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Skype is a free chat and calling tool you can download to your computer, or install the app on your smart phone.

Jennifer and Helen... Thanks for the info! I've been thinking about using Skype in the classroom at BC, but there are security concerns from the computer admin folks - and I haven't tried it out yet.

I have become a Skype member and can't wait to use it. I am wondering if Ellminate isn't the superior tool. I guess I will make that judgement when I actually can Skype someone.

This is a powerful post. I'll let you read it and see what you think.

Excellent example of why our country scores poorly on many global studies. We do not prioritize and protect our educational institutions from some of the major declining social and economic issues we are currently facing. We shouldn't allow our school systems to suffer from current declining tax bases. This teacher's account is an excellent testimony of what results!!! and this scenario is what many of our classroom teachers are facing daily. Imagine having to face a classroom of 30+ kids everyday, by yourself, under these working conditions! Very sad . . .

An interesting comment regarding global competitiveness. It is actually my understanding that some countries - like Japan - who do better than the U.S. in math, science, and literacy - actually have larger class sizes and that per student expenditure is lower. The culture, however, supports education. Teacher's are honored.

Salman Khan talks about how and why he created the Khan Academy, a carefully structured series of educational videos offering complete curricula in math and, now, other subjects. He shows the power of interactive exercises, and calls for teachers to consider flipping the traditional classroom script -- give students video lectures to watch at home, and do "homework" in the classroom with the teacher available to help. He says students from around the world can tutor each other. This presentation was just given a few days ago.

Bruce, I have to say that this TED video posting you put up is the most interesting post I've looked at all quarter! Salman Khan talks about a very unique "backwards design" for education now and in the future with his suggestion that the "lectures--videos" be watched at home and the "homework" be done interactively with the teacher at school. In reality, this concept is the very one I was trained to do way back when I was getting my teaching credential for elementary school. In that model, teachers interact consistently all day long with small and large groups of students and individual students as well, helping them with what they need to understand until some sort of mastery comes. The only appreciable difference that I can see is the use of today's technology tools. A good teacher, no matter if face to face in a classroom or remotely in cyber space, will take the time with each individual student until he or she learns what is being taught. Self-paced learning such as what the TED video centered on was practiced years ago with SRA reading modules and similar modules for math. They fell out of fashion in many schools when districts began standardizing learning and "no child left behind" came along with its requirement that all students meet a particular standard in a particular way. Perhaps I'm over-simplifying things a bit, but I feel compelled to share this. Someone once said, "There are no new ideas under the sun, just new ways of implementing them." Anyway, thanks for this posting--I will eagerly look forward to how the Khan University develops!

Wow...thanks for sharing this link. I've watched the documentary "Waiting for Superman" and was blown away about how our education system is failing so badly. Here's an example of what person can do and change the way we learn.

"The current and future health of America's 21st Century Economy depends directly on how broadly and deeply Americans reach a new level of literacy--'21st Century Literacy'--that includes strong academic skills, thinking, reasoning, teamwork skills, and proficiency in using technology.", says the 21st Century Workforce Commission National Alliance of Business

Another great read and thanks, Ann. Something this article doesn't address is the growing concern about the "digital divide." Not all segments of our society has equal access to the internet. I recently heard a lecture at NSCC addressing this problem. Many outlining districts in urban areas(and rural areas) do not have the infrastructure to receive Wi-Fi. Students is poor neighborhoods (many who don't have computers at home) must go to their local public library to get internet access. Yes, our public school system needs to incorporate more technology "know-how" into their curriculum and instruction, but equally as important, our society needs to take a closer look at what segments of society are presently at a big disadvantage in terms of equal access to technology, both in and out of school. As technology redefines what it means to be "literate," then we also must address equity and accessibility to resources.

Helen, I like your astute comments and observations. The poor in this country may have access to computers in the library and at school, but many of them are homeless and living in cars. Anywhere from 2000-5000 people are homeless in King County and 80% of these people are women with children and suffering from DV incidents. If we go further, I have a friend working in Chimbote, Peru. Most of the people living in the barrios do not even have running water, much less the ability to buy or use computers. I suspect worldwide, you would see extremely large percentages of children without food much less computer access or skills.

This animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA's Benjamin Franklin award. For more information on Sir Ken's work visit: http://www.sirkenrobinson.com

Helen, I like Sir Ken Robinson's stuff, but I do take it with a grain of salt as well. Like Gladwell, he's a good storyteller and can inspire, but everything's got to be taken in context. I love that you ask your students to follow their train of thought. I do that with my kids, and find I often have to explain my own train of thought to others. I like the way you are in tune with the benefits and risks of reflective practice. It can get messy, and it isn't always the best thing for every student. It sounds like you take extra steps to make sure they understand the value of it.

Helen, thanks for underlining the Evoke game. I did find it - www.urgentevoke.com - and was impressed by what a great representative of eLearning this was. Organized, engaging, lots of information - but what I liked most was that it led to action - i.e., the gaming playing is not just on the computer - but actions you take or are encouraged to take to make a difference.

This is a research article where the authors studied classroom teachers who were required to convert to on-line learning. Some of the results I found interesting, was how the teachers who taught in traditional classrooms had challenges in re-structuring the information - primarily in the area of control information flow. More assessments, for example, had to be added. There is also a discussion of increased workload by the instructors and how this was a variable in the enthusiasm of the teacher's embracing the technologin.

The amount of time is always a big shock. And most of the time, it's difficult to get administration to understand that. It's something faculty unions are definitely taking into consideration with contract negotiations. I read this book a few years ago http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0787987700.html and while it has some good ideas and information, I think they were also providing a huge stipend for redevelopment of courses.

What do you think about this?

A novel way to address shrinking school budgets that mandate class size. Usually elearning means there is a price tag for setting and maintaining the computers, programs, and internet. Maybe there was a different part of the budget that paid for the environment. I agree with the comments at the end of the article - primarily because of my own experience and just common sense in thinking about it - that a blended environment is probably the most effective.

A study by the US Government has concluded hybrid classes are the most productive learning environments for elearners. Florida's virtual studies are counter to logic. I for one would not want to be a student in that classroom. I would revolt!! Ahhh...not to be confused with starting a revolution ( which just might be needed).

I'll withhold judgment on this. What do you think?

I have one thought about this. California has been ahead of WA when it comes to turning out online teacher/instructors for community colleges. I could get the training I am now, at the U of CA (not certain which one) and at U of Utah; but this program on BC is new.

This weeks lesson on CMS or LMS includes the Wiki...which I just love. I am certain as I use this tool, there will be probs. Right now, I really like it. Coupled with Elluminate as a synchronous meeting area, it can by pass the older LMS systems. For example, a instructor at Shoreline is working on updating Elluminate to fit their needs for teaching completely from this system. Unfortunately, I may never see the end result.

In the Summer of 2010, I taught an online class called the Fundamentals of Interactive Entertainment for the University of Tasmania, via the Human Interface Technology Lab under the sponsorship of Dr. Thomas Furness of the University of Washington. This course provides an overview of interactive media - video games and real-time interactive simulations. It includes information concerning the history, theory, technology, design, and social impact of these emerging communications media. The course consists of thirteen modules, and in the Summer of 2010, was made up of two weekly events: 1) A lab session which met every Tuesday to provide discussions, team planning meetings, and hands-exercises and 2) a live classroom session which was videocast directly from Seattle to a University of Tasmania classroom in Launceston, Australia. I posted more information regarding this project on my Web2.0 Chronicle blog. PLEASE NOTE: This narrated screencast runs two minutes past the 5 minute recommendation given by Jennifer.

Bruce, applying the Boettcher/Conrad 10 Best Practices to a course you have already taught, was brilliant! It is always a source of learning when we can go back and critique our own work, finding needed areas of improvement or simply discovering how "right on" we were from the get-go! I enjoyed seeing this piece of your creativity!

I found your presentation very smooth and professional.

Teaching on-line or in a classroom requires the ability to ask good questions. I found this article to be useful--I hope you will too.

I'm not opposed to a final project that involves students re-developing this course. It could even be a group project. (But I'd probably want to write about you and brag about you all to my friends!)

I posted Bloom's Taxonomy, which is a guideline for how people learn and how education should be targetted to that model. It is similiar to the types of questioning one does to reflect where we are in the learning process. I think the same is true of our course. We all seem to have through experience and past coursework some basic knowledge of on-line teaching and learning. My preference, I think, would be to have answers/discussion to some of the questions that are coming up, not just a list.

