News & Notes on Teaching and Learning with Technology
Crystal Nielsen, Editor
June 2010

Contents

NNU Completes Transition from Blackboard to ANGEL
TurnItIn Upgrade Planned
Work on Your Tan Instead of Your Course!
ANGEL Maintenance Dates Scheduled

ANGEL Tips and Tricks
- Grading All Drop Box Assignments at Once
- Giving Your Course Some Color

Online Learning Opportunities
- ANGEL Training for Instructors
- Providing Effective Feedback in Online Courses
- Sloan Consortium Emerging Technologies for Online Learning Symposium
- Online Coursebuilding with ANGEL
- Online Course Design & Development

Onsite Learning Opportunities
- ANGEL Open Labs every Tuesday and Wednesday
- ANGEL Basics every second Thursday
- ANGEL Brown Bags on Thursdays
- Entire ANGEL series in mid-August

Offsite Learning Opportunities
- BbWorld 2010
- Sloan Consortium Emerging Technologies for Online Learning Symposium
- 26th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning
- 5th Annual Northwest eLearning Conference
- 16th Annual Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning

Resources
- Study: Full-Semester and 5-Week Online Courses Compared
- Report: Online Enrollments Increase

E-Learning Services Personnel

Scriptural Food for Thought:
"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." Colossians 2:8 NIV

The university is entirely off of the Blackboard course management system now,  with all courses archived for storage.

If you need to see any course content, assignments, tests or grades from a Blackboard course, please complete the online request form found at www.nnu.edu/angel-masters. The same form works for both Master courses (used to retain content from year to year) and for Restores (for viewing data).

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Need to work on your course this summer but would rather work on your tan? An E-Learning student employee is available to help faculty, adjuncts and program support personnel with consultations or course development using ANGEL and other online technologies, such as:

• making ANGEL pages look great
• creating online tests
• creating teams
• associating content with the Gradebook
• placing items on the Calendar
• preparing streamed media
• making course banners, and
• other projects both basic and complex that either you do not do very often or that are time-consuming

To request help from an E-Learning TA, please e-mail your need to elearning(at)nnu.edu and include as many details as possible, or call Crystal Nielsen, Instructional Technologist for E-Learning (208-467-8782). She will assign the task (and send you some tanning lotion)!

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The NNU E-Learning Systems Manager regularly conducts ANGEL maintenance on the fourth Thursdays of each month, from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. MT. The next ANGEL maintenance dates will be July 22 and August 26.

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Grading All Drop Box Assignments at Once

If you enter grades for a Drop Box by clicking View, Grade or Delete Submissions, you have to handle each assignment one at a time. However, another option allows you to download all the student files and grade them quickly.

• In ANGEL, click the Submissions link for the desired Drop Box.
• Click Download Submissions.
• Save the zip file and unzip it.
• Among the unzipped files, click the Grade.htm file.

A Grade Form will now appear that lets you click on a student's submission, enter a grade, upload an attachment, and enter feedback, then move on to the next student. At the bottom of the page, you can check a box that sends all the students an e-mail to let them know the grading is done, and then you click Submit. 

The instructor manual offers illustrated steps.

Giving Your Course Some Color

Use the Course Theme Selector found on the Manage tab to add color or background images to your course or community group. Check out the available themes in the dropdown and click Preview. When you find one you like, click Apply.

Getting Answers to FAQs

Some of the most common questions and answers are available on an ANGEL FAQs page. E-Learning Services recommends that you bookmark www.nnu.edu/angel-faqs for future reference. The page is updated regularly.

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ANGEL Training for Instructors
Self-paced, 24/7

Upon logging in to ANGEL, faculty and adjuncts should see the ANGEL Training for Instructors in the All category of their course list. Click the Content tab to access an overview video and several units of self-paced tutorials. Each unit includes the following:

• Fully illustrated step-by-step guides
• Quick videos
• Practice exercises 
• Assessments to solidify what you have learned

Send an e-mail to help(at)nnu.edu if you have trouble logging in to ANGEL with your regular NNU login.

Providing Effective Feedback in Online Courses
Webinar: Noon to 1:30 MT, July 14
Workshop: August 4-13

You have two options with this topic offered by Sloan-C: a webinar lasting an hour and a half, or an in-depth online workshop lasting more than a week, with access to the materials for one year. With either delivery method, you will learn about the role that feedback plays in the learning process and review some helpful feedback strategies.

See webinar details or see workshop details. For the latter, contact Crystal Nielsen (CDNielsen(at)nnu.edu or 208-467-8782) for a coupon code to get the discounted price of $199 instead of the usual $345 rate. 

