| Fall Activities |
STARLINK Webconference
"Motivating Students from Day One to Graduation"
Month of August
LeCroy Center
LIVE Webconference
"Using Effective Planning to Increase Minority Success Rates"
August 27 - 12:00 noon
"Institutional Portfolios for Improvements and Accountability"
Sept. 29 - 12:oo noon
"Phi Theta Kappa Satellite Seminar Series"
Sept. 23, Oct. 7, Nov. 18
"25th Annual World Food Day Teleconference: Critical Global Issues Impacted by Climate Change and Global Warming"
Oct. 16 - 11:00 am
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| Contact Us |
Distance Learning Update
The LeCroy Center
Dallas County Community
College District
9596 Walnut Street
Dallas, TX 75243
Provost: Pam Quinn
Editor: Angela Auzenne
972-669-6657
aauzenne@dcccd.edu | |
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| Old School Meets New School |
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 High Tech Keeps Students Connected
It has taken some time to renovate and completely refurbish the 84-year-old Paramount building in downtown Dallas into today's new Center for Allied Health and Nursing, part of El Centro College. The seven-story building dates back to 1924, when it was constructed for the M.K.T Railroad as headquarters for the Interstate Forwarding Company. Fast forward some 80 plus years--- what was old has emerged into a facility that houses some of the latest classroom laboratory tools and technology, partly powered by a program called Tegrity.
The Tegrity System is a class capture program that makes class time available all the time by automatically capturing, storing and indexing class lectures for replay by every student at the students' convenience. Students can view their archived course notes, lectures, medical procedures and demonstrations, all from their iPod's or other mobile devices at anytime.
The center also features four operating rooms with multi-channel video-recording capability for tracking students moving from storage areas to scrub-in stations, operating rooms and decontaminating areas.
New technologies make it possible for the instructors to follow students in remote locations, enabling students to act independently and yet remain under the careful eye of instructors.
Some of the technology features in the new Center for Allied Health and Nursing include:
· Technology for broadcasting audio and video, recording lessons for future viewing and creating podcasts of class sessions.
· Versatile cameras that can pan tilt and zoom during the video-recording of all educational and training sessions.
· Stationary, portable and area microphones capturing audio in all classrooms and labs.
· Projection systems in all rooms with the capability of giving all in-room or off-campus students a view of the technical devices or anatomical models in use.
· Three classrooms with videoconferencing for two-way off-campus viewing.
· Two simulation labs with computerized patient mannequins separated by control rooms that
· manipulate the mannequins.
· A simulated physician's office for medical assisting students, where student performance can be monitored and recorded for future viewing.
· A classroom simulating the latest medical record technology.
· A specialized cross-sectional anatomy lab.
· Radiology, echocardiology, sonography and invasive cardiovascular labs equipped with equipment rivaling most modern health care facilities, including broadcasting and recording stations.
· A respiratory classroom and lab that simulates and demonstrates the newest in life-support technology.
· Special labs for practicing CPR, medical administration and general skills.
· A specialized testing and computer lab monitored by multi-channel surveillance cameras from a central control station.
New Center for Allied Heath and Nursing Booklet, Dallas, Texas, 2008
Find out more about the Allied Health and Nursing Program at El Centro College |
| Geology Rocks |
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 Online Geology Unearthed Summer 2009
Imagine if you will-- an online physical geology course, flash animations recreating the inner earth's core, an erupting volcano, and images of the great Dust Bowl of the 1930s. That's just a little of what you can expect in the new Online Physical Geology course, produced by Dallas TeleLearning, of the LeCroy Center. This first-of-its-kind earth science design combines interactive activities, animations, integrated video modules and test banks to create a rigorous and comprehensive lab science course with the goal of teaching-- critical thinking skills; data collection; and scientific process.
The course is expected to be available next Summer. Content expert, Lynn Millwood, Ph.D., a Geology faculty at MVC, is working with a local and national advisory team to develop the content and activities for the course. You can also expect another video rich and activity-based course from the award-winning production team of the LeCroy Center.
- 4-credit hour online course
- 15 lessons and 15 labs
- "MyLabPartner" video segments
- Self-assessments
- Test bank
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| eCampus Updates |
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 The new eCampus 8.0 system is up and running and ready for Fall 2008. This summer Blackboard moved to the latest and most powerful hardware available from Dell Servers. This change allows for increased capacity and speed that will alleviate some of the congestion experienced this past spring.
Faculty Help Desk
A faculty support help desk to assist you when you need it.
972-669-6460
Monday-Friday
8:30am - 6:00pm
After hours - call The Technical Support Desk - 972-669-6402 - Available 24-hours
Tips to avoid bottlenecks on eCampus
Flex-entry start and end dates
Flexible and extended course end dates
Flexible exam schedules
eCampus Digital Video Services
Adding video to your course is only a click away. The LeCroy Center offers a variety of video programs for college credit courses available in eCampus. A new Learning Objects tab will soon be available in eCampus. You will be able to view the library of courses and add the digital video or series file to your course.
Enterprise TV and Digital Video Server
A new video system for streaming and live events is now available from LCET. The new system will have a portal available to colleges soon after training takes place this fall. Emilio Ramos and William Black (LCET) will be visiting each campus and outlining the capabilities of the system and how it can be utilized. This includes live video, video on demand, digital signage and enterprise digital TV via the DCCCD network. More details will be available soon.
