Are you Ready to Attend Itunes U?: Linda Hefferin & Catherine Stukel

Presentation Resources

Institutional Affiliation: Elgin Community College & Morton Community College
Description: In this session you will learn how to subscribe to a series, listen to and view a series, and create an iTunes account. . . . . all on a budget! A variety of iTunes resources will be made available to session attendees. Learn what iTunes University is, how students can learn using iPods, and much more.

An Overview of Web 2.0 in Higher Ed: Kevin L. Crow

Presentation Resources

Institutional Affiliation: Harper College
Description: "Web 2.0" in one of the latest buzzwords in the academic computing that possibly represents a paradigm shift in the way that post secondary learners locate, process, and distribute information. Unfortunately, however, most post secondary educators understand little about this term: "web 2.0" or the significance that it holds for post secondary learning. In this session the presenter will utilize Web 2.0 technologies in order to help enable participants to (1) understand what is meant by the term "Web 2.0", (2) understand how Web 2.0 tools differ from Web 1.0 tools, (3) discover what Web 2.0 tools are being used on today's college campuses, and (4) learn where to locate, and how to start using Web 2.0 tools. The presenter will provide real-world examples of how Web 2.0 technologies can be utilized in order to facilitate high-quality, authentic learning in post secondary environments.

Community Colleges in Virtual Worlds: Denise Cote

Presentation Resources

Institutional Affiliation: College of DuPage
Description: The use of virtual worlds in higher education is becoming more and more mainstream. In fact, Community Colleges across the country are embracing this technology and are implementing learning experiences for students in a variety of disciplines. The most popular platform with educators is the virtual world called “Second Life.” The College of DuPage sponsors the year-old virtual users group, “Community Colleges in Second Life” that now has close to 300 members. This popular use of new technology, though exciting, is not without concerns for privacy, intellectual property rights and student safety. In this presentation, participants will learn what Second Life is, how it is accessed by students and faculty, how much it costs to implement and how community colleges are using it with students. We’ll also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of using virtual worlds in community college education.

Effective Online Groups: Jaami Dawan & Martha Madkins

Presentation Resources

Institutional Affiliation: Harper College
Description: The “Effective Online Groups” presentation describes the experiences the presenters had with two sections of an online social science course offered at a community college. Students in this course thought it was impossible to conduct group-work online. As a result of the training offered by the presenters, students learned to work in online groups.

e-Learning Myth Busters:  Is Conventional Wisdom Wrong?  Barry Dahl

Presentation Resources

Institutional Affiliation:  Lake Superior College, Duluth, MN
Description: We’ve have been traveling down the road to e-learning for more than a decade. We can now look back and see whether some of our previous hopes and fears have come to fruition. We can also examine some of the newer thoughts about e-learning in an effort to determine just how much truth there is to some of the rhetoric. This presentation will examine many of the myths and realities surrounding e-learning. Do online faculty really work harder? Do online students really cheat more? Is Second Life the second coming for higher education? Let’s explore some of the e-learning myths and realities and make a case for the examination of some unconventional wisdom when it comes to e-learning in higher education.

Enhancing the Learning Process with Internet in the Classroom: Leticia Starkov

Presentation Resources

Institutional Affiliation: Elgin Community College
Description: The use of the internet in the classroom opens a wide range of opportunities to enhance students’ learning. This presentation describes three different elements of the learning process in which the internet can be employed to maximize students’ success. The first element relates to increasing students’ engagement with the subject matter. The second piece applies to the process of real-world data collection. The last component is the assessment and feedback processes that generate valuable information to the student and the instructor. The presenter will illustrate her experience with a social science face-to-face class.

Engaging Students Around the World in an International Business Class: Larry Rubly & Lisa Zingaro

Presentation Resources

Institutional Affiliation: Oakton College
Description: Oakton has been focusing on creating a “global classroom” for the last few years. Through personal networking, we are fortunate to have made connections with academics, business professionals and government officials around the world who would like to be part of Oakton’s program. We have begun to put the pieces in place to allow these individuals to access our students either as instructors, teaching assistants or guests. In addition, these professionals have asked that our program be available to students from their respective countries therefore we have really started to revamp what we do and how we do it to ensure that we are delivering engaging content to individuals around the world.

Games in Learning: Learning in Games: Tim Moore

Presentation Resources

Institutional Affiliation: Elgin Community College College
Description:

Online Grading Made a Little Simpler: Shawn Mikulay

Presentation Resources

Institutional Affiliation: Elgin Community College
In this presentation, participants will learn how to standardize assignment submission and grades using Adobe Acrobat to increase feedback-richness and security.

Technology + Soft Skills = 100% Student Engagement: Beverly Augustine & Michael Segreto

Presentation Resources

Institutional Affiliation: Elgin Community College
Description: Combine technology and soft skills to fully engage student learning and reviewing of course material. Presenters Beverly Augustine and Michael Segreto highlight the application of gaming in the classroom and demonstrate a Power Point creation, utilizing custom colors and sound effects, they use to excite student learning.

This is what it’s like on the frontline:  Preparing faculty to teach online:  Xeturah Woodley

Presentation Resources

Institutional Affiliation: Central New Mexico Community College, Albuquerque, NM
In this session strategies will be shared to develop a training course that prepares faculty to teach online.  This course was developed using retention strategies to increase faculty persistence and completion rates in the course, while preparing them to better meet student needs and college strategic directions.  Discussion topics include: assessing faculty readiness for online instruction prior to course participation; tapping intrinsic motivators to encourage faculty persistence; providing online and face-to-face support components; and other best practices that contribute to successful instruction of online courses. There will be time for questions and answers but also come ready to share some of your strategies too!

What the Heck is SitePal!?: Linda Hefferin

Presentation Resources

Institutional Affiliation: Elgin Community College
Description: Have you heard of SitePal? SitePal is an Internet service that allows users to create and customize speaking avatars. Once you record your personalized message, you’re ready to add your avatar to your online learning web site. Use a different avatar and message for each class! Your SitePal avatar will engage students, enrich their online learning experience, and appeal to a variety of learning styles.  Come see what it’s like to have your own personal virtual teaching assistant!

Wicked Wikis: Diana V. Booth

Presentation Resources

Institutional Affiliation: Elgin Community College
Description: These days, more and more schools and businesses adopt wikis, which are among the latest technological innovations. By demonstrating how wikis have been used in several ESL classes, the presenter will illustrate the value, advantages and limitations of wikis. The attendees will leave with a good understanding of what wikis are and how they could be used in different fields. Everyone will also have a chance to create his or her own wiki before leaving the workshop. Hands-on experience, simple explanations, specific examples, and ready-to-use ideas are guaranteed!