Archive for the ‘Try it!’ Category
Rap Your Message!
Posted by: Nancy Kiplinger in Just for Fun, Try it! on November 18th, 2009
Two YouTube video clips show that learning complex content can be fun. Watch the videos by clicking on the links below. Can you see yourself teaching like this?
Adding a PDF to your blog post
Posted by: Joel Galbraith in How To, Try it! on August 3rd, 2009
Due to popular demand, I’ve created a short “how to” movie on adding PDF (or other documents) to your SOG blog post.
Let us know if there are other topics on which you’d like similar tutorials.
-Joel G.
Multi-use Computer Training Room (1300). Now Open for Business.
Posted by: Joel Galbraith in How To, SOG, Teaching, Try it! on July 30th, 2009
A couple weeks ago, construction was completed on the new multi-use, computer classroom in 1300, funded by the Knapp Foundation. The 20-computer, 30-seat room is now ready and can be scheduled in CollegeNet. The room has already accommodated multiple successful inaugural training sessions. It has been thrilling to see people in the room anxiously engaged in learning new skills where just months ago the space served as a large, concrete storage closet–packed with the building’s odd and ends and surplus furniture–but no longer!
ITD hosted two Outlook training sessions which were well-attended, and useful to those in attendance. If you missed those, links to the edited archives will be available shortly. In addition Dale Roenigk has also conducted a couple Microsoft Excel trainings in the room.
I’m attaching excerpts of James Balfour’s original detailed room description below:
The room is equipped with a fixed podium, computer, VCR/DVD player, document camera, and a connection for a laptop. A wall panel allows easy control of which device is sent to the projector. The room also has dimmable fluorescent lights controlled with a wall panel near the podium. Three round tables are also available at the rear of the room.
The classroom supports software training for 20 students (i.e. Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Blogs, Turning Point etc.). As part of your conference, you may also bring in outside instructors to train clients on software and applications relevant to their jobs. The space can also be used as a normal lecture space, but note that the desk arrangement is fixed.
We would like to thank Sean Downing for all of his work coordinating contractors and ensuring the project was completed as quickly and accurately as possible. We would also like to thank Kelly Medlin for her behind-the-scenes work coordinating and tracking expenditures on this Knapp Foundation project.
Understanding SOG Webinars
Posted by: Joel Galbraith in Best Practice, Distance Learning, Tools, Try it! on May 5th, 2009
We’ve written a couple posts now on webinars at SOG (here and here), but today’s event wins the prize. For those unable to attend today’s webinar, you missed out! I hope you will take the time to watch the archive. It is well-worth a lunch time viewing…but not as good as the live event!
The goals of the webinar were to:
- give all attendees a first-hand look at what SOG webinars look–and act–like
- demonstrate a range of activities available in an SOG webinar (hint: you can do more than PowerPoint)
- Help you see ways a webinar might be useful to your courses, conferences and programs.
While viewing the archive, you’ll hear from numerous SOG colleagues: Donna Warner, Jen Lobenhofer, Joel Galbraith, Nancy Kiplinger, Shadi Eskaf, Cindy Lee. You’ll also hear and read responses to a number of questions from your peers.
The webinar covers: using PowerPoints, playing videos, using multiple presenters, using remote presenters, conducting audience polls (ala TurningPoint and clickers), online group discussions, question moderating, shared web browsing, annotation, session breaks, and much more 
Webinar archive link: http://breeze.unc.edu/p25529382/
Thank you to all those that helped with *and* participated in the event. What did YOU think of it? Did you gain any new insights? What challenges/benefits do you foresee? Please share your comments with us below!
-TLS team
Blogs = Websites
Posted by: Joel Galbraith in Did you Know?, Presentations, Tools, Try it!, Uncategorized on March 23rd, 2009
view my presentation and a short video on blogs
Today’s blogs are yesterday’s websites. Saying that, however, does not do them justice. Today’s blogs aren’t even yesterday’s blogs–which essentially started out as online journals that allowed the author to easily post daily text entries. Today’s blogs are media-rich, online publishing platforms–while simultaneously being very easy to create, edit and manage.
A blog can be used to:
- publish your thoughts
- update clients on important issues or legislation
- share online resources (articles, websites, media)
- invite discussion about important topics
- solicit conference or training ideas
- extend conference themes beyond event date
- post media (pictures, audio, presentations, documents,video, news feeds)
- foster transparency in local government
- encourage citizen participation
- change the course of elections
- launch a thousand ships
- …and so much more
There are a host of blogs to view out there, but there’s no substitute for simply starting your own–either for personal purposes (www.blogger.com , www.wordpress.com), or for SOG purposes. If you’d like to learn/explore how blogs might help you have greater impact, contact your nearest, friendly neighborhood TLS team member.
Check out Jeff Welty’s blog at : http://sogweb.sog.unc.edu/blogs/ncclaw/
Micro-lectures: A Cure for Content Bloat
Posted by: Nancy Kiplinger in Try it! on March 18th, 2009
These Lectures Are Gone in 60 Seconds
You’ve heard of mini-lectures. Now come micro-lectures. This article from The Chronicle of Higher Education espouses a daring idea: Cut a 60-minute lecture down to a 60-second chunk for online audiences. Think it can’t be done? Click here to read how some instructors are doing it. Go ahead, we dare you…
Here are some additional examples of what other people and organizations are doing to get messages across in a short amount of time:
Petcha Kutcha (pronounced pet-chach-ka; Japanese for “chatter”). The only rule: 20 slides, 20 seconds each = 6:40 minutes. It forces one to be concise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGaCLWaZLI4&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NZOt6BkhUg&feature=related
http://meetingsnet.com/checklistshowto/more/meetings_minilectures_learning/index.html
A 90-second micro lecture example: http://chronicle.com/media/video/v55/i26/microlecture/
An example of a narrated Powerpoint presentation (3.5 mins): http://www.slideshare.net/ethos3/storytelling-101
A website devoted to short how-to videos. (cluttered, and you have to wait through a movie trailer, but it illustrates that you can convey good, *focused* material in 2 minutes. http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Plant-Small-Seeds-99747505
UNC-CH’s YouTube home. ( This one shows videos grouped under categories by groups or topics. We might consider having our own site.) Click on the “playlist” link to see the videos. http://www.youtube.com/user/UNCChapelHill
UNC-CH School of Medicine site. Click on the “Patient Stories” playlist. (We could do something like this based on local government lessons from the field, etc.)http://www.youtube.com/user/uncmedicine
