September 27, 2010

Hello Developers,

Today marks the 50% completion date for your new developments. I will be going into your courses this week to see how things are coming along and will be in contact with you individually regarding your progress. Please contact me if there is anything I should be aware of prior to reviewing your course.

Because all of you are currently working on courses that are part of the Internet Marketing curriculum, I though I would post a few resources this week that maybe helpful for you in identifying some external resources for your course materials:

ClickZ - Marketing News & Expert Advice. According to their About Us section, ClickZ "is the largest resource of interactive marketing news, information, commentary, advice, opinion, research, and reference in the world." In exploring the site, I think all of your could find articles or information that would apply to some aspect of the course you're developing.
TopRank’s Online Marketing Blog - an award-winning blog that provides insights, resources and commentary on a range of digital marketing and public relations topics including: Search engine marketing and optimization, Social media marketing, Business blogging and marketing, and Online public relations.
Reve News - a blog-type site that offers discussion on various topics elated industries such as online marketing. In reviewing the site, some of the conversations look like they may be good for jump starting a discussion board topic.

I know there is an overwhelming amount of online resources available to you; hopefully the above suggestions are helpful to you in supplementing your course content.

Have a great week!
Kelly

September 17, 2010

Hello Developers,

With the new development cycle in full-swing, I am excited to see that all of you have a solid start on your courses. Since most of you are seasoned developers who know the ins-and-outs of online development, I'm looking at this cycle as an opportunity to go a little more in-depth with what I write about on this blog. As well as challenge myself to find creative ideas for you to implement....since a couple of you (ahem - Amy and Heather) are the ones who taught me most of what I know!

So, here we go....

One of the first steps for many developers is organizing the reading assignments and plugging in the publisher PowerPoints. Don't get me wrong - ppt is a really useful tool and the slides that accompany the textbook are great for helping students identify the key points in the reading. But, we all know how exciting ppt can be [insert sarcasm here]....especially when, as an online student, you are just reading through the slides on your own. And, what if the textbook for the course you're developing doesn't have pre-made ppt resources? As a developer, it's up to you to create some kind of outline or locate some other supplement for students to help guide their reading for that week.

Enter: Prezi

Perhaps some of you have heard of this tool and even dabbled in it a little....but for those of you who have not, Prezi is a cool web-based tool that lets you create unique presentations on a single canvas that can be designed in a non-linear, zoom-in-and-out fashion. It is a fun alternative to consider if you're looking for a way to present information, ideas, or concepts in a visually appealing format that is less "concrete" than our old BFF, PowerPoint.

To find out for myself how Prezi actually works, I created this one as a supplement to the Staff Information area of my courses...just something simple to help students learn a little about me as their instructor. There is no audio, but using Jing, I could screencast my Prezi to include an audio component. I haven't decided yet, if I'll do that, as I think it functions nicely as is....but, it's certainly a good option to have.

Prezi has the potential to "spice up" your courses a bit and could be really useful for facilitating week one icebreakers, engaging in concept mapping, or presenting a lot of visual/pictorial examples. I encourage you to check it out...play with it a little and peruse the Explore section of Prezi for some inspiration on how this tool might work for you and the course you're developing. And don't be intimidated by it...my husband has his students do a project using Prezi, so if a 6th grader can do it, so can you!

For some additional insight about Prezi and it's use/relevance to higher education, these articles are good food for thought:
http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Challenging-the-Presentation/22646/
http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/trends-in-higher-education/prezi-a-better-way-of-doing-presentations/

Enjoy!
Kelly

August 6, 2010

Happy Friday!

I hope you all have plans to enjoy the weekend ahead....hard to believe how fast summer has gone by. My husband and I are sticking around home this weekend, which rarely happens for us during the summer months....

Anyway, I thought I'd do a second blog post this week for a couple reasons:

• Three weeks from today is the deadline for redevelopment projects, so I thought you may need a little inspiration to keep moving along with your course(s)....
• I ran across a useful article, Ten Best Practices for Teaching Online, that does a great job summarizing much of what we hope to see in the content and design of our courses...plus, any article in the form of a Top Ten List has to be worth reading, right? :-)

Here are few points from the article that I think are particularly applicable, but please take a minute to visit the link and read the whole thing....it's a quick read and worth the time.

• Best Practice 4: Use a variety of large group, small group, and individual work experiences
• Remember that many of our students are working adults...let them share their experiences and knowledge through assignments, class discussions, etc.
• Best Practice 7: Prepare Discussion Posts that Invite Questions, Discussions, Reflections and Responses
• This is so important! If the discussion questions in your course can be answered with "yes" or "no" then they need to be updated! Or, if students are asked to respond to something factual, that only has one right answer (i.e. a math problem), mix things up or find a way to rewrite the discussion topic so there is actually something to discuss.
• Best Practice 8: Focus on content resources and applications and links to current events and examples that are easily accessed from learner's computers.
• Every unit should have "additional resources"....look for news articles/videos, interesting blogs (check the source for reliability), audio lectures available free online (check out Academic Earth), etc....the web has countless opportunities for integrating course material to the world around us.
• Best Practice 10: Plan a good closing and wrap activity for the course.
• Avoid the trap of Unit 12 just being a final exam and easy discussion...find a way to really bring the course to the close for the students - reflecting on an "Aha! moment" or discussing how far they've come in terms of mastering and applying the content can be a good form of closure for everyone.

Thanks for all your hard work - enjoy your weekend! And, as always, contact me with any questions.

