multiple
audience members as there is unlimited space as compared to a
classroom setting Great tool for disabled students who might
struggle in a classroom setting DRAWBACKS: Some instructors and
students may feel a disconnect from each other and lose a sense of
interaction. May scare off students that are not as technologically
savvy and who prefer the in class experience.
36. E-mail & Institutional SPAM Benefits of E-mail: E-mail
is a cost-effective way for faculty, staff and students to
communicate with targeted groups of individuals concerning common
academic or administrative activities. Electronic mailing lists or
listservs are appropriate and necessary tools for communication
among University interest groups, committees, classes, and service
providers and their clients. Drawbacks of Unsolicited E-mails or
SPAM: E-mail users are increasingly complaining of receiving large
quantities of unsolicited emails (SPAM) that require a significant
of time to address and buries important messages relating directly
to their academic and administrative activities within the
university. SPAM can overload e-mail servers Rationale for imposing
procedures and restrictions on email distribution: Not all SPAM
comes from outside the university Outside SPAM is filtered through
an anti-SPAM filter by the University.
37. Procedures for Mass Email Distribution By keeping the focus
of e-mail on individuals and small groups, FIU can help ensure that
internal, general purpose mass communications do not unduly
interfere with or distract from the utility of e-mail for
performing the academic and administrative tasks associated with
the Universitys mission of teaching, learning, research and
service. Mass emails for commercial mailings are prohibited.
Recommendations: For sending mass emails to all members of the
University community, campuses, entire faculty, student body or
staff the sender must request approval from the following
officials: 1) For mailings to the entire University community, the
President 2) For mailings to an entire campus community, the
Provost 3) For mailings to the entire faculty within the
University, the VP for Academic Affairs 4) For mailings to the
entire faculty within a campus, the VP for Academic Affairs for
that campus 5) For mailings to the entire student body within the
University, the VP for Student Affairs 6) For mailings to the
entire body of a campus, the VP of Student Affairs for that campus
7) For mailings to the entire staff of the University, the
Assistant VP for University Human Resources 8) For mailings to the
entire staff, or a substantial subset thereof, within a campus, to
the Director of Human Resources for that campus.
38. Educational Technology Resource Center ATTENTION:
Faculty/Staff/TAs Are you teaching with technology? Look below for
a list of our FREE workshops scheduled for this semester! The
Resource Center is a place where faculty can collaborate and
experiment with technology using the latest equipment and software.
Register for any of the following workshops or get information by
visiting us at http://www.uts.fiu.edu , then click on the Resource
Center button on the bottom right. Take any course you like, sign
up for one or all in the series. Workshops do not have to be taken
continuously. WebCT: Assignment Tool: Learn how to use the digital
drop box feature in WebCT Feb 15 2:00 pm-3:30 pm UP/GL -150 Blogs
and RSS Oh My! Explore the possibilities of integrating online
social networking into your course. March 23 2:00 pm 3:30pm UP/GL
-150 Webinar March 30 2:00 pm-3:30 pm UP/GL -150 Assistive
technology April 12 2:00 pm-3:30 pm UP/GL -150 Sample flyer created
for Educational Technology Resource Center
39. References Abel, R. J. (2005). Whats Next in Learning
Technology in Higher Education. A-HEC In-Depth 2 (2). Retrieved
February 11 2007, from http://www.a-hec.org/research/in-
depth_articles/whats_next1005/whats_next1005_toc.html. Chickering,
A.W. & Ehrmann, S.C. (1996). Implementing the seven principles:
Technology as lever. AAHE Bulletin [Electronic version]. Retrieved
on February 11, 2007 from
http://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html Donello, Jill
Funderburg, "Theory & Practice: Learning Content Management
Systems" Learning and Training Innovations, 2002. Educause Core
Data Service, 2002 Summary Report
http://www.educause.edu/coredata/reports/2002/ Retrieved on
February 14, 2007. Farrell, Henry (2003). The Street Finds its own
use for Things. Crooked Timber. Retrieved on February 11, 2007 from
www.crookedtimber.org. Fink, L. Dee (1999). Active Learning.
Retrieved on February 11, 2007 from
http://www.honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/active.htm
Nichani, Maish, "LCMS = LMS + CMS [RLOs]-Ho Does This Affect the
Learner? The Instructional Designer?" elearningpost, Retrieved on
February 14, 2007.
40. References Norris, D., Mason, J., and Lefrere, P.,
Transforming e-Knowledge: A Revolution in the Sharing of Knowledge,
Society for College and University Planning, 2003. Tetiwat, O.,
& Igbaria, M. (2000). Opportunities in Web-based Teaching: The
Future of Education. In A. Aggarwal, Web-based Learning and
Teaching Technologies: Opportunities and Challenges. Hershey, PA:
Idea Group Publishing, 17-32. Williams, Jeremy b. (2004). Exploring
the use of blogs as learning spaces in the higher education sector.
Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 20(2) 232-247.
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/active.htm.
Retrieved on February 11, 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog
Retrieved on February 11, 2007.
41. References www.ulster.net/~dcartm/ctpage2a.htm Retrieved on
February 11, 2007. www.pluk.org/AT1.html Retrieved on February 15,
2007. http://www.nichcy.or Retrieved on February 13, 2007.
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~nrtello/ATninappt.html Retrieved on
February 12, 2007. http://www.rehabtool.com/at.html Retrieved on
February 11, 2007. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. (2002).
retrieved Feb.14, 2007, from Section 508 Web site:
http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Content&ID=12#Definition
Microsoft, Types of assistive technology products. retrieved Feb.
11, 2007, from Microsoft Web site: www.microsoft.com Accessibility
Dictionary : you can find definition of Assistive Technology terms
- http://www.netmechanic.com/accessibility/glossary.htm#seta
Retrieved on February 11, 2007. Dragon Naturally Speaking : this is
the Dragon Naturally Speaking software homepage -
http://www.synapseadaptive.com/naturallyspeaking/new/naturallyspeaking_home_pg_
8.htm Retrieved on February 12, 2007.