I just finished reading E-Habits, by Elizabeth Charnock, CEO of the company who puts out this blog. It was fascinating (and scary!).

I think there's more of an opportunity for us to recognize that with so many different ways to communicate, the nuances of interpersonal communication are more important than ever. I think the people who will be successful, are the ones who truly learn to connect with their audience and make the digital seem personal. I grew up with a dad who taught English and was an Air Force public affairs officer. My writing style has always been formal, and cold, and I've had to learn to add warmth in digital spaces. I'm still trying to figure it out!

My experience with your style is you are very intellectually based in your writing style, while your personal style when dealing with this student was warm and open, encouraging and sharing. Okay, it is one opinion among many, I am certain; but this one is mine. I spent many years with the military as a family member and the mother of soldiers. One has to be careful in the civilian world when it comes to interacting with others, because military directness and crispness can get in the way of showing warmth and interest. Hopefully, I have mastered a more civilian way of speaking over the past several years.

This is an overview of a guideline for how learning occurs and how as teachers we can focus our lessons to this guideline. It is relevant in on-line education, as the on-line environment allows us to have different modes to provide information to our students. We can utilize everything from video to chat rooms.

Ann, do you have any tools or taxonomies that have helped you develop those questioning skills? And have you got any experience using the SOLO taxonomy?

I have not had experience with SOLO - Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes - but from the bit of investigation I have done, it is similiar to Bloom's in that it is based upon the notion that a studen'ts ability to grasp more abstract concepts, is based on more fundamental understandings and that you need to make sure you are not too advanced for where the student is. It reminds me of Piaget's concept that you can only learn something that is slightly more advanced than where you are (my paraphrase). As for my experience with help in developing questioning skills, which I feel is an excellent example of elearning, is that my company had us first take an interactive tutorial on Bloom's taxonomy. The "final" was taking a math problem and providing questions for each level of the taxonomy. We posted this on a dedicated discussion, with the teacher providing her response for everyone to see and learn from. We have since started another topic where teacher can post specific questions they are using and have tried and this will eventually be collected into a reference document. For example, one idea that was shared was that you after you have tested your student on a fundamental, you can ask them to give you a problem. My experience is that I often get back something I didn't expect. Like if adding decimels, they will return with a problem that might be in the millionths rather than the tenths. What I found most useful was not these specifics or having a question for each level, as much as the consciousness raising it did for me to think more creatively in helping the students. I have found that an elearning platform is very helpful in this regard. For example, they might take a lesson on adding or subtracting fractions and another on adding or subtracting decimels. I will then give them a problem in adding both - example - 1/2 + .25 = . By having an interactive whiteboard I can see how they convert the fraction to a decimal to add them and offer guidan

I thought this short video might be of interest concerning technology integration into instruction and learning. The Marzano study was data that reflected what we see in classrooms.

With minimal investigation of this (i.e., didn't read his actual study), his work has generated dialog and interesting points. His research, as I understand it, measured the impact of the IWB (interactive white board) in learning enviornment. The result being that it made a positive impact. Whether the research results are accurate or not in this study (which were questioned in the link Jennifer provided), the point Marzano makes in the video - that technology is here and we need to learn and can teach more effectively with it - seems obvious to me. In fact, regardless of white board technology, just the use of eBooks, minimizing the weight of books students often carry with them, is positive.

Agreed. And I think it's an important skill to be able to apply a video like this to your own context, and extract the pieces that are relevant.

"When students understand, they become able to apply the concepts learned beyond the original context of the classroom. The student's capability and capacity to see underlying patterns is enabled, which allows the student to recognize the same patterns in other arenas."

Got it and probably had it all along.

In fact, this is exactly the type of learning the doctoral program was guiding me toward as a professor. However, it was not brought out this way and was grasped subconsciously. I could not participate in Teaching Assistantships during those years.

This week the focus is on assessment and evidence of understanding. The emphasis is, of course, on how we assess our students. However, eteachers can be more easily observed, so I thought the community might find it interesting as to how I, as an eteacher, am assessed. (The students do an automated self-paced lesson and then take a practice quiz. If they have questions during the lesson or in order to go the next one, we interact. Based on the quiz and other questions/discussions we have, I pass them to the next lesson. I have up to 4 students in one session.) Once a month, my supervisor listens to one of the recorded sessions and writes up an assessment. What I find interesting that is unique to elearning, is that my use of the technology environment goes into my assessment. I need to be logged in on time, I need to effectively switch among my students, etc. Also, if an area is weak, a request by my supervisor to re-take an automated class I have taken before - such as effective questioning - might be assigned.

