This summer track will provide a broad overview of how the web can be utilized to enhance traditional course activities. This track is intended for faculty who have some experience utilizing Blackboard; however, extensive instructional use of the web is not a pre-requisite. Exemplary course environments will be displayed, interactive teaching methods will be discussed, and best practices regarding the use of Blackboard and other tools will be provided. The most important new features in the latest version of Blackboard (version 6) will be shown, and faculty will gain in-depth, hands-on experience with Blackboard's gradebook, question pool tool, and other capabilities. In addition to Blackboard 6, participants will learn how to use Macromedia Dreamweaver and Adobe Acrobat to create high quality web documents, both of which can be uploaded into Blackboard. Further, emerging technologies and strategies will also be discussed. Faculty are encouraged to come to this track with a project in mind; time and one-on-one assistance will be provided for faculty so that they can develop their own course materials. Additionally, participants will be allowed to customization portions of the track to more accurately meet their technological and pedagogical needs.

See more information about the Spring version of Track C.

This summer track is intended for the faculty member who is already using various technologies in her/his courses and would like to explore the latest tools, strategies, and methodologies that will enhance and extend his/her current practice. Topics will range from the theoretical (motivating your students, student culture and technology, evaluating instruction, and more) to the practical (Scholar, ePortfolio, concept mapping software, student response systems ("clickers"), Dreamweaver, podcasting, AOL Instant Messenger, streaming media, and more). Hands-on experiences with emerging technologies, as well as opportunities for discussion concerning the functionality and pedagogical applicability of these tools will be hallmarks of this track. Faculty speakers will also be an integral part of this track, ensuring that technical skills are coupled with informed pedagogical practice. Participants are encouraged to bring syllabi and other documents on which to work during this track.

See more information about the Spring version of Track D.

This summer track is designed for faculty who already have experience with web development and have an interest or need to include media objects within their instructional or research projects. The focus of this track will be creating three types of media: images, audio, and video; sessions will include topics such as project planning, creating and manipulating still images, and capturing and editing audio and video. During each session, care will be taken to discuss appropriate formats for print and web distribution of media. Sessions will alternate between hands-on exercises and instructor/faculty led discussions, and faculty speakers will be an integral part of this track, ensuring that technical skills are coupled with informed pedagogical practice. This workshop can be used as a companion to Tracks C and/or D, and academic support staff and graduate teaching assistants may participate with faculty as a 2-person project team.

See more information about the Spring version of Track E.

This track will focus on Institute for Distance and Distributed Learning (IDDL) course development, delivery considerations, and strategies for teaching distance learning courses via synchronous and asynchronous methods. Participants will have opportunities to use a variety of instructional tools and course development software that facilitate the process of delivering instruction at a distance. Topics within this track include test creation for distance learners; creating online presentations (PowerPoint as well as tutorials); using online meeting spaces for office hours, group meetings, and lectures; creating accessible multimedia; and assessing distance learning students. In addition to the hands-on sessions, participants will have the opportunity to meet with distance learning faculty of varying levels from a variety of disciplines.

Requirements: Those participating in this spring track will be asked to attend a total of seven short courses during the spring semester. There are four requirement areas. 1) Faculty participating in this track will be required to attend one of FDI's Campus Resources session. There are five different times to choose from. 2) Faculty must attend the "Connecting with Students through Online Interaction" short course. 3) Faculty must also attend the ""Faculty Experiences in Distance Learning" panel discussion. 4) Participants will also be asked to attend a total of four of the remaining six sessions associated with distance learning.

See more information about the Spring version of Track F.

This track, intended for faculty at Virginia Tech's Northern Virginia Center, will provide a broad overview of how the web can be utilized to enhance traditional course activities. Participants will learn how to use Blackboard, Virginia Tech's course management system, to manage course documents, create quizzes, manage discussions, and use the online gradebook. Several interactive teaching methods and tools will be discussed, and participants will learn how to use Macromedia's Dreamweaver and Adobe Acrobat to create high quality web documents. A number of emerging technologies, such as podcasting, instant messaging, and clickers will be introduced and explored as well. Discussions will also focus on the challenges of teaching with technology, often at a distance.

This summer-only track, a collaboration between FDI, the Center for Liberal Education (CLE), and the Center for Excellence in Undergraduate teaching (CEUT), is intended for teachers of first year and/or Liberal Education courses. Led by faculty and staff from all three units as well as key faculty from a variety of disciplines around Virginia Tech and beyond, the focus of this track will be upon strategies and practices that have proven to increase student engagement and success early in their post-secondary academic career. Participants can expect to receive a packet of readings several weeks prior to this track which will provide background and a foundation for the forthcoming discussion and activities. Learner-centered curriculum design which fosters learning while instilling a sense of community will be a key area of focus. Applications of technology that support this development and engagement will be highlighted in practice. Participants can expect to leave this track equipped with strategies, tools, and a community of colleagues which will support their development of instructional practices designed for 21st century learners.

This hands-on summer track will teach participants how to design and analyze experiments using SAS' JMP desktop statistical discovery software. While emphasizing the principles of experimental design, this track will demonstrate a variety of designs. Both classical designs and newer custom approaches to design will be covered. Specific designs taught during this track include randomized complete block design, randomized incomplete block design, split plot designs, full factorial designs, the 2k factorial design, full factorial screening designs, fractional factorial designs, and blocking with screening designs. Those with no experience with JMP will likely struggle during this track; however, those that attend the "Statistics: Statistical Data Exploration, ANOVA, and Regression using JMP" track will be well prepared for this more advanced track. Academic support staff and graduate teaching assistants may also participate with faculty as a 2-person project team. IMPORTANT NOTE: Beginning October 1, 2006, Virginia Tech entered into a five-year license agreement with SAS that makes JMP available for free to all faculty and students. You can download it now from http://www.ita.vt.edu/Apps/WebObjects/SoftwareWeb.woa

This hands-on track will explore the fundamentals of building a robust test, measurement, and/or control system with LabVIEW and data acquisition and instrument control hardware. Participants will gain hands-on experience with LabVIEW and learn how its graphical development can help reduce development time and create flexible applications that easily integrate with thousands of I/O devices from hundreds of vendors, getting you to a solution faster. This track is designed for engineers, scientists, and technicians who build test, measurement, process monitoring and control, and/or research and analysis applications. Academic support staff and graduate teaching assistants may participate with faculty as a 2-person project team.