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Collaborate
DePaul is launching a new synchronous learning platform called Collaborate during Spring Quarter 2012. If you are interested in potentially holding a synchronous class session in Collaborate, please submit this form to indicate your interest and a representative from Faculty Instructional Technology Services (FITS) will add you to a mailing list to receive updates when training opportunities and documentation become available.
Loop Campus Plans for G-8/NATO Summits
DePaul University has announced plans for the G-8/NATO Summits:
Because of the traffic congestion and disruptions anticipated in and around the Loop during the G-8/NATO summits, DePaul will close the Loop Campus from Friday, May 18, through Monday, May 21. There will be no access to Loop offices or classrooms. The Loop Campus will reopen on Tuesday, May 22.
Faculty scheduled to teach in the Loop on any of those days should watch their email for information on making alternative arrangements for affected class periods. Your options will include relocating Friday or Saturday classes to designated classrooms in Lincoln Park, rescheduling Monday classes for a weekend, creating an alternative assignment for students to pursue on their own in place of class or delivering instruction online for any of these days.
You will find information about online instruction, relocating and rescheduling classes on The Teaching Commons (https://teachingcommons.depaul.edu/Teaching_DePaul/nato_g8_information.html), DePaul's central online teaching resource. As you prepare syllabi for spring quarter courses, please keep these options in mind. Classes at our Lincoln Park, O'Hare and suburban campuses will follow their normal schedules.
For the latest updates, including FAQs, from DePaul on how the summits will affect the university, visit Newsline Online's G-8/NATO summits information page: https://newsline.depaul.edu/Info/Pages/g8.aspx.
We encourage everyone to update their contact information for DPU Alert, our emergency notification system. To do so, log into Campus Connection, click Demographic Portfolio on the left menu bar and select the DPU Alert option.
A number of exciting educational opportunities for DePaul will arise from these global summits, and they will be covered in Newsline and Newsline Online (https://newsline.depaul.edu/Pages/defaultnew.aspx) in the coming months. Faculty are including lessons related to this unprecedented, back-to-back gathering of world leaders in Chicago into some of their courses.
What does this mean for Commerce faculty?
There are two recommended options that you may choose to employ, that will allow you to cover material that your students would otherwise miss:
1: Pre-recorded Content
Your presentation can be recorded beforehand, and then made available to your students via Desire2Learn. Please contact James Moore or Josh Lund if this is something you would like to do.
2: Live (Synchronous)Webinar
You can teach your class at a distance, using the Wimba Classroom (or Blackboard Collaborate - the successor to Wimba Classroom) and Desire2Learn. Please contact James Moore or Josh Lund if this is something you would like to do.
A dedicated webinar training session will be offered to Commerce faculty on April 24th from 10-11 a.m. as part of Technology Tuesdays. You can register for this training here:
Online documentation and training for using Wimba can be found here. FITS and Teaching Commons are working on Blackboard Collaborate faculty resources.
Contact Information
James Moore
Director of Online Learning, College of Commerce
jmoore@depaul.edu
Telephone: +1 (312) 362-5701
Josh Lund
FITS Consultant to The College of Commerce
jlund2@depaul.edu
Telephone: +1 (312) 362-6689
Cellphone: +1 (630) 962-9764
Impact of social media and technology on how and where we work, live and shop
DePaul’s Real Estate Center and the Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development are hosting a conference on the impact of social media and technology on how and where we work, live and shop. The conference will take place on Feb. 29.
“Advancements in technology are shaping the way we develop, design and utilize space which ultimately influences the way we do business. This conference brings together innovative developers, designers, and creative consultants to discuss the impact technology and social media have on our use of physical space.”
- What does that mean for the size, shape and number of stores needed?
- How do property owners manage an influx of packages?
- How do digital social networks translate into physical spaces in multifamily properties?
- What effects does technology have on office space and furniture?
Where: DePaul Center, 1 East Jackson Blvd. Room 8005 (DePaul University Loop Campus)
Registration Fee: $65.00
Optional Lunch Fee: $45.00
More information can be found on their events page.
Seeds for Innovation
A short piece I wrote last year (in which I talk about three technology tools) was featured on “Seeds for Innovation” - you can find it here. I mention Maemo and MeeGo in the article, which are no longer fully-supported operating systems (and the same could be argued for WebOS) which demonstrates how quickly some things can change….
The Spring Quarter classes are now loaded in Desire2Learn
The Spring Quarter classes are now loaded in Desire2Learn, and ready for you to use. These classes are currently hidden from student view, but can be made available in three mouse clicks.
Here are some quick suggestions for you, as you prepare for the Spring Quarter:
1) Sign up for a D2L Workshop
FITS (Faculty Instructional Technology Services) runs regular workshops and open labs that cover all aspects of Desire2Learn. You can register for a workshop here:
https://fits.depaul.edu/workshops/Pages/default.aspx
Online tutorials and PDFs can be found here:
https://teachingcommons.depaul.edu/Technology/d2l/index.html
2) Attend the “Desire2Learn for Busy Faculty” Session on Tuesday, 28th February
This session is designed to help Commerce faculty quickly create a Desire2Learn course from scratch in less than 15 minutes, and to highlight how DePaul supports faculty using technology.
