Tiger TechnoBabble

Instructional Technology Newsletter / Cowley College

March 2011
Volume 1 Issue 8
Cowley Westside Center, 8821 W. 21st St., Wichita, KS, 67205
www.cowley.edu rorabaughj@cowley.edu 316.721.7103

The Ide(a)s of March!

INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1 The Ide(a)s of March
1 Survey Says!
2 Faculty Focus – Lisa
Henshall | Twitter
3 Tell Me a Story – Digital
Storytelling
4 Cool Tools!
Julie Rorabaugh – Director of Instructional Technology
With all apologies to Julius Caesar (and his salad that I won’t eat due to
the risk of salmonella,) Brutus, et al, I’d like to change that venerable
date (where everyone should have an itchy feeling betwixt their
shoulder blades) and corrupt it into the “Ideas of March.”
By the time that you read this, we will have had our Spring Break, and
will be well on our way to coasting out towards the end of the semester.
I always find that when I return from some time off, my batteries are
recharged and my brain is buzzing with many plans and projects. I hope
this is true for YOU!
Every month I usually challenge you to try something new in the
classroom. This month is no exception! Let’s try to use our spring
renewal to bump up the technology in the classroom. Try something
techy and new!
In like a lion, and out like a lamb,
Julie

Survey Says!

Don’t you just hate answering survey questions and never finding out how everyone else answered? Ok,
that could just be ME, but I’m betting it’s not. Last month I asked two questions about what you wanted
me to feature in Tiger TechnoBabble, and what you enjoyed about reading this Pulitzer-worthy tome.
Cool Tools and Web 2.0 applications for ANGEL were the clear crowd favorites. On the other end of the
spectrum, mobile apps for anything “i” and Android did not rate very high in your priorities. Maybe the
Please see Survey Says on page 3
 Page 2
Lisa Henshall
Lisa’s username is -
LHCowleyClasses
Twitter Resources Page
http://twitter.com/about/res
ources
Twitter has several different
types of “Twidgets” available
on their Resources page. Lisa
chose the Profile option,
which gathers her tweets, and
instantaneously feeds them
onto the home pages of her
classes.
I’ve got an example of
another type of widget on the
home page of the Online
Instructor Resources course
in ANGEL. I selected Search,
and entered “online learning”
as the search parameters. I
have it set to show 30 tweets
at a time, and loop
continuously. As new tweets
containing the words of my
search are posted on Twitter,
the widget updates!
Embedding a widget is very
easy to do in ANGEL. I’ll be
posting some written
instructions and a Jing screen
capture video in the
Resources course…SOON!
Tiger TechnoBabble
Faculty Focus
Lisa Henshall and Twitter
I can truthfully say that a “little bird” told me that Lisa was using Twitter
in her online classes. A few days ago I received a cryptic “Tweet” from
Lisa, informing me that “This Twitter thing seems to work via ANGEL.” Of
course, I had to nose around in her courses and find out just what she
was up to!
What I found was so impressive that I immediately knew that I had my
FABULOUS PRIZE WINNER for the month! 
A long-time adjunct instructor for Cowley, Lisa is always eager to try new
techniques to foster community and communication in her online
courses. Thanks, Lisa, for bringing the Twitterverse in and meshing it so
seamlessly with ANGEL!
When did you start using Twitter? Why?
I switched my personal account on Twitter - which I never used - to one strictly for Cowley
and my students at the beginning of March. The social media revolution, including
Twitter and Facebook, has completely changed the way we live our lives and conduct
business - and our students are no exception. They expect the instant gratification that
social media can provide, and I thought incorporating Tweets into my ANGEL portals
would help meet some of those needs.
Why did you decide to use Twitter to connect with your students?
I teach e-commerce and Web design courses, so I am always reading about e-marketing
and other Web topics. I ran across the book Crush It!, by Gary Vaynerchuk, in which he
discusses taking your passion and using social media to make a business out of it - using
Twitter, blogs and the like. It shows readers how to utilize high-level and platform-specific
social media and marketing strategies that can improve your career and the work you
produce. So I decided to try it to build stronger connections and a community with my
students. http://crushitbook.com/ if you are interested. I highly recommend it!
What types of information do you share with them?
Simple things - when I'm online I let them know so they can catch me for a chat in the
chat room or an instant email exchange. I'll also post a short note about where I am in the
grading process, or when I'm going to be offline for a day, things like that. Twitter makes
you keep it short and sweet, and since I have my Twitter feed pulling onto the homepage
of all of my classes, it's quick to update everyone. Occasionally, I'll post something that
shows even online teachers can have a personality. For example, I Tweeted a comment
about needing more caffeine early one morning while grading midterms, and received
several teasing emails and jokes from my students in response.
What has the response been from students?
A few emails, as I mentioned, and some DM's (direct, not-public, Tweets) asking questions
or to meet in the ANGEL chat room for a one-on-one and several have signed up to
"follow me." In one month, I'm pretty pleased with the response. I think, if I begin
Tweeting with classes from the beginning each term, then it will become more integrated
into the classes’ communication routine and become a very helpful tool for all of us.
 Tiger TechnoBabble Page 3

Survey Says from page 1 Digital Storytelling Sites

timing’s not quite right?
The middle of the pack, but still relatively high in popularity, consisted of
the latest scoop from conferences, trending topics in education, and
features about innovative Cowley instructors. I know the last one is due
to the FABULOUS PRIZES that I’m known to bestow on honorees, isn’t it?
My thanks to the people who gave their input. It always helps to get
constructive feedback!
StoryChasers
http://storychasers.org/

Tell Me a Story | Digital Storytelling Celebrate Kansas Voices

http://celebratekansas.ning.co
Anyone who has children is probably familiar with the first four words in m/
the title of this article. When my step-son was small, these were always
the first words out of his mouth when we’d start out on a road trip, most
commonly the two-hour plus journey between Wichita and Lawrence, and
vice versa. Of course, those were the days before he had an iPhone to
keep him in constant contact with his friends, and to use to text me in
the front seat, meticulously worded queries such as “r we thr yt?”

