December 19, 2007

Publishing In Transition Discussion: January 29, 2008


The University Libraries and The Center present:


PUBLISHING IN TRANSITION
: A DISCUSSION
New models of publishing can extend the options for disseminating work and preserve the stages of scholarly research. How can we create an improved scholarly communication system that addresses ownership, capture, distribution, and preservation of the intellectual output of BGSU community members? Join this discussion and share your ideas. Lunch will be provided.

Tuesday, January 29, 11:30-1 p.m. in the Jerome Library Pallister Conference Room.

To register, contact the Center at ctlt@bgsu.edu, 372-6898, or complete our online registration form.

December 12, 2007

Ken Bain (Part 3): Effective Learning Environments

This is Part 3 of our series on Ken Bain's visit to BGSU. Ken serves as Vice Provost, Professor of History, and Director of the Research Academy for University Learning at Montclair State University and is the author of "What the Best College Teachers Do."

In order to create an effective learning environment, 2-3 very complex conditions need to take place:

1) Create an “expectation failure”
We learn from our mistakes often better than from our successes. Bain suggests that teachers need to put the learner in a situation where their existing paradigm does not work, then rebuild it from there. This is usually created from some sort of intellectual challenge or cognitive dissonance. "It needs to be more than just telling them the truth – that doesn’t work," explains Bain. (i.e. - lecture doesn’t work - for long term, for most students)

2) Make it meaningful or engaging
The learner has to care deeply enough to struggle through the incongruity (and this needs to be timely... if it takes too long, they are onto other things)
Teachers must carefully select mental models or paradigms that can cause this incongruity, but yet attract student interest, leading to student engagement. In other words, "How can you create an expectation failure where students will care enough to struggle through it?"

3) Provide emotional support (if needed)
As students encounter a challenge to their beliefs, some sort of emotional support may be needed, especially when dealing with most religious convictions, which are very difficult for students to question, let alone consider alternatives.


What do you think about these conditions for effective learning environments? Do you agree? What other conditions are needed, if any?

Click on the COMMENTS link below to leave your thoughts!


December 11, 2007

Need File Storage? Find Where to Get it!!!

Have you ever wondered where to host your files (Podcasts, PowerPoints, Videos, etc...) on campus?

Well luckily ITS has provided all of us with a nice easily to use grid to determine where we should look to find the proper file storage...

Click here to check out the webpage.


What file storage services do you use? Do you utilize any other file storage service other then the services that ITS provides? If so, which ones?...Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!


December 10, 2007

Images for Learning

Stock.xchng is a leading, free, stock photo site. This site is great for generic searches, yielding high-resolution images that could be used to enhance student or faculty presentations or applied to any other visual media projects.

Along with browsing over 250,000 quality stock photos by more than 25,000 photographers, you can share your own personal photography as well.
If your search doesn't yield a large number of free results, there is a linked site, stockxpert.com, which produces results at the bottom of the page showing images available for purchase.

All you need is a free account to begin your search!


How do you use images in your teaching or presentations? What other image sites have you or your students used?

Click on the COMMENTS link below to post your thoughts!




December 7, 2007

Winter Break Reading: eBooks on Teaching & Learning

In addition to the traditional books offered by the university library, OhioLink has a large section of E-Books available. Here are some of the books currently available.

From Principles of Learning to Strategies for Instruction:
Empirically Based Ingredients to Guide Instructional Development 2004
The purpose of this volume is to help educators and training
developers to improve the quality of their instruction. The authors present a four-stage model that includes acquisition, automaticity, near term transfer, and far term transfer.

Learning and Teaching for the Twenty-First Century: Festschrift for Professor Phillip Hughes 2007
This book stresses learning and teaching, rather than teaching
and learning. The focus is therefore on how learning can be
enhanced, through effective teaching; and how individuals can be
best prepared to be excellent teachers.

Engaged Learning with Emerging Technologies 2006
The major purpose of this book is to present and discuss current
thinking, theories, conceptual frameworks, models and promising
examples of engaged learning with emerging technologies.

