Tool
#1 Blogs
I
particularly like to choose my favorite blogs and click on the rss
feed icons so that I can access them all in my start pages. It's
easy for me, it bookmarks my favorites, and I can continue reading at
my convenience. The best thing about start pages is I only log in
once, usually to check my mail, and then I have access to a whole
bunch of data. Since I can access my start pages anywhere, my
favorite blogs are always available. Although I enjoy reading interesting blogs, I also choose those that are written by experts in
their fields. Their advice is invaluable for a novice like me, and
would save me a lot of time and frustration if I gather their tips for successful online course design.
Blog
Choice # 1
http://elearninfo247.com/
The
Truth and Realities of E-Learning
What
I like about Craig Weiss' blog is his product reviews. He goes into
detail for example, about Moodle and writes that many who decide to
go with the open source do not realize that there is a cost related
to maintenance of the LMS system. He does not criticize so much as
tries to see all sides of the product so that the user can make a
more informed decision. Of course, the LMS companies want you to
feel their system will work wonders, and at least here is a blog that
will help instructors choose something they can work with rather than
something that offers great service, but might have a hidden cost
attached. Craig provides his reviews in pdf formats for the user to
download and share. He claims his reviews are 100 % fair, honest and
direct. This blog is useful to help me decide what tools to use in
my online class, in particular, which LMS to choose for my modules.
Blog
choice #2
http://www.tonybates.ca/ Online learning and distance education resources.
Tony
Bates writes about online learning and discusses many interesting
topics that is informative and interesting. He writes about adapting
to the digital age and how learning and teaching design is affected
by the digital resources available and how learner characteristics
are also changing. He is dividing his discussions into chapters that
are forming his digital book. Interesting, informative, and well
worth the time for reading. Tony Bates covers all aspects of
establishing an online course. Should I need reminders on what is
next to do to improve my online presence, or to foster greater
student participation, I check this site.
Sue Waters says that she writes random
posts, but these posts are interesting and all about her experiences
in digital learning. She is a go-to person for course design because
she has the experience and is also a consultant for educational
systems establishing their online presence. I chose Sue Waters
because she writes in easy to understand language about the rewards
and pitfalls of online teaching and learning.
Blog choice #4
http://www.facultyfocus.com/topic/articles/teaching-professor-blog/
Dr. Maryellen Weimer
Dr. Weimer is considered an authority
on effective teaching for higher education. She writes about
learner-centered course design and student motivation, engagement and
performance. Her articles offers a new online instructor many guides
based on experience, but also ideas on how to improve your online
presence in the classroom. It is always easier to benefit from
another's experience to save time and patience so Dr. Weimer's point
of view is useful as I try to design a course that is engaging.
Blog choice
#5 http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/ Lisa Neilson
Lisa emphasizes learning in the
21st century and using the tools to make it happen. She
advocates creative use of things like cell phones and twitter in the
classroom, assistive technologies, online testing and more. She
provides ideas and tutorials on how to use tech tools for education.
I envision most of my students will be younger than I am, I need to
understand how they learn and use technology so that I can apply some
of the more common tech tools for learning in my online course.
Tool
#2 LinkedIn
I
like to use LinkedIn to meet other professionals who work in the same
educational system that I do, but I have also joined other groups to
improve my knowledge for teaching and learning. It was through
LinkedIn that I first learned of blended learning for high schools.
Connection
# 1 Instructional
Designers and Curriculum Writers
This
is an open forum where you can start your own discussion and other
users could respond to your topic. Some of the members post
information needs and others jump in to help. Most members are
instructional designers, although not all of them work in a school
system-they are trainers within the workforce. What is interesting
to see is what the students will be expected to know after they
finish their college years. As I design my class, I should keep in
mind the kind of professional development they would be expected to
go through as they enter the work force.
Connection
#2 K-12
Education Technology
Discussions
posted by members are about technology use in the classroom. It is a
forum for sharing advice and how to tips. For example, one member,
Jason Carroll posted a link to his blog post about twitter. The blog
post gives advice to educators on using twitter to build social
connections for education. Here is Jason's link to his blog
http://blog.texthelp.com/2014/08/quick-start-guide-twitter-educators/
. Again, creating instruction that works in my online class will be
improved because I get advice and tips from others who have the
experience.
