Faculty Support Services for Teaching with Technology

Services for Teaching with Technology:

QUICK REFERENCE

Cornell Teaching & Learning Consortium (CTLC) website for teaching w/technology services

Faculty Support Services assistance w/instructional technologies Visit our website for more info or e-mail us for a consultation

Software Licensing CIT Public Labs for instruction Audio/Video Streaming, Webcasting & Videoconferencing CIT OnSite Solutions fee-based support for computers, networks, & security

Visit the Academic Technology Center Computing & Communications Ctr Rm 124, Garden Ave M-F 9am - 5pm

CIT's Public and Instructional Lab group engaged in two research projects in 2008 to inform future directions about the type of lab facilities and services to be supported by the Faculty Support Services team in CIT.
 
The projects asked the following questions:

 
The information gathered has been presented to FABIT and other campus groups, and will be used to inform long-term planning for labs. The Lab Focus Groups report is available at: atc.cit.cornell.edu/atc/materials/upload/Focus-Group-Report-public.pdf

For questions or more information about these reports, please contact atc_support@cornell.edu.

At the end of this Spring semester, we will be upgrading Blackboard to version 7.3. This will complete the process we began last summer to create a more robust technical infrastructure to support the wide use of Blackboard for course management.

The new application changes necessitate an involved course migration process in order to recreate current courses on the new system. Therefore, the Blackboard service will be undergoing maintenance for an extended period of time. Exact dates will be announced soon. At this time we estimate the maintenance period to take a week, starting on May 27.

Considerations for Summer sessions and Executive education programs

All courses that are scheduled to run during this maintenance period (estimated one week starting on May 27) and need access to Blackboard will have an option to continue using the current version of Blackboard on a separate, temporary system through end of Summer 2008. These courses will be migrated to the new updated system later in the Fall 2008 semester. As of May 14, 2008, to access this temporary system, instructors and students should point their browser to the following address to login: summer.blackboard.cornell.edu

More information available at:
https://confluence.cornell.edu/x/vYjAB

Considerations for courses older than August 2005

Many of the courses that are still on the system have been created with a much older version of Blackboard and will potentially have problems if migrated to the new system. Any course created prior to August 2005 will not be migrated.

If you are currently using a course which was created before April 2005, we encourage you to follow the procedure outlined on the following website to export the course content and then you'll be able to import this content into a new course shell.

More information available at:
https://confluence.cornell.edu/x/vojAB

Considerations for course sizes

There is a technical limitation on the size of a course that can be archived. If the course cannot be archived, we will not be able to migrate it or recreate a complete course from a backup. Therefore, it is recommended that courses stay below 1GB in overall size. If your course is above this limit, you will receive an email notification from the system. Please contact us to consult on ways to reduce your course size.

Contact Us

If you need assistance or consultation to address any concerns you may have with your current course, contact the Academic Technology Center staff at 255-9760 or stap@cornell.edu. Our staff will be available to assist you.

To help prepare faculty for the upcoming Blackboard upgrade, we will be holding the following classes:

What's New with Blackboard
1 hour class that will focus on the differences between our current version of Blackboard (6.2) and the new Blackboard 7.3 that will be available later this summer. This class will be held on July 29th, July 30th, August 19th, August 21st, and September 3rd.

Getting Started with Blackboard
1 1/2 hour class that provides the information needed to set up a course in Blackboard. This class will be held on July 20th and September 2nd.

Course Communication Tools in Blackboard
1 hour class that focuses on the discussion boards and chat features available in Blackboard. This class will be held on July 20th and September 2nd.

Assessment Tools in Blackboard
1 hour class that covers the Blackboard gradebook, assignments, and quizzes. This class will be held on July 20th and September 2nd.

These May 2008 hands-on workshops are free and open to academic faculty, researchers, and instructional support staff.

Getting Started with Google Docs
Google docs makes file sharing easy! Find out how to create, organize, and share your documents and spreadsheets online. Offered on May 20 from 1 p.m. – 2 p.m.

Getting Started with Podcasting
Podcasting is a great way to deliver audio to your students’ computers or mp3 players. This session will answer the basic questions surrounding podcasting: how podcasting works, the equipment and software you need (and where to find it), and how to post your files. Offered on May 20 from 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Creating a Faculty Web Site with Cornell Templates
Cornell has a set of web templates that can add an official look and feel to your faculty web site. Come learn how to incorporate these templates into your site’s design. Basic knowledge of web page creation is necessary for this workshop.   Offered on May 21 from 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Getting Started with the Confluence Wiki
The Confluence wiki allows you and your students to easily create, edit, and link web pages for informational or collaborative purposes. In this workshop you will learn how to use Confluence and set up your space so that your colleagues or students can use it for collaboration. Offered on May 21 from 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Getting Started with Google Earth
Google Earth is a powerful mapping product with many academic applications. In this workshop we will practice using the tools included with Google Earth, explore the extra features that are available with Google Earth Plus, and find out about some of the ways Google Earth is being used in education. Offered on May 22 from 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Administering Surveys with Checkbox
Learn how to create and deploy surveys using Checkbox, the new online survey building and deployment tool supported by CIT. Offered on May 22 from 3 p.m.– 4 p.m.

For more information or to register, visit cornell.veplan.net/Education/catalog.aspx?c=652

The Faculty Support Services Team is here to help you with instructional technologies: Blackboard course management system atc.cit.cornell.edu/blackboard/ Course web sites atc.cit.cornell.edu/course/instructional/index.cfm Audio and video on the web atc.cit.cornell.edu/course/streaming/index.cfm Course communication tools (such as discussion boards) atc.cit.cornell.edu/course/communications.cfm Web-based surveys & quizzes atc.cit.cornell.edu/course/surveys/index.cfm Assistance with creating course materials atc.cit.cornell.edu/course/consultation.cfm If you have questions about using course technology or would like an overview of which technologies are available for teaching and learning, please contact us: See our website for more information atc.cit.cornell.edu/ E-mail us for a consultation atc-support@cornell.edu Visit the Academic Technology Center Computing & Communications Center Room 124, Garden Avenue Weekdays 9:00a.m. – 5:00p.m.

Cornell Teaching & Learning Consortium (CTLC) website for teaching w/technology services teachingconsortium.cornell.edu/

CIT services for faculty: Software Licensing cusoftware.cornell.edu/ CIT Public Labs for instruction www.cit.cornell.edu/labs/ Audio/Video Streaming, Webcasting & Videoconferencing www.cit.cornell.edu/services/av/ CIT OnSite Solutions fee-based support for computers, networks, & security www.cit.cornell.edu/services/onsite/

archived Teaching with Technology newsletters atc.cit.cornell.edu/news/index.cfm