Newsletter
In this Issue
Online Course Course
Development News..........2
Director's Reflections........8
From the EVCAA..............11
From the Chancellor........12
Meet the Director of
Distance Learning
The Office of
Distance Learning is
pleased to announce
the new Director of
Distance Learning for
USCA, Dr. Veronica
Outlaw, PhD.
In the field, she is known to keep best
practices and instructional strategies at
Open Source Tech............. 14 the forefront of faculty development to
What's New In BB.............14 prepare faculty to evolve with emerging
technology. In addition, Quality Matters,
best practices, trends, and usability
Let's Collaborate..............15
testings are utilized to help develop and
Library News.....................15 deliver quality online courses to provide
Student Authentication.....15 students with an engaging and robust
Copyright..........................15 online learning experience.
Technology Corner..........13
ADA..................................16
Social Media...................17
Distance Learning Advisory
Advisory Committee.......17
Dr. Outlaw provides leadership for the
development and implementation of
distance learning initiatives. She brings a
vast degree of insight and experience
with instructional technologies and
quality matters for developing online
courses and teaching online. In that role
she provides oversight for instructional
Fall 2014
design and serves as liaisons for academic
and administrative units to foster efficient
operations in distance learning.
Certified by The Learning Resources
Network in Faculty Development (CFD)
and as an Online Teacher (COT), Dr.
Outlaw has several years of teaching,
service and instructional design
experiences in higher education in
distance learning. She previously served as
a Senior Instructional Designer and adjunct
online instructor for The University of
Alabama. In addition to her work duties,
she actively contributes to the distance
learning field. She served as a Peer
Reviewer for the 2014 Educause Learning
Initiative (ELI) Annual Conference. She is
currently the co-chair for the 2015
FantasTech Virtual Annual Conference for
J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College
(JSRCC). She also served as a Peer
Reviewer for the 2013 FantasTech Virtual
Annual Conference for JSRCC and has
presented at this conference since 2011. In
addition to peer reviewing, she served on
the virtual scheduling and training
committees and conducted virtual training
sessions for participants in the central time
zone region.
Dr. Outlaw holds professional affiliations with Sloan-C, Society for Applied Learning (SALT), Mid-South Educational
Research Association (MSERA), Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT), and the
Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE). She has presented professionally at several national
distance learning conferences including The Teaching Professor Conference, Distance Learning Administration Annual
Conference (DLA), and the Mid-South Educational Research Association Conference (MSERA). She also served as a
session presider at the Creating Futures through Technology Conference (CFTTC) and MSERA.
Dr. Outlaw received her B.S. in Information Technology Services (2005) (Magna Cum Laude) and a M.S. in Instructional
Technology (2006) from Mississippi State University. She received a second M.S. in Human Environmental Sciences with
a specialization in Interactive Technology (2011) from The University of Alabama (UA). Also through UA, she
successfully defended her doctoral defense on June 16, 2014 and participated in graduation ceremonies on August 2,
2014. Her dissertation (Descriptive Study Exploring Faculty’s Perceptions when Transitioning to a New Learning
Management System) was conducted at the University of Alabama in Instructional Leadership with a concentration in
Instructional Technology. Her research interests are in faculty perceptions, change theory, stress and coping, adult
learning in distance education, distance education best practices, faculty development, and faculty and student
orientations. Her career interests are in online teaching, instructional design, course development, faculty
development, and student orientations.
Online Course Development News
The director’s position started in February 2014 and the immediate tasks was to assist 11 Palmetto
College faculty with their course development needs and to prepare 22 general education faculty to
develop their online courses for summer/fall 2014. Without the proper support, policies, procedures,
and resources in place, this was a very difficult task to complete in less than three months. There were
20 faculty (18 summer and 2 fall) who worked with Dr. Outlaw to develop, design, and facilitate their
online courses for summer and/or fall. Of this cohort, here is what a few of the faculty had to say
about their course development and online teaching experiences this summer and fall.
Dr. Vernelle Tyler’s Perspectives
on Developing and Teaching an
Online Course (EDPY 330)
What were your experiences and thoughts before the actual
course development project? I entered this adventure both
confident and open minded especially since I had taught
numerous online courses in the past. I really thought I was on
top of it and would simply make a few adjustments to my
already designed courses.
What were your perspectives on the
actual course development
process? I had to start from square
one and carefully reflect on what I
wanted students to gain from taking
this class on development across the
lifespan. The course development
process included numerous reviews
and edits which allowed me to plan
using standards designed to ensure
student learning.
What experiences did you have facilitating the
course? My experiences ranged from hours of
planning and making revisions to actually
producing a course in which I served as a true
facilitator of teaching and student learning. My
learning objectives were measurable and
focused on specific cognitive processes that I
wanted students to acquire by the end of the
course. Modules were based on textbook
chapters and contained activities correlated to
learning objectives. Assessments were
measured using exams and discussions with
clearly defined discussion rubrics.
What worked and/or didn’t work?
My most challenging but rewarding
experience was ensuring that my course
PowerPoints and captioned lectures
were ADA compliant. I had previously
used PowerPoints in my face-to-face
classes and thought they were welldone. This was not the case. I knew I
wanted every aspect of this course to
be in compliance and corrected errors
identified by the ADA accessibility
instrument.
What did you learn? My course
presentations are in PPT and PDF
formats. The course narrated lectures
were captioned and embedded in each
module. It was nice learning to use
Camtasia, a screen recording software
to narrate PowerPoint presentation
lectures. I also learned how to utilize
YouTube to automatically sync the
audios and the transcripts to add closed
captions, as well as how to create and
upload exams in Blackboard.
2
to make the course a success. However,
Comment on your student's experiences. the most helpful aspect for me was Dr.
Normally, I have a few students to ask
Outlaw's availability and willingness to
questions about the course syllabus and
communicate, meet, and work with me so
schedule. There were no questions which that we could tackle the unique
leads me to believe that both syllabus and pedagogical challenges that are inherent to
schedule (developed from a template)
2nd Language Acquisition courses. Without
were very clear. One student had a
Dr. Outlaw's invaluable insight of online
technical issue with an exam but I was
course development, I would have been
able to rectify this situation in the
unaware of the wide range of programs
Blackboard settings and the student was
available to successfully meet the needs of
an L2 course. This was the first time that I
able to complete the exam with no
have created such a course, so I am still
additional problems. Students were
polite and interacted very well during the learning about the different possibilities
within the programs we use: Adobe
discussions forum by giving helpful
feedback and asking questions to further Connect and www.myspanishlab.com.
Thanks to the support of Dr. Outlaw and
promote learning and critical thinking.
other helpful faculty members, my first
What advice would you give to your
experience developing an online course has
colleagues going through this process?
been positive and provided me with new
It’s important to know that this is indeed insight into online L2 course development,
a process built on training and lots of
which will be very valuable while
feedback. Be patient, stay on task, and
developing my second online course this
allot reasonable time to complete
fall, SPAN 102, for implementation in the
modules.
spring semester of 2015. I strongly advise
other faculty who want to develop similar
Would you do it again? Why/why not? I online courses to attend as many
would definitely go through this process
workshops as possible, to be patient, and
again. Yes, it is time consuming but the
to work closely with Dr. Outlaw. Without
final product (the development of my
her experience with online course
course) has made my online teaching
development, the workload and time
practices more meaningful for me and my commitment would have been
students.
considerably more and the creative process
Dr. Vernelle Tyler, Associate Professor in the
would have been much more difficult. My
USCA School of Education
sincerest thanks to Dr. Outlaw! - Muchas
gracias, Doctora Outlaw!
