All of the links from today’s Teaching with Technology Institute are available at: www.delicious.com/tag/twti09. There are a lot of great resources on communication, social media, collaborative writing, and mobile technology.

Enjoy!

You can now view upcoming programs from the NIU Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center in a calendar view at http://www.facdev.niu.edu/facdev/programs/calendar.shtml. The schedule for this summer is already available.

You can also add the calendar to your Google calendar or iCal. You can even subscribe to updates by clicking on the XML button.

We hope to see you at one of our upcoming workshops!

Happy Earth Day!

Greener living has increasingly become a central issue in American life. In our personal lives, we recycle, use reusable bags at the grocery store, and light our homes with CFL bulbs. However, what can we do to make our teaching practices environmentally friendly? There are many simple changes faculty and instructors can make to decrease the impact their classroom has on the environment.

For example, use less paper by posting class documents online (in Blackboard, for those at NIU). Accept assignment submissions electronically rather than  on paper, and return grades and feedback the same way. Even something as simple as turning off classroom lights can save electricity and help make teaching more environmentally friendly.

For even more techniques, go to the new Greener Teaching Techniques resource page compiled by the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center:  http://www.facdev.niu.edu/facdev/resources/greenerteaching/index.shtml.

If you have any additional suggestions, post them in the comments or send them to facdev@niu.edu!

This Friday, April 10, 2009 we will be facilitating an open online discussion about online teaching from Noon - 1pm CDT. At NIU we’ve offered face-to-face online teaching brown bag sessions in the past but this will be our first attempt at holding such informal discussions online. We’re not limiting the discussion to just NIU folks but are opening it up to anyone who would like to participate.

Some initial questions to get discussion started include:

• What does every online instructor need to know?
• What recently has worked really well in your online teaching?
• What recently have you tried that wasn’t as successful as you had hoped?
• What advice do you have for others who are considering teaching online for the first time?
• Any new tips, tricks, or tech that you’ve found and have implemented in your online teaching?

For more details and to register, visit http://www.niu.edu/facdev/programs/online

Please pass this info onto anyone at your campus who you think might be interested in participating. If there is enough interest, we could consider offering similar sessions in the future.

NIU faculty you can now use the Blackboard Faculty Tools (BFT) to combine one or more course sections into a master course in Blackboard. By combining enrollments of related or cross-listed courses, you will save time by managing only one course in Blackboard.

The new master course functionality, which had been previously available only by request, will allow you to:

• Combine enrollments of sections for which you’re the official instructor of record into a single “master” course in Blackboard.
• Manage the master course by adding or removing sections before the semester starts.

The tool can be accessed by logging in to Blackboard and following the ‘Blackboard Faculty Tools’ link under the Services tab.

To learn more about the new tool and/or to watch a 2 minute tutorial, please visit http://www.niu.edu/blackboard/gettingstarted/bft.shtml#mastercourse.

If you have any questions please contact the ITS Helpdesk at 815-753-8100 or helpdesk@niu.edu.