Tech-Connect Events

Upcoming Events

Digital Storytelling

The Tech-Connect Community is starting 2012 off with a fun brown bag session on January 5. Kenneth Warren, a recent Curry School doctoral graduate and current University of Richmond faculty technology liaison, will present a one hour session on Digital Storytelling, in the auditorium of the Harrison Institute/Small Library Auditorium from 11:00 to noon.

Session Description

Digital storytelling (DST) is an innovative, project-based pedagogy that faculty can use as a way to engage students with course content. Resulting as captivating narrative presentations, digital stories involve a variety of activities that include research, collaboration, and reflective and expository writing. Additionally, this process requires students to record audio, identify/create images, and produce new media that can enhance the value of their learning. This session will introduce the framework of DST, the technologies that support its production, and the best practices of using it in the classroom. Learn more about DST >>

Presentation Outline

Digital Storytelling Defined
What is digital storytelling and what makes a good digital story?
Seven Element Framework of DST
Elements that provide clarity to the DST process
Two Examples: Phineas Gage & Aunt Alice
Expository/Research-based, Historical/Reflective
Technologies Used
Using Free & Accessible Tools: Google Docs, Audacity, Creative Commons, iMovie or Windows Movie Maker, Youtube
Collecting the Story
Discuss LearnDST.richmond.edu and issues related to technology support

This event is free of charge and open to anyone who would like to attend.

  • Digital Storytelling
  • Thursday, January 5, 2012 • 11:00 AM–12:00 noon
  • Harrison Institute/Small Library Auditorium

Past Events

How Well Do You Really Know Google?

The world's dominant Web search engine has become almost a requirement for daily living, and the phrase, "I Googled it" is heard more and more frequently. But how well do you really know Google?

  • Do you know what keywords to enter to get the results you want?
  • Are there "wildcard" characters you can type to help you search?
  • What can you do with the Advanced Search?
  • What does the phrase "I'm Feeling Lucky" gain you in the world of Google?
  • How does Google decide which results to show, in what order?
  • [Bonus!] What is the difference between Google Maps and Google Earth?

On Tuesday, October 11, 2011, Ronda Grizzle and Stormy Stark tackled these questions and covered some strategies for finding exactly what you are looking for on the Web.

Posters with "handy tips on improving search results and using popular Google products like Google Earth" can be found on the Google website. The posters were used as handouts for the presentation.

Office Wars in the Cloud (Microsoft vs. Google apps)

Event 3 from The Year of the Cloud

With so many different cloud options, it can be hard to determine which is the best for you. Michael Icore and Jeff Wimer battled head-to-head as they demonstrated the best features of Microsoft's and Google's office apps. Attendees left the session with a great idea of which products best accomplish the tasks that are important to them.

Office Wars in the Cloud was presented in collaboration with ITS Training Services, as part of this year's Office Technology Conference (OTC) on Wednesday, May 25. The theme of the conference, held in the John Paul Jones Arena, was "Is the Sky the Limit with Cloud Computing?" It featured a full day of cloud-related presentations. UVa faculty, staff, and students were welcome to attend the Office Wars presentation free of charge. The conference also featured a modified repeat of the first Tech-Connect cloud event, A Walk in the Clouds: Everyone's Introduction to Cloud Computing (renamed Climate Change for the OTC), with Stormy Stark and Matt Litchfield. That session was also open free of charge to members of the UVa community.

Mobile Learning Technologies and Cloud Computing

Event 2 from The Year of the Cloud

This session was presented by George Saltsman of Abilene Christian University. ACU is pioneering some of the most innovative uses of mobile learning technologies in academia. The Mr. Saltsman appeared remotely via videoconference technology, to explain how deploying wireless devices to all underclassmen has created unique opportunities to assess the impact of academic and social usage of mobile technologies and cloud computing among a university community.

"Mobile Learning Technologies and Cloud Computing" was hosted at the LSP Conference on Wednesday, April 6, in collaboration with the Local Support Partners and the MobiNet Community. All UVa faculty, staff, and students were invited to attend the presentation free of charge.

A Walk in the Clouds: Everyone's Introduction to Cloud Computing

Event 1 from The Year of the Cloud

It seems like everywhere you look this year, people are talking about cloud computing. Cell phone companies, computer companies, even some books and magazines are buzzing about cloud computing. But what is it? How do you use it? Will you even need to use it, and if so, what are the major things you should know about it?