Kelly

August 2, 2010

Hello Developers and Happy Monday!

Hard to believe it's August already - I hope you're enjoying these hot summer days....the crisp fall air will be here before we know it!

Those of you developing brand new courses....Today we begin our last week of development - your courses are due to be completed (and ready for peer review) a week from today: Monday, August 9. If you are having any last minute problems with your development, please contact me sooner rather than later...I'll do all I can to help!

Those of you working on redevelopments (lifecycle updates, book changes, edition changes), welcome to the Course Development blog. If you haven't been here before, this blog is aimed at providing development resources and communication regarding online course development here at GEN. Over the years, Amy and Heather have compiled some fantastic resources for developers...I've been adding to the blog for the past quarter and will continue to do so in my role as Manager of Online Course Development. Feel free to use the topics on the right to explore the blog.

I'm going to keep the topic pretty straight forward this week, since I would like all of you focusing on getting a good start (redevelopers) and making a strong finish (new course developers) on your development work: please take time this week to review the Course Development Checklist to ensure that your course is in tip-top shape...ready for peer review and, ultimately, ready for students. Redevelopers, this checklist will come in handy as make changes within your courses - you won't necessarily be checking all these items off, but being familiar with the checklist will help you keep your course order and make any needed updates to the layout/organization of the course material.

If you have any questions, please let me know. Have a great week!

Kelly

Online Course Development Checklist (updated for Fall 2010)

UNIT INTRODUCTIONS AND OBJECTIVES

• Introductions and objectives do not contain such things as unit assignments, due dates, etc. They provide an overview of content learned in the unit.
• Introductions are written in paragraph form
• Objectives are directly beneath introductions and each section is labeled simply with the words Introduction and Objectives.
• Objectives are in number form rather than bulleted
• Unit Dates (HTML Code) is present in each of the units
• There are 12 units for 12 unit masters and 10 units for 10 unit masters; for graduate level courses, there should be 6 units for 6 unit masters and 5 units for 5 unit masters.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

• All Units have a reading assignment labeled “ Reading Assignment”
• The reading assignment description includes the full title of the textbook (in italics)
• The reading assignment description includes the names of the authors and edition of the text
• If a chapter is assigned, the word “chapter” is spelled out completely (not abbreviated “ch”)
• If page numbers are assigned, the word “page” is spelled out completely (not abbreviated “p” or “pg”)
• All reading assignments are appropriate for the level of the course (100 level, 200 level, 300 level, etc.)
• There is some form of a lecture included in every unit (word document, audio lecture, power point presentation, etc.)
• If a reading assignment includes a text from Books 24x7, directions on how to access the text are included

DISCUSSION BOARDS

• Each course unit has at least one discussion board
• If there is more than one discussion board in a unit, they are labeled “ Unit X Discussion Board A,” “Unit X Discussion Board B,” etc.
• Discussion boards are posted within each unit as well as in the Class Discussion area; the discussion board topic is the same in both areas.
• All discussion boards are linked to the grade center. You will know this because it has a “grade” icon (looks like this: ) to the left of the “Modify” button. If it doesn’t, this means the discussion board isn’t linked to the grade center.
• All discussion boards have a Post: and Respond:
• The Post and Respond requirements match the requirements listed in the Course Expectations document found in the Course Expectations and Grading Criteria Folder

ASSIGNMENTS

• All requirements of assignments are clearly described. For example, page requirements, expectations, point values, etc.
• All assignments are labeled “ Assignment”
• If there is more than one assignment in a unit they are labeled “Unit X Assignment A,” “Unit X Assignment B,” etc.
• Assignments are creative and engaging – they are interesting for the students
• If appropriate, a rubric is included for the assignment
• Students are directed to Smarthinking (online tutoring resource) for help/feedback on any research paper assignments

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• If an announcement needs to be made to the students in a unit, it is labeled “Unit X Announcement.” If there is more than one announcement in a unit, they are labeled “Unit X Announcement A” and “Unit X Announcement B.”
• If there are more than three announcements in a unit, they are put in folder titled “Unit X Announcements” or a “Course Packet” or something similar is created.

EXTERNAL LINKS

• All links open in a separate window to comply with copyright regulations
• There are no external links embedded within text; rather, students are directed to the appropriate link in the appropriate additional learning resource folder
• If there is more than one external link in a unit they are grouped into an Additional Learning Resources Folder
• The first letter of each word is capitalized on all external links
• All external links work

COURSE CALENDAR

• The course calendar total points matches the total points in the grade center
• All assignments listed on the course calendar are included in the units as well as in the grade center
• The course calendar is loaded as an HTML document

Miscellaneous Throughout Course

• Each course unit contains a Discussion Board, a Reading Assignment, a lecture item, and at least one External Link or Additional Resource
• All attachments are titled “Click Here”
• All attachments are loaded as HTML documents (where appropriate)
• The word “Week” is avoided and the word “Unit” is used instead
• Abbreviations are used as little as possible
• The course is free of spelling errors
• The course is free of typos and wording errors
• Words in all-caps are used sparingly or not at all
• Students are directed to the GEN Online Library when appropriate
• Assignments in the grade center are in the order they are presented in the course
• Font type/style is consistent throughout every item in the course (use Arial or Times New Roman)
• Any documents added as attachments to assignment directions uploaded as HTML files or, if necessary, are saved as compatible with Office 2003
• Only approved colors are used

July 16, 2010

Hello developers!

