Session Topic: Collaboration & Innovations

This presentation explores the use of 3D technology in education.  Applications for 3D images and animation for use in mathematics, hydraulics, physics, multimedia, and other areas will be examined.  The presentation will look at 3D printing, or rapid prototyping, as a faculty support service and as a teaching tool.  Examples and applications of interactive 3D educational simulations will also be discussed.  The presentation will also feature strategies for involving faculty and expanding the use of these technologies without imposing the burden of extensive additional training.

This presentation is intended for participants who are inexperienced in the use of 3D technologies.

Session Topic: Collaboration & Innovations

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 is a multi-featured product that enhances the ability to work on documents collaboratively, store document, file and pictures with version controls, link to other sites, easily control the who can view or update documents, create work flows to process forms and other activities, automatically create web pages from Microsoft Access databases, easily create dynamic content driven web sites and many other features.  It easily integrates with other products, especially Microsoft Office suite and has Web version of Excel and other Office products for creating, updating and manipulating documents via the web.  You can search the content of the documents store and report on a data stored on the site.  You can easily create custom solutions and change the look the site or add sub sites.
SharePoint helps to reduce training and maintenance cost.  The site content can be managed by non-technical people and there is a large SharePoint community across organizations of all types.  Security is easily maintained as well.  Authorized individuals can even access and work on content beyond a school's network.
Several examples of the SharePoint's use at Northern Kentucky University will be presented, from sports teams, college departments, administration and others.

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

Try this and share it immediately with your colleagues: free, online, self-paced professional development on the basics of Kentucky's next education reform (Senate Bill 1, regular session 2009).
These seven engaging modules, funded by the Kentucky e-Learning for Educators grant and produced as a collaboration between Kentucky Educational Television and the Kentucky Department of Education, cover key areas of the recent reform and include video of exemplary Kentucky teachers in K-12 classrooms; interviews with key stakeholders; Flash interactives; and reflection, resources, and assessments leading to auto-generated certificates of completion.
The primary audience for these awareness-level modules is K-12 teachers. The modules can be used for professional development credit—either individually or as part of a facilitated group to meet teachers' immediate needs for information about changes affecting the way they teach and assess students. By modeling how peer observation and reflection about practice can improve teaching, these modules not only help provide consistent, clear and accurate information about SB1, they also provide guidance on documenting the attributes of effective teachers and academic leaders, particularly if used by a group of teachers within a professional learning community.
The modules are also appropriate for higher education faculty, parents, and other education stakeholders who need to learn more about changes in K-12 education and teacher preparation. Accessible 24/7, self-paced, and without a specific order of completion, these flexible modules are convenient for any adult learner and can be adapted to meet at variety of training needs.

Session Topic: Collaboration & Innovations

Critical thinking, according to the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking (1987), is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.  This intellectually disciplined process can begin in many 100-level and introductory classes as professors take advantage of the vast array of media and online sources that, in tapping into popular culture, can serve as a springboard to prompt students to think critically about concepts within their own discipline as well as outside of it.
In this presentation, Sam Lapin will model how in his Public Speaking class he uses a variety of media, including TV commercials and short campaign ads that he wrote and produced, to teach some of the basic logical fallacies often used in persuasive communication.  Matt Birkenhauer will model how he uses old Barbie Doll commercials from You Tube, in addition to websites used for advertising, to encourage students to think more critically in his Introduction to Literature class about both the social construction of gender and how the media may, perhaps, influence students' perception of their own bodies in unhealthy or unrealistic ways.  In both cases, Professors Lapin and Birkenhauer view the media in all its forms as texts to be critically evaluated by first-year students who will spend their lives and careers interacting with the media.

Session Topic: Information Technology

This presentation will showcase More@MSU, a web-based resource Morehead State University created to foster student success.  At MSU, a Blackboard (Bb) course shell is created for every course (whether online, hybrid or face-to-face) and each shell contains the More@MSU tab. This tab directs students to valuable institutional resources like financial aid, tutoring, technical support, disability services, and library resources.  
Instructional Designers at Morehead State University, in collaboration with the Provost's Office, used the Quality Matters (QM) rubric as a guide for determining the type of content to include in More@MSU.  An added benefit of More@MSU is that its presence in an online or hybrid course improves the likelihood of QM certification.  There are a number of standards in the QM rubric that require the presence of information like that included in this area.  By incorporating the More@MSU tab into every course on Bb, MSU is enhancing the online teaching and learning product. This resource benefits faculty (it eliminates repetition), administration (it is a one-stop shop for services), and students (it provides essential information for success).  
The presentation will describe how the More@MSU tab is pushed to Bb shells, what content is included, how it is maintained, and how data about its use are collected using Google Analytics. Specifically, Google Analytics provides the number of times More@MSU was accessed, the location in the world from which More@MSU visitors originate, how long a user remained on More@MSU, and the bounce rate (how many people came to the site and immediately left, presumably because they did not find the site useful).

