The Spring Tech Talk Series is open for registration. There are two more presentations in April:
- Designing for Digital Publishing with Adobe Creative Suite.
- Math and the Blind, Professor Art Karshmer's research in the field of computer interfaces for the handicapped.
Click here for topic details and sign-up.
CIT Tech Intensives Program
The CIT will be offering two opportunities for faculty to earn an iPad or iPad Mini if they are selected to participate in the Tech Intensive Program. The objective of the program is to introduce faculty to 21st century teaching and learning tools in order to improve student learning. [Learn more]
iBooks Author Update
If you were not interested in the first version of iBooks Author, the latest release might lure you back to take a second look. There are newly-added templates in the categories of crafts, cooking, photography and biographies. The new portrait-only templates, which are fixed width, allow for easy navigation and a table of contents.
In addition to the existing widgets where users can include photo galleries, interactive quizzes, 3D objects, keynote presentations, and movies, there are two new widgets for improved interactivity - Scrolling Sidebar and Pop-Over buttons. Users can also embed custom fonts and enjoy better support for mathematical expressions using LaTeX and MathML notation. Media are automatically optimized when embedded, and iBooks Author now supports all media and audio formats supported by Quicktime. iBooks can be previewed on an iPad or published to the Apple Bookstore.
What are Educational Badges?
Just like Girl and Boy Scout badges, educational badges are earned for accomplishments / achievements in a course! These badges are finding their way to online resumes, on Linked-In profiles and into Human Resource departments when evaluating prospective employees for a job!
An important function of a college degree is to demonstrate knowledge, skills and completion of work for future employers. But does the employer have any way of knowing from a traditional resume, what specific knowledge and skills have been mastered? Badges can indicate specific knowledge and/or skills!
Digital Badges are starting to appear higher education courses like Carnegie Mellon’s online courses in robotics and computer science. In this course students are awarded “badges as they reach learning milestones — one for teaching robots to move and another for manipulating robot motion sensors — ultimately leading to a final badge certifying their overall robot programming skills.”
Watch this: Passport by Purdue University: Digital Badges for Learning]
Additional Resources:
Show Me Your Badge
Digital badges show skills along with degree
Passport – Show what you know
Show me your badges NYTimes
If you are new or an owner of an iPad, here's the place to check on. We have a resource page full of tips and tricks, and every now and then, we will share with you different apps our staff recommend.
Training Resource - lynda.com
lynda.com is available free to all faculty, staff and students as a robust web-based technology training service. There are hundreds of high-quality video tutorials ranging from Microsoft Office to Adobe design and media, Blackboard, SPSS, and more. Login through USFconnect, choose the Learning Technologies tab, and then choose lynda.com to access free subscription.
Classroom Resources - Tech Tools-To-Go!
Visit our new Tech Tools page to find all kinds of tools you can experiment in your classroom. These tools are recommended by our staff, and are usually freeware that you can just download online. We have categorized them into areas of Design and Media, Communications, Office Productivity, teaching and Learning, and Wikis. Make this your playground and start experimenting. If you would like to recommend a new tool to share with our community, please feel free to email us at cit@usfca.edu.
CIT on Facebook and Twitter @usfcit
Like us on Facebook to receive updates to events and activities happening in the CIT http://www.facebook.com/usfcit. If you like learning about different educational technologies, and would like to keep up with the trends, follow us on Twitter @usfcit.
LAB RESERVATION POLICYThe CIT's classrooms are designed to provide instructors and their students with access to technology that is an integral part of the course. If your course format does not require students to use computer technology during class time, we recommend that you reserve a standard USF Smart Classroom. Room requests have to be made at least 24 hours in advance. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
If you wish to reserve a lab for non-academic lectures or trainings, please login to http://ems.usfca.edu/Virtualems for your request. To reserve a lab for academic course, please contact the Program Assistant of your Department. For lab information, please click here.
