July 2008

Reach to Teach is a bimonthly publication focusing on instructional articles and news. We hope that you will benefit from information and ideas to provide the best learning opportunities for our students at YTC. Please share your successes and challenges as you provide instruction in the classroom and one-on-one services vital to our customers and to our success as a college. Share your tried-and-true strategies or your recently discovered learning activities. Include results of your successful student interactions or helpful information you’ve acquired at a conference or workshop. Please e-mail lochsner@yorktech.com to contribute to future issues of Reach to Teach.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

In times of radical change, the learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves perfectly equipped for a world that no longer exists. --Eric Hoffer, author

GIFTS

Chip In!

Use Larry Anderson’s (Kwantlen College, BC) strategy for getting students to “chip in” to the class discussion. Purchase red, white, and blue poker chips (you can reuse these each semester). Hand out 5 to 10 chips of each color to each student. Each student is assigned a number that is marked on his/her chips.

White chips represent openness, meaning the student makes an assertion that s/he can back up with reason. Blue chips represent clarity, which means the student can support an assertion with source materials. Red chips represent concern, which means students can probe each other for clarification or help someone who is struggling with a point. Blue and red chips earn higher point values. You can assign point values according to how you wish to grade class participation; for example 1 point for white, 2 points for blue or red.

As students participate, they chip in the appropriate color chip based on openness, clarity, or concern. Students not only are encouraged to participate in discussion but they also become more aware of the depth of their contributions as they think about the color chip they (and their classmates) must contribute—especially if you help them “police” the contributions of others.

--The Teaching Professor, March 1995.

FACULTY FOCUS

Shared Folders Made Easy!

Do you share folders between your office computer and smart classroom computers? Do you copy files from your office computer to a flash drive to take with you to your smart classroom? If you are already sharing files or you would like to share in the future, discover the simple method of using files located on your office computer in any classroom.

Call or e-mail Bryan Thomas in the Educational Technology Center to set up your shared files. Contacting Bryan will eliminate the steps you would normally take in setting up your shared files. An added benefit to calling Bryan is that whenever a classroom computer is re-imaged, you will keep your shared files!

Classroom computers will be re-imaged between the summer and fall terms; current shared files are typically lost when the computers are re-imaged. Reduce potential problems (and your frustration level); call or e-mail Bryan at Bryan.Thomas@yorktech.com or X7078.

Web-based Disability Training Opportunity

“Why does that student get extra time to take a test? Is that fair?” Find the answers to these questions and more using a web-based training program for faculty and staff called “In Their Shoes.” The Special Resources Office is making this web-based disability training opportunity available to all YTC faculty and staff. This is a one-year subscription service and is licensed for only York Tech employees.

Go to www.aa.psu.edu/intheirshoes, key in our college ID (sroytc), and follow the log-in directions from there. There are pre- and post-tests with lots of information about different types of disabilities and the responsibilities of those in higher education. Take advantage of this interactive learning experience and see disabilities from a different perspective…in their shoes!

Get Caught in the Web 2.0!

Have you felt as if your summer isn't complete without summer camp? If so, mark your calendars now for mini-camp! Join your colleagues on July 25 to view a thought-provoking video clip and discuss the very different needs and learning challenges we face with young students today. Then discover Web 2.0 tools that are available for you to actively engage your students in the learning process using methods that are second nature to them. You will be introduced or re-introduced to a variety of web tools such as delicious social bookmarking, Second Life, wikis, blogs, Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, Google Docs, and RSS feeds. During the workshop, you will open your own accounts, contribute to a wiki or blog, build links, and become more comfortable using the tools.

For an unusual preview of how to use Web 2.0 tools, watch Sarah “Intellagirl” Robbins’ Educause Learning Initiative conference presentation at http://hosted.mediasite.com/hosted4/Catalog/?cid=5a4ac7c1-a16d-471a-bbba-4e4160b3ae72. Scroll down to her listing, Education = Communication: Understanding how technology changes the ways we communicate and the ways we teach. “Intellagirl” made her presentation simultaneously live and in Second Life. Her focus is student centered; she offers new ways to learn without the structures created by institutions.

E-mail Anita McBride at mcbride@yorktech.com if you plan to attend; sign up early—mini-camp is limited to 25 people. Enjoy refreshments and the fun of learning with others—and don’t forget to wear your favorite (Panthers, Tigers, Gamecocks…) mini-camp cap!

Get Caught in the Web 2.0!

Friday, July 25

9 to 11 a.m.

A-225

Student Learning Outcomes Kick-Off – July 18

As you know, student learning is one of the core values of our college. As part of our commitment to student learning, it is important that we spend some time identifying and assessing our students’ learning outcomes. Toward that effort, we have invited Dr. Dan Weinstein, Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness at Winthrop University, to work with us to ensure that we are putting our best effort forward.

Dan has served as a consultant with student learning initiatives at colleges across the country and has studied under James Nichols, a nationally recognized expert in the field. Dan also began his career at a two-year college.

All faculty are invited to join Dan on Friday, July 18, from 1 to 3 p.m. in L-100. Dan will share his expertise in identifying and assessing learning outcomes; he will also be available as needed to work with individual departments across the college during the fall semester.

