Test blog post

More info

Road Trip to Canvas

Last Friday I gave a presentation to a group of faculty and staff interested in Canvas.  My intent was to outline the path taken from Moodle 1.9 to Moodle 2.2 to Canvas, citing the trail-markers which influence the migration.  Below is the video from the presentation (audio is muffled, fixed mic).  Enjoy!

Zeros in my GradeBook

Canvas has a lot of cool assignment options, one of which is the essay.  After a student submits an essay assignment, the gradebook registers the grade as a ZERO until the assignment is graded by the instructor. Students IMMEDIATELY freak out, and hit the panic button!

To prevent this scenario, instructors should MUTE essay-based assignments.  Muting an assignment hides the grade (uh...zero), and also prevents notifications regarding the assignment from being sent to the student. To MUTE an assignment, (1) click the Blue Drop-down arrow for the assignment in gradebook...

Then select MUTE ASSIGNMENT

Once the teacher has graded the essay assignment(s), then they can UNMUTE the assignment, which displays the grade and enabled notifications. Here is the office Instructure Guide... Muting Assignments

Another test for a new post.

Linking to Facebook Page.

Tennis Camp

Will rock'n tennis camp. Favorite player is Djokovic.

iPad Launch

Playing with iPad app. Easier to use than iPhone. Let's see how this goes. Here's a video to watch...

EDU 230

A new post

Clicker Update

Clicker hardware and software has been installed in two lecture-based classrooms.  Mounting devices were improvise to avoid permanent modifications to existing facilities.

New Project - Online Orientation

A number of campus entities have worked collaboratively to develop an Online Orientation for students new to the college experience. The latest endeavor of this project is to unify content and assessment via Moodle 2.2, specifically with the Lesson Module. I've established a course shell, and have developed a basic Lesson. There is much more content to add, but at this point, we are just experimenting with the "proof of concept". Talley-HO!

New Project - Online Orientation

A number of campus entities have worked collaboratively to develop an Online Orientation for students new to the college experience. The latest endeavor of this project is to unify content and assessment via Moodle 2.2, specifically with the Lesson Module. I've established a course shell, and have developed a basic Lesson. There is much more content to add, but at this point, we are just experimenting with the "proof of concept". Talley-HO!

Week 2 Summary

Week 2 seemed was rushed.  A few updates...

Clickers: Anticipating faculty development of content.

Moodle: Transition to 2.2 was formally announced via Moodle 1.9 site, email, and messaging.  Faculty should be able to migrate courses via (1) Import from 1.9 or (2) scratch.  The import process is quicker, but risks contamination of 1.9 legacy code or unsupported modules.  If this occurs, a significant amount of time will be spent trouble-shooting the error, and determining how to resolve individual situations.  Building from scratch is recommended (no legacy issues), but is...well...building from scratch.  The Migration team has preemptively established a plan for transitioning to 2.2, will update as faculty begin importing courses.

The Cloud (Video Storage): Created a YouTube channel via CollegeSkunkworks Google Apps account. Uploaded a dozen videos from Camtasia server.  Play flawlessly from YT.  Have redesigned Moodle video interface with a video-selector, and a single video window.  As videos are clicked, they begin to play in the window, a la "video jukebox".  Here's a preview (click a link)...

Lecture Video 9:30 8-1 8-2 8-3 8-4 8-5 12:30 8-1 8-2 8-3 8-4 8-5

Instead of dozens of pre-loading videos, the Moodle page will display videos as they are selected from the left-column.  This provides a single-source for viewing, without pop-ups or full-screen complications.

Instructional Innovation Center (IIC - pronounced "ick"):  Installed a KVM switch which tethered two computers to a single projector and Smart Board.  Can easily toggle between each computer, with full Smart Board functionality.  This will make working on a project, with multiple users, much more efficient.

   

Looking forward to Week 3.