Cool Tools
What are Cool Tools?
ATC defines "Cool Tools" as any new (or new-ish) technology, learning space or web application that increases student engagement, supports authentic learning, or provides social networking capabilities. And like the technologies themselves, this definition changes over time as both the technology and it's usage changes.
The Academic Technology Center actively researches many of the "Cool Tools" that educators have been reading about lately. We look at the 'bleeding edge" of learning technologies and some more common tools, try them out, work with pioneering faculty to see what works, what doesn't, and how best to implement these new methods into the classroom. In this section you will find information on Blogs, Digital Storytelling, Elluminate, Second Life,Wikis, and more.
Most of what we investigate can be found in the Horizon Report, a New Media Consortium (NMC) annual report produced in collaboration with the Educause Learning Initiative (ELI). The Horizon Report looks at emerging technology and trends in education in "Time-to-Adoption" increments. These increments are One Year or Less, Two to Three Years, and Four to Five Years.The University of West Florida is a member of both NMC and ELI, so go to their web sites, create an account to take advantage of the many resources available to you.
Here are links to the past Horizon Reports in PDF format:
In addition, the following publications (in PDF format) from NMC may be of interest to you:
- The Future of Higher Education
- The Evolution of Communication
- Global Imperative: 21st Century Literacy
- 2007 Conference Proceedings
- 2008 Conference Proceedings
We also look at technologies and learning environments that faculty have asked us about. If there is a new technology you want us to look into or one you have tried out yourself, contact Karen Barth or Bill Harrison.
Cool Tools for '08
The Learn 8 in '08 initiative was our way to introduce faculty to some of the "cool tools" that have many faculty are using to improve student engagement in the classroom. You can view the video archives if you missed these great sessions.
Notes From the Edge
Notes From the Edge is ATC's blog where we bring you information gleened from conferences, web sites and a variety of other sources. We will update this site as new information comes out, so check back often!