Friday, October 30, 2009

Session II Payroll Information

Eileen Clymo has provided the following faculty payroll information for Fall Session II:

Regular contracts for Fall 2 will begin paying out on the Nov. 6th paydate and will be paid every other week until Dec. 31st.

Overload contracts for Fall 2 will begin payment on Nov. 20th (every other week through Dec. 31st).

If you have questions, please do not reply to this message. Instead, contact Eileen directly at eileen.clymo@cccs.edu.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

D2L Face To Face Training

We still have space available in the Monday, November 2, D2L Face to Face Training at the Lowry campus from 10-2. If you would like to join us contact me directly at Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu

We also added another Face to Face D2L training session Thursday, Nov 5 from 12-4 at the Lowry Campus. Register today at https://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?402726 .

Next Friday join us for the D2L Special Release Conditions and Intelligent Agents webinar with Debra Warren on Friday Nov 6 at 1pm. No registration is required and the session will be recorded if you can’t attend it live.

Remember your department's mentor is eager to help answer your conversion and clean up questions, so please contact them as needed. A list of mentors and contact information can be found in the D2L CCCOnline Community course and when you go to profhelp in the Faculty Gateway.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

A Message from the Design Team

Hello wonderful faculty members,

As you are going through your Master courses for the November 14th deadline, please know that the Design Team is working right along with you.

In addition to the 35 new courses under development for Spring, supporting the current Blackboard courses, and troubleshooting Blackboard and Desire2Learn issues, each designer has more than 100 Master courses to go through. When the migration process is complete, at least one designer will have worked in each of the almost 500 Master courses.

In each Master course, designers are changing all wording from Bb Vista terminology to D2L terminology, making sure the style sheet is attached and working properly in all files, deleting duplicate content caused by the migration, and adding a course banner to the course homepage among other tasks. Designers will also be making sure that all images are working in the content of each Master course. You may also find that a designer has taken the information that was in the footer of your Vista course and placed it as a news item, updated the Links widget, and added an eBook widget (if applicable).

So next time you see a designer, give ‘em a hug, as they are working very long hours to help ensure all courses will be ready for the spring semester. [Because of the H1N1 fears, dark chocolate will be accepted in place of a hug. ;-)]

Something Funny to Watch on a Snowy Snowy Day

Web Site Story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtPb8g8Jl6I

(Sorry embedding is disabled on this video.)

Tip from Alice Bedard-Voorhees.

Stay Warm,
Lisa Cheney-Steen

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Second Life Webinar

Hello Everyone,

It’s hard to believe the CCCOnline fall conference is over, and we are just days away from Halloween. A week after our conference we had an Open House on the new CCC Colorado EduIsland. Thanks to all of you, who were able to attend the open house event on October 9th. We had some 50+ new visitors that we can account for, who visited the island and joined us for the event, which we feel this was an excellent turnout for our first event!This is an extremely exciting time for all of us, especially with our new adoption to D2L. Out of my respect for all of you and our our trainers and designers, and everyone’s busy schedules, I have decided to post-pone our up and coming Second Life (SL) webinar for Colorado EduIsland. Originally, the webinar was scheduled for this week, Thursday, October 29th, which will now be held sometime after November 14th (date to be determined), after things slow down a bit for everyone.At our future SL webinar, we will present more on the Colorado Community Colleges focus in SL, and specifically related to:

  • Where to get started and up and running quickly
  • How to get your students up and running quickly
  • Visiting Colorado EduIsland’s teaching spaces
  • Using SL in your classes for specific assessment driven activities and meeting course outcomes
  • Showing educational values that others have already found using virtual worlds for teaching their classes.
  • Alternative concepts and uses of how we may want to teach with virtual worlds for the future

I look forward too seeing all of you at our future Colorado EduIsland events! If you have questions about the event change, or just want to discuss SL or Colorado EduIsland, please email me directly at, cheryl.comstock@cccs.edu. Best of luck with all your course migration!

