Information Management Newsletter for Block 2, 2006
The Information Management Newsletter is a periodic publication during the academic year to keep the community informed about developments in information technology on campus.

We will announce publication of a new issue via divisional listservs and campus digests. If you aren't subscribed to one of these lists and would like to receive an e-mail notifying you when a new issue is published, please send your request to mbrenceaustin@coloradocollege.edu

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In this Issue:

Welcome (Back) to John Bickar!

Please join us in welcoming John Bickar, our new Academic Technology Specialist for Students! John comes back to CC after receiving his Masters in Technology, Innovation, and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. John's office is located in the CAT Lab, which is in the Learning Commons area of Tutt Library.

John's position focuses on providing academic technology support services to students. He will work closely with other members of the Academic Technology Services team, who are already providing those services to faculty.

For a bit more information about John, please see his brief bio and sample projects at the ATS website: http://www.coloradocollege.edu/ats/about/bickar.htm.

Dell Battery Recall

You may have already heard about this on the news, but Dell has issued a recall for defective batteries in a number of different laptop models. To see if your battery is a candidate for recall and replcement through Dell, visit the webpage they set up for this purpose here: http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/Default.aspx.

If you discover that your battery needs to be replaced, please follow their instructions on doing so and do not use the battery in the meantime.

GoPrint for More Sustainable Printing

GoPrint is a print monitoring or “Pay for Print” solution installed on campus late in the summer of 2006. Why? The number one reason is that GoPrint reduces waste and promises to help our community be more sustainable and responsible in terms of its printing habits. More than 1.5 million pages were printed last year in the labs and the library, much of which was left unclaimed. In an effort to reduce waste, curb printing costs, and increase sustainability, the Information Technology Policy Board decided to implement the GoPrint solution for 2006-07. Institutions who have installed similar systems have seen between 25-50% reduction in waste! Currently, CC is NOT charging for printing, but rather is using GoPrint as a means to simply encourage the community to really view how much they are printing. The Information Technology Policy Board will study data collected during the fall semester to see if a pay-for-print model would be an effective solution for CC. If you have any questions or comments regarding the GoPrint system, please email the Network & Systems Services Team at nsg@coloradocollege.edu.

ATS Fall Faculty Curriculum

Join ATS, the Library, and the Learning Commons for some great teaching and learning with technology training options this fall semester!

If you are interested in participating in any of the sessions listed below, please RSVP to your academic technology specialist:

Tools of the Discipline Luncheon Series
Part of the Library Lunch 'n Learn Schedule – Sponsored by the Crown Faculty Center

Join ATS, the Library, and the Learning Commons staff for lunch and be inspired by projects, techniques, and approaches used faculty here at CC and beyond!

  • Luncheon: Focus on Social Science Projects/ Tools of the Disciplines
    ATS, Tutt Library, the Writing Center and the Quantitative Reasoning Center
    Thur. Nov. 16; noon; TLC 3
    RSVP by Nov. 13
  • Luncheon: Focus on Humanities Projects/ Tools of the Disciplines
    ATS, Tutt Library, the Writing Center and the Quantitative Reasoning Center
    Thur. Dec. 14; noon; TLC 3
    RSVP by Dec. 11

Hands-On Instructional Technology Training Sessions

  • Prowl  - CC's Learning Management System
    Finally!  A tool that allows you to create web-based, interactive course content easily without knowing HTML or having web design skills!  PROWL is CC's implementation of Moodle, a learning or course management system like Blackboard or WebCT, but more suited to a liberal arts environment.
    • PROWL Basics (1.5 hours)
      RSVPs due by the Thursday before each session.
      Learn how to create an online course presence, upload class documents and resources, and create threaded discussion boards.  Attendees of this session will receive a “Quick Start” guide as well as a complete “Moodle at CC” manual.
        • Mon. Nov. 6 – 3 p.m. – Palmer 2
    • PROWL Bells and Whistles (1.5 hours)
      RSVPs due by the Thursday before each session.
      Learn more about PROWL's activity features including: assignments, quizzes, blogs, journals, the database module and more!  Attendees should have a basic knowledge of PROWL, and will receive the complete “Moodle at CC” manual.
        • Mon. Nov. 13 – 3 p.m. – Palmer 2
  • Faculty Templates and Student Projects Using Contribute (3 hours)
    Tues. Nov. 7 – 1-4 p.m. – Barnes PC Lab
    RSVP by Nov. 3
    ATS has created a series of web templates that faculty can choose to use to quickly produce a professional-looking web presence for their  or their students' scholarly work and interests.  We will introduce attendees to these templates and faculty will learn the basics of how to use Macromedia Contribute to easily add and update content to these pages.  Contribute allows faculty and students with little or no web design experience to quickly modify and enhance their web presence and significantly reduces the “learning curve” involved, as compared to using other software packages such as Dreamweaver or FrontPage.
  • Digital Audio Editing (3 hours)
    Tues. Nov. 14 – 1 p.m. – Keck Humanities Lab (3rd Floor Armstrong)
    RSVP by 10
    Learn how to record & edit digital audio files for use in teaching and learning.
  • Interactive Learning Environments (3 hours)
    Tues. Nov. 28 – 1 p.m. – Barnes PC Lab
    RSVP by Nov. 22
    Explore the use of classroom or lab-based technology tools that can enhance group learning environments.  CC's classroom performance system (CPS), or “clicker system,” is an eInstruction toolset that can promote an interactive and engaging learning environment for students with a variety of learning styles, and increase participation.  Vision is a lab management system that allows faculty to see what's happening on all student computers, take “control” of a student machine, share what's happening on a student screen by projecting it at the front of the class, and more.