D2L FUSION 2012 Conference

I recently attended the 2012 Fusion conference by Desire2Learn and it was a very good conference.  Being able to interact with the D2L staff in person provides great information that we don’t get as we don’t have the opportunity to interact with them throughout the year.  I enjoyed Keynote speaker Sal Khan who is the founder of Khan Academy.  His academy is a non-profit organization that provides self-paced instructional videos for k-12 in Math and Sciences.  Students are able to start at a beginner level and progress to difficulties based on their skills.  His methods have proven to enhance the skill level of all learners regardless if they are advanced or struggle with math.  He is a firm believer that students can learn this material on their own, but the classroom should not be replaced.

My primary focus on sessions was mobile development and they were informative.   Flash is no longer available on mobile devices and we need to be able to deliver content to mobile devices.  We hear that html5 is the new technology that is being utilized for the web.  Responsive design and Media queries are two new terms I have not heard before being used for mobile development.  These are going to be great resources for me as I continue to investigate mobile technology.

I also went to a session on Kaltura and it’s always interesting to see how other universities are using the product.  The University of Wisconsin is using the Kaltura integration with D2L and I am excited to use this feature as soon as it is available.  This will allows instructors to embed videos in this course streamlining the process.

OnLive Desktop: MS Office on an iPad

Windows 7 desktop on the iPad

Overview

Onlive desktop provides a Windows desktop environment on the iPad. Amazingly, the free version of the app comes with MS Office 2010 including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The free version also comes with 2 GB of cloud storage. There is also a paid version for $4.99/month that gives priority access to the OnLive Desktop service.

When OnLive is opened on the iPad, you see the familiar Windows 7 desktop. Programs preloaded on the free version include Adobe Reader X, Internet Explorer 9, MS Collage, MS Paint, and the familiar MS Calculator, WordPad. Notepad, and Recycle Bin, in addition to the MS Office apps. All applications work as they would on a Windows-based PC.

All programs

You’ll also notice an additional desktop icon for the OnLive file folder. Clicking this takes you to a Windows Explorer window containing any created files or files previously uploaded to their cloud service. All files are automatically synced with OnLive’s cloud-based service. 

Keyboard input is through a keyboard toggle button on the bottom of the screen. One tap opens the keyboard and another tap closes. This differs from other iPad apps where a tap on the editing screen will bring up the keyboard.

Impressions

I was thrilled to have the familiar MS Office applications on the iPad, and especially without the cost. The biggest plus was the ability to create and present PP presentations on the iPad using the full functionality of the latest PP version.

MS Word 2010 on the iPad

The only downside to OnLive Desktop is the convoluted file sharing system. I've been totally spoiled by the elegantly simple method used by DropBox for syncing and sharing files. OnLive seems to lock you into its file environment. I couldn’t find a way of dragging files to my iPad DropBox folder. Sharing files requires logging in to the cloud version of OnLive and downloading from there. Although OnLive is not a file sharing service, the inclusion of the familiar DropBox icon on the desktop would be my number one priority.

Overall, OnLive Desktop is an amazing bargain. You get the major applications from MS Office 2010, the ability to run Flash-based apps on an iPad, and a smooth interface, all for free. If you can get by the clunky, proprietary file management structure, this is an app worth having on your iPad desktop.

Differences between Blogs and Discussions

In a recent faculty presentation, Barbara Berg and Terry Buxton shared their experiences on using student blogs for service learning. Barbara and Terry discussed how they used blogs to capture student reflections on experiences outside the classroom in support of various service learning projects. During the presentation , an audience member raised the question about why they used a blog rather than a discussion forum. Discussion forums, the audience member said, provide a similar environment within the LMS for students to post thoughts and for other students to provide comment. Blogs, on the other hand, have the same feature sets as discussion forums but may not be as easy to use. So why use blogs?

The audience member brought up valid arguments for the use discussion forums, an established communication tool, for the posting of personal comments. So what warrants the use of a discussion forum rather than a blog post? And when are wikis appropriate? Wikis are text-based and can provide a resource for the posting of information similar to blogs and discussion forums. 

A quick search of differences uncovered a great blog (how appropriate!) post succinctly describing the differences between blogs, wikis and discussion forums. The post is titled Differences between blogs, wikis, and discussion boards, and many thanks to blog author Cynthia Medina for compiling this useful bit of information.

