EdTech @ The UWI

Submitting an Assignment to Turnitin

noreply@blogger.com (Cherisse) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:55:00 +0000

Turnitin is a website that allows both Lecturers and Students to check Students' work for improper citation or potential plagiarism by comparing it against continuously updated databases of web pages (current and archived), student papers, newspapers, magazines, scholarly journals, and books. Students whose Lecturers do not use Turnitin in their courses can now submit their assignments to Turnitin within myeLearning from the help course myeLearning 101 for Students. Turnitin will produce an originality report that will assist you in revising your assignments by highlighting sections that are not properly paraphrased, quoted, or cited.

Click here for instructions on accessing this facility.

Lecturers, if you're interested in using Turnitin in your course, feel free to contact us.

For more information related to using myeLearning, send an e-mail to: myeLearning@sta.uwi.edu.

Keeping Track of Student Attendance

noreply@blogger.com (Cherisse) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:59:00 +0000

The attendance feature in myeLearning, is designed to allow lecturers to keep an attendance log of the students in their course. This tool is especially useful for large courses with tutorial sessions. Tutors can log student attendance and students can view their personal attendance record.

Click here for instructions on using this feature.

For more information related to using myeLearning, send an e-mail to: myeLearning@sta.uwi.edu.

New and Updated MIT OpenCourseWare Courses

aisha.wood-jackson@sta.uwi.edu (Aisha) — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:33:00 +0000

The MIT OpenCourseWare website has posted new and updated courses. Some course titles include:

3.A27 Case Studies in Forensig Metallurgy
6.973 Communication System Design
21F.027J Visualizing Cultures

The courses are available on the MIT OpenCourseWare website at: http://ocw.mit.edu/.

For assistance in using the MIT OpenCourseWare website, contact the myeLearning team at: myelearning@sta.uwi.edu.

Abilene Christian University providing incoming freshman with iPhones

aisha.wood-jackson@sta.uwi.edu (Aisha) — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:39:00 +0000

"As of fall quarter 2008, Abilene Christian University will be the first school in the United States to equip all its incoming freshmen with iPhones. The school has developed about 15 applications for these phones, including course registration, 3-D campus maps, surveys, podcasts and emergency alerts. "

Read Lorna Collier's full article here.

News from the AFP: Once shunned by academics, Wikipedia now a teaching tool

aisha.wood-jackson@sta.uwi.edu (Aisha) — Mon, 12 May 2008 19:35:00 +0000

"Wikipedia, the open-source internet encyclopedia that most universities forbid students to use, is now becoming a teaching tool for some professors who require students to write Wikipedia entries in lieu of term papers."

Read the full article here.

Lecturer & Teaching Assistant Survey

aisha.wood-jackson@sta.uwi.edu (Aisha) — Sun, 11 May 2008 21:23:00 +0000

In order to assist the myeLearning Team in providing you with quality service, we ask that you complete the Lecturer and Teaching Assistant myeLearning Questionnaire. This survey asks general questions about your myeLearning use including information about your satisfaction with support and training.

This survey has 27 items and will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Your feedback is anonymous. No identifying information will be collected.

Click here to begin the survey.

If you have any questions about the questionnaire, feel free to contact the myeLearning team at: myelearning@sta.uwi.edu.

Announcements: myeLearning

aisha.wood-jackson@sta.uwi.edu (Aisha) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:26:00 +0000

Semester II myeLearning Courses
Students will no longer have access to their Semester II courses in myeLearning after May 14th, 2008. If you would like your students to have access to your course after this date, send an e-mail to: myelearning@sta.uwi.edu. Be sure to include your course code, title, and the date you would like students to be removed.

New Semester III myeLearning Courses
If you would like to use myeLearning in a course your teaching in Semester III, request a course shell by clicking on the Requests a new course link available in the Course Request Block on the myeLearning course portal.
Once you have added resources and activities and you are ready for your students to have access, send an e-mail to: myelearning@sta.uwi.edu. Your course will be reviewed and you will receive an e-mail confirming that students have been given access.

Semester III myelearning Courses Taught in Previous Academic Years
If you have a Semester III course that was taught in a previous academic year, please let us know if you would like a copy of the course or a new course shell. Outside of revising the resources available in your copied course, dates of assignments and activities should be updated as well. Once are ready for your students to have access, send an e-mail to: myelearning@sta.uwi.edu. Your course will be reviewed and you will receive an e-mail confirming that students have been given access.

For more information about myeLearning e-mail: myelearning@sta.uwi.edu.

New and Updated MIT OpenCourseWare Courses

aisha.wood-jackson@sta.uwi.edu (Aisha) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:17:00 +0000

The MIT OpenCourseWare website has posted new and updated courses. Some course titles include:

2.782J Design of Medical Devices and Implants
3.032 Mechanical Behavior of Materials
3.063 Polymer Physics
6.973 Communication System Design
12.479 Trace-Element Geochemistry
12.742 Marine Chemistry
14.01 Principles of Microeconomics
15.223 Global Markets, National Policies, and the Competitive Advantages of Firms
18.085 Computational Science and Engineering I
22.312 Engineering of Nuclear Reactors

The courses are available on the MIT OpenCourseWare website at: http://ocw.mit.edu.

For assistance in using the MIT OpenCourseWare website, contact the myeLearning team at: myelearning@sta.uwi.edu.

