What's in a name?
ATS is now IET and Media Services
As previously announced, the offices of Computing Services and Academic Technology Services are now part of a reconfigured Information Technology Services (ITS). The new name better reflects the breadth of services that we provide in partnership with members of the Franklin & Marshall community. These services and their underlying infrastructure are designed to enable and enhance the teaching, research, learning, and administrative collaborations at the College through the effective and responsible use of information technology.
Double-click the graphic to animate...
Instructional and Emerging Technologies (IET) and Media Services comprise the former Academic Technology Services. IET will support faculty and students in an expanded effort to augment and enhance teaching, learning, and research through the utilization of technology. Media Services will provide enhanced support for faculty, students, staff and visitors using technology in classrooms and meeting rooms. New technology-enhanced services and spaces are already being designed. New online resources are also being developed; until further notice, the current ATS website at http://ats.fandm.edu will remain active with resources supporting both groups. IET and Media Services staff will continue to work closely together and remain in Stager Hall.
Faculty Showcase
Susan Dicklitch
Susan Dicklitch, Associate Professor of Government at Franklin & Marshall, has been incorporating blogs into her  classes for the past several semesters and currently has 85 students blogging. “I think it’s important to be creative and on the cutting edge and link technology to what’s going on in the Ivory Tower,” says Professor Dicklitch. It’s not just getting a degree; it’s about developing life skills." More...
Wimba Voice Tools
New Frontiers in Language Learning
Wimba Voice Tools is an integrated set of web-based voice tools that facilitate and promote vocal instruction, collaboration, coaching, and assessment. The set of tools include voice discussion boards, presentations, live chat, email and even podcasting. A pilot project is underway this semester with the Modern Language Council and IET.
Students can log on to any computer with an internet connection and participate in numerous listening and speaking exercises anytime, anywhere. Faculty are able to listen to random samples of her students' recordings to ensure they're making steady progress throughout each semester. Wimba Voice Tools offer live discussions between students and teachers, encourages on-going discussions and debates about different subjects and ideas, easily teaches pronunciation, rhythm, stress, and emphasis and allows instant anytime, anywhere access to language resources as students are no longer constrained by the availability of a physical language lab.
Wimba Voice Tools is not just for the Modern Language Faculty at F&M. This set of tools can be integrated into any curriculum on campus. Some examples include giving voice feedback on student assignments/projects, conducting a live chat as a review for an important test, allows students a voice "meeting place" when groups are unable to meet face-to-face and to add voice to threaded discussions that can take place outside of class time.
Wimba Voice Tools is currently a pilot project that runs through the end of the Fall 2007 semester. We are working to extend this pilot through the spring semester and will be making decisions about the future of Wimba Voice Tools soon. If you're interested in learning more about this online tool and what it can do for you in the classroom, contact Brian Gall in IET.
AnswerTips
Small information bubbles that define any word
AnswerTips are small information bubbles that define any word when double-clicked. An AnswerTips-enabled site or blog means visitors get fast facts on 4 million topics provided by Answers.com when they double-click on any word, without opening a new browser or following outbound links. AnswerTips deliver instant definitions, explanations and facts including biographies, tech terms, geography, pop culture and much more.
Adding AnswerTips to any website is free; just complete the simple three step process. If your web browser is Firefox, you can install the
plug-in and search Answers.com directly from any webpage, even if it's not AnswerTips-enabled. AnswerTips and Answers.com are services of the Houghton Mifflin Company.
Around the Web
A snapshot of what's going on around
the World Wide Web
College Comparison Web Site Debuts
Want to compare colleges, but don’t believe in rankings? Check out the new University and College Accountability Network (UCAN) web site, which went live on September 26, 2007. Produced by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, UCAN contains data from more than 500 institutions of higher education. There is information on enrollment, courses of study, accreditation, faculty-student ratios, and graduation rates—all provided by the institutions. There is also information provided by the U.S. Department of Education on average student-loan sizes, overall tuition, and undergraduate class sizes. The colleges can be searched by city, state, distance from home, and affiliation. Here's Franklin & Marshall's UCAN results.