By nature, we are storytellers. Everyone’s got one. Listening to and

viewing these stories, not to mention helping in the creation of them, can
be a very powerful learning experience.

I attended the Mid-America Association for Computers in Education

(MACE) conference early this month at Kansas State University. I’d been Center for Digital Story Telling
exposed to digital storytelling before, and had even mentioned a few http://www.storycenter.org/in
creation tools in previous issues of TTB, so it was nothing new to me. dex1.html
What I saw at the conference, though, was a total dedication from
teachers (and their students) and a drive towards unleashing creativity,
by using the technology that we have so readily at hand to record and
archive living history.

Consider this fair warning. During the upcoming months, you’ll be hearing
more from me about this topic. For a start, though, I urge you to visit the
Celebrate Kansas Voices project. If you’d like to learn more in a guided
setting, consider participating in the Celebrate Kansas Voices workshop, 50+ Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a
April 21-22 in Manhattan, KS. Details and online registration form are on Story
the StoryChasers website. http://50ways.wikispaces.com/

A Use Scenario for Digital Storytelling- Bring a tissue when you visit this
David’s sociology professor assigns the class a culture study to be completed over one. Noted blogger Alan Levine
winter break. Based on what they have learned over the semester, each student is (CogDogBlog) tells the story of
to create a project that captures something specific about either himself or his his dog, Dominoe, using more
family. Project format is relatively open-ended, and David, a computer science than 50 Web 2.0 tools including
major, decides to make his a digital story. comics, slideshows, pictures, and
After considering what seems like a thousand topics, David decides that what he music videos. Since this wiki was
should do is tell a story about his passion (aside from computers): blues guitar. He created a couple of years ago,
interviews his parents about the Buddy Guy record they used to play, the one that some of the tools that he used
ignited his interest in blues guitar—the music that he loves and still plays as part of have come and gone, but there
are still plenty of powerful
Dominoe stories to view.
 Page 4
Tell Me a Story from page 3
a weekend band. David digitally scans the record
jacket, collects audio clips of Guy’s performances, and
digitally records himself talking about what the music
means to him and playing original compositions on his
own Buddy Guy Fender Stratocaster. Working to make
his digital story come alive, David teaches himself
many of the ins and outs of graphics and audio-editing
software. Unlike his usual sleep-late-every-day breaks
from classes, David is up early every morning, working
on his story, learning how to incorporate interactive
elements, and getting feedback from his parents and
others who know about his love for the guitar.
In the end, David’s digital story includes many sophisti-
cated multimedia elements, as well as a photograph of
David and his parents meeting Buddy Guy backstage
in Minneapolis when David was in high school. He
finds himself relishing the opportunity to present a side
of himself that many of his classmates don’t know.
When they see his digital story, some initially wonder if
it’s a joke. When they see the clips of David playing,
however, and hear him talk about this music, they ask
him where his band will be playing next—and if he can
get them in for free.
Excerpt from “7 Things You Should Know About Digital
Storytelling.” Used with permission from Educause. (Full article
available at:
http://www.educause.edu/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAboutDigit/
156824)
Cool Tools!
TypeWith.me – This is one of the easiest and
quickest ways to foster collaboration with and
between your students. There’s no signup
Julie Rorabaugh
Director of
Instructional Technology
Cowley College
316.721.7103
rorabaughj@cowley.edu
rorabaughj
Tiger TechnoBabble
process, and it doesn’t require user names and
passwords. Use it for a classroom collaborative
writing project.
Google Art Project
http://www.googleartproject.com/c/faq
Can’t just hop on a plane to take your class to
the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam? Do so
virtually! The Google folks have taken their
“Street View” technology (raise your hand if
you’ve ever looked up your house on Google
Maps!) and applied it to several notable
museums. The “Create an Artwork Collection”
option could readily be used as an interesting
class assignment. It allows a visitor to select
works from different museums, comment and
save, and then share with others.
Of course I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about one of the
most highly anticipated (hyped) technology releases that
occurred in March…the launch of the (hyped) iPad2!
Since I knew that they would be available in retail giants
such as Walmart and Target, I didn’t worry about getting
up in the middle of the night to order one! Instead, I
decided to saunter into my local Target, AFTER the 5pm
release, and just scoop one up. I. Don’t. Do. Lines.
To my surprise, the towering stacks of iPad2’s that I had
envisioned didn’t exist. Those crafty Apple people only
sent five to my Target and only four to the Walmart by my
house!
Ah…but there’s a happy ending to this story (see?
Storytelling!) after all. When I moseyed (albeit at a slightly
faster pace than I had originally planned) into Target at
5:20pm, there were TWO left, and I snagged one of the
coveted (hyped) gems of Apple goodness.
So was it worth the effort? You bet! It’s incredibly thin and
lightweight, and the camera is fantastic!
Sometimes it’s just all about the thrill of the (hyped)
chase…
Cheers!
Julie
P.S. Re “happy ending” – my “old” iPad found a new home
with a good friend of mine. Win-Win!