The Wiki Service has been moved out of pilot phase and is added to the list of ITS services. Wikis can be used for things such as instruction, research or just general collaboration. Access rights can be set to allow any allowed user, including users outside of campus, to edit pages through a web browser. For more information on the Wiki service, go to http://wiki.uiowa.edu/.

Nominations are now being accepted for the President’s Instructional Technology Innovation Award. This award recognizes creative uses of technology in teaching at the University of Iowa. The award is presented at a ceremony in the fall semester and includes a $5,000 cash prize.

Nominees for this award may be any University of Iowa faculty or staff member who has used technology in innovative ways to prepare or present materials in an instructional setting. Teams may also be nominated (students may be part of teams led by faculty or staff). The technology should be “in place and operational” and have been used in a University instructional setting. Nominations may be made by any University of Iowa faculty member, staff member, or student, and self-nominations are encouraged.

Nominations are due Friday, May 2, 2008, at 5 p.m.

More information about the President’s Instructional Technology Innovation Award and the nomination process – including an online submission form – is available at http://at.its.uiowa.edu/atac/awards2/.

Organizers of the first-ever 4CAST conference are labeling the event a huge success.

A joint effort by the Center for Teaching, University of Iowa Libraries, and ITS, the daylong conference on Jan. 17 was attended by 88 faculty and staff from all over campus.

The theme of this year’s conference was “Social Networking – Opportunities and Impact on Teaching and Learning.” Participants identified ways in which social networking tools are impacting teaching, ways in which instructors can leverage these emerging technologies to engage students in and out of the classroom, and areas that will require additional support at The University of Iowa as the use of these technologies increases.

Conference organizers plan to make 4CAST an annual event.

Please visit the following website for more information: http://at.its.uiowa.edu/4cast/

The January NExTT Workshops took place Jan. 8-11, 2008. NExTT stands for “New Experiences with Teaching Technology.” Sessions included an ICON Overview, Communication Tools, Grades, Content, Learning Objects Repository, Quizzes, Rubrics & Competencies, and Advanced Homepages. In addition, sessions on Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and Media in ICON were offered. Some of the Instructional Services staff also presented on what the group is about, the mission of the group, and detailed ways in which each subgroup (Instructional Design, Digital Media Solutions, Learning Spaces Solutions, and the SITA program) could assist faculty and staff. Almost all sessions were registered to capacity and were a mix of faculty and staff.

As a result of faculty and staff feedback, ICON sessions will continue to be offered, but other application program sessions may be expanded to include more advanced sessions. As always, the Instructional Services team looks for ideas and suggestions about improving our training program. If you have ideas, please contact one of us and share it. Our goal is to perform training based on faculty and staff needs. With your input, we can accomplish this goal in helping you expand your instructional technology skills.

Personal response systems – or “clickers” – are getting lots of attention these days for the way they’re being used as learning tools in the classroom.

Annette Beck with the Instructional Services team in Campus Technology Services recently spoke with a reporter from the Iowa City Press-Citizen about how clickers are promoting “active learning.” Read the full story.

Kyle Gassiott, Manager of the Student Information Technology Assistants (SITA) program in ITS, was interviewed by KCRG-TV for a story about UI faculty and podcasting.

To read the full story and view the accompanying news video, click here.