Best regards,

Cheryl Comstock CCCOnline,

Director Online Program Development

cheryl.comstock@cccs.edu

303.595.1689

http://www.ccconline.org

Vista Email Tool

The BlackBoard hosted Mail tool in our Vista course management system began to malfunction at some point over the weekend. The problem was not readily noticed by students and faculty or at least was not reported until Monday. The tool has been repaired but the back-up of the mail could take 24 hours to clear.

It may be helpful for you to post a discussion message or announcement in your Vista courses to let students know that if they have sent you an email to which you have not responded, you are not ignoring them! Encourage them to contact you via your external emergency email address if they have urgent issues. Thanks!

Monday, October 26, 2009

D2L Email Tool Tip

Here is another tip from D2L mentor Diane Van Os on using the D2L Email Tool.

When you log into D2L courses and click the email icon you might see a bunch of emails.
This is because the email system is global, which means all your D2L email appears in one place.

-Click the drop down arrow that says “filter by” and select one class section only. Now your emails for that course are the only ones you see.
-Do this for each class you teach.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Upcoming D2L Training

Monday Oct 26th at 9am, Aaron Leonard discusses the Quizzes Tool which is equivalent to our former Assessments tool. Access the Webinar from the following link: http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/
PDF instructions on logging in http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf

Also, we’ve added more face to face sessions. Join us either Thursday, November 5th from 12-4 or Tuesday, November 10th from 12-4 at the Lowry Campus. Register for the face to face training at https://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?402726

Can’t make any of the face to face sessions, but want to meet with someone? Schedule an appointment at the office with the Training and Professional Development department. Contact me directly at Karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu.

Friday, October 23, 2009

D2L Assessments Webinar on Monday

We know you all are very busy this semester with classes, holidays, conversion and training, but hang in there! We have three weeks left before our conversion clean-up and training due date of November 14th.

Haven't logged in yet? Not sure where to start or confused about what is expected? Visit this online object or contact me directly at karen.kaemmerling@cccs.edu. I am happy to answer your questions, and we can talk on the phone or make an appointment at the office to get you going too.

The first hour of our D2L webinars are intended to cover a few tools, the second hour is an open QA session for any of your conversion clean-up and training questions. Come to the webinars with your questions or ask them in the CCCOnline Community where Lisa Marie Johnson and I are monitoring daily.

Our next webinar covers the Assessments tool with Aaron Leonard on Monday Oct 26th at 9am.
· Access the Webinars from the following link: http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/
· PDF instructions on logging in http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf

Can’t make it to the live webinar… that’s ok, visit the webinar archive at http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=TPD_Webinar_Archive

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

D2L Classlist Tip

We are going to start sending D2L tips, ideas, suggestions ect. via the blog.

Today’s tip comes from D2L mentor and CRJ Chair Diane Van Os

Use the Classlist tool to quickly email your whole class or individuals.
1. Go to the Classlist Tool on the course navigation bar.
2. Select the drop down to show maximum students on one page.
3. Check the top box which should place checks in all boxes and select “email all on this tab”.
4. Or to email an individual just check next to that person’s name and select the email icon at the top left of the list of stuents.
5. Send away!

Assessments D2L Webinar

So far our D2L webinars covered the html editor, e-mail, discussions, content, manage files, grades, dropbox. If you missed one of these great webinars, visit http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=TPD_Webinar_Archive for a recording of the webinar. The recording is nice because you can open your sandbox and pause the webinar to try what was taught.

What’s next? Learn more about the Assessments tool with Aaron Leonard on Monday Oct 26th at 9am.
· Access the Webinars from the following link: http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/
· PDF instructions on logging in http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf

Based on your requests we are also adding more webinars and face to face sessions. Be looking for information on that soon!

See you there!

Friday, October 16, 2009

One month to go before D2L training and conversion deadline!

If you were not able to join us for the D2L webinar today on Content and Manage files with Debra Warren or you missed one previously, you can listen to them anytime at the archive at http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=TPD_Webinar_Archive

Our next webinar is Oct 19th at 9am with Donna Hall on the Gradebook and Dropbox.
To Join us Login on Monday Oct 19th at 8:30 am from: http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGEPDF

Instructions for accessing webinars: http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf

Monday, October 12, 2009

Face to Face D2L Training Reminder

October 19th at the Lowry campus we will have a face to face D2L training session from 10-2. We still have a few seats left, so if you would like to join us, register by Oct 13 at https://www.rsvpbook.com/event.php?402726

If you have already registered for the training, I will be sending information to you soon. Please try to log in to D2L using your S number and password.