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Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

Wimba is an online meeting room that allows interaction of students and teachers through real-time chat and video capabilities.  At Eastern Kentucky University, undergraduate and graduate mathematics education courses utilize Wimba to provide content delivery for students throughout the state of Kentucky.  Interfaced with Blackboard, Wimba has become a tool to connect students and professors eliminating the barriers of distance and isolation.
This session will provide an overview of Wimba and outline classroom use of this software at the university level.  Suggestions for Wimba use from elementary to post-secondary level will be explored by means of small group discussion.  Through a simulated meeting experience, participants will gain a working knowledge of Wimba and be able to implement the tool in their classroom.

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

"Fair use" is central to making most uses of copyrighted works possible at all in education and when using digital technologies. Copyright law leaves little opportunity for making copies and sharing them today in the absence of fair use or another exception to the broad and exclusive rights of protection given to owners of copyrighted works. Confusion abounds, however, about the scope and application of fair use in managing the day-to-day challenges of teaching and learning. Some common questions include: When  can instructors share articles and other readings with students? How can students integrate media-based works into presentations in the classroom and beyond? What kinds of media, i.e. video, songs, YouTube, can instructors include in Blackboard? Will streaming content make sharing the content okay? Will people actually sue me? This conversation will concentrate on analyzing as a group some common situations in teaching that make use of copyrighted works and then formulating  appropriate strategies for applying fair use to resolve them in lawful and most importantly learning-centered ways. Participants will also have an opportunity to raise questions and develop strategies for managing their questions.

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Session Topic: Technology in the K-12 Classroom

John Schlipp, an academic intellectual property librarian specialist, introduces Creative Thinking plagiarism and copyright awareness films and lessons for grades 6-12 and freshman-college. Creative Thinking supports plagiarism and copyright awareness for students @ http://creativethinking.nku.edu
This program demonstrates how to use the engaging Creative Thinking lessons and films for teens and young adults. Curriculum highlights include research honesty and copyright consciousness. It also covers ethical and legal discussions of respecting rights of creators, as consumers using information technology responsibly. It introduces multiple types of intellectual property which serves students as creators (authors, researchers, inventors, entrepreneurs, etc.).
Creative Thinking was funded by grant and in-kind support of collaborative partnership between regional academic, public, and school libraries; service learning outreach element at all levels, e.g. college and schools. Community outreach and collaboration best practice highlights are reviewed.  National education standards from Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning; American Association of School Librarians; American Library Association; NCTE/IRA's Standards for the English Language Arts; standards from Kentucky and Ohio; and others are incorporated into the curriculum.

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Session Topic: Tech-based Faculty Development

What was once called Camp Delphi has now evolved into Delphi U, a focused, four-day workshop created to aid faculty in designing, developing, delivering, and assessing online learning at the University of Louisville. The program has grown and found sharpened focus by using Paul and Elder's model for critical thinking and by utilizing the Quality Matters rubric as its overarching theme. Through an engaging presentation, those responsible for faculty development will discover not only the process used to find Delphi U's focus but also learn how the QM rubric helped to shape the structure, intent, and purpose of the program.
The purpose of the presentation is to help those who are struggling with (or perhaps enhancing) their online teaching faculty development programs.  The University of Louisville's Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning has grown and refocused their efforts into a much more intentional and developed program utilizing critical thinking methodology and the Quality Matters rubric. We will share with learners not only how these tools were utilized, but also give them a paradigm they may consider using in their own faculty development program.  Learners will be able to walk away from the session with an approach and a model they can use to sharpen their own institutional efforts in developing more effective online faculty.  A PowerPoint presentation may be used to review our efforts though utilizing a Lectora title may also be considered since it can provide interactive games to heighten audience participation and interest.