Monday marks the 75% completion deadline, so I will be going into your courses to check things out and then providing each of you with feedback on your progress. Next week is also the time of the development cycle when I start seeking peer advisers to review newly developed courses; this is a great opportunity to receive valuable feedback from other online faculty and it provides a catalyst for making some finishing touches on your courses before they are officially complete. I'll be sending an email to all faculty about peer advising, so if you are interested in peer advising on another course that is currently being developed, just let me know! It is a great way to see what other developers are doing in their courses.

Speaking of what others are doing...don't be shy about adding comments to this blog if you have ideas, questions, thoughts, etc. about development - it might be a good way to bounce ideas off one another and generate some dialog among you as developers.

Moving on, this week I want to talk a little about assessments in our online courses. Hopefully all of you were able to attend the Online Regional In-service yesterday and listen to Dr. Ernst and Dr. Mitch discuss our Learner Outcome Assessment initiative. They delivered an excellent presentation and it got me thinking about ensuring quality assessments in our online courses - beyond the formal LOAPs for each program. So, as a developer, there a few simple things you can do that will go a long way to ensuring that the assessments in your courses are effective in assessing student learning:

• Clear, detailed instructions - Be sure to explain to students how to complete the assessment and include any necessary resources. For example, I just worked with an instructor yesterday on updating an assignment requiring students to create a "concept map" based on a course reading; in the instructions, we directed students to the Additional Resources where we posted several links with explanation and examples of concept maps as well as a tutorial on how to use the drawing feature in MS Word so students could create their own map. It may take a little extra effort on your part, but clear instructions are crucial to a student's success on an assignment.....in the online world, student may be hesitant to ask questions and, if they do, they may need to wait for an instructor's response via email...so the less question marks, the better!


• Specific expectations - Be sure to tell students exactly what you expect from an assignment....this might include concrete expectations such as page length requirement, number of resources use, font size/type, time limit on tests, etc; or, expectations may be in reference to the more abstract components of an assignment: level of analysis, types of examples, whether to define or describe, etc. Regardless, it's very important to explicitly state what you expect a student to demonstrate through their submission of a particular assessment. In my time as DOF, I can easily tell you that most of the student concerns about scores or final grades could have been avoided if expectations had been more clearly laid out for the student in advance.


• Rubrics - Amy has blogged about rubrics in the past, but I think it's a good time to talk about them again. I want to strongly encourage you to create a rubric for any assignment you develop - rubrics are a great tool for students, as it helps them clearly see what is expected of them (see #2 above), but they are also an equally valuable tool for faculty...with a rubric, faculty are more likely to grade consistently and evaluate student learning more accurately. Below are a number of links with information about rubrics and resources for easily creating your own...please take a look! Also, if you would like my assistance, I'll be glad to help create rubrics for your course - just let me know!
  


• http://www.rcampus.com/indexrubric.cfm


• http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php


• http://www.rcampus.com/indexrubric.cfm
  

I hope some of this will be helpful as you work toward the completion of your developments over the next month. As always, please contact me with any questions or concerns!

Kelly

June 25, 2010

Happy Friday developers!

I hope you've had a great week...I'm sure it's been a bit hectic for all of you as the quarter comes to an end and many of you are busy correcting final exams and calculating final course grades. I'm sure you're all looking forward to the long break....maybe you're planning to use this time to really dive into the development of your course. :-)

Just a reminder that the 50% completion point for your developments is Monday. So, next week I'll be reviewing each of your course shells in Blackboard and providing you with feedback on your progress. I can't wait to see what you've done! Please let me know if there is anything specific about your course shell that you'd like me to look at and offer my feedback/assistance/input, etc.

At this point in the development cycle, you should have a pretty good idea of where you want to go with this course - if the 25% completion date was the "bare bones" version of the course, consider this point as "getting some meat" on those bones. :-) Bad metaphor? Sorry! In any case, if you're looking for some creative inspiration to spice up the course content you're designing, one of our online faculty forwarded me a link to a great ebook last week: Web Tools Applied to Teaching. Ok, so the title may not be all that catchy, but this book is short (20 pages) and easy to skim through until something catches your eye....plus, each chapter ends with a great bulleted list of how that particular web tool could be applied to teaching.

Even if you only have 5-10 minutes, I encourage you to take a look at this book...the content is straight-forward and useful - plus, there are tools that the author discusses that you may not have heard of before....and it just may spark the creativity you're looking for at this point in your development.

Have a great weekend everyone! I look forward to touching base with each of you next week.

Kelly

June 16, 2010

Hi Everyone!

I hope you're having a good week and that your developments are moving along well. It was good to connect with each of you last week regarding the progress in your courses - I'm looking forward to seeing more as the development cycle continues.

I'm going to keep my post pretty brief this week because I ran across an interesting article that I want to encourage you to read - it's in the MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching and talks about students' online experiences with virtual teams. Click here to access the article - a case study that discusses both student and faculty experiences with a term-long virtual team project facilitated in the Blackboard platform. I encourage you to read the article, making note of the challenges and benefits of virtual teams that are discussed. As a developer, consider how the information presented may help you design and implement effective team projects in your course - projects that are successful learning experiences not only for students, but also for future instructors of the course you're developing.

Again, please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions as you continue working on your developments! Enjoy the rest of your week!

Kelly

June 4, 2010

Hello Developers & Happy Friday!

