Faculty members seeking to bring their classroom management and instruction methods into the 21st century can take advantage of a variety of new and ongoing technical training classes being offered free during the next few months.
Instructional and Educational Technology's Meet the Experts series, for instance, will on Monday offer a new class focusing on MyUCDavis.
Joseph Coulombe, faculty consultant for the Arbor - in 161 Everson, where the series is held 1-2 p.m. weekly - said faculty members are probably not aware of My UC Davis' many features. They can get their e-mail, track their contracts and grants, create course Web sites, submit grades, manage gradebooks, get course rosters and set up course mailing lists and chat rooms. Coming soon to the portal, he said, is a place where instructors can create online quizzes and exams.
"There have been so many feature enhancements to MyUCDavis - especially in the area of course management - that we felt it was time to put it on the list of (series) topics," Coulombe said.
IET: Mediaworks also has been going to departments and giving overview courses, Coulombe said. And the Arbor offers training to faculty one-on-one.
"The purpose for Meet the Experts is to get people interested in technology and show faculty the services offered to them through Mediaworks," Coulombe said.
Other series topics include "Flash with Sound," May 6; "Pixels and Film," May 13; "Audio Editing," May 20; and "Hybrid Courses: Online and in Person," June 3.
On the hardware side, Classroom Technology Services will conduct special training sessions for summer faculty members in June and August. The idea is to help faculty members who want Internet access or will be using DVDs, laptops and other electronic media to augment instruction.
Because of the greatly expanded number of classes to be offered, this marks the first time training will be presented at the beginning of summer quarter. The hands-on sessions, which traditionally have been offered at the start of other quarters, are free and require no registration.
"What usually happens is that eight to 10 people show up with their laptops and actually practice hooking them up," said Robert Ralston, educational media coordinator for Classroom Technology Services.
Both sessions take place in 176 Everson. Sessions are set for 2-3:30 p.m. June 20, and for 2-3:30 p.m. Aug. 1.
During the sessions, faculty members also get an idea of other technical support services available to them. For example, they learn that Mediaworks can burn an instructor's audio-visual materials onto a DVD for classroom playback, generally at no charge to the instructor. And Multimedia Equipment Services has several DVD loaner units for classroom use, Ralston said.
For more details on training or to schedule an Arbor appointment, contact (530) 754-2115 or jlcoulombe@ucdavis.edu.