Just go to: Sofia Course Gallery

There you will see an assortment of courses. Click each and examine what the instructor has done and why.

I just spent a great two days in the company of the Director of Etudes, Vivie Sinou and the other Etudes trainers in spirited sessions on the past, present and future of Etudes.

Etudes Facilitators Learning from Each Other

Etudes is, of course, the class management system we use at Valley College and it has come a long way in just a few short years. Working with the support of Foothill College and the State Chancellors office, the system has grown in features and now serves almost 25 colleges in California. But the big news is that Etudes has now become a non profit organization.

As a non profit organization, Etudes now becomes an independent organization and is eligible for more stable funding alternatives including grants and contributions. We are very excited about the future of Etudes. We are planning expansion to other colleges and advanced training in different tools of Etudes, including tests and assignments, and also online teaching strategies.

One of great features of Etudes that separates it from all other classroom management systems is the help you can receive from the Users Group. Members and facilitators are always online and are active in contributing their knowledge. Please take advantage of the expertise of all the Etudes users. Read the ongoing discussions and I guarantee you will learn something each time you visit.

And don’t forget the jobs board. We have several full time and adjunct faculty teaching online at other colleges using the Etudes system.

One of the groups was the Turtles of “Happy Together” fame. One of the lead singers is Mark Volman. A graduate of Valley College! In his forties, Mark started college and went all the way to earn his masters degress and taught for us in the Music Department.

I will never forget the day a couple of weeks into the semester when this “hippie guy” came to me in class to tell me he was going to have to miss the next class session because his band was playing a benefit concert.

“What’s the name of your band,” I asked.

“The Turtles.”

I then realized who he was and asked him why he was taking my class. “To become a teacher like you.” I told him I wanted to be a rock musician like him. We have stayed in touch since then.

The reason I mention this here is that we got to talk last night and he told me he the chair of the Music Business department at a small college near Nashville. He is developing courses, conducting departmental meetings and then flying off on Fridays for concerts. Interesting life huh?

But here is the point of the story, finally huh? We talked about distance learning. Three of his courses are being taught simultaneously at both his college and then sent by live video link to the University of Hawaii. A great way to get his expertise on two campus’ thousands of miles apart.

And, by the way, he had a great set.

I am off today to San Fransisco for an Etudes Facilitator Retreat. I will let you know how that goes.

Oldies but Goodies

Michelle Visco did a wonderful presentation demonstrating a host of PowerPoint techniques

Jeniffer Penton did a great job of presenting two classes in PhotoShop.

Laurie Nalepa clearly explained how to create your own blog.

Philip Highly opened all out eyes to the many uses and features of the Mac iPhoto program.

Mark Lampert clearly explained different functions of the PC including the screen shot program, SnagIt.

Yours truely demonstrated how to produce a podcast and introduced web 2.0 tools including wikis, social bookmarking, Google Docs and flickr.

I want to thank all of you for your great efforts and begin thinking about what we want for the second Technology Extravaganza that we are scheduling for over the winter recess.

If any of you have any programs you would like to see or present a program, please let me know.

Jim “virtual guy” Marteney

This class is part of a three day Valley College “Technology Boot Camp” from July 8 through July 10. We are covering a variety of topics including Photoshop, Podcasting, Web 2.0 Tools, and PowerPoints. There are so many topics we want to cover that we are already planning for a much bigger three day program to take place in January over the winter break.

If you have any ideas or topics you would like to see covered, please hit comments at the top of this page and let me know what you would like to see. If you would like to present a workshop, please let me know the topic. We would love to have as many workshops and people involved as possible. And remember, you will receive double staff development credit as a presenter. And we are even working on a budget where we can hopefully offer some actual payments for your effort. Grants sure can be useful.

Talk to you soon.

Jim “virtual guy” Marteney

I, as many of you have or are doing this summer, had to leave my office as they are refurbishing the Humanities Building. I have been in the office for over 30 years so cleaning it out was more like an archealogical excavation. Deciding what to toss and keep was a challenge. I decided that anything that was in the form of a ditto sheet needed to go. And I found more of them than I expected.

I am going to use this blog to publish the information on different aspects of the distance learning program  at Valley College, information I find on different aspects of distance learning and any thoughts, ideas, and concerns you might have on teaching online.

Please feel free to respond here or email me at: martenji@lavc.edu

As for where I will be this summer. I will be around as I am on a 12 month contract. I may not have an office, but I have a laptop and a broadband card so I will be the campus nomad. Currently I have my eye on one of the tables just outside the cafeteria.

If you want to get together for help with your class, or if there is any other help I can provide, please let me know.

Jim “the virtual guy” Marteney