Yammer TNT Lunch Focuses on Social Media in the Classroom

April 24, 2013 in About RIIT, Instruction, IT Services by bap14 | Permalink

On Wednesday, April 17, the RIIT Group hosted a Technology in Teaching Luncheon on the topic “Using Yammer for Education: Benefits, Challenges, Considerations and Lessons Learned.” The session included a panel of instructors, course support staff, and learning designers who shared insights and examples of Yammer use in online, hybrid, and resident instruction at Smeal. Yammer is an enterprise-level social networking tool similar to Facebook. Though it is designed for internal organizational collaboration, it also allows for the creation of smaller, closed networks which are ideal for connecting, engaging, and managing students. Panelists described the pros and cons of using Yammer and discussed areas which could be improved to better serve the educational needs of the College.

More information about Yammer can be found at the Penn State Yammer site: http://yammer.psu.edu, or the Yammer product site: https://www.yammer.com/product/.

A recording of the Yammer Technology in Teaching session can be viewed here:
http://echo-content.smeal.psu.edu:8080/ess/portal/section/767f00fd-787c-4805-81f5-8c74f9f5bba2

RIIT Group TechFest

February 6, 2013 in About RIIT, Instruction, IT Services by bap14 | Permalink

The information from January 30 TechFest has been posted and is now available on the RIIT Group web site.

Presenters shared their experiences in utilizing these technologies and demonstrated how to apply them. Sessions included:

Breakfast with the CIO/Keller Executive Collaboration Suite Open House
Join us in 201 Keller Building for the TechFest welcome session. Enjoy a bite to eat, learn about our latest and future IT innovations, and tour the newly-renovated Keller Executive Programs Collaboration Suite..

Event Planning
Planning an event in the Business Building? The RIIT Group Events and Meetings Team provides support for events ranging from meetings and conferences to career fairs, formal dinners and graduation celebrations. Please join us for a discussion about the resources available for planning, scheduling, and hosting a successful event.

Google Apps for Education
Interested in learning more about Google Apps? Did you know that Smeal has a Google Apps for Education account? Do you want to know the difference between regular Google Apps and Google Apps for Education? This session will give an overview of and discuss ways to leverage Google Apps to support student learning. We will share best practices for as well as demonstrations of apps such as Google Docs and Spreadsheets, Google Drive, and Google Plus as well as the benefits and risks of education in the ‘cloud.’

The iPad
The iPad, currently in its 4th generation, remains one of the most robust and flexible digital classroom technologies available. And with more than 200,000 educational apps – and growing – the iPad is guaranteed to impact learning for years to come. Join us for a discussion about how this device can be used to enhance teaching and learning, how the myriad of apps available can provide innovative solutions in the classroom, and some practical tips and tricks for effective iPad use.

Virtual Connections with Web Technologies
Explore various ways of connecting in the classroom and beyond, including University-supported platforms such as Yammer and Adobe Connect, Smeal-supported technologies such as Sharepoint and Lync, and social applications such as Skype and Google Hangouts. We’ll also discuss how these tools can enhance teaching and learning, pros and cons of each, and best practices for their use.

Windows 8
Join us for a discussion about what Windows 8 has to offer. A radical departure from previous Windows offerings, we’ll talk about things to consider before upgrading, explore features and enhancements, discuss what’s good, what’s bad, what’s downright ugly, and give practical tips and tricks to improve performance and reduce frustration in the future.

ANGEL is Here to Stay: Extending its Capability to Enhance Learning
The University’s recent decision to continue using ANGEL as our Course Management System provides an opportunity to explore creative solutions to enhance teaching and learning. Join us for a discussion of practical ways to increase the effectiveness of ANGEL by using tools and methodologies that can be integrated into ANGEL to improve student engagement and learning.

High Performance Research Applications
SAS, SPSS, MATLAB, Qualtrics, MySQL, STATA. What are the differences among these quantitative tools for conducting your research – strengths and weaknesses? Learn how to use and access these systems with examples. Both Smeal and ITS maintain high performance centralized servers that can greatly reduce your program run times. We will also discuss databases available for your research.

