Good morning developers,
I hope everyone had a very enjoyable weekend! As you are working toward 100% completion of your developments, please don't forget that part of this cycle's development process also includes converting your 12-unit course to a 10-unit course as the summer quarter this year will be 10-week's in length. Once you have your 12-unit course complete, please let me know and I will copy your completed course to a new master shell for you to work in for this conversion. Please remember both of these masters are due by Monday, May 11.
I also wanted to share with you the benefits of implementing a Wiki into your course development. Research consistently reports the benefits of group work in understanding course concepts as well as preparing students for work in their professions. However, in the online classroom, the logistical idea of a group project can be daunting at times, but it doesn't need to be. A Wiki is an excellent way to implement group work and have groups work with one another virtually. "Wikis drive engagement and collaboration" (PBWiki.com).
A Wiki I particularly like is PBWiki as it is very secure, it can embed videos and audio to embrace the technical side of students if they would like, it can create tags and RSS feeds, it offers access controls, and what I like most is it offers student accountability as it indicates who participated in the Wiki when, where, and how. Click on this link to check it out and see if it is something you could implement into your course: http://pbwiki.com/academic.wiki.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns as you are working on your courses.
Thanks!
Heather
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
April 20, 2009
Good morning developers,
Today marks the 75% completion point for the summer development cycle. I will begin looking at your courses starting today and will be in contact with you individually, if I haven't been already, regarding your course(s) up to this point. If you have any questions on any feedback I send, please don't hesitate to contact me.
As you move to 100% completion, please keep a couple of administrative things in mind:
(1) Please verify that all of your discussion boards are linked within the units properly by clicking on the discussion board in each unit and confirming it brings students to the appropriate discussion board topic;
(2) Please verify that all discussion boards are then linked to the grade center properly by clicking on the Class Discussion link on the left side of the course and clicking each topic's modify button to confirm points are allocated to the discussion. If you receive an error message when clicking the modify button, that means the discussion board is not properly linked to the grade center and will need to be recreated.
(3) Please verify each unit has an interactive discussion board topic where students are required to both post and reply.
As you are working toward your 100% completion please also be thinking of ways to enhance the interactive component of your course(s). TeacherTube is yet another great resource for you to explore to possibly find some educational videos that could enhance your course(s). Click here to browse TeacherTube: http://www.teachertube.com/index.php
Once again, if you have any questions on anything, please let me know.
I look forward to reviewing your courses and will be in touch with you individually.
Have a great Earth Week!
Heather
Today marks the 75% completion point for the summer development cycle. I will begin looking at your courses starting today and will be in contact with you individually, if I haven't been already, regarding your course(s) up to this point. If you have any questions on any feedback I send, please don't hesitate to contact me.
As you move to 100% completion, please keep a couple of administrative things in mind:
(1) Please verify that all of your discussion boards are linked within the units properly by clicking on the discussion board in each unit and confirming it brings students to the appropriate discussion board topic;
(2) Please verify that all discussion boards are then linked to the grade center properly by clicking on the Class Discussion link on the left side of the course and clicking each topic's modify button to confirm points are allocated to the discussion. If you receive an error message when clicking the modify button, that means the discussion board is not properly linked to the grade center and will need to be recreated.
(3) Please verify each unit has an interactive discussion board topic where students are required to both post and reply.
As you are working toward your 100% completion please also be thinking of ways to enhance the interactive component of your course(s). TeacherTube is yet another great resource for you to explore to possibly find some educational videos that could enhance your course(s). Click here to browse TeacherTube: http://www.teachertube.com/index.php
Once again, if you have any questions on anything, please let me know.
I look forward to reviewing your courses and will be in touch with you individually.
Have a great Earth Week!
Heather
Monday, April 13, 2009
April 13, 2009
Good morning developers,
I hope everyone had a nice, relaxing weekend! As you continue working on your development projects, please be thinking about various enhancements you could add to your course(s) to really engage the online learner. On the right side of this blog board you'll see links to various enhancement pieces Amy has discussed in the past.
