Tag: Zoom

Accessibility at Langara College

Empowering Accessibility: Register to Join Our Upcoming Workshops

Briana Fraser

EdTech is excited to announce a series of upcoming workshops dedicated to improving the accessibility of Microsoft Word documents and PowerPoint presentations.

Why Accessibility Matters

In today’s digital age, ensuring that everyone, regardless of their abilities, can access and understand information is crucial. This is where accessibility comes in. It’s about making sure that everyone has equal access to information and functionality.

What Our Workshops Offer

Our workshops are designed to provide you with the tools and knowledge to create accessible Word documents and PowerPoint presentations. We believe that with a little effort and the right guidance, we can make a significant difference in making information more accessible to all.

Who Should Attend

These workshops are for everyone! Whether you’re a content creator, an educator, or just someone looking to learn, these workshops are for you. No prior experience is required.

Let’s Make a Difference Together

By participating in these workshops, not only will you enhance your skills, but you’ll also contribute to a more inclusive and accessible digital world. So why wait? Join us to learn how to make information accessible to all.

Learning Lab: Create an Accessible Word Document

Date: January 19

Time: 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Location: C202

How to Create Accessible PowerPoint Slide Presentations

Date: January 26

Time: 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Location: Zoom

Learning Lab: Improve the Accessibility of Existing PowerPoint Slides

Date: February 16

Time: 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Location: C202

Learning Lab: Improve the Accessibility of Existing PowerPoint Slides Drop-In

Date: February 20

Time: 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Location: C203

Learning Lab: Create an Accessible Word Document

Date: April 5

Time: 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Location: C202

New – Zoom Lifecycle Policy

Mirabelle Tinio
Decorative

What is it?

Beginning in May, 2023, Zoom users will be required to have a minimum version of Zoom in order to join meetings.

Why update Zoom?

Updating Zoom will ensure users have access to the latest safety, functionality, and compatibility features. If users run an end-of-life version of Zoom, they will be prompted to update it or join the meeting from the Web browser.

How often do I have to update Zoom?

This update will be required every three months.

Please note: Langara IT’s version of Zoom will always be an older version than the Zoom version downloaded through personal computers and devices.

How do I update Zoom?

On Langara-Issued Computers and Devices

On a PC, log in to your computer and click the Start button .

Type “Software Center.” Select Updates to check for updates and download and install them if they are available.


On a Mac, open the Langara College Self Service application from your Applications folder or search for “Self Service.”

Find the Zoom app by typing “Zoom” in the browser or scrolling to the end of the list. Click Install to upgrade Zoom.

On Personal Computers and Devices

To update Zoom on your personal computer, or for devices on which you downloaded Zoom from the Web, open the Zoom Desktop Client or mobile app. Sign in and click on your profile picture, then select Check for Updates. When an update is available, Zoom will download and install the new version.

For more information, please refer to the Zoom Software Quarterly Lifecycle Policy.

ETUG Spring Workshop 2023

Briana Fraser

The Educational Technology Users Group (ETUG) is a community of BC post-secondary educators focused on the ways in which learning and teaching can be enhanced through technology. ETUG’s mission is to support and nurture a vibrant, innovative, evolving, and supportive community that thrives with the collegial sharing of ideas, resources, and ongoing professional development through face-to-face workshops and online activities.

Spring Workshop

This two-day online and in-person workshop will showcase how instructors, education developers, and education technologists are approaching design. For example, we’ll explore how digital literacy, inclusive technology, and AI could be “baked” into courses and how instructors are supported in making design decisions around technology. We’ll also consider the ongoing communication and capacity-building at institutions around digital literacy, accessibility, and AI, such as how teaching and learning centres and libraries get the word out to instructors and students about new approaches and resources.

Join ETUG online in Zoom or in-person at Kwantlen Polytechnic University Lansdowne Road Campus in Richmond, B.C. for this 2-day hybrid event, sponsored by BCcampus.