Also, if you haven’t had an opportunity to complete the TechFest Survey (even if you didn’t attend any of the sessions), please take a moment to do so. Your input is very important to us and is used to help plan future information sessions and events.

LearnIT Information Session

August 30, 2012 in Events & Meetings, Instruction, IT Services by bap14 | Permalink

If you will be hosting visiting faculty, recruiters, consultants, etc., for any Smeal classes, programs, events or more, and would like to learn about network connectivity options available to them, please plan on attending our LearnIT information session on Wednesday, September 5. We’ll be covering options such as short term access accounts, visitor wireless and full access accounts. We’ll also go over the methods used to set up both Penn State wireless and ATT visitor wireless on laptops and iPads. We’ll distribute documentation that you can provide to your recruiters/visitors/etc. and answer any questions you may have.

This 30 minute LearnIT session will be held on Wednesday, September 5, at 2:30 pm in Room 217.

Smeal IT Orientation 2012

August 22, 2012 in Uncategorized by bap14 | Permalink

Welcome to the Smeal College of Business! The RIIT Group provides numerous IT services, and we’ve highlighted them in our Smeal IT Orientation PDF.

Also, you’ll find information about support provided by the RIIT Group, as well as podium touch panel display diagrams and useful Penn State and Smeal links in the Faculty Orientation Handout PDF.

‘Doing it RIIT’ Helps Faculty Enhance Smeal Courses

April 3, 2012 in Uncategorized by bap14 | Permalink

The RIIT Group launches a new blog centered around learning design and technologies.

‘Doing it RIIT’ is a collaborative effort among the Instructional Design Team in the RIIT Group intended to help faculty members learn about instructional design and instructional technology options to enhance their online and/or residential courses through a number of different types of posts. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see some older posts or use the archives. This blog will contain posts that:

• Describe basic instructional design principles that anyone can use
• Introduce new instructional technologies as they become available in a succinct manner
• Detail step-by-step instructions for integrating available instructional technologies into any course
• Provide options for adding interactivity to large and small classrooms alike
• Explore strategies for making large enrollment courses feel smaller
• Help faculty manage courses more effectively
• Review interesting articles, books, posts, etc. on learning design

Check out the blog at http://blogs.smeal.psu.edu/doingitriit/

RIIT Group Spring 2012 TechFest Videos

February 24, 2012 in About RIIT, Uncategorized by bap14 | Permalink

If you missed out on the RIIT Group’s Spring 2012 Tech Fest, this is your chance to hear the presentations.

Note: You’ll need to log in using your Penn State user ID and password.

Qualtrics Survey Tool

http://echo-content.smeal.psu.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/f71f210a-0ea7-4597-ae00-f94d5d807075

Using Technology to Enhance Instruction

http://echo-content.smeal.psu.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/9fe1fd75-1eb5-4ef2-8902-5a0fedd069b6

VoiceThread

http://echo-content.smeal.psu.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/2c603ef6-9f88-4c73-8c6c-c8cd5cc283b3

The iPad: Apps, Apps, and More Apps

http://echo-content.smeal.psu.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/4441acdf-9bb3-4de8-accd-cd00c80853c5

Lecture Capture

http://echo-content.smeal.psu.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/55c5806d-cb80-4ba4-b51a-aa7f57db9f58

Capturing Faculty Contributions – Digital Dossiers

http://echo-content.smeal.psu.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/ab166e66-f270-4681-8bfe-b6973e39d908

Connecting Virtually

http://echo-content.smeal.psu.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/d3c76c98-1e5c-4229-a09b-7bff4328b4ad

New Updates to Adobe Connect

February 17, 2012 in Software, Web Services by bap14 | Permalink

A recent ITS upgrade has resulted in major improvements to how Adobe Connect is accessed and used at PSU.

