Faculty-to-Faculty Consulting Program

The CTL welcomes our new faculty associates, Nicole Phelps, (History) and Dianna Murray-Close, (Psychological Science).

In their roles as faculty associates, Drs. Phelps and Murray-Close will be available to consult individually with faculty about teaching challenges including those related to teaching large courses.

This new program is designed to increase faculty-to-faculty teaching support networks and expand the availability of one-time teaching consultations tailored to individual faculty needs.

To learn more about this program, please email us at ctl@uvm.edu.

Posted in CTL Home Page, News | Tagged | Comments Off on Faculty-to-Faculty Consulting Program

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: New Training and Support

The CTL is excited to welcome Dr. Steven Netcoh who will be completing a one-year postdoc with us. Dr. Netcoh will be developing materials, resources, and tutorials for faculty who are interested in conducting and publishing research on teaching and learning.

Stay tuned for workshops and new resources on the CTL Events Calendar. Dr. Netcoh is also available for individual consultations, which can be arranged by emailing ctl@uvm.edu

Posted in CTL Home Page, News | Comments Off on The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: New Training and Support

Secure Online Testing

Respondus Lockdown Browser Pilot Program

Over the years, faculty have expressed interest in a more secure environment to deliver online exams. In response, the CTL is testing Respondus Lockdown Browser (RLB) during AY 2017-18. RLB is a stand-alone browser replacement that restricts student access to UVM’s Blackboard server. During an assessment, all other applications and websites are closed and inaccessible to students. If you are interested in learning more about RLB, contact us at blackboard@uvm.edu.

Please help us spread the word about the availability of this application.

 

Posted in Blackboard Tips, CTL Home Page, Technology | Comments Off on Secure Online Testing

Video Conferencing Product Demonstrations

UVM is exploring synchronous platforms to provide video/web conferencing and real-time collaboration services. As part of this process,  there will be four vendor demonstrations:

If you plan on attending, please RSVP to Wendy Verrei-Berenback: wverreib@uvm.edu

Posted in CTL Home Page, Workshops & Events | Comments Off on Video Conferencing Product Demonstrations

Software to Help Prevent Cheating on Bb Tests

UVM is currently piloting a tool called “Respondus Lockdown Browser” that can prevent students from opening other windows on their computers while taking a test in Blackboard. We have until May 13, 2017 to evaluate this tool so we’re looking for faculty to help us by trying it in their courses this semester.

What is the Respondus Lockdown Browser?

The Respondus Lockdown Browser is a stand-alone browser replacement that restricts student access to UVM’s Blackboard server. During an assessment, all other applications and websites are closed and inaccessible to students. For example, students will not be able to open Word documents, instant message, email, or use sites such as Google, Wikipedia, or access other parts of the course.

It is important to keep in mind that no system is 100% secure. While this tool is a deterrent, it does not offer complete protection against academic dishonesty. Students taking an assessment could still use their mobile devices, another computer, or interact with the person sitting next to them. With this in mind, remote delivery of a locked down exam may not be as effective as one delivered in a proctored environment.

Supporting students during an exam is also easier in a physical proctored environment. You can reset a student’s attempt if their computer crashes during an exam in class. If the student experiences network problems, power failures, or other problems while taking the exam at home, they may not be able to complete the exam. In such a case, you would have to decide whether to reset the attempt at a later date.

Pilot timeline

This pilot will run until after the final exam period closes. On May 13, the tool will be turned off in Bb and no further exams will be able to be deployed or taken using the Lockdown Browser. During the summer, we will review the results of the pilot and evaluate its potential for implementation. If the results are favorable and funding is available, a license will be purchased and the Respondus Lockdown Browser will be available for Fall 2017.

How to get started

We want to be sure you receive the most up to date information on this tool in case there are new updates, bug fixes, or other important details released after the pilot starts. With this in mind, we are asking that you confirm your interest in this by contacting us at blackboard@uvm.edu. Once we hear from you, we will send you a list of best practices and steps to deploy a locked down exam in your course.

Posted in Blackboard Tips, CTL Home Page | 1 Comment

UVM’s Streaming Media Server and Online Video Platform (OVP)

An Online Video Platform (OVP) is a service for storage, management,and delivery of audio and video. OVPs are trendy, and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative  tells us why in their December 2016 article, 7 things you should know about OVPs.