  • Day 1: June 1, 2023: 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM Pacific Time
  • Day 2: June 2, 2023: 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM Pacific Time

Workshop Rates: 2-day Registration Only

  • Early Bird In-Person: $175 CAD + 5% GST (ends April 29 at 11:59 PM)
  • Regular Rate In-Person: $200 CAD + 5% GST
  • Online: $150 CAD + 5% GST
  • Students: Free

Childcare

Attending an event sometimes means choosing professional development at the expense of spending time with family, but for large, multi-day events hosted by BCcampus, participants do not have to choose one over the other. Please let us know when you register if you will require childcare. You can read more about our childcare program and provider here Childcare Program Information

In order to secure nannies in time, our childcare registration cut-off date is May 15, 2023. 

Registration

Register online to attend the ETUG Spring Workshop

 

five cartoon figures underneath a cloud that reads Kaltura MediaSpace

De-clutter your Kaltura media

Julian Prior

Spark joy in your life and win a prize

You may have heard of internationally-renowned tidying consultant Marie Kondo and her trademark KonMari method. The method is based on the idea that we could all benefit from a radical de-cluttering of our home and work spaces; get rid of anything that doesn’t spark joy in our lives or isn’t meaningful to us in some way. Who doesn’t like a good spring clean of their stuff but what has any of this got to do with Kaltura you might ask?

Well, digital de-cluttering seems to be all the rage these days. From deleting unused online accounts to tidying up documents and folders on computer hard drives, we are being urged to de-clutter our digital life in order to gain some control back and create more mental spaces that are meaningful to us. Furthermore, there is usually a cost (both environmental and financial) associated with storing digital files. Although the price of physical storage (hard drives and SSDs) has come down in recent years, cloud storage costs remain relatively high, particularly when it comes to large files such as video. And it is here that we in EdTech need your help.

What is Kaltura?

For those who don’t know, the platform we use to store and share video and audio files is called Kaltura. You can access the platform directly or share media files with your students via an integration in your Brightspace courses called My Media. For the past few years we have been part of a ‘shared service’ of BC post-secondary institutions who have stored Kaltura media at UBC without any extra costs for storage and bandwidth. This agreement recently came to an end and we now pay extra for storage and bandwidth over a set amount.

Why de-clutter my Kaltura Media?

Because it will spark joy in your life! Hopefully. What’s certain is that it will save us a substantial amount of money if we can cut down the number of large video/audio files currently stored on Kaltura’s servers.

How do I do it?

Simples! We’ve made a video to show you how to delete your Kaltura media. Before deleting though, make sure you have an archive back-up of your original video/audio file! You can download the original from Kaltura or if you already have the original you can store it on an internal or removable hard drive or on one of the numerous cloud services available.

What’s in it for me?

Other than the joy it will spark in your life and the kudos that you will earn from EdTech? Prizes! After de-cluttering your Kaltura media send an email to edtech@langara.ca with the subject Kaltura de-clutter and the number of videos/audio files you have deleted. We’ll enter you into a draw to win some great prizes including Amazon/Apple/Google gift cards and a copy of Marie Kondo’s book Joy at Work: Organizing your professional life. Closing date is Wednesday November 30.

Can you help me?

We can’t de-clutter your media for you but if you have any questions just ping an email to edtech@langara.ca or jump into our Zoom virtual support drop-in (8.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. M-F). You can also read our Retention Policy for Kaltura media.

