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
Monday, September 27, 2010
Friday, September 17, 2010
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
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]
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