Big names in the OVP  marketplace include Ensemble, ShareStream, Kaltura, Panopto, Techsmith’s Relay, Instructure’s Arc, Sonic Foundry’s Mediasite, and Echo360’s Active Learning Platform. OVP features vary, but the core functions that allow the upload, conversion, storage, sharing, and playing of video are essentially the same for all platforms. OVP pricing varies, too, with some systems clocking in at $50,000 to $100,ooo per year. That’s one reason why we built our own. Read on …

A bit about streaming video

Streaming video is not all that new. Here at UVM, we had a RealMedia Server and a Quicktime/Darwin Server both dating back to 1999. However, these products were obscure and difficult to use. Both servers were retired around May 2015.

Not all media on the web is delivered by streaming.  A large chuck of content — in particular audio or video podcasts — is delivered by simple file download from a standard web server. This content is saved to the users device, and can be played either later at the user’s pleasure or even while the media is downloading. This latter viewing option is known as progressive download.

Streaming video is played as it is received, not stored or cached. It is always used for live events. Pre-recorded Video On Demand (VOD) features fast-start, instant seek ahead or behind. Ideally, the server can adjust sound or video quality on the fly to match available bandwidth. Media is difficult if not impossible to save or copy, and streaming requires a dedicated Streaming server, which historically has been clumsy and arcane to prepare, configure, and integrate into web sites.

Exhibit A: Progressive Download vs. streaming. Same video, different delivery. Which is which?

https://streaming.uvm.edu/media/embed/2935/

 

streaming.uvm.edu is born

The UVM streaming server was born serendipitously in response to the STEM construction project. The Physics Department bought an IP (Internet Protocol) Network camera, hung it out a window in Cook, and pointed it at the construction site. IP cameras stream video use the Real Time Streaming Protocol, rtsp, rather than http, yielding ugly URLs like rtsp://physicscam.uvm.edu/stream that most browsers can’t understand. Soon after, other offices wanted construction cams, too. It became quickly apparent that we needed some way to convert these rtsp addresses to http addresses in order to view the cameras on the web. In particular, we needed a new streaming server.

What we got was a product with a cool name: the Wowza Streaming Engine. Basic, simple, and surprisingly inexpensive. It did just what we needed: feed it IP camera rtsp streams, it spits back, well, something else. So we needed a player widget, too, which understood the something else and provided the play/stop/skip etc. controls necessary to render that something else as a video. We chose the JWplayer widget. Like Wowza, basic, simple, and inexpensive.

PhysicsCam Live

CumulusClips

This was all well and good for the handful of IP cameras on campus. But what about the hundreds of pre-recorded video files scattered across www.uvm.edu and Blackboard or blog.uvm.edu? Turns out, Wowza can stream those, too, if those files were consistently constructed and uploaded to the Wowza servers content folder. We were lucky enough to stumble across an Open Source project named Cumulusclips  which again did just what we needed. It provides the business logic of file management, tagging, searching, and transcoding needed to feed Wowza content. And it was free.

Transcoding and Dynamic Adaptive Streaming

Transcoding is the process of converting a media file from one format to another, possible twiddling attributes along the way. For example, take in a .AVI or .MOV file recorded at 1024 x 768 pixels, 60 frames per second, bitrate 5100 kilobits per second; spit out .MP4 file 768 x 434 pixels, 30 frames per second, bitrate 3100 kilobits per second.

Dynamic Adaptive Streaming detects the bandwidth and CPU of a user’s device and calibrates the video stream accordingly in real time to deliver the best playback quality regardless of connection speed or device. To achieve this, any file uploaded by a user must be transcoded into two or more alternatives with varying quality metrics. The server can switch from one alternative to another on the fly.

The UVM Streaming Server transcodes every uploaded video into 3 variants:

  • High: 3000 kbps, 1280 x 720 pixels
  • Medium: 1000 kbps, 640 x 360 pixels
  • Mobile: 600 kbps, 480 x 300 pixels

This is a resource intensive process, and may take more often several minutes to less often several hours to complete. Please plan accordingly. Also note it is better to transcode a high resolution video into a lower resolution than it is to go from low to high. So when creating your videos, aim high for best results.

