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Future of Higher Education, STELAR Partnerships with Faculty, Technology Tools, Upcoming Technologies

Digital Humanities Grant: Updates and Invitation for New Proposals!

Digital Humanities is a field that aims to explore traditional subjects such as language, literature, philosophy, history, music, law, politics, religion, theater and art in new ways via the use of technology. The St. Thomas College of Arts and Sciences and St. Thomas E-Learning and Research (STELAR) are partners in a grant program that supports and encourages this exploration by funding projects for Faculty and Grad Students in this area.

The first round of grant-supported projects are underway, with grantees engaged in projects that range from ethnographic virtual reality, an interactive StoryMap that links indigenous art and culture to geography, and machine learning Thoreau for hidden insight. On Thursday, December 5th, the Digital Humanities Grant Committee held a well-attended session to provide information on the next round of grants, along with sample projects from many disciplines. Graduate Student Scott Larkin showed off his master’s project that traced the publication and performance history of an long-forgotten poem called Shamus O’Brien, using ArcGIS StoryMaps to trace the rise and fall of its popularity across Europe and the Americas in the 19th century. Attendees also saw examples of interactive virtual museums such as John Ashbury’s Nest, maps of endangered languages and their current vitality, an “Emotional Map” of Victorian London that traced works of art linked to prominent city features: Mapping Emotions in Victorian London, and an interactive statistical analysis of art collectors in New York that explores who collected what based on a variety of socio-economic factors: Colleague Collectors.

We saw the works of  Shakespeare visualized by number of citations Visualizing Shakespeare, heard a singing artificial intelligence called Spawn interacting with human singers, Holly Herndon and Spawn, and a musical work composed entirely by AI! Attendees commented on how fascinating and inspiring the examples were.

Don’t worry if you missed the session- you can still apply! To apply for the grant, follow this link to the application form: Digital Humanities Grant Application. Note that there are two different forms, the first for Faculty and the second for Graduate Students.  There are two deadlines: a 300-word abstract is due by February 14th, 2020. The deadline for full proposals is February 28th, 2020.

You don’t need to worry about technology or detail in these documents- let your imagination run free! The DHG committee will review the applications for interest and viability, and facilitate the coordination of technology. The committee will select up to three projects for funding. More information is available on the application website. The committee is eager to see what you come up with!

This post was written by Eric Tornoe, Associate Director of Research and High-Performance Computing with the St. Thomas E-Learning and Research (STELAR) Center at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. To learn more about this topic, please visit our website at www.stthomas.edu/stelar or email us at stelar@stthomas.edu.

Canvas: Did you know...?, Technology Tools

New Gradebook In Canvas

Canvas is rolling out a new gradebook to all users this winter, and we think you’re going to like the new features. St. Thomas is going to switch from the old gradebook to the new one on January 3, 2020 to accommodate posting Fall 2019 grades and the start of J-Term 2020.

New Features:

To see a list of all the changes, please view the complete functionality comparison chart. Here are three exciting new features that will help you streamline your grading and reporting:

Enhanced Features:

To see a complete list of enhancements made to current features, please view the complete functionality comparison chart. The following feature enhancements might be especially handy:

  • In the old gradebook you could only sort student names alphabetically by last name. In the new gradebook, you’ll be able to sort students by first or last name, sort alphabetically, and choose which secondary information (like username or group) you’d like to show.
  • You have much more control over the arrangement of your assignment columns with the new gradebook. You can arrange by name, due date, points, or module.
  • You can also filter your columns by assignment group, modules, and/or section. In the old gradebook, you could only filter by section.
  • The new gradebook allows you to mute all assignments by default (by selecting the manual post option) in Grade Posting Policies.

Features that Still Exist but Have Moved:

Looking for an old feature, but can’t find it? Quite a few features have either moved to another location in the gradebook, or their icons have changed. To see a full list, have a look at the functionality comparison chart.

Getting Help

Looking for something in the New Gradebook, but can’t find it? Trying to make sense of new icons and locations? Canvas has multiple help options for you:

  • Look through the New Gradebook Instructor Guide to see if you can find an answer to your question.
  • Contact Canvas help if you have any issues setting up your new gradebook. They are available 24/7 via phone or chat.

