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I'm currently searching for an LMS solution for our project, and this is one I am exploring. You can check it out for free on this page.

Mary Ann and I are running close to each other...I just saw the mods in Balckboard listed in Canvas. There were a few missing and I was wondering how many mods it will hold Jennifer? Also, I did see a discussion area but I don't know if you uploaded it to canvas or if it belongs to canvas.

I think I hid some of the stuff in the site I set up, since I don't know how the program folks will feel about it being public. If you set up your own account, you can get a better idea of all the features.

I am not quite sure I know what a PDP is, but assume it is a portable device. I appreciated your sharing that as I hadn't thought about how eLearning is not just over the internet, but can include auxiullary technology. In a previous post, the thought of delivery of course material over other devices - such as an iPod - was brought up, but hadn't thought about how students also use these tools in a way that I, as a teacher, don't structure. This brings up for me, how, if anything, I want to do as a student. If, for example, everyone has an iPod, might I suggest they could enter their assignment either by blog or iPod? I realize in a course technology is an overhead, but it reminds me of the possibilities and that we are at the beginning of a teaching evolution.

I made a sample lecture material for my badminton class with powerpoint.

Hyerin, I just viewed your final project, finding it filled with many good things teachers do to engage and nurture their students. I liked the buttons at the top of the home page which directed students to the various pieces of the course on badminton. As a student, I would find it easy to navigate your course and have fun learning about this sport! Keep up the good work!

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!

Hmmmm. . . .I'm digesting this one to determine its relevance to instructional design for elementary and middle school students. More later.

(Oops! Please disregard my accidental "bookmarking." I have been having problems with my Diigo site not listing the "comment" button. I was fooling around with it this morning.) Thanks, Jennifer for finding this wonderfully concise blog on the role of ID's in training and education. I have been volunteering to design a training product simply to learn more tech skills and have been thinking about ID work. Although I can easily make the distinction between a "training course" and an on-line course, there remain some fundamental considerations for how instructors "deliver" information and "design" learning activities which influence both professions. When blogger, Syreya Dutta, states " . . . the fact is that the way people are learning today has changed phenomenally due to the increased access to social media tools and advanced mobile devices. Twitter, blogs, wikis, and discussions have become the new age learning methods." So my question - "If social media networks enable better knowledge feedbacks, do educators have to be active users of each and how many should be incorporated into the learning activities of the courses they design ?"

Jennifer's email to us was a catalyst for this post to inquire about your digital prescence experience. I, like Jennifer, have aliases that I use on social networks. It is a challenge, though, to manage multiple presences and even when I do, often have a feeling of unease about the information. For example, in this course a suggestion was for us to update our profile. Although I don't feel secrative that I am taking a course at Bellevue College, the email/signature I use for this course is also the one I use for some other professional endeavors (such a technology consulting). I is not something that is a "need to know" by everyone. I chose, in this situation, not to update my general profile. When we are conscious of what/how we are posting and putting up, is one thing. Often though, I get on a mailing list, that I have no idea how I was included, as I probably forgot to check a "do not include me" box on something I have bought on line. This article was particularly interesting to me, as it talks about a survey that 23% of children get a digital presence even before they are born - having a lasting imprint.

Good article to bring things into perspective about 'online presence.' I found a similar article that compared statistics relating to age and online presence. 92% of children by age 2 have online presence thanks to parents and grandparents. As Jennifer mentioned in her discussion of facebook -- maybe we don't want the world to see what we did in our high school days...we were 15/16. Can we separate a personal online presence from a business profile...

I do separate my profiles by having different email aliases. There is overhead in having multiple ones, however, so not ideal.

I have posted the FBI can hear when cell phone is turned off; Is Your Cell Bugged?; and Big Brother is Watching as food for thought and because of earlier comments. The question is: In an Open Society how many freedoms are we willing to give up to be protected from Terrorist attacks? A thought worth pondering.

I had an interesting experience last quarter. I have a History of Animation class that is currently on Vista/Blackboard. What happened was that through an oversight, students weren't charged a use fee for the site, so I couldn't access it for the class. I had to transfer all of the content to a Google Sites location. I was amazed to find out that I could just copy and paste from Blackboard Vista pages directly into my Google site - preserving the links and formatting (!!). It was a life-saver for me.

That's great! That's one of the reasons I've created the files for our course in HTML. If it ever needs to be put someplace else, it will be an easy transition.

