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
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
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
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