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College course work is meant to be challenging. The content and the vocabulary used are often unfamiliar to many students. For at-risk learners, the challenges are even greater.

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

Simple and free, Jing is the perfect way to enhance your fast-paced online conversations.

I tried Jing only a couple of weeks back and I have already made over 40 videos for use in my classes.

I was referred to this product by a colleague and it is really easy to use. I use it to record video solutions for my math review. Jing also works with Camtasia, which allows you to edit your Jing videos, as well as convert them into other media types such as mp4.

Probably a site most have heard of before, but well worth the look if you haven't. Basically, it's one man who sits at his computer with a slate and narrates videos explaining an idea/technique as demonstrated on a simple whiteboard. He's recorded a large compilation of these videos from a variety of fields in math and science. "The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) with the mission of providing a world-class education to anyone, anywhere. Despite being the work of one man, Salman Khan, this 2100+ video library is the most-used educational video resource as measured by YouTube video views per day and unique users per month."

FREE webinars include collaboration technologies, Merlot Introduction, and ePortfolios in the Cloud. Resources include Sloan Semester Archives that tell the story of how "Using online learning, colleges and universities from across the country responded in record numbers to help students and institutions impacted by the storms. Dubbed "Sloan Semester" the initiative provided free online courses to students impacted by Katrina and Rita storms." Here you can identify more benchmarks in a useful case-study of how Institutions committed to online learning were transformed to leverage learning resources in a time of need. I know that Illinois schools looked at Elluminate when H1N1 was an active global pandemic.

I am moving toward more tech and eventually considering textbook-free classes. Step one is trying a semester with Aplia, a text-linked software program that will allow me to entirely design the course using the online version of the text I selected for my students, complete with a grade book and assignment records for each student. I am excited to start using such a technology-intensive approach for my classes.

An estimated 96% of people with chronic medical conditions live with an illness that is invisible. Invisible disabilities can impact student performance, and that staggering stat means that invisible disabilities are more prevalent in classrooms and eLearning environments than you think. Watch a recording of the presentation below, or read on for highlights.

What accommodations are needed for eLearning students with "invisible" disabilities?

What accommodations are needed for eLearning students with "invisible" disabilities?

#TT2041 I had heard of screencast-o-matic from a classmate in another class and wondered what this is.

This article explains how to use live transcription in Zoom. This is super helpful for recording a session, or just providing subtitles during a live session.

Social Media and the rules.