How is your D2L training and Conversion clean up going so far?

If you are following along with us, you should be able to navigate in D2L, use the HTML editor, send and create emails, create, grade, and post to discussions, and use the classlist tool. Don't wait until the last minute to start exploring and using D2L. Training and clean up should be completed by November 14th. Also, don't forget that you can post questions in the CCCOnline Community Course on any tool or ask your department's D2L mentor for help.

This week CCCOnline Course Designer, Debra Warren, will facilitate the D2L Content and Manage Files webinar on Friday Oct 16th at 1pm. On Monday October 19th Donna Hall, Instructional Design Team Coordinator, will facilitate the D2L Grades and Dropbox Webinar at 9am. We hope to see you there, but if you can’t attend, these are being recorded for you to view later at your convenience.

Login to Friday Oct 16th webinar at 12:30 PM from: http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE

PDF Instructions for accessing webinars:http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf <http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf>

If you miss it, access the recording at the Webinar Archive:http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=TPD_Webinar_Archive

Friday, October 09, 2009

CCCOnline Webinar with correct links.

Please join us for a Webinar on the D2L Email, Discussion, and Classlist tools starting at 12:00 PM today, October 9. The webinar will last until approximately 2:00 PM. The facilitator is Mary Cash!

Login to the webinar at 11:30 AM today from: http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE

PDF Instructions for accessing webinars:
http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf
<http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf>

If you miss a webinar, access the recording at the Webinar Archive:
http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=TPD_Webinar_Archive

The next webinar is on October 16 from 1:00 - 3:00 PM and will cover the D2L Content and Manage Files tools. We hope to see you then too!

CCCOnline Webinar!

Please join us for a Webinar on the D2L Email, Discussion, and Classlist tools starting at 12:00 PM today, October 9. The webinar will last until approximately 2:00 PM. The facilitator is Mary Cash!

Login to the webinar at 11:30 AM today from: http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE

PDF Instructions for accessing webinars:
http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf
<http://media.ccconline.cccs.edu/ccco/Training/Elluminate/AccessingElluminateTraining.pdf>

If you miss a webinar, access the recording at the Webinar Archive:
http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=TPD_Webinar_Archive

The next webinar is on October 16 from 1:00 - 3:00 PM and will cover the D2L Content and Manage Files tools. We hope to see you then too!

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Second Life Open House - October 9th (Lisa's Error)

Second Life Open House on Colorado EduIsland!

October 9th, 2009

The following events and times are listed below for all users. We hope you can join in the fun and come for a tour of our new island!

****************************************************
Avatar Appearance - Be Who You Want to Be!
moderated by Cyrus Hush

Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT (Sessions begin every 30 minutes)
Length: 30 minutes
Location: Campus Store

****************************************************
The Maze - Learning Your Way Around Second Life
moderated by Grand Jestyr

Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT(Sessions begin every hour)
Length: 1 hour
Location: The Maze

****************************************************
Holodeck Tours
moderated by Maelthra Spiritor

Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT (Sessions begin every 30 minutes)
Length: 30 minutes
Location: Starts the Spanish Peaks Building

****************************************************
Fireside Chat - Teaching in Second Life
moderated by Kool Oberlander, Ababus Capalini, Shutter Allen

Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT(Sessions begin every 15 minutes)
Length: 15 minutes
Location: Campfire near the Welcome Center

****************************************************
Teacher Tools for Your Second Life
moderated by MustangQuimby Mesmer

Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT (Sessions begin every 15 minutes)
Length: 15 minutes
Location: Seven Falls Discussion Area

****************************************************
Teaching In Second Life
presentation by Miranda Minjou

Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT
Length: 45 minutes
Location: Sand Dunes Discussion Area

****************************************************
It's A Snap! - Photo Booth
moderated by Luva Ragu

Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT
Length: Continuous
Location: Student Recreation Center

****************************************************
Yes, You Can Dance!
moderated by ProfCO Clarity

Guest DJ: Gagtfl Darwin

Start Time: 3:00 PM SLT / 4:00 PM MDT
Length: 2 hours
Location: Amphitheater

****************************************************

GOLD NUGGET CHALLENGE!
moderated by ProfCO Clarity

Start Time: 3:00 PM SLT / 4:00 PM MDT
Length: 2 hour
Location: Region Wide

Can you find all the gold nuggets? There are 10 gold nuggets hidden around the island, find them and enjoy cash and prizes. Be the first to find all 10 and bring them to ProfCO Clarity for a big cash prize!

