New Technology
Jenae Burkart
Learning Center Coordinator
University of West Florida
The LEARNING CENTER
• The Learning Center is the only
multi-subject tutoring lab on
campus.
• The Learning Center serves about
160 students per week and
provides about 3,000 tutoring
sessions per year.
• Within the last year we
implemented a distance learning
component to the LC and we call it
ARGO Tutor.
Why we did this…
About 2 years ago…
• Requests for tutoring and
services from FWB
campus.
• There became a need to
reach distance learners,
working students, and
students who attended
satellite campuses.
What’s the best way financially to
provide this service?
• Staff a tutoring lab in Fort Walton
• Pay for an online tutoring service
– AskOnline
• Model our own online tutoring site
after the University of Florida’s
Tutor Time
– Live and pre-taped webcasts
– In addition to webcasts, the show ties
in to the cable TV on campus so
students can view tutor sessions from
their room.
– The UF tutoring lab actually tutors
more online than face to face.
We decided to build our own…
ARGO Tutor Services:
• Live and Archived
Webcasts
• Online Paper Editing
• Podcasts
• Online Lectures
The Studio
• Student Success had an office
in building 52 with a large chalk
board.
• Equipment
– Cannon GL2 Camera
– Tricaster
– Mixer and Microphones
– Document Camera
– Three desktop computers, one
Apple laptop, and two tablet PCs.
Camera
Cannon GL2
Tricaster
• Provides live webcast
• Edits webcasts
• Adds animation and actions
• Adds titles to live shows
Microphones and Mixers
• Sound Board
• Microphones
• Headsets
Miscellaneous
• Tablet PC
• Document Camera
• Speaker Phone
Pre-taped webcasts and podcasts can be
produced for under $2,000.
Cannon Video Camera $300
Apple Laptop $1,200
iLife Software $100 Apple iPod $350
Website
www.uwf.edu/argotutor/
– View webcast schedule
– Log-in to live webcasts
– View archives
– Email questions
– Download study sheets
– D2L
Current Projects
– CLAST Webcasts:
• Weekly workshops
• Archives
– 115 English / Grammar
– 10 Mathematics
– Chat Sue’s Academic
Foundations Seminar Class
• Students chose topics and were
responsible for filming and editing.
– Time Management
– Dealing with Professors
– Dealing with Roommates
– Mamie Hixon’s Teacher
Education Class
Funding
• Assistant Dean, Angela McCorvey
presented the concept in Dean’s
meetings.
• Quality Enhancement Plan QEP.
• $2,000 from UWF Alumni Grant
• $2,000 from UWF Creative
Activities Grant
• $15,000 from Dean Halonen and
the Provost
Problems
• Memory
– Purchased 400 GB external drive
• Space on H/I Drive
– Asked IT to increase space for LC
website
– Use iTunes, Google, AOL, Yahoo, or
YouTube
• Size of podcasts and webcasts
during production and storage
– Quality vs. Quality.
• Permissions from IT
• Production time
– Editing, graphics, and music can take
up to 4 times the recording time.
Where we want to go from here:
• Full schedule of webcast
tutoring.
• Podcasts and digital voice
recordings of lectures.
• Collaboration with
departments on campus.
– Counseling Center
– Career Center
– Advising
QUESTIONS ? ? ? ?
STUDENTS
and
TECHNOLOGY
Digital Natives verses Digital
Immigrants
Digital natives use technology
as their first option.
• Phone book vs. Online
• Dictionary vs. Wikipedia or
Google
The Millennial Generation
• Most culturally diverse and technology savvy
generation.
• Grew up with technology. Technology is like a
knife and fork.
• Feel that their skills and technology devices
are more advanced than their instructor’s
skills and university’s devices.
• Find new ways to cheat.
• Use technology devices 24/7 to communicate
interchangeably (cell phone, internet,
sidekick, PDAs). Created their own language
through texting and IMs. Text as often as call
on phone.
• Prefer to type than write.
• Identity and relationships online are mixed
with offline. Most do not differentiate between
the two.
Web 2.0
Refers to a second generation of
Internet-based services—such as
social networking sites, wikis, and
communication tools that
emphasize online collaboration
and sharing among users.
• Blogger
• Wikipedia
• Flickr
• Del.icio.us
• Live Journal
• YouTube
• MySpace and Facebook
New Technologies
• iPods (23% of college iPod
owners have participated in a
podcast)
• Cell phones, PDAs, sidekicks
• Blogs and Vlogs
– Blogger.com
– YouTube 12.6 million users
• Online Social Networks
– MySpace
– Facebook
Social Networks
• An online social network is a site
where individuals meet, connect,
and communicate with others.
These sites generally have
member profiles, pictures, and a
system for messaging.
• Myspace - 51 million users.
– College students often have MySpace and
Facebook accounts.
– Rate your professor.
• Facebook – 14 million users. Originally
developed for college students only. 20,000 new
members per day.
Facebook
• Created by Harvard undergraduate student,
Mark Zuckerburg in February of 2004.
• Within two months, Facebook expanded to
other schools in the Boston area and then to
the Ivy League and other prominent
universities.
• It became a phenomenon, spreading rapidly
to schools across the nation.
• By December 2004, the number of registered
users exceeded one million.
• Reports now suggest 85% of all
undergraduate students in the US have a
profile on Facebook.
• Most undergraduates log on at least once a
day if not multiple times a day.
• Must have and edu email address.
• Can only access own school network unless
invited to be a friend by a member of another.
• Recently developed business, high school,
and city versions.
Facebook Benefits
• Meet new people
• Socialize
• Develop Identity
• Organize Groups
• Multiplies Network
Exponentially
• Keep in touch with those
at previous schools
Community
• Join groups
• Get to know classmates,
roommates, and dorm mates
before semester begins.
– Refuse roommates based on
member pages
• Send invitations to parties
• Say Happy Birthday
• Mourn death of friends
• Digital Narcissism
Facebook Components
• Profile
• Friend’s List
• Pictures – profile, friends,
and albums
• Mini Feed
• The Wall
• Groups
• Search
Facebook Problems
• Expulsion and Arrests
– Underage drinking
• Post pictures of selves and others
– Defamation of Character
• Employers and administrators
check site
• Stalking
• Overall students provide too much
information about themselves
• UWF
– Contributing to the delinquency of
minors
– Rally squashed
UWF Facebook August 2006
Class Enrollment July* November
Fall 2006 Accounts Accounts
Freshman** 1,457 332 645
23% 44%
Sophomore 906 662 713
73% 79%
Junior 2,385 672 808
28% 34%
Senior 2,519 1,421 1,434
56% 57%
Total 7,267 3,087 3,600
34% 50%
*July accounts were recorded three weeks before of the
start of the Fall semester.
** Research from NC State shows that close to 85% of their
freshmen have Facebook accounts (Stutzman, 2006).
My thoughts…
• Very few faculty know about
Facebook and tend to know less
than their students about new
technology.
• Is this a concern?
• Research shows that students
may be more technologically
advanced but often they do not
consider much beyond tech’s
convenience.
• Should new media be considered
when we teach media literacy?
Questions ???