http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/ait/ftdl/workshops/index.htmThe AIT Faculty Workshop Series
Each semester AIT staff (with assistance from faculty) deliver an ambitious series of faculty workshops. As a result, the faculty's skill base has grown, and the program has been expanded to include new classes in Web page creation, website management, and multimedia development (including packages like Photoshop and Director), as well as a "master class" series for the very advanced. These workshops are free of charge and open to all faculty.
In the fall 1999 the workshop series was canceled; the multimedia classrooms where the workshops occur were inoperable, following the move to temporary quarters. A sample of workshop topics from the Spring 2000 academic year includes:
Creating Web Pages with Microsoft FrontPage
Learn how to use this popular software package to create course sites.
RealAudio and RealVideo for the Web
Adding RealAudio to your site gives your visitors a great experience, and a reason to return. Capture, edit, and create RealAudio from existing tapes, files or even live feeds. Use RealVideo to capture video content to your PC and create powerful stories to deliver your message online. Using your capture device, easily input your video to begin editing. Then add titles, narration and special effects to enhance the power of your video's message.
Introduction to Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format
Learn how to edit and create Adobe Acrobat documents.
Introduction to Streaming Media
Learn how to use RealNetworks RealProducer to capture video and audio from VHS
videocassette. Learn how to incorporate digitized video and audio with your Web pages.
Introduction to Scanning Text and Graphic Elements
Learn how to scan text and perform optical character recognition (OCR). Learn how to
scan photographs and drawings.
Introduction to Adobe Photoshop for the Web
Learn how to edit graphic elements for your Web pages.
Introduction to Microsoft PowerPoint for the Web
Learn how to create a desktop presentation with Microsoft PowerPoint. Learn how to
incorporate your presentation with your Web pages.
Introduction to Internet-based Surveys
Learn how to use Perseus SurveySolutions for the Web to design, conduct, and analyze
Web or e-mail surveys.
Teaching with Blackboard
Participants will be invited to think about ways to create technology-enriched teaching and
learning environments. You will create a Blackboard site for your course.
Creating a Robust Syllabus
This workshop focuses specifically on the creation of the syllabus, moving it away from a
digital copy of the paper syllabus to a teaching and learning environment that can include
images, audio files, video files, discipline-specific resources, and online Library
resources. You will begin to transform your syllabus into a rich multimedia resource for
students.
Creating Technology-Enriched Assignments
One of the best ways of creating a culture of use among students is to create lively
assignments that make full use of the capabilities presented by new digital media. This
workshop will provide you with specific examples and guidelines.
Creating Student Assessments
You will learn how to create online quizzes and assessments to monitor student progress,
as well as the functionalities of Blackboard that allow you to provide immediate feedback
to your students.
Asynchronous Communications
This workshop explores the pedagogical uses of bulletin boards and proposes a number of
strategies that will make your bulletin board a natural extension of your class time.
Creating Online Communities
This workshop focuses on best practices to incorporate group activities using Blackboard
5, such as collaborative projects and online group portfolios.
1999/2000 faculty workshops offered by Library staff include:
Biological Sciences Resources: Cambridge Scientific Abstracts and Beyond
Searching the CSA on-line. Learn all about full-text journal options, and how to sign up
for proxy access to get Brooklyn College Library resources from home. Plus: scholarly
Web-based science resources.
Literature Resources: The MLA and Beyond
Searching the MLA on-line. Preview up-coming changes in its format. Learn all about
full-text journal options, and how to sign up for proxy access to get Brooklyn College
Library resources from home. Plus: scholarly Web-based literature resources.
Scholarly Web-Based Resources
Searching the Web, including: search engine tips, free sites, electronic resources
provided by the Library and full-text journal options. Learn how to sign up for proxy
access to get Brooklyn College Library resources from home.
Education Resources: ERIC and Beyond
Searching ERIC on-line. Learn all about full-text journal options, and how to sign up for
proxy access to get Brooklyn College Library resources from home. Plus: scholarly
Web-based education resources.
Statistical Resources: StatAbs and Beyond
Searching StatAbs on-line, and how to sign up for proxy access to get Brooklyn College
Library resources from home. Learn all about numerous statistical sites on the Web.
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
Finding articles from newspapers around the world, as well as legal information.
InfoTrac’s Searchbank Academic ASAP
Finding research-quality magazine and journal articles relating to a wide range of topics.
OCLC’s WorldCat
Finding books and other materials located in libraries around the world
April 17: "Wireless Networking with AirPort"
http://www.apple.com/airport
For more information, see "Library Week," below.
This luncheon seminar featured Dr. Martin Nachbar of New York University's School of
Medicine demonstrating teaching with technology in the life sciences. It was well-
attended by faculty and graduate students in the sciences and CIS, as well as many CIS
majors. Dr. Nachbar's URL http://endeavor.med.nyu.edu shows his noteworthy work.
Evaluation Days, June 6, 2000, and January 23, 2001, for which the Library Café's space
and staff were used.
