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Educause Proposal Reviewer for 2015 Conferences

By • On • In Presentations, Volunteering

As a member of Educause, Alma had the opportunity to review proposals for the 2015 Conferences planned for San Diego, Atlanta, and San Antonio. She reviewed ten proposals for the San Antonio conference April 22 – 24, 2015.

Reading the proposals provided insight about hot topics within higher education and technology as well as details regarding conference programming as it functions on a large scale for a nationwide organization. The chief takeaways were the manner of descriptive criteria that were included in the proposal feedback system, and the various formats that were available for topics which did not lend themselves to traditional presentations.

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Digital Media Services Student Advisor Training

By • On • In Instruction and Curriculum Development, Presentations, Teams and Groups

In order to train the 30 to 50 students who work within Digital Media Services, the team of five permanent staff use a two-pronged approach with both online and in-person training. The in-person training can only happen once each year based on the needs of the University, but online training is accessible throughout the year, except when it is updated at the end of each summer.

This year, the team of supervisors elected expanded the breadth of the online training (created in Articulate Studio 13) and allow the depth of training to take place in the in-person training days in August and in training activities throughout the semester.

Alma was in charge of adding new information on student services, emergency procedures, as well as a comprehensive picture of where their position impacts the University and its departments as a whole. Alma researched these areas, collaborated with the team on what was worthwhile to include and assembled the information using engagements, videos, narration and quizzes. Alma also scripted, produced and edited a comprehensive set of situational videos and engagements illustrating positive customer service.

During our in person training Alma designed several activities for students to do which tied to the topics that were added to online training. These topics ranged from watching and discussing the FBI Active Shooter video, role playing customer service scenarios, and collaborative communication/storytelling games.

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6th Floor Studios Blog

By • On • In 6th Floor Studios, Presentations, Self-Teaching

Alma always looks for opportunities to share information, from articles she has read to tips that she’s cultivated. Alma created the 6th Floor Studios to provide an outlet for that expression, with the added intent to gather creative individuals and provide them a similar platform. Showcase and Reading Lists will highlight the work and interests of that team.

Continue Reading →

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iPads and Mobile Computing in Education

By • On • In Instruction and Curriculum Development, Presentations, Teams and Groups

This presentation has gone through three incarnations, and each of the three has been a different experience.

There are two programs at Loyola University Chicago that involve iPads or other tablets being issued to students, specifically for course work. All told, Alma has prepared and delivered five such presentations and developed an in-depth online training and support resource for anyone interested in using a tablet or mobile device in their courses.

Continue Reading →

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Sustaining Productivity Presentation at LUC Tech Day 2014

By • On • In Presentations, Self-Teaching

Using Evernote to embrace digital notetaking

There are a myriad of notetaking solutions available now, but Alma found Evernote first. Alma presented about Evernote and how it shortens the time between scribble and recycle. She can digitize, photograph, clip, crop, speak-to-text and embed with Evernote to save just about anything she needs to take note of. Then once the note is in the cloud, it can be organized by notebooks and tags. Alma can search the full text or OCR and even set a reminder. All of the above in any combination or permutation needed to get things done.

View the complete presentation from TechDay here (link uses Adobe Connect).

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CCUMC Presentation- Computer Labs: Typing to Digital Media Powerhouses

By • On • In Presentations, Teams and Groups

Alma presented this with her Digital Media Services colleagues at the CCUMC (Consortium of College and University Media Centers) Conference in Oak Brook, Illinois in October 2013.

The presentation focuses on the evolution of on-campus computer labs throughout the past decades, from the time when personal computers were prohibitively expensive and dial-up internet created issues for family houses to now. The ubiquity of mobile computing and cloud software has placed a very different set of demands on computing spaces, including fast access to printing or kiosks, high-power creative and statistical software, and access to protected databases.

The presentation is available for review here.

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Video Short Courses

By • On • In Instruction and Curriculum Development, Presentations

The series of video production short courses Alma developed for Loyola University Chicago included basic concepts in three different areas: preparation, production software, and special effects.

The workshop on preparation includes the different styles of pre-production documents, breaking them down and including what special needs they meet depending on workflow. Alma’s presentation on production software, or the Non-Linear Editor, is a mixture of background knowledge and workflow. This ties closely to Alma’s educational values, she has always felt that knowing why something is the way it is factors largely in how it is understood. The last presentation, on the Green Screen special effect covers how the effect works, and how it can be used.

With the increased access to high caliber video production tools, these presentations were supposed to entice the Loyola community to use video, and teach a little more about why things work (or don’t work) the way they do.

For more details on the specific topics of these presentations:

Continue Reading →

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Photoshop Short Courses

By • On • In Instruction and Curriculum Development, Presentations, Projects

One of the series of short courses Alma developed, as Digital Media Specialist at Loyola University Chicago was on Adobe Photoshop. The courses covered topics from Adobe’s desire to eradicate the use of “photoshop” as a verb and common photo retouching actions as well as some tools for photo manipulation. Some of the features that were highlighted are:

  • Content Aware Fill
  • Adjustment Layers and Masks
  • Dodge and Burn Tools
  • Puppet Warp
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DMS Short Courses

By • On • In Instruction and Curriculum Development, Presentations, Projects, Teams and Groups

In an effort to promote Digital Media Services support services and wider use of digital media on campus, Alma and one of her colleagues developed an structure to deliver short courses in six different tracks. These tracks included Computer Solutions, Web Apps, Media Theory, and Mobile Computing as well as a track that focuses on equipment and software available through Digital Media Services and a Contest Track.

The tracks were developed to tie course topics together and enable students to become “certified” in an area, with the exception of the contest track. The contest track intended to tie together short courses that would benefit students interested in entering one of the planned monthly contests.

All short courses were developed to be 60 minutes long and be conducted within the Digital Media Lab at one of Loyola University Chicago’s Lakeside campuses. Continue Reading →

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Oakton Community College Tutor Training Development

By • On • In Instruction and Curriculum Development, Presentations, Teams and Groups

In developing annual tutor training with her colleagues, Alma sought out different resources and even non-academic approaches for inspiration. Many tutors in attendance would have had multiple years of training, so adding some variety to the training repertoire would be worthwhile.

Tutors must build a rapport and constantly read the comprehension level of those they’re working with. Comics must, similarly, know and adapt to their audiences while maintaining a quality of performance. Why not apply some advice from stand-up-comedians to tutoring situations?

Some topics may include: Continue Reading →

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