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

The researcher kept track of every minute she spent teaching four sections of the same course during a single semester. Two of the sections were taught online, one was taught face-to-face, and one was taught as a hybrid. The researcher broke the time and effort spent into the categories of course preparation, grading, and loading materials onto the Blackboard platform, as well as other various activities. Her finding gives an empirical evidence to answer the question: Does Teaching Online Actually Take More Time?

Session Topic: Tech-based Faculty Development

I am a faculty member who values professional development and growth in my area of specialty.  I also have found it very difficult to explore new ideas, practices, and content because I teach a full load, serve on many committees, work in and with the community, and have a full family schedule.  Where can I find the time or how can I use part of my free time efficiently to grow personally and professionally?
During this session participants will learn about the process of content aggregation and specific tools to use to develop their own content aggregation system.  Specific processes and tools to explore will include Google Reader, Twitter, and Delicious.
Aggregating information means to automatically collect and to accumulate information for your use at your time of convenience.  After spending some minimal time in learning the philosophy and process of aggregating participants will know the tools to develop a web based aggregation system that can be accessed via a smart phone, laptop, and/or PC.
This process is feasible across disciplines and can be set up based on the user's preference.  By aggregating one can categorize web based information in a manner that can easily be digested.  Setting up a personal system of aggregation is free and helps me stay on top of my discipline in a time efficient and very effective manner.  I continue to use information and research discovered through this process in my professional and personal life. 
Aggregation allows me to stay ahead of the game.

Session Topic: Library Services or Information Systems

The University of Louisville Libraries recently implemented WorldCat Local as a primary library search portal.  Our experience with this implementation led to a comparative exploration of the strengths and weaknesses of current discovery system offerings.  Our main goal is to use the research we have acquired to outline areas for improvement concerning current methods of information retrieval.  This session will focus on our research findings and prompt discussion regarding the experiences of others and the future needs pertaining to information retrieval systems.

Session Topic: Information Technology

Is your institution getting the most out of its learning management system (LMS)?  Are you seeing growth in Blackboard usage, in instructor usage, in tool usage?  Unfortunately, Blackboard doesn't have a simple and effective reporting package other than the beta version of Project Astro, which isn't the answer for everyone.  We will walk you through what we have learned by using the Blackboard reporting SQL role which has read only access to the database.   This presentation will explore the information that can be obtained from Blackboard and the pitfalls to avoid.  Some SQL jargon will be used, but we will try to keep it more about the information and how you can use it to make more informed decisions.

Session Topic: Tech-based Faculty Development

 Following last year’s Convergence Conference presentation on Blue 2.0 by UK.  NKU decided to try a new delivery method for faculty training.  As we all know, faculty are often hesitant to try new technologies.  Not only are they resistant to try the new technologies but then they struggle with how to integrate them into their classes.  This project immersed a group of faculty into a self-paced, online learning program where they learned how to use Web 2.0 tools in a casual setting.  Each module included background information about the tool, goals, learning outcomes, and assignments.  Instructional design ideas for using the tools with classes were included.  Faculty were also asked to reflect on each tool and discuss how they might use it with a class.  Throughout the project, faculty from different disciplines collaborated and shared ideas with each other.  This project provided a fun, interactive way to foster and enhance creativity, communication, and collaboration among our faculty pilot group.  The outcome from our faculty pilot workgroup will be discussed.  Several of our faculty have created educational, discipline-specific blogs as a result of this project.  They have also discovered uses for how to use the tools within their courses, either within Blackboard or as stand-alone learning assets.  Two of the faculty who participated in the beta group will give feedback on their experience and why they liked this training delivery method.

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

When teaching online, students must be engaged in the content or you lose them. Using SoftChalk to create interactive content helps to keep students engaged and reinforce course objectives. Come see how easily professional looking, interactive lessons can be created by combining your own content with the features offered in SoftChalk. This includes learning activities, quizzes, and the ability to embed widgets and media from digital repositories.

Benjamin Worth, Bluegrass Community & Technical College 

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

This presentation is designed to provide participants with a quick overview of what is freely available for instruction use by higher education faculty. For example we will look at MIT's course library, the University of Michigan's course tools, Merlot, the University of Wisconsin's the Orange Grove (Florida College system), MCTC Title III video development and many other sites that have their course information available for free or for nominal fees for other to use.