The DragMath Feature

noreply@blogger.com (Cherisse) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:58:00 +0000

DragMath is an equation editor that allows you to build mathematical expressions from within myeLearning. You can access the DragMath Editor, by clicking the pie () symbol in the HTML Editor.

Click here for instructions on using this feature.

For more information related to using myeLearning, send an e-mail to: myeLearning@sta.uwi.edu.

Spell Check Tool

noreply@blogger.com (Cherisse) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:59:00 +0000

You can now check the spelling of text you add to myeLearning by clicking on the Spell Check icon () from the HTML Editor.

Click here for instructions on using this feature.

For more information related to using myeLearning, send an e-mail to: myeLearning@sta.uwi.edu.

University of Houston Study: Hybrid Courses More Effective for Students

aisha.wood-jackson@sta.uwi.edu (Aisha) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:09:00 +0000

"A technical report from a University of Houston Department of Health and Human Performance researcher finds that students in a hybrid class that incorporated instructional technology with in-class lectures scored a letter grade higher on average than their counterparts who took the same class in a more traditional format."

Read Dian Schaffhauser's article on Campus Technology's Website

Course Request Form

noreply@blogger.com (Cherisse) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:59:00 +0000

Lecturers can now request course shells from within myeLearning by clicking on the Course Request link from the course portal.

This feature will allow you to quickly send course shell requests directly to the myeLearning Team via a form. A response will be sent to you within one (1) business day. In order to ensure a speedy response, be sure to fill in the information on the form as completely as possible.

Click here for instructions on using this feature

For more information related to using myeLearning, send an e-mail to: myeLearning@sta.uwi.edu.

MIT OpenCourseWare

aisha.wood-jackson@sta.uwi.edu (Aisha) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:18:00 +0000

The MIT OpenCourseWare website is a free publication of course materials used at the world renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This website provides Lecturers with an opportunity to explore how their courses are taught at MIT and enhance their courses with the resources available on the site including:
Syllabi, reading lists, study materials, discussion questions, in-class activities
Lecture notes, problem sets, labs and more.
Lecture videos and demonstrations.

UWI Lecturers or Students can also use the website for self-study on a wide variety of subjects. New courses on the website include:
12.491 Biogeochemistry of Sulfur
21H.914 Jewish History from Biblical to Modern Times
21M.775 Hip Hop
SP.401 Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies
There are three requirements Lecturers or Students using materials must meet in order to use the materials:
Non-commercial: Use of MIT OpenCourseWare materials is open to all except for profit-making entities who charge a fee for access to educational materials.
Attribution: Any and all use or reuse of the material, including use of derivative works (new materials that incorporate or draw on the original materials), must be attributed to MIT and, if a faculty member's name is associated with the material, to that person as well.
Share alike (aka "copyleft"): Any publication or distribution of original or derivative works, including production of electronic or printed class materials or placement of materials on a Web site, must offer the works freely and openly to others under the same terms that MIT OpenCourseWare first made the works available to the user.
For assistance in using the MIT OpenCourseWare website, contact the myeLearning team at: myelearning@sta.uwi.edu.

E-Learn 2008 - AACE Conference

aisha.wood-jackson@sta.uwi.edu (Aisha) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:22:00 +0000

Have you been studying your use of myeLearning (Moodle) in your teaching at The University of the West Indies? Would you like to share your findings? If so, consider submitting a proposal to the E-Learn 2008 conference organized by The Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) . The conference will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada from November 17-21. For more information about the conference, visit: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/call.htm.

News from Campus Technology: Student faces expulsion over Facebook study group.

aisha.wood-jackson@sta.uwi.edu (Aisha) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:00:00 +0000

"A chemical engineering student in Toronto faces expulsion from his school for running an online study group through Facebook. Chris Avenir, a first-year student at Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario, said he joined the social networking group in fall 2007 to get help with the homework in one of his chemistry classes. Eventually, he became the administrator for the network, which grew to include 146 students."

Read Dian Schaffhauser's article at: http://www.campustechnology.com/articles/59936

MyeLearning Training Dates

aisha.wood-jackson@sta.uwi.edu (Aisha) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:45:00 +0000

Are you teaching a course this summer? Do you want to provide students with online resources and activities? If so, join us for our next myeLearning Workshop. Two sessions will be held in May:

Thursday, May 1st, 2008, LRC West Computer Lab from 8:45 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 8th, 2008, LRC West Computer Lab from 8:45 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Refreshments and lunch will be provided. To RSVP, send an e-mail to Ms. Tisha Ghany at: Tisha.Ghany@sta.uwi.edu. Please include your dietary requirements in your e-mail.

Faculty Book Lists

aisha.wood-jackson@sta.uwi.edu (Aisha) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:02:00 +0000

Faculties can now share their booklists with students from within myeLearning. The booklists are linked from the course portal.

For more information about using this feature, send an e-mail to:
myelearning@sta.uwi.edu.

Welcome

aisha.wood-jackson@sta.uwi.edu (Aisha) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 21:03:00 +0000

Welcome to the new EdTech Blog at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. The eLearning Team at Campus IT Services will be using this blog to:

Communicate news about the various services we offer
Announce professional development opportunities
Engage you in discussion in topics related to using technology to support student learning in higher education

We are sure this blog will be a valuable resource to you. If you're interested in starting your own blog, e-mail us at: myelearning@sta.uwi.edu and we'll help you set one up.

I'll end this first post by thanking Mr. Daren Dhoray for assisting us in connecting this blog to our campus website. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.