Faculty Center for Learning Development (FCLD)
The Faculty Center for Learning Development (FCLD) was established to stimulate and support the
teaching and learning environment by assisting faculty with the incorporation of technology and
new teaching methods into their established curriculum including:
 Promoting best practices for enhancing teaching and learning;
 Teaching the application of specific instructional technologies like Blackboard, PowerPoint,
digital video, scanning, digital images, and streaming video;
 Providing support and learning through group and individual consultation or workshops; and
 Providing faculty access to a variety of instructional technologies, including personal
computers, digital video, scanners, and color printing.
Faculty Lab: The FCLD Faculty Lab, located in Room L203 of the Mortensen Library, is
available for faculty support and use and is equipped with instructional technology equipment
including: PCs, Macs, a digital video camera, digital camera, scanners, color printers, and
projectors as well as support staff. Faculty wishing to use the lab may contact FCLD at 768-4661.
FCLD Staff: Lorelle Wilson, Director
Lisa Tassinari, Educational Technologist
Website: http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/fcld
The FCLD website includes instructions and tips for using a variety of software and innovative
teaching applications, including Blackboard.
Email: Faculty and staff may send questions relating to instructional technology, including
Blackboard, to fcld@hartford.edu.
Phone: Call 768-4661 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.:
 For help or support with instructional technology-related questions
 To contact FCLD staff
 To arrange use of the faculty lab in Mortensen L203
Faculty and staff with non-instructional technology related support questions should call the ITS
Support Hotline at 768-5999.
Educational Technology Showcase
Sponsored by the Emerging Technologies Committee
Tuesday, March 4
(Snow date: Thursday, March 6)
Woods Conference Room, Mortensen Library
Wikis? Blogs? Podcasting? Clickers? Social Networking?
In the classroom? In your classroom?
To find out more come listen to colleagues talk about
“How I use this technology in my classes”
The Educational Technology Showcase
The Emerging Technology Committee is hosting this educational technology showcase in order to determine
which emerging technologies will be recommended to the Provost for pilot programs next year. The
showcase is open to all University instructors and will feature five presentations from faculty currently using
these technologies in their teaching. All are welcome - veteran and novice alike - regardless of technology
experience. Sessions are limited to twenty participants, so please register early using the online
registration: http://admission.hartford.edu/showcase. You may register for as many sessions as you wish.
Refreshments will be served.
9:30 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. Social Networking (Facebook) Wick Griswold (Hillyer) & Natacha Poggio (HAS)
Providing prompt feedback and social interaction are important for effective learning. Creating Facebook Groups is a
great way to facilitate communication and interaction among you and your students. Students are on Facebook all the
time, and are sure to get notifications that tells them what's happening and when. Facebook groups can also help build
solidarity and team spirit in your classes.
11:00 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. Blogs and Wikis Nels Highberg (A&S)
If you want students to write, why not have them write on a blog or wiki? This presentation explains what blogs and
wikis are and shows how people have been using them across the curriculum. Many blogs and wikis are free and easily
available, making it possible for just about anyone to put them to use in almost any classroom.
12:15 p.m. – 1:05 p.m. Clickers Jean McGivney-Burelle and Ray McGivney (A&S)
We’ve used clickers in M116, our liberal arts math course, for the past two years. We like them because they give us
immediate feedback about student understanding, they are easy to use, and they mesh seamlessly with PowerPoint.
Students like clickers because they get immediate feedback, they can respond anonymously, they keep them involved
and interested, and they’re fun. We’ll talk about some classroom logistics involved in using clickers as well as some
pedagogical strategies that we’ve employed.
2:10 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Digital Video Geoff Reynolds (Hartt)
Digital video recording technologies like iMovie and Pinnacle are very user-friendly and have great implications for
class instruction. One of the biggest advantages of using digital recordings is the ability to present difficult material
outside of class time. You can record course content digitally and then link your videos to your Blackboard course for
students to watch before or following a lesson, affording more class time for other or deeper exploration of
concepts/skills.
3:30 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. Podcasting Jim McDonald (A&S)
Podcasting is the creation of audio or video files that get automatically delivered to student computers by subscription.
Making podcasts has become much easier in recent years, and student familiarity with them has risen markedly. I will
give a general overview as to what you could podcast (the content), how much work is involved in making a podcast
(production) and where you can get help (resources).
Can’t make it on March 4th? A second showcase will be offered on April 16th.
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PowerPoint Circles
FCLD, in collaboration with Professor Ray McGivney and several other Arts and Sciences faculty,
is running a faculty development program on the effective use of PowerPoint in teaching and
learning. The program, open to all instructors, is designed to provide a forum for sharing ideas and
effective techniques for using PowerPoint in the classroom. These informal Friday afternoon
gatherings, called PowerPoint Circles, typically include a brief (25-30 minute) presentation by a
faculty member on his or her use of PowerPoint in the classroom, followed by an informal – and
lively - conversation.