International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments Series: Springer International Handbooks of Education , Vol. 14 2006
The International Handbook of Virtual Learning
Environments was developed to explore Virtual Learning
Environments (VLEĆ­s), and their relationships with digital, in
real life and virtual worlds.
*Also available in hardcopy

Rethinking University Teaching: A Conversational Framework for the Effective Use of Learning Technologies 2002
This new
edition builds upon the success of the first and contains major
updates to the information on learning technologies and includes
the implications of using technology for the university context -
both campus and electronic - which suggests a new approach to
managing learning at institutional level.
*Also available in hardcopy

What's the Point in Discussion?
2000.
This text presents the skills of discussion and how they can be
taught in the context of developing what the author refers to as
a thinking society.

These and many more E-Books can be found here:
http://ebooks.ohiolink.edu/xtf-ebc/search?subject=Education


What do you think about these E-Books? What are your favorite E-Books?

Click on the COMMENTS link below to post your thoughts!


November 29, 2007

Tools for Learning In Plain English...Wikis, RSS and Social Bookmarking

Ever wish you could watch a video that would easily explain these new technology concepts?

Well today your prayers have been answered! Below are three great YouTube videos that help to explain what a the concepts behind wikis, RSS feeds, and social bookmarking

Wikis


RSS


Social Bookmarking



Did these quick videos help with your understanding of these technology concepts? Do you have any other questions regarding Wikis, RSS, or Social Bookmarking? Do you have any other great YouTube videos to share?...Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!


November 27, 2007

Ken Bain (Part 2): People Learn Best and Most Deeply When . . .


From the Research Academy website at Montclair State University, Ken Bain's research includes a list of a dozen requirements for meaningful student learning . . .

  • They try to answer questions or solve problems they find interesting, intriguing, important, or beautiful;
  • They can try, fail, receive feedback, and try again before anyone makes a judgment of their work;
  • They can work collaboratively with other learners struggling with the same problems;
  • They face repeated challenges to their existing fundamental paradigms;
  • They care that their existing paradigms do not work;
  • They can get support (emotional, physical, and intellectual) when they need it;
  • They feel in control of their own learning, not manipulated;
  • They believe that their work will be considered fairly and honestly;
  • They believe that their work will matter;
  • They believe that intelligence and abilities are expandable, that if they work hard, they will get better at it;
  • They believe other people have faith in their ability to learn;
  • They believe that they can learn.

What else should be added to this list? As educators, what is our role in helping students to believe they can learn?. . . Click on the COMMENTS link below to leave your thoughts!


November 19, 2007

Ken Bain: What the Best College Teachers Do


Ken Bain, Vice Provost, Professor of History, and Director of the Research Academy for University Learning at Montclair State University, visited campus on November 5th to present "Little Things Make a Big Difference" at the College of Arts & Sciences Forum. Author of "What the Best College Teachers Do," Dr. Bain also facilitated two workshops based on his book and the years of research he has conducted.

Over the next couple weeks, we will highlight some of the insights offered during these sessions. Here is the first installment. . .

In the morning session, Bain asked participants to, "Think about the best teacher you’ve ever had; one that had a profound influence on what you feel and think. What were some traits of this teacher?"

Some of the responses. . .
  • firm, yet caring
  • in love with subject
  • moved students into leadership positions
  • high expectations, especially for college (even in elementary)
  • generosity
  • demanding of self & others
  • passionate
  • well prepared
  • good listeners; learned from the students too
  • authenticity
  • humility
  • help students feel comfortable
  • belief in the student
  • hands-on learning activities
  • identify strengths in individuals
  • personal (yet, professional) relationship with students
  • role model for them; even outside of the classroom
  • inspirational
  • joy of learning exuded to students
  • techniques and process behind learning/how to learn & preparations for learning
  • sense of care about topic and self as scholar
  • understood why did what done and explained why to the students
  • charisma – makes subject come alive; passionate about helping students learn
  • encouraging; pushed to do more

What traits, if any, are missing from this list?. . . Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!




November 15, 2007

Ask AL- Web 2.0 and Google Docs

Question 1

I've been seeing a lot of references to Web 2.0. What is it?

AL's answer
http://movies.atomiclearning.com/k12/almovie?key=32612

Now that we know what Web 2.0 is, here is a Tip on Google Docs...