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

In July of 2009, the Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded almost $1,000,000 to a project formed through a partnership by Northern Kentucky University, Blue Grass Community and Technical College and the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives. The goals of the project were to facilitate online learning at the undergraduate level and to establish a virtual community for this specific group of students. The students are located in the rural and remote areas of western and eastern parts of Kentucky where poverty levels can be upwards of 44%. These counties are in the utmost need of professionally trained library practitioners. Almost one third of the directors of county librarians throughout Kentucky lack an undergraduate degree. Library directors in these regions are extremely dedicated and can benefit from the critical skills and knowledge provided by the program, positively impacting the level of service they can provide to their communities.
Most librarians in these areas do not hold degrees because of financial and location barriers. The Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program grant received by the partnership has addressed both of these hurdles by providing completely online programs, renewable scholarships and technology stipends that include laptop computers and Internet access.
This session will highlight the technology used to connect and support the students while they work towards their degree. Among the tools used to implement the program are a customized web page with forum and chat functionality, online colloquium, Blackboard, Twitter, and Facebook.

This workshop session will show participants how to utilize cloud computing as a mechanism for student engagement and learning while teaching technical diversity and collaborative learning skills to students in online courses. Several tools and techniques will be demonstrated and active engagement activities to get participants thinking about how these tools can be used in their classes.

Session Topic: Mobile Learning and Applications

With the growing presence of smartphones, modern colleges have been presented with a powerful new platform to deliver specialized content to the campus community.  From creating customizable study tools to concentrating the core functionality of a college website, mobile applications represent an opportunity to remain at the forefront of cutting edge technology while creating unique tools which are most useful outside of traditional computing environments.  During this session, we'll take a look at two of the mobile applications that NKU has developed for the iPhone/iPod Touch.
During the first portion of this session, we'll discuss the development of NKU's flagship mobile app, iNKU.  With the development of iNKU, we've consolidated some of the most useful content that our online presence has to offer, such as our campus directory and schedule of classes.  We've also created tools which are new with iNKU, like our TANK bus schedule app and streaming radio.
During the second portion of the session, we'll talk about NKU's flashcard application. Intended to encapsulate the same functionality as paper flashcards, this app is a promising digital version of the time-honored study tool. Users can download specialized decks of study questions with which they may quiz themselves.

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

This session is designed for librarians or educators interested in an alternative to the traditional classroom "lab" approach to library instruction, in favor of an online format, or to adapt to the research needs of distance learners.  An overview of one library instruction team's journey - the process, lessons learned, challenges faced, along with feedback received will be presented.  The future direction of this school's online library instruction program will be briefly discussed.

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

This presentation will allow for valuable dialog about enhancement of online teaching and learning.  Furthermore, the session will provide participants the opportunity to direct questions toward the plan's key stakeholders.

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Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

As distance learning course development and delivery has evolved over the past decade, so has the process for evaluating those courses within institutional and accrediting body guidelines.  At the University of Kentucky, we have progressed from in-house online course evaluation instruments that emerged from a doctoral practicum experience to a strong collaboration with our UK office of Institutional Research, Practice and Effectiveness (IRPE).  Since Fall 2008, this successful partnership has provided Distance Learning Programs with the opportunity to join a pilot group of academic departments and colleges in utilizing online Summative Teacher Course Evaluations with an additional set of questions developed for the online course teaching environment.  Moving forward with this project, our next phase has been an analysis of the Qualitative Comments portion of the evaluation - organized by undergraduate, graduate and professional courses.  For the study, all faculty names and course numbers are removed prior to the analysis.  Our goal is to glean best practices and challenges to share with our faculty and to use in our course development process.  Come join us to engage in a lively dialogue about online course evaluation “the challenges and successes“ and how this can positively impact the online course faculty development process.  The session will include sharing of basic evaluation tools and data collected, as well as provide time for an organized exchange between presenters and audience.

Session Topic: Information Technology

Computer and network security is a major concern for everyone.  Most people are very aware of the problem.  However, they are unsure as to what they can do about the problem.  We will present practical security information, procedures, guidelines and software.  Physical security, passwords, encryption, wireless networks and network tunnels will presented in a very interactive and hands on environment.  We will demonstrate physical security, robust passwords, encryption and wireless network security.