With our February presentation, Tech-Connect kicked off a new series of Brown Bag lunches for 2011, called The Year of the Cloud Stormy Stark and Matt Litchfield explained cloud computing in language everyone can understand, followed by a short Q&A.

If you missed or got wait-listed for our first Introduction to Cloud Computing brown bag in February, don't despair! Visit the Office Technology Conference May 25 for a repeat of the Introduction to Cloud Computing—free of charge for those who opt not to go to the entire conference. The theme for this year's Office Technology Conference is “The Sky's the Limit with Cloud Computing”!

Mobile Phone Study Break

  • December 8, 2010
  • Hosted by the Tech-Connect Community in association with the Mobile Networking Group and the UVa Local Support Partners, the Study Break brought together vendors, apps developers, and UVa Procurement staff to help UVa community members get answers to their questions about mobile devices and wireless service in Charlottesville and around the University.
  • In the Clemons lobby, representatives from Central Virginia's major wireless and device vendors were on hand from 11 AM to 3 PM, to show off their products and services and answer questions.
  • Meanwhile, from noon until 2 PM, the UVa Mobile Networking Group met in Clemons 407 to showcase smartphone application development at UVa.

UVa Mobile Communication Fair

  • February 23, 2010
  • (Description available on the event site.)

The End of an Era: How the evolution of consumer technology will remake academic publishing, and what that means for higher education.

A Brown Bag Presentation by VP/CIO James Hilton and UVa Librarian Karin Wittenborg

  • May 12, 2010
  • Abstract: "Today, the Academy bears much of the cost of producing research and written scholarship—only to see it signed away to publishers, who sell it back again as books and journal subscriptions. In the same way that iTunes has changed the bundling and buying of music, causing seismic changes in the recording industry, new technologies and distribution models like the iBook and Kindle stores are poised to remake the landscape of academic publishing. How will scholars, their societies, and the Academy more generally show up in this new landscape? Will we use these disruptions to take greater control of academic scholarship, or will we be content with continuing to outsource its production and distribution to third parties who have a vested interest in controlling the downstream uses of our work?"

Retooling for Success in UVa's Technology Future

A Brown Bag Panel Discussion

  • January 26, 2010
  • Attendees heard a panel of UVa technology managers as they gave their perspectives on the question, “What skills do I need to be learning now in order to keep up with new developments and stay employed in the computing field?” Panelists discussed technical developments on the horizon in their areas, and the skills and knowledge that a prospective employee in that area 2-3 years from now should be prepared to offer. A question and answer period followed the presentations.

Introduction to RSS

Information Delivered to Your Digital Doorstep

  • April 21, 2009
  • A discussion and demonstration of how to subscribe to news, blogs, podcasts and other fun stuff on the web. Attendees learned how RSS can make your work and personal life easier while saving you time.

The Future of Technology at UVa

Part 1 of a Brown Bag Series with James Hilton and Mike McPherson

  • September 16, 2009
  • James Hilton, UVa Vice President and Chief Information Officer, and Mike McPherson, Associate VP and Deputy CIO, spoke about the sourcing of technology services:
    One of the greatest opportunities and challenges facing IT in higher education is the topic of sourcing: what services do we provide centrally, what services do we provide at the department level, what services do we acquire from outside partners, and what services do we expect individuals to bring to the table on their own? Inside of this one topic are a myriad of choices that can dramatically shape the IT landscape at UVa.

Facebook: Not Just for Students

  • December 4, 2008 and February 5, 2009
  • A discussion and demonstration of Facebook: what it is, why you'd want to use it, and how it works. Attendees learned how to create a profile, control privacy settings, and use many Facebook features. Hands-on help was available to those who brought along their laptops.

A “New” American University for Next-Gen Learners

A Brown Bag Lunch with Deputy CIO Mike McPherson

October 2, 2008

Discussion of a video of Adrian Sannier's keynote speech at Campus Technology's 2007 Summer conference. Dr. Sannier, the University Technology Officer at Arizona State University, is the dynamic technologist who drove ASU's rapid conversion to Google Mail, and continues to develop groundbreaking initiatives at the school. His keynote is a bracing presentation that challenges conventional notions of IT in higher education.