Good Morning Developers,
I hope that everyone had a nice Thanksgiving weekend! Please remember that for most of you the 25% completion point is on Monday of next week (one week from today). If you have concerns about meeting this cut off point please let me know.
Brian James is the Network Director of Instructional Technology for GEN. He conducts many Lunch and Learns that are very relevant to online development. He has given me permission to post the links to past Lunch and Learns that directly relate to the work that you do. Thanks Brian!
Please take some time to look through the below webinar links as I think they will spark many great ideas for your developments. When you click on the links they may take a few minutes to load. Depending on your browser it might work best to right click on them and open them in a new window or tab.
Lunch and Learn: Twitter
Hybrid 101
Hybrid Questions and Answers
Blackboard Basics
Efolio
Social Media in Education
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
November 23, 2009
Hello Developers!
As you all know, you first develop the courses in a 12 unit format and then I will copy the course into a 10 unit shell and you will need to convert the content to be delivered in 10 weeks instead of 12 weeks. I have put together several trainings that go over how to combine this information. Please view each of the Jing presentations below to learn more about how to convert your course to a 10 unit layout. I hope you find these trainings useful and helpful!
You will not need to do this until after your 12 week course is developed, but there are quite a few videos so I wanted to give you some time to look through them.
How to combine the introductions for the Unit Folders in a course conversion
How to combine reading assignments in a 10 week conversion
How to combine discussion boards in a 10 week conversion
How to combine assignments in a 10 week conversion
How to combine external web links in a 10 week conversion
How to change a quiz/test name in a 10 week conversion Part A
How to change a quiz/test name in a 10 week conversion Part B
How to rename items in unit folders during a 10 week conversion Part A
How to rename items in unit folders during a 10 week conversion Part B
Remember you will need to change your course calendar to a 10 unit layout as well – here is a training on how to make sure the total in your course calendar matches the total in the grade center
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Amy
As you all know, you first develop the courses in a 12 unit format and then I will copy the course into a 10 unit shell and you will need to convert the content to be delivered in 10 weeks instead of 12 weeks. I have put together several trainings that go over how to combine this information. Please view each of the Jing presentations below to learn more about how to convert your course to a 10 unit layout. I hope you find these trainings useful and helpful!
You will not need to do this until after your 12 week course is developed, but there are quite a few videos so I wanted to give you some time to look through them.
How to combine the introductions for the Unit Folders in a course conversion
How to combine reading assignments in a 10 week conversion
How to combine discussion boards in a 10 week conversion
How to combine assignments in a 10 week conversion
How to combine external web links in a 10 week conversion
How to change a quiz/test name in a 10 week conversion Part A
How to change a quiz/test name in a 10 week conversion Part B
How to rename items in unit folders during a 10 week conversion Part A
How to rename items in unit folders during a 10 week conversion Part B
Remember you will need to change your course calendar to a 10 unit layout as well – here is a training on how to make sure the total in your course calendar matches the total in the grade center
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Amy
Sunday, November 15, 2009
November 16, 2009
Hello Developers,
Today I have quite a few links to share with you! I hope these links will provide you with a great deal of information:
Today I have quite a few links to share with you! I hope these links will provide you with a great deal of information:
- Ebooks 101: This is a link to a recorded training from the in-service. It is a 45 minute session that tells you all about the Ebooks that are available through the GEN library. There are a ton of hidden gems in the library - check it out! Thanks Elaine for sharing this with us!
- Learning Through Play: This is a link to a recorded training from the in-service. It is a 45 minute session that talks about how to use play to increase student learning. Great tips for having fun with your course design! Thanks Heather for sharing this with us!
- Blackboard Grade Center: This is a link to a recorded training from the in-service. It is a 45 minute session that gives you a ton of tips and tricks about the grade center. If you are uncomfortable working in the grade center this training is well worth your time. Thanks Kelly for sharing this with us!
- Two New Skillsoft Resources: This is a 4 minute Jing training. We have signed a new contract with SkillSoft and it now includes TWO new pieces: The Leadership Channel (Leadership Videos by high profile speakers) and The Business Exploration Series (Management/leadership Interactive Simulations). See how to access each area in the 4 minute training. Please USE these videos and simulations for your developments.
- Cramberry Flash Cards: This is a short training done by Heather Thomton-Stockman on how to create flash cards using cramberry. It is a great way to familiarize yourself with this tool as well as using flashcards on the internet in general. Here is a link to other flash card sites
Have a great week!