I hope you have all had a great week and are making some progress on your developments. Please note that Monday, June 7, marks the 25% completion date for this round of online development. At that time I will be going into your courses to see how things are coming along. I realize that all developers work a little differently, so I will mainly be checking the course shells to see that you have made some progress on your development….if you are concerned about your progress at this time, please let me know. Or, if you have done work, but have yet to put anything in the course shell, please share that with me, as well. After I take a peek at your course, I will be following up with you individually to offer my feedback and assistance.

Now, moving on to my token of “development inspiration” for this week :-) ….Back in March of 2009, Amy blogged about a research study that found students who listened to a podcast while going through PowerPoint lecture notes scored significantly higher on a test than students who sat through the same the lecture in the traditional lecture format.

All of you should be posting some form of supplemental resources for the course readings – whether it is publisher created content that matches the textbook (i.e. PowerPoints) or original content created by you (i.e. notes, outlines) designed as an added element for delivering the course readings/material for a particular unit. That said, we know that students respond well to audio and visual resources, so I encourage you to go a step further with the lecture notes or PowerPoints you use by considering ways to also incorporate a podcast or an audio-visual supplement whenever possible.

You can create your own podcast and post it in the unit content (if you need assistance with this, just let me know!) or you can create a script for a PowerPoint and send it to me and I’ll be glad to do the recording for you.

Otherwise, the web has some great resources for recorded lectures that you can link to your course – a couple to try are:
iTunes University: http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/whats-on.html
Learn Out Loud: http://www.learnoutloud.com/Free-Audio-Video

Enjoy! I look forward to connecting with each of you next week with feedback on you developments.

Have a great weekend,
Kelly

May 27, 2010

Hello Developers!

I hope you’re having a great week. It’s been a hot one here in Minnesota….definitely makes me feel like summer is on the way!

A quick reminder: The 25% completion date is coming up one week from Memorial Day Monday, so hopefully you have all had a chance to review your course syllabus and textbook, access your Blackboard shells, and peruse any online resources that are available via the publisher…all of these elements will help you formulate a development plan for your course.

Over the next week, as you begin creating the various course assessments for your new development, consider how you can design assignments and projects that not only engage students in the content, but also engage them with one another. Here are few ideas:

• Discussion Board Leaders – Back in September, Amy Ode blogged about having students take on the role of “facilitator” in the discussion boards….I encourage you to try this if you’re developing an upper-level course. Using this approach, instructors assign each student to be a “facilitator” for a particular unit’s discussion (depending on the number of students in the class, a unit would likely have multiple student facilitators). As facilitator, students would be responsible for taking on a leadership role during their assigned unit’s discussion: asking probing questions, sharing supplementary resources, encouraging critical thought, clarifying points of confusion, etc. If you’re interested in trying this in your course, let me know and I can offer some specific examples of how it’s been implemented in other courses.
• Group/Team Projects – Does your new development have are particular course objective(s) that might be effectively met by completion of a group project? Considering there are limited career paths where our graduates won’t be required to interact as a team in their workplace, it is important that students experience teamwork during their educational career. I know what you’re thinking….how can a team project really work online? Trust me, it can! Blackboard has a Team Project area where the instructor can create groups so students have a space to discuss topics and share files. Thus, we don’t need to worry about the logistics of how teams will communicate with one another….we just need to work together to make sure the project is purposeful and well-designed. So, if you have an idea for a possible group/team element to your course – or you would like to include one, but aren’t sure how to get started – please contact me! I would love to help you formulate a workable group project for your course.
• Peer Review – If your course includes a large writing or research project that students work on over several weeks or units of the course, you may want to consider implementing a Peer Review component that allows students to exchange feedback with their classmates on their projects. Not only does this technique allow students to connect with one another outside the unit discussion boards, it is also a great way for them to offer support and generate ideas that can improve the quality of their final product. Peer Review does not need to be a complicated element within the course (we have successfully implemented it in many of our writing courses), but rather, can be a simple way to increase student interaction while simultaneously strengthening their writing and critical thinking skills. Again, please contact me if you would like some assistance implementing something like this into your course!

That’s it for this week….my goal here is to offer inspiration for designing courses that are engaging and interactive for students. Hopefully these suggestions spark an idea!

Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend! And please contact me if I can be of any assistance as you get your new developments off the ground….

Kelly

May 19, 2010

Hello Developers!

This week marks the start of our new course development cycle; all of you are beginning the development of courses for Fall Quarter, 2010.

Speaking of new….allow me to introduce myself to those of you who may not know me: I am Kelly Schmidt, and I’ll be taking over as Manager of Online Course Development as Heather transitions back into teaching and technology training. While I am taking the lead on this new development cycle, Heather will continue working in development through the end of June, so please feel free to contact either of us if you have any questions or concerns.

I want to thank all of you for your willingness to work on these new courses and for the effort you put into your developments. As course developers, great online courses start with you! The course you design will be used by any instructor who teaches the class online...in fact, most online faculty take the master course content and run with it as is – making minimal, if any, additions or enhancements of their own. Therefore, we rely on you – our developers – to create courses that are engaging, organized, and rigorous to ensure our instructors have a good foundation for teaching the content and, more importantly, to ensure our students have a quality online learning experience. (All this pressure, I know…and it’s only the first week of the cycle – some of you may not have even cracked the course textbook yet!)