This conversation provides faculty an opportunity to:
 Share innovative ideas on using PowerPoint in teaching and learning;
 Provide a forum for demonstrating PowerPoint presentations, in order to solicit feedback
and suggestions for revision;
 Share resources, such as techniques and templates that might prove helpful for faculty
seeking to use PowerPoint more effectively in their teaching and learning;
 Discuss strategies for gathering student input on successful strategies for using PowerPoint
in ways that engage today’s millennial learner; and
 Tap into shared expertise to resolve problems or find workarounds for technical limitations
and glitches.
You need to convey your content in a presentation, but in order to engage your audience, the visual
design of a PowerPoint presentation is of utmost importance. Which fonts work best for
legibility? What background color should be used? How to organize information better? On Friday,
April 11th, starting at 3 p.m., Natacha Poggio, Assistant Professor, Visual Communications
Design in the Hartford Art School, will address these questions, as well as share her insights and
expertise on improving the visual design of PowerPoint presentations. As part of her presentation,
she will provide a critique of Ray McGivney's own slides, as well as demonstrate techniques and
tips she uses in her own presentations.
The presentation will be held from 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. in Dana 232 and refreshments will be
provided.
If you are a faculty member using PowerPoint or would like to use PowerPoint in your classes,
please contact FCLD at fcld@hartford.edu FCLD and the faculty members helping to coordinate
PowerPoint Circles are actively recruiting presenters for future PowerPoint Circles.
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Spring 2008 Seminars
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words – Images and Learning
A long, long time ago, people read images as a primary means of learning about their world. Cave
dwellers used them to communicate and sculptors carved images into the walls of European
cathedrals to relate stories. Consider too, that writing evolved from pictures. Today, with the
advent of TV and computers, it almost seems our culture is turning back to the use of images to
communicate and acquire knowledge. This may not be all that bad…It turns out that the adage; “an
image is worth a thousand words” may be true after all. Researchers from the fields of cognitive
psychology, education, and neuroscience are gathering more and more evidence humans may be
hard-wired to learn from images. Richard Mayer, in the field of cognitive psychology, has
published research indicating that combining images with words - especially narration - is more
effective for long term retention of learning. In addition, used effectively, images engage students’
attention and make learning relevant by relating it to the day-to-day life of students. Finally, there
are some very practical applications when images can aid comprehension, for example, using them
to present complex content in a more simplified form. Although print images have been used in
teaching for a long time, more and more of today’s instructors are using digital images in their
classrooms. This spring, in addition to seminars about Blackboard, FCLD will be exploring the
world of digital images and learning, offering seminars in digital cameras, digital video editing, and
how to use images in applications such as PowerPoint.
Getting Started with Blackboard – Every Tuesday through May!
12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Woods Family Center for Learning and Instruction (Mortensen Library)
Prerequisites: Basics of personal computing and surfing the Internet.
This session is designed for faculty new to Blackboard and provides a general orientation to
Blackboard, the Internet application used to put courses on the web. You’ll learn strategies for
organizing your Blackboard course, review the many tools and features available in Blackboard,
and start adding course content items like your syllabus and web links to your Blackboard course.
Be sure to bring a digital version of your syllabus; this is designed as a hands-on seminar.
February Seminars
Blackboard’s Discussion Board
Tuesday, February 19th – 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Woods Family Center for Learning and Instruction (Mortensen Library)
Prerequisites: Familiarity with adding course content and navigating Blackboard.
Online discussions are a great way to extend the classroom discussion, promote brainstorming, or
provide group feedback on assignments such as case studies. Typically, the instructor poses a
discussion question relating to coursework and then the students post replies, building an online
conversation. The benefits of online discussion include student reflection prior to response, a safer
forum for those students who may not speak up face-to-face, and a place to continue in class
discussions. FCLD will show participants the basics of setting up a forum discussion and discuss
forum options, including grading, subscriptions, copying, and moderated forums.
To register, contact FCLD at 768-4661 or email fcld@hartford.edu
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February Seminars continued
Setting up Groups and Group Discussions in Blackboard
Tuesday, February 19th – 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Woods Family Center for Learning and Instruction (Mortensen Library)
Prerequisites: Familiarity with adding course content and navigating Blackboard.
If you are using group projects in your courses, you may want to offer your students the option of
using Blackboard groups.
Blackboard groups provide students with private space and
communication tools such as chat, file sharing, and discussion boards, allowing students to ‘meet’
in Blackboard and work collaboratively on group projects. Blackboard groups have also been used
effectively in other ways, for example to set up one-on-one private discussion areas so that
instructors and students can review writing logs or journals. This session will show you the basics
of setting up groups and group discussions in your Blackboard course.
Digital Video Seminar – Pinnacle Studio
Woods Family Center for Learning and Instruction (Mortensen Library)
Thursday, February 28th, 12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Prerequisites: Basics of personal computing and surfing the Internet.
Come learn how to make digital movies! In this seminar, FCLD will teach you the basics of
creating digital videos, including downloading clips from a digital camera, editing them, and then
saving them in the appropriate file format – DVD, streaming, avi, etc. Digital clips can be used to
enhance a variety of classroom teaching applications, especially PowerPoint. Sign up early as
space is limited!