Question 2

How do you check spelling in a document when using Google Docs & Spreadsheets?

AL's answer
http://movies.atomiclearning.com/k12/almovie?key=32471

Do you currently use any Web 2.0 technologies in the classroom? If so, how? Do you have experience or any other questions relating to Google Docs?...Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!


November 13, 2007

Exploring the “New World” Learning Paradigm

The following is an article from our Fall #2 "Communicating for Learners" newsletter. We encourage your comments, thoughts, experiences, and questions as they relate to this concept of a "new world" learning paradigm. Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!


The change of seasons can be a small reminder of the myriad of changes going on all around us—at BGSU, in Ohio, nationally, and globally. These large-scale, institutional, and even global changes necessitate a journey of discovery with new directions and paradigms.

The research-based concept of a “new” paradigm for learning in higher education was originally proposed over a decade ago. In 1995, when the term “paradigm shift” was all the rage, Barr and Tagg described a shift from an instructional paradigm to a learning paradigm. Then in 1997, Smith and Waller set forth over a dozen examples of changing paradigms for learning. More recently, Fink (2003) echoed the need for moving from a content-centered to a learner-centered paradigm, while Bain (2004) uncovered the effectiveness of challenging students’ existing models or paradigms, helping them transform existing understandings into better, more accurate models of truth.

Semantics aside, the change involves a clear shift from one-dimensional, unidirectional teaching to multi-dimensional, multidirectional learning. So why now? Primarily because we live in a changing, connected world, with increasingly complex problems to solve.
What is the Learning Paradigm?
The student-centered learning paradigm is not a new concept, but the implementation of these revised pedagogical strategies has yet to become mainstream in higher education. At the core of the learning paradigm is a foundation of reciprocity between students and faculty. Essentially, it requires active, problem-based, collaborative strategies for both student and faculty learners. The learning paradigm is based on a community of continuous learners—both students and faculty. This change from higher education to continual learning has “learning how to learn” as its valuable product.

Just as early explorers set out to discover new places of potential riches, educators too can set out on their own journey of discovery in learning. Christopher Columbus, who was looking for a new world, certainly found something that resembled a “new” place—unfamiliar people, plants, foods, and treasures. But what he really did was bridge two unconnected land masses already sharing the same water and sky. Similarly, faculty “explorers” of the new learning paradigm can help students connect seemingly distant concepts, creating bridges to deeper, synthesized, and meaningful learning.

Beginning and Continuing the Journey
When working toward changing a paradigm, especially one that may have worked well for us as students, it is important to consider the future—what will our students’ emerging careers be, what skills and knowledge are essential for them to be engaged in their professional worlds, and what paradigms might they face? Our teaching behaviors, our expectations we set for our students, and our students’ learning behaviors must evolve to fit our students’ futures.

Tagg (2003) reminds us that to change our paradigm from teaching to learning is to view education through a new lens—“seeing” our work in a different light and having diverse experiences as we and our students interact to learn. As we peer through the telescope to chart our course toward a new horizon of a learning paradigm, what do we see? Where will BGSU students and faculty travel in their journey toward a learning paradigm? Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!



An additional BGSU resource is “Premier Learning: A Scenario for BGSU in 2020.” Convened by President Ribeau in May 2007, the Strategic Positioning Group prepared this report that conveys a vision for our University. You can read the report at the Office of the Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs website. A video relating to this document is also available.



References
  • Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  • Barr, R. B., & Tagg, J. (1995). From teaching to learning—A new paradigm for undergraduate education. Change (27) 6, 12-25.
  • Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  • Smith, K. A., & Waller, A. A. (1997). New paradigms for college teaching. In Campbell, W. E., & Smith, K. A. (Eds.), Paradigms for college teaching (pp.269-281). Edina, MN: Interaction.
  • Tagg, J. (2003). The learning college paradigm. Bolton, MA: Anker.

