Good Morning Developers!
Can you believe that it is September tomorrow - wow, did the summer fly by fast! Your 25% completion deadline is approaching fast - next Monday I will be going into your courses to check for 25% completion. Please let me know if you have any concerns about meeting this deadline.
This week I came across a video titled Social Media Revolution – This 4 minute video does a fantastic job of telling the story that social media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate. It is well worth the watch! Here is the website where this video came from.
After watching this video I couldn’t help but feel proud of the work that we are doing in our online division at GU/MSB.
One of the statistics in the video stated that a 2009 US Department of Education study revealed that on average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction. This statement impacted me greatly. For many years those who work in online education as a whole have been striving to overcome the stigma that it cannot rival face to face instruction. Although I still believe that there are certain topics that are best learned through a residential environment, this study shows all of us that online education can in fact be just as good as face to face instruction for many topics.
As online developers we are directly impacting the 1 in 6 higher education students who are enrolled in online education and are responsible for them performing just as well as those students who learn in a traditional brick and mortar classroom. This is an awesome responsibility and I believe that thus far we have lived up to the challenge!
The work that we are doing is cutting edge, impactful, and highly motivated by the changing face of communication and education. Congratulations for being so closely involved in a changing world! Don’t be afraid to work these social media avenues into your developments – your students will love being able to use them in a classroom environment!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
August 24, 2009
In the past I have talked about using Jing to record your screencasts for your students, but if you want to use something that allows you to embed your screencast videos into Blackboard then Screenr might just be the tool for you! Below I have embedded the video I created using Screenr. Click Here to see a screen cast on how to create an external link in Blackboard:
You do not need to register in order to use Screenr, but if you want to save your recordings you do need a Twitter account. Screenr uses your Twitter ID to save your recording and publish it to Twitter, however please note that you can opt not to publish to Twitter. The recordings you make using Screenr can then be published to Blackboard. You do not need to publish to Twitter in order to import your videos to Blackboard.
In order to publish to Blackboard you will want to select “Don’t tweet this screencast. I will tweet it through Twitter manually”. Then select to Publish your recording. This takes a few minutes depending on how large your video is (you are limited to 5 minutes). Once you have published your video it gives you the HTML code for the video on the right side of the screen. You will want to highlight that HTML code and copy it and then paste the HTML code into an item in Blackboard.
Click Here to see a video demonstrating how to embed HTML code into an item in Blackboard
Have fun with this new tool!
Thanks,
Amy
You do not need to register in order to use Screenr, but if you want to save your recordings you do need a Twitter account. Screenr uses your Twitter ID to save your recording and publish it to Twitter, however please note that you can opt not to publish to Twitter. The recordings you make using Screenr can then be published to Blackboard. You do not need to publish to Twitter in order to import your videos to Blackboard.
In order to publish to Blackboard you will want to select “Don’t tweet this screencast. I will tweet it through Twitter manually”. Then select to Publish your recording. This takes a few minutes depending on how large your video is (you are limited to 5 minutes). Once you have published your video it gives you the HTML code for the video on the right side of the screen. You will want to highlight that HTML code and copy it and then paste the HTML code into an item in Blackboard.
Click Here to see a video demonstrating how to embed HTML code into an item in Blackboard
Have fun with this new tool!
Thanks,
Amy
Monday, August 17, 2009
August 17, 2009
Good Morning Developers,
Welcome to the newest round of developments! We are now working on course developments that we would like to have ready for Winter Quarter, 2010.
Several of you who are developing courses for this cycle have already developed courses in the past and there are several of you who are developing courses for the first time. I would like to use this first blog post of this cycle to direct your attention to some of the key things to keep in mind during the development of an online course.
As you begin your development it is important to look at what the expectations are. It may be valuable to take a close look at the Online Course Development Checklist as well as the Peer Advising survey before you begin your development. These are the things we will be looking for from a completed course development.
You may also want to consider the many tools that are available to help you as you develop your course:
Welcome to the newest round of developments! We are now working on course developments that we would like to have ready for Winter Quarter, 2010.
Several of you who are developing courses for this cycle have already developed courses in the past and there are several of you who are developing courses for the first time. I would like to use this first blog post of this cycle to direct your attention to some of the key things to keep in mind during the development of an online course.
As you begin your development it is important to look at what the expectations are. It may be valuable to take a close look at the Online Course Development Checklist as well as the Peer Advising survey before you begin your development. These are the things we will be looking for from a completed course development.
You may also want to consider the many tools that are available to help you as you develop your course:
The 25% completion date is September 7th, 2009. I look forward to hearing your ideas and seeing the start of your developments!
Have a great week!
Amy
Monday, August 10, 2009
Peer Advising Survey
- Do you feel that the content in the course is written at the appropriate level?
