Date:         Mon, 18 Jul 2005 16:22:37 -0400
Reply-To: Linda Nilson 
Sender: Clemson University Faculty 
From: Linda Nilson 
Subject: MessageGrid Tutorial, Updates Session, and Symposium
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To: CU_FACULTY-L@CLEMSON.EDU

OTEI is pleased to sponsor three consecutive, one-hour sessions on
MessageGrid, a powerful new piece of instructional software developed by
our own Roy P. Pargas, Associate Professor of Computer Science, with the
help of a few of his best students.  Please see the brief description of
the software below.

Quite a number of faculty in varied disciplines used MessageGrid in their
2004-05 and summer courses to increase student activity and interaction,
both synchronous or asynchronous--among them: Clementina Adams (Languages),
Jeffrey Appling (Chemistry), Eddie Kaiser (Applied Economics and
Statistics), Elisa Sparks (English), Andrew Levin (Performing Arts), Nancy
Meehan (Nursing), and Ben Stephens (Psychology). The last three faculty
presented their applications at the January 2005 MessageGrid Symposium, and
the others will present their uses at this event.  Feel free to ask any of
these faculty about their experience with the software.

Once you are familiar with MessageGrid, you may use it at no cost any time
during this academic year, as long as you agree to give Roy feedback on how
you're using it and how it can be improved.  It works well for any subject
matter and in almost any type of course: laptop, distance-education, or
traditional-classroom with a smart podium.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 2005 in 117C McADAMS HALL (in the new section of the
building)
Each workshop or demonstration below is independent and requires separate
enrollment (each limited to 40 participants).
If you have your own laptop, please bring it.  If not, the room has 16
computer workstations available.

9:00-10:00 a.m. -  MessageGrid Tutorial for New Users.  Roy Pargas will
conduct this hands-on, beginning workshop.

10:00-11:00 a.m. -  MessageGrid Updates Session for Tutorial Grads and
Experienced Users.  Roy will demonstrate the newest features (anonymous
submissions option, private submissions option, and clicker tools) while
you participate as a student.

11:00 a.m.-Noon  -  MessageGrid User Presentations.  MessageGrid faculty
Clementina Adams (Languages), Jeffrey Appling (Chemistry), Eddie Kaiser
(Applied Economics and Statistics), and Elisa Sparks (English) will share
how they have used the software in their classes and how students have
responded.  We hope that the simplicity and creativity of these
applications will inspire you to devise still more ways to enhance student
learning with this unique software.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TO REGISTER for ANY OF THESE SESSIONS:  Go to
http://ets.clemson.edu/faculty or
http://dprod6.clemson.edu/clereg/CourseListingUpcoming.asp and click on the
session(s) you wish to attend (same procedure to drop).  Your enrollment
will be confirmed automatically.


ABOUT MESSAGEGRID:  This software facilitates any class activity in which
individual students or teams input responses that the class needs to view
in their entirety.  The activity may occur in class or out of class,
synchronously or asynchronously, and in almost any type of course: laptop,
distance-education, or traditional-classroom (with a smart podium).  The
input may be in alpha or numeric "text" form -- e.g., contributions to a
discussion, answers to recitation answers, solutions to problems, or data
to be merged -- or may be images, movies, audio files, hyperlinks, word or
pdf documents, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, swf animations, or
any other type of file that a browser can display.

Unlike a discussion board, this MessageGrid can display all the student
responses at the same time in a grid, table, or chart, allowing comparisons
among and mergers of entries.  (In the newest version, the instructor also
has the option to keep student submissions anonymous or private.)  It also
allows the instructor to add to (critique, correct, elaborate, etc.) the
posted responses, making the saved product suitable for students to study
later.

The development of this software has been supported by a Faculty Fellowship
from the ETS-OTEI Laptop Faculty Development Program and a 2003 Content and
Curriculum Development Grant from the Microsoft Corporation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Linda B. Nilson, Ph.D.
Director, Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation
445 Brackett Hall, Clemson University
Clemson, SC 29634
Voice: (864) 656-4542   ^^^   FAX: 864-656-0750
nilson@clemson.edu   ^^^   www.clemson.edu/OTEI
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~