That being said, my job is to offer assistance, support, and motivation as you develop your courses. As the cycle progresses, I will be blogging more about various resources and enhancements that you might find useful in your developments. A big focus of mine during this development cycle will be on helping you create a strong connection in your courses with the GEN Online Library – both with Elaine Settergren, our stellar Online Librarian, and with the numerous resources the online library website offers for students and faculty. Look for more on that in the weeks to come…

A few final notes as you get started:

• Your 12-unit shells have been created and you should have access to them in Blackboard.
• If you have developed courses for GEN in the past, you are likely familiar with the Online Course Development Checklist as well as the Peer Advising survey. If you are a first-timer, please take a look at these documents, as they will help guide your development from the perspective of what we want to see as the final course development.
• The 25% completion date is June 7, 2010. I look forward to seeing the start of your developments at that time! However, in the meantime, please feel free to keep me updated on any progress you make or contact me with any questions that arise.

I look forward to working with all of you on these new developments. Have a great week everyone!

Kelly

May 5, 2010

Good Afternoon Developers!

This is the last weekly blog for this round of development. All developments must be 100% complete by Monday, May 10, as this is when the peer advisers go into the courses to provide feedback. I have heard from most of you already that your 12-week shells are 100% complete. If I have heard from you I have copied your course to its 10-week shell for you to work the course conversion in by Monday also. If you don't have access to your 10-week shell yet, please send me an e-mail as soon as you are finished with your 12-week development so that I can go in and check it and then create the 10-week shell for you. Once again, both the 12-week and 10-week shells should be 100% complete by Monday morning.

Thank you for all of your hard work this quarter in your developments, your dedication to our students makes a huge difference!! I am particularly pleased with the added audio elements you have made available to our students in this development round, great work!

I have enjoyed working with all of you this quarter and I know Kelly Schmidt looks forward to the opportunity to work with on developments in the future.

If you have any questions please let me know.

Thanks again and have a great rest of the week!

Heather

April 28, 2010

Good Morning Developers,

As we are nearing the 100% course development deadline of May 10th for both your 12-week and 10-week masters, your 12-week masters should be about 100% complete at this point. Please have your 12-week master set by Monday so that you will then have next week to work in the course conversion. Once you have your 12-week course at 100%, please let me know so that I can copy the course and create the 10-week master for you to complete the conversion.

To assist you with the course conversion process, 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! Amy Ode did a fabulous job of putting them together. And if you have any questions on any of this, please let me know.

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 week and once again, please have your 12-week masters set by Monday so next week you can work in the 10-week conversion.

Heather

April 21, 2010

Good Afternoon Developers,

I've enjoyed spending the past couple of days reviewing your course developments and things are really looking solid! Thanks for working so hard to make our students' learning experiences so engaging, rigorous, and overall very high in quality. As I mentioned last week, with these courses being prepared for Early Fall implementation, it is important that both the 12-week and 10-week shells are complete by the 100% completion deadline of May 10, so please plan the rest of your development accordingly. And when you believe your course is 100% complete, please let me know so I can copy the course over to its 10-week shell for you to work on its conversion. Next week's development blog will offer instructions for the conversion process.

Keep thinking about ways to infuse audio into your courses too. A fun, interactive, and unique audio opportunity available to you is the creation and implementation of an Xtranormal video. Xtranormal.com is a Text to Movie resource that can create an animated video for you by simply using text that you enter into the program. This can be a great way to illustrate or explain course content in a fun and interactive audio and visual manner.

As an example of how this resource might work in your course(s), here is a link to a Text to Movie presentation one of our legal instructors created to help explain what a paralegal's role and responsibilities are: http://www.xtranormal.com/watch?e=20090512094652844. You may need to copy and paste the address into a new web browser to access this video.

This could also be a resource you implement into a student assignment where students are required to create an Xtranormal.com video to explain or discuss a course concept or idea. Students would have a lot of fun with this, as research has found, when students have fun with their coursework, they integrate and comprehend the material on a much higher level.

If you have any questions on this resource, please let me know. And as always, if you have any questions on any part of the development process, I am here to help in any way that I can.

Have a great rest of the week!
Heather

April 14, 2010

Good Morning Developers,

It is hard to believe, but Monday marks the 75% completion date for brand new course developments. While some of the brand-new course developments may be offered Early Fall quarter and some others may not be on the schedule for Early Fall, I would like to proceed with development as if all are offered for Early Fall so that everything is kept on track. As such, because Early Fall is a shorter quarter, I'd like to see the 12-unit shells almost 100% complete by Monday so that there is plenty of time for the 10-unit course conversions to be completed by the actual 100% completion date of May 10th.

On Monday I will be going into each of your developments to see how the courses are progressing and to gauge whether or not the 12-unit shells are almost to that 100% point. If you have any questions on this, please let me know.

As we've been discussing over the past few weeks, I'd like to see a minimum of 3 audio-enhanced lectures within your course developments. The audio elements allow us to connect with more of our students by connecting to another learning style preference. We've discussed the use of external sources such as TED lectures and Berkeley lectures, or the creation of flash-type presentations through the use of Adobe Presenter (of which you simply need to provide me with a PowerPoint presentation and an accompanying script and I will take care of the recording for you) or through audio-recorded options you can do yourself, such as Jing demonstrations and Elluminate Live! recorded presentations.

Two other lecture recording formats available directly to you are:
Microsoft Office Sound Recorder and Audacity

If you have Microsoft Office on your computer, you can do a quick, easy lecture recording by using the Sound Recorder option located in the Accessories link of Microsoft Office's > All Programs > Accessories folder. It is as simple as clicking the Red Record button and talking into your microphone. You then simply save the file to your desktop or flashdrive and upload as an item within Blackboard. Please remember to title your recordings as Unit # Audio Lecture.

