Upcoming Moodle Training

ITS will be hosting a series of workshops for faculty and staff interested in learning more about Moodle. Our Introduction to Moodle workshops cover the basics of getting started and how to set up a course in Moodle.  You can bring your syllabus and readings and start to set up your courses for Fall 2012. The Intermediate Moodle workshops are geared towards people with some experience using Moodle and cover how to set up online assignments, blogs, wikis, surveys, and quizzes in Moodle. Other topics, such as groups, the gradebook, and discussion forums can be discussed based on attendee interest. … Continue reading Upcoming Moodle Training

Blackboard goes offline

At 11:00 AM, the Tri-co shutdown its shared instance of the Blackboard course management system. In a two-step process, Swarthmore Professor Aimee Johnson (Math) and Haverford CIO Joe Spadaro pressed the “enter” keys that shut down the Blackboard services for the final time. On a separate screen, the assembled group of onlookers verified that Blackboard was no longer available. The shutdown is the conclusion to a period of over 11 years where Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore Colleges shared a single instance of Blackboard for all of their students, faculty and staff. All three schools have already switched to Moodle, … Continue reading Blackboard goes offline

For your weekend listening (and viewing) pleasure…

Some recent podcasts and videos worth your time (IMHO) First up, a Google hang-out with Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote and Loic Le Meur, organizer of the Le Web conferences (Phil will be a guest at the London Le Web conference this summer). Le Web Interview with Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote Here is his answer to the question, ‘what does it take to work for Evernote’:  “When we find people that are passionate about something, that are infatuated with something, that have mastery of that field, and that have an infectious way of communicating their passion, that’s the magic … Continue reading For your weekend listening (and viewing) pleasure…

The end of the line for Blackboard

The Blackboard leaning management system will be shut down permanently on June 29, 2012.   Please save any materials you have on Blackboard that you would like to retain.  ITS has archived all the courses and organizations  on Blackboard and can assist with transferring your materials to Moodle, the new learning management system. [updated 6/22/12 to include information on the Honor Exams archive] Is Blackboard really going away?  Yes, our Blackboard license expires at the end of June 2012 and the system will be shut down and totally unavailable. How can I save my Blackboard materials?  Use the “Export” feature in Blackboard to save … Continue reading The end of the line for Blackboard

Think you’re not being stalked on the Internet?

Do you accept a lack of privacy as the price for being on the Internet? For being connected to everything, everywhere? Think you have a good idea of what sites are tracking your browsing behavior? You might want to check out the recent TED talk by Gary Kovacs, CEO of Mozilla (developers of Firefox).  The video is only six minutes long and Gary succinctly describes the privacy infringements we all face daily. Continue reading Think you’re not being stalked on the Internet?