Group items tagged

Help desk for Blackboard collaborate

I know many people use Google Docs for collaborative writing - I used to use Google Docs all the time as well, but OneNote Online is my new favorite! It has a book-like layout and you can create several tabs for different groups so everyone has their own space (their own page in a tab), which is less confusing than Google Docs.

I recently started using BOX at work, and the collaboration that it allows is very powerful. I now see that some educational institutions are using it for this as well. If you have used it in an educational setting, I would like to hear about your experiences. Thanks,

The primary purpose of VoiceThread is to provide students with the ability to collaborate with fellow students on their websites or save to MP3 or DVD. The tool is used by students to upload multimedia material by microphone, webcam, text, phone, and audio-file upload.

Great tool for helping students to collaborate in curating resources on a group project!

A free online tool to connect students and teachers.

Comprehensive list with a brief description of how each tool can help to enhance learning through interaction and collaboration

This is a very good list.

Useful information for instructors

A brief demo highlighting options of Elluminate/Colloborate

Tools, Technology and Techniques To Keep Your Online Students Engaged In a face-to-face class, students have numerous opportunities to interact with their instructor and fellow students. Creating similar opportunities for collaboration in a web-based course is one of the biggest challenges of teaching online.

A Wiki can be thought of as a combination of a Web site and a Word document. It provides a ready to use site with a simple user interface, ability to easily add pages, and simple navigation structure. This allows students to spend more time devel- oping the content of the site, instead of trying to learn how to make one.

Over 100 third-party tools and services are used by faculty and students in ASU Online courses. Collaborative partnerships are formed in order to explore ways to use the technology to improve online teaching and learning experiences.

I am using VoiceThread for students to create digital stories to share about their research projects. Other students will peer review, comment, and write a reflection. Use VoiceThread Search Box terms "online teaching" to find Projects created for Online Courses.

A blog for and about Princeton University faculty use of technology for teaching and research.

A new study argues that American academic institutions expect a level of independence that is uncomfortable for many first-generation college students, who researchers say are more likely to come from poorer backgrounds that emphasize collaboration and interdependence.

Vesely, P., Bloom, L., & Sherlock, J. (2007). Key elements of building online community: Comparing faculty and student perceptions. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 3(3), 234-246. Vesely, Bloom, and Sherlock (2007) document that essential to the learning process is the student/student and student/teacher interaction, and building this community of learners is more challenging in online. Students in blended courses felt interaction may be better than in traditional courses. Students who feel silenced in onsite class discussions are more apt to contribute online. Seeking help can be a determining factor in successful learning. In the online communities, help is available virtually around the clock from the instructors and fellow classmates. Furthermore, through their experiences in the blended course, students would better understand the significance of managing their time, cultivating their study environment, regulating their effort, seeking appropriate support, and learning from classmates. In my experience, students reported that their online interaction with classmates had greatly assisted in their comprehension of course materials. Central to how they felt about blended learning was the quality and quantity of student and faculty interaction. In blended courses, students are often required to engage actively by reading and responding to discussion forum postings that become a permanent record of their participation and learning, rather than passively attending classes. Perceptions of interaction from faculty are also positive for blended courses. Faculty renovate their teaching methods by placing onsite lectures online and adding supplementary activities to aid student learning. Blended teaching and learning transforms education from "a command and control structure to a connect and collaborate environment" (Moskal, Dziuban, Upchurch, Hartman, & Truman, 2006) which is more student-centered than faculty-controlled. For faculty, the quality

tools and constructivism

Love that the "practical descriptions of constructivist learning" listed in the article "[C]onstructivist learning should engage students in meaningful learning and ... the critical features are that the learning should be ... * Active and manipulative, engaging students in interactions and explorations with learning materials and provid[ing] opportunities for them to observe the results of their manipulations * Constructive and reflective, enabling students to integrate new ideas with prior knowledge to make meaning and enable learning through reflection * Intentional, providing opportunities for students to articulate their learning goals and monitor their progress in achieving them * Authentic, challenging and real-world (or simulated), facilitating better understanding and transfer of learning to new situations * Cooperative, collaborative, and conversational, providing students with opportunities to interact with each other to clarify and share ideas, to seek assistance, to negotiate problems, and discuss solutions."

Strategies for building a sense of community among online learners using the relatively simple technology of discussion forums.