7 things you should know about voicethread

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"From Passive Viewing to Active Learning: Simple Techniques for Applying Active Learning Strategies to Online Course Videos"

"The ISTE Classroom Observation Tool (ICOT) (XML) provides you with a convenient platform for recording observations of technology use in classrooms. Checkboxes and pull-down menus allow you to easily record and time a variety of classroom characteristics. ICOT automatically aggregates your data into a table for analysis and presentation. You can work with your records right in ICOT or export them to any software that can read tabular data. Use ICOT to record information on classroom groupings, teacher roles, time and types of technology use, and the NETS for Students. The ICOT is a macro-enabled Excel workbook that automates many data recording and management tasks. The Visual Basic macros work with most versions of Microsoft Office for Windows and with Office 2011 for Macintosh. Users of eCOVE observation software can obtain a toolset that will allow them to record ICOT NETS and Computational Thinking items on iPad, iPhone, and Android devices. Contact eCOVE directly for information on the NETS/CT toolset. The ICOT methodology has been successfully adapted for use in a variety of contexts, including projects involving mathematical thinking and cyberinfrastructure research skills. For information on how ISTE evaluation might meet your needs, contact research@iste.org."

"85,000 of the best questions from NY Regents, State Assessments, Academic Competitions, and more. Search by topic or exam. Select, arrange, and format questions the way you like. Create beautiful classroom materials in just minutes!"

What if you wanted to hire some new technology integrationists? What would you look for?

An attempt to map all learning theories as a cmap

The author describes the usefulness of essential questions, and how the use relates to students' critical thinking skills, or lack thereof.

"This guide provides information and resources available to faculty to help improve the critical thinking and information literacy skills of students. This page was created specifically for the Barton School of Business, but many of the links are applicable to all disciplines."

Within the report are numerous charts, job aids, and activities that allow you to make  the most of the innovations and updates in Bloom's Taxonomy for yourself and your  work team.

This presentation discusses a series of  financial lab exercises that demonstrate to students that finance theory has real value in  the business world, thus linking "abstract" course content to the real world. The  exercises align with Bloom's Taxonomy, starting with acquisition of knowledge goals and  moving toward the development of higher level critical thinking goals. 

The presentation will describe SCAFFOLD - Scale for  Forums/Online Discussion Assessment. The authors will  describe the SCAFFOLD instrument as a tool for  categorizing and describing contributions. The process for  establishing reliability and validity will be detailed. 

"By sharing our voices, we hear each others accents, share a bit of personal information and make an emotional connection. Simply from hearing the background noises in the audio tracks and picking up on visual images in the pictures students have chosen to share, I have learned the following"

Study using voicethread for online discussion

"This author's position is that asynchronous online discussions face an array of resolvable pedagogical and course management challenges. Online discussions can transform mere course chatter into a cyber forum of student-centered learning through meticulous planning, designing and orchestrating. After introducing common issues, a literature review summarizes the contributions that online discussions bring to distance learning. The author then addresses pedagogical and managerial issues that plague online discussions with strategies that instructors may readily employ. In the pedagogical realm, these include insights on organizing online discussions, using groups to facilitate interactions, establishing discussion parameters, and ensuring that the course syllabus introduces online discussion details. In the managerial realm, approaches are offered regarding overseeing discussion windows, using icebreakers, assessing student performance, ongoing communications, maintaining an online presence, netiquette, and a variety of other online discussion tips. In support of online instructors, the article weaves in relevant literature with the hard learned lessons from the author's ongoing attempts to improve online discussions. It concludes by urging instructors to cultivate improvement continuously through candid self-critique supplemented by student feedback."

for students

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Optimize use. Promote  adoption. Maximize success. That's what best practices are all about. Here are some resources to help you make the most of the Blackboard Collaborate™ platform at your academic institution.