You can do a similar recorded lecture using Audacity, but have even the added benefit of phasing sounds in and out and editing recordings. This free software download is usable with PCs and Macs alike.

I encourage you to check out these options and give one or both a try.

Have a great week and I look forward to reviewing your almost complete courses on Monday!

Heather

April 7, 2010

Good Afternoon Developers,

As you work toward 75% completion on April 19, please continue to be implementing audio lectures into your course developments. Many of you have implemented some great audio enhancements and resources, but if you haven't focused on this area yet, please have at least 1 audio element finished for my review at the 75% point.

A great audio option - particularly in terms of demonstrating computer processes - is the use of Jing Screencasts. When I introduced Animoto a couple of weeks ago I used Jing to demonstrate the process of doing an Animoto online. If you have a process to demonstrate to your students, Jing may be the approach to use!

Click this link to access the Jing Training on Animoto as a demonstration of how you can demonstrate processes. And click here to access Jing's homepage where you will find a great demonstration video on how to use Jing.

As always, please don't hesitate to let me know if you have questions on this or any other resource.

Have a great rest of the week!
Heather

March 31, 2010

Good Morning Developers,

I have had a chance to review all of your course developments for 50% completion and have sent each of you my feedback. Overall things are looking great! If you have questions on any of my feedback, please let me know.

As we move toward 75% and then 100% completion, please remember that not only are your 12-week courses due at the 100% point but the 10-week conversions are also due at that time, so you will need to plan accordingly. When you think your 12-week master is at 100% completion I will then make a copy of the course for you to work in the course conversion in preparation for the 10-week Early Fall quarter.

This week's audio enhancement topic I'd like to introduce you to is UC Berkeley's online webcast and free video resources. With topics ranging from computer science to mathematics to psychology to marketing and beyond, UC Berkeley has made specific course lectures as well as campus-wide special event speakers, such as President Clinton's recent address to the campus community, free to the online community. This site, as well as YouTube's UC Berkeley Channel, offers a wealth of audio enhancement opportunities for you. And you'd be surprised how engaged our students become with these lectures.

I've used a Berkeley lecture as part of an assignment in one of my courses for a few quarters and I am always amazed at how evident it is that students have truly watched the entire 1 hour video each time. Students have responded so well to this video that they have even asked for more!

Below are links to the UC Berkeley site directly as well as to their YouTube channel. Check these out and consider incorporating 1 or 2 into your courses as an audio-enhanced lecture!
http://webcast.berkeley.edu/
http://www.youtube.com/user/UCBerkeley

Have a great rest of the week!
Heather

March 24, 2010

Good Morning Developers,

We are nearing the 50% completion date of March 29 for your new developments and I am anxious to take a peek at how things are progressing. Monday morning I will begin to review your course developments and will be in contact with each of you individually with feedback. If you anticipate not being able to meet the 50% deadline, please let me know ASAP. Particularly with needing to convert the courses to the 10-week masters in preparation for Early Fall roll-out, it is essential that the developments stay as closely on track as possible.

Also, please remember that the Blackboard system will be offline for system enhancements next Tuesday, March 30, starting at 3:30 a.m. and will be down until 3:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 31. So plan your development work accordingly, but if you do plan to work on your courses offline during this time, please remember that copying and pasting from a Microsoft Word document into Blackboard does not work well. It negatively affects font layout and overall HTML coding.

Now for my discussion topic of the week. As you know, a primary focus this development cycle is the incorporation of audio lectures and up to this point I've shared various resources for voice lecture with you. But have you thought of the role or impact music and visuals could play in making a concept or idea that much more engaging and thought provoking for students? A great resource available to you is Animoto.

You are probably asking, what is an Animoto. Well, Animoto is a Web 2.0 tool that allows us to make amazing videos to the beat of music. It does all the work of timing and "popping" the pictures to the tune for us and is an excellent way to illustrate through pictures, text, and sound, what a term or concept means to us. If there is a particularly abstract concept you are trying to get students to think about in a new way, this is a great option. For example, how might visuals of a marketing campaign illustrate in a new way a specific marketing strategy?

Click here for a sample Animoto on the concept of culture. And to start your own Animoto presentation, simply go to the Animoto site. This Jing Training on Animoto is also a great tool as you are using this resource.

Incorporating Animoto into a discussion board topic or an assignment is another great idea that requires students to take a concept or idea and demonstrate their understanding or perspective of it in a new and unique fashion. It has been used in our intercultural communications courses for a couple of quarters and students have responded very well to it, and as an instructor I've really seen the critical thinking and processing heightened as they work on the assignment.

To give you an idea how this is being used in the classroom as an assignment, here is the actual assignment for intercultural communications. Please note that there is a reflection component that students must also complete so they not only create the Animoto but they also reflect upon the experience and what they learned as a result, which brings critical thinking to the next level. I could see this approach being condensed to serve as a great discussion board topic as well.

Sample Assignment:
Cultural Values

Based on what you have learned in this unit, what does the term "Value" mean to you? What can we learn about a culture based on values? How are values expressed and made known?

Values are subjective and as such this assignment is designed to give you the opportunity to define Cultural Value from what you have learned in this unit. To do so you will be creating a short-length Animoto demonstrating what the term Cultural Value means to you.