Another great enhancement opportunity for you is the use of audio presentations. If you are a faculty member at Globe Education Network, you have probably heard about and maybe even have participated in the Max Knowledge online coursework as part of your professional development. As a developer, you can implement learning modules similar to what these courses look like by creating a PowerPoint presentation with a script and interactive instructions and sending them to me to create an interactive audio lecture for you using Adobe Presenter. Please click here to watch a short demonstration on what Adobe Presenter is and how it can serve as an excellent enhancement in your courses: http://www.adobe.com/products/presenter/
A few of GEN's online courses currently have Adobe Presenter presentations and students have responded really positively to them. You do not need to do the recording; rather, you can provide me with a PowerPoint presentation and an accompanying script and I will take care of the rest for you!
If you have any questions on this resource, or questions on anything else as you are working on your development, please let me know.
Have a great week!
Heather
I hope everyone had a nice, relaxing weekend! As you continue working on your development projects, please be thinking about various enhancements you could add to your course(s) to really engage the online learner. On the right side of this blog board you'll see links to various enhancement pieces Amy has discussed in the past.
Another great enhancement opportunity for you is the use of audio presentations. If you are a faculty member at Globe Education Network, you have probably heard about and maybe even have participated in the Max Knowledge online coursework as part of your professional development. As a developer, you can implement learning modules similar to what these courses look like by creating a PowerPoint presentation with a script and interactive instructions and sending them to me to create an interactive audio lecture for you using Adobe Presenter. Please click here to watch a short demonstration on what Adobe Presenter is and how it can serve as an excellent enhancement in your courses: http://www.adobe.com/products/presenter/
A few of GEN's online courses currently have Adobe Presenter presentations and students have responded really positively to them. You do not need to do the recording; rather, you can provide me with a PowerPoint presentation and an accompanying script and I will take care of the rest for you!
If you have any questions on this resource, or questions on anything else as you are working on your development, please let me know.
Have a great week!
Heather
Monday, April 6, 2009
April 6, 2009
Good Morning Developers,
With this being my first blog post as I cover Amy's responsibilities while she is on maternity leave, I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I am a full-time online Communications/Business instructor for GEN and have worked on course development since I started teaching online. I really enjoy exploring and implementing new strategies to really engage our students in the online classroom. If you ever have any questions while you are working on your developments, please don't hesitate to let me know. And I also look forward to learning from each of you as I explore your development courses.
As you are working on your development, I encourage you to create grading rubrics for assignments and essay exams. Grade Inflation has been a hot topic in recent years and here is a great article discussing various perspectives and research on the issue. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/03/12/grades
An excellent way to curb grade inflation is by putting into place grading standards and expectations. They not only guide students as they are completing their work, they also help guide instructors during the evaluation stage. An excellent resource to assist in creating grading rubrics is at: http://rubistar.com/
I look forward to working with each of you, and once again, please let me know if you have any questions.
Have a great first week of the quarter!
Heather
With this being my first blog post as I cover Amy's responsibilities while she is on maternity leave, I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I am a full-time online Communications/Business instructor for GEN and have worked on course development since I started teaching online. I really enjoy exploring and implementing new strategies to really engage our students in the online classroom. If you ever have any questions while you are working on your developments, please don't hesitate to let me know. And I also look forward to learning from each of you as I explore your development courses.
As you are working on your development, I encourage you to create grading rubrics for assignments and essay exams. Grade Inflation has been a hot topic in recent years and here is a great article discussing various perspectives and research on the issue. http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/03/12/grades
An excellent way to curb grade inflation is by putting into place grading standards and expectations. They not only guide students as they are completing their work, they also help guide instructors during the evaluation stage. An excellent resource to assist in creating grading rubrics is at: http://rubistar.com/
I look forward to working with each of you, and once again, please let me know if you have any questions.
Have a great first week of the quarter!
Heather