Texas Blackboard Users Conference (3/5) - Conference Schedule & Our Session (Establishing Collaboration Opportunities in Your Online Class)

Readers,

Today, I have to examine the T-BUG schedule to figure out which sessions I plan to attend.

Here's the schedule: http://www.t-bug.org/2011TBUGprogram_dallas.pdf

I downloaded this PDF schedule to my iPad library for easy access (even without internet or 3G access - which can be VERY spotty in hotels).

Here are the session tracks:

UPGRADE:

Of interest to anyone who is going through an upgrade, about to go through an upgrade, or thinking 

about doing an upgrade.

SUPPORT:

Held Desk, Technology Teams, Student Support Staff,

Faculty Support Staff, Instructional Designers. Of i

nterest to anyone who supports Blackboard users.

TEACHING AND LEARNING:

Instructors, Adjuncts, Teaching Assistants, Course

Designers, Instructional Designers.  Of interest to

anyone who delivers or designs instructional contents.

VENDOR SHOWCASES:

Come see what the vendors are doing and how they 

collaborate with Blackboard to enhance your current

system

Here's our session:

Room: Longhorn IV

Establishing Collaboration Opportunities in Your Online 

Class 

Credence Baker, Tarleton State University
Jennifer T. Edwards, Tarleton State University

In this session, you’ll be introduced to several different free       

web-based tools that can be used to foster collaboration among 

students in your online class. Incorporating collaboration           

opportunities gives students a chance to sharpen their virtual-team 

skills, and allows you to provide students with real-time scaffolding 

and feedback, monitor progress, and keep track of who has      

contributed to a project

Processing Question: Every session seems very interesting! Which sessions should I attend?

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

Texas Blackboard Users Conference (2/5) - While I am Away from Campus...

Readers,

As I prepare to attend the T-BUG Conference, I have to prepare my face-to-face and online courses for my temporary transition from campus.

Here is my conference to do list for this week:

1 - Remember to bring my iPad and laptop (plus snacks).

2 - Remind students about the "Virtual Assignments" for this week in the daily class agenda that I post on the board before each class begins (while I take attendance).

3 - Post my weekly announcements/checklist for the online students.

4 - Remind students that they might experience a two-hour delay in my e-mail replies,  but I remind them about my Google Voice account.

5 - Create 50 Google Documents for the students to post their undergraduate research reflections.

**I never post a "out of office" message on my e-mail, nor on my voice mail, because usually I am able to respond to messages in a timely manner.**

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

Texas Blackboard Users Conference (1/5) - Anticipation and Apprehension

Readers,

This week, I am excited about attending the "Texas Blackboard Users Group" Conference in Richardson, TX. However, I am slightly apprehensive about integrating Blackboard 9 in my online and hybrid courses, because our university is still in the pilot phase of the LMS integration period.

So, I plan to attend this conference with an OPEN mind and hopefully I will meet some individuals who can change my mind about Blackboard 9. This shall be interesting!

Also, I would like to formally thank Dr. Credence Baker for including me in this awesome opportunity! Here is some more information about T-BUG: http://www.t-bug.org/. 

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

Student Affairs and Technology Series (4/4) - The Office of Academic Advising at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

Readers,

I understand that this is a SHORT series, but I wanted to make sure that I highlighted Eric Stoller's Blog, Student Affairs and Technology (hosted by Inside Higher Ed).

Recently, he wrote a post titled, "#AcAdv: Social Media Spookiness & Strategy from UWGB". 

In his blog post, Stoller wrote, "The Office of Academic Advising at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay" has, according to Sanders, "taken to the social web in a big way since July. They've ditched safe and cautious, for risky and fun. This isn't a social web success story, it's a story on the reevaluation of current communication practices... daring to stand out, putting in the extra effort, not fearing failure."

Here's their Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/uwgbadvising

Here's their Facebook account: http://www.twitter.com/advising/

Here's one of their most recent Youtube videos:

Processing Question: Since this department is currently using Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter, how could they use Foursquare or Blogger to reach students?

Here's shoutout to Eric for having such a terrific blog! - Follow Eric Stoller on Twitter @EricStoller

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41