*******************

You may also contact Cheryl at Cheryl.Comstock@cccs.edu or search on Ize Mesmer in SL for questions.

Thanks,
Cheryl

Cheryl Comstock
CCCOnline, Director Online Program Development
cheryl.comstock@cccs.edu
http://www.ccconline.org/

More on Colorado EduIsland and Upcoming Events

Yesterday's blog post announcing the upcoming Second Life event left out some important details. Here is some additional information from Cheryl Comstock regarding Colorado EduIsland and the events announced yesterday.

Hi everyone! SecondLife is a virtual/simulated web experience where we are researching teaching and education. The first part of the original blog message was omitted, leaving it somewhat confusing.

Several discipline areas from a variety of colleges are looking at the educational potential of Second Life while also being quite successful in teaching in that virtual enviroment and exposing students to concepts and curriculum in disciplines they may not be able to introduce in a traditional or online classroom.

We have secured this Second Life space to help you explore potential uses; we will then build our island up to support your ideas and your students' needs in fulfilling learning outcomes.

The event is this coming Friday, October 9. At this session, you can learn how to set up an account and discover what is available to both you and our students on Colorado EduIsland (which is supported by Colorado's Community Colleges).

You can login directly to the SL website to check out how to create a free account and then teleport to Colorado EduIsland for the time specified.

What: Colorado EduIsland Open House
When: October 9th, 2009Times: 2PM - 5 PM SLT (Second Life Time) or 3 - 6 PM MDT (Mountain Daylight Time)
Where:* New Second Life (SL) Users, visit this URL to get started in SL: http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=SecondLife:Getting_Started#Getting_started_In_Second_Life_.28SL.29:
* Current Users, visit this SLURL to land directly on Colorado EduIsland: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Colorado%20EduIsland/133/110/22

Let me know (cheryl.comstock@cccs.edu) if you have questions. I can provide better support for you if we set up a time to meet and discuss it. I will also be hosting a webinar later this month on the topic.

Monday, October 05, 2009

Second Life Open House - October 9th

Second Life Open House on Colorado EduIsland!

October 9th, 2009

The following events and times are listed below for all users. We hope you can join in the fun and come for a tour of our new island!

****************************************************
Avatar Appearance - Be Who You Want to Be!
moderated by Cyrus Hush

Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT (Sessions begin every 30 minutes)
Length: 30 minutes
Location: Campus Store

****************************************************
The Maze - Learning Your Way Around Second Life
moderated by Grand Jestyr

Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT(Sessions begin every hour)
Length: 1 hour
Location: The Maze

****************************************************
Holodeck Tours
moderated by Maelthra Spiritor

Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT (Sessions begin every 30 minutes)
Length: 30 minutes
Location: Starts the Spanish Peaks Building

****************************************************
Fireside Chat - Teaching in Second Life
moderated by Kool Oberlander, Ababus Capalini, Shutter Allen

Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT(Sessions begin every 15 minutes)
Length: 15 minutes
Location: Campfire near the Welcome Center

****************************************************
Teacher Tools for Your Second Life
moderated by MustangQuimby Mesmer

Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT (Sessions begin every 15 minutes)
Length: 15 minutes
Location: Seven Falls Discussion Area

****************************************************
Teaching In Second Life
presentation by Miranda Minjou

Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT
Length: 45 minutes
Location: Sand Dunes Discussion Area

****************************************************
It's A Snap! - Photo Booth
moderated by Luva Ragu

Start Time: 2:00 PM SLT / 3:00 PM MDT
Length: Continuous
Location: Student Recreation Center