The Role of Memorization in Learning: An Excerpt from Remembering and Forgetting

Ari Crossby

In her latest book, Remembering and Forgetting in the Age of Technology, Dr. Michelle D. Miller examines the role of memory and attention in how we teach and learn, and the impacts our devices have in our classrooms. The book will be discussed as part of a joint EdTech & TCDC book club.
Read a short excerpt of the book below and join in the weekly conversation this fall:
Bloom’s system is unapologetically hierarchical, which is why it’s often illustrated with a pyramid. And in this hierarchy of teaching and learning objectives, memory is squarely on the bottom. Whenever I look at Bloom’s Taxonomy, I’m reminded of the U.S. government’s food pyramid, where the bottom layer – remembering – corresponds to something like white flour, and the rest – synthesizing, evaluating, creating – lives up in the land of filet mignon, raw organic kale, and wild-caught Alaskan salmon. The implication here is clear – excellent teachers don’t spend their time in the bargain basement of learning, but concentrate instead on the good stuff up at the top.
That’s the first objection to emphasizing memory in our teaching. Here’s the other, more modern one: Now that we have so much information available on the internet, and can access so much of it any time, any place, it’s simply not necessary to commit things to our own individual memories. In this way, expecting students to be able to recall facts is about as up-to-date as the skills of the roving bards of ancient times, the fellows whose stock in trade was the ability to reel off memorized epic sagas to illiterate audiences in the time before books (and Netflix).
David Pogue sums up this idea in a piece titled “Smartphones Mean You Will No Longer Have to Memorize Facts,” speculating that “maybe we’ll soon conclude that memorizing facts is no longer part of the modern student’s task. 

The weekly online (Zoom) book club begins Tuesday, Sept. 20 (4:30-5:30pm) and runs until Oct. 25. Sign-up for the EdTech & TCDC Fall 2022 Book Club here.

Fall 2022 EdTech & TCDC Book Club : Remembering and Forgetting in the Age of Technology by Michelle Miller (2022)

Ari Crossby

How important is memorization to learning? Are our devices making us dumber? How can technology be used strategically in our classrooms?

This fall, EdTech and TCDC are co-hosting a book club on Dr. Michelle D. Miller’s Remembering and Forgetting in the Age of Technology: Teaching, Learning, and the Science of Memory in a Wired World (2022). Join facilitators Mirabelle Tinio and Alex Samur as they explore how the digital devices our students bring to in-person and virtual classrooms impact learning.
In her latest book, Dr. Miller, a psychology professor, explains the role of memory and attention in how we learn. Her book also helps guide instructors in discussing technology with their students and using it in the classroom. Her research is relevant to anyone who is concerned about how the time we spend on our devices may affect our memory.
The weekly online (Zoom) book club begins on Tuesday, Sept. 20 (4:30-5:30pm) and runs until Oct. 25. Find the chapter breakdown below. During our first gathering, we will meet participants and start discussing Chapter 1. We would also like to spend some time co-creating the format of the book club with participants. We are just as happy to have a free-flowing discussion as we are to organize talks around guiding questions.
Sign-up here.
Accessing the book:The eBook version of Remembering and Forgetting will be available to borrow from the Langara library in early September.
Weekly chapter breakdown:

  • Week 1 (Sept. 20) – Intro: Machines, Memory, and Learning
  • Week 2 (Sept. 27) – Chapter 1: What Technology Does to Us (and for Us): Taking a Critical Look at Common Narratives
  • Week 3 (Oct. 4) – Chapter 2: Why We Remember, Why We Forget
  • Week 4 (Oct. 11) – Chapter 3: Enhancing Memory and Why It Matters (Even though Google Exists)
  • Week 5 (Oct. 18) – Chapter 4: Memory Requires Attention
  • Week 6 (Oct. 25) – Chapter 5: The Devices We Can’t Put Down: Smartphones, Laptops, Memory, and Learning
  • Conclusion: How Memory Can Thrive in a Technology-Saturated Future

Zoom – Live Transcripts

Ari Crossby

Zoom’s Live Transcript

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Langara recently enabled a new Zoom feature – Live Transcript. Live Transcript provides machine-generated live speech-to-text transcription of a Zoom meeting. This feature is enabled by the host after a meeting is started. Participants only see the Live Transcript option if the host enables it.

Turning on Live Transcript during a meeting

  1. Begin your meeting 
  2. At the bottom of the screen, select Live Transcript. If you don’t see it, you might need to maximize the window. 
  3. Click Enable Auto-Transcription. The button will turn blue, indicating that live transcription is on. 

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Once enabled, the Live Transcript button includes a tiny arrow on the top right corner. Clicking on it gives participants the option to view the transcript.  
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The transcript is updated live as participants speak. At the end of the meeting the host and participants will be prompted to save the entire transcript. 