(Dr. Tyler continued)
Dr. Timothy
Ashton’s
Perspectives
on Developing
and Teaching
an Online
Course (SPAN
101)
My SPAN 101 course development project
was for implementation in Fall 2014, so
the majority of my meetings and training
sessions took place during the 2013-2014
Academic Year and the summer prior to
Fall 2014. Attending the wide variety of
workshops that were offered helped me
better understand what would be needed
Dr. Timothy Ashton, Assistant Professor of
Spanish in the USCA Department of Languages,
Literatures & Cultures
Mr. Patrick
Gélinas’
Perspectives on
Developing and
Teaching an
Online Course
(EXSC 311)
Speak to the time commitment needed
for the course development project.
The time commitment during the
developmental phase of the online course
was very intensive.
I believe that this time investment will
decrease with every successive launching
of a new online course, but it was a
significant amount of time to say the
least. Once the course was officially
launched, however, the time commitment
was no more than that of the in-class
course format; in my case, once the
course was off and running, I felt as
though I needed to spend a little less time
with my online course, simply from not
having to lecture for three hours every
week. That “lecture” time was now able
to become “grading” time, which
lessened my typical out-of-class workload.
What did you learn? I learned that the
online format is a lot more effective
at disseminating course content than I
had originally assumed it would be. With
the use of strict deadlines and selfassessments, I was able to treat the
course as semi-self-paced, yet keep a
vigorous amount of discussion going
throughout the course, with deadlines for
responses to discussion questions and
exam attempts. One lesson that I learned
(the hard way) was that it is not wise to
redesign a course at the same time as
launching it online for the first time. I
switched textbooks (as well as much of
the emphasis of the course), so I had to
revise many of my pre-existing lecture
notes and exams. This made for much
more work than was ideal, especially
given the shorter time frame than usual,
to get everything finalized and launched.
What would you do differently?
First and foremost, I would begin the
online course development process
far earlier than I did for my online
nutrition course, this past summer II
session. Unfortunately, since we were
unable to have significant guidance prior
to February, 2014, the developmental
process was more accelerated than I
would have preferred. But, Dr. Veronica
Outlaw worked tirelessly to get all of us
up to speed in time. Next, I would
explore Blackboard more fully, and get
entirely familiarized with all of its
functions to use it to its full potential. I
would also add a few more lectures to
the course to compliment and clarify the
assigned readings, discussion questions,
3
(Mr. Gélinas continued)
podcasts, and films/documentaries. Initially, I was concerned
that I was already assigning too many of these, and, in
hindsight, I feel as though none of the students truly struggled
to meet the deadlines (at least, I never heard of any such
issues).
What worked and/or didn’t work?̀ Amazingly, everything went
fairly smoothly and as I had hoped (admittedly, I had some
reservations about the course unfolding seamlessly). The only
issues I encountered had to do with: #1) students not being
able to see feedback and/or correct responses after exams &
tests, and #2) intermittent and transient echoing during the
nutrition presentations in Adobe Connect. Ultimately, I
discovered that the exams and tests needed to be designed
with feedback and the setting in the assessments needed to be
set up to reveal the feedback after the assessments were
completed. I now know that the echoing in Adobe Connect was
due to everyone having their microphone access granted at the
same time and they should have been granted microphone
access only during their time to speak.
Comment on your experience in narrating your online course
lectures. I decided to record my audio lectures in the
Instructional Services studio, with the help of Keith Pierce (who
was extremely helpful, patient, and cooperative). Aside from
the obvious lengthy time commitment, this was a very
straightforward process. After I had finished recording a given
lecture, Keith “trimmed-out” any unnecessary dead space or
pauses from the audio file, and then sent them to me to load
onto Blackboard. I found that using Dragon Dictate (new
translation software in the Disability Services Office) for the first
time was a less intuitive process than it ought to be. Granted, I
managed to figure it out on my own, but I feel that the
instructions for first-time users could have been rendered more
user-friendly. Of course, once I figured out where specific
commands were located, it was not difficult to use.
Has the experience altered your teaching philosophy? I don't
think that my philosophy has changed so much. Rather, I feel as
though my opinion - of an online course’s ability to stimulate
vigorous discussion and perspective sharing among students
who are not physically sharing a classroom space - has changed.
I was quite impressed with the feedback and responses from my
students. One of the basic tenets of my teaching philosophy is
to encourage students to think critically about conventional
theories and wisdom. I believe that this was equally well
accomplished using the online format, possibly as a function of
reduced student inhibitions about speaking up in class in front
of others, or as a function of being able to collect their thoughts
and make a clearer assessment of an idea. Or, it could be a
combination of factors.
Would you do it again? Why/why not? If so, what additional
resources would you need to prepare? Absolutely. For some
of the courses that I teach, it would probably not be the ideal
format, simply because of the hands-on nature of some of these
courses (Fitness Assessment (EXSC 239) and Exercise Physiology
& Lab (EXSC 323 & 323L), for example). However, for other
courses, I feel that it would be a powerful and effective format,
simply because of the writing-intensive nature or "discussion
forum format" of those other courses (Topics in Allied Health
(EXSC 440W), for example). In fact, I fully intend to move my
two sections of EXSC 440W online ASAP. I would definitely
make sure that I had more than just 2-3 months to get the
course ready to be offered online, just so that I could learn
more about the technologies that I am using (but might not feel
so trying to troubleshoot, yet).
What advice would you give to your colleagues going through
this process? Get started as early as possible prior to when you
plan to offer the online course. The planning and building of
the online format takes a lot of time (much more than you
might think), and it’s worth taking the time to set everything up
properly beforehand. Try to think about all the possible “things"
that could go wrong (student issues, technological malfunctions,
etc.) and try to anticipate them. Then, go and try to make your
course robust to those issues. Lastly, I would encourage anyone
to “measure twice (if not thrice) and cut once.”
Comment on your student's experiences. While I feel that,
overall, students were very satisfied about the way the course
was delivered, I did not receive any student testimonials, per se.
There were, however, a few students who encountered
problems with the Respondus Lockdown Browser, where they
were unable to complete an exam because of "Respondus
closing their exam prematurely." These problems were not
obvious to resolve, and I had to recruit both Dr. Veronica
Outlaw and the CSD staff to investigate possible reasons (which
they happily did). While these were isolated incidents, they
were, at the time, stressful for the student, and presented an
ethical dilemma for me, regarding allowing exam re-attempts. I
would still recommend the use of Respondus to help increase
the integrity of the assessment, but be sure that students are
advised to use a wired connection when taking online courses,
especially during exams. I've since learned that if for some
reason there was an Internet outage while working wirelessly,
that would cause the disconnection...not the browser itself.
What are your overall personal reflections on developing and/
or teaching an online course? Despite the "big push" to get all
of the course materials and content loaded before the course is
officially rolled out, I am officially a fan of the online delivery
format. It allows for students to take the course on a selfpaced basis, work on course assignments and exams when the
student feels most alert, attentive, and invigorated, and it also
provides for multiple interaction opportunities among students,
via email, discussion boards, and video conferencing.
Mr. Patrick Gélinas, Instructor in the Exercise & Sports Science Department
4
Dr. Sally McClellan’s Perspectives on Developing and Teaching an Online Course
(EDUC 635)
I was hesitant about putting a class online. I knew a few things about Blackboard and used it as a tool for my
courses, but completely online – I had my doubts. I thought the course development project would involve
going to a few meetings or workshops and then working away. That was really not the case.
The adventure started with a two-hour meeting with Veronica to talk about the course and what would be
involved. I’m not a two-hour meeting kind of person, but the time flew by. My head was spinning with ideas,
I wanted to learn more, and I could immediately see the implications for not only the summer course, but
everything I teach. The focus was not just on putting things online, but really how to make learning more
meaningful for students by using online tools. So I went to every workshop and watched those I was not
able to attend. As I learned more tools for the summer course, ideas was sparking for how those tools could
be used in other courses. I needed some extra help with learning to use the tools (so simple when
demonstrated in a workshop did not turn out to be so simple when I used them by myself). Veronica came to
my office – showed me how to use the tools, and then turned it over to me to do myself.