Blogs are used as personal journals, where outside comments can be added but are not expected. The intent of a blog post is more informational rather than persuasive. Thus, Barbara's and Terry's students could use a blog to provide personal reflections on their service learning experiences. Fellow students could add comments but this was not expected.

Discussion board posts are more collaborative than blog posts. Comments are expected in discussion posts and in fact, are many times required by the instructor in a class situation. The intent of a discussion post is to persuade and support a position or statement.

A wiki is a living document or set of documents that are used in a collaborative setting using multiple authors. There is an expectation that a wiki will be added to, modified and otherwise become a group project. The intent of a wiki is information sharing.

Be sure to read Cynthia’s entire post for a better understanding.

Comparison: ScreenCast-O-Matic vs. Adobe Presenter

Vinnie has been taking a look at the screen capture utility ScreenCast-O-Matic. The program packs a lot of punch in the free version and adds significant utility in the Pro version for an additional $12/year. One of the most important features is output formats as we continue our search for an alternative to Adobe Presenter. Presenter is one of the most popular tools at the College but which outputs only in Flash. This leaves out student viewers with iOS products including the iPad and iPhone.

The result of Vinnie's evaluation is the following chart comparing the three products on commonly used features. Unfortunately, ScreenCast-O-Matic does not appear to be a viable alternative for the creation of narrated PowerPoints due to the lack of editing features. Thanks again to Vinnie for compiling this data.

• ScreenCast-O-matic is a tool for recording of the computer screen.
•  Adobe presenter is a plugin for PowerPoint for creation of multimedia PowerPoints.

	ScreenCast-O-matic Free	ScreenCast-O-matic Pro	Adobe Presenter
Cost	Free	$12/yr	$150 for 1 license or $375 for 5 licenses
Playback on iPads	X	X
Record on PC or Mac	X	X
Free hosting	X	X
Record time	15 min	Unlimited	Unlimited
Access recording tool outside browser		X	X
Record with webcam	X	X	X
Narrate one slide at a time			X
Edit recordings within the recording program		X	X
Edit recordings requires video editing or re-recording the presentation
Add video and audio			X
Attach documents			X
Include quizzes			X
Add bio and image			X
Synchronize animations with audio			X
Update single slides			X
Users can be prompted to click to proceed in presentation			X
Easy navigation between slides			X
No watermark when publishing		X	X
Publish to YouTube HD	X	X
Publish to AVI	X	X
Publish to MP4	X	X
Publish to Flash			X
Publish to Google Docs		X
Published files are small			X
Users can download and modify published files	X	X
Produce screen shots		X
Password protect screencasts		X

My First MOOC

Home page

I'm getting a Stanford education for free! Well, to be honest, it's only a single six-week, non-credit course. But I'm getting the expertise of a 20+ educator from a top-notch university. The course is CS 101, Introduction to Computer Science, and is open to everyone, with no enrollment caps. A quick scan of the discussion forums shows participants from around the world including Ghana, India, Phillipines, China, Pakistan, Spain, Poland, New Zealand, Australia, and others.

The course is being taught by Nick Parlante, lecturer in the Stanford Computer Science department and teacher of programming best practices at Google. Nick is hosting the course in Coursera, a free online LMS. The interface is clean and easily navigable, with menu items for discussions, exercises, lectures and general assistance. Each week there are readings, video lectures, and graded assignments and quizzes. And all participants are required to abide by an honor code that ensures all coursework is the work of the student rather than a collaborative effort.

Honor code

But collaboration is what MOOCs are all about. Without the possibility of instructor interaction (too many students), the use of social media in the form of discussion boards, Twitter, and Facebook becomes the road to success.

I'll keep you posted on how this MOOC works out. And enrollment is always open so feel free to join in the fun by going to the Coursera CS101 home page.

eLearning Consortium of Colorado 2012 Conference

This was my second time in attendance at eLCC conference. The only disappoint was that I wasn't a door prize winner. Otherwise the conference sessions were very good, keynotes top-notch, the food outstanding, and location....well, let's just say that watching the skiers swooshing down ski slopes and the occasional snowfall was well worth the price of admission. But, I digress. Here is a sampling of sessions attended this year.