Limitations

  • The captions and transcript are machine-generated and do not meet accommodation standards for students requiring captions. 
  • The meeting host must start Live Transcription before participants can view the transcript. Any conversation that occurs prior to enabling the feature will not be transcribed.  
  • Live Transcripts are not available in Breakout Rooms. 
  • Live Transcripts only supports English. 

 

Spring 2022 Ed Tech Book Club

Ari Crossby

Spring, 2022 Book Club

The Spring, 2022 Book Club selection

This spring, the EdTech Book Club will be reading Should robots replace teachers? AI and the Future of Education by Neil Selwyn (2019).
The author shares his research on AI and robotics in education. By exploring how AI is being used to develop teacher-bots, ‘intelligent tutors,’ and pedagogical agents, among other EdTech tools, he shines a light on issues around the politics and ethics of automated teaching. He clarifies what AI can do to benefit education and what it cannot do. He also warns instructors about the dangers of AI in education and advocates for critical discussions among teachers, learners, AI developers, and communities.

We invite you to join us in weekly discussions inspired by this book and other topics related to Educational Technology.

Mode: Online through Zoom with the potential for an in-person option pending COVID-19 prevention protocols.

Time / Location: Tuesdays, 4:30 – 5:30 pm

Duration: 6 weeks

Dates: February 1st – March 15th (No gathering on Tuesday, Feb 22nd during Spring Break)

The first four (4) registrants will receive a free copy of the book.

Sign Up Here

For a lighthearted song to get you in the mood for reading this book, we will leave you with a song by the Flight of the Conchords which describes the distant future: Video on YouTube

Fall, 2020 Book Club

Last fall, the EdTech Book Club read The Manifesto for Teaching Online by Bayne, et al. (2020). Participants met weekly, either via Zoom and/or in-person, to discuss the book and create our very own Manifesto. Here are some of the highlights according to a few book clubbers:

“I really enjoyed the mix of people from other educational institutions taking part in the conversation, I enjoyed that different participants had the opportunity to facilitate, bringing in the author to take part in the conversation was a great idea! The book content was interesting, engaging and allowed for a broad conversation on a range of topics.”

“Being able to connect with colleagues, and learn about tools and techniques through them, such as H5P. Also, tea and chocolate.”

“Having Jen [one of the authors of The Manifesto] come in for a meeting was really great […]. It was great to hear how things are done at other institutions. “

“Having it open to colleagues from other institutions was very helpful, so keep advertising it to the public. Being hybrid was also good, because it allows more people to participate and allows for an “after-party” session, for less structured discussion.”

After 9 weeks of rich discussions, we created the following Manifesto:

 

Ed Tech Sandbox Sessions

Ari Crossby

What is an Ed Tech sandbox?

Playground

The Ed Tech sandbox is a small, contained space to safely learn and practice using various educational technologies and tools. Participants may explore a specific tool or a range of tools that can be adopted to support a specific teaching or learning goal. To create a safe environment and allow time for practice, enrollment is limited to 10 participants.

Do you want to gain confidence with teaching & learning tools?

These weekly sessions are an opportunity to develop an understanding of how technologies and tools can be effectively used in teaching, learning, and assessment before introducing them in the classroom.

When are the sessions held?

Ed Tech sandbox sessions are planned for every Friday from 11:00 am – 12:30 pm. Participants choose whether to attend via Zoom or in-person.

Upcoming sessions

October 22nd – Kaltura Mediaspace and Capture

Kaltura Capture controls.

Using video in your course is a great way to engage students and present learning content in alternative ways, following the principles of UDL.

In this session we will demonstrate recording your screen, using the Kaltura Capture application to record your screen, and uploading the recording to Mediaspace. There will be lots of time to ask questions and play.

October 29th – Brightspace Rubrics Tool

""A Brightspace rubric can:

  • Be reused (they can be copied and used in multiple course shells).
  • Set out expectations and criteria for students.
  • Provide grading transparency and clear feedback.

Join us to learn how to associate rubrics with assignments, graded discussion topics and grade items.