News & Updates | Announcements

ANNOUNCEMENTS | February 7, 2012

Versatile Developer Sings at Music Hum Class

CCNMTL developer Eddie Rubeiz is multi-talented. Besides being a coder on numerous CCNMTL custom environments, Eddie is also an accomplished singer. This past Friday, Eddie joined three other singers to perform Josquin des Prez's Ave Maria, a long-time staple of the Music Humanities course, in Professor Brad Garton's section. Eddie is scheduled to sing at three other sections this week.

Eddie is part of Collegium Musicum, a choral ensemble consisting of Columbia students, faculty, staff, and others in the University community and directed by Mahir Cetiz, a doctoral candidate in composition. Collegium Musicum aims to bring live music into the classroom of Music Humanities, a course required of all undergraduates as part of Columbia’s Core Curriculum.

Ave Maria is also used to illustrate the imitative polyphony entry in Columbia’s Sonic Glossary. The entry provides a digital counterpart to Collegium Musicum’s live example, and includes a sound clip of Ave Maria with an illustration of the four voice parts. While this particular clip doesn’t feature Eddie’s voice, individuals walking through Dodge Hall this week may be able to catch him singing the tenor or bass parts in glorious polyphony.

Audio: Josquin de Prez, Ave Maria, Virgo Serena, stanza 1, excerpt.

ANNOUNCEMENTS | February 1, 2012

John Zimmerman Retires, Led CCNMTL CUMC Office

Dr. John Zimmerman, assistant director at CCNMTL, retired from the University on January 31, 2012. John was a key member of the CCNMTL staff and the cornerstone of the Center’s work on Columbia University's Medical Center Campus since the founding of the Center’s satellite office there in 2000.

John's many roles, including serving as associate dean at the College of Dental Medicine, gave him unique insights into the needs of the CUMC schools in the teaching and learning arena. John served on numerous related committees and was an important catalyst and advisor for curriculum enhancements at all schools. Most recently, his critical involvement in the transition to New CourseWorks (Sakai), the University's learning management system, ensured a successful migration.

Michelle Hall, CCNMTL senior educational technologist, has assumed interim oversight of the CUMC office. Her many years of experience at the uptown campus will ensure a smooth transition.

Though we will miss having John's sage input, the Center’s staff wishes John much success with his new endeavors.

ANNOUNCEMENTS | January 20, 2012

Updated Version of Mediathread Released

CCNMTL has released an updated version of Mediathread, the Center’s innovative, open-source platform for exploration, analysis, and organization of multimedia content.

Improvements in this release include:

Direct video uploading: Columbia University students, instructors, and staff can now upload video to Mediathread directly from their personal computer.
Bookmarklet compatibility with Vimeo and Kaltura: The Mediathread bookmarklet, which allows users to easily import media from online collections into Mediathread for analysis, is now compatible with Vimeo and Kaltura video collections.
Improved design: The Instructor Dashboard has a more organized look and simplifies course configuration. In addition, instructors can now select which sites or archives - such as YouTube or ARTstor - to set as sources.
Improved multi-course functionality: It’s now easier for users in more than one Mediathread course to switch between courses.
Help when you need it: Features in the site are accompanied by information that can be hidden and revealed as needed. In addition, Mediathread’s Help page is now connected to CCNMTL’s growing Knowledge Base.

The code for Mediathread is publicly available, and the platform is being installed at higher education institutions such as MIT, Wesleyan University, The New School, and Georgia Tech.

Columbia University instructors can get started with Mediathread by sending an email to ccnmtl-mediathread@columbia.edu.

ANNOUNCEMENTS | January 6, 2012

Faculty Workshops for January 2012

Start off the new year by sprucing up your course with educational technology! CCNMTL has Faculty Development Workshops throughout January on simple yet powerful teaching tools.

Take advantage of faster, more powerful course management with New CourseWorks.
Promote student collaboration and critical analysis with a wiki or blog.
Bring video and image analysis to a higher level with Mediathread.
Discover new ways to make presentations engaging in and outside the classroom.