At the point when I had my modules together and was ready to start building, I scheduled another meeting
with Veronica. She walked me through the process.
My Summer II class did not make, but I spent Summer II using the tools I learned about to make
improvements with the courses I will be teaching this fall. None of the courses will be completely online, but
all will now have some online component. Three will be hybrid courses. Several lectures are now included
online.
The tools I have used the most are: ScreenCast-O-Matic, Audacity, and, of course, YouTube. I purchased
Dragon to help with closed captioning.
I look forward to this semester and seeing how things work. I am certain the changes I have made to my
courses will benefit my students.
Dr. Sally McClellan, Associate Professor in the USCA School of Education (Early Childhood)
Dr. Lynne Rhodes' Perspectives on Developing and Teaching an Online Course (ENGL 345)
After teaching ENGL 345: Business Writing as an online offering for Summer II, I’m definitely an advocate for
the online experience. Working with Dr. Veronica Outlaw to design and implement the online class was a
wonderful learning experience for me. I’ve taught in the face to face environment for 35+ years, and I have
always enjoyed being with students in the classroom, but this past summer’s class was just as enjoyable, in
different ways.
First, I took two of the Sloan Consortium workshops, to get a feel for what the online teaching and learning
experiences involved. I was able to use some of the structures for the Sloan workshops when I began
construction on my first modules, with Veronica’s assistance, in late February and early March. I quickly
realized that the actual building of the course to meet the Quality Matters certification would be very similar
to the processes that I follow for any writing course, so I welcomed Veronica’s feedback and gentle
prompting, and I was thrilled to see my course whipped into shape on the Blackboard site, ahead of going live
in July.
I also enjoyed working with the CTE staff – Keith and Milledge – to record my introductory video. I felt that I
had truly entered a new age upon learning how to add a script and seeing myself on YouTube for the first
time. Learning how to use features in Blackboard such as the grading center was also fascinating for me. In
many ways, I am a novice with technology, and my approach to learning new technologies has always been at
the “point of need.” I am not one who likes to experiment just to see what can be done; instead, I’m
someone who uses technology only when I see a good reason to do so. The discussion threads work for me
because I always encourage peer reviews and revisions, and this summer, I also realized that the grading
center in Blackboard is a wonderful tool for keeping up with the submissions, reviews, and resubmissions.
5
(Dr. Rhodes continued)
Fortunately, I had some experienced online course students for my first venture with this kind of delivery. The sixteen students in my
summer II class tended to be very familiar with the online expectations. Several of the students always posted well-written work
first; they became mentors and provided benchmarks for the other, less experienced students in the course. In the face to face
classroom, there are also students who raise the bar, but in the online class, the early posters seem more generous, somewhat less
intimidating to the other students. I felt that everyone in the class got to know everyone else through the discussion threads and
postings, and I never felt isolated from my students, even though we were in different places throughout the country.
Only a very few students seemed to disappear for a few days, especially at the end of the session, but that kind of disappearance
happens in the face to face class as well. In the online course, I felt more justified with lowering the grades for the end of session
absences. I have come to realize that having access to the online courses is so flexible for both me and the students. I could
effectively teach the course anywhere and at any time; in fact, I was in Memphis, TN for one week of the summer session, and I
could easily keep up with my students’ postings and questions via Blackboard and email.
One of the most advantageous elements to the online class is how well-organized I felt throughout the session. A couple of students
always ran ahead of the others, and their questions kept me on task! In the face to face classroom, to keep up with my syllabus, I’ve
developed a day-by-day approach; in the online class, I felt that I had wrapped my arms around the entire semester at the point of
inception. In truth, my expectations for the entire class had to be considered up front, with the development of rubrics and a point
system for grading, so much so that I knew exactly what had to be done on any particular day during delivery of instruction.
So I encourage others to meet with Dr. Veronica Outlaw who might be considering how to move a course to the online environment.
I’d like to repeat the ENGL 345: Business Writing in an 8-week module, and I’d like to consider revising another class, ENGL 462:
Technical Writing. Not every class that I teach in the face to face setting would work for me as an online course; it’s important for me
to consider which content is more suited to the online setting and which content areas (such as first year composition) seem more
appropriate to the traditional classroom. Others will have to make similar decisions about their content areas. Having the incentive
to reflect and rethink my instructional deliveries, however, is arguably the most important benefit that comes out of my venture into
the online instructional setting. After 35+ years of teaching face to face, it’s good to know that I can continue to learn new strategies
and remake myself as a writing teacher. Dr. Lynne Rhodes, Professor in the Department of English
Dr. Kay Hanson’s Perspectives on Developing and Teaching an Online Course (EDEX 200)
I had never taken an online class or taught an online course when I decided to create one for this past summer.
Setting up my first online class (EDEX 200 - Introduction to Special Education) took a lot longer than I expected. It
was more involved than I expected. And it was most certainly a lot harder than I expected. However, part of that
was probably because I deviated from the typical online class in my assignment and assessment methods.
Perhaps if I'd actually seen an online class in action before I started, I would have done things in a more
conventional manner. For example, instead of having a limited number of threads for the discussions, I created
more than enough on each topic to give every student a different topic to research and discuss.
However, despite the amount of work it took to create the class, when it was finished, I was surprised to find
myself pleased with it. Having so many topics gave students the chance to focus on aspects of the week's topics
that interested them. In addition to their textbook, I also provided primary and secondary sources for them to
investigate online for each thread as well as suggestions for finding their own.
Nine of the ten students in the class were education majors, but not in the area of special education. I knew that, for them, this would
probably be their only course on children with exceptionalities. Therefore I not only wanted to introduce them to children with disabilities
but to teach them how to find more information and support so that when they became teachers, they would be aware that there are
great resources available just clicks away.
In future classes I would continue to give them numerous choices. In fact, I intend to change some of my face-to-face classes into hybrid
classes to take advantage of this mode of learning.
Of course, not everything went perfectly. In future online courses, I would do a number of things differently. First, I would not assign any
class work due during weekends. I had assigned tests to be done over the weekends with an eye to giving people who worked a greater
opportunities to take the tests. However, I would not do that again, as there is currently no tech support available during weekends.
Second, I didn't realize some of my students weren't aware they could create their discussions and responses in Word documents and
then cut and paste them into Blackboard. Over the first two weeks a number of students lost points for spelling and grammar errors
before I realized I needed to let them know to use Word first. Third, in future classes I intend to have an information sheet showing
examples of exemplary threads and responses along with their grading rubrics and explanations of why I scored them way I did. Overall, it
was a very positive, though time consuming, experience that gave me new ideas and methods for teaching that I have already
incorporated into my fall classes. Dr. Kay Hanson, Associate Professor in the USCA School of Education (Special Education)
6
This past summer, I developed and taught an online course for the first time. Overall I found the
experience of teaching English 101 online quite positive. For me, the surprises included not just the
sheer amount but also the specificity of planning that an online course requires before the semester even
begins. I’m grateful for the support that Office of Distance Learning provided during these early stages as
I translated my 101 class to the online format.
Dr. Julie Wise’s
Perspectives
on Developing
and Teaching
an Online
Course
(ENGL 101)
The Instructional Services Studio helped me prepare some terrific materials for my students, including
video lectures and narrated presentations. I loved seeing their finished work: these materials added a
polished, professional, and pedagogically rich component to the course. Once the semester began, it felt
strange not to deliver this course material to my students directly; how could I possibly be in the midst of
teaching 101 but giving nary a lecture on MLA format? But then of course my online avatar—recorded in
the studio prior to the beginning of the semester—remained out there doing those lectures for me.
As I’ve returned to the classroom this fall, I’ve incorporated some of my online materials into my
traditional classroom setting. Now that I have my online class in place, I can easily see teaching it again.