In addition to an improved user interface, the new upgrade allows participants outside of PSU to join meetings as a Guest – Friends of Penn State accounts are no longer required. The upgrade also permits faculty and staff to create their own meeting rooms without the need to contact a Connect license holder. There have also been improvements to optimize screen use, enhanced audio and video controls, and accessibility improvements for users with disabilities. Adobe Connect is an enterprise web conferencing solution for online meetings, e-Learning, and webinars and can be accessed via https://meeting.psu.edu.

View more information about the upgrade.

Fall 2011 Tech Fest Recordings

February 1, 2012 in About RIIT, Uncategorized by bap14 | Permalink

If you missed out on the RIIT Group’s Fall 2011 Tech Fest, this is your chance to hear the presentations.

Note: You’ll need to log in using your Penn State user ID and password.

SharePoint – Your Virtual Workspace
http://echo-content.smeal.psu.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/afef6e2b-62ba-4e0a-9a6f-cf9abad5fb95

The iPad: The Nuts And Bolts On What It Is And What It Can Do
http://echo-content.smeal.psu.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/47914d2a-e535-4943-891f-a015aeecf6ee

Effective Electronic Communication
http://echo-content.smeal.psu.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/89f30f94-bce2-4bd3-9232-a88c10b4acc3

How Do I Improve Large Enrollment Instruction?
http://echo-content.smeal.psu.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/2305ba0e-3756-4eee-b2bc-c4bd179cfef7

Website Housekeeping
http://echo-content.smeal.psu.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/610a69e6-668d-40c9-8c9a-938a105857e3

Schreyer Library Resources
http://echo-content.smeal.psu.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/8994fd77-1ef3-48ec-8337-847e60109699

 

Spring TechFest – February 17

January 31, 2012 in About RIIT, Uncategorized by bap14 | Permalink

Please join us for the RIIT Group Spring TechFest on Friday, February 17.  The technologies highlighted for this TechFest, to improve learning/teaching, advance research, and support administrative services are:

  • Using Technology to Enhance Instruction
  • Voice Thread
  • Capturing Faculty Contributions – Digital Dossiers
  • Connecting Virtually
  • The iPad:  Apps, apps, and more apps!
  • Lecture Capture
  • Qualtrics Survey Tool

To learn more about each session and to register, please connect to, https://php.smeal.psu.edu/riit/techfest/index.php.

Course Scheduling for Spring 2012 Exceeds Expectations

August 1, 2011 in Facilities, Instruction by tll2 | Permalink

At Midnight on June 7, the priority scheduling period for Spring Semester 2012 courses came to a close.  This is approximately a 2-3 week period of time, for each semester, during which the Smeal staff work together to optimize the privilege of advance course scheduling for the Business Building, officially known as “Priority Scheduling.”  Departmental staff submit requests via Footprints for all courses and events they hope to hold in the Business Building for the designated future semester.  Teri Jones, in the RIIT Group, then develops room assignments using a scheduling optimization tool called ASTRA, followed by numerous manual adjustments requiring assistance from the Departmental Staff to ensure the maximum number of Smeal Courses possible are held in the Business Building.

We are pleased to report that even amidst new requirements to adhere to the standard sequence meeting times, and a total elimination of all roll-over courses, we were able to schedule 97% of the 255 course sections requested for the Business Building for Spring 2012, the highest percentage since the opening of the Business Building in 2005.  After all the course requests had been addressed, the scheduling staff were notified of available rooms and as a result, we were able to add 8 additional sections.  Course scheduling is a tremendous undertaking and involves the cooperation and assistance of all the scheduling staff, as well as the flexibility of our faculty.  Special thanks goes out to Nicole Force, Stephanie Ironside, Lara Jackson, Janie Jones, Tina Jones, Debbie Lissenden, Cindy Lorenzo, Holly Packard, and Cindi Satterfield.  Without their cooperation and assistance, this project could never have been as successful.

« Older entries