All workshops are led by CCNMTL educational technologists and are held in the CCNMTL Faculty Support Lab in Butler Library, Room 204.

Click the links below to see workshop descriptions and to register.

New CourseWorks (Sakai): Getting Started
Tuesday, January 10, 2012, 12:00pm - 1:15pm
Wednesday, January 11, 2012, 12:00pm - 1:15pm
Thursday, January 12, 2012, 12:00pm - 1:15pm
Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 12:00pm - 1:15pm
Wednesday, January 18, 2012, 12:00pm 1:15pm
Thursday, January 19, 2012, 12:00pm - 1:15pm
Friday, January 20, 2012, 12:00pm - 1:15pm

New CourseWorks (Sakai): Advanced
Wednesday, January 11, 2012, 1:30pm - 2:45pm
Wednesday, January 18, 2012, 1:30pm - 2:45pm
Thursday, January 19, 2012, 1:30pm - 2:45pm

PowerPoint and Beyond: New Ways of Looking at Educational Presentations
Thursday, January 12, 2012, 3:00pm - 4:15pm

Presentations: Hands-on with VoiceThread
Friday, January 20, 2012, 3:00pm - 4:15pm

Video and Image Analysis with Mediathread
Wednesday, January 11, 2012, 3:30pm - 4:45pm

EdBlogs: Getting Started
Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 1:30pm - 2:45pm

Wikispaces: Getting Started
Tuesday, January 10, 2012, 2:00pm - 3:15pm
Wednesday, January 18, 2012, 3:00pm - 4:15pm

Wikispaces: Advanced
Tuesday, January 10, 2012, 3:30pm - 4:45pm

ANNOUNCEMENTS | December 30, 2011

Video Tutorials For New CourseWorks Available On YouTube

Instructors can now learn the essentials of New CourseWorks with a series of short video tutorials hosted on CCNMTL’s YouTube channel. The videos are one to two minutes long each and offer a convenient way for instructors to learn to use the new version of the course management tool.

Ten videos have been released so far, covering topics such as migrating content from the original CourseWorks system and using the Calendar tool. A screencast of a full "New CourseWorks Getting Started" workshop is also available.

CCNMTL will add more video tutorials to YouTube over the next several months. Follow CCNMTL's Twitter feed for updates.

Faculty and teaching assistants can also learn to use New CourseWorks at one of CCNMTL's hands-on workshops.

Watch New CourseWorks video tutorials:

ANNOUNCEMENTS | December 30, 2011

New CourseWorks Upgrade Adds Features, Improves Interface

On December 29, 2011 CUIT upgraded the New CourseWorks system to Sakai version 2.8. The upgrade adds a number of new features and interface improvements, including a "My Courses" page to consolidate information for easy access to content, customizable Quick Links, and a full-featured Profile tool.

Several other new tools have been added to the system and can be enabled via an email request to the New CourseWorks team. These tools include:

Guest Access - for granting limited access to non-UNI holders
Lesson Builder - a tool to coordinate and deliver content and tools within Sakai in a distance education context
Sign Up - a mechanism to allow students to sign up for office hours or other events
Gradebook 2 - a new interface to improve the current Gradebook tool

Sakai is a constantly growing and improving system, and new features and tools will be added on an ongoing basis. Stay tuned to CCNMTL's website and Twitter feed for updates.

ANNOUNCEMENTS | December 19, 2011

Remembering Havel

CCNMTL mourns the passing of Václav Havel (1936-2011), former Czech president and artist. Columbia University hosted Havel for a seven-week residency in 2006. CCNMTL, in partnership with the Columbia University Arts Initiative, released the Havel at Columbia site to support his visit to the campus. This multimedia resource contains a wide range of material about Havel's life and art, including a timeline of events, slideshows, a glossary, and archival films.

Havel at Columbia also features video interviews with a range of scholars and friends of Václav Havel, including Lisa Anderson, George Soros, Brad Abrams, and Chris Harwood, who contribute their insights into his legacy as an artist and political leader. Video recordings of the many lectures, performances, and presentations that took place throughout Havel's residency at Columbia are available to view online and downloadable as podcasts.