Amy
Sunday, November 8, 2009
November 9, 2009
Hello Everyone,
For those of you that are completing your developments, the peer review process starts today. Here is a link to the questions that the peer advisors answer when they go through your courses. If there is something that you would like to have them look at specifically in your course please let me know and I will pass the information onto them! Thank you to all of you for your hard work this quarter!
There are also those of you that are just beginning your developments for the Spring 2010 roll out (crazy that we are thinking of spring when it is only November!). Please go through the blog and familiarize yourself with all of the great resources that are available here for you.
Additionally, for both groups of developers I wanted to give you a few resources today that would be helpful to you no matter where you are at in the development process:
Here is a training on how a GEN course looks when it is completed This is a 5 minute "walk through" example of an introduction level course and how the announcements, readings, assignments, discussion boards, external links and exams are identified.
Here is a training on how to determine if the course calendar matches up with the grade center I often give the feedback that the course calendar doesn't exactly match the total in the grade center. If you are unsure of what I mean by this feedback please see this 2 minute "walk through" example.
Here is a link to the Top 100 Tools for Learning in 2009. This list is compiled by the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies and is well worth the look!
Have a great week!
Amy
For those of you that are completing your developments, the peer review process starts today. Here is a link to the questions that the peer advisors answer when they go through your courses. If there is something that you would like to have them look at specifically in your course please let me know and I will pass the information onto them! Thank you to all of you for your hard work this quarter!
There are also those of you that are just beginning your developments for the Spring 2010 roll out (crazy that we are thinking of spring when it is only November!). Please go through the blog and familiarize yourself with all of the great resources that are available here for you.
Additionally, for both groups of developers I wanted to give you a few resources today that would be helpful to you no matter where you are at in the development process:
Here is a training on how a GEN course looks when it is completed This is a 5 minute "walk through" example of an introduction level course and how the announcements, readings, assignments, discussion boards, external links and exams are identified.
Here is a training on how to determine if the course calendar matches up with the grade center I often give the feedback that the course calendar doesn't exactly match the total in the grade center. If you are unsure of what I mean by this feedback please see this 2 minute "walk through" example.
Here is a link to the Top 100 Tools for Learning in 2009. This list is compiled by the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies and is well worth the look!
Have a great week!
Amy
Monday, November 2, 2009
November 2, 2009
Hello Everyone,
As many of you know we have subscriptions to a couple of Magna Publications including Online Learning. I have referenced Online Learning in several blog posts and have heard from many of you that you have gotten great ideas from this publication.
Magna Publications also publishes a free e-newsletter called Faculty Focus. This publication has a lot of great information about online learning and provides great insight into many topics that concern faculty in Higher Education.
Recently, Faculty Focus published an article about using self check exercises in online courses. This is a great article about the importance of these self check exercises and how they can improve learning in online learners. Here are a few highlights of the article:
What are self check exercises?
They are problems (with answers) given to learners that allow them to assess how they are doing on an ongoing basis
Why are they helpful?
Studies show that these types of activities help learners keep tabs on their progress and adjust their efforts, know when to seek help, and stay on track
Where does a course designer begin?
Are there concepts that learners consistently have problems understanding? Are there terms that learners need to memorize or concepts that they need to understand? These might be the best places to start.
If you are able to work self checks into the courses you are designing your students will only benefit from them!
Have a great week!
Amy
As many of you know we have subscriptions to a couple of Magna Publications including Online Learning. I have referenced Online Learning in several blog posts and have heard from many of you that you have gotten great ideas from this publication.
Magna Publications also publishes a free e-newsletter called Faculty Focus. This publication has a lot of great information about online learning and provides great insight into many topics that concern faculty in Higher Education.
Recently, Faculty Focus published an article about using self check exercises in online courses. This is a great article about the importance of these self check exercises and how they can improve learning in online learners. Here are a few highlights of the article:
What are self check exercises?
They are problems (with answers) given to learners that allow them to assess how they are doing on an ongoing basis
Why are they helpful?
Studies show that these types of activities help learners keep tabs on their progress and adjust their efforts, know when to seek help, and stay on track
Where does a course designer begin?
Are there concepts that learners consistently have problems understanding? Are there terms that learners need to memorize or concepts that they need to understand? These might be the best places to start.
If you are able to work self checks into the courses you are designing your students will only benefit from them!
I also wanted to make you aware of a few changes that are happening to the course standardization requirements.
- Test Set-Up: Tests should be set up as one question at a time with backtracking enabled. This set up allows for the least amount of student issues.
- Extra Credit: Extra Credit should not be in any course. Extra credit can diminish the rigor of our courses, as well as contribute to grade inflation.
Have a great week!
Amy