Hands-on Demo of Dartfish (UNC and Dartfish)

Dartfish is a video recording/edit program for education. Using Dartfish, the user can take a video clip and add any number of functions such as split screen, snapshots, overlays, and similar. The example used in the hands-on was a tennis player serving the ball. Using Dartfish, one can, for example, analyze the angle of the arm when serving, or add an overlay video to compare with another player. Videos are published to a server for public or private access. Regis Kinesiology is currently using this program, according to the company rep. I can see usefulness in PT as well. $700 for a single user.

Time to Share-For Free (CCCOnline)

Nicole has already written an excellent summary on the session. The presenters also mentioned the tried-and-true Prezi, which is quickly becoming a popular substitute for PowerPoint, based on the number of Prezi-based sessions. BTW, one of the most incredible Prezi-like presentations is called "The Scale of the Universe 2" by Cary Huang. 

The presenters also mentioned ipadio, an app allowing recording of conversations on smartphones. Files are then uploadable to various social media sites. I tried getting more info about ipadio from their webiste but usable information is scarce, and it doesn't appear that ipadio is free. Still it may be worth looking into if recordable conversations are needed. Another inexpensive solution for recording of VOIP conversations is HotRecorder. I've used this a number of times for recording of remote participants for podcasts. $20 with a  trial version available.

Echo360 (Echo360)

Vendor presentation on lecture capture. Nothing new here. RHCHP has a faculty task force looking into lecture capture this AY and Echo360 will be examined in more depth. 

Creating e-portfolios using Google Site (PPCC)

Chia-chi Yang gave a useful hands-on for creating e-portfolios using the freely available Google Sites. She had two very useful handouts documenting the process step-by-step, including the creation of a Google account. Sites can be kept private or opened to the public based on the account settings. Something I wasn't aware of was the creation of personal templates that are shareable with others. Instructors could create an individual course template or have students create their own. Very helpful session.

Wednesday Keynote: Tranceforming Learning (John Jamison)

Virtual Edge Community

ImagiLearning

The Wednesday keynote was alone worth the price of admission. Nicole provided an excellent summary in an earlier blog so I won't get into specifics. I did speak with John after the session and got his contact information. He referenced a number of studies on the effectiveness of virtual worlds in learning as well as how the brain neurons are constantly being rewired as deep learning takes place. I'll be speaking with him later on as our virtual nursing sim project moves forward.  

Thursday Keynote: Mapping Learning to Application (Kevin King)

Read Nicole's previous post for a summary of this keynote. I did want to mention a personality assessment tool called the Birkman Assessment. This is similar to the Myers-Briggs and gives and assessment on 11 emotional factors. The test claims to assess interpersonal style, underlying motivations and signs of stress behavior. I hadn't heard of this before and will investigate further. 

Massively Open Online Courses (Front Range CC)

Kae Novak once again provided an entertaining look, this time at massive open online courses (MOOC). This are quickly catching on as freely available, open sources of learning. Don't expect teacher interaction in a MOOC, where student participation can get well into the 10s of thousands. Kae pointed out that it's the resources that students should focus on such as student social media interactions. Applications such as Twitter, Facebook and similar social sites can be gold mines of content information. There is certainly relevant information contained within the course, but a well-designed MOOC will encourage interaction outside the course shell. Kae pointed out the free-to-enroll P2PU LMS, where a number of MOOCs exist including Welcome to mooc.ca, a history of MOOCs and facilitated by Stephen Downes who, is partnership with George Siemens, taught the first-ever MOOC in 2008. Also at P2PU is the course A Virtual Worlds Games and Education Tour. Go to P2PU and sign up for free.

D2L iPad Assignment Grader

D2L has just released Desire2Learn Assignment Grader, an iPad app for grading assignments. It's designed to provide offline mobile access and grading of content in the D2L dropbox. All assignment grades will synchronize with the class gradebook once a connection has been re-established. Two versions are available: a free version that is limited to four submissions per assignment and a full-featured version for $10. We don't know much about this as yet but have loaded it onto the iPads for further analysis.

• A Maryville University blog post is available at:
• http://blogs.maryville.edu/learn/category/d2l/
• The D2L announcement is available at:
• http://www.desire2learn.com/products/mobile/assignment-grader/
• The app is available at the iTunes store by searching for "desire2learn assignment grader"