BuzzLion for the Week of October 9

Let's start off the BuzzLion with a post from Jeff Swain, instructional designer with Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT), who just returned from a trip to the CIC TechForum Conference. He attended with Brian Young, a fellow TLT instructional designer, and the two of them discussed the conference as the subject of the latest edition of their podcast, EdTech. 

"We recorded Episode 14 while waiting for the security gate at the Champagne-Urbana airport to open so you'll hear lots of ambient airport sounds in the background. In this podcast Brian & I discuss our experience at the forum including thoughts on our session, our impression of some other sessions we attended, and what we can bring back to our university. I hope you enjoy the podcast & would love to hear your thoughts on the topic."

Next up, faculty members who need information on accessibility implementation should check out a post by Elizabeth Pyatt, TLT instructional designer. And, she condensed the information to make it easy to read.

"An issue I and others have been working on is figuring out how to explain accessibility. What is it? What do instructors have to do? Can it be under 15 min? No problem..."

Having a hard time sorting out colors for a graphic design you are working on? Alan Klein, technology training specialist with TLT, wants to tell you about a handy, and "Kul" tool by Adobe. 

"Today we need a little more help to get color coordinated. Especially if we have never had any color theory. Well Adobe has created the free site 'Kuler' to help us with color themes."

Another Adobe tool that is quite handy is one that enables even someone with no experience to create animations. Brett Bixler, senior instructional designer with TLT, tells us more. 

"The other day I downloaded a beta version of Adobe Edge. Edge is a simple animation tool that uses HTML5, JavaScript, etc. to produce and play web animations. Here's what I was able to do in 45 minutes with no prior experience."

Finally, the Educational Gaming Commons has an event October 19 that is well worth attending for those interested in educational gaming - a brownbag lunch on gamification in business. 

"Sherry Robinson, associate professor of economics and Teaching and Learning with Technology Fellow, will discuss how she plans to use game-like elements in her courses to increase student motivation. Although considerable attention has been paid recently to the potential impact of games on learning, it can be time-consuming to develop a game geared for all the appropriate learning objectives of a course. An alternative is the use of game-like elements, or 'gamification,' such as badges, leader boards, prizes, and levels, to structure a course to be more like a gaming environment."

That's all for this week's BuzzLion. Thanks for reading!