MVCR Tech Tools

Facebook and Twitter may be ubiquitous, but there are many other social media tools out there that can enhance teaching and learning. Here, three educators share their favorites.

Literature instructors teaching Shakespeare can bring his plays alive by incorporating technology into the literature classroom.

Discussion boards. Google documents. YouTube videos. TED Talks. Khan Academy. These are just a few of the many resources some of us have used in our ever-growing arsenal of techie tools. We want to stay on the cutting edge. The Sloan Consortium (now Online Learning Consortium) predicts this trend toward an increased usage of technology will continue into the foreseeable future.

Nice plain language account of online teaching from a happy veteran. Michelle Everson has been teaching online for five years. Here, she shares the top 10 best practices she has learned about online teaching.

Take the quiz. See if you are ready for social media in your class

The myth about social media in the classroom is that if you use it, kids will be Tweeting, Facebooking and Snapchatting while you're trying to teach. We still have to focus on the task at hand. Don't mistake social media for socializing.

10 blogs on instructional design

podcasts include extensive discussion on gaming as well as other aspects of eLearning

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 use Padlet all the time in my class for a quick sentence or paragraph-level group writing activity - it's easy to share with your students and you can embed it very easily! http://padlet.com/salinmiso/8tihmalkbcyl

I have used Poll Everywhere, Padlet, Google Docs/Forms for checking students' group work in class, but I've always wanted a simple tool that takes a second for students to complete and another second for me to check their completion but a tool where students don't get to "cheat" by peeking at what other groups are writing because they can't see what other students are typing until they post their answers!

A website button generator. Design your very own button or use one of the preset examples. Then download or hotlink the image, or get CSS code. Fast & free!

Workshop: Constructivism as a Paradigm

Scribblar is an online whiteboard application. While many disciplines lend themselves well to text, there are certainly classes where the ability to literally draw students a picture is worth a thousand words.

9to5mac reviews Nuance's latest iteration of Dragon Dictate for Mac.

Prezi designs and creates presentation software that is enabling millions of people to be great presenters.

Piazza is designed to connect students, TAs, and professors so every student can get the help they need when they need it. Today, hundreds of thousands of students across hundreds of campuses are using Piazza for their classes. It warms me to think I started something that is impacting the way students learn and the way instructors teach.

Google Forms are great for quick surveys and even quizzes (provided you don't need answer checking/feedback). SurveyMonkey isn't hard, but the free version has certain limits, and Google Forms is even easier to get up and going.

Interactive Learning Tools

The very basics of using Camtasia Studio 8. This series starts by preparing you for your first recording and ends with sharing a finished video project. (Includes a sample script and recording to work along with.) Once you have the essentials down, take your editing to the next level by exploring advanced features and techniques.

Synchronous or Asynchronous eLearning? Check the Benefits of Synchronous and Asynchronous e-Learning to choose the best learning solution for your learners.

In an online classroom environment many of the learning activities and expectations are similar to those found in a traditional classroom. These learning environments offer meaningful interactions in a face-to-face setting and are most commonly referred to as synchronous learning activities (Hrastinski, 2008; Harris et al., 2009; Simonson et al., 2012).