Wednesday, March 12, 2014

The LMS Transition: Demos & Sandboxes

The college has recently begun a search for a new Learning Management System, with implementation scheduled to begin in summer 2014.  This process is moving forward with the selection of three vendors who have been scheduled for on-campus presentations in early March.  Each vendor will come to campus to make a presentation to the campus community about the features and functionalities of their product.  The vendor presentation will take place in Danvers and will be video-conferenced over to Lynn.  The schedule of presentations is:
  • Canvas:  Monday, March 3rd from 2:30pm to 4:00pm in DS119 and LW325 
  • Blackboard:  Wednesday, March 12th from 2:30pm to 4:00pm in DS119 and LW225
  • Desire2Learn:  Thursday, March 13th from 2:30pm to 4:00pm in DS119 and LW325
We look forward to seeing you at these sessions so that you can provide us feedback on the products.  Even if you are not able to attend all three presentations, please attend the ones that you can to provide us input.

Each company's product will also be available for members of the college community to experience and evaluate after the presentations.  ITD will be hosting several opportunities in March and April for faculty and staff to stop in, test out the different systems, and provide us with feedback.  Access to the sandbox environment will also be available virtually and more information will be available soon.  Please save these dates:

  • Wednesday, March 19th from 9:00am-3:00pm in DB201 (during spring break)
  • Thursday, March 20th from 9:00am-3:00pm in LW306 (during spring break)
  • Wednesday, March 26th from 8:00am-9:30am in LW306
  • Wednesday, March 26th from 4:00pm-6:00pm in LW306
  • Thursday, March 27th from 8:00am-9:30am in LW303
  • Thursday, March 27th from 2:00pm-5:00pm in LW305
  • Wednesday, April 2nd from 8:00am-10:30am in DB201
  • Wednesday, April 2nd from 2:00pm-6:00pm in DB201
  • Thursday, April 3rd from 8:00am-10:30am in DB239 (Library Preview Area)
  • Thursday, April 3rd from 2:00pm-6:00pm in DB201
In the meantime, please let us know if you have any questions or concerns at itd@northshore.edu.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Snow Days Got You Down? Level Technology to Make Up Missed Classes

Have your courses been impacted by the snow days?  Looking for a way to continue student learning even when classes are cancelled due to weather?

North Shore Community College’s learning management system, ANGEL, is a great instructional technology tool that can aid you in maintaining the continuity of your course.  All courses automatically have an ANGEL shell that provides faculty with a “private classroom” area for you and your students.  In ANGEL, faculty can post announcements about the status of class with instructions on how to proceed through related learning activities; upload various types of content such as assignments, readings, lecture notes, or PowerPoint slides; link to related online resources such as YouTube videos or web sites; set up drop boxes where students can submit homework; and facilitate discussions for students to engage with the course e materials. 

To aid faculty in using ANGEL, Instructional Technology and Design is offering the following services and resources.

One-on-one Consultation and Training

Staff members from Instructional Technology and Design are available during the day and in the early evening to schedule one-on-one ANGEL consultations and trainings.  These can be done in person, over the phone or virtually.  Please email itd@northshore.edu if you would be interested in scheduling a session.

ANGEL Overview Sessions

Instructional Technology and Design will be offering several ANGEL Overview sessions in the evening on both the Danvers and Lynn campuses.  These sessions will demonstrate how to post an announcement, upload a document, create a discussion forum, and make the course site available to students.  The sessions will be offered:

  • Monday, March 10th from 5:30pm-6:00pm in DB304
  • Tuesday, March 11th from 5:30pm-6:00pm in DB304
  • Wednesday, March 12th from 5:30pm-6:00pm in LW323
  • Thursday, March 13th from 5:30pm-6:00pm in LW329
If you are interested in attending one of these sessions, please RSVP to itd@northshore.edu.

How-To Videos

Instructional Technology and Design has developed a resource guide that provides links to various how-to videos on using ANGEL.  These quick videos will walk you through the various components of ANGEL so you can learn them on wherever and whenever it is convenient for you. 

Access the videos here: http://goo.gl/MweuaQ

If you have any questions about using ANGEL, please do not hesitate to contact Instructional Technology and Design at itd@northshore.edu.