Wimba Pronto
If the price of gas causes you to reconsider a cross-district meeting, consider using Wimba to schedule a meeting. This versatile system can accommodate many users simultaneously, without the worry of being in the same place. Wimba can also be used to hold mobile classrooms. A computer, camera microphone and speakers make this a great accessory to a distance learning course.
Best Practices for eCampus
This handy new document was prepared by the Technical Infrastructure subcommittee for the Distance Learning Strategic Plan. Solutions are offered to help understand terminology and navigate the learning management system-- eCampus.
Training and Support
If you need to take the latest eCampus/ Blackboard course, or learn how to use the new feature "grade book", or if you want to freshen your Microsoft Office skills-- the LeCroy Center offers a variety of classes each month. Classes are available on campuses around the district, at the LeCroy Center, and online.
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| Distance Learning Strategic Plan Update |
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It has been a busy year for the many faculty and staff called to work collaboratively on the district's Strategic Distance Learning Project.
Today, more than 125 recommendations have been made by the subcommittees affiliated with the Strategic Distance Learning Project for 2007/2008. The detail on those recommendations has been shared with all project participants via the Blackboard project site. Upon action and confirmation of the Steering Team related to those specific recommendations, Vice Chancellor Andrew Jones will be making other District-wide announcements.
As the second year of the project begins, there are only two subcommittees from the original listing of 11 which have been continued in their current form: SubC#3 - the Business Plan group and SubC#10 - the DL Innovations group. All others have completed their work or have been moved to "inactive status" until additional Steering Team work is completed.
Under the leadership of the Steering Team and Vice Chancellor Andrew Jones, the subcommittee members were asked to adopt a priority for the development of a strategic plan for the DCCCD, while keeping in the forefront-- 5 goals:
- Assessment and Forecasting
- Resource Alignment
- Course Design and Delivery
- Professional Development
- Comprehensive Infrastructure
The official "kick off " of 2008/2009 work will occur on Friday, September 12 when all project participants have been invited to a meeting to receive additional details.
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Extreme Course Makeover and other Services |
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 LeCroy Center Provides Many Services to DCCCD
Is your course in need of an "Extreme Course Makeover?" We have just what you need to kick-start your course into a new realm. The LeCroy Center provides a variety of services to add new features to your online courses-- everything from using the latest eCampus tools to adding multimedia elements.
With nearly one in five college students taking at least one class online, or in a hybrid-format (a combination of face-to-face and online activities), the pressure is on to keep students challenged, attentive, and motivated in a learning environment. According to a recent report by The Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C), online enrollments have continued to grow at rates far in excess of the total higher education student population. Two year community colleges have the highest growth rates and account for over one-half of all online enrollments over the past five years. Learning to use some of the new online tools continues to be a hot topic and of major interest to new and existing distance learning faculty members.
For those faculty members who are new to online teaching, the LeCroy Center has developed a, "How to Teach Online Course", designed to help integrate some of the most effective tools and language into an online course. This course is just one of many tools available to faculty and staff within the DCCCD.
Services available from the LeCroy Center:
- How to upload audio and video files into your course
- Creating interactive lessons
- eCampus Training & Support and Best Practices
- How to upload your course as a podcast
- Developing an online classroom in Wimba
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| Know Your Copyright Rights |
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 "The Congress shall have power to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 8. In other words, give credit where credit is due.
The importance of copyright laws have never been more important than they are now. With the emergence of millions of miles of data and information being shared on the Internet, giving credit for someone else's work is essential and the law. Copyright laws are very confusing and complex, and in most regards, should not be taken lightly.
One of the most common questions surrounding copyrights and the Internet, is "If it is available on the Internet, can it be used in my online course?" Quick answer: yes-- maybe. But first check for any copyrights and ask for permission to use the information. Finally, credit the source of the information.
Another common question, "May I copy a graphic or photo off a Web site, or scan it from a book or article, and include it on a Web page I create?" It depends. In each separate instance, you need to consider the use in the context of copyright law. Images scanned from a book or article and content on Web pages, including graphics and photos, are generally copyrighted.
When in doubt-call a lawyer, or better yet, call the DCCCD Legal Office at 214-860-2470 for help.
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| Distance Learning Around the District |
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Eastfield English Faculty Adopt New Distance Learning Courses
 The word is spreading-- more and more DCCCD faculty are using the new English distance learning courses produced by the LeCroy Center. With a library of video-based distance learning courses, faculty members need not start from scratch when it comes to developing online, interactive courses. We have done all of the work for you.
Kudos to Eastfield College faculty who are using the latest English Composition distance learning courses; ENGL 1301, "The Writer's Circle" and ENGL 1302, "The Writer's Odyssey". Both courses were produced by the LeCroy Center and released in 2007.
 Glynis Miller Joseph Inman Mary Ann Turner Michael Morris Jerald Smith Larissa Washington
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We would love to hear from you and find out how you are using distance learning at your location. Please forward inquiries, comments or story ideas to: The Distance Learning Update: aauzenne@dcccd.edu
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