CoP stands for Community of Practice, "a group of professionals,
informally bound to one another through exposure to a common class of
problems, common pursuit of solutions, and thereby themselves embodying
a store of knowledge." ( Peter & Trudy Johnson-Lenz) CoP members
share their collective knowledge and, together, create new knowledge,
best practices, and solutions to common problems. Funding and program support will be provided by the CDL.
CATS is launching virtual CoPs in the areas of Accessibility and
Support Services. These communities will work to expand and promote
academic technology in the CSU. We are pleased to announce the CoP Leaders:
Membership is not limited to CATS members. For example, Accessibility CoP members might work in DSS, Student Services, or could be faculty or managers--i.e., we're not just talking 508 compliance here. Support Service members could be professionals from the help desk, network services, hardware or software purchasers/installers/trainers, lab managers, and the like.
Meetings are being scheduled so that potential CoP members
can meet in a face-to-face setting and learn more about what these communities will be doing.
- Friday, October 7, 9:30 am - 3:30 pm, Sonoma State University
- Southern California meeting TBA
To register for either meeting or just to find out more about our CoPs, contact Abbe Altman.
| Turnitin Training, CSUEB, Sept. 14 |
A systemwide Turnitin training for faculty and support staff will be held at CSU East Bay on September 14 from 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon in the basement of Warren Hall.
The workshop is designed for CSU faculty who are interested in using Turnitin in their courses. Staff who assist faculty with their courses are also invited. Turnitin's new features will be previewed, and attendees will also be provided with helpful tips and techniques on how to use the software.
For registration and further details, go to this web page.
Seating is limited, so early registration is advised. The deadline is September 12.
| Peter Mosinskis, CATS Liaison |
Peter Mosinskis has been Web Services Supervisor at CSU Channel Islands for the past 2.5 years. His job is to "oversee and provide leadership for an area of IT that provides website hosting, web design, web application development, web training, web accessibility consulting, strategic planning, and content management services to the university enterprise."
Peter's greatest professional accomplishment to date has been to keep Web Services afloat for two years--not an easy task considering that until July of this year he was the department's only permanent staff. He is currently immersed in a project he calls "cool": a visual redesign of the Channel Islands campus website that launched August 15th, and is already delivering nearly four times the content it did two years ago.
It's interesting to note that CATS members come from a wide variety of backgrounds, both personally and professionally. Peter joins a growing list of CATS whose academic background is music, as he holds a degree in Music Pedagogy. If he could have any other job in the world, Peter would choose composer/performer of his own music (maybe we can tap him for the CATS conference entertainment?) and/or a snow ski tester.
"Participating in CATS has been very rewarding for me," Peter told us, "and therefore I feel compelled to spread the word about this fantastic organization on our campus." Sounds like he's a great choice for the CSUCI Liaison. Peter used the the launch of the new CSUCI web site Ias an opportunity to talk about available technology resources, including which CATS and MERLOT-CATS.
|
For those who sit in front of
a computer for hours every day, Google is a tool that has become second
nature to a host of daily activities. Though there are complaints about
the behind-the-scenes creation of link networks that skew search
results, Google nonetheless has captured the scene.
CSU Sacramento has developed a Google QuikRef, available from the
Academic and Information Technology group on campus. Go to
Google QuikRef for quick and easy ways to find what you're looking for. Much of the content for this guide was condensed, with permission, from the Google Guide
by Nancy Blachman.
Serious searchers will find this tutorial covers most all types of
search inquiries. For those who want to add a little fun to their
workday, enter "montage-a-google," "guess-the-google," and/or
"googlejuice" into the search box.
If you have questions, contact Sara Richards, AIT,
Academic Technology & Creative Services, Sacramento State.
>
<---!>
|
Brian Duggan is an Instructional Technology Consultant at CSU Stanislaus and provides faculty development services with respect to
technology, as well as operating the Faculty Multimedia Lab. He is a
firm believer in getting out from behind his keyboard and meeting
faculty in the classrooms to see how they can be helped.
Non-traditional thinking and connecting faculty with similar interests
are a particular passion for him.
Before coming to Stanislaus, he worked at UC Santa Cruz as the manager
of the Presentations Unit of Media Services, which was responsible for
smart classrooms, video production, and classroom support. Brian's academic background includes a BA in Theater Arts (Filmmaking) from UC Santa Cruz and an MA in Instructional Technology from San Jose State University.
Brian is a charter member of CATS, having attended the first conference
in 1998. He chaired the conference in both 2001 and 2002, and has been a
frequent and popular presenter. His experience and historical memory will
serve him well on the Executive Council, where he is a member of the Liaisons and By-laws committees.
Not only that, Brian is an undoubted cynophilist*. In addition to
their day jobs, he and his wife breed Saluki dogs, about which Brian is
currently writing a book. He has been published professionally
and a number of his articles on the history of Saluki dogs have won
national awards.
*dog lover
|
Kevin Kelly brings a lot of expertise and passion to his seat on the CATS Executive Council. He first started down the Academic Technology road when he worked as a pre-school/K-1 teacher. He returned to school to get an MA in Instructional Technology (ITEC) from San Francisco State University (SFSU) when he realized that the software being used by the children in his class seemed to be designed by CEOs and not by teachers. In his last year of the program, he started teaching ITEC graduate students, who have the same attention span as the PK-1 students, but in bigger bodies.