****************************************************
Yes, You Can Dance!
moderated by ProfCO Clarity

Guest DJ: Gagtfl Darwin

Start Time: 3:00 PM SLT / 4:00 PM MDT
Length: 2 hours
Location: Amphitheater

****************************************************

GOLD NUGGET CHALLENGE!
moderated by ProfCO Clarity

Start Time: 3:00 PM SLT / 4:00 PM MDT
Length: 2 hour
Location: Region Wide

Can you find all the gold nuggets? There are 10 gold nuggets hidden around the island, find them and enjoy cash and prizes. Be the first to find all 10 and bring them to ProfCO Clarity for a big cash prize!

*******************

You may also contact Cheryl at Cheryl.Comstock@cccs.edu or search on Ize Mesmer in SL for questions.

Thanks,
Cheryl

Cheryl Comstock
CCCOnline, Director Online Program Development
cheryl.comstock@cccs.edu
http://www.ccconline.org/

Professional Development Opportunity

This event is sponsored by the eLearning Consortium of Colorado, eLCC. CCCOnline is a member of eLCC, so all of you are welcome to attend this conference if you are interested. This event would fulfill your annual professional development requirement if you need that for this year still and on top of that you get a free lunch!

------------------------------------------------

Mark your calendar for an exciting FREE professional development event
sponsored by the e-Learning Consortium of Colorado (eLCC).

What: "Web 2.0 Buffet – FREE tools to enhance teaching and learning"
When: Friday, October 30, 2009 - 9:30-3:00
Where: University of Denver

More details and registration information coming soon!!!

http://elcc.pbworks.com/

----------------------------------------------------------------------


Best,

Lisa Cheney-Steen

Friday, October 02, 2009

Fall Session 2 Rosters Available

You can now view your Fall session 2 class roster.

Please go here, https://at.ccconline.org/roster

Login using your SID and Vista Password.

You can find student e-mail addresses on the roster. Please remember that most colleges have moved to the system e-mail address for students, so we are dependent on students remembering to check their system e-mail account or forward that account to another external e-mail address.

Please contact myself or Frank Vazquez, frank.vazquez@cccs.edu, if you have any trouble accessing your roster.

Thanks!
John

D2L News, HTML Editor, and Homepages - Webinar Today!

Please join us for Today's Webinar on the D2L News, HTML Editor, and Homepages tools starting at 1:00 PM and ending around 3:00 PM. The facilitator is Mary Cash!

No registration is required to attend and no password is needed to login. Please login as a Guest using your First and Last Name.

Login to the webinar starting at 12:30 PM today from the link on the schedule at http://elm.elluminate.com/FRONTRANGE/

If you miss the webinar, access the recording to be available later today at the Webinar Archive: http://faculty.ccconline.org/index.php?title=TPD_Webinar_Archive

The next webinar is on October 9 from 12:00 -2:00 PM and will cover the Email, Discussion, and Classlist tools in D2L. We hope to see you then too!

Fall 2 Begins Monday!


Hi Everyone-

I 'm sure fall is flying by for all of you as quickly as it is for me. Our fall 2 session is already here - and man is it here! Enrollment is up just over 30% from this time last year and would have been up more but we are experiencing a pretty severe faculty shortage in many areas. We are running classes with more students than we typically do. We expect to get back down to our historical average (19) by next summer, so please bear with us and recommend your friends with master's degrees to your program chair.

We expanded our D2L pilot program slightly by adding a few fall 2 sections to D2L. For fall 1 the Academic Technology guys manually loaded students into D2L. They are using fall 2 to test the automated process we will use from spring. That seemed to be important enough that it was worth adding a few more D2L sections.
If you haven't had a chance yet, please do log into the new faculty community course in D2L. (https://ccco.desire2learn.com/). Donna Welschmeyer also headed up a group making changes to the Faculty Gateway. She would like to know if that area is now more useful to you and easier to navigate. Donna can be reached at Donna.Welschmeyer@cccs.edu.

Good Luck and have fun this term!


best,
Lisa Cheney-Steen

(For you horsey folks, that is Dr. Beeman running the hounds for the Arapahoe Hunt.)