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

This presentation examines a student-centered online orientation course created to familiarize students with online learning. Participants will view orientation learning modules and witness how a course uses audio, visual simulations, tutorials, interactive learning units, peer discussion and individual assignments to acclimate students to the online environment and increase their success in future classes. Participants will learn of free tools they could immediately implement into their own courses.

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Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

Blackboard's Building Block for Mobile Learning provides access to Blackboard sites for various devices including iPhones, iPads and Android phones. We will report on strategies from Kentucky's universities to deploy this mobile learning environment, including demonstrations of the available features and our institutional customizations. We will also present comments from students and instructors who have used Blackboard Mobile Learn, and report about helpdesk support issues. This presentation is intended primarily for instructors and Blackboard system staff, but it is suitable for anyone. The audience  is expected to have many comments and suggestions for further development, which we will take back to Blackboard and to our institutions.

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Session Topic: Tech-based Faculty Development

Would you like to use current technologies to connect with your students?  If your students are on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter while watching Survivor and Big Brother, why not use that information to your advantage in the classroom?  For example, learn how to use reality television to promote teamwork in group projects.  Consider providing information that is outside your content area, but important for your students to know, by using YouTube.  Initiate collaboration using Twitter.  In this interactive session, we will discuss the advantages and pitfalls with incorporating these current technologies into your traditional or online classes.

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Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

Headlines continue to report that many institutions struggle to retain their online students.  While online enrollments are the fastest growing sector of higher education, studies affirm that student retention in online courses still tends to be lower than in face-to-face courseswith some programs losing nearly half of their online students.

At Sullivan University, we realize that even if we provide high quality online courses and programs, our students will not benefit unless we can retain them.  Sullivan's persistence rates for online students are consistently above 85% and often in the 90s--much higher than most programs and often higher than face-to-face.  This success comes from involving many individuals and departments who provide "high touch" services and resources for our online students.

Come and join us as we journey through best practices for educating and retaining our online students using a team approach.  You will leave the session with practical ideas and strategies for implementation at your own institution.

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Session Topic: Information Technology

Everyone is trying to do more with less. Most IT departments probably have an under-utilized asset that could let them address non-IT needs: the Help Desk ticketing system. Eastern Kentucky University uses their Help Desk software to support needs in Facilities Services, Capital Planning, Purchasing, Human Resources, Judicial Affairs, Regional Campuses and more.  You'll see examples of non-IT ticketing systems and hear about how they were proposed and implemented.

Session Topic: Library Services or Information Systems

At EKU Libraries our philosophy towards serving distance students embodies the principle that “a student is a student no matter their location.  In light of that philosophy, we strive to provide library materials and services to this rapidly expanding sector of our student body.  Whether it's getting a book, article, library instruction or reference help, we use the technology at our disposal to make their experience the same as if they were in the traditional library.  Come join us as we explore the challenges involved in serving distance students and discuss the layered approach we have developed to reach out to these students.

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

This presentation aims at sharing some key lessons learned in distance education by an educator in undergraduate social work.  The instructor’s experience included teaching both in the synchronous format, namely ITV and asynchronous as well, namely online.  This is intended to provide faculty new to distance education an opportunity to validate their experiences as well as provide an opportunity to isolate some best practices.   For faculty in human service professions in particular, this presentation hopes to provide some insights to enhance the learning experience for students.
Distance learning, which has had a history of more than a century and a half has been described as the 21st century learner-centered model in Higher education.  Having taken a back seat when compared to traditional face to face teaching approaches, catering to nondegree and continuing education programs, distance education today has come on par and gone global as well.  The changing demographics of students in higher education and the internet revolution have created a responsive need for distance education.   
This presentation’s highlights include a case example of the processes involved and challenges encountered in creating and delivering instruction in the distance education format.  The course of the pedagogical journey from planning and preparation for course delivery, tuning in to the   teaching and learning environment, working through the social distance elements to create optimum academic learning, is the key focus.  The instructor’s experience in synchronous and asynchronous teaching environments will be shared, concluding with prospects for blended learning and scope for integration of available teaching tools.