ANNOUNCEMENTS | December 15, 2011

iTunes U Features Frontiers of Science Videos

Apple's iTunes U is featuring the Frontiers of Science video collections from the Columbia University iTunes U channel. These videos present lectures from Columbia's innovative core course, Frontiers of Science, and cover topics in neuroscience, astronomy, biodiversity, and earth science.

The videos were produced as part of the Frontiers of Science Public Repository, a resource that makes lectures, additional media, activities, problem sets, seminar guides, and other educational materials available to instructors for free. Columbia professors Darcy Kelley and David Helfand spearheaded the effort to create the repository, and CCNMTL developed the website.

ANNOUNCEMENTS | December 14, 2011

Faculty Lab Winter Break Schedule

CCNMTL's Faculty Support Lab in 204 Butler Library will be open through December 22 for normal hours, 9:00am-5:00pm. The lab will have the following schedule over the 2011-2012 winter break:

Friday, 12/23/11 9:00am-3:00pm
Monday, 12/26/11 - Friday, 12/30/11 CLOSED
Monday, 1/2/12 CLOSED
Tuesday, 1/3/12 CLOSED

The normal lab schedule resumes Wednesday, January 4, 2012.

Faculty can contact the Faculty Support Lab for information or to set up an individual consultation with an educational technologist at ccnmtl@columbia.edu or 212.854.9058.

ANNOUNCEMENTS | December 7, 2011

Inclusive Classrooms Project Launched

Educators at Teachers College, Columbia University celebrated the launch of the Inclusive Classrooms Project website designed to help K-12 educators in New York City make their curriculum more accessible for all students.

Celia Oyler and Britt Hamre, professors at Teachers College, recruited New York City school teachers to discuss their experiences making classrooms more inclusive and to develop content for the site. The website features their first-person stories and information for other teachers on topics such as culturally relevant curriculum and using technology to assist children with disabilities. The Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning partnered with the professors to develop the project.

The website includes downloadable lesson plans, videos of materials in use, recommended reading, and interactive multimedia “posters” created with the web-based tool Glogster.

Teachers College hosted a reception in honor of the website going public on December 2, 2011. Educators, Teachers College students, and staff who worked on the project attended the event, as did Laura Rodriguez, Chief Achievement Officer for Special Education and English Language Learners at the NYC Department of Education and a member of the Citywide Council on Special Education.

The project is part of a Phase One 2010-2011 Special Education Reform strategic partnership between the Teachers College Inclusive Classroom Project (TCICP) and the NYC Department of Education.

ANNOUNCEMENTS | December 1, 2011

CCNMTL Spotlights HIV Projects for World AIDS Day

December 1 is World AIDS Day. CCNMTL is currently working on three projects focused on HIV prevention and treatment: Masivukeni, Multimedia WORTH, and Multimedia Connect.

Masivukeni is a counselor support tool for delivering an HIV-treatment adherence intervention in clinics in South Africa. It is a collaboration between Dr. Robert Remien, a research scientist at the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, and CCNMTL. More about this project...

Multimedia WORTH is a computer-supported HIV prevention intervention for groups of drug-involved women who are on parole or in alternative to incarceration programs in New York. WORTH is a collaboration between the Columbia School of Social Work's Social Intervention Group (SIG) and CCNMTL. More about this project...

Multimedia Connect is a a computer-supported HIV prevention intervention for couples at risk for HIV developed by the Columbia School of Social Work's Social Intervention Group (SIG) and CCNMTL. The multimedia intervention provides supplemental facilitator training and support materials and participant activities. More about this project...

ANNOUNCEMENTS | October 27, 2011

Film Screening: REBIRTH

The Columbia community is invited to attend a special screening of the critically acclaimed film REBIRTH scheduled for Thursday, October 27, 2011 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in the Joyce Berger Cowin Auditorium at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Frank Moretti, TC Professor of Communication & Education, Executive Director, Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning, and member of the Project Rebirth board of directors along with TC alumna Dr. Donna Gaffney of Project Rebirth will introduce the film.

