Category Archives: Pedagogies

Campus Tree Map – Tim Parsons

What: Campus Tree Map

Who: Tim Parsons, Horticulturalist

Technologies used: Hardware: Dell Axim Handheld PC with a Bluetooth GPS; Software: Handheld PC running ArcPad; Desktop: ArcEditor, ArcPad, ArcPad Application Builder, Microsoft Excel, Access, and Visual Studio, Google Earth and Picassa 3.

Assistance Received: Tim received assistance with ArcGIS from Bill Hegman, GIS Specialist; and Katie Clagett and Chris Rodgers, former GIS Interns at LIS. He also received some help from students in the Geography Department’s computer lab.

Courses: BIOL 1003, Trees and the Urban Forest, and other classes in the Biology Department. Continue reading →

2nd Annual Pedagogy and Technology Fair – May 26th, 10:00 – 12:00, Great Hall

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Across the curriculum, Middlebury faculty are using technology in a number of creative ways to redesign, enhance, and augment their teaching and instruction. Join us in the Great Hall at McCardell Bicentennial Hall for the 2nd Annual Pedagogy and Technology Fair.

Faculty will demonstrate their uses of technology and discuss their experiences in an informal setting. The diversity of faculty ranges from Film and Media Culture to Chemistry, This fair is co-sponsored by the CTLR and Library and Information Services. Each presenter will have a poster created for him/her by LIS. A large monitor and internet connection are also provided to enable live demonstrations. If you are interested in participating, please contact Shel Sax at extension 5679 or send email.

Wireless Projection – Chris Watters

Technology used: Wireless Video Presentation System II by BlackBox
Course: BIOL0222A Human Nutrition from an Evolutionary Perspective (Winter 2010)
Reason for using the technology: This was a seminar course, and Chris wanted students to be able to present from their own laptops.
Received assistance from: LIS HelpDesk and Media Services

The BlackBox Wireless Video Presentation System allowed the nine students in Professor Chris Watters’ Human Nutrition class to share their work as peers rather than as presenters at a podium. Discussion continued seamlessly through PowerPoint presentations that students ran from their own laptops.

Chris can envision other uses for this technology, including collaboration and peer review, and more simply, large projector presentations. He first saw the BlackBox server in action at an international visualization conference in 2005. A group would demonstrate a project, take feedback, make revisions, and present again. When Chris learned that the server was available in the US, he mentioned it to Dean Cadoret. Dean found the server and helped configure it with other LIS staff.

Full configuration remained difficult despite adjustments to the server, the network, and even the students’ laptops. Some of Chris’ objectives couldn’t be met (he had hoped students would be able to pull up nutrition web pages and evaluate them as a group), but overall Chris found this experiment with new technology worthwhile.