When I do, I would like to add some face-to-face communication with my students, perhaps through
Skype or a similar technology, so that I can include individual tutorial sessions like those I usually require
from my 101 students. I look forward to trying out an online class again, now with some experience in
the medium.
Dr. Julie Wise, Assistant Professor in the Department of English
Dr. Andrew Geyer's Perspectives on Developing and Teaching an Online Course
(ENGL 285)
To B-board,
or
Not to
B-board
Okay, so it’s not exactly Shakespeare.
But the question of “To Blackboard,
or not to Blackboard” almost kept
me from developing an online course
for the Palmetto College program.
When I discovered that posting all of
my course content on the Blackboard
platform was required in order to do
the course, my initial reaction was
not to do the course. But I have to
say, in all honesty, that I was
wro...um, that I was mistak...well,
that I’ve changed my mind about
Blackboard as a course delivery
platform. Dr. Veronica Outlaw is
largely responsible for that change.
First of all, Dr. Outlaw surprised me by
admitting up front that the versions of
Blackboard I’d used in the past were
indeed clunky, inflexible, sometimes
unreliable, and limiting in what they
allowed instructors to do in the way of
delivering course content. Then she said
that the newest version of Blackboard
was very much improved—“Still
Blackboard,” she said, “but less clunky,
much more reliable, and a whole lot more
flexible with regard to the ways in which
content delivery can occur.”
Furthermore, she said that she had
developed a template that she would
help us adapt to fit our specific needs for
the courses we were developing. And
When I volunteered to develop an American
finally, she said that she would provide
Literature course for the Palmetto College, I
hands-on instruction on how to get it
assumed I would be able to use the same
“formula” that I’d used in the past: website for done (and even work with us one-on-one
to get everything set up and working the
content, Blackboard (grrr...) for grading. This
was not to be the case. But despite my knee- way we wanted it to).
jerk reaction of “just forget it, then,” I went to
the first course development meeting with Dr.
Outlaw, and I listened to what she had to say.
I’m really, really glad that I did.
Some background is probably in order. I’ve
been teaching online since the 1990s. I
taught online composition courses, and even
an online literature course, at two of the
institutions I worked for before coming to
USCA. And my experiences with Blackboard
over the course of those years were, shall we
say...not positive. I found the platform clunky
and inflexible, and at times even unreliable,
and I preferred to build my own website and
use that as a platform for course content
delivery rather than dealing with the
Blackboard hassle. Using Blackboard to post
grades was required at both of those previous
institutions, so I did it—reluctantly.
7
(Dr. Geyer continued)
To make a long story short, Dr. Outlaw
was true to her word. Developing the
course was a lot of work. But I was very
pleased with the results. The course
looked great. All of the technology
worked exactly like it was supposed to
work. And the template that Dr. Outlaw
helped me adapt to my English 285
course fit perfectly with the way I wanted
to teach the course material. The eight
content modules I developed (with
the assistance of Dr. Outlaw) allowed me
to teach the American Literature Since
1865 class using the chronological
approach that I strongly believe works
best. I was able to cover the same
literary movements and genres that I
cover in the classroom-based version of
the course. I was able to connect those
movements/genres in clear and
meaningful ways with the readings. And
to be honest, the Discussion Board
feature of Blackboard allowed the
students to interact much more
effectively than I thought would be
possible before I actually taught the
course.
But although I myself was both pleased
and surprised with my Blackboard
experience, the real test came with the
students. How would they rate their
respective experiences with the course? I
had to wait until I got my SETs to find out.
I’ll admit that I opened the PDF file with
more than a little bit of trepidation. The
results? 100% excellent across the board
on the evaluation of teaching
effectiveness. And the written comments
were absolutely unambiguous when it
came to the Blackboard question. I’ll
quote the first student comment from
the open-ended questions section: “Dr.
Geyer has the most organized Blackboard
‘classroom’ I have ever seen. His
Blackboard set-up should be the model
and standard for all online classes.”
I really wish I could take credit for that setup. Instead, I’ll thank Dr. Outlaw for her
adaptable template, and for all her help
and support.
Dr. Andrew Geyer, Associate Professor in the
Department of English
Director's Reflections…
A good partnership for the course development process is with an Instructional
Designer and faculty who share the same mission about providing students with the
best possible robust online learning experience. There has to be an understanding
that in order to be successful, we have to evolve with the trends, issues, technology,
best practices, quality assurances, research, and instructional strategies and how they
all work together to provide positive teaching and learning experiences. And, we all
have to embrace that we are stewards of lifelong learning. The process may alter
teaching philosophies when moving online and it is not easy. It requires time,
commitment, an open mind, trust, and flexibility from the content expert and the
instructional designer perspectives. A good online course should be clear, consistent,
easy to navigate, engaging, interactive, and student-led. The dynamics should shift
from instructor-led to student-centered.
Of the twenty faculty from this past course development project, eight have provided
their experiences for this edition. In response to those who provided scripts for the
newsletter, I’d like to start by giving kudos to Dr. Vernelle Tyler for embracing new
ways of delivering her online course. New ideas were implemented to provide her
with more efficiency (the use of a template, updating her PowerPoints, narrating the
PowerPoints, using YouTube and captioning, etc.). The use of the course template
provided her (and the others) with a clean and consistent format for online course
delivery. Dr. Tyler was the first to experience that the PowerPoints that were offered
by publishers were not in compliance with accessibility regulations and she graciously
embraced the recommendations on how to bring her PowerPoints up to par to meet
those regulations. She accepted the challenge of narrating her lectures with
Camtasia. She created her scripts, received training using Camtasia, recorded her
lectures, edited her lectures, uploaded the lectures and the scripts to YouTube and
created a playlist for her course. All of this work on the front end allowed her to be
able to embed her lectures in her modules in Blackboard and were easily accessible to
those who needed visual and/or auditory provisions. I appreciated her “can do and
will do” attitude that had her students well-being in mind.
Dr. Ashton encountered a triple whammy with going through the course development
process and delivering his course through the online MyLanguageLab for Spanish.
First, the creation of course assignments and assessments were created through the
publisher’s new online lab, which provided the students with a robust interactive
experience in learning a second language online. Second, the delivery of the modules
(topic overviews, objectives, and activities) and authentic assignments were created in
Word for students to use as an instructional guide to complete course requirements.
Lastly, Dr. Ashton did not want to lose the required oral presentation component of
the course, so Adobe Connect was used for synchronous sessions to measure that
objective. He worked hard to put the three new components together.
8
(Director's Reflections continued)
Mr. Gélinas was exemplary in his overall approach and attitude
to online course development. He attended all of the
workshops, sought extra assistance, and worked extra hard to
pull his online course together. He embraced the
recommendations provided for his instructional strategies
(especially for those components he needed to maintain from
his classroom settings). He sought feedback from his peers and
participated in extra meetings with me to ensure he
understood every aspect of each outcome, especially with the
use of Adobe Connect to offer synchronous sessions for his oral
presentation project. The end result was that “gleam” in his
eyes when he realized the course was literally running itself.
He couldn’t believe that students were not asking tons of
technical questions to get started. He was literally just
facilitating the course, providing discussion feedback, and
grading. All of his extra efforts and the upfront planning and
developing resulted in a course he did not need to
micromanage and the responsibility for learning was shifted to
the students.
I was saddened that Dr. McClellan’s class did not make due to
low enrollments because I enjoyed watching her get excited
about the new tools and strategies she was able to implement
in her online course. Not only was she using Blackboard, but
she utilized a few Web 2.0 tools in a few of her assignments to
add robust elements of student collaborations and peer
review. For example, students would work in groups on some
assignments and use GoogleDocs to collaborate on building the
assignment, then other groups would peer review the work. I
love working with faculty who are willing to get creative about
the learning possibilities, even when they know it means they
have to get more involved in the process as well. Dr. McClellan
was exemplary in this regard. For example, she explained the
process of having the students complete a budget assignment.
