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These guides will help everyone (hosts and participants) in an Adobe Connect meeting. Before your next Webinar, check your audio going to http://admin.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

A good simple approach. A three staged process for blended learning design: Absorb - Do - Connect

"The process model consists of three stages: Absorb-During this stage, students are gaining basic knowledge. This can include reading a chapter in the textbook. Do-Students then engage in an activity such as a discussion before the face-to-face session (in the case of a blended course) or a synchronous online session in the case of a totally online course. Connect-Students apply knowledge to real-world situations."

I've helped faculty implement this model in online courses and think it has been very successful. While a model like ADDIE provides a structured approach to designing an entire course, this Absorb, Do, Connect model, along with models like Gagne's 9 events of instruction provide us with models for how to structure individual lessons and keep them consistent.

I recently remembered this article published in The Chronicle of Higher Ed a few years ago. It speaks volumes about some pros and cons (mostly pros) of using technologies like Twitter, online office hours, video chat, etc. to connect to super-sized classes. Though I do not have personal experience in teaching courses with this many students, I still think this teacher has found a way to utilize modern technologies to connect to students in new and important ways. He has taken what many of us would consider a nightmare classroom situation (teaching over 2000 students!) and made it into a classroom experience like no other. If you read through the comments, you'll see that his former students say he has changed their lives and that his was the best class they've ever taken. It's amazing to me that he is/was able to create personal connections with so many students using technology. Basically, if this guy can do it with 2,000+ students, then many of us should strongly consider how we might benefit from these technologies in our own hybrid courses.

Lengthy, substantive piece on blogging for educators, starting from "what is a blog," continuing through Web2.0 tools, and ending with Personal Learning Networks. Something for everyone here.

danah body (she prefers lowercase.) is a highly regarded thinker on all things internet. In this piece she addresses the dynamics involved in being connected to a "flow" or stream of networked information.

Key Takeaways Social presence remains the key to a successful learning experience, and understanding social presence, with its critical connection to learning and community building, allows us to better support faculty and students. Understanding a wide selection of tools, media, and reflective activities helps faculty assist students in taking responsibility for their own learning.