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

This presentation will share how utilizing exciting Web 2.0 features enhanced a graduate course in teacher education. By using tools such as blogs, wikis, videos and podcasts student engagement increased. By walking through a real course, participants will leave with ideas for how to use Web 2.0 in their online teaching.
This presentation arose out of a collaboration between a professor charged with teaching a graduate level course in curriculum and instruction and an instructional designer who helped support this process. The goal was to create a course that not only communicated the required content but also did so in a way that modeled technology that could be subsequently used by the students in their teaching. The result was the development of a highly successful course using multiple Web 2.0 tools to increase student engagement and demonstrate how technology can be used to enhance learning.
The goal of this presentation is to share with participants how this course was created and organized, how technology was used to enhance the online experience for the students and the teacher, and how through survey responses and reflective teaching that this course continues to be improved and modified. This course used student and teacher blogs to create a vehicle for class discussion, used wikis to foster collaboration, used video editing software and video sharing sites to help students reflect on their own teaching, and used podcasts and videos in order for the teacher to engage in personal interaction. The use of these tools created a successful online learning experience for all involved.

The emphasis of this session will be on planning and organizing a college course for hybrid delivery (both online and face-to-face components).  Lessons learned from teaching economics in this format will be shared and applicable across disciplines.  Time will be allowed for discussion and audience interaction. 

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning 

Trying to create a standardized look and feel for online courses in an academic environment where faculty had long had the freedom to develop online courses without input or advice from others often calls for drastic measures. In some institutions is means outsourcing there online programs.  In Sullivan University's case, it laid the groundwork for the expansion of the e-learning department to include an Instructional Design team.
Until Sullivan hired its first official Instructional Designer (ID) in 2008, experienced online staff resources were at a minimum, along with the ability to create well-designed courses rather than just online correspondence courses.  In most cases, existing staffers spent the majority of their time putting out fires rather than concentrating on development. That's not to say that some did not hit the mark, but there was a lack of consistency in approach, no set standards of creation or production, and sound instructional principles were not always applied.
One of the first processes put into place was a development packet for instructors who were assigned to develop courses.  This packet included a template that outlined a formal structure, week by week, on how instructional content should be developed and entered into the LMS.  Templates began the establishment of a consistent look and feel for the courses, a long-term goal of the university.  In addition, links to Exemplary Courses were also made available to developers.  This made it easier to achieve buy-in both from administration and faculty who had anxiety about this new endeavor.  No longer could course developers say that no one explained to them what was required or requested of them.

Session Topic: Tech-based Faculty Development

We will discuss the development process leading to a full spectrum of innovative online resources that enhance the educational opportunities available to the students we serve from the time they apply to NKU through their graduation (and beyond). 
Among the questions that continue to drive the development of these tools are:

1. How can we improve the success of students in mathematics courses by proper placement of students in courses?

2. How can we continually improve the student experience at NKU and ensure we meet the expectations of our students who have grown up with technology?

3. How can we work together to improve retention rates getting students to graduation day?

4. How can we improve the quality and availability of the data collected from students in the course evaluation process?

5. How can we improve the quality and availability of the data collected from students in the senior assessment process?

Among the tools discussed will be the Kentucky Online Testing Program ( KYOTE ), the Mathematics Placement Webpage (MPW), the Online Student Evaluation Program (OSEP),  the conduct of the Senior Survey completed prior to graduation, and others... Innovation occurs when there is a significant change in expectations.  We will discuss the innovations achieved thus far by the use of these tools, and will share some thoughts about the roles they are likely to play in the near future.

The presenters will share their experiences in developing and utilizing these tools to improve the university’s learning environment. We believe that sharing information about these technological tools in an attempt to better serve the educational needs of the students of our region will be of interest to a broad array of conference participants.

Session Topic: Collaboration & Innovations

A recent study of communications methods confirmed that the average person only retains 20% of the information communicated over the telephone.  However, that number jumps to about 35% when you use video conferencing, and leaps to almost 70% when the parties use collaboration tools.  Networking giant, Cisco Systems, recently suggested there is no reason not to begin installing a new Wireless LAN, because the recently ratified technology standard has the ability to dramatically increase the capacity of a WLAN and the effective throughput of every client.  The FCC states that 91% of the US population has a cellular device (phone).  While these are fascinating statistics, what do they have to do with the evolving landscape of education technology?  During this interactive presentation, participants will 1) use video conferencing technology to Extend the classroom beyond the school/community; 2) use wireless technology to Engage the students in the classroom; and 3) see how both can be used to Expand the window of instruction beyond the traditional school hours.  While there is absolute validity in the idea of reducing the student to teacher ratio in our classrooms, this presentation is designed to leverage the power of current technology, so that we can actually grow the classroom as opposed to reduce it.