I suggested the use of GoogleDocs to collaboratively work on
that project (just as they would need to do in the workplace).
So, not only would they learn the essence of creating that
budget, they would learn a new and free tool to effectively
compose the assignment and learn how to virtually collaborate
with peers and future colleagues. Dr. McClellan also used
Screencast-O-Matic, Audacity, YouTube, and Google for her
course content, lectures, and assignments. She was very
hands-on in her learning, and even though it was a lot of work,
she recognized that fact and still went beyond the call of duty
to get it all done.
Dr. Rhodes was the first faculty to finish the course
development process. She gave herself a deadline and held to
each and every one of them. I mostly appreciate that because
it made reviewing and providing feedback for the course easier
for me. Dr. Rhodes was able to take a moment to digress
before the start of the course because she finished earlier than
expected. I am also extremely pleased with her comment
about being a veteran (35+ years) because it shows that we
are all still stewards of lifelong learning and with teaching
online, there is always something to learn because technology,
best practices, quality assurances, teaching strategies, trends
and issues are constantly evolving.
Even with her extensive years of service, she embraced the
process and took full advantage of all of the information
needed to develop and deliver an interactive and engaging
course. Dr. Rhodes gained a lot from the process just by
being open-minded to the online teaching and learning
possibilities.
Dr. Hanson’s reflection on what was a success and what
needed refining is exactly what each faculty should do while
teaching an online course. Journal the facilitation process.
Discuss the issues or those areas that need refining…you may
find that it’s merely a matter of obtaining the missing or
correct information. The beauty of that is that normally those
are quick fixes, along with regular course maintenance. As,
Dr. Hanson mentioned, it could be best practice for students
to create their discussion prompts in Word so that they can
check for spelling and grammar issues; however, if unaware,
th ere is a spell checker in Blackboard for each editing text box.
There are three rows to the editing toolbar in Blackboard. If
students only see one row of the editing toolbar, they simply
need to expand the toolbar. Another good reason to have
students compose in Word would be to do a word count if you
require a certain word count for discussions. Also, saving their
prompts in Word would allow them to have a back-up copy in
the event students lost Internet connection while composing
their responses in Blackboard. Many of the editing features in
Word (formatting, bullets, spell check, etc.) are in the
Blackboard text editor, but again, if Internet connection is lost
for a moment, students could lose their work
(unless students often select to “Save Draft” while typing).
Another great point Dr. Hanson made was the importance of
creating an effective schedule because of the limited
availability hours for any technical support assistance.
Perhaps schedule assignments and assessments to be due
during the end of a weekday (Thursday/Friday), then grade
over the weekend so students obtain feedback before starting
the next round of assignments for the following week.
Providing that consistency in when activities are due and
graded could make life easier on students and faculty.
Dr. Julie Wise had less time than others to go through the full
course development process, but her strong technical skills
made a huge difference. She clearly articulated what she
needed from her course and incorporated the suggestions to
enhance the instructional strategies. The review process was
seamless because she followed directions for that process and
always provided me with organized content. Having medium
to advanced level technical skills, being flexible, following
protocol and being organized makes a significant difference in
the process. Her comment about feeling strange for not
having direct contact with students or being in the midst of
teaching is very common, but that's exactly what should
happen if the course is developed correctly.
9
(Director's Reflections continued)
That’s the benefit of having everything done up front so that
remaining efforts could be used in facilitating engagement
while the course is running. It should almost be a hands-free
experience…but, that doesn’t mean you can virtually
disappear.
What can I say about Dr. Andrew Geyer? Well, since he
mentioned his apprehension, I think it is okay to ditto that.
My theoretical framework for my dissertation used the Change
Theory and the Transactional Model for Stress and Coping to
try to capture what happens to faculty’s perceptions in the
process of change that causes so much stress when
transitioning to new technology. Well, right about the time I
was researching and writing about faculty perceptions, I was
meeting with Dr. Geyer to plan his course and I knew that what
I was experiencing was aligned in the research. Although Dr.
Geyer’s had many years of online teaching experience, his
negative experiences with online technology altered his
beliefts and perceptions of technology use in his online
teaching. According to research, it is important to mention
how perceptions drive the decisions faculty make, which
ultimately affects their behavior and judgment. I learned
through my readings that perceptions could be swayed with
knowledge, which is what I attempted to provide. But, Dr.
Geyer and many like him, had to accept the challenge to
embrace and trust the process and the new knowledge to
obtain profound results. He is the true model in this regard.
He demonstrated that past negative experiences do not have
to stifle the future. He demonstrated that there is still so
much to learn about online education, even with many years
of online teaching service. He recognized the efforts it took to
bring his course to fruition. On occasion he would leave me
notes of encouragement, which gave me a little more steam to
press forward.
The Office of Distance Learning ultimately hopes for a return
on investment with faculty becoming an expert in a specific
skills they learned to be willing to disseminate the knowledge
to their colleagues (i.e., how to use certain features in
Blackboard, accessibility requirements on documents,
PowerPoint presentations and lectures, copyright compliance,
creating measurable learning objectives/outcomes, hosting
live sessions in Adobe Connect, time management and
commitment, etc.). I remembered asking a faculty member
to reach out to Dr. Andrew Geyer for the proper way to
upload content into the Content Collection area and link to
the files within the modules. Dr. Geyer graciously did so,
which resulted in the person getting the refresher they
needed to continue to work without having to wait a long
time for me to get back to them. Thanks again, Dr. Geyer, for
the assistance.
A good candidate for course development is one who can and
will embrace change, understand content expert and
instructional design roles, adhere to deadlines (as students are
expected to), attend trainings, etc. The process cannot
effectively take place with barely enough time to go through
all of the appropriate phases. It could result in the lack of
completed work, improper testing of new strategies and tools,
and inadequate training for the use of new tools…all of which
affects the quality of the online course.
Lastly, I want to thank those individuals who met with me to
pull pieces together while trying to launch the course
development initiative (Dr. Tom Smyth, Dr. Chad Leverette,
Ms. Shirley Neal, Ms. Dale McCarthy, Ms. Lauren Couls, and
representatives from CTE, Gregg-Graniteville Library, Disability
Services Office, Computer Services, Registrar Office, and
Columbia’s UTS and CTE. I give special thanks to Dr. Jeff
Priest, Dr. Sandra Jordan and Academic Council for their
encouragement and support. I am especially grateful for the
partnerships with the Instructional Services Department
He was very vocal about his apprehensions, but he embraced
(Keith Pierce & Milledge Austin) and the CSD unit (Chris
and trusted the challenge, attended the workshops, welcomed Spires, Lamar Golson, and Lisa Bryant) and sincerely thank
suggestions, followed directions, and adhered to deadlines.
them for their professionalism through this hardship. When
The outcome resulted in 100% excellence across the board on
the call increased for media services and/or technical support
his evaluation of teaching effectiveness. I love what I do and
services, they were there to assist and did so with a smile. I
this is one of the reasons why. He could have chosen to keep
know that the inception of the Distance Learning Office
his negative perceptions during the process, but he wouldn’t
increased workloads for many units and in most cases without
have ended up with the same results. Most of all, I’m so glad
warning or enough time to prepare, but we all embraced the
he was able to prove that to himself. I am very proud of Dr.
challenge and realize there is more work to do as we work
Geyer's progress!
together to pull the pieces together. We’ll work together to
provide efficient service (with the support of deadlines) and
I want to congratulate all the faculty who endured the process
additional pedagogy and technology professional
and I hope a lot was learned (even though it was rushed) and I
development so faculty are better prepared to endure the
hope you all had positive experiences.
process in an effort to provide quality online education to our
students.
