Wednesday, September 8, 2010

New Instructional Designer

Dr. Mark Porcaro, recently began working at WSU’s Media Resource Center in August, 2010. As Instructional Designer, he works with faculty to help them build and develop online courses. In conjunction with the Office for Faculty Development and Student Success, he promotes strategies for good online course design and teaching. Mark has been working in online learning since 2000, having assisted various academic departments and libraries at Brigham Young University (UT), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Muskegon Community College (MI), and most recently, the University of Dayton (OH).

Mark received a Bachelor of Music in Composition from Brigham Young University, and a M.A and Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has taught music courses at BYU, UNC, Muskegon Community College, and University of Dayton. He received an Online Teaching Certification from the Educational Teleconsortium of Michigan in 2006 and has had training in instructional design from Florida State College Jacksonville.

You can reach Dr. Porcaro at 316-978-7787 or by email at mark.porcaro@wichita.edu.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Blackboard 9 Training

Wichita State will upgrade to Blackboard 9 for the spring 2011 semester.  The MRC and New Media department will begin offering trainings on Blackboard 9 beginning in September.   The majority of the trainings will focus on the overall changes and look of Blackboard 9, but we will also be offering sessions on the Grade Center, Content Management, and the Assignment Tools.  Please visit the my9 webpage to learn more about Blackboard 9 and more information about the upcoming trainings.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Panopto Announcement

Panopto has been chosen as the new lecture capture software for the Wichita State campus.  Panopto is available now for faculty and staff to use. Panopto is replacing Tegrity, with access to Tegrity ending in December 2010.  For more information on Panopto and to learn about training opportunities please visit www.wichita.edu/panopto

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Renovations at MRC

After 20 years of service, the ITV room at the MRC is being renovated.  The room will be transformed into a bigger and better video production studio and become the new home of Studio B

The current Studio B will be renovated into a new interactive classroom and space in the Spring semester of 2011.  This new space will be the new home of many of the activities that the ITV room hosted.

The ITV room first opened in 1990.  It was home to many ITV classes, videoconferences, webinars, general use meetings, and countless other events.   The room served as a valuable resource for the MRC and campus community, but we are excited about the renovations and are looking forward to our new rooms.


Monday, May 10, 2010

iPhone App for StudyMate Class available

StudyMate users can now access their material on their iPhone or iTouch via the StudyMate Class app.

You will need to download the app via the iTunes store.

To learn more about the StudyMate app click here.

Blackboard 9 is coming to Wichita State

MRC New Media staff are busy making preparations to upgrade Blackboard from version 8 to version 9.1 in late December 2010.

There are many new features including built-in wikis, blogs and drag-and-drop capabilities.

To learn more about all the new features and the transition schedule, visit the my9 webpage.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

New HD videoconferencing room

Thanks to a grant from NSF Epscor, the Media Resources Center has a new High-Definition videoconferencing room.  The VC Meeting room is equipped with a Polycom HDX 9002, HD projector, and stereo sound.

To learn more about this room and other videoconference rooms available at the MRC, visit our videoconference page.

Monday, April 26, 2010

3rd Reboot Camp Starting Soon

Fourteen faculty members will take part in the 3rd Reboot camp starting May 24th.

Reboot Camp helps faculty members turn their traditional face-to-face courses into online courses.  They learn about Blackboard and other online tools they can incorporate into an online course.

Professors from Liberal Arts and Sciences, Fine Arts, Engineering, Business, Education, and Health Professions will be participating.

iLearn on an iPad

Come see a demonstration of using Apple's new iPad or the iTouch for elearning such as accessing Blackboard via the new Mobile Learning app, using the StudyMate app to view the interactive self-assessment activities, viewing library resources, and more.

This is open to faculty, staff and students and will be held in the Wireless Learning Space at the Media Resources Center on April 29th at 1pm.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

ReBoot Camp starting at MRC

Thirteen Wichita State faculty will be attending five days of Reboot Camp, beginning January 11th.  They will be converting a course from face-to-face to online delivery.

MRC Staff and others will provide tips and insight on how to transfer their content to an online class.  ReBoot campers will learn more about Blackboard and other online tools.