Right after receiving his MA, Kevin co-authored a successful proposal for a federal grant project to prepare K-12 credential students to integrate technology into their teaching. He co-directed the grant for three years before taking a position as Faculty Development Trainer, Academic Technology Project Manager, and, most recently, Assistant Director at the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching (CET). CET is currently undergoing organizational change at SFSU, but regardless of what happens, Kevin will work to keep the academic horse in front of the technology cart.
And Kevin plans to maintain that focus in his work with and for the CATS community as an Executive Committee member. He is a member of the Communications, Awards, and Communities of Practice subcommittees.
|
| Learning Management Strategic Plan Update |
Report by Glenda
Morgan
Director of Academic Technology Initiatives
CSU
Office of the Chancellor
The Chancellor's Office is making rapid progress on the
Learning Management Strategic Planning process that began earlier this year. Consultant Phil Hill and I are in the process of visiting the CSU
campuses to speak with administrators, faculty, staff, and students
about your LMS. I look forward to meeting with you. The focus of
these visits is to gather information to inform the agenda and provide
background for the following Summits:
- LMS Summit North: September 29-30, SFO Embassy Suites
- LMS Summit South: October 11-12, LAX hotel (to be determined)
- Open Source LMS Summit: October 31-November 1, LAX hotel (to be determined)
Many of you will be part of a team representing your campus at these
meetings. Based on these discussions, we will produce a report
outlining the shared vision and opportunities for collaboration.
Campuses will then use this to shape their own discussions about
learning management systems. I encourage you to review the strategic planning goals before we come to your campus.
Please contact me
if you have any questions about the planning process or if
there is information that you would like us to consider as we prepare meeting
materials.
| Chico Chooses Its Next-Generation Learning Management System |
Extensive vendor presentations, two rubrics, and a diverse committee
chosen from all parts of campus were important components of California
State University, Chico's approach to choosing a new Learning
Management System (LMS).
At CSU, Chico, 90% of students and 60% of faculty depend on WebCT
Campus Edition (CE) regularly. With all campus courses automatically
loaded into WebCT and usage continuing to increase 12 percent per year,
it was clear that the WebCT CE solution Chico has relied on for nearly
6 years has been pushed to its limits. "A move to a more robust and
intuitive solution is essential..."
Read the full article.
| Roberta Ambrosino, CATS Liaison |
Roberta Ambrosino has been an instructional technology specialist and acting director of the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at CSU Dominguez Hills for nearly 5 years. The CTL assists faculty in the use of educational technology. Her primary responsibility is to manage CTL resources, staff, and budget as well as to coordinate support programs for faculty grant and research projects. Roberta feels her greatest accomplishment is "encouraging each co-worker--whether faculty, staff, or student--to take responsibility, be creative, and to maximize their skills."
As if she isn't busy enough, Roberta is also working on an EdD in Educational Technology. Her research is focused on identifying ways that faculty development centers assist faculty as they design instruction to provide learning opportunities for all students, including those with learning disabilities. Her BA was in elementary education and her MS was in curriculum development and instructional technology. Her dream job, however, is to be a world music record producer.
Roberta has recently taken on two additional CATS roles: 2006 conference planning team member and CATS liaison for her campus. "I accepted the invitation to be the CSUDH liaison because I have been actively participating in CATS activities since 2001," she said. "I've been enjoying the shared knowledge and camaraderie ever since. It's the greatest forum for networking and saving time because you don't have to reinvent the wheel. So this is an opportunity to embed a slice of CATS locally and I'm thrilled."
As a Liaison, Roberta got right to work. She arranged for staff from the Center for Design and Assessment (CUDA) to present on web usuability basics and has scheduled tours of various technology settings on her campus.
|
For the third year in a row, O’Reilly Publishing has generously
sponsored CATS members to attend OSCON, their annual Open Source
convention. This
sponsorship is just part of a deepening relationship between the
publisher and CATS, and we thank O'Reilly for their ongoing support.
This year’s attendees were Michael Penney (Humboldt), Dave Margolis (Sacramento State), and Sameer Verma (SFSU). Joshua Archer (CDL), Harish Chakravarthy (SJSU), and Joshua Mindel (SFSU) also attended.
They attended many interesting sessions on open source
technology and had a chance to investigate a number of projects, such as Ruby on Rails, Continuous Integration with
CruiseControl, and AJAX. OSCON's new "business
track" also drew their attention since, as Josh Archer put it, "You can
build it, but you've got to market and manage it to make them come." They also learned more about O'Reilly's Safari U, a resource you should tell your faculty about.
Throughout OSCON, each of these CATS spent time blogging about their
experiences and discoveries. The blog is archived. A final report will be posted to the CATS website soon.
Note: the OSCON blog is still living and breathing, so feel free to
post any comments or , if you
prefer, you can email any of the participants directly. And don't forget that
you can also communicate with these and other open source CATS on our
open source mailing list. To subscribe, go to
the list's management page.
|
|
CATS is a program of the CSU ![[]](/extras/spacer.gif){kind=spacer}