Film Librarian Danette Pachtner will demonstrate ways to bring video into the classroom using the Libraries’ streaming media resources, and Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology Rebecca Stein will share her experiences with using Films on Demand in the classroom.  Learn about ways that you may use these sources to enhance your research and teaching.

Digitized Primary Sources: Bringing Archives into the Classroom

Jill Katte will present an overview of Duke Libraries’ Digital Collections Program and highlight two Duke faculty members’ creative uses of digitized primary sources in the classroom.

…

..

.

.

.

..

.

Making Access Open: OJS, Open Access Journals & You

How can the Libraries support faculty who want to create their own open access journals? Librarian Winston Atkins will use his investigation of Open Journal Systems, an online journal management system, to begin a discussion of the services faculty need and the features you want want when publishing your own journal.

[CourseCast recording]

Alice is a simple programming environment that allows a user to create 3D animation movies. It can be used to demonstrate a simulation model, narrate a story, or create and play a game. The programming interface is extremely user-friendly and all programs are created by simply dragging and dropping elements into the editor. With a few mouse clicks, Alice can create a new virtual world, where the message or story in an unassuming piece of text transforms into an innovative animated display. It is also easy for students to master and provides a novel creative platform to express their ideas. Alice is freely available and does not involve installation of any new software.

The department of Computer Science offers an introductory programming course for undergraduates to learn Alice. The faculty have conducted several outreach programs for K12 teachers as well as middle and high school students, introducing them to computer programming through Alice worlds. Teachers have successfully used Alice to supplement traditional lesson plans across the disciplines of Art, Math, Science, English, History and Social Studies (http://www.cs.duke.edu/csed/alice/aliceInSchools).

This presentation will introduce users to Alice, demonstrate briefly how the program is used, show some examples of animations created in Alice and provide all the information users need to download and learn Alice.

To learn more about Alice: http://www.alice.org/index.php?page=what_is_alice/what_is_alice.

[CourseCast recording] or YouTube video (below)

Changes in technology have always produced changes in academic writing.  In our digital age the kinds of questions we want students to be able to explore in their writing can sometimes be an uncomfortable fit with the traditional academic essay, written in a word processing program with limited capabilities. This panel will introduce the discourse on multimodal writing and discuss the uses of WordPress to create multimodal projects.

This semester, Thompson Writing Program faculty members Susanne Hall and Seth Dowland asked students to complete multi-modal assignments using WordPress multi-user. In “The Posthuman Author” Professor Hall’s students read a variety of texts from the growing field of Electronic Literature and used WordPress to write analytical essays focused on close reading Electronic Literature.  Writing in WordPress allowed students to “quote” from literary texts that contain animation, sound, and unique graphic elements.  In “Religion & Popular Culture,” Professor Dowland’s students created webpages that featured embedded audio and video alongside annotations of these multimedia clips. This session will briefly cover some recent research behind multi-modal assignments and then offer attendees a chance to see how we have used WordPress multi-user in our classes this spring.  The session will focus on practical elements of assignment design and execution, and it will discuss resources and support available to those interested in pursuing multimodal writing projects in their own courses.

The “Wired!” course is a collaborative teaching program that tests the use of new visualization technologies for historical materials, especially in art, architecture, urbanism, and archaeology.

Using maps, visual symbols, typography, design and drawing, students in my ARTSVIS 169S : Mapping Self Identity course have created images that explore the use of digital media in combination with the fine art of silkscreen. By applying information gained through tutorial videos made to lead them through this unique intermixing of digital and analog processes, my students have created multiple responses to the concept of self-identity. Student projects included the creation of memory, route, historical, conceptual and contemporary maps, charting family traditions and oral history through mapping, by using these ideas as a point of departure in their creation of works of art. With digital prints, silkscreen prints and an artist book documenting their artistic and conceptual processes being the outcome of their visual discoveries, my presentation will explain their unique analog/digital journey, showing the interaction between these art making approaches and the resulting images.

One of our initiatives in the Thompson Writing Program is to “make texts public.” We are working on doing that in a variety of ways, but one that speaks specifically to the use of instructional technology has been the participation of several of our faculty members in the WordPress pilot program. I think it would be valuable to share how writing instructors in a range of disciplines are using blogging software in their courses.

[CourseCast recording] or YouTube video (below)

The focus of this presentation will be on the use of video technology for teaching tennis activity courses in the Health, Wellness and Physical Education Department. Can the motor learning process be enhanced through personalized video? Information will include two different video cameras used, processes involved to create movie clips for students’ viewing in class for immediate feedback, as well as outside of class, benefits for the students, and examples of videos/movies. I will discuss my experience with in-office video editing and use of the Multimedia Project Studio, which allowed for more advanced video editing. This presentation will also include some student responses.

[CourseCast recording]

A discussion of the NT Pod, a podcast offering a historical approach to the New Testament and Christian Origins: how it began, how it evolved, its benefits outside the classroom and how it has been received.

My presentation is about a project my students and I created last fall. We made a Google Map that located civil and human rights activism in Durham, NC. Each map point includes writing, images and in some cases audio documentary work. To be successful, students had to learn about Durham history, civil and human rights activism, google technology, documentary techniques and the Pauli Murray Project. Students were required to engage with the Durham community which they reported was very gratifying. The map can be viewed at www.paulimurrayproject.org. The project has been nominated for the Oliver W. Koonz Human Rights Prize.

[CourseCast recording]