Faculty researchers: be a YouTube star!

Back in early 2008, OIRT started a web video series called The OIRT Faculty Research Spotlight. Its goal is to highlight the contributions our faculty make to the academic community through their research. If you'd like to get interviewed about your research, please read on to see how you can get involved!

Since the inception of the series, we've interviewed 50 faculty members in 36 departments across the university. We've published about 30 of these interviews so far, with more to come every few weeks.

You can see the videos on the Rutgers YouTube channel. I've embedded an example below for your convenience: Dr. Lee Clarke (Sociology) discussing disaster and the human response.



We do have a sizable log of footage left to edit, but we'd like more! If you're a faculty researcher here at the university and you'd like to showcase your work, send an e-mail to podcasting@rutgers.edu and we'll schedule a meeting with you to discuss your involvement in the project.

Your involvement in this project consists of about 20 minutes during the initial meeting (we'll come to your office for this) and about 40 minutes for the actual interview (which will also take place at your office, if you so desire).

OCTOBER is: National Cyber Security Awareness Month

Click here to learn more, see a fabulous commercial parody starring an engineering student and an ITI student, and play Safepardy, a game developed by a communications alum.

Adobe Connect for desktop videoconferencing

The Division of Continuous Education and Outreach and OIRT are pleased to offer faculty the opportunity to integrate Adobe Connect into Sakai and eCollege or to use it in a standalone mode.

Adobe Connect provides desktop videoconferencing, shared whiteboards, shared websites, and chat capabilities for use in courses and projects. It is particularly useful for fully online courses and in instances where faculty need to conduct classes from off-site locations.

To add Adobe Connect to your eCollege course shell or Sakai site, or for standalone access, visit http://connect.rutgers.edu/

RU undergrad researchers: be a YouTube star!

Last year, OIRT and The Aresty Research Center started a video series called The Undergraduate Research Spotlight. The goal of the series is to recognize the contributions of the undergraduate students who are at the heart of this university's strong research tradition.

So far, we've interviewed over 50 undergraduate students and we want to interview more! Read ahead to learn how students can participate and how faculty can get their students involved.

We've uploaded about 35 of the interviews onto the Rutgers YouTube channel. To date, this series has over 7,000 views from YouTube viewers from all around the world!

I've embedded an example of our work below, starring Amy Torres from the Anthropology department.



We'll take self-nominations or nominations from faculty members. Nominees should be current or former Rutgers University undergraduate researchers. Nominees should also be comfortable (and excited to be) talking about their research in front of a camera!

If you'd like to nominate someone, please send an e-mail to podcasting@rutgers.edu with the nominee's name, e-mail address, and a bit about the nature of the nominee's research.

Word clouds with Wordle

Wordle is a free tool that turns a block of text, or simply a list of words, into a cloud pattern. Words that are used most frequently are displayed most prominently. You can play with layout, font, and colors to change the appearance or highlight certain vocabulary. Wordle is useful for analyzing text, comparing newspaper coverage of a specific issue, and summarizing the content of student papers or presentations.

Here's a Wordle of President McCormick's Annual Address. I've limited the number of words to 50, to make it easier to read.

It's really easy to create a Wordle. You simply copy some text into a box on the Wordle website and click "Create."

Google Docs now has equation editor

On September 28, Google announced the addition to Google Docs of some useful new features for academic use. Google Docs has added a new equation editor for mathematics teachers and students. There is a new subscript and superscript tool that can be used in writing chemical compounds and mathematics equations.

Cell phones for brainstorming in the classroom

I’ve started using the free versions of Poll Everywhere and Wiffiti in class and my students really seem to like both applications. They’re both easy to use – students text message answers to a question and the answers get posted live, stimulating more participation and, I think, understanding.

I had the students work in pairs or small groups so that students who do not have unlimited text messaging plans with their cell phones could participate.

During one class, I asked the students to comment on the relationship between technology and the doctor-patient relationship. I created the Wiffiti screen in about 30 seconds (I already had an account). You can see the responses here. I then gave the students an impromptu assignment based on the brainstorming. Since one of the course’s goals is for the students to learn how to conduct scholarly research, I asked them to find a scholarly article related to the doctor-patient relationship and technology and write a summary and an APA-formatted reference.

If you want me to show you more about how I'm using Wiffiti or Poll Everywhere, please don't hesitate to contact me.

And I’ll write more about Poll Everywhere shortly—it’s time for my class.