Connection
#3 E-Learning
2.0
The
group members are instructional designers, trainers, and educators
They discuss online educational design, using technologies in
eLearning, and techniques for online course design. Since this is a
private group, you have to request to join. A private group is
sometimes better to join because they are less prone to post ads to
personal web sites. There are different preferences for course
design, and getting input from a variety of people will keep my mind
open to possibilities.
Connection
#4 EDUCAUSE
One
member Z.M. Posted a great set of rules for LinkedIn use. These
rules are applicable to most social media sites. His rules covers
posting etiquette, acknowledgment of open forum and lack of
confidentiality, and a call for mentor ship. I find these rules a
reminder that establishing the parameters of online discussions is
important within the design of an online course.
Connection
#5 online
teaching
This
is a group that discusses online teaching experiences and job
information. Discussions range from communication best practice in
an online class, to discussions on where to start to teach online or
weather using a laptop is better in the classroom than using an iPad.
I can see how many younger students may want the mobility an iPad
offers, connectivity may be an issue. It is important for me to
choose an LMS that can be accessed by mobile devices as well.
Tool
#3 Twitter
I
was one of those people who did not see the point in short notes
posted on the web. Then I started using twitter to communicate with
my students, mostly as reminder posts. Now I use twitter to connect
to other educators about issues in education, how to use online
tools, and how best to design online learning.
Following #1 Angela
Maiers @AngelaMaiers
Angela Maiers is an
educator and author of Choose2Matter and YouMatter. She tweets about
her blog so this is a link to it:
http://linkis.com/www.angelamaiers.com/gMCa8
She is inspirational and writes about others who have inspired her,
not with their knowledge, but with their belief in herself. Why do I
follow her? She inspires the best in teaching, putting students and
engagement first on the agenda. Here is one of her tweets: “Theres
nothing that gives u more wellness,courage, inspiration,insight than
knowing ur significance”. And this is what I want to bring to an
online class as well.
Following #2 Steven
W. Anderson @web20classroom
Steven's
bio is fairly long, he is an educator and a blog author. You can
participate in live chats if you are online at the right time. These
live chats are announced so followers will know what time they start.
You can get this information through the twitter chat #Edchat which
Steven helped to create.
All kinds of educators speak out or about
issues in education. Steven also provides links to interesting
articles about digital learning and competencies of digital teachers.
He posts links to interesting articles about technology and
learning. This article is from The Daily Genius and is titled: The 7
habits of effective digitally competent teachers
http://dailygenius.com/habits-of-digitally-competent-teachers/
I think that Steven's links to articles are well chosen and will
help me improve my own digital course design.
Following
#3 Jeffrey Bradbury
@TeacherCast
Jeff Bradbury is an educational consultant and has a website called TeaherCast.net. His tweets provide links and tutorials to new technologies that can be used in the classroom. His writing is encouraging, letting the reader know the value of the tool and how best to use it in the learning environment. He also reviews apps. I think my greatest weakness is knowing how to use all the tech tools available on the web. I need to learn what my students already know so that I could use the tools to effectively communicate in the learning environment.
Following
#4 Christopher Pappas
@cpappas
Christopher
Pappas' hashtag is #eLearning. He is the founder of eLearning
Industry network and posts many blogs for that site. Christopher
usually posts links to articles on the elearning Industry network
that are connected to online learning and course design. I follow
Christopher's tweets because he links to great articles, and posts
tweets about course design.
Following
#5 Jeff
Herb @InstTechTalk
Jeff
Herb is a high school associate principle and has a website called
Instructional Tech Talk. He usually posts questions about technology
and asks followers which technology do they think is most useful. It
is interesting to see the responses, so if I had the opportunity, I
would be more aware of the plus and minus of certain classroom tech
tools, and get input from other educators who actually used them.
Tool
#4 Diigo
I
have used Diigo because I could access my bookmarks from where ever I
happen to be working. I like the highlight and sticky note feature.
I also like the search by tag feature that helps me locate links to
sites that I may want to find. It helps to narrow down my search
since others have found similar sites of interest and posted to Diigo
as well. Diigo groups are made of users who have similar interests
as indicated by their bookmarking habits, so it is easy to find
groups interested in education or technology or course design.
My
Groups #1 Instructional
Design in Higher Ed
This group shares links for best
practices in online education, designing blended, online, and face to
face courses in higher education. The discussion revolves around
technology integration in online learning design and possible future
trends. I follow some of the people in this group because they have
very good links and the focus is on higher education in the online
learning environment, which is where I hope to teach one day.