Library consortium on whose board Dr. Higginbotham serves) two workshops presented by
California automation consultant Joan Frye Williams:
An intellectual property teleconference (February 8) and a copyright workshop (April 26)March 27, 2001: "Know When to Hold 'Em, Know When to Fold 'Em: When to
Jettison and When to Hold Onto Technologies"
March 28, 2001: "IT Survival Skills for Library Managers"
were mentioned earlier in this document.http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/webcore
"WebCourse is, in my estimation, the most important factor in faculty developmentBecause of the central importance of the Core Curriculum, many of our technology-and-
in that it results in a year-long exposure to development and training. Even if the
individual produces little after one year, he or she has been changed and is more
willing to incorporate technology at some other point in the future." Howard
Spivak, Director for Library Systems & Academic Information Technologies
"The WebCourse program has expanded considerably since its inception, when it
was established to encourage faculty to use the Web in their Core Studies courses.
The most obvious change is the evolution of WebCore into WebCourse.
Increasingly, faculty expressed interest in creating Web pages for both elective
and introductory courses. In addition, professional staff were exploring ways to
use the Web and also needed training and support to create and maintain websites.
"Thus, WebCourse was opened to all faculty and staff who wanted to establish a
Web presence for any course or any function connected with their teaching or
administrative responsibilities, and to all professional staff who might use the Web
in their work. Because WebCourse applicants run the gamut from novices to faculty
who have already created extensive websites for their courses, only a varied
program of courses could meet their needs.
"The expanded course offerings also took into account two other facts: (1) no one
program, such as Blackboard or Dreamweaver, fits every participant's needs or
expresses every participant's individuality, and (2) as a site becomes more
sophisticated, numerous programs may be used, such as Photoshop to retouch
images, RealAudio to include sound files, RealVideo to import video clips, and
Blackboard to create an entire course on the Web. Current WebCourse offerings
include FrontPage Express, JavaScript, PowerPoint, and introductory and advanced
courses in HTML, Blackboard, Photoshop 5.5, Dreamweaver 2.0, Flash 4.0, and Real Director." Professor Lilia Melani (English), WebCourse Coordinator
teaching initiatives have originated there. Now in its sixth year, the WebCore/ WebCourse
initiative provides bi-weekly training sessions for faculty interested in building
course sites to support their teaching. As a direct result, there is now a solid base of
HTML-literate faculty at Brooklyn College. For the first time in the fall 2000 WebCore
became WebCourse, and faculty were welcome whether or not they taught in the
Core. WebCourse is coordinated by faculty member Lilia Melani (English) and the training
is delivered by both faculty and AIT staff. In 1999/2000 WebCourse faculty included:
NAME DEPARTMENT Taiwo Amoo Economics Christopher Barnes Classics Diane Berardi English David Bloomfield Education Fabio Carasi Modern Languages Tucker Farley English KC Johnson History Trudy Katzer English Danny Kopec CIS Peter Lesser Physics Lilia Melani (Coordinator) English Mary Ann Messano-Ciesla Speech Eleanor Miele Education Wayne Powell Geology Joseph Progler Education Anthony Sgherza Physical Education Irene Sosa TV/Radio Jocelyn Wills History Aphrodite Xeromeritou Education Vanessa Yingling Physical Education Moishe Zelcer Economics 1998-2000. $260,000. FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education),
U.S. Department of Education.
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/chem/howell/FIPSE/devPage.htm
The Virtual Core Project began in the fall 1998 and is now in its final year. The 15 faculty
supported by the program have developed partially virtual sections of the Core Studies
courses they teach, following the Brooklyn Model ("two-thirds in-class/one-third on-line"
or "one-half in-class/one-half on-line," depending on class patterns). Faculty developers
receive training and support from three Faculty Mentors also supported by the Project and
AIT staff. The participants include:
Co-Project Directors
Barbra Buckner Higginbotham (Library/AIT)
John Blamire (Biology)
Faculty Mentors
John Blamire (Biology)
Hardy Hansen (Classics)
Donald Gerardi (History
Project Evaluator
Manuel Martinez-Pons (School of Education)
Faculty Developers
Kevin Murphy (Art)
Core 2.1: Introduction to Art
Timothy Shortell (Sociology)
Core 3: People, Power, & Politics
David Arnow, Scott Dexter, Chaya Gurwitz, & Lori Scarlatos (CIS)
Core 5: Introduction to Mathematical Reasoning & Computer Science
Lilia Melani (English)
Core 6: Landmarks of Literature
James Howell (Chemistry)
Core 7.1 Science in Modern Life: Chemistry)
Michael Sobel (Physics)
Core 7.2: Science in Modern Life: Physics
David Leveson & John Chamberlain (Geology)
Core 8.2: Science in Modern Life: Geology
Arthur Bankoff (Anthropology)
Core 9: Comparative Studies in African, Asian, Latin American, & Pacific Cultures
Paul Saka (Philosophy)
Core 10: Knowledge, Existence, & Values
offered their partially virtual courses, while continuing to meet regularly and discuss their
findings. Professor Manuel Martinez-Pons (Education), our evaluator, designed a variety
of instruments that were distributed to partially virtual and in-class only control sections
at the start of February. AIT staff are providing considerable technical support to FIPSE
Faculty Developers. These same activities continued in the fall 2000 semester.
These are the only two Core Studies departments not involved from the Project's
inception. In the fall 2000 Professor Kevin Murphy of Art joined the project. Professor
Jeffrey Taylor of Music has begun to build a general resource site for Core Music
Studies. The president is supporting Professor Murphy's participation.
assessment tools will tell us about online teaching. A Virtual Core seminar, at which we
present our findings to the public, is planned for fall 2001.