Film Screening: REBIRTH
Date & Time: Thursday, October 27, 2011, 6:00p - 8:00p
Location: Cowin Auditorium, 147 Horace Mann Hall, TC
Contact: Marlena Schroeder, x4198, schroeder@tc.columbia.edu

About the Film
Project Rebirth's film, REBIRTH, is a full-length documentary by award-winning director and producer Jim Whitaker, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011. From early 2002 through 2009, the REBIRTH film crew chronicled the lives of five people directly affected by 9/11. The participants include a survivor from an impact floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center (WTC); a firefighter who survived the collapse of the WTC but lost his best friend; a high school student who lost his mother; a young woman who lost her fiancé; and a construction worker who lost his brother, assisted with recovery efforts, and is presently helping to build the Freedom Tower. Their narratives are the thread of recovery and resiliency from grief, loss and trauma that comprise the unique message of the film.

Below are links to the Project Rebirth organization website, the film trailer, and a special guide for educators.

ANNOUNCEMENTS | October 25, 2011

The Cordial at Monell Library, October 27th

Columbia faculty and instructors are invited to the upcoming The Cordial at the Libraries on Thursday, October 27th, 2011 at 5:00pm.

The Cordial at the Libraries is a happy hour where faculty and instructors are invited to meet and mingle with informational professionals from the Libraries, CCNMTL, and CDRS over wine and cheese. The Cordial is hosted at different libraries throughout the year, giving Columbia teaching staff a fun way to explore Columbia’s libraries and information services.

The next Cordial is on Thursday, October 27, in the Engineering Library, located on the 4th floor of the Mudd building. The Cordial will be celebrating Open Access Week. Staff will be on hand to assist and educate faculty about Academic Commons, Columbia's digital repository. Depositing research into Academic Commons can make your scholarship more visible.

Thursday, October 27, 2011
5:00pm - 6:00pm
Monell Engineering Library
422 S.W. Mudd
500 W 120th Street
Please RSVP at http://bit.ly/cordialoct (UNI required)

Visit the Cordial at the Libraries website for a complete list of upcoming events.

ANNOUNCEMENTS | October 18, 2011

New CourseWorks Transition at CUMC Off to a Great Start

The transition to New CourseWorks (Sakai) was accelerated this fall at the CUMC. The goal was to convert the remaining CUMC courses to the new platform. To date, much of this goal has been accomplished. The transition received excellent support from faculty and from the leadership at the Medical Center. Likewise, CUIT was responsive by making improvements to the infrastructure to handle the additional load and by releasing migration tools to simplify the moving of existing content.

An important component of the transition was insuring that faculty were adequately trained on the new system. The CCNMTL CUMC staff held 21 workshops over the summer attended by over 180 instructors and TAs. Additionally, 30 other instructors opted for one-on-one consultations. These hands-on workshops covered the basics of course management. Faculty learned how to navigate New CourseWorks, add syllabi and course materials, manage student assignments, and utilize the communication features in the system. During the 90-minute workshops, faculty used their course sites to practice during the hands-on components. Many faculty left the workshop with fully-functioning course sites. The cooperation from the schools' leadership was integral in insuring success by setting school-wide migration deadlines and effective communication mechanisms. As a result, the workshops were heavily attended and the semester has been without any major hiccups.

With the semester rolling along, mid-semester workshops have been scheduled for faculty needing a refresher and for those looking to learn about assessment tools within New CourseWorks.

ANNOUNCEMENTS | October 11, 2011

Mid-semester Morningside Faculty Workshops

CCNMTL is offering several mid-semester workshops for Morningside faculty and instructors who wish to take a refresher or get a head start for the spring 2012. It is also the perfect time to learn more about the assessment and grading tools in New Courseworks.

