Teaching and Technology
Issue - October 2006

The University Writing Center: Online Services
Contributed by Russell Carpenter, Visiting Instructor and University Writing Center Coordinator

We welcome all UCF faculty members to explore the resources offered here at the University Writing Center (UWC). The UWC provides a non-remedial service for all UCF students. Trained writing consultants help students in any discipline at any stage of the writing process. Consultants can also help with out-of-class writing like resumes and application letters.

Although our focus is face-to-face consultations, we also offer online and phone consultations for students via KnightOWL, the UWC’s “Online Writing Lab.” This service may be of particular interest to students who take classes at Regional Campuses and students who cannot, for one reason or another, physically visit the UWC for a face-to-face consultation. Like face-to-face consultations, students can schedule designated 30 or 60-minute appointments through our online scheduler, located at http://www.uwcscheduler.ucf.edu. Based on availability, consultations may take place over the phone or online. For more information on KnightOWL consultations, click here.

Students and faculty can access our handouts online by visiting our Writing Resources page. Here, you can find valuable (printable) handouts on writing-related topics from documentation styles to comma usage. Click here to browse our resources.

We also offer a variety of resources for faculty members who teach online, including our Faculty Resources page located at http://www.uwc.ucf.edu/Faculty_Resources/facultymainpage.html. This page includes resources that can help you assign the UWC, create written projects, and assess writing. You can also schedule class presentations, request bookmarks, and listen to a UWC presentation. We also offer a “virtual tour” of the UWC at http://www.uwc.ucf.edu/Virtual_UWC/virtualUWC_home.htm. Of course, you are free to adapt these resources for use in your online classes.

For additional questions, visit our home page at http://www.uwc.ucf.edu. You can also contact Rusty Carpenter, UWC Coordinator, at rgcarpen@mail.ucf.edu or by phone at 407-882-0076.

The UWC . . . “because writers need readers.”

News from the Library
Contributed by Rachel Viggiano, Librarian, Information Literacy & Outreach

New Library Catalog / Java City
This summer, the Libraries underwent a lot of changes. If you’re on the main campus, you can stop by and see the newly renovated social study area just inside the front doors. This space now features the Java City cafe, new computers, and will soon be the location for current popular fiction (the Browsing Collection) and a closed-caption television tuned to the news.

If you’re not on the main campus, you’ll still be interested in our online changes. In July, we implemented a new Library Catalog system. It looks and works a little differently from our old catalog in WebLUIS. You can visit our new Catalog and Course Reserves directly from the Libraries’ home page (http://library.ucf.edu).

Tours and Tutorials
To get yourself and your students used to these changes, we offer Streaming Videos (http://library.ucf.edu/Reference/Videos/Default.asp) which include instructions for the new Library Catalog, and a Self Guided Tour, which is a guide to the 2nd and 3rd floors of the library that can help your on-campus students get oriented. There’s also the online Library Research Tutorial (http://library.ucf.edu/Reference/Instruction/ENC1102Tutorial) to get your Web-based classes started.

Library Instruction
As always, we encourage you to schedule a Library Instruction session (http://library.ucf.edu/Reference/Instruction/LICourse.asp) for your face-to-face classes that may need guidance in using the library resources. Our librarians are also willing to collaborate with you to find an alternative means of instructing your online classes.

Special Service for Faculty Only - Desktop Delivery
Need an article or book? Let us help you save time! Interlibrary Loan will supply you with electronic copies of articles at your desktop. Books and other printed publications will be held for you at the circulation desk.

For more information: http://library.ucf.edu/ILL/DD4Faculty.asp
To make a request: http://library.ucf.edu/ILL

Three Stars and a Chili Pepper: Social Software, Folksonomy, and User Reviews
in the College
Context Contributed by Robert Reed, Assistant Director, Center for Distributed Learning.

Joseph Ugoretz writes an extensive essay on the brief history of social software, and how the new environments and tools can be used in the college context to benefit teaching and learning. He describes the new social software tools very well, and makes the interesting point that it is not all so new. The Google ranking algorithm (invented in 1997) was one of the first tools that exploited the communitarian knowledge of the larger social body of internet writers and designers.The essay concludes with good recommendations for applying these tools for teaching and learning. He advises that these are new and different tools (Wikipedia is not Britannica), and his practical teaching suggestions about using these tools, evaluating sources, and understanding appropriate critique, are all consistent with UCF’s Information Fluency initiative. The essay was published June 9, 2006 by Academic Commons(http://www.academiccommons.org) an online journal oriented toward technology and liberal arts education. Click here to view the entire article.