November 9, 2007

How University Administrators (& Faculty) Should Approach Facebook: 10 Rules

This is a useful article on how our students are using Facebook and things that we should consider as college educators. Listed below are rules 1 and 2 in a list of 10. For more information, please click here: http://chimprawk.blogspot.com/2006/01/how-university-administrators-should.html

1. The Facebook isn't going away. While Facebook.com may not last forever, a service like the Facebook will always be present and useful on a college campus. The logic to this is quite simple: students are forced to renegotiate their social networks every semester. The Facebook supports and answers the student's information needs. Put simply, our students are curious; they want to know anything and everything about the students around them. If you had the Facebook when you were an undergrad, wouldn't you have wanted the same?

2. Almost all of your institution's undergraduates are on the Facebook. I found that 94 percent of UNC's Freshman class was on the Facebook. Techcrunch reported in November that 85% of all college students were on the Facebook, and surely that number has increased. You can't fight numbers like this. More importantly, you can't ignore them.
Both of these services can provide useful tools that can be utilized from home, office, or dorm room.

Do you have a Facebook account? How can Facebook be used to stay in contact with our students?...Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!


October 29, 2007

What is Learner-Centered Teaching?


Many faculty scoff at the phrase above, often exclaiming, "Isn't all teaching 'student-centered' or 'learner-centered'?" Well, not exactly. Here are some descriptors to help clarify the true intent of the term, learner-centered (or learning-centered) teaching:
  • providing choices for students in relation to where, how, and when they study,
  • fostering (focusing on) learning rather than teaching (incorporating active rather than passive learning),
  • encouraging student responsibility (and accountability) and activity rather than teacher control and content delivery,
  • developing mutuality and interdependence in the teacher-learner relationship, and
  • emphasizing context-specific learning in which students build their own new understandings and skills through engagement with authentic problems based on 'real world' experiences (emphasizing deep learning and understanding as opposed to simple "coverage").
Maryellen Weimer describes seven "Do" principles for teachers/faculty to begin their planning for learner-centered teaching:
  1. Teachers do learning tasks less (let the students do more)
  2. Teachers do less telling; students do more discovering
  3. Teachers do more (instructional) design work
  4. Faculty do more modeling (of the learning process -- for student benefit)
  5. Faculty do more to get students learning from and with each other (collaborative)
  6. Faculty work to create climates for learning (conditions conducive to learning)
  7. Faculty do more with feedback (formative 'along-the-way' and summative assessments; grades and comments)
For more information on learner-centered teaching:

Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice
by Maryellen Weimer (2002). Jossey-Bass. (A summary by Bill Peirce; available for check-out from the Center's Library)

Chickering and Gamson's Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education
From The American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, March 1987

Mapping the Learning Space: Overview of the Territory
5 Learner-Centered Principles and Practices in Higher Ed: Design Implications, Learning Activities, Deeper Learning, Teaching Practices, and Technology Uses

International Institute on Student-centered Learning and Engagement
May 20-23, 2008 at Portland State University

Student-Centered Learning: What Does it Mean for Students and Lecturers?
O'Neill & McMahon, 2005

Briefly describe one of your "learner-centered teaching" activities or strategies . . . Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!


October 24, 2007

Sarah Robbins (Intellagirl) Speaks at TechTrends Series


Sarah Robbins (aka - Intellagirl), prompted the BGSU Tech Trends Series audience, "The world is changing… are you ready? Are your students ready?"

After presenting a multitude of recent statistics on the technology use habits of 18-22 year olds, Robbins explained how the numbers simply represent symptoms of a larger issue – young people want to express themselves and communicate with others, which all too often ends at the classroom door.

Her remedy for bridging this chasm is to determine what faculty need to know and be able to do in this new, changing world. She suggests that an instructor’s technological expertise should be “somewhere between (knowing) everything and nothing” – enough so faculty can help build a bridge from the place where students are interested and engaged to where they need to go, educationally.

Her overall message centered on three approaches to reach current (and especially future) students:
  1. Second Life – a MUVE, or multi-user virtual environment (not an online game, since there are no game mechanics and no goals assigned; instead, each individual must figure out what to do and has free reign within certain boundaries.
  2. Social Networks – (e.g., Facebook, Ning) where communities are built around common interests, including trends, culture, ideas, events, ideas, and creations.
  3. Contributed/remixed content sites – (e.g., YouTube, Flickr, blogs, wikis) where students can collaborate, create, contribute, and critique – with text, audio, and/or images.
Benefