Microsoft has opened a new collaborative learning portal for educators.
It is much improved from the training modules to which we used to have access.
You can use the Office365 sign in and access a number of free resources.
Stop by and the CFC can tell you more about the development resources that are available for you.
For Microsoft, browse here.
The CFC Educational Technology Team and the Library are working to understand, support, and document the needs that faculty have for legally obtained streaming video that can be linked to your LMS courses.
Before the end of the semester, we should have a full update of the currently available resources in place and have a process for recording and demonstrating the need for any gaps in resources.
For now, though, we know that some of you are working on the preparation of your fall classes. With that in mind, remember the following:
If you have been paying any attention to the promises and prospects of virtual reality as an educational tool, I have no doubt that you have at least heard of Google Cardboard.
Google Cardboard is an outgrowth of genius (free-form development) time for a number of Google employees.
It grew out of the idea that the customer is already investing in a regular update of his or her equipment and that many top-level cell phones already have good audio and video capabilities and many have internal gyroscopes and accellerometers that allow them to track motion, location, and direction. The Cardboard is a low-end cardboard case that wraps around your cell phone and allows you to experience a rudimentary experience of virtual reality with the equipment you already have.
For the most part, this is just cool, accessible, and inexpensive, but we aren’t yet at the level of the Matrix.
I’ve been following the Google Cardboard phenomenon since it was first introduced. I’ve assembled several headsets and tried out various experimental VR apps on a number of Android and Apple phones.
For the past few months the CFC Educational Technology Team has been exploring the use of Google Cardboard in education and have specifically been betatesting the Google Expeditions virtual field trip platform.
We’ve found that there are a number of issues related to varying equipment types and network issues that made the betatest difficult to successfully navigate. After the Innovations focus team at the Summer Institute for Teaching and Learning tried out the beta version, several of us came to the conclusion that the only workable answer would be to run the system through an integrated equipment set that took away the difficulty of worrying about connection and equipment issues. We submitted our information, along with all the other beta-testers, and behold, Google recently announced that the beta had concluded and that they were releasing the Expeditions app for educators who are willing to buy an integrated kit that includes one teacher (Guide) tablet and several student (Explorer) devices. Click the link in the sentence before to go to Google’s announcement page, or take a look at the bundled kits from Best Buy which range from around $4,000 – 10,000.
That may seem like a whole lot of money for a classroom kit, but I want to commend Google for pressing forward and putting together a more finished product that will be easier to deploy, use, and support. Given requirements for a consistent experience, an integrated classroom set of this sort is far superior to asking a teacher to hack together a barely working system.
With that said, instructors, particularly in K12, will find this to be a very engaging way to take their students on virtual field trips to places to which they may never go including actual places like Winsor Castle, Tenochtitlan, or the surface of Mars and to simulated spaces like the inside of the digestive system.
There are less expensive ways in which you can get an exposure to the technology. The CFC has a number of the cardboard shells and we’ll be glad to show you a number of apps that you can download from the ITunes App Store and Google Play that will give you a certain level of experience with your existing equipment. We are also looking for opportunities to partner with faculty to use technology in innovative ways that integrate with your curricular goals and outcomes. If you are interested in partnering with us or in simply getting an introduction to the technology, feel free to come by the Commons or to send a message to, Jonathan Wade, your friendly educational technologist.
Detailed Information About Uploading Panopto Videos
To learn more, click here for more info.
In 2016, CFC was tasked with making certain that WCU’s media streaming practices were up to date in relation to current laws, ordinances, and policies. WCU has paid out thousands of dollars to settle copyright infringement cases related to accidental copyright infringement, and copyright laws and the capability of electronic “big-data” discovery mechanisms have improved in ways that make this a prudent time to reflect upon our collective use of the intellectual property of others. As such, we have been instructed by university counsel to inform faculty of copyright issues and to be careful about any storage or streaming of materials under copyright.
As such, we cannot extend the availability of any media for which we do not have an explicit waiver of copyright from the copyright holder and/or permission granted through the copyright clearinghouse for the use of the media for a particular period of time.
Following is the information we had cause to deliver to everyone migrating media from one form to another. You may or may not find it of use in guiding your own reflections upon the academic use of materials falling under copyright:
The migration process is a good time to review your course resources to determine whether it complies fully with federal copyright law and related policies at WCU.
Generally speaking, it is never permissible to store or disseminate copyrighted materials (including feature films) for which you do not have explicit written permission from the copyright holder.
The Coulter Faculty Commons staff and student workers cannot at this time aid in the conversion, transfer or upload of copyrighted materials without the express and written consent of the copyright holder.
For more help in determining your rights and responsibilities under copyright law, please consult the resources below:
WCU Copyright Policies and Related Law
The WCU library has constructed the WCU Copyright Resources Page as a guide to issues of copyright generally. Make certain to check the “Compliance Guidelines for Faculty” tab in the center of the page. The library can help you through the process of gaining copyright clearance from the copyright holder on a course by course fee basis. (The Provost’s office has set aside a limited amount of money to help defray some of these costs for the remainder of the 2015-16 budget year.)
Please note that there are still some irregularities in the laws and in the protections provided for instructional uses. Of particular note is the way that the law treats face to face courses differently than online courses in regard to the use of copyright protected media.
The CFC has been advised by university counsel that fair use is only a legal defense. It is not a shield from litigation. We would like to pass that advice on to our faculty members, and will do what we can to help you adapt your teaching practices for the additional challenges and opportunities offered by the increased speed and reach and discoverability of online learning and its underlying digital architecture.
Note that many recent movies are available for paid and legal streaming for less than $5.00 through Amazon, ITunes, The Google Play Store, and Hulu. In the event that you cannot obtain copyright permission, you can assign students to purchase viewing rights to the movies from theses sources.
The TEACH Act provides some protections for instructors capturing and using clips from copyright protected materials, but they are limited to the instructor and are in addition to fair use. For a more detailed description of appropriate use, you may find the Copyright Crash Course created by the University of Texas to be of great assistance. Note that the TEACH Act provides no legal protection to non-instructional staff or student workers, only to the instructor of a course, and only under very specific circumstances.
At this point in time it has been determined that directing students to clips on YouTube is a safe practice, acknowledging that Alphabet (Google) is practicing safe and legal takedown procedures. (Note that these links cannot be judged to be permanent in any sense and a good practice for using them would be to check them on or near the dates of presumed student use).
Note that if you need or want to show videos to distance education students who are local, the library can and will schedule screenings of reserve materials for specific groups of students in a viewing room.
Some other useful sites to consult to see if you may have a reasonable claim of fair use or TEACH Act or other acceptable justification are below.
Center for Media and Social Impact: Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video
Copyright Advisory Network Interactive Guidance Services
The information provided above should not be considered to be a substitute for explicit legal counsel on this topic. It is intended for educational purposes only. For explicit and exact interpretation, please contact legal counsel.
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