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Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

This presentation demonstrates how traditional (e.g., lecture, small group work, and discussion), online (e.g., streaming media, modules, and asynchronous interaction) and service learning pedagogical techniques may be blended to improve student learning outcomes (SLOs) in hybrid (part face-to-face and part online) courses.  After a comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of traditional, online, and service learning techniques, this presentation demonstrates how a combination these of these complimentary techniques were used to create a course as part of the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) pilot at Northern Kentucky University.  The goal of the QEP is to improve SLOs, namely critical thinking, through the use of active learning techniques.  To obtain these objectives, a course was designed with active traditional, online and service learning components. After the description of the hybrid course design, the summary of the preliminary assessment of SLOs is discussed. The final part of this presentation involves a short workshop in which participants explore how one of their own courses could be taught as a hybrid and use multiple pedagogical techniques.

Session Topic: Tech-based Faculty Development

This session will share findings from research study implemented through the Kentucky E-Learning for Educators project (http://www.kyvs.org). The research study examined the impact of online professional development on teacher knowledge and practice as well as on student achievement and attitudes.  Specific strategies and lessons learned from the professional development workshops will be shared.

Learning Environments for Academia's Future (LEAF) invites faculty each year to supercharge their instruction by participating in an immersive, multidisciplinary program. After participating in an comprehensive summer orientation, they commit to teach one class in our state-of-the-art incubator classroom. Drawing from pedagogical, communications and instructional design best practices, faculty develop a syllabus, incorporating at least one appropriate technology into their instruction.
Learn about the program's synthesis and progression as we discuss this innovative approach to faculty engagement.

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Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

This interactive session focuses on "lessons learned" by seasoned online instructors and how to improve online course delivery.  Practical application of how to anticipate problems and proactively address issues will be provided.

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning
 
Students learn via various methods. Here at Maysville Community and Technical College we are using software called Camtasia to assist with instruction in our math classes. This software allows us to focus in on areas in our math classes where students have traditionally had difficulty in learning the material. Our instructors create a series of power point slides and then convert these slides to a video using Camtasia. The instructor is able to narrate the power point slides with voice narration and create a video that the student can play at their own leisure and listen to over and over again, until they feel comfortable working with the equations given in each slide. Throughout the presentation our instructors give the student sample problems to work out, the student is instructed to pause the video and return to playing the video, the instructor then lead a discussion about the solution to the problem and the steps taken to get to the solution. The videos created assist the students in further gaining better knowledge of how to solve problems from the material that is being presented to them. Student are now able to use the information from the slides as study guides for quizzes and test, thus giving them more access to the information presented in class than ever before. As part of the video presentations our instructors have also developed on line quizzes aimed at testing the knowledge the students have just learned from the video presentation and the in class presentation.

Session Topic: Collaboration & Innovations

Widespread use of podcasts in higher education focuses primarily on strengthening learning outcomes and improving students' access to course materials. Although some educators have used podcasts to reduce students' anxiety about course content and activities, this technology has not been used as a method to reduce communication apprehension or public speaking anxiety.
This presentation will share a collaborative podcasting attempt to reduce communication apprehension in college students enrolled in a lower-level interviewing class. Two sections of the class were provided with two separate podcasts, one that featured a simulated one-on-one coaching session with the instructor, and another that featured a guided stress-reduction session. Both videos were tailored to address the specific fears and anxieties experienced by the students.
Podcasts will be viewed, and participants will be encouraged to participate in a brainstorming session that seeks to identify the possibilities and limitations of podcasting in reducing communication apprehension.

Over the past several years there has been a concerted effort at Kentucky's state agencies to improve the collection and use of data to better inform policymaking. Presenters will discuss three new and evolving initiatives to better utlize data at the state agency level including efforts to make data more accessible and transparent including the Kentucky High School Feedback Report, data portals for postsecondary and K-12, and the new P-20 effort to link data across state agencies to foster better policy research and analysis and to provide access to data for academic researchers.