Dan is an engaging speaker with a wealth of experience. We are fortunate to have him as a resource; please make time to join us on July 18!

LEARNING LINKS

Should Instructors Provide Students With Complete Notes?

Have you struggled to determine how much information to give to your students? Many students have become accustomed to their instructors posting class notes. But are we doing a disservice to our students by giving them complete notes? Read a short article from Faculty Focus, originally published in The Teaching Professor, that explores this issue.

http://www.magnapubs.com/issues/magnapubs_ff/5_14/news/601671-1.html?s=FF&p=MFCFEZ

Bloom’s Taxonomy for the 21^st Century

You are likely familiar with Bloom’s Taxonomy of cognitive thinking that lists lower order thinking skills (LOTS) and higher order thinking skills (HOTS). In the 1990s, one of Bloom’s students tweaked his taxonomy to better fit the students growing up in the digital age. In identifying a student’s abilities at the various levels of cognitive thinking, you are likely to see terms like social bookmarking, bulleting, networking, uploading, hacking, tagging, and publishing instead of identifying, explaining, illustrating, and comparing. Use the following link to read more.

http://21centuryconnections.com/node/507

Technology & Learning Network ebooks

The Technology & Learning Network encompasses Technology & Learning magazine, techlearning.com, and Technology & Learning Events. These companion media offer online, conference, and print avenues for providing administrators, technology professionals, and teachers with comprehensive, relevant, and authoritative information on technology trends, new products, news, and funding sources for their technology programs. You can register yourself to access these ebooks on such topics as Web 2.0 tools, wireless classrooms, and network security.

Go to TechLearning [http://techlearning.com/content/epubs/index.php]
Select the ebook you are interested in reading.
Complete the registration at the bottom of the page, OR enter your email address used when you previously registered.
Click into the ebook. Pages can be printed; copyright notices are at the bottom of main page.

ACROSS CAMPUS

A New Path for Advising

You now have a great new way to advise students using only Campus Cruiser! Avoid the “Datatel crowd” during peak advising times. Discover how you can access your advisee records, evaluate programs, view test summaries, and help register students for their courses—all using new menus in Campus Cruiser. Using an old tool in a new way will make advising easier and better for both you and your advisees.

The College is strongly encouraging the use of Campus Cruiser for advising/registration and moving away from Datatel registration. If you missed the earlier summer workshops, new sessions have been added. Make sure to pre-register by e-mailing dewey@yorktech.com and indicate which session you will attend. All sessions will be in A-225. (You will need to know your Campus Cruiser password to log in.)

Friday	July 11	11 a.m.
Thursday	July 24	2:45 p.m.
Tuesday	July 29	1:45 p.m.
Friday	August 1	9 a.m.

Purchase Discounted MS Office Software

You and your students are eligible to purchase discounted MS Office products (and other software) through Compusult.com. As a YTC employee, you may purchase MS Office Enterprise 2007 Suite for $19.95 plus shipping. Faculty must call 1-800-992-6058 to purchase the software at the discounted price.

Students may purchase MS Office Standard 2007 Suite for $139 plus shipping or MS Office Professional 2007 Suite for $169 plus shipping. Students should go to www.compusult.com and click on Students and Educators to display the software products available. They will need to fax/e-mail a schedule or tuition payment receipt to verify student status to be eligible for the discount.

Use the following link for the list of software included in each suite. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/FX101211561033.aspx

Book Group

The Faculty/Staff/Retiree Book Group is currently reading The Closing of the American Mind, a reflection on “today’s” moral and intellectual climate, written by Allen Bloom in 1987. http://www.amazon.com/Closing-American-Mind-Allan-Bloom/dp/0671657151/ref=si3_rdr_bb_product Book group meets each Friday at 12 noon for lively discussions in SS Conference Room A. Join colleagues in an environment where every member speaks and questions freely on the subject matter under discussion.

Books on tap for fall:

1. Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul by Kenneth R. Miller http://www.amazon.com/Only-Theory-Evolution-Battle-Americas/dp/067001883X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215689890&sr=1-1

2. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan http://www.amazon.com/Omnivores-Dilemma-Natural-History-Meals/dp/0143038583/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215532724&sr=1-1

Read the editorial reviews for each book; they are sure to pique your interest! You are invited to join the readings and discussions for any and all of these books. Just call or email Taunya Paul (X7316 or paul@yorktech.com) for details.

FYI – Graduate Placement Figures for 2006-07:

Degrees 322 of 372 87%

Diplomas 65 of 70 93%

Certificates 213 of 272 78%

Total 600 of 714 84%

REACH TO TEACH DEADLINES AND ARCHIVES

Make this your teaching and learning publication! Send us your feedback by letting us know what is helpful and useful to you. Contribute material, and tell us if you or your department would like to be a regular contributor. Share your best practices as well as what you’ve learned along the way. Tell us what you and your colleagues are doing to better serve our students and associates throughout the community and the college. Send your contributions and comments to lochsner@yorktech.com.

Next article submission deadline:

August 8

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