Case Simulation Release

We’re pleased to announce that UTTC has released the generic case simulation engine as open source at Source Forge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/casesimulation/.

Background

In 2004, the University of Texas System TeleCampus developed a Flash-based simulation in Emergency Room Psychiatry which was used to successfully teach interns and medical personnel across Texas about recent ER intervention and diagnostic techniques. The project received the Computer World Heroes Laureate in 2005. On the basis of this project, the TeleCampus was approached by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas to develop a series of courses for training Dermatology Physician Assistants. In-depth discussions with the program director uncovered the need for dozens of courses for P.A’s across a variety of medical specialties. Design discussions revealed the need for a multimedia-rich presentation layer, not only to engage learners but also because the subject matter was visual-centric. The demand and magnitude of the project implied the dedication of multimedia programmers for several years, a scope beyond the available resources of the university. As a result, the project was conceived as an XML-driven Flash template which technically-competent faculty could modify to create new content.

Characteristics

The resulting case study application consists of two separate Flash application layers: (1) an XML-driven meta-template that defines the user interface and pedagogy used at the discipline level, and (2) an XML-driven course content template. The second template is accessed by faculty to build specific courses within a discipline, while the first template is used by Flash (Actionscript 2.0) programmers to create the discipline-specific application interface and tools used by faculty. In the discipline-specific template, a medical course may be contextualized with a patient complaint followed by lab tests resulting in a diagnosis that produces a treatment plan; a course in social problems would require a different structure: a crisis analyzed through data sets leading to an hypothesis that produces a policy proposal. In discipline-specific tools, a course for lab assistants may require an image magnifier; a course for counselors may require a video player; a course for business law students may require a secure communication link to the Lexis library; and a course for physical anthropologists may require a carbon-dating simulation.

Credits

The original Flash Action Script was done by Ross Henderson with UI design by George Irwin and database programming by Mike Nowlin. The extension of the application to an OO design and rewrite of the Flash Action Script was done by Brad Shaevel. If you are interested in using this application, we can also make available to you a series if screen-capture movies that provide a detailed walk through the code; email manderson@utsystem.edu.

IOL Call for Proposals Extended

You still have time to submit a proposal to present at the 2009 Innovations in Online Learning (IOL) conference. The deadline has been extended until February 13.  Submit your proposal today!

Get Recognized with a 2009 IOL Award

The Innovations in Online Learning Awards are a great way to acknowledge the hard work being performed by you and your colleagues. The IOL Awards recognize leaders and innovators from within the UT System. Nominations are due by March 6^th. 

Why are my Articulate Presentations not loading?

We have recently had two HELP DESK calls from students who could not access  pkg files which contained Articulate files in a course. 

After investigation, it came to light that if you’ve published presentations with Articulate Presenter 4 or 5, they may not load when viewed with Flash Player 10.   Articulate has a FIX for the problem, and you will find step by step instructions documented at www.articulate.com/support/kb/002567.php

To fix the problem, you need to download and install the Articulate Updater for Adobe Flash Player 10, launch and run it, then rezip and upload all of the pkg files that use Articulate.

Maggie Sheppard | Michael Anderson 

Blackboard Upgrade (Outage) Scheduled beginning January 4, 2009

UTTC’s Blackboard installation will be upgraded to a new version in conjunction with the beginning of the spring term. To facilitate this upgrade, the UTTC Blackboard system will be unavailable beginning at 10 p.m. Central time on Sunday, January 4, until 4 p.m. Central time on Monday, January 5.

This minor upgrade will provide bug fixes and address performance issues in the following areas:

• Discussion Board – Corrections to problems with file attachments that result in 404 errors, the inability to remove attachments from the file system, and denial of access issues.
• Discussion Board Grader - Correction to problem with deleting Gradebook columns associated with a Graded Forum resulted in error.
• Assignments – Corrections to problems with file attachments that result in 404 errors and problems with assignments being moved to different content folders.
• Assessments – Corrections to performance problems with the Assessment Tool and an issue with the Calculated Formula.
• SafeAssignment
  • Support for Microsoft Office 2007 (.docx) and OpenOffice (.odt) file types
  • Support for SafeAssignments in organizations
  • Corrections to problems with students viewing a SafeAssignment from the My Grades page which results in a 404 error o Correction to a problem with some images on SafeAssign pages failing to display
  • Corrections to a problem where users with multiple course roles (e.g. instructor in one course, students in another course) receiving an authorization error when accessing some SafeAssign pages

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns regarding this Blackboard upgrade. We are available by phone at 1-888-Texas-16 or by email at telecampus@utsystem.edu. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage, and hope you enjoy the new features brought by the upgrade.