Unbeknownst to many of the faclty from this past cohort, the use of design theory, best practices and Quality Matters was
used to set a foundation for the start of the online course templates that were used, with a goal of ensuring success for faculty
and students, while creating consistency and maintaining faculty autonomy. To support this theory, I invite your attention to
read an article: Autonomy Among Thieves: Template Course Design for Student and Faculty Success.
The Distance Learning Office is working on the foundations that are needed to ensure that the stability and success in future
online offerings, but it will require the support and commitment from the entire campus. Again, thank you all for your
support and hard work...this is just the beginning.
Dr. Veronica Outlaw, USCAof Director of Distance Learning
10
From the EVCAA…
In the fall of 2012 I formed a distance education committee, chaired by Tom Smyth, to develop a draft Distance Education
Handbook. This was in anticipation of USC Aiken offering more online classes as a result of our, at that time, anticipated
participation in what is now called Palmetto College. The committee was charged to look at what other institutions were doing
to provide assistance for and “regulate” the offerings of online or distance learning courses. After much hard work, in the spring
of 2013 the committee submitted a draft handbook with recommendations for how we should proceed as we offer more online
courses.
One of the recommendations was to form an Office of Distance Learning that would oversee the development of online courses.
Shortly after receiving the report, serious discussions about Palmetto College were initiated. In fall 2013, the USC System
instituted Palmetto College, an online completion program for which USC Aiken offers the B.S. in Business Administration
(Management Concentration). As part of our participation in the program, USC Aiken received funds from Palmetto College to
hire a full time person to help with online course development and to help provide stipends for faculty to develop online classes.
With the Palmetto College funds, we were able to hire Dr. Veronica Outlaw as the Director of Distance Learning effective
February 2014. Dr. Outlaw had to hit the ground running, because in fall 2013 I had put out a call to faculty to see who was
interested in developing online general education classes to help students qualify for Palmetto College. I accepted all 22 faculty
who indicated an interest in developing the online classes to be offered during summer 2014. Faculty received a modest stipend
for the development of the courses. However, in order for a faculty member to receive the stipend, they had to agree to work
with Dr. Outlaw, participate in training, and have their course meet the Quality Matters rubric.
As I mentioned in faculty assembly on August 18, 2014 USCA had the most successful summer enrollment in the past five
years. The majority of that success was due to the online classes that we were able to offer.
Although our strength will be the personal interaction we have with our students in face-to-face classes, I anticipate that our
online offerings will continue to grow in the near future as we endeavor to meet the needs of our growing student population. As
a result, in order to ensure that our online classes meet the same rigorous standards as our face-to-face classes, the Office of
Distance Learning will be reviewing our online classes to make sure all online classes meet the Quality Matters standards.
Therefore over the next few months, Dr. Outlaw, with the help of the Distance Learning Advisory Committee, will be editing and
modifying the draft Distance Learning Handbook that will serve as a guide for the future of online course development,
monitoring, and assessment. We want to make sure that when any student on our campus takes an online course, they will
know how to navigate the course no matter who teaches the course.
As you can attest from the articles written in this newsletter, faculty worked very hard with Dr. Outlaw to develop online courses
that were rigorous, relevant, and interactive. This is our goal for all online offerings at USC Aiken.
As we develop our plan of action for future online courses, you can expect communications from Dr. Outlaw and myself. I expect
to put a call out in the near future for folks interested in developing new online courses. However, because of the one-on-one
time involved with working with Dr. Outlaw, the number of new course offerings will be limited. In the mean time, please be
patient. The Office of Distance Learning is an office of one, and Dr. Outlaw’s primary responsibility is to Palmetto College.
However, as we roll out the plan of action, we will include as many faculty and courses as possible.
In the meantime, if your curiosity is peaked, talk to one of your colleagues who have worked with Dr. Outlaw on their course
development. See what all the buzz is about.
Dr. Jeffrey M. Priest - Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
11
From the Chancellor…
Thank you for inviting me to include a few paragraphs in your newsletter! I wish to begin by stating that I am in awe of the work
done by the twenty faculty who labored under a short timeline to put together new online course options during the summer and
fall. They did incredible work and the result was that, as an institution, we met the needs of many of our students who wanted to
attend USC Aiken, but who could not afford to stay in Aiken or forgo summer employment, or cannot attend classes at traditional
hours. A positive bi-product of the increased online offerings this summer is that USC Aiken enjoyed the best summer school
enrollment we’ve had in years! Thank you!
I wasn’t sure what I’d write for your newsletter, but a chance encounter this morning has provided much for me to think about
and share. For a public university, working to provide excellent online class options to those students who cannot make progress
toward their degree by attending college at traditional times is no small matter. Just today I met one of our new freshmen. Her
name is Audrey, she is 19 years of age, and lives in Aiken County…way out on Wire Road past Hwy 39. She is living at home
because her mother works the early shift at the hospital and she has responsibility for getting younger siblings to school in the
morning. After she drops them off to school, she drives to our campus five days a week to take 12 hours of course work. She does
her homework in the library between classes because, as she explained to me, she works the night shift at a local restaurant to
pay for her college education. She told me that she is responsible for closing the restaurant and that usually means she doesn’t
leave work until after 1:00 a.m. After work, she goes home and starts her day again at 6:00. A petite and soft spoken young
woman, she wasn’t complaining…in fact, she spoke enthusiastically about how thrilled she was to be in college. Needless to say,
after only a week in session, I’m already worried about Audrey. Statistically speaking, Audrey will probably be unable to keep up
this pace for four years making the goal of earning a college degree highly unlikely. Audrey’s situation is not unusual. She is the
typical college student in America. In the face of this new reality, the question for higher education continues to be, how we
make a college degree attainable? One answer is to increase the numder of online course options available to our students, so
they can obtain some flexibility. Hybrid courses and ubiquitous online learning classes are plausible options and an important
step in the university’s plan to retain students and help them make progress toward acquiring their dream of earning a college
degree.
We know that students are pleased to have more options, but I sincerely hope that the experience was rewarding for the faculty
who participated as well. Creating an online course is much more than the mastery of technology. It requires a measure of
“heavy lifting” in the area of course design. More than one faculty member has told me that the course design work they did for
their new online class last semester will actually transfer into their course design for their traditional course, and they anticipate
that they will be a more thoughtful and effective professors as a result.
From time to time, someone will tell me that they believe that online courses are inferior to traditional instruction. There is no
doubt about it, online teaching involves certain limitations, but then….so does face to face instruction. While not wishing to stifle
a good debate, I’d like to suggest that it is counterproductive to think of online courses as being in some kind of competition with
traditional instruction. Both modes of delivery are fraught with challenges and both have strengths. A more interesting discussion
might be framed around how we make all of our courses more engaging. The scholarship on teaching and learning clearly affirms
the importance of engaged instruction and quality interactions to enhance student commitment, performance, and retention.
The key to teaching and learning effectiveness in both dissemination models includes the instructors’ ability to connect, provide
timely feedback, and engage on an individual level with students as they proceed through the course. Concentrating on the
engagement question may lead to richer discussions and more effective teaching and learning…whether the course is taught in
an online asynchronous model or not. As the faculty tries to address the limitations of online teaching, they may help all of us to
re-examine some of the most elemental issues associated with effective learning. Faculty discussions and experimentations in
this area may help us all develop improved practices that enhance learning in any setting.
Thank you, Veronica, for all your fabulous work as you help us to integrate the best practices into our online course offerings! I
hope we will continue to make progress providing more appropriate classes online…for Audrey and for the sake of all our
students who must navigate enormous challenges as they strive to become college graduates. Cheer for a great year!
Dr. Sandra Jordan, Chancellor
12
Technology Corner
Did you know that Blackboard now has integrations for iTunes, YouTube, and VoiceThread?