This hands-on session will cover:
- How to create a course in less than 15 minutes, including:
- Uploading all your handouts and resources
- Creating a news announcement
- Creating a D2L user profile
- Creating a D2L discussion board
- Emailing your students
- Activating your course
- Copying a D2L course
- Adding guest presenters and teaching assistants
- Deactivating a course
- Embedding a YouTube Video
- Linking to online resources
- D2L resources and training
The D2L session will be held in DPC 6306 (the trading room on the 6th floor of the DePaul Center) on Tuesday, February 28th. 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m
DPC 6306 is a PC-equipped room. You will be able to update or create your D2L course during the session.
You can RSVP for the session at:
https://condor.depaul.edu/jmoore/tech/
3) Request a Course Copy
D2L allows you to manually copy course components, but you can also make a request to have a previous course copied into an upcoming course. Typically this will take 24-48 hours to complete. The process to follow is:
- Go to the FITS website at https://fits.depaul.edu
- In the green box on the right side of the screen (FITS Quick Links) click on D2L Request Forms.
- On the next page, click on Copy Course Content.
- On the next page, enter your Campus Connection Username and Password, then click on Login.
- Select the course you want to Copy From.
- Select the course you want to Copy Into.
- Click on Submit.
- On the next page, verify that the information you have provided is correct, and then click on Submit.
4) Make Your Course Available
By default your Desire2Learn course is unavailable. Your students will not be able to see your course until it is made available. To make your course available:
- In your D2L course, click the Edit Course link on your course navigation bar, then click Course Offering Information.
- Check the Active: Course is active box.
- Click on Save.
5) Send An Email Announcement To Your Students
Your Desire2Learn course allows you to send email messages to your students. This is an easy way to send out your syllabus to your students before the class starts.
- In your D2L course, click on Classlist.
- Click on the Students tab.
- Click on Email everyone on this tab.
- In the floating window, compose your message, and then click on Send.
Desire2Learn for Busy Faculty: Updated Handout
I have updated the handout for “Desire2Learn for Busy Faculty” - This document is intended to provide advice and suggestions to College of Commerce faculty creating web enhanced, online and hybrid courses using the university’s Desire2Learn Learning Management System. The document is not intended to replace the extremely helpful videos and handouts that FITS and Teaching Commons have provided here.
Instead, this is a simple guide for assembling a D2L course in less than fifteen minutes. I hope this is use to you.
DePaul University Receives Largest Gift in its History
“DePaul University today announced a $30 million gift from Chicago momentum investment pioneer and philanthropist Richard H. Driehaus to enhance the academic programs of its 100-year-old College of Commerce. Coming as the College enters its centennial year, the record gift is expected to transform the future of business education at DePaul, the largest private, nonprofit university in the Midwest.”
More information can be found here
Inkling Webinar
Inkling has an upcoming webinar that I think will be of interest to Commerce faculty (and fans of eTextbooks). The event is on the 22nd of February:
“Wondering how to transition from print textbooks to digital on a platform that both faculty and students will embrace? Join Matt MacInnis, the founder and CEO of Inkling, the premier publishing platform for digital MBA textbooks and the newest EMBA Council member, for a discussion about the brave new world of Smartbooks. MacInnis will demonstrate how popular MBA titles are now Smartbooks on Inkling’s platform.”
You can register here:
https://www.inkling.com/webinar/inkling-for-business/
DePaul Classics Streaming Collection
Desire2Learn for Busy Faculty
Three dedicated D2L training sessions are offered for Commerce faculty this month, as an extension of the regular Technology Tuesdays. The three sessions are designed to help Commerce faculty quickly create a Desire2Learn course from scratch in less than 15 minutes, and to highlight how DePaul supports faculty using technology. You will also have an opportunity to add the Commerce template to any of your courses during the session. The Commerce D2L template provides dedicated technology resources for your students.
These hand-on sessions will cover:
- How to create a course in less than 15 minutes, including:
- Uploading all your handouts and resources
- Creating a news announcement
- Creating a D2L user profile
- Creating a D2L discussion board
- Creating a D2L dropbox
- Emailing your students
- Activating your course
- Copying a D2L course
- Adding guest presenters and teaching assistants
- Deactivating a course
- Embedding a YouTube Video
- Linking to online resources
- Commerce course templates
- D2L resources and training.
The three D2L sessions will be held in DPC 6306 (the trading room on the 6th floor of the DePaul Center) on these dates and times:
- Wednesday, February 15th. 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
- Thursday, February 16th. 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m
- Tuesday, February 28th. 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m
DPC 6306 is a PC-equipped room. You will be able to update or create your D2L course during the session.
You can RSP for the sessions here.
Gaming the College Rankings
DePaul’s own Jon Boeckenstedt was quoted in a New York Times piece yesterday. The article (Gaming the College Rankings) is a short but worthwhile read, that covers some of the inherent gaming of the system that takes place with university ranking. Anyway, here is the quote:
“The reliance on this is out of hand,” said Jon Boeckenstedt, the associate vice president who oversees admissions at DePaul University in Chicago. “It’s a nebulous thing, comparing the value of a college education at one institution to another, so parents and students and counselors focus on things that give them the illusion of precision.”