Oregon State University Ecampus

I deeply respect this industry pioneer, Michael Abrash, and his talk on the current state of wearable computing really turned my head around. Thought i'd throw a link up here, just in case any of you are curious about this emerging field. (basically, just click the PDF in the first paragraph, which attempts to go through and explain everything in "simpler" terms. The short of it is that we now have the tech to deliver on the promise of VR goggles from the late 80s. And after that, within about 5 years, the world will be changed by Augmented Reality (AR) - when your cell phone can seemlessly detect and enhance everything you look at). (the tech isn't quite there for AR yet, but google released Glass to try and get ahead of the game).

"As long as aviation pioneers tried to mimic birds, controlled, heavier-than-air human flight proved impossible. Along somewhat similar lines, it is only by breaking decisively from traditional face-to-face models that it will be truly possible to create the kinds of immersive, social experiences in online education that will truly engage students and promote high levels of attainment among broad profiles of students."

I like Central Michigan's online instructor self-check for course development. Easy to complete with simple radio buttons. I also like Michigan Comm. College's rubric style so that you can show level of progress at achieving certain standards. Great examples -- maybe something we can apply to our processes here.

A feature of OSU's Google Apps suite that might be handy for student clubs / student groups -- might be especially handy in engaging off-campus students into student activities? See the video for a quick overview.

Folks who study student retention and success in community colleges are well-acquainted with the concept of "high-impact practices." They're a set of measures that have been shown through empirical research to make positive differences in student outcomes. The list of high-impact practices usually includes learning communities, service learning, writing-intensive courses, undergraduate research, internships, and capstone courses, among others.

+ useful bibliography in one of the comments

I just thought this cool. Not clear how valuable the game actually is (not a lot of deets). but I love the idea of re-purposing the classic game of Clue into scenarios based on real terrorist plots, with a goal of identifying and mitigating the cognitive and anchoring bias inherent in us all. ... I also love that they came up with MACBETH as an acronym. :)

good evidence showing ability of games to result in longer retention of information ---- "8 weeks later the effects of the game were still there -- not so for the video"

This post makes a strong case for the benefits of universal design and it also has a useful annotated resource list.

Tips for improving PPT presentations