Sloan Consortium Emerging Technologies for Online Learning Symposium
July 20-23

A joint symposium of Sloan Consortium and MERLOT, this gathering focuses on the technologies that drive online learning effectiveness, highlighting research, applications and best practices of important emerging technological tools. Taking place physically in San Jose, Calif., the conference also has a Virtual Attendee Option that will include the keynote, plenary and closing sessions; several featured presentation; and a virtual exhibit hall.

Visit the virtual option webpage for details.

Online Coursebuilding with ANGEL
August 2-22

A professional development offering from E-Learning Services, this course goes beyond just the ANGEL course management system to also include best practices in the use of other technologies. Conducted fully online, the three-week class is available at no charge unless you wish to earn credit. See details on the ANGEL support page. Express interest to Crystal Nielsen.

Online Course Design & Development
Sept. 27-Nov. 13

Lasting seven weeks, this fully online professional development course focuses on best practices in online teaching and learning. Participants spend considerable time developing particular components of their online courses. The class is available at no charge unless you wish to earn credit.  See details on the ANGEL support page. Express interest to Dr. Christine Bauer.

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New this summer:

• ANGEL Open Labs twice each week, on Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday mornings
• ANGEL Basics on the second Thursdays, July through September
• Brown Bag sessions (Online Participation, Assessment, Grading, and Advanced Course Management) offered at 11:30 a.m. every Thursday
• The entire 5-workshop ANGEL series offered August 16-20, with class at 9 a.m. followed by lab time

Visit the ANGEL Support for Instructors page for details and the full schedule. RSVPS or questions may go to Crystal Nielsen at elearning(at)nnu.edu or 208-467-8782.

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BbWorld 2010
July 14-16
Orlando, FL

Join thousands of users of ANGEL and Blackboard in sharing ideas, lessons learned and new approaches. Presentations will cover dozens of topics, including pedagogy, social learning and student assessment. A special reception for ANGEL clients will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on the 14th. An RSVP for the reception is due June 30; contact Crystal Nielsen (CDNielsen(at)nnu.edu or 208-467-8782) for more information.

Visit the conference website for details.


Sloan Consortium Emerging Technologies for Online Learning Symposium
July 20-23, 2010
San Jose, CA; also available online

A joint symposium of Sloan Consortium and MERLOT, this gathering focuses on the technologies that drive online learning effectiveness, highlighting research, applications and best practices of important emerging technological tools.

Visit the conference website for details.

26th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning
August 4-6, 2010
Madison, WI

This conference is recognized internationally for the quality and integrity of its program. Each year the conference provides an exchange of current resources, research, and best practices from around the world that are relevant to the design and delivery of distance education/training.

Visit the conference website for details.

5th Annual Northwest eLearning Conference
October 21-22, 2010
Vancouver, WA

Last year, NNU hosted this conference and saw participation from quite a few of our number. This is an excellent choice for a low-cost, high-return opportunity that is also close to NNU. The first deadline for the call for proposals is June 30.

Visit the organization website for details.

16th Annual Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning
November 3-5, 2010
Orlando, FL

Nearly 1,400 educators attended last year's event, participating in more than 200 presentations. This conference focuses especially on online and blended research, theory and practice. The program tracks this year include Learning Effectiveness, as well as Technology and Emerging Learning Environments.

Visit the conference website for details.

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Study: Full-Semester and 5-Week Online Courses Compared

Much of the research on the effectiveness of online education compares distance courses with those offered face-to-face. The authors of this study asked, What differences might we see between courses offered in an intensive, 5-week format and those taking three times as long in a typical semester?

Ferguson, J., & DeFelice, A. (2010). Length of online course and student satisfaction, perceived learning, and academic performance. The International Review Of Research In Open And Distance Learning, 11(2). Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/772/1547

Report: Online Enrollments Increase

Enrollment in online courses in higher education continues to rise, according to the 2009 Sloan Survey of Online Learning. More than 2,500 colleges and universities responded to the annual study conducted as a collaboration among the Babson Survey Research Group, the College Board and the Sloan Consortium.

As of Fall 2008, more than one in four students in higher education took at least one course online - a 17 percent increase over the number reported the previous year. Among the findings:

• Two-thirds of respondents said the economic downturn has increased demand for new online courses and programs; nearly three-fourths said demand rose for existing offerings.
• Fewer than one-third of chief academic officers believed in 2002 that their faculty accepted the value and legitimacy of online education; that number has changed little in the six years following.

Report summary

Allen, I.E., & Seaman, J. (2010). Learning on demand: Online education in the United States, 2009. Retrieved from the Sloan Consortium website: http://www.sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/pdf/learningondemand.pdf


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Our office is located on the lower level of the Emerson Administration building. Learn about the E-Learning Services employees and TAs on our main page.

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