March Seminars
Educational Technology Showcase – Facebook, Blogs, Wikis, Clickers, Digital Video,
and Podcasting!
Tuesday, March 4th, 9:30 a.m. to 4:20 p.m. (snow date March 6th)
Woods Family Center for Learning and Instruction (Mortensen Library)
Prerequisites: Open to all Instructors
The Emerging Technology Committee is hosting this educational technology showcase in order to
determine which emerging technologies will be recommended to the Provost for pilot programs
next year. The showcase is open to all University instructors and will feature five presentations
from faculty currently using these technologies in their teaching. All are welcome - veteran and
novice alike - regardless of technology experience. Sessions are limited to twenty participants, so
please register early using the online registration: http://admission.hartford.edu/showcase. You
may register for as many sessions as you wish. Refreshments will be served.
To register, contact FCLD at 768-4661 or email fcld@hartford.edu
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March Seminars continued
Digital Photography Part I: “What do all those buttons on my camera do?”
Friday, March 28th, 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Woods Family Center for Learning and Instruction (Mortensen Library)
Prerequisites: Open to all instructors.
Join Christine Dalenta from the Art Photography Department of the Hartford Art School as FCLD
explores the world of digital photography. In this hands-on workshop, we’ll cover the basic
operation of digital cameras, as well as all those mysterious buttons included on every camera, but
rarely used.
You will be surprised to learn how easy it is to take full
advantage of all the features your camera offers. Bring your camera and manual, but if you don’t
have a camera, FCLD will bring some spares.
April Seminars
Using Tests and Surveys in Blackboard
Tuesday, April 1st, 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Woods Family Center for Learning and Instruction (Mortensen Library)
Prerequisites: Familiarity with adding course content and navigating Blackboard.
Are you ready to take the next step in Blackboard? Join FCLD to learn how to make the most of
Blackboard’s tests and surveys. FCLD will demonstrate the step-by-step creation of quizzes and
surveys in Blackboard, talk about pedagogical tips and tricks, and discuss strategies for using
Blackboard surveys and quizzes that may improve student learning outcomes.
Digital Photography Part II: “I took My Picture. Now what can I do with it?”
Friday, April 4th, 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Woods Family Center for Learning and Instruction (Mortensen Library)
Prerequisites: Basics of personal computing and surfing the Internet or Digital Photography I.
Bring your digital photo files to part two of our digital photography series. Christine Dalenta
returns to show how to prepare image files to get the best results when printing, posting images on
the web, or inserting pictures into PowerPoint or similar applications. We will fine-tune pictures
using image editing software such as Microsoft Photo Editor and Photoshop. We'll discuss
resolution, file size, gamma (brightness and contrast adjustments), color correction, and basic image
retouching.
PowerPoint Circle: Using Visual Design to Engage Your Students
Friday, April 11th, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Dana Hall, Room 232
Prerequisites: Open to all instructors.
You need to convey your content in a presentation, but in order to engage your audience, the visual
design of a PowerPoint presentation is of the utmost importance. Which fonts work best for
legibility? What background color should be used? How to organize information better? Natacha
Poggio, Assistant Professor, Visual Communications Design in the Hartford Art School, will
address these questions, as well as share her insights and expertise on improving the visual design
of PowerPoint presentations. As part of her presentation, she will provide a critique of Ray
McGivney’s own slides, as well as demonstrate techniques and tips she uses in her own
presentations.
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April Seminars continued
Taming the File Size Monster
Friday, April 11th, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Woods Family Center for Learning and Instruction (Mortensen Library)
Prerequisites: Basics of personal computing.
If you are creating or using images with other applications (e.g., PowerPoint, Scanning, and
Blackboard), you need to know how to tame the file size monster! Several popular and useful
technologies produce file sizes so large that your students will have trouble accessing them from
Blackboard or other websites. These large files can be difficult to transfer, download, open and
update, and may cause problems for you with email and web quotas. Fortunately there are fast and
simple steps that can be taken to reduce “file bloat” and make your information more manageable.
In this seminar, we will examine ways to reduce PowerPoint and PDF files without sacrificing
quality. Finally, we’ll discuss streaming video technologies as an option for digital video files.
Inserting Images into PowerPoint
Friday, April 25th, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Woods Family Center for Learning and Instruction (Mortensen Library)
Prerequisites: Familiarity with creating basic PowerPoint presentations.
PowerPoint is visual – take full advantage by adding images to your presentation. Go even further
to illustrate your point by adding images and digital movies. This seminar will show you how to use
ArtSTOR to locate images and then demonstrate different methods of inserting still or moving
images into PowerPoint slides.
May Seminars
Copying Blackboard Courses & Content
Thursday, May 1st, 12:30 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Woods Family Center for Learning and Instruction (Mortensen Library)
Prerequisites: Familiarity with adding course content and navigating Blackboard.
Managing content between courses - either term to term or within multiple sections of the same
course - can be time consuming. This seminar will demonstrate several time-saving techniques that
faculty can utilize for copying specific content items or areas between different Blackboard courses,
including copying all content from course to course, or just a few choice files.
To register, contact FCLD at 768-4661 or email fcld@hartford.edu
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