The Digital Spark
Issue 4: October 30, 2017
Spooky!
The Office of Digital Learning is here to help make things not so scary. Want to try a new technology? Give us a call! Want to learn what other folks have done before as a best practice? We can share! Want to test something? We can help! Our goal is to help facilitate the integration of educational technology into your teaching in an effort to save you valuable time.
In this issue, we talk about the ODL Lightboard, online labs, sharing via the Digital Learning Cooperative, and other valuable events and information. We are all about the treats, not the tricks. Let us know how we can help you from getting spooked! Happy Halloween!
The ODL Lightboard
The Office of Digital Learning has a lightboard that is available for College of Science faculty. We can work with you to create a storyboard or develop ideas for videos to engage students. We can also help film and edit your video. We will walk with you from idea inception to concept completion.
Please contact us to set up a meeting to see the lightboard or talk about strategies for use in your classroom. What ideas to you have for using the lightboard in your classroom?
Lightboard in Chem 110 Online
"The lightboard allows me to present the content in the most natural way that mimics face-to-face teaching. Using it in combination with the One Button Studio (OBS), it doesn't require any additional tools or software to learn (unless you want to spend endless hours editing video like me!). The lightboard also engages the audience with eye contact and gestures--something that is missing from screencast videos. It personifies the instructor in an online course and they see a real person rather than only a voice."
-- Joe Houck, Chem 110 World Campus
The Digital Learning Cooperative (DLC)
In an effort to increase access and opportunity for students, the College of Science offers/has offered ASTRO 001, ASTRO 120, BISCI 004, CHEM 202, FRNSC 100, FRNSC 210 via the Digital Learning Cooperative (DLC).
Associate Teaching Professor, Chris Palma, discussed ASTRO's use of the DLC.
"We’ve been doing it for a long time, and it allows us to help campuses offer Astro 001 even if they only have one to five students who really want it. A campus can’t start their own section for that few number of students, but we can add those students to our WC section without any trouble at all, so to us it is a win-win situation where we get to have more PSU students experience Astro 001."
Ike Shibley, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Berks, who teaches CHEM 202 through the World Campus and the DLC says:
"The DLC helps make online courses available across the entire system. It brings us closer to the ideal of 'one University, geographically dispersed.' Since developing an online course requires a substantial time investment, knowing that the course could be used by lots of students all over the system helps provide motivation to create really great online courses."
So, what is the DLC? The Digital Learning Cooperative is an administrative system that assists campuses and colleges in the sharing of online and hybrid courses across Penn State campuses.
Courses shared on the Digital Learning Cooperative have been used by campuses to supplement locally offered courses to meet the needs of students enrolled in a wide range of academic majors.
Campuses and colleges have made use of the system in order to:
- Provide students with access to minors or electives within their majors within the first two years of their programs
- Offer course capacity in under-enrolled courses to other locations in order to increase enrollment
- Implement sharing agreements from a single course during a single term to Multi-semester or multi-year commitments for courses can be coded into the cooperative
- Identify courses that students need to make progress in their major and avoid a required change of campus location
- Discover the course sharing plans and reach out to develop agreements
- Support individual student needs (via guidance from advisors) so that students can take the best mix of courses for their programs
- Coordinate the delivery of courses as part of programs delivered as a consortia between campuses and colleges
If you would like to learn more about the DLC, please contact us!
Individual Extensions in Examity
It doesn't have to be tricky to extend the exam time for individual students outside the normal time window!
The Process
Send an email request to support@examity.com and copy Nina O'Brien (Penn State's Account Rep) and include the following information in your email:
- Subject Line: Penn State - Permission Granted - To Schedule Outside Testing Window
- Course Name
- Exam Name
- Student First/Last Name
- Extension Granted
The student then should be instructed to call the Examity support desk at 855-392-6489 (option 1) and a support agent will be able to schedule the student. Don't forget to extend the student's deadline for the test in Canvas as well.
To learn more about Examity, check out our Examity Toolkit!
Goodbye, ANGEL!
Direct access to ANGEL courses as well as ANGEL Groups ends on Oct. 31.
Starting Nov. 1, access will be available upon request to instructors and course editors on a first-come, first-served basis. Access will be available for a two-week period.
For detailed instructions on requesting access, please see http://tinyurl.com/request-ANGEL-access.
To export your content before ANGEL closes for business, visit http://tinyurl.com/export-a-course.
OSU 3-D Virtual Microscope
On the COOL THINGS front: A colleague of mine shared an article the other day, “OSU nabs national award for first-ever 3-D virtual microscope for online biology courses.” The development of this microscope allows all Oregon State students at a distance to complete their full Biology series online.
“The project took one year to produce the 3-D microscope interactive project following six months of research and development time. The collaboration involved more than 30 OSU faculty, department heads, OSU Ecampus multimedia developers, instructional designers and other staff.”
Good news is, it's an Open Educational Resource. Oregon State has added the tool to the university’s open educational resources (OER) library, giving anyone in the world access to this innovative and, for many, essential tool.
Watch the video and try out the microscope below.
Online Labs and Penn State Science
With the World Campus seeing the Software Engineering and Computer Science degrees move online, there is a demand for Penn State Science lab courses. The Office of Digital Learning is currently working with faculty for online delivery of CHEM 110/111 and Physics 211/212. CHEM 110 is currently running through World Campus this fall, with CHEM 111 to debut in spring 2018. PHYS 211 will be running in summer 2018. The faculty are using a mix of strategies and tools to enhance the online experience.
While there is always heated debate whether online labs are effective or not, more and more research shows that students can benefit and learn from online labs. And nobody is stopping the frenzied race to put labs online. Our office is constantly reviewing the literature as well as looking for collaborators, resources, and innovators who would like to make Penn State Science a leader in online labs.
Events and Opportunities
Accessing Higher Ground Virtual Conference (11/15-11/17)
There will be two tracks of the conference running simultaneously at the following locations:
- Wednesday, November 15 in Rooms 115 A & B of the 329 Building, Innovation Park
- Thursday and Friday, November 16-17 in Rooms 121 G & H of the Outreach Building, Innovation Park
All faculty and staff are welcome to attend any sessions, and recordings will be made available at a later date. No registration required.
This event is being made possible by the Penn State World Campus.
Wednesday, Nov 15, 2017, 09:00 AM
Innovation Park (locations vary)
Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) Symposium
The Penn State Symposium for Teaching and Learning with Technology is an annual one-day event to showcase ways that technology can be used to enhance teaching, learning, and research. Our intent is to give faculty and staff the opportunity to share how they are using technology in unique ways, network with other colleagues, and generate new project ideas.
The symposium is a free event that welcomes all Penn State faculty, staff, and students.
Saturday, Mar 17, 2018, 07:30 AM
The Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center, Innovation Boulevard, State College, PA, United States
The Office of Digital Learning
The Office of Digital Learning (ODL) helps faculty and students make the most of digital learning technology. We collaboratively design and build tools for any pedagogy.
Dream it and we can help bring it to life.
Email: odl@science.psu.edu
Website: odl.science.psu.edu
Phone: (814) 867-1391
Twitter: @eberly_odl