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Just because you're online doesn't mean that you can't experience the world first-hand - or as close to first-hand as possible. Here are websites that feature virtual learning experiences, exposing online visitors to everything from history to geography, astronomy to anatomy, literature to government.

Virtual field trips are something I am wanting to explore this year. Thanks for posting this.

"While every school knows the importance of safeguarding in our digital world, it's also important that they know and understand the most effective strategies to help safeguard their pupils online, both in and out of the classroom. The UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS), have recently launched a framework which aims to highlight, across all key stages, the skills and knowledge children should have in order to feel safe, and act responsibly, online so that they are able to enjoy the online world."

In recent years, online degree programs have become a widely accepted modality for many learners who seek a college degree. Most often, students who choose the flexibility of online college courses have family or work obligations that inhibit their ability to be placed in a traditional classroom. Online learning is a great choice for a student who is a self-motivated, and who is an independent learner.

The Universal Usability site houses an unabridged, online version of Access by Design: A Guide to Universal Usability for Web Designers, by Sarah Horton, published in 2005 by New Riders Press. You'll find the complete text and illustrations from the printed book here under Access by Design Online. The online version also offers links to texts and tutorials that support and expand on the concepts covered in the book. Visit About the site to learn about the purpose and process of posting the book online.

An interesting report with the most interesting data being that "100% of students are online in 2011". While the survey data is apparently representative of the Australian population, I would argue that this figure is not the case and that deeper research needs to be undertaken before these figures can be used as a foundation for embedding technology and internet into education. However, it does show the increasing rate of uptake of online activities within Australia and the trends for access information.

A 21st-century education revolves around the Internet for everything from collaboration, tools, lessons, and even earning degrees online. If you are looking for ways to integrate online learning into your science class, then take a look at these cool online tools that are just perfect for both teachers and students.

I plan on Attending this ISTE unlpugged session but first I think I'll check out that list of 50 ways to tell a story.  I have my first totally virtual class next year and I don't want to try to teach physics through lecture.  11:30 am - 12:00pm [Concurrent Session 6] Title: Beyond Lectures: How to Re-Invent Your Online Content Delivery in Face to Face, Hybrid and Fully Online Courses Description:Good pedagogy delivers content multiple ways to engage students and address different learning styles. Online learning, however, resides comfortably in lectures and discussion. This needn't be the case: learn to add free and easy tools to online content delivery that will appeal to all students and address the needs of multi modal learners. Inspired by Alan Levine's "50 Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story," this session will explore a variety of current tools that transform lecture delivery into an interactive multimedia activity that will engage myriad learning styles. Presenter: Pamela Kachka, MA.Ed.

This is SO awesome! I can't wait to try the tutorials and start making art! I'm definitely passing this one on to my students right away!

Free, web-based art and photo editing tool. Very cool looking.

"Why do students flock to the online learning environment? With over 4 million students are enrolled in online schools and universities (and that number is growing 30% per year), there are many compelling arguments for attending a cyber classroom (Lewis, 2005). "

Five ideas to enable educators to develop and model a purposeful and professional digital footprint.
1-Model responsible footprinting with your own practices in blogging, commenting, social networking, and picture posting.
2-If you have established a professional blog, share it widely and proudly such as placing it in your email signature (if your employer will let you) and as Jeff Utecht suggests include your blog url when you comment on others blogs and in other forums. This enables others to see best practices and is a great way to get the conversation started.
3-Google yourself (aka ego surfing). If you have something posted online that you'd be uncomfortable having a current or future student, parent, colleague, or employer find, delete it (if you can) or request that it be deleted. There are ways an aggressive internet detective can still find this information, but most won't go through the trouble and the mere fact that you deleted it shows some level of responsibility.
4-If you do have online personal information and/or interests you wouldn't want discovered, use an unidentifiable screen name/avatar. This means you may need to update your screen name/avatar in your existing online presence.
5-Engage in the conversation and professionally comment, reply, and present online, onsite, and at conferences.

"Arguably, the upheaval, activism and revolutions in of the last two months may serve to counter what has been a longstanding stereotype: youth are largely apolitical. Moreover, those that do participate in politics and activism online do so in shallow ways, the so-called "slacktivism." But recent findings from a longitudinal study of high school-age students challenges these notions, suggesting that youth who pursue their interests online are more likely to be engaged in civic issues."

Interesting to read that time spent by many youth online can still promote engagement with the broader society.

An article showing how online learning is a disruptive technology. Shining [the challenges of today's higher ed] through the lens of these theories on innovation will provide some insights into how we can move forward and a language that allows people to come together to frame these challenges in ways that will create a much higher chance of success. This report assumes that everyone is adept at online learning. This is not the case and students will have to be trained on how to be effective online learners. Courses will also have to address multiple learning styles and not just the read/write that most online courses currently are programmed for. Despite this missing piece, this is a very important article that focuses on some very key issues of our current higher ed system. The recommendations at the end of the article for policy makers are very apt. Highly recommended reading!

Are high schools preparing students for success in college and careers when what we do is so very different from what they will experience when they leave our little boxes?

"In self-paced courses, many students appeared to cram most of the homework and chapter exams into the final week of the semester. Few of them bothered to do the ungraded practice problems offered by the online publisher." First, where is the teaching? It sounds more like a case of poorly designed instruction...or a complete lack of instruction. Of course these students are not learning...they are not being taught. Also, if they are in classes which are actively taught by a teacher, then where are the formative assessments by the instructors? That teacher should know long before the final exam if the students know the material or not. A good teacher and a well developed online course would have a number of ways to determine this which do not allow for "cut and paste" or cheating. Finally, does this department test a student's memorization of material or the mastery of the concepts and and understanding of how to apply those concepts? Perhaps, there is also a need to reevaluate the assessments. Good teaching is good teaching. If a student is not learning the material, who is really to blame?

hether you've taught online a lot or a little, chances are you didn't enjoy it as much as teaching in person. Maybe you didn't experience that fizz after a particularly invigorating face-to-face class. Indeed, according to a 2017 Educause survey, only 9 percent of academics prefer to teach "in a completely online environment." That means a whopping 91 percent of us don't. And I suspect that a good majority of that 91 percent would prefer to teach anywhere but online.

edWeb.net is a highly-acclaimed professional social and learning network that has become a vibrant online community for exceptional educators, decision-makers, and influencers who are on the leading edge of innovation in education. edWeb won the 2012 Edublog Award for Best Free and Open Professional Development for Educators and was ranked the #1 professional social network specifically for educators by the SIMBA PreK-12 Professional Development Market Forecast 2012-2013, CoSN's K-12 IT Leadership Survey 2013, and the 2012 Survey of K-12 Educators on Social Networking, Online Communities, and Web 2.0 Tools.

edWeb.net is a highly-acclaimed professional social and learning network that has become a vibrant online community for exceptional educators, decision-makers, and influencers who are on the leading edge of innovation in education. edWeb won the 2012 Edublog Award for Best Free and Open Professional Development for Educators and was ranked the #1 professional social network specifically for educators by the SIMBA PreK-12 Professional Development Market Forecast 2012-2013, CoSN's K-12 IT Leadership Survey 2013, and the 2012 Survey of K-12 Educators on Social Networking, Online Communities, and Web 2.0 Tools.

Go to: http://home.edweb.net/ Excellent resource for online learning, many communities