Session Topic: Tech-based Faculty Development

Gateway (GCTC) has begun incorporating iClicker technology in the classroom to heighten student involvement and test scores. Dr. Deberry and Mr. Neelly began using iClickers as a method of reviewing materials before unit tests in fall of 2009. iClickers allow each student to "vote" anonymously for a response on practice tests over each chapter's main concepts in class. Bar graphs appear after each question allowing the instructor and the students to see the correct answer and how the class voted. Concepts clearly understood show high percentages of correct responses, while concepts with a wide range of responses allow the instructor to reengage the class on the chapter concept once again before testing.
Advantages include: letting students participate without embarrassment; allowing the faculty member to see student understanding prior to testing; heightened student involvement with "game show" technology; and better student test scores.

The cost of textbooks and teaching materials has grown exponentially in recent years.  Students balk at the outlay and instructors are increasingly aware of the costs as they choose materials.
Goals--
1.  This presentation will provide information about alternatives to traditional textbooks and teaching materials for all instructors on campus as well as online.
2.  The various approaches to copyright issues and requirements in using and creating open source textbooks and materials will be discussed.
3.  Instructors will be introduced to existing online repositories of shared open source materials.
4.  This presentation will be geared toward teaching faculty.

Session Topic: Collaboration & Innovations

Our work embraces different technologies and methodologies including e-books, blogs, powerpoints, movies,
Mission Statements, self book publication and more, all aimed at both facilitating and fascinating the students into communicating something they know more about than anyone else. Part of the fascination comes from seeing their work in published print, on the web, in a youtube video or just showing it off to a classmate. In all these places the instructor and the technology are there to help the student find their voice as a start to more complex communication processes.
We basically work with College Freshmen at different levels of literacy, but one of Keith's "Star Pupils" is Tony Smith is illiterate yet publishing his second novel.  Gil's "Star Class Speaker"was one of Keith's students who has served 10 years for a gang murder and now is completely rehabilitated and is giving back to the community. Gil's Minor League baseball players from his ESL Summer Class also had a very interactive visit with his college class via a student interpreter.
Based on our educational case studies, this workshop will provide some simple techniques, templates and resources to implement these technologies in your practices with your students along with the philosophy of opening up the world to the student through their own expanding vision. Hopefully others will have similar experiences to share.

Frank Cupolo, SIS

Session Topic: Vendor Presentation

In this session we will discuss the evolution of end user computing from the current device centric model to a user centric model.  VMware's vision for end user computing suggests users will connect to their compute environments using advanced desktop protocols from the device of their choosing.  We will discuss VMware's Horizon project, which enables policy based application and data delivery for end users, the VMware View virtual desktop solution, and the VMware ThinApp application virtualization solution. 

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

With today's millenials, its imperative that we compete with droids, blackberrys, texting, etc.  So what then is running the classroom?  Do we build our courses around technology or simply use it to enhance our course? 
We'll discuss the characteristics of today's learners, their knowledge of the content and how to build learning communities.
Russ and I will also discuss the appropriate uses of technolgy and how using technology will not only enhance your class but engage your class!
This is a fun, interactive session that discusses content, quality and pedagogy.

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

Web 2.0 technologies are some of the fastest growing technologies that allow you to harness social networking and web based or cloud computing.  These technologies allow instructors and students to communicate and share ideas even with limited technology resources. 
With the arrival of netbooks and iphone like multimedia devices, web 2.0 technologies are gaining a prominent place for educators of all sorts.  The processing power of devices is not as much of an issue as the access to the internet. The growing use of new devices requires a look at instructional delivery in a new light.
Web 2.0 resources provide a bounty of free and easy-to-use collaborative tools that allow instantaneous information transfer to groups of all sizes.  These technologies can be used to provide teaching and learning opportunities anytime, anywhere for novice and expert users alike. 
Starting with blogging and wiki tools that can be used in pretty much any classroom, the session will focus on some of the newer tools that teacher educators can use in their classes.  A big focus of this session will be on tools that are available for free and are easy to use by all types of technology users.

Session Topic: E-learning & Distance Learning

This session is interactive and intended for those educators who want to learn more about successful online course design. The presenters will provide examples of content materials including benefits of technology. Attendees will participate in group discussion and activities as they learn about proven success with consistent course design and methods to organize course content. Don't miss this innovative session to learn more about developing, designing and implementing best shared practices for online learning.

Please join us for a presentation on how recent software and hardware advancements make deploying Virtual desktops a reality for a growing number of University PC Lab and administrative environments. We will discuss the direction of VDI and a highly scalable, cost effective solution based on Cisco’s Unified Computing System.