This post was written by Nancy McGinley Myers, an Instructional Designer for the St. Thomas E-Learning and Research (STELAR) Center at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. To learn more about this topic, please visit our website at www.stthomas.edu/stelar or email us at stelar@stthomas.edu.

STELAR Events, STELAR Partnerships with Faculty, Technology Tools

Art + Technology: New Perspectives on the Humanities

What is the Digital Humanities Grant Program?   

The Digital Humanities Grant Program is a collaborative effort between the College of Arts and Sciences and STELAR (St. Thomas E-Learning and Research), which was established to increase awareness and participation in the blending of two complementary fields of study, Art and Technology. It offers grant funding for faculty and graduate students whose proposals are chosen by the selection committee. Sound interesting?  Come to the information session on how to apply for the next round of grants on Thursday, December 5th (5:00-6:00 pm) in the STELAR Smart Classroom (OSF LIB LL21 St Paul campus) to get details on the application process and see project examples. Read on for a rundown of currently funded projects that recently participated in a mid-point showcase.

In the spring of 2019, the Digital Humanities Grant Program awarded three grants to support projects that merge art and technology in the areas of Virtual Reality, Story Mapping, and Machine Learning. On 10/29/19, the grant winners participated in a showcase to display their work in progress. In addition to faculty and staff, the gathering included students from Emily James (Associate Professor of English) “Modernism and Its Afterlives” class.    

Learning together Oct 29     Eric presenting learning

The Arts provide boundless content and expertise which can be exhibited and explored in novel ways using emerging technology. The grant program is funded by generous donations from Dean Yohuru Williams and STELAR, who provided seed money and technological expertise for the initial round of grants. 

Presenting This Year’s Projects 

 The committee reviewed proposals last year and chose three excellent and diverse projects for funding. Two faculty projects and one graduate student project were funded. A recap of the projects:  

Professor Gretchen Burau submitted a project on the culture and art of the Asmat people in Indonesia that utilizes ArcGIS Story Map technology to create interactive maps that allow viewers to regional cultural differences and similarities tied to the geographic locations of this diverse tribal culture. 

Gretchen presenting learning

Professor Laura Zebuhr is exploring the nature of Eros in the writing of Thoreau. This project uses machine learning and a contextual word search algorithm developed by STELAR to explore all 10,000+ pages of Thoreau’s published works and private journals for commonalities, correlations and coded messages that would be impossible to notice through reading and study alone.  

Laura presenting learning

Graduate student Theresa Malloy’s project is an Ethnographic Virtual Reality work that highlights the activity of Appetite for Change, which works in North Minneapolis to build community through urban gardens and food markets. Theresa’s work allows the viewer to step into the garden to experience it in three dimensions while learning more about the organization and their work. 

Theresa presenting learning

 When completed in late Spring 2020, the projects, as well as the technology used to produce them, will be highlighted in the STELAR Showcase, allowing visitors to interact with the three works and to learn more about how the technology is used in order to inspire further works that blend art and technology. 

More Background on this Partnership 

How the Partnership DevelopedThe program grew out of the vision and initiative of Professor Alexis Easley (English Department) who then reached out to Brett Coup (AVP of Academic Technology) to discuss the concept of Digital Humanities and how we could promote and support them. From that conversation evolved the idea of a grant program. Alexis took the idea to Dean Yohuru Williams (College of Arts and Science) who provided funding, while STELAR agreed to provide the coordination and technical resources necessary to produce the projects.   

Leadership TeamThe DHGP committee members are representative of interested parties across the university, with Ann Zawistoski. Associate Director of Research and Instruction for Libraries and Information Services, Tommie Marrinan, Assistant Professor in Computer and Information Sciences, Salvatore Pane, Associate Professor of English, Alexis Easley, Professor of English, Brett Coup, AVP of Academic Technology, and Eric Tornoe, Associate Director of Research and High-Performance Computing. This group creates the documents, runs the application process, selects grantees from the applicant pool, and assists the grantees in the execution of their project. Heather Shirey, Associate Professor of Art History, served as Faculty Mentor to Theresa Malloy, the grad student winner.  

