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When designing a blended learning course, the instructor should remember to use the online portion as an opportunity to create more exciting face-to-face interactions.

KSC Faculty at Institute on Global Learning This summer, a team of Keene State faculty members from all three academic schools will participate in "Shared Futures: General Education for a Global Century," an institute sponsored by the American Association of Colleges and Universities to help faculty integrate global perspectives across the curriculum. The institute will be held in Ellicott City, Md., from July 31 to August 5, and will draw faculty from 32 colleges and universities. During the fall 2011 semester, the core Keene State team will draw in faculty and staff from across campus to implement the goals and strategies developed at the institute. By building a network of educators dedicated to this integrative work, Shared Futures facilitates curricular change and faculty development on campuses nationwide. Through an online social network, the initiative hopes to create new connections between educators and new opportunities for partnership and learning. Keene State faculty members attending the institute include professors Charles Weed (political science), Margaret Henning (health sciences), Patricia Pedroza (women's and gender studies), and Rich Blatchly (chemistry). For more information, contact Prof. Weed at cweed@keene.edu or visit the Shared Futures page.

from news and events

Breaking down the flavors of learning analytics

Bill of Rights & Principles 4 Learning in the Digital Age

Contributions from many including: Bryan Alexander Howard Rheingold is book, and accompanying website, is a resource for selforganizing self-learners. With YouTube, Wikipedia, search engines, free chatrooms, blogs, wikis, and video communication, today's  have power never dreamed-of before. What does any group of self-learners need to know in order to self-organize learning about any topic? e Peeragogy Handbook is a volunteercreated and maintained resource for bootstrapping peer learning. 

Below are some of the iPad resources we have reviewed here in Educational Technology and Mobile Learning. Divided by function

When people are stressed, their ability to perform various tasks can be compromised. This stress can be created by high-stakes situations, Reframe problem as difficult and learners learn better.

Being guided into mistakes during training led to greater confidence and overall better learning than being taught to prevent errors.

Frequently when one hears about the Native American experience in the United States, the focus is on the loss of traditions, folkways, and language. In contrast, this website was created to highlight a recent documentary by Anne Makepeace that focuses on the ways in which Native American languages have recovered and thrived in recent times. On the site, visitors should start by clicking on the interactive "Language Map". Here visitors can learn about twelve different languages, including Crow, Cherokee, Dakota, Euchee, and Lakota. Clicking on the "Voices" area gives visitors the opportunity to listen to Native Americans from different tribal communities speaking in their mother tongues. Additionally, visitors can send an electronic postcard from the site, read the site blog, and learn more about the project and the documentary [Scout Report]

lThe course introduces pre-service teachers to the applications of different instructional technologies in mathematics classrooms (K - 12).  Students will examine and interpret the meanings of effective and appropriate use of technology through readings and activities.  Using technology along with existing school curriculum, either as an aid or as a supplement, students will learn to create, adapt, and find technological resources.  Students will be exposed to and use Web-applets and other resources on the Internet, computer-based learning software, multimedia presentations, mathematics forums, interactive whiteboards, spreadsheets, dynamic geometry software, calculators, and calculator based laboratories (CBL).  

The following study, "Using Digital Images in Teaching and Learning," was commissioned by Wesleyan University in collaboration with the National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education (NITLE). The study focuses on the pedagogical implications of the widespread use of the digital format. 

standards should emphasize creative thinking, not content  My students are learning some content-instead of a textbook, I use a primary-source reader in which the sources are accompanied by commentary by historians-but they're learning it as they perform analysis and synthesis, not before. So, for example, I don't have them read them about Puritan conceptions of salvation and then give them photos of headstones and ask them to explain how the headstones reinforce Puritan ideas.  I have them undertake Prownian analysis (description, deduction, speculation, research, and interpretive analysis) of children's headstones and furniture (e.g,. a walking stool); perform close readings of children's literature and Puritan poetry, letters, and sermons; and build an argument concerning Puritans' beliefs about children's salvation.  As they craft this argument, they must evaluate the usefulness of, as well as synthesize their findings from, these sources, along with earlier ones from the course.  The whole exercise is done in small groups, followed by discussion among the entire class.

"I used to think that I needed to help teachers to use tools, but now I think I need to help teachers meet learning goals." "I used to think that I needed to guide teachers through new technologies, but now I think I need to create safe spaces for them to play and explore." "I used to think that my workshops should be named after new technologies, but now I think they should be named after learning goals." "I used to think that I needed to keep my teachers up to date on new technologies, but I now I think I need to give them a framework to think about how to use technology in their teaching that can adapt to new technologies."

Mike's site at WSUV for blended and networked learning resources

Mobile Learning and Social Media: Increasing Engagement and Interactivity Tanya Joosten | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Interim Associate Director, Learning Technology Center Lecturer, Department of Communication

Open educational resources (OER) are any resources available at little or no cost that can be used for teaching, learning, or research. The term can include textbooks, course readings, and other learning content; simulations, games, and other applications; syllabi, quizzes, and assessment tools; and virtually any other educational material. Open resources are issued under a license that spells out how they can be used: Some may only be used in their original form; in other cases, resources can be modified, remixed, and redistributed. OER expand the access to educational resources to more learners, more of the time, and they have the potential to spur pedagogical innovation, introducing new alternatives for effective teaching.

Where Levine gets it wrong is to assume that this shift is being driven by the demand of digital natives for new methods of teaching and learning. Levine writes that, "Today's traditional undergraduates, aged 18 to 25, are digital natives. They grew up in a world of computers, Internet, cell phones, MP3 players, and social networking." I recommend that Arthur Levine, and all of you, download (buy, whatever) a copy of Clay Shirky's new book Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. Shirky talks about the fundamental_attribution_error, the tendency to explain behaviors as the result of character as opposed to the opportunity structure.

Blackboard, UNCP's course management system, is available to instructors who are interested in online teaching and learning, either to enhance a campus-based course or to create a course entirely online. Blackboard offers a rich variety of tools for posting materials online and facilitating interaction with and among students. We believe you will be pleased with Blackboard 9.1. On-demand Learning Center - Interactive Videos  

"Welcome to the Google Apps Education Training Center. This is an online learning environment dedicated for educators and students to learn how to effectively use Google Apps in an educational context."

Can you get school teachers to adopt an innovation? Play the Diffusion Simulation Game as many times as you like, and learn what it takes! Learn strategies that do and don't work in practice, and which are supported by empirical research.