YouTube and iTunes are building block features in Blackboard which faculty can use it to present their audio and/or video
lectures. Students must authenticate to obtain access. The faculty must have their own YouTube account in order to embed
videos from their video playlist into Blackboard. iTunes is created in Blackboard and the podcast lectures are uploaded to the
iTunes application in Blackboard. Blackboard also has a mobile app and the lectures can be viewed from a mobile device.
VoiceThread is an interactive, asynchronous presentation software. Faculty can create presentations using a variety of files
including PowerPoint, Word, PDF, video, audio and image files. Students can view the presentations and comment on them using
a microphone, webcam, text, phone or audio file upload. Students can view each other’s comments. It is a very powerful tool
for collaborations, peer teaching, peer review, oral presentation, and study groups. It also promotes social presence, breaks the
monotony of reading/typing (i.e. discussions) and has interaction capabilities to type on the screen for solving problems or
demonstrating. To see an example of how VoiceThread works, please view the video link:
http://voicethread.com/media/misc/IntroductionToVoiceThread.mov. For additional information about VoiceThread Universal
review the link: https://sc.voicethread. com/support/howto/Universal/. For VoiceThread Support area, follow the link:
http://sc.voicethread.com/support/. Follow the Training Services link from the Instructional Services for the video
demonstration, handouts for using VoiceThread, and the VoiceThread Support:
http://web.usca.edu/instructional-services/voicethread.dot.
Respondus LockDown Browser – This application is used as a means to help increase the integrity of your online assessments.
The browser must be installed and can only be used to take online tests in Blackboard. Students will not be able to print, copy,
paste, or download the assessments. They will not be able to use their computer to access any other programs while the
browser is in use. In use with defining a test taking limited duration, showing questions one at a time, and randomizing
questions and answers should prove positive in increasing integrity when proctoring is not available. A standard script is
provided in the onine syllabus template for students.
Adobe Connect – This tool is used to offer synchronous communications in an online course. Faculty and staff can obtain a free
account by providing the name, title, and email address in an email to Blackboard Support (bbsupport@sc.edu). Once received,
an account will be created for you and one of the representatives will forward your Adobe Connect account information via
email. Faculty will essentially create a meeting room for the course and provide students with the URL to enter the room for the
synchronous class meetings. The students only need access to a high-speed Internet connection (wired connection is preferred),
a webcam, and a headphone/microphone set. A standard script is provided in the online syllabus template.
If you want to learn how to use any of the above mentioned tools, make an appointment with the Office of Distance Learning or
the Instructional Services Office to obtain the guidance you need for your video and/or audio possibilities.
Dragon Naturally Speaking Software is available in the Assistive Technology Center. To assist faculty/staff
with teaching online classes and ensuring accessibility for all students, Disability Services (DS) purchased
Dragon Naturally Speaking software this summer. The software has been loaded on the MAC in the DS
Office and is available to anyone who has audio lectures that needs to be transcribed to a text version.
Dragon Naturally Speaking is a speech recognition software that will recognize what you say and how you say
it. The words appear on the screen three times faster than you can type them. After proofreading, you are
able to then post the lectures to Blackboard immediately after the transcription. Several of the professors
used the software this summer. If you need to transcribe any audio lectures, please do not hesitate to
contact Cathie Justen in the Disability Services Office (cathiej@usca.edu; 803-643-6816; B&E 134). For
further information about the software, please see the link below:
http://www.nuance.com/for-individuals/by-product/dragon-for-pc/index.htm.
TurnItIn - USCA faculty members have access to the plagiarism deterrent tool, Turnitin. For those teaching
online classes, Turnitin provides a number of useful teaching tools including OriginalityCheck, PeerMark and
GradeMark. OriginalityCheck, Turnitin’s core service, checks student papers against websites, journal articles
and a massive bank of student papers. In addition to discouraging plagiarism, the tool also provides an
opportunity for faculty and students to discuss plagiarism, academic writing, and documentation. PeerMark
is a tool that manages and facilitates online peer review, and GradeMark is an online grading tool. For more
information about Turnitin or to set up an account, contact Prof. Deborah Tritt at
deboraht@usca.edu or 803-641-3589.
13
Open Source Technology Resources
Presentations: Are you interested in presentation options other than PowerPoint? Try Prezi (www.prezi.com) or
eMaze (www. emaze.com).
Assessments: Are you spending too much time to create your test in Blackboard? Perhaps the use of the BYU Test Generator for
Blackboard can help. Start by creating your tests in Notepad or TextEditor in a specific format, copy the questions/answers to the
online test generator, obtain a file that is formatted appropriately for easy upload to Blackboard, create the test in Blackboard by
uploading the plain text (.txt) file to the Tests area, and implement the test instructions and settings in a matter of minutes. The
BYU Test Generator for Blackboard can be accessed at http://www2.byui.edu/ats/testgen/.
Video: Are you trying to figure out a way to break up the monotony of reading discussions and other text? Spruce up your
instructional or lecture content with video options such as YouTube (www.youtube.com), Screencast-O-Matic
(www.screencast-o-matic.com), Jing (http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html), and Vimeo (www.vimeo.com). Your students can
use these free options to add creativity to their course assignments also.
Podcast: Are you looking for a free option for recording audio lectures? Try Audacity at
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/. If you want to learn how to use any of these tools, make an appointment with
the Office of Distance Learning or the Instructional Services Office to obtain the guidance you need for your video and/or
audio possibilities.
What’s New in Blackboard 9.1 SP13
(New and Enhanced Features)
Blackboard will upgrade in December 2014 with the following
enhancements for spring 2015:
 Course Messages Notifications – You will be able to set
up alerts of new messages from Blackboard to be
delivered to your email so you will know to check new
messages from students.
 Student Preview – Faculty will be able to generate a
student account that is automatically enrolled in their
course. This will give faculty the true student
experience view.
 Group Management – The significant improvements
will allow you to see all the students and the groups to
which they were assigned. You’ll be able to add multiple
users to groups and select groups from a drop-down
menu. You’ll be able to delete users from a group by
clicking the "X" next to that student’s name. You’ll be
able to create Grade Center Smart Views for groups as
you create them. You’ll be able to easily remove all
users from a group, bulk delete groups, bulk create
smart views, and obtain a table view of the groups to
turn tools on and off.
 Grading Improvements – You will be able to override the
calculated Total Point Possible for assessments. Grading
Schemas will have a maximum value of greater than
100%. The Score-Attempts will be added to the Test
Options and Create Assignment pages.
 Test IP Address Filtering – You can set IP filters so that
students are only allowed to take tests from a specific
IP address or range of addresses. This is especially
useful if proctoring.
 Inline Grading – This will be available for assignments
for Word, PowerPoint, Excel or PDF documents (as well
as in discussion boards). Inline grading will have the
option to expand to full-frame view. You will also be
able to download the annotated document to discuss
with students.
 Profiles with MyEdu – Students can create professional
profiles, to showcase projects, work experience,
organization memberships, competencies, etc.
 My Grades – Students will have a better control on
viewing and filtering their grades. They will be able to
sort by all courses, last graded items, course order, last
activity, due date or filter by All, Graded, Upcoming, or
Submitted.
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 Anonymous and Delegated Grading - Faculty will be able to choose to hide student names when grading and delegate
grading responsibilities to anyone in class with grading privileges (instructors, TAs, and graders).
 Safe Assign – This will be integrated into the regular Blackboard Learn assignments. This option will disappear from the
Assignments option list. The Safe Assign options will be visible by expanding the Submission Details.
 Portfolios – This tool will have a complete overhaul of the authoring workflow. It will be more user-friendly. Students
will be able to convert course assignments into portfolio artifacts. Faculty can set up assignments that require a
portfolio submission.