Back to streaming.uvm.edu

So now that all the pieces – Wowza Streaming Engine, JWPlayer viewer, and CumulusClips – are assembled, what exactly do we have? An OVP which mimics the YouTube experience with the following list of features:

  • UVM WebAuth authentication
  • Upload videos: Accepts mp3, mp4, flv, wmv, rm (RealMedia), mov, avi
  • Tag and categorize uploads, create play lists
  • Upload and attach SRT/WebVTT caption files
  • automatically transcodes to multiple format mp4 files for consistent viewing experience (600kbps mobile; 1000kbps desktop; 3000kbps HD theatre)
  • Dynamic Adaptive bitrate streaming via MPEG  DASH and Apple HLS
  • Automatically creates thumbnail poster images, or upload you own
  • Streamlined integration with BlackBoard and WordPress
  • optionally require UVM login to view
  • optionally hide videos from search engines
  • watch videos, search for videos, share and embed
  • Growth has been steady, with well over 2000 videos uploaded

 

7 things you should know about UVM Streaming Server

Back to the EDUCAUSE “7 things you should know about…” article: What are the 7 things you should know about the UVM Streaming Server?

  1. What is it? A UVM specific solution for the storage, management, and delivery of digital video.
  2. How does it work? Our server provides the core functions that allow the upload, conversion, storage, sharing, and playing of video or audio files. After NetID authentication, user can upload files up to 10Gb each. Files are automatically transcoded into 3 variants to support dynamic adaptive streaming. The server acts as a central repository for the content and provides content owners with the ability to control access to the work.
  3. Who’s doing it? The Center for Teaching and Learning in partnership with Enterprise Technology Services.
  4. Why is it significant? A centralized enterprise level campus-wide OVP – along with the LMS (Blackboard, Canvas), the synchronous learning platform (Adobe Connect, Cisco WebEx), a lecture capture suite (Mediasite, Tegrity), and learning analytics program (KlassData, SSPS) – is becoming a necessity for higher education.  We feel it is a real game changer, as do Panopto and Kaltura.
  5. What are the downsides? The downside of any in house open source software is the need to support and maintain the beast in house. Thankfully, two out of three components are commercial products, and thus far their technical support has been outstanding.
  6. Where is it going? In the words of EDUCAUSE, “OVPs are a relatively new type of system in higher education, and the contours of the market are emerging. Platform providers are working to create an experience that closely matches that of YouTube.” Are we there yet?
  7. What are the implications for teaching and learning? Distance learning, hybrid classes, flipped classrooms, universal design, international students, to name a few. Tell us what you think!

 

Posted in CTL Home Page, Technology | Tagged | Comments Off on UVM’s Streaming Media Server and Online Video Platform (OVP)

Putting the Student Hat Back On

When the Teacher Becomes the Student” is an interesting, short read from Maryellen Weimer, PhD of Faculty Focus. Her 2 take-aways are:

I would almost guarantee that if you struggle to learn something in a course other than your own, it will change how you teach; and 20 years at the front of the room (maybe less) erases virtually all memories of what it’s like to be seated in a small, uncomfortable desk somewhere in the middle of the room.

Re-experiencing the student perspective:
Starling, Roy. “Professor as Student: The View from the Other Side.” College Teaching, vol. 35, no. 1, 1987, pp. 3–7., www.jstor.org/stable/27550845.

Gregory, M. W. “From Shakespeare on the Page to Shakespeare on the Stage: What I Learned about Teaching in Acting Class.” Pedagogy, vol. 6 no. 2, 2006, pp. 309-325. Project MUSE, muse.jhu.edu/article/197074.

Why clear rationale for assignments helps students learn:
Gregory, Marshall. “Turning Water into Wine: Giving Remote Texts Full Flavor for the Audience of ‘Friends.’” College Teaching, vol. 53, no. 3, 2005, pp. 95–98., www.jstor.org/stable/27559232.

Posted in CTL Home Page, Pedagogy | Comments Off on Putting the Student Hat Back On

The Sound and Fury (When Classroom Discussions are Difficult)

Tree swallows arguing.

