A special event hosted by the WITS Instructional Design Group*
The Tech Fair is intended to demonstrate some of the ways faculty are making use of instructional technologies to enhance teaching and learning. In addition, WITS staff will demonstrate some exciting new technologies (OneNote, the IO Digital Pen, and an HP tablet PC) which may be of interest to the campus. Prizes and special gastronomical delights will be made available to attendees. We look forward to seeing you there!
This page has been created to provide a quick and easy way for faculty to access information about the 2004 TGIF Tech Fair presentations.
QTVR | BlackBoard/Music | PRS | Wiki | PowerPoint | Turnitin | Digital Video | Endnote | Datastore
Identifying and studying the characteristics of various kinds of skulls, particulary teeth, is an important skill for Biology students, but gaining access to facilities where skulls are stored is sometimes problematic. Using skulls provided by the Biology Department, the IDC developed a series of QTVR (Quicktime Virtual Reality) movies that allow users to rotate an image of each skull on the web. The QTVRs were organized onto web pages, and Biology students added text and links to other resources to each page.
Developing
QTVR's requires specialized equipment and software;
please contact the IDC if
you are interested in creating a similar resource.
Music students need to be able to hear and identify various characteristics of different kinds of music. In order to facilitate this learning task, Marva Duerksen and a student assistant worked to create a series of small audio files and associated assignments that students can access via BlackBoard.
Obtaining music files, editing the length and quality of the files and then converting them to a format suitable for the web requires a small learning curve and the appropriate audio software (often free). Contact Marva Duerksen or the IDC for more information if you are interested in creating a similar resource.
PRS (Personal Response System) is a simple, flexible way to create interactive lectures. Students respond to questions using personal transmitters, allowing even shy students to be engaged on a daily basis. In addition, the system can give daily feedback to both the students and teacher about the progress of the class.
Please contact Jeff Loats if you are interested in learning more.
Wiki
While there are many tools that allow for Internet enhanced learning, most of the require the content of the learning to be either driven by the date of a posting or the author of the posting. This is not how most of us learn: most of us learn concepts relationally. So how can we use a tool that enhances this aspect of learning? A possible solution is a technology called a Wiki Page.
Wiki is currently available as a free resource from SeedWiki (www.seedwiki.com). Contact Martha Chamberlin or Jo Meyertons if you are interested in more information.
Symeon
Symeonides - Law, Use of PowerPoint in Teaching,
Jill
Greenwood - Art, Visual Material Using PowerPoint
PowerPoint can be a horrid technology tool when used carelessly, but when used thoughtfully it can be a very powerful and impressive instructional resource. Symeon and Jill demonstrate two different, dynamic examples of the latter.
PowerPoint is widely available software, frequently included in MS Office software suites. WITS regularly offers workshops on PowerPoint, or you may contact Robert Minato or Jo Meyertons for individual consultations.
Turnitin is a web-based plagiarism detection and prevention system that makes it easy for instructors to both identify students who have submitted unoriginal work and to use as a powerful deterrent to stop plagiarism before it starts.
Turnitin is available campus-wide to Willamette instructors. For information on obtaining an account or questions on how to use Turnitin, please contact Jo Meyertons.
Digital video is a very powerful instructional resource that can provide a more authentic representation of Japanese culture. It captures cultural values that cannot be represented just by text. Also, it helps students choose which cultural elements they want to focus on.
WITS regularly offers workshops on creating, capturing, editing and distributing digital video. Specialized hardware and software is required, but is available via the IDC. Please contact the IDC for more information and/or support, or visit the IDC Digital Video web site for more information.
From
the Endnote web site: "Millions of researchers, scholarly writers,
students, and librarians use EndNote (patent pending) to search online
bibliographic
databases, organize their references and images, and create bibliographies
and figure lists instantly. Instead of spending hours typing bibliographies,
or using index cards to organize their references, they do it the easy
way—by using EndNote! EndNote for Windows and Macintosh is a
valuable all-in-one tool that integrates the following tasks into one
program:
-
Search bibliographic databases on the Internet
-Organize references and images in a database
-Construct your paper with built-in manuscript templates
-Watch the bibliography and figure list appear as you write!"
"Datastore" is the resource created by WITS' very own John Callahan that allows for anyone on campus to create a web form that can gather form data into a web repository. This resource is especially useful for surveys.
Contact
Jo Meyertons for more information on either of these resources.