Fall semester graduates

Department graduates from fall semester include:

Liz Dusser – Video production

Andie Lister – Technical writing and editing

Lene Munck – Video production

Kathleen Wilson – Corporate communication

Forrest Winter – Video production

Faculty busy during fall semester

Students often ask about the work of faculty outside the classroom. In our department, the faculty are a busy bunch, indeed. Here is a summary of activities during fall semester, 2010:

Bob Amend

He is a member of the search committee for the new CTO/CIO for Academic Affairs.  Along with Chris Jennings, he serves on the Community Action Theater Committee that just received its official charge from Dr. Jordan. The CAT Committee will focus its efforts on the initiation of a nationally prominent facility to be opened by Fall 2012 within the Student Success Building.  Prof. Amend continues to serve on SPARC (Space, Planning and Allocation Resource Committee).  SPARC has responsibility for college-wide planning with regard to allocation and use of space. Prof Amend will be working with Prof. Peggy O’Neill-Jones and three students to produce four video vignettes as part of an LSTA grant (Library Services and Technology Act).  The videos will focus on Hispanic heritage and culture in Colorado and specifically deal with the following topics:  politics, labor, civil rights and industry.

Susan Cook

Dr. Cook is continuing as a faculty assessment associate and works with 13 or 14 programs college-wide to develop program assessment plans. She is also beginning training in the spring to become a court-appointed advocate (CASA) for child abuse victims. She recently presented at three sessions at National Communication Association, including a roundtable discussion concerning meeting research and use of physical and virtual meetings; a panel discussion about managing adjunct faculty; and a session concerning negotiation. She is primary author of a paper about Depression-era song lyrics that is being published in ETC., a journal of the General Semantics Association, and she is continuing research about collaboration in higher education using repertory grid techniques. In her spare time, she reviews grants for the National Science Foundation.

Clark Germann

Dr. Germann is a member of the college-wide Faculty Evaluation Committee and serves on the student evaluation, peer evaluation, and online subcommittees. He also is a member of the SPS Advising and Awards committees. He is revising the department’s basic technical writing course to include examination of research, examination of best practices at other universities, use adaptation of a new textbook. He is helping to develop training of faculty, assisting with development of an online shell, and working on new assessment methods. He is continuing research concerning the impact on students of the college-wide web and email outage last spring. Preliminary results were reported by coauthors at the National Communication Association convention in November.

Chris Jennings

He is a member of the Community Action Theater Committee and serves on the General Studies Task Force. Other activities include the Institutional Review Board, the Diversity committee, Climate Surveys interpretation committee, and the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) initiative. He is also a member of Faculty Senate.Prof. Jennings is scheduled to receive the Ed.D. in Instructional Technologies this month from the University of Wyoming’s School of Education. His dissertation is entitled "Educational Virtual Environment Methodologies". He also attended  the Streaming Media West 2010 conference and presented and participated in the panel discussion, "The Future of Video in Education."

Kathy O’Donnell

Prof. O’Donnell attended the Planning and Institutional Improvement Conference sponsored by Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis in October. The track she attended focused on capstone courses, and e-portfolios. She also serves as a member of the SPS Retention, Tenure, and Promotion committee.

Lisa Ortiz

Prof. Ortiz is a continuing and long-time member of the curriculum committee (school and department) and Faculty Senate (Instructional Resources subcommittee). She is also a member of the Web Content Management Committee which will be implementing a content management system for mscd.edu. Also, she is a member of the Second Life steering committee, study abroad committee, and the college online policy committee. Prof. Ortiz attended the Campus Technology Virtual Conference sponsored by the International Society for Technology in Education held in November, and had a 3D painting tray published in Strap Street magazine for December 2010.

Department is implementing digital signage project

The department is currently assisting the dean’s office in a new endeavor:  digital signage.  Through use of specialized software and a plasma screen, the School of Professional Studies is displaying information about important deadlines, noteworthy meetings, student and faculty events, and other information from the school’s departments.  Jeffree Fuller, a department lab tech, will serve as the main content creator. Check out the display located in the hallway in front of WC 133. 

SmartBoard added to classroom

Through a grant coordinated by the SPS Dean’s office, the department received a SmartBoard for use in TE 130B.  This technology allows the professor or instructor to interact with students in a different way.  The SmartBoard is a touch screen that incorporates various software, such as a web browser and PowerPoint.  The boards also permit the instructor to add information, draw, write text, highlight, emphasize and manipulate objects in numerous ways.  For instance, an instructor may show a PowerPoint slide and reveal each bullet point by touching the screen.  In addition, still images and video can easily be inserted into the presentation, while text and objects can easily be added or deleted.  Professor notes created during the lecture can be saved with the file and distributed to students or made available for downloading. 

Second Life offers enhanced virtual learning experiences on Roadrunner Island

Roadrunner Island - (l to r) Strat Inshan (Shawn McNary), Ravenmoon Jannings (Chris Jennings), and Mossy Darkstone (Lisa Ortiz).

Since 2007, more than 25 courses have been taught at the College using Second Life, the Web-based multi-user 3D virtual world first released in 2003 by Linden Lab. The technology offers all the affinities of College life, according to Shawn McNary, the 3D builder and scripter for Metro State’s Second Life program, “Roadrunner Island.”

            “You can build anything you want on Second Life - clothes, dance clubs, cafes, and language groups,” says McNary, an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Technical Communication and Media Production. He and his fellow faculty, Assistant Professor Christopher Jennings and Associate Professor Lisa Ortiz, have taught classes using Second Life and serve on the Roadrunner Island Steering Committee.

            Metro State is among hundreds of higher education institutions across the globe using Second Life to enhance student learning experiences, each in their own unique way.

Psychology faculty at the University of Washington used Second Life to recreate a number of real-life work environments in which test subjects were monitored for their response to different elements of their surroundings, saving time and money. Faculty at Yale University used the technology to create a virtual field trip to a paper mill  -- illustratating industrial production processes in the real world. These mills can be both dangerous and difficult to access in reality.

             Metro State’s Jennings notes that many colleges and universities have considered Second Life as a backup plan for classes during the H1N1 flu epidemic.

            According to Myron Anderson, interim associate to the president for diversity and assistant professor of educational technology, the growing trend shows that “there is a movement where the academy is trying to help connect infrastructure because they are seeing benefits.”

            Anderson chairs the Roadrunner Island Steering Committee, which is open to more members wanting to be involved in the continued development of Roadrunner Island.

Jennings, who worked on pedagogy for the program along with Ortiz, adds that in general Second Life is a great tool for experiential learning. “People can use the program to see the world through the eyes of someone who has a disability--for example, cataracts, hearing loss or of someone who is confined to a wheel chair.” He adds, “It does not replace classrooms or online courses. It’s a tool to be used to enhance learning environment.”

            Others use it as a virtual immersion program. “You can visit an international café – where you invite native speakers to come. Where you go and sit down and talk,” says McNary. “You can even order translators.”

            “It’s totally a volunteer enhancement instructional delivery method,” says Anderson, who notes there is no cost for the program for faculty, staff and students, but you do need to set up an account at www.secondlife.com.