2015 Instructional Technology Mini-Conference

The 2015 Instructional Technology Mini-Conference will be held on Friday, July 24 here at Virginia Western. This is a no-cost, one-day conference and professional development opportunity open to all faculty (full-time and adjunct) and staff from Virginia Western Community College, New River Community College, and Central Virginia Community College.

Online Academy: Improving the Quality of Online Courses at VWCC

Online Academy is an innovative train-the-trainer program for faculty focusing on online course design, pedagogy, and best practices. This program is sponsored by Educational Foundation Faculty/Staff Innovation Grant. About twenty faculty who are currently teaching and/or developing online, hybrid, or web-enhanced courses are invited to participate in this program. Participants will represent multiple disciplines and help establish, implement, and maintain an entity to support and mentor faculty who develop and deliver online credit courses. This program will prepare faculty to positively impact the design of online/blended courses, ultimately leading to student learning and success.

Fall 2013 Course Deletion

All Fall 2013 (and prior) courses will be removed from Blackboard on December 15, 2014. Blackboard is not designed as a permanent historical archive of course activity. It is a production system for current classes. Keeping old courses can have a negative effect on the performance of the system for current courses and current students. This is why all courses are constantly archived and then eventually removed.

The criteria for removal at this stage:

1. Course ID ending in "FA13"
2. Or created before August 1, 2013

Blackboard Grader App Available on iPad Air, iPad 2, 3, or 4

The Bb Grader App provides teachers with a mobile solution for reviewing, providing feedback, and grading student submissions to Blackboard Learn Assignments.

Key Features

• Inline viewing of student submissions for supported file types
• Gesture-based interactions for grading and feedback
• Support for audio and video-based feedback
• Course and assignment level views
• Integration with Multiple Attempts, Group Assignments, Rubrics, and Anonymous Grading

For instruction about installation and usage, go to Blackboard Help.

Best Practices in Lecture Capture

Read about one professor's experience with lecture capture in the classroom.
http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2012/07/25/Best-Practices-in-Lecture-Capture.aspx?Page=1

2014 VaBug Conference Announced! Call for Proposal Open!!

TIME TO REGISTER!

The Virginia Blackboard Users Group (VaBUG) announces its fifth annual conference, to be held at the Holiday Inn at Valley View in Roanoke, VA on Friday, October 24, 2014!

The conference will once again have free registration.

Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus Free to VWCC Students

VWCC is happy to announce the new Microsoft Student Advantage program: Office 365 ProPlus.  Current students are able to download and install Microsoft Office desktop applications for no cost. Detailed information, go to Software Available for Home Use.

How to Embed a YouTube Video in Microsoft PowerPoint 2010/2013

Previous versions of Microsoft PPT allowed you to embed Youtube videos directly in to a presentation. Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 and 2013 don't have this feature. The work-around is a simple use of Visual Basic to insert the file as a Shockwave Flash object.

New License for Respondus and Studymate

New License as of the end of July now available in Blackboard. To find the new license information: Go to Blackboard > Teach tab > Faculty/Staff Instructional Software > Respondus or Studymate > Download and Install. The new password is valid through July 31, 2015. For questions, please contact eLIT@virginiawestern.edu

Instructional Technology Mini-Conference - Friday, July 25, 2014

The eLIT office and the VWCC Plus 50 Initiative are co-sponsoring the 2014 Instructional Technology Mini-Conference, a free one-day conference and professional development opportunity for all Virginia Western faculty and staff. The Mini-Conference will include a full day of sessions delivered by outside professionals on a broad range of topics: Blackboard Collaborate and Blackboard IM, Flipping the Classroom, Atomic Learning, Blackboard Learn Roadmap, and Instructional Technology for Adult Learners (Plus 50 learners).