In the News - Let’s Collaborate
From Gregg-Graniteville Library
The Gregg-Graniteville Library has been working diligently over the past two years to prepare and
update materials for distance learning support, including attention to ADA compliance. A major result
of these efforts has been the creation of the Distance Learning Portal found at
http://researchguides.usca.edu/distance.
In addition to a rich collection of resources available online through the Gregg-Graniteville Library, we
provide library instruction for distance courses, reference consultations by phone, chat, and email, while
offering access to many of our regular library services (interlibrary loan, PASCAL delivers, etc.).
Currently the library has over 300,000 eBooks available in the library collection for use by faculty and
students, in addition to the variety of library databases for use by distance educators and learners.
Finally, library faculty maintain the USCA Library You Tube Channel found at
https://www.youtube.com/user/uscaikenlibrary, which includes a number of streaming resources to
assist in distance courses. Videos on our USCA Library YouTube Channel have been viewed over 23,000
times. We also provided instructional content support for ten distance courses over the 2013-2014
Academic Year.
If you wish to have custom content created for your distance course and uploaded to this site,
please contact Kari Weaver, Library Instruction Coordinator, at KariW@usca.edu or x3261 to discuss
your needs.
Other Topics
Student Authentication - The USCA Information Technology
News and Notifications reported that faculty now have the
ability to view photos of students in Blackboard with the hopes
of easily being able to identify their students. To access
photographs, faculty should go to the Control Panel of their
class, select Course Tools, and then select Photo Roster. Faculty
will be taken to a page that shows the students’ pictures and
names. For assistance, access
http://www.sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/
division_of_information_technology/
news/2014-08-20_blackboard_student_photos.php.
Copyright – The Office of Distance Learning is committed to
ensuring faculty are in copyright compliance in online courses.
If the answer is unknown, we’ll seek advice from the experts.
What may be permissible to do in the classroom may not be
online. Using the excuse “I didn’t know” will not be excusable if
challenged with a lawsuit. The following information was
presented by Tucker Taylor (Head, Circulation Department
in the Thomas Cooper Library at Columbia) during the BEST
Institute at the Video Copyright workshop. The information
was created by her colleagues, Kevin Smith (Duke) and Lisa
Macklin (Emory). The framework is covered by a creative
commons license. For more information about how to use and
share this work, please check out the license information here:
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
License.
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A Framework for Analyzing any Copyright Problem
By: Kevin Smith (Duke) and Lisa Macklin (Emory)
One of the most difficult issues for educators and librarians,
when faced with a copyright problem, is simply knowing
where to begin -- which parts of the legal rules and
doctrines apply to this specific problem. To deal with this
uncertainty, we suggest working through the following five
questions, in the order they are presented. They are simple
questions, but they are not easy to answer. But by
working through them in order, it is possible to identify
which of the parts of copyright law apply to the specific
problem or fact pattern that you need to address. The five
questions that form this framework for copyright analysis
are:
1.
Is the work protected by copyright?
a. Is the work I want to use protected by
copyright, or is it in the public domain?
b. If I wrote it, do I still own copyright, or did I
sign over rights for my intended use to the
publisher?
2.
Is there a specific exception in copyright law that covers
my use?
a. Is my intended use covered by a specific
exception to the exclusive rights in the
copyright law, such as the one for libraries or
for classroom performances and displays?
3.
Is there a license that covers my use?
a. Is there a Creative Commons license attached
to the work? If so, can I comply with the terms
of the license, or can I find another useful work
that is CC-licensed?
b. If affiliated with an educational institution, is
there a license that governs how the
copyrighted material I’m accessing through my
library can be used? If so, can I comply with
the license terms? If you are uncertain, your
librarian should be able to help you.
4.
Is my use covered by fair use?
a. Four factors are:
i. the purpose and character of the use,
including whether such use is of a
commercial nature or is for nonprofit
educational purposes;
ii. the nature of the copyrighted work;
iii. the amount and substantiality of the
portion used in relation to the
copyrighted work as a whole; and
iv. the effect of the use upon the
potential market for or value of the
copyrighted work.
b. Questions for transformative fair use under
factor one are:
i. Does the copyrighted material help
me make my new point?
ii. Will it help my readers or viewers get
my point?
iii. Have I used no more than is needed
to make my point? (Is it “just right”?)
5. Do I need permission from the copyright owner for my
use?
a. If so, first locate the copyright owner and fully
explain your intended use in your permission
request.
b. If no response or answer is no, reconsider your
use of this work to see if you can make a fair
use, or consider using another work.
American’s Disability Act – As with copyright, the Office of
Distance Learning is committed to ensuring faculty are in
compliance with accessibility regulations in online courses. If
the answer is unknown, we’ll seek advice from the experts.
Seek assistance from our experts at the Disability Services Office
(Aiken or Columbia). If your course materials and lectures do
not meet ADA regulations, it is considered discriminatory to
those students needing specific accommodations. I learned at
a conference this summer that representatives are randomly
selecting schools to enroll in as a student with the hopes of
catching culprits and this is how violators are being caught.
Aside from that, the amount of work it takes for you to create
an ADA accessible document, PowerPoint or lecture, the student
could potentially lose days if not weeks, worth of work. This is
considered inequitable and grounds for litigation. Again, as with
copyright, using the excuse “I didn’t know” will not be excusable
if challenged with a lawsuit.
Effective September 4, 2014, the Disability Services Office
released an updated disability statement that must be placed in
all course syllabi. The online syllabus template has been
updated. The statement must read as follows:
“The Disability Services Office provides accommodations to
ensure that educational programming and services are accessible
to students with disabilities. If you have a physical, psychological,
and/or learning disability that might affect your performance in
this class, please contact the Disability Services Office, B&E 134,
(803) 643-6816, as soon as possible if you believe you are eligible
for accommodations. The Disability Services Office will require
appropriate documentation to determine accommodations.
Once determination of eligibility is made, students who have
disabilities requiring special arrangements for class participation
or test administration should notify the instructor of the need for
such arrangements at the beginning of the semester.”
Where copyright and ADA regulations are
concerned, be sure to ask questions and
seek the advice from the experts to ensure
you are in compliance.
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Social Media for the Office of Distance Learning
The Office of Distance Learning has recently launched the following social media accounts
to encourage collaboration and dissemination of knowledge among community members.
Office of Distance Learning Webpage http://web.usca.edu/academic-affairs/special-centers-and-programs/distance-learning/
Email – usca.distance.learning@usca.edu
Twitter – @USCADistLearn
Facebook – USC Aiken Distance Learning
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/USCADistanceLearning
Google Plus - https://plus.google.com/114327008342803171759/posts
Distance Learning Advisory Committee
The Office of Distance Learning has recently launched the Distance Learning Advisory
Committee. Please feel free to contact any of the following members with any comments,
questions, and/or concerns regarding distance learning for faculty and/or student matters.
Dr. Veronica Outlaw, Chair, Office of Distance Learning, veronicao@usca.edu
Dr. Tom Smyth, Co-Chair, Education, toms@usca.edu
Dr. Clifton Jones, SOBA/Palmetto College, cliftonj@usca.edu
Dr. Michele Harmon, Biology, micheleh@usca.edu
Prof. Deborah Tritt, Library, deboraht@usca.edu
Dr. Thayer McGahee, School of Nursing, thayerm@usca.edu
Mr. Patrick Gélinas, Exercise Science, patrickg@usca.edu
The Distance Learning newsletter is a publication of the Office of Distance Learning for our patrons. If you have any
information that would be beneficial to the audience of this newsletter, or if you would like to be added to the emailing list,
please contact Dr. Veronica Outlaw, Director of Distance Learning, at 803-641-3389 or via email to
usca.distance.learning@usca.edu. The deadline for submission in the Spring 2015 issue is January 15, 2015. Issues will be
released in February for spring; June for summer; and September for fall terms.
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