The online environment provides for easy capture of the session. The requirement for teaching include having a degree and a background check, but not a teaching certificate. I feel the monitoring is an extra check and balance on both how we are teaching and our online presence. We go through training and have guidelines on what we can and cannot discuss with the students - such as sharing emails, contacts outside of class, etc. Recently this has come into focus, as the regular school teachers at the school I am tutoring with (we are a scheduled once a week class during the school year) encouraged the students to ask where we live, etc., to feel more connected. On our teacher platform, the teachers and our supervisor were able to post and share with each other on how they were and should be handling this. It is a balance - just as in a regular classroom - to be connected, yet have privacy. I do not find what information I should and should share or ask to be a problem for me, but the time focus is. The students are used to texting all the time and feel comofrtable with using the time that way. I have now developed my own transitions - from the explicit: "we've chatted enough for right now, please go on with your lesson" to a softer transition by using the information in our dialog to set-up a problem: You got so much snow! So if you had eight snowballs and split them evenly....".

This is fascinating! I've honestly never seen an instrument for a supervisor to evaluate an online teaching session. (Or maybe I just don't remember.) For distance education at BC, instructors/divisions can opt in to the online student evaluations. I don't know if Norma signed up to have this course included in the evals. If so, you may have received access to that today. As far as I know, that's the primary way teachers are evaluated here. It compares to how they are evaluated in f2f classes. For me, I like to get constant feedback from students, and that's why you see me poking around a lot, sending lots of email, and including self-checks. It's always an awful feeling to get to the end of a course and discover you could have made changes early on that would have made a big difference in learning. (But I always expect to discover some of that at the end, as well!) Thanks for sharing this!

I thought I'd try something a little bit different for Module 5, and do a CMS review of a current online course that I've been working on, called Visual Storytelling. It's a review of a Blackboard/Vista-based online class, but I'm also blending a couple of presentation technologies together to create this - SlideRocket and Camtasia. If you take a look at it, you'll want to make sure your audio is turned on - otherwise, it won't make much sense... It runs just under 10 minutes. This was a useful exercise for me, because I became aware of numerous changes I'd like to make for the next iteration of this class. These presentation tools are now very powerful and easier to use than in the past. SlideRocket has only been around for about 2 years, and it keeps getting better! You can also access this presentation by way of my Web2.0 Chronicle blog.

Thanks Bruce for showing how you use Blackboard for one of your courses. I do agree that some of the mature LMS need to make it easier to use Web 2.0 tools. Jennifer's comments about being able to use these tools is so appropriate. All of these wonderful tools are available, the problem is learning when and how to use them in our online teaching.

Thanks everyone for your feedback and comments! Mary Ann, I did see your photos from the Galapagos, and it seems like they will make great material for an online class presentation especially with your underlying message - the importance of biodiversity to our long term survival. I'm really glad you're teaching this material... I wish we were more aware of these dire issues 50 years ago! The Visual Storytelling class will be offered again in Fall 2011. Susan... One useful application of online lectures/presentations is that they can free up classroom time for more exploratory dialog and hands-on activities, as appropriate. Students also like them, because they can stop and review material at their own pace. Jennifer - I'll be happy to give an overview some presentation media I use during your office hour on Thursday. This would be a good experience for me, since I've never taught a session using Elluminate. If you could give me some quick tips beforehand, that would be welcome. I can't do it this week, but Feb 24th or following Thursdays look open.

Wow! Now there is an example of inspiration. Thank you for sharing that video!

Thank you for finding this video which I plan to share with our 2 daughters who are trying to navigate and find their footing in our educational system. I wonder if this project is getting any Federal $ from Arne Duncan. I doubt it which is what often happens with innovative projects -sustainable funding and operations always come up short. It certainly brings home the point that not only do we need to integrate technology into the learning environment, but the entire school/classroom structure, as a learning environment, must change - a major overhaul.

I haven't actually watched the video. During virtual office hours last night, I was demonstrating how I find things people share on Twitter. This was one of the links we followed, so I bookmarked it for us to look at later. I'll take a look when I get a chance. It's an office day for me today, so it might get hectic!