UPS Chief Technology Officer Molly Tamarkin announced today the appointment of Cindy Riche as the new Director of Instructional Technology. In her email to the campus community, she writes:
Dear Campus Community,
At the conclusion of a national search, I am pleased to announce that Dr. Cynthia Riche has accepted the position of Director of Instructional Technology. Cindy will lead our instructional technology team and will develop academic technology services, an area of strategic importance as it addresses our core mission to support teaching and learning. We had a wonderful application pool and received over 50 applications from many strong candidates. Many thanks to Diane Kelley and Lori Ricigliano for their service on the interview committee, and to Theresa Duhart and Randy Thornton for their help providing interim leadership.
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Instructional Technology has recently purchased a Personal Response System, popularly known as “clickers.” PRS is a technology now widely used in classrooms, conferences, and meetings, and even television shows, to gather interactive and immediate audience input.
We have purchased two different types of clicker receiver systems: one which plugs into a computer and allows the speaker to present questions using PowerPoint slides; and one with a handheld device that can collect the responses anywhere. We have fifty “clickers” which can be used with either receiver.
The PRS system is now available for check out from the Media Checkout Desk.
Be aware that you will need to install software before use on a computer with the computer receiver version. If you intend to use this in an e-classroom or computer lab, be sure to call the HelpDesk in advance to schedule the software install.
See the PRS Clicker Resource page for more information, instructions on use, and software download links.
Here is some generic advice for faculty when posting scanned PDF files online in Blackboard or Moodle or the web: make them small and short.
Make them small
Make them small by scanning in the lowest possible resolution. High resolution scans make it MORE difficult to view on a computer screen, which needs a high contrast document.
The usual high resolution mode of scanners for text is 16 million shades of gray, which makes a document much harder, not easier, to read on a computer screen, as opposed to paper. High resolution works fine for images, but is detrimental to text.
Compare the two samples on the image above: on the left is a high resolution scan with many shades of gray, and on the right is a low resolution, high contrast scan with few shades of gray.
Make them short
Make the selections short: 10 to 12 pages of text is about the maximum you want in one scanned file. This makes it quicker to download, and it is far more likely to be read. Long articles and book chapters can usually be split in two pretty easily when scanning.
Optimal size for a PDF would be under 10 Megabytes. Anything over 20 is starting to get big. Anything over 50 will be a big problem and should be avoided.
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Gordon Gilbert of the Instructional Technology staff has announced his resignation. His last day will be September 30th.
Gordon has worked at UPS for 8 years, as a media specialist working in digital audio and video, as technical manager of our Digital Collections, as manager of the Media desk and its small army of work study students.
Gordon has been the primary support for many departments’ digital media needs, including large and extensive projects for Art, Music, and the Theatre Arts departments. He has been instrumental in helping move digital media into the curriculum, and building a strong tradition in media services at The University.
Gordon also served as the Interim Director of Instructional Technology during the 2006-2007 academic year, after the departure of Michael Nanfito.
The IT staff wishes our friend and colleague Gordon all the best.