You are probably asking, what is an Animoto. Animoto is a Web 2.0 tool that allows us to make amazing videos to the beat of music. It does all the work of timing and "popping" the pictures to the tune for us and is an excellent way to illustrate through pictures, text, and sound, what a term or concept means to us.

So, once again, for this assignment, you will be creating your own short-length (12-15 slide image) Animoto defining/expressing/illustrating the concept of Cultural Value.

To help you in the creation of an Animoto video, please access the Jing tutorial found in this unit's Additional Learning Resources folder. This Jing training does a fantastic job of showcasing the step by step instructions of how to set up a video!

In the Additional Learning Resources folder you will also find a sample Animoto video representing the concept of Culture. I hope you find it helpful.

Once you have created your Animoto video, please copy and paste the video web address link in the below view/complete assignment message board as well as a brief reflection on what you learned about Values as a result of the creation of this video.

As always, if you have any questions on your course development work, please let me know. Otherwise, I'll be in touch individually next week after I've had a chance to review your course development progress.

Thanks and have a great rest of the week!
Heather

March 17, 2010

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Hopefully with the sun we are seeing here in Minnesota that means there will be a touch of green in the grass soon too.

As you continue working on your new course developments, please also continue to be thinking of ways to incorporate audio presentations into your courses. Please remember that I'd like to see a minimum of 3 audio lectures/presentations in your development projects.

The resource I'd like to discuss this week as an audio option is Elluminate Live! Many of you are familiar with this resource as it is the Webinar format used for online faculty meetings. But have you thought about using this resource as part of a lecture or even as part of a course assignment option where students do a presentation themselves? While it may be problematic to require students to complete their own Elluminate session, offering it as an assignment option is a great opportunity and students have responded really well to this choice when it has been given to them.

The following links will guide you through the process of getting starting with doing your own Elluminate Live! recorded presentation as well as directions on how to direct students to use this tool.

Click here to view how you as the developer or how an instructor would access and use Elluminate Live to record a presentation.

Please click here for a short demonstration on how students would use Elluminate Live

One important note when recording Elluminate Live! sessions, you will need to select "Share" or "Public" when setting up your parameters so that it can be easily copied when courses are copied for future quarters.

If you have any questions on how to use this resource, please don't hesitate to ask.

Have a great rest of the week, and once again, Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Heather

March 10, 2010

Good Evening Developers,

This week I've enjoyed taking at peek at your developments up to this point and I've already received a couple of PowerPoints to add some audio lectures to using Adobe Presenter, so great work everyone!

This week I'd like to introduce you to a great tool to record short screen demonstrations, which can be very useful as audio lectures/presentations in online courses. You may have already heard of Jing, and I will be exploring this tool specifically in a later blog, but a resource similar to Jing that does not require any software download and is also free to use is something called Screenjelly. Screenjelly allows you to record a computer screen demonstration with a simple click of a button. I encourage you to check it out by clicking here to access the demonstration link on the home page.

To show you just what Screenjelly can do, click here for a demonstration that Brian James, Network Director of Instructional Technology, created to show how instructors can access Instructor Resources on Sharepoint, which I also encourage you to take advantage of (double the resources this week).

As always, please let me know if you have any questions as you work on your course development(s).

Have a great rest of the week!
Heather

March 3, 2010

Good Afternoon Developers,

If you live in Minnesota, I hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather as much as I am! And if you live elsewhere, I hope you too are getting some beautiful March weather. It is hard to believe it is already March! And that means the 25% completion date for new course development is just around the corner. For most of you, I will be going into your courses on Monday, March 8th, to see how the developments are progressing and to offer feedback and assistance. If you believe you won't be able to meet this 25% completion date, please let me know right away.

As I've previously mentioned, one primary focus in this development cycle will be the implementation of a minimum of 3 audio lectures within the course(s) you are developing. Last week I talked about how you could transition a static PowerPoint presentation into an audio-enhanced, flash-type presentation using Adobe Presenter (once again, I will take care of the recording for Adobe Presenter for you; I simply need a PowerPoint and an accompanying script). This week, I'd like to introduce you to a great resource where you could bring "guest lecturers" into your course(s) through the use of TED.

Who is TED you may be asking. Well, TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives.

This site makes the best talks and performances from TED available to the public, for free (a huge opportunity for us to bring experts into our online courses). More than 200 talks are now available, with more added each week. These videos are released under a creative commons license, so they can be freely shared and re-posted.

If you haven't had a chance to search around the TED website at http://www.ted.com/ I encourage you to do so. The videos that are shown are very "real life" and "relevant."

Several of you are working on media and technology courses currently, so this resource would be a perfect option for you in implementing various audio lectures, since this was the initial base of the program. In fact, if you click here you will be able to view many of the technology topic videos.

However, because of its success and growth, even if you are teaching a course not in one of these areas, I strongly encourage you to check out the various TED listings as the videos also include the disciplines of Business, Science, and Global Issues.

By incorporating TED lectures into your course development(s) you are adding in both video and audio, thus reaching audio and visual learners. The more learning styles we can appeal to in our courses, the more effective we will be.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions on your development work. I look forward to reviewing your courses starting on Monday!

Have a great rest of the week!

Heather

February 24, 2010

Good Evening Developers,

As I mentioned in last week's development blog, a key initiative for this development cycle will be the implementation of audio lectures, with a goal of a minimum of 3 found within the course. There are a number of options available to you in implementing audio lectures and over the course of the next few weeks I will highlight some of these possibilities.

