ITC Showcases Advantages of New Office 365 in ‘30 Days’ Blog Series

Students migrated to the new Microsoft Office 365 email system in May 2014 with faculty and staff accounts beginning the transition in October. Tom Grissom, Director of the Instructional Technology Center (ITC), wanted to help instructors adapt to the high-impact move and also help them realize it can be so much more than an email system. To do so, he created a blog series called “30 Days with Office 365 for Educators.” Grissom...

Real-Time Polls & Collaborative Research Technologies; By Clinton Brown

This past September I presented on a conference panel focusing on increasing student engagement through media and technology. While there are many technologies well suited for these goals, two platforms have received little attention within higher education, but have tremendous possibilities to enhance instructional practices and engage students. PollEverywhere and SearchTeam are two web-based technologies that are institutive, easy to use, and have countless applications inside and outside of the classroom....

CATS Digital & Multimedia Team: Update on Kaltura

Kaltura is a media delivery system that has been used by CATS Digital and Multimedia Services for the past two years. Last year, the team beta tested the system; this year, they’ve been implementing it at EIU. Faculty members who teach D2L-oriented courses now have a Kaltura widget available for use. A recent trend amongst instructors is adding media to their online environment and Kaltura can help with this. For example,...

Art Department Utilizes Desire2Learn for New Masters Program

When prospective students consider studying art, they generally consider in-class coursework that deal with two- or three-dimensional projects, as well as in-class with critiques. However, the art department has recently developed an online graduate program that brings a whole new meaning to art education. Dr. Patricia Belleville, an art education professor and the department’s graduate program director, has spent the...

Center for Online Learning Hires Instructional Design Specialist

Christine Stricker The Center for Online Learning at CATS provides training, support and services for faculty, staff and students that are involved in technology-enhanced courses. The Center for Online Learning’s new Instructional Design Specialist for Online Learning, Christine Stricker, is doing just that by assisting faculty and staff with their online courses. Stricker explains: “I look at their course,...

General Chemistry Gets More Interactive with Tablet and Mastering Chemistry

“Blackboards are hard to see, PowerPoint doesn’t interest the students enough, and SMART boards are too sensitive,” says Dr. Hongshan He, an assistant professor and general chemistry instructor. General education courses are pretty large, ranging from 45-60 students per class; so how does he get students involved? Dr. He has found several new ways to make his course more interactive. Dr. He writing on tablet Dr. He was able to...

Communications Studies Graduate Student and CATS Employee Receives Award

The L.E. Norton Higher Education Student Award is named in recognition of Dr. Norton, who was a professor of communication studies at Bradley University and a founder of Bradley’s speech and debate team for collegiate competition. Clinton Brown, graduate research assistant for CATS and a communication studies major, was the recipient of this year’s award. The L.E. Norton Higher Education Student Award is given to students...

Web Office Finding New SiteImprove Tool Quite Useful

A new tool is helping the CATS Web Office greatly enhance the user experience of Eastern Illinois University’s website by dramatically reducing instances of broken links and typos/misspellings across the site. Late in the Fall 2014 semester, the office began using SiteImprove, a web-based web governance software that periodically scans each page of the university’s website. From each scan, a database is compiled with the location...

CATS Multimedia and Tempestas Team Up for IPA Grant Project

Over the summer, Mark Johnson, Assistant to the Dean for Academic Technology for the College of Sciences, was approached by an Illinois high school to produce films on some chemistry experiments. Little did he know this would lead to an extensive first-time grant project opportunity for CATS. The high school was thankful and ecstatic about the work produced. Around the time of its completion the Illinois Principals Association (IPA) was seeking a university to assist with producing a series of videos for core curriculums new...

MOOCs – The Changing Face of Higher Education; By Thelca White

Over the past decade, higher education has experienced significant changes that have been spurred on by advancement in technology, particularly the Internet. These changes are hard to miss for anyone who is involved in academia in any capacity. Undoubtedly, one of the most radical changes education has experienced in the last several years has been the introduction of Massive Open Online Courses, popularly referred to as MOOCs. MOOCs, at their core, are geared towards providing equal opportunities, and...

CATS Alumni Feature – Will Barrett; By Will Barrett

Will Barrett My name is Will Barrett. I am 26 years old, from Waukegan, Ill., and I had the pleasure and honor of working for the Center for Academic Technology and Support from 2012-2014. I received both my Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies – Communication Theory Practice and my Master of Sciences – Training & Development from Eastern Illinois University. I began working at CATS as a student worker...