For questions on the grant, contact Eric Tornoe or anyone on the leadership team! And watch for a future STELAR Stream announcement on the spring 2020 in-person learning showcase.   

This post was written by Eric Tornoe, Associate Director of Research and High-Performance Computing with the St. Thomas E-Learning and Research (STELAR) Center at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. To learn more about this topic, please visit our website at www.stthomas.edu/stelar or email us at stelar@stthomas.edu.

Best Practices, Tips, and Tricks, Technology Tools

Basic Video Production Tips and Tricks, Part 2

In a previous post, we looked at five basic video production tools available to faculty and students at St. Thomas.  In this article, I offer some best-practice tips to increase the production value of your recordings. Because videos are often viewed independently online, it’s easy for the viewer to get distracted or multitask while watching. While you don’t have to be a “rock-star” to keep their attention, there are some basic things you can do to make your videos more engaging.

Video Engagement” is a way to track views and retention. The main take-away is that if you want your students to view the entire video, keep it short (5-10 min. or less). If you have more content to cover, consider splitting it into a Part 1, Part 2, etc. Keep your message moving and provide appealing visuals to help carry the content and help students nurture meaning.

Here are ten more tips and tricks for increasing the production value of your audio/video recordings.

  1. Sketch, storyboard, or script your message before recording begins! Even though it’s more work, you’ll find that all your efforts will pay off in the overall quality and impact of your video.
  2. Good video can’t make up for bad audio! Use a good microphone and minimize extraneous noises. If people can’t hear clearly, you won’t get your message across no matter how awesome the video is.
  3. Use well-lit, well-balanced room lighting to light the subject but avoid shadows!  Be careful not to shine a harsh light directly on the subject, nor record in front of windows open to the sunlight.
  4. Control your environment as much as possible! This includes distracting room noise, visual distractions, people and pets. It’s best to be in a quiet, well-lit space.
  5. Frame the shot to capture what’s most important, and then some! Balance your subject in the shot so it’s large enough to be visible, but not too close to be distracting. A little background helps provide context.
  6. Think about what you’re wearing! Avoid wearing pin-stripes or anything distractable. Select clothing that will be in high contrast to the background so you don’t blend in or get lost in the background.
  7. Make sure the text is readable on all slides! Leave plenty of white-space around the text. Choose contrasting colors for text and images. Remember, each screen displays colors differently.
  8. Use headphones and a good microphone during live web-conference situations! This minimizes audio interference and feedback.
  9. All video content need to be close-captioned! This helps all learners. Check out the Close-Caption Request form on the STELAR website.
  10. Check out St. Thomas’ LinkedIn Learning for good examples of videos and tutorials that help with video recording, editing and producing.

Following a few simple tips can make all the difference between students actually watching what you produce, or just skipping through it. After all, if “content delivery” is the primary reason for creating videos, don’t give them a reason for not wanting to watch.

If you’re interested in getting the most out of your pre-recorded videos, but could use a little more guidance, feel free to contact STELAR to request a consultation around your next audiovisual recording project.

This post was written by Michael Wilder, an Instructional Designer for the St. Thomas E-Learning and Research (STELAR) Center at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. To learn more about this topic, please visit our website at www.stthomas.edu/stelar or email us at stelar@stthomas.edu.

Best Practices, Tips, and Tricks, Technology Tools

Utilizing Library Resources in Canvas

shelves full of books

St. Thomas has a handy tool for helping you integrate library resources into your Canvas sites. The Resource List is easy to set up, saves students money by using existing library resources, connects you with librarians who may be able to provide copyright guidance and management, and simplifies linking.

STELAR has just developed a self-paced, online Resource List training. This training will teach you how to set up your Resource List, add and link items, and identify special considerations such as accessibility and copyright.

For more information on reducing course materials costs for students, please see Greg Argo’s previous post: Reduce Course Materials Costs, We’ll Help.

This post was written by Nancy McGinley Myers, Instructional Designer with the St. Thomas E-Learning and Research (STELAR) Center at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. To learn more about this topic, please visit our website at www.stthomas.edu/stelar or email us at stelar@stthomas.edu. For more information on training available through STELAR, please see our Training & Events page.