The first option I'd like to explore is the use of Adobe Presenter lectures. Adobe Presenter allows us to add audio to PowerPoint files and create flash type presentations to embed within Blackboard. 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 of these lectures; rather, you can provide me with a PowerPoint presentation and an accompanying script and I will take care of the rest for you! Ideally these lectures should be approximately 5-7 minutes in length and contain information relevant to a particular unit (or multiple units) but that is not text specific.

To learn more, 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/

If you have any questions on this resource, or questions on anything else as you are working on your development, please let me know. I hope you decide to take advantage of Adobe Presenter as one of your audio lecture modes. I look forward to receiving your presentations and scripts.

Have a great week!
Heather

February 17, 2010

Good Evening Developers,

Welcome to the newest round of developments! We are now working on course developments that we would like to have ready for Early Fall Quarter, 2010.

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.

First, if you have done online development previously, you have probably become accustomed to receiving the Weekly Development Blog on Monday morning. I'm switching this to be sent out on Wednesdays rather than Mondays as I know how busy Mondays can be, and I'd like you to have the opportunity to really examine and consider the various resources discussed in the Weekly Development Blogs.

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.

Since this development cycle is specifically preparing for Early Fall Quarter, 2010, it is essential the 10-unit and 12-unit shells are completed by the May 10 deadline. Your 12-unit shells have been created for you, and it is best to complete the course in its entirety first. I will then copy your course for you to work on the 10-unit conversion when you are ready, keeping that May 10 deadline in mind. Later in the process I will be sending specific tutorials on how to complete the 10-unit conversion, but if you have any questions now, please let me know.

A big focus of mine during this development cycle will be on developing solid lectures within the units. Each unit should have some lecture component and I'd like to see a minimum of 3 audio-based lectures throughout the course. I'll discuss various ideas throughout the development process, but there are a variety of ways these could be completed such as: Jing, Elluminate, the use of external expert lectures, Adobe Presenter, etc. As I mentioned, I will delve into these options in greater detail as the development cycle progresses but keep in mind the minimum of 3 audio lecture request when working on your courses. By incorporating more audio, we will be connecting more with our auditory learners and offering an even stronger course connection for students overall.

The 25% completion date is March 8, 2010. I look forward to hearing your ideas and seeing the start of your developments at that time!

Have a great week and if you have any questions at any time, please don't hesitate to let me know. I'm here to support and assist your developments in any way I can.

Heather

February 8, 2010

Good Morning Developers!

This is the last weekly blog for this round of development. All developments must be 100% complete today as this is when the peer advisers will begin to go into the courses to provide feedback. If your course isn't yet 100% complete, I have already sent you a note about this. If you haven't heard from me individually, then great job...your course is set to go! As I receive feedback from the peer reviewers, I will forward them on to you for consideration and implementation. If for some reason you believe a suggestion isn't warranted for your course development, please articulate that to me and we will work together on an appropriate solution.

This week I will also be copying your master shells into a 10-week master shell for you to begin working on the conversion from the 12-unit format to a 10-unit format in preparation for our shortened 10-week Early Fall quarter offering.

Thank you for all of your hard work this quarter in your developments, your dedication to our students makes a huge difference!! I have enjoyed working with all of you and hope to work with you in more developments in the future.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Thank you,
Heather

January 18, 2010

Good Evening Developers!

Today is the 75% check point for most of the brand new developments. I will be going into your courses this week and will e-mail you with feedback. If you have any questions on my feedback, please let me know. Please remember you will need to have your 10-week shell conversions completed before the 100% deadline too, so as soon as you feel you are at the 100% point please let me know and I will make a copy of your course so that you can convert it to a 10-week version.

This week I'd like to introduce you to an excellent study technique for your students: Online Flashcards. Online flashcards allow students to interact with the course material in various ways that are most beneficial to them personally. Students can print the cards out for a physical study tool, students can download them to their PDA or MP3 player to study on the go, and students can rely on the technical tools to keep track of their progress.

You could incorporate the use of flashcards into your course developments a few different ways:

1. Are you looking for a great way for your students to collaborate and learn from one another? Have your students make a set of online flashcards and then share their flashcards with other students in the course! Each student can take a chapter or concept and make a set of 15 – 20 flashcards. They can then share their flashcards with other students in the course and they suddenly have great studying resources that they can all use!
2. Implement flashcards into an actual assignment where students create the cards and submit them to you for review. This promotes studying while studying!
3. Or you could create flashcards of the key terms from the unit lecture that are then shared with the students.

Whatever the approach, this is another great memory tool to help students integrate the course material more completely. Below you will find links to some excellent online flashcard creation sites. I encourage you to check these out and try to incorporate one of these resources into your course development, possibly in preparation for a final exam even.

Cramberry.net
Study Stack
Quizlet
Knowtes

As always, please let me know if you have any questions on any of your developments. I'm here to help in any way I can. And I'm anxious to take a peek at your courses to see how they are coming along. I'll be in touch individually on your progress.

Have a great week!
Heather

January 11, 2010

Hello Developers!

Next Monday marks the 75% completion date for this development round and I look forward to going into your courses to check the progress. It is also time to begin thinking about the 10-week master shells.

As you all know, you first develop your 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. Amy Ode 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! And if you have any questions on any of this, please let me know.

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 week and please let me know if you have any questions!

Heather