I read the assignment about assessment and suddenly thought...this is really crap! I dislike the whole concept of grades. In fact, this video shows that if you really want to assess assessment...what you need to do is teach the most difficult class and find a way to help all students learn it. Learning is a process. I think you cannot learn as much without the help or couching of an instructor or professor. If they show you what concepts they want you to learn...every step along the way, through course design and asking questions to stimulate thought, learners will learn even the most difficult concepts and apply them.. Feedback is essential. Not just feedback; but feedback that helps the learner build on what they already know and move forward. Interactive learning with others continues the process and helps give the learner even more ways to continue the learning process.

One of the biggest sea-changes I've seen in my own teaching experience at Bellevue College since the 1990's is a greater shift towards student-centered learning. One of the major indicators to me of this change was the "Affirmation of Inclusion" initiative that states as an up front policy that Bellevue College is committed to treat all students with respect and support no matter of their ethnic background, age, disability, gender, etc. This policy is visibly posted in every classroom. The older standard educational model based on what Rick Stiggins calls "producing dependable rank order", ie.. consisting of winners and losers - is giving way to a educational approach with lifetime learning as a foundation. We are all on a continuous learning path during the entire arc of our lives, and can potentially all help each other wherever we are on the curve. Rather than specialized pidgeon holes, we are more aptly described by Buckminster Fuller's book title in the 1960's - I seem to be a verb...

I dislike being graded! Yet the grade factor has given me a reason to dig deeply into any studies I take. I wanted to be in charge of my learning and assess myself...unfortunately, I set standards far higher than any instructor would.

Authentic learning is a solid pedagogy approach, no matter the environment. However, two concepts of authentic learning that I feel can be particularly expanded on with the internet and etools are "hooks" and "experts". "Hooks" is what picques and keeps the student's interest and motivation in the activity. With the use of video, games, tools, etc., there are many more ways to do this. "Experts" is being able to bring in subject resources, which on the internet, makes accessibility easy. For my course framework activity, therefore, I expanded on the colon treatment options module. For a hook, I searched YouTube for "colon cancer comedy" videos. There were quite a few actually. I added as a introduction to the module one of these videos - two singing colon surgeons - on colon surgery. For experts, I added references to the National Institute of Health and American Cancer Society on treatment options and survival statistics. I also am having the students connect directly to true cancer experts - patients, caregivers, and survivors. This puts a "face" on the disease, as well as an experience to what it means to have colon cancer. The course framework activity: (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HZKsjzymKk1Bn2gXDt1LOp5gqEsUvOqXE4m-72b8WYw/edit?hl=en#) In my online work experience as a math tutor, hooks are particularly important, as these students would not be in the program if they weren't already performing at a lower math level. Math is not a subject they enjoy. The automated lessons they take, often have "game" quizzes they take and can get immediate feedback on their answers. As an instructor, I try to utilize their life experiences. For example, I might ask them how old they are and then tell them how old I am. I then use these facts to construct subtraction and/or division questions.

This link is to my development of a learning activity that maps to a course learning objective for Module 7. The activity I've chosen to work on for this project is in response to one of the learning objectives for a class called Visual Storytelling (CMST 115) that I'm teaching for Bellevue College. The learning objective (or understanding) I'm addressing is a final project that has students demonstrate their ability to put into practice a selection of visual storytelling skills that were taught during the quarter. This activity was designed to make use of authentic learning principles, derived from the ideas of Marilyn Lombardi - which are available in complete form in her article, Authentic Learning for the 21st Century: an Overview.

Very impressive, Bruce! This assessment piece is definitely in line with Lombardi's ideas AND is a perfect showcase for student understanding of the objective you set forth. I imagine your students jumped at the challenge you presented them, producing outstanding work! You continue to inspire me with your thinking and creativity!

Thanks for your comments, Mary Ann. One of the big take aways I've gotten from our EDUC 251 class so far, is the idea of relinquishing progressive amounts of control throughout the quarter - so that students at the end are teaching part of the class and demonstrating their acquired skills in some kind of collaborative, hands-on project. I've been exploring this idea over the past few years as I've become more comfortable with my teaching - and both the Boettcher reading and Jennifer's course structure validate this approach. One of the more interesting recommendations for "authentic learning" is having ill-defined goals - meaning that students have to fill in gaps with their own solutions - derived from general or even vague instructions. This enhances creativity, innovative pathways, and problem solving. Cool idea!