The Chronicle of Higher Education - Wired Campus
A Beloved Professor Delivers The Lecture of a Lifetime
The final lectures professors deliver before they retire are often moving occasions, but they’re nothing compared with the last lecture this week by Randy Pausch, a computer-science professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Mr. Pausch, a 46-year-old father of three, is dying of pancreatic cancer. He expects to live only a few months more. As described in an article in the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Pausch gave his audience a “rollicking and riveting journey through the lessons of his life.” He also exhibited a mordant humor. “I’ve experienced a deathbed conversion,” he said with a smile. “I just bought a Macintosh.” Professor Pausch's lecture is available in its entirety online.
The Wall Street Journal
Wiki becomes textbook in Boston College classroom
Gerald C. Kane, an assistant professor of information systems at Boston College, encourages his students to use a commercially provided wiki for conducting research and collaborating with other students. There are no paper books in his "Computers in Management" course, just Web tools. Making the switch helps change his role from lecturer to a guide for students, Kane says. Students can use the wiki to post papers online before handing them in, he says, so that classmates can learn from each other as much as they learn from him.
Computer World
nanoHUB - A resource for nanoscience and technology
The nanoHUB is a rich, web-based resource for research, education and collaboration in nanotechnology. The nanoHUB hosts over 750 resources which will help one learn about nanotechnology, including Online Presentations, Courses, Learning Modules, Podcasts, Animations, Teaching Materials, and more. Most importantly, the nanoHUB offers simulation tools with access from a web browser. The nanoHUB also provides collaboration environment via Workspaces, Online meetings and User groups.
nanoHub.org
Digital 'Smiley Face' Turns 25
It was a serious contribution to the electronic lexicon. :-) Twenty-five years ago, Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott E. Fahlman says, he was the first to use three keystrokes - a colon followed by a hyphen and a parenthesis - as a horizontal "smiley face" in a computer message.
Associated Press
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How many searches are performed on the internet daily?
Individuals around the world use the internet to search for information 213 millions times a day. That's about 6.4 billion times each month and over 3/4 of a trillion searches annually.
Source:
SearchEngineWatch.com
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IET
QuickStarts are designed to provide short, concise instructions
for using hardware, software, and facilities managed by IET.
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Featured Podcast:
Photo Stories
Producer: Washington Post
Washington Post's Photo Stories marries the power of photography with the stories behind the pictures. Each poignant slideshow uncovers the extraordinary lives of ordinary people.
Podcasting, a portmanteau
of Apple's "iPod"
and "broadcasting",
is a method of publishing
files to the Internet, allowing
users to subscribe to a
feed and receive new files
automatically by subscription,
usually at no cost. It first
became popular in late 2004,
used largely for audio files.
Do you have a favorite
podcast you'd like to share?
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Rule of Thirds
The Rule of Thirds is a good principle to keep in mind when arranging your subject matter within your photo: Imagine two horizontal and two vertical lines dividing your photo into thirds with four intersecting points—just like a tic-tac-toe board. The Rule suggests that you place your main subject where the lines cross rather than centered in the frame, and situating the horizon on the upper or lower line usually makes a well-composed landscape photo. For portraits, placing the person’s face where lines cross can make a more compelling photo than if the person is centered. More...
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TLT Discussion
Lunchtime discussions about the ways in which faculty are using technology to enhance teaching and learning.- lunch provided
October 23
Technology Demonstration
Informal technology demonstrations centered around broad instructional technology topics
November 16
More information about upcoming ATS
Events is available online.
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Professor Claude Yoder, Chemistry, directs a student assistant in the production of web-based instructional resources. Professor Yoder makes extensive use of digital media assets in his courses and on his website, The Wired Chemist.
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 IET
eNews
October 2007
Volume 3, Issue 2
Tips, techniques, and tools for using technology
to enhance teaching, learning, and research
IET eNews is published by the Office of Instructional and Emerging Technologies. http://ats.fandm.edu/enews/
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