This tour features technologies that are supported either centrally or within colleges and departments at Ohio State. Part 2 of the tour features technologies that are more experimental or user-driven than those in the Part 1.
A seminar conducted remotely over the Web. Webinars are usually viewed in real time and provide opportunity for audience questions through text chat or voice, but they may also be pre-recorded and broadcast asynchronously. Various departments and colleges at Ohio State use either Elluminate or WebEx for this purpose.
Margaret Clark Graham, College of Nursing, uses Elluminate to accept real-time questions from students at a distance. Participants can type questions as they view slides and listen to her presentation.
Video recordings of speakers, without additional material or visual aids. For longer recordings, streaming formats allow viewers to begin watching as the rest of the file downloads rather than wait for a complete download.
Examples:
More Information: Classroom Digital Media Distribution
Tim Gregory, Department of History, shares video shot on location in Greece when teaching his distance courses.
Recordings of a lecture presentation with slides that can be shared online for people to watch at their convenience. Lecture capture allows synchronized audio or video with slides through the aid of commercial software such as Accordant and Camtasia.
Example: Total Quality Management (TQM) by Andrea Prud'homme, Fisher College
More Information: Classroom Digital Media Distribution
Jennifer Evans-Cowley, Knowlton School of Architecture, received assistance from Classroom Digital Media Distribution to use Accordant for her courses in the Planning Education at a Distance program.
A web-based system that allows instructors and universities to develop and support online education. An LMS, such as Ohio State's Carmen, includes tools for sharing news and content, managing grades, uploading assignments, creating quizzes, organizing group work, and holding online discussions and chat sessions.
Example: Carmen
More Information: Common Carmen Tools
Carmen automatically creates a blank course shell for every course in the Registrar's Master Schedule, complete with a class roster. Instructors can activate their course shells when ready for student access.
Articles and documents in electronic formats that can be read with a PDF reader, word processor, web browser, or other software. The Ohio State University Libraries provides an online service called eReserves to assist instructors with web-based course readings hosted in Carmen, especially those that require copyright clearance.
More Information:
Instructors often pair electronic readings with online discussions where students can ask questions and share insights.
A type of website that allows those with access rights to add, remove, and edit the content. Wikis encourage collaboration from many different authors.
Example: CarmenWiki
More Information:
CarmenWiki is a pilot project to explore the use of wikis at Ohio State. Wiki spaces are available for academic use to members of the Ohio State community.
A series of audio or video files available for download to portable media players and personal computers. Although the same content can made be available through direct download or streaming, podcasts are distinguished by their ability to be subscribed to and downloaded automatically when new content appears online.
Example: Astronomy 161: An Introduction to Solar System Astronomy by Richard Pogge
More information:
The university participates in Apple's iTunesU program, which provides Ohio State with a university-branded section in the iTunes Store.
Screen capture creates a movie of what's happening on your computer screen, often with the option for audio narration. Instructors use screen capture to provide narration for a PowerPoint presentation or to demonstrate software features. Several colleges and departments at Ohio State use Camtasia to record lectures as PowerPoint with voice-over.
More Information: Classroom Digital Media Distribution
Distance-learning students in the Non-Traditional Doctor of Pharmacy (NTPD) program benefit from streaming video of Dr. Hayton’s PowerPoint slides with voice-over narration.
A digital recording of a computer screen that allows written annotation of the screen plus audio narration. Interactive display requires specialized hardware, such as a SMART Board or a portable SMART Sympodium.
More Information:
Barbara Pappas, Department of Chemistry, used SMART Sympodium to add voice-over and annotation to her lecture slides. Posting these slide sets online lets students review them as often as needed.
A collection of interactive telecommunication technologies that allow two or more locations to interact in real time via video and audio. Videoconferencing differs from videophone in its ability to serve a group of people in one location.
More Information: Classroom Digital Media Distribution
Videoconference rooms are available through Ohio State's Classroom Digital Media Distribution unit, as well as independently through several colleges.
Digital media that tells a story from a personal perspective. Digital stories often combine still images, video, narration, music, and sound effects and are produced with digital video editing software such as iMovie.
Examples:
More Information:
The Digital Storytelling initiative—a joint project of TELR, the Digital Union, University Libraries, and FTAD—promotes the creation and use of short movies in academia, research, and outreach.
An online virtual world where people create characters (called avatars) to represent themselves. Second Life residents can interact with others through voice or text and, under some conditions, create virtual objects.
More Information:
TELRport, a virtual island sponsored by TELR, provides Ohio State faculty, staff, and students with a safe, convenient environment through which to explore Second Life.
Part 2 features technologies that are more experimental or user-driven than those in the Part 1. Although some are currently in use at Ohio State, there is less formal support for them.
Continue to Part 2 of this tour.
The second half of the tour includes blogs, ePortfolios, Google Apps, and social networking.