ETC Educational Technology Center for Faculty and Staff Development

B   U   R   L   I   N   G   T   O   N     C   O   U   N   T   Y     C   O   L   L   E   G   E

November, 1999

News, Notes and Updates

Now that the minor capital funds have been released, the "buzz" around campus is that OIT will be upgrading the computer labs, first, then distributing the Pentium class PC’s which were in the labs. The goal is to bring everyone up to a minimum standard. This may mean a newer faster machine on your desktop in the future. If you already have a "Pentium" class PC, you are sitting pretty, and will not need an upgrade. If you are using a 386 or 486 machine, you will want to start thinking about making copies of any data files that you have on your hard drive. It may take a while before an upgrade arrives in your office, but you can be prepared when it does. You should copy data files (word processing documents, spreadsheets etc.) to either your network drive, or floppy diskettes, in order to help prepare for your migration to a new machine.

The Educational Technology Center will also see some new equipment as a result of minor capital funding. Stop by the lab in Parker 311A for a peek from time to time. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you find!

New this year, is an agreement with Verio, our current Internet Service Provider, to provide web hosting for the official home page and general college information web pages. This web hosting service agreement will provide many new features, along with 24/7 network monitoring, off-site backups plus a high capacity web server with e-commerce capabilities (for on-line registration, in the future) and a built-in search engine. Personal and Department web pages will continue to be hosted from the current web server. Please contact Martin Hoffman in the ETC if you currently have a web page and want to discuss how this change might effect you. You should also contact the ETC if you are interested in writing a Personal or Department web page.

At a recent Faculty and Academic Administrator’s meeting, the architects who are designing the academic replacement building on the Mount Laurel campus described their vision of the structure. There was active participation by the faculty, who had many pertinent suggestions regarding what makes a "classroom." No longer can we be satisfied with four walls, a floor and a ceiling. Today the definition of a classroom includes wiring for voice, data and video signals, projection screens, white boards and window treatments, plus many other considerations such as air flow and lighting. The ETC would like the faculty, staff and students to share their ideal classroom design with us. Please e-mail, call or visit the Center with your classroom design wish list. Any input into the design will be appreciated.

Publication Schedule:

The ETC Newsletter is published monthly during the Fall and Spring semesters, with no issue in January and only one issue from June to August. Current and back issues are available in the Educational Technology Center and on the ETC web site. (See Below.)

New or Recently Updated Web Pages:

Newly Acquired Texts:

One of the goals of the ETC is to act as a resource for teaching and learning materials. These materials include: periodicals, texts, manuals, software, hardware and multimedia products. In previous newsletters there have been partial lists of these resources. (If you missed any of these announcements, you can read back issues of the ETC newsletter on-line, at the address above.) There is an ongoing emphasis on building the Center's collection of introductory and hands-on computer texts.

As of November 15, 1999 the following texts were added for Faculty and Staff use:

  • Designing and Teaching an On-line Course
  • HTML the Definitive Guide
  • Web Design in a Nutshell
  • The Web Page Design Cookbook

Most of these books were donated by their respective publishers. You may peruse any of these works at any time. You can use them as reference works in the Center. The ETC sometimes lends texts out for independent study, depending on the circumstances. If you would like to borrow any of the above, contact Martin Hoffman.

Also available are copies of the following three books:

  • Performance Instruction
  • IPSI Suite Windows Manual (and software)
  • Classroom Assessment Techniques

Each of these three books are distributed to new, full time faculty, but any faculty member who would like copies of these books, or the IPSI software, should contact the Center and we will order them for you.

ETC November Edition Page 2

The "Smart Cart" Advantage

Shortly after the Fall semester began this year, Dr. Eugene Giovannini, Vice President for Academic Programs, gave the "green light" to a proposal for providing "easy to use computer presentation equipment" to our faculty, staff and students. This proposal was dubbed the "Smart Cart" project. After two months of research involving four different product lines from seven different vendors, the Smart Cart proposal finally reached the BCC Board of Trustees at their November monthly meeting and was unanimously approved for funding. With a little bit of luck, you will see these smart carts on our campuses early in the Spring semester, 2000.

What is a Smart Cart?

Sssssh! Don’t tell! A smart cart is not actually "smarter" than any other hunk of plastic, metal glass and wire. A smart cart is simply a standard, lightweight plastic A/V cart with a laptop computer and a computer projector wired together. It looks something like this:

What makes a smart cart so smart, is that it is easy to use. The laptop stays connected to the projector, and both remain connected to the cart. Thus, if you wish to make a computer based presentation to a group anywhere on campus, all you need to do is wheel a smart cart into the room, plug the cart into any standard electrical outlet, and turn on the power. So, in reality, smart carts aren’t all that smart, but they are easy to use. However, the name "Not-So-Smart-But-Easy-To-Use Cart" just seemed way too long!

Where, What and How Many?

Currently plans for these smart carts are not set in stone. As with any new project this program will evolve over time. Your input is more than welcome, and should be sent to Martin Hoffman in the Educational Technology Center. Here are some preliminary ideas, which were developed in conjunction with the Vice President for Academic Programs staff, various Faculty, Video/Media Services staff and Security Department personnel.

One fully equipped smart cart with a laptop will be deployed in the Briggs Road building. This is based on several faculty requests for computer projection equipment in Briggs. A smart cart will probably be housed in the TEC center. There will be at least one smart cart for the Pemberton campus, and perhaps one will be available at JFK if there is enough demand.

Another cart with a projector, but without a laptop, will be available in TEC, while yet another will be housed in the ETC Lab, Parker 311A. These laptop-less carts will be used to support ongoing programs that have their own PC’s or laptops. Also, with the advent of the smart carts, existing computer projection equipment (LCD Panels and Projectors) will still be available. This should make it easier than ever to get the equipment that you need, when and where you need it!

The smart cart program is in its infancy here at BCC. But computer based presentations and demonstrations are not! They are accepted as standard in the world of business and in higher education. Students in a variety of academic disciplines have already made classroom computer presentations, as have a number of faculty. Staff use PowerPoint in meetings and presentations. Smart carts will make this easier for all involved. Finally, interface cards will be available to connect smart carts to networks jacks, which are available in select locations around campus. This means that any room with a network jack can be on-line and "surfing" the Internet in minutes. The possibilities for education are nearly endless!

Please contact the Educational Technology Center if you have any questions pertaining to this newsletter.

You can reach the ETC at phone extension 7782 or by e-mail to: Mhoffman@bcc.edu