Greg, Flickr: http://bit.ly/2k3QJKc

Sometimes class discussions are difficult because students are hesitant to participate or because one student tends to dominate. And sometimes—as we’ve heard from faculty in these turbulent times—they’re difficult because emotions are running high and some students may be angry or anxious.

Here are a few resources to help faculty navigate these challenges.

Teaching Trump – Amanda Rosen

The Tricky Task of Teaching About Trump – Chronicle of Higher Education

Georgetown University Teaching Commons

Difficult Dialogues

Stanford Teaching Commons – Classroom Challenges

Getting Students to Talk to Each Other, Rather Than the Teacher

Posted in CTL Home Page | Tagged | Comments Off on The Sound and Fury (When Classroom Discussions are Difficult)

But it had the Blackboard logo in it…

The recent political debacle involving hacking of a certain official’s computer reminds us once again of the ease and dangers of phishing. You may have been even more tempted recently to click on one of those links in an email because the phishers are getting more sophisticated, not to mention better at spelling and grammar.

E-mails that have actual logos, appear to be written in a form that mimics legitimate messages, or even that appear to come from a UVM or well-known address are all increasing in number.

Is it really so bad to click? This one came from a friend of mine so surely it’s OK? And, really, who would be interested in what’s on my computer anyway?

What kinds of things do phishers want to do? Gain access to your contacts so they can send phishing email to everyone on that list that will look that it is sent from a real account. If your friends start asking you why you are sending them fake ads or disturbing images or angry notes you may wish you hadn’t clicked on that phishing link.

Phishers and hackers may also be interested in harvesting your passwords. Many people use the same password for multiple services. A hacker who gets access to one now has a way to gain access to all. Once again, you may not mind if FaceBook posts appear to be from you start popping up but then again when your Amazon account and all the credit card information you stored there gets stolen – not so nice.

And hackers and malware? Well viruses are no fun and can be difficult to get rid of. Even worse is malware that turns your computer into a botnet whereby the hacker can use it to send malware to others.

How can you tell if an e-mail, even one that looks like it comes from a friend, is a phishing scam?

Is it telling you to click the link and provide your login information? Don’t click the link. If it’s your bank or a company that you do business just go to their website yourself and login as usual.

Does it look like it comes from a friend? Don’t click the link. If it is a full address you can copy and paste the link into your browser. Or, if it is a phrase that is a link you can right-click or control-click on it, copy and paste the link and, before hitting enter, look to see if it appears legitimate. For example, if your friend is sending you a link to a YouTube video make sure the address is http://www.youtube.com not http;//www.yuutube.com.

Does it look like official UVM business or like a note from Blackboard? Don’t click the link. UVM will never send email asking for your NetID and password. Any Blackboard alert messages will be posted on the Blackboard login page or sent from our own Blackboard admin with no request to click.

If you are ever uncertain about the legitimacy of an email message concerning your uvm.edu account, please contact the Computing Help Line at 656-2604, or submit a help request online by emailing techteam@uvm.edu.

And if you would like to report phishing, please forward the phishing email with full headers to is-spam@labs.sophos.com and to abuse@uvm.edu. (To forward a message with headers, please see http://www.uvm.edu/techteam/forwarding-full-mail-headers/)

By the way, the latest news reports that the case mentioned at the beginning of this blog post started out even more innocuous. Apparently the official in question checked with his tech supporter about the email and was told it was legitimate. A short time later they both realized that “legitimate” was a typo and the tech advisor meant to type “illegitimate.” (Please don’t tell me Auto-Correct struck again!) So, even if someone tells you it’s OK to click, resist the temptation.

Posted in CTL Home Page, Resources, Technology | Comments Off on But it had the Blackboard logo in it…

“Returning to the Classroom after the Election”

Whether or not we choose to engage students in dialogue about the election results, we should recognize that some students’ emotional responses may interfere with their ability to focus.

This blog post by the University of Michigan’s Center for Research on Learning and Teaching offers some sage advice and a few simple strategies to process the event before moving on to regular course content.

Read the post here: “Returning to the Classroom after the Election

Posted in CTL Home Page | Comments Off on “Returning to the Classroom after the Election”