This is a guide from Northern AZ U. I'm not a huge fan of rubrics for assessment, but I think they can sometimes help students get an idea of your expectations. If you can implement them without stifling creativity, they might be useful to you.

I think this course is a good example of how rubrics can fall short. We've got a small group of students with very diverse experience. You all want and need something very different from this course. Your projects should all be different. While I can give you some idea of expectations, it's difficult to plan in advance for your audience and still provide the individualized learning necessary in some disciplines and courses.

I find myself feeling somewhat torn regarding how the rubrics for online student participation are presented on this Northern Arizona University website. On one hand, it provides a rock-solid method for accurately measuring various levels of student engagement. On the other hand, it means the instructor has to parse out dozens of tiny point assignments for every student - ie. a potential micromanagement purgatory. Since I haven't tried this NAU recommended approach to online assessments, I should rein in my initial resistance, and take a plunge into this rubric pool to see how it works in practice.

I have made some personal comments on obtaining the skills and not being able to get the job one trains for.

To elaborate on your: " My point is this, giving my student the skills to do the job they hope to do in the future is not the end of the learning process." School has the dual purpose of both enlightening us as people and preparing us for a profession. As this article points out, obtaining a degree or going to school does not guarantee of a job. It may not guarantee a job, but without you can't have the insight or credential to eventually get there.

What deeply saddens me is technical and community colleges may give you the skills; but then they may drop the ball by not helping beyond that point. Without internships and situations for obtaining experience...one cannot overcome the obstacle of needing experience in the field. Same goes for my hope to teach...which may just be a dream I am holding onto with no basis in reality. Then the feds paid for the courses, the college got the money and I am in fact the loser.

Joy, Thanks for posting these wrap up suggestions. Shooting a closing video like the last link you posted is nice way to have students leave with a sense of closure, and feeling that they've just completed a worthy goal.

Love these suggestions! Thanks for sharing this.

This is a glogster of seven of the ten best practices for the course "Everything you always wanted to know about colon cancer". At the bottom of the glogster, you can click to see a jingcast of the glogster. There is an animated icon indicating this. You may want to expand the window for seeing the entire jingcast or if you don't go through the glog, the link is: http://www.screencast.com/users/astephens33/folders/Default/media/f42c4438-4715-4ccb-928a-7c8b7d4bb6a7. Thanks.

Thanks Joy. It realize that the production element of the course is an added dimension one needs to consider in on-line learning that I hadn't fully appreciated.

Glogster is a lot of fun and I love that you were able to find a way to record it so we could understand both your course, and your use of the tool!

In today's Seattle Times, A3 section - interesting article which followed over 2,000 US students from 2005 to 2009. 45% made no significant improvements in their critical thinking, reasoning or writing skills during first 2 years of study. After completing 4 years, 36 % showed no significant gains in "higher order" thinking skills. Article also states some contributing factors, many students work part-time, however, most students only spent 1/5 time on their studies and 51% on socializing & extra-curricular. I have a strong hunch the internet is a big contributor to the socializing factor. When I read such statistics, it makes me ponder if on-line learning can truly change this social/educational trend. I am enjoying many readings on the diigo, both from Jennifer and others, however, I'm not sure I would design an on-line class which designated a considerable amt. of time to short readings and discussions. Your thoughts on this?

I too found the article interesting - thanks! I do wonder about the types of classes students completed especially in their first two years. The might be a marked difference in skills acquisition if students were completing many required large class survey classes to meet initial requirements vs. small, more focused classes in their areas of interest.

I am still trying to get the picture of "slogging" through studies! Is that what I am doing when reading all this material in Diigo? I don't think so.

"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 list is very thorough. I think it will be helpful when setting up the first online course.

Interesting find. I'm not familiar with the site, and they don't have a lot of information about who they are. It seems like they are aggregating video from multiple sources. What I can't tell, is if the sources are submitting the video, or if the site is collecting them from other sites. One interesting thing I've found when I suggest instructors look for online videos, is that they worry about accuracy and quality. To me, this is a great learning opportunity for students. For example, I recommended a welding instructor have his students find welding videos on Youtube so they can critique the safety techniques in the videos. Students are often more interested in finding mistakes in videos, than in receiving a lecture :)

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