My Group #2 Cool Tools for Educators!
This group is great because teachers share educational tools, and they also post comments on how to navigate the website that they linked, or how the tool can benefit classroom instruction. These tools can also apply to an online learning environment as well. This helps in designing an online classroom because web tools can be used by the teacher to enhance online learning, and students can use these tools to improve communication in online classes.
My Group #3 Classroom 2.0
This group provides links to web tools, but they also discuss social media and how it can benefit student learning, for example. Some members are very tech savvy and they post links to sites that also provide align with the Common Core standards. Other links are to professional development sites or sites that help teachers better understand their students' thought processes. This will help me in my course design because I will be teaching soon-to-be educators and they must concern themselves with the Common Core, since we have adopted the standards in the public school system. It is always best to think first about the learner and what motivates them. These are invaluable links for course design.
My Group #4 elearning 2.0
Some members of this group educate in the business world and so they are interested in how adults learn best. The links are eclectic with a singular aim of teaching in a 2.0 environment using social media. Since there are nearly 4,000 posts, I follow only three members who are online educators in higher education since the links they are more related to my interests in online course design.
My Group #5 TechinEDU
The goal of this bookmarking group is to provide links to resources for teachers to integrate technology in the classroom. Greg Limperis is the founder of this group and it is an extension to TechinEDU website. The intent of this group is to provide information to educators world wide about technology integration in education from K-college. I will definitely integrate technology in my course design and hope to pick up pointers to that end.
Tool
#5 http://home.edweb.net/
edWeb.net
is a professional learning network that is geared toward education
in the 21st
century using technology in classrooms and online. The professional
learning community come from all walks of educational endeavors and
that is what makes this site a vibrant, social and learning
community. The service is free and it helps foster new ideas using
technology and methods that would improve student learning and
ultimately, success in the real world.
All
communities offer free webinars and live chats that are archived for
those who cannot attend. Users are world wide and not always
available for live chats, but the interface of this social learning
network makes it easy to keep up with the trends and issues of the
educational goals of the present and those we are preparing for in
the future. Take the quizzes and receive a CE certificate that could
be used for professional development at the job site.
Community
# 1 The Digital Educator:
Skills for Success
Community
URL: www.edweb.net/digitaledu Sponsored
by Learning
Bird
The Digital Educator is a
community of teachers that want to improve 21st
century instruction, introducing tools and instructional best
practices to create blended or flipped learning environments. This
community is useful for me in designing an online course because the
discussion is all about instructional practices for online learning.
Community
# 2 How
Video Empowers Education
Community
URL: www.edweb.net/video Co-hosted
by edWeb.net and
Eduvision
The
idea of using video to flip a classroom is based on the idea that
learners prefer to watch videos on the instruction. The advantage of
using video for instruction is that it can be stopped at anytime to
allow the learner to absorb the content. It can also be watch over
and over again for learners to gain more confidence in understanding
the main idea of the instruction. The class time is used to actually
solve problems or use the time for real application of the concepts
taught in the video. This community discusses best practices, and
generates ideas for using video both as motivational tools and
instructional tools. I particularly want to participate in the
webinar: How to ensure you look good and sound good on video. I
think this community will help me incorporated visual learning
materials into my course design and I might be able to use the free
resources offered.
Community
# 3 TechTools for the
Classroom: Easy Ideas to Engage Students
Community
URL: www.edweb.net/tech-tools
This
community shares ideas on how to use technology in the classroom.
The resources include links to free tools online and ideas on how
these tools could be used to engage learners. I have tried using
different online tools, and sometimes the free versions are so
limited, that they are not really practical for the classroom. With
this group I hope to be able to find quality tools that would make a
difference in my online course design to engage my students and to
motivate them to share in discussions using these tools.
Community
# 4 Amazing Resources for
Educators
Community
URL: www.edweb.net/amazingresources
Co-hosted by edWeb.net
and Big Deal
Media
This
community also discusses amazing tools found online, but they also
look for grants that could help fund more resources for the
classroom, research, assessment, and professional development. This
community is about using the latest technology and how to fund their
use in classrooms. I would like to first learn about this technology
and try to use them in an online learning environment.
Community
# 5 Assessment for
Learning
Community
URL: www.edweb.net/Assessment
Sponsored
by Triumph
Learning