- Is the course split into manageable segments?
- Are visual and auditory stimuli used to motivate students?
- Are appropriate supplementary resources made available as part of the course content?
- Does the use of technology enable critical reflection and analysis of content?
- Do the assignments/activities that require the use of technology clearly explain how technology is to be used by the students
- Do you believe the instructional strategies employed in the course cause students to be effectively engaged with course content
- Do you believe that the expectations defining or explaining required levels of student participation are clear
- Do you believe there is a deliberate attempt to create a learning community through the following methods: Discussions, E-mail, Chat Rooms, Videoconferencing, Group Projects, or other collaborative activities
- Do you believe the assessments/assignments in the course are aligned with the stated objectives/learning outcomes
August 10, 2009
Hello Developers,
Today is the 100% completion date for all Fall Quarter, 2009 developments.
Today the peer advisors will be going into the courses and completing a feedback sheet. This feedback sheet will give you the information you need to complete your development. Once you have worked in the necessary feedback I will copy your 12 week master course into a 10 week master course and you can complete your development by converting your course to the 10 unit lay out (some of you have done the 10 week conversion already, and if this is the case then please work feedback into both master shells).
Thank you for all of your hard work this quarter, the courses are of high quality and I look forward to getting the feedback from the peer advisers!
I wanted to leave you with a wonderful website on educational blogging. The Support Blogging wiki has been set up to provide an opportunity for students, teachers, administrators, parents, and others to help promote an understanding of the benefits of educational blogging.
There is a list of hundreds of educational blogs, a list of great web resources on educational blogging, and a community of people to contact with any questions you have about blogging.
Even if you don’t want to start your own blog, there is a wealth of information on this site for how to encourage blogging in your classrooms or even just hundreds of blogs that give you information and resources on education as a trade.
Have fun playing with this wiki!
Today is the 100% completion date for all Fall Quarter, 2009 developments.
Today the peer advisors will be going into the courses and completing a feedback sheet. This feedback sheet will give you the information you need to complete your development. Once you have worked in the necessary feedback I will copy your 12 week master course into a 10 week master course and you can complete your development by converting your course to the 10 unit lay out (some of you have done the 10 week conversion already, and if this is the case then please work feedback into both master shells).
Thank you for all of your hard work this quarter, the courses are of high quality and I look forward to getting the feedback from the peer advisers!
I wanted to leave you with a wonderful website on educational blogging. The Support Blogging wiki has been set up to provide an opportunity for students, teachers, administrators, parents, and others to help promote an understanding of the benefits of educational blogging.
There is a list of hundreds of educational blogs, a list of great web resources on educational blogging, and a community of people to contact with any questions you have about blogging.
Even if you don’t want to start your own blog, there is a wealth of information on this site for how to encourage blogging in your classrooms or even just hundreds of blogs that give you information and resources on education as a trade.
Have fun playing with this wiki!
Monday, August 3, 2009
August 3, 2009
Hello Developers,
This is the last week of development for this round. I will be opening up your courses to the peer advisers next Monday. Please let me know when you complete your developments this week so I can offer suggestions and check them off as the week goes along. Remember to check the Online Course Development Checklist to make sure you caught everything in your development.
Here is a great reminder of overall things to look for in your developments. Click on the link to hear the audio of this information, otherwise you can read my summary below.
This is the last week of development for this round. I will be opening up your courses to the peer advisers next Monday. Please let me know when you complete your developments this week so I can offer suggestions and check them off as the week goes along. Remember to check the Online Course Development Checklist to make sure you caught everything in your development.
Here is a great reminder of overall things to look for in your developments. Click on the link to hear the audio of this information, otherwise you can read my summary below.
10 Ways in 10 minutes to engage online learners:
- Primacy: People remember the first thing they see/hear. It is critical to cover the learning goals and manage their expectations right from the start. The learning objectives (link) will do this.
- Visuals: 60% of people would prefer to receive information visually. Include graphs, cartoons, etc. Not Just Text.
- Sound: Sound can be a perfect way to provoke memory as well as to create an environment
- Movement: In an e-learning environment this can be difficult but consider asking students to enter in yes or no answers that you are not even tracking. Just typing in a response helps learners internalize the information.
- Use Emotion: Take a situation or case study and add emotion to it.
- Teach to a Context: Answer the question “Why do we have to learn this?” Make sure that the online learner knows the answer to this question.
- Build a Sense of Community: Have students work together
- Use Humor: Use free cartoons that are available on the web
- Engaging: Don’t “Dummy Down” the course. Make sure the material is engaging and challenging enough for the learner.
- Recency: People remember the last thing that they hear/see. Make sure to review at the end of each unit what the student has learned.