New CourseWorks (Sakai): Getting Started
New CourseWorks transition has started for several departments and schools. Even if your department isn't switching over yet, you may wish to explore making the move early. This workshop will introduce the basics of the system and explain how to configure and maintain your course site.
Monday, October 17, 2011 from 11:00 am to 12:15 pm | Details | Register
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 from 2:00 pm to 3:15 pm | Details | Register
Thursday, October 20, 2011 from 11:00 am to 12:15 pm | Details | Register

New CourseWorks (Sakai): Advanced
This advanced workshop will explore communication and assessment tools in New Courseworks, including the Discussion Board, Test & Quiz, Assignments and Gradebook features. You'll also learn how to integrate these tools with other components of the system.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 from 3:30 pm to 4:45 pm | Details | Register

Wikispaces: Getting Started (Part I)
This workshop provides an introduction to wikis, how they can be useful in the classroom, and how to create one using Columbia Wikispaces. Topics include formatting text, adding media, creating pages and links, and site management.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 from 10:00 am to 11:15 am | Details | Register

Wikispaces: Advanced (Part II)
Prerequisite: Wikispaces: Getting Started. This workshops explores advanced features of the Columbia Wikispaces platform, including advance uses of the text editor, implementing RSS feeds and templates, and making use of widgets.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011 from 11:30 am to 12:45 pm | Details | Register

Beyond PowerPoint: New Ways of Looking at Educational Presentations
This workshop looks at how effective digital presentations can be created using a combination of cognitive principles, design methods, and Web 2.0 technologies.
Thursday, October 20, 2011 from 2:00 pm to 3:15 pm | Details | Register

Visit http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/events to register for any of these workshops. If your department is interested in having its own workshop covering these or related topics, please email ccnmtl-workshops@columbia.edu.

ANNOUNCEMENTS | October 4, 2011

Recapping The 2011 Summer Institute For Teaching and Learning

In late July, the Glenda Garvey Teaching Academy and CCNMTL sponsored the fourth annual Summer Institute for Teaching and Learning—a day-long invitational workshop designed to help new CUMC teaching faculty develop their skills as educators, learn about interactive teaching techniques, and collaborate with other faculty across Columbia's health sciences campus.

Members of GGTA Educator Development Initiative and CCNMTL educational technologists led this year’s 22 Summer Institute fellows in the exploration of teaching topics, such as adult learning principles, enhancing small group learning, new ways of presenting and assessing course materials online, and new media in education.

Workshop leaders remarked that this was the best year so far. This sentiment was shared by the Summer Institute fellows, reporting that they felt the event was "excellent." The following are typical of the comments received after the event: “I was surprised by the open-endedness of the information. It was nice to be challenged to think and observe my teaching skills.” “...spread the word! It’s a great program and really so many faculty members should attend.”

For more information on the Summer Institute contact the Glenda Garvey Teaching Academy.

ANNOUNCEMENTS | September 29, 2011

Mid-semester CUMC Faculty Workshops

As midterm approaches, now is a perfect time to learn more about the assessment and grading tools in New Courseworks. Come to one of the upcoming New Courseworks (Sakai): Advanced workshops to learn how to manage your student assessments and grading. If you are an instructor who will be migrating to New Courseworks in spring 2012, get a head start with the New Courseworks (Sakai): Getting Started workshop.

These hands-on workshops will be held between October 4th and October 13th. All workshops are led by CCNMTL educational technologists and are held in Hammer Library Room 202A.

New Courseworks (Sakai): Getting Started
For instructors interested in learning how to use the Sakai-based course management system, New Courseworks, this workshop will introduce the basics of the system and explain how to configure and maintain your course site.

Wed, October 5th, 3:00 pm - 4:15 pm, HSC 202A | Details | Register
Tue, October 11th, 11:00 am - 12:15 pm, HSC 202A | Details | Register

New Courseworks (Sakai): Assessment and Grading
For instructors interested in learning how to create, administer, and grade online papers, quizzes and tests in New CourseWorks, this workshop will cover the Assignments, Test & Quiz, and Gradebook tools.

Tue, October 4th, 11:00 am - 12:15 pm, HSC 202A | Details | Register
Thu, October 13th, 3:00 pm - 4:15 pm, HSC 202A | Details | Register

Note: Morningside Campus mid-semester CourseWorks workshops will be announced soon.

ANNOUNCEMENTS | September 20, 2011

Fall 2011 Version of Mediathread Released

The Fall 2011 release of Mediathread, CCNMTL's open-source multimedia study platform, is now live. This release incorporates a number of UI improvements based on a round of user surveys this summer, including:

Nomenclature normalized: students now import 'items' via the bookmarklet from online 'sources' designated by instructors. Students annotate 'selections' of these items. Mediathread then stores these annotated selections in 'collections,' where they can be accessed by all members of the class and embedded into multimedia 'compositions.'
Comprehensive dashboard: a redesign of the Mediathread home page so that all components and activities in Mediathread are available directly from the home page.
Improved item annotation interface: clipping, drawing, tagging, and appending notes onto individual images and videos in Mediathread are smoother activities.
Annotations discovery: annotations posted by other class members are now easier to find and access when analyzing individual items.

Besides these major changes, we continue to make minor adjustments to improve user and course administration and reduce load times.

A number of courses this fall are using Mediathread, including:

Oral History: Method and Theory (Mary Marshall Clark, Center for Oral History)
The Idea of the Western Hemisphere (Seth Fein, History)
Why No Great Women Artists? (Prudence Peiffer, Art History)
Northern Nudes (Stephanie Porras, Art History)
TV and Film in Tibet and Inner Asia (Robbie Barnett, Weatherhead East Asian Institute)
Multimedia Blake (Mark Phillipson, English)
History of Epidemiology (Alfredo Moriabia, Mailman School of Public Health)
Historiography (Jane Gaines, SOA)
Social Work Commons instructor analysis site (Ann McCann Oakley lead, School of Social Work)

If you are interested in learning more about Mediathread, start with the project information page. You can also send email to ccnmtl-mediathread@columbia.edu to arrange for a demonstration.

ANNOUNCEMENTS | September 20, 2011

Public Health Learning Grant Received

The Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, has awarded $2.6 million to Mailman School of Public Health Associate Clinical Professor of Sociomedical Sciences Marita Murrman. The project will provide training to public health employees in New York City and Westchester County.

CCNMTL will receive approximately $480,000 of these funds over four years starting September 2011. CCNMTL will

create a website to register and track users;
work with MSPH to create an online and blended learning training programs for which participants will receive Columbia University Continuing Education credit;
move the existing training catalog database of public health training programs that can be searched by various criteria to the new website; and
potentially be involved in faculty and student collaborative projects.

This project will be a part of CCNMTL's Global and Online Learning Initiative.

ANNOUNCEMENTS | September 9, 2011

CCNMTL Adopts UserVoice Knowledge Base System

CCNMTL has adopted UserVoice.com's knowledge base system. This selection comes after a lengthy search for an online helpdesk, knowledge base, and feedback systems that integrate well with the services CCNMTL supports. We wanted a tool that promotes self-help and is user-friendly with a simple interface.

The knowledge base can be accessed by using the "Ask a question..." floating tab, similar to the one adjacent to this article. This tab appears on numerous web pages include the CCNMTL home page.

The "Ask a question..." tab will open a two-part panel. (See image below or select the floating tab to see the actual panel.) Enter your question in the box labeled "Message question." As you enter the question, the system selects similar questions and answers from the knowledge base. Select any article likely to answer your question. If one does answer your question, mark it useful using the button at the bottom of the article. If none answer your question, enter additional information, your email address, and then select the "Send Message" button.

Your question will enter the system and if it is a new question of a general nature, it will be used to create a new article that will be added to the knowledge base. If a response already exists, that information will be forwarded to your email box.

The knowledge base can also be accessed directly by visiting http://support.ccnmtl.columbia.edu. Additionally, all articles are searchable via the search box on the banner of most CCNMTL web pages.

The articles in the knowledge base will be repurposed to provide dynamic FAQs for each service on the CCNMTL website and related pages. For example, the most useful Wikispaces @ Columbia articles are automatically published to the corresponding FAQ page on the CCNMTL website.

As of this writing, the knowledge base has less than 200 articles, but CCNMTL staff will be adding many more over the next few months and we welcome your questions to help us add more.

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