DTLT News: December 8, 2008

Semester Wrap-up

Thanks to everyone who participated in this fall's first series of Tech Symposia. The events on Pedagogy 2.0, UMW Blogs, and Social Networking drew faculty from both campuses of the University, and we're excited to work with those who proposed projects based on their experiences. Stay tuned in January for news about next semester's series.

I'm delighted to report that several faculty members have contacted me about helping with Faculty Academy programming. I'm working on scheduling a meeting in January to kick-off this process, but it's not too late to join in! If you're interested in being a part of Faculty Academy from behind the scenes, send me an email at mburtis@umw.edu. In the meantime, mark your calendars for the week of May 11; it is tentatively secheduled as the conference week. Details about dates, times, and locations will be forthcoming in early spring semester.

Finally, as you wrap up this semester and turn your attention to the spring, we have a resource to spark your imagination. As you may know, over the last two years UMW Blogs, the University's grassroots Wordpress environment, has grown by leaps and bounds, with faculty and students pushing the boundaries of how Wordpress can enhance the online world of UMW. If you're not sure how UMW Blogs might fit into your curriculum, take a look at Jim Groom's, Ten Ways to Use UMW Blogs: http://umwblogs.org/support/ten-ways-to-use-umw-blogs/. You may be surprised by what you find!

Blackboard News and Links

As announced in our last newsletter, over the holiday break the University will be upgrading from Blackboard Basic 6 to Blackboard Enterprise 8. You can find details about the upgrade process (and recommendations about how to prepare) at http://www.umw.edu/technology/blackboard/bb_8_installation_progress/default.php. In addition, you can find a features comparison between the two versions at http://www.umw.edu/technology/blackboard/feature_comparison__bb_6_b/default.php.

NITLE Opportunities

Several faculty members have already taken us up on participation in NITLE's online workshops, but we still have a few programming units left. You may be interested in attending one of these upcoming workshops:

* Teaching with Virtual Worlds
http://www.nitle.org/www/events/854-special-topics-in-digital-teaching-6
December 10, 2008, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM. EST. Delivered online in NITLE MIV Auditorium
Registration Deadline has passed, but seats may still be available.

* Grassroots Video
http://www.nitle.org/www/events/855-special-topics-in-digital-teaching-7
January 28, 2009, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM. EST. Delivered online in NITLE MIV Auditorium
Registration Deadline: January 16th

Subscribing to DTLT updates via RSS

We hope that you've found these bi-weekly DTLT newsletters useful. As I mentioned in the first one, DTLT is also working on a revamped Web presence that will allow you to subscribe to updates and content through various channels. In the meantime, the information in these newsletters is also being cross-posted on DTLT's space in the TeachUMW Web site (http://teachumw.org/groups/38), where RSS feeds are available. If you currently use an RSS reader to subscribe to Web content, you may wish to add this feed to your list: http://teachumw.org/groups/38/feed

CommonCraft Videos

Not sure what that last section was all about? Don't have a clue what RSS is or why you would want to use it? Want to learn more about how RSS can help you take control of digital information? Fear not! CommonCraft, a company that produces short videos explaining complex ideas "in plain English," has a video that explains RSS and Web content syndication in simple terms. You can find it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU. If you like what you see, check out all of CommonCraft's videos at http://www.commoncraft.com/blog-categories/plainenglish.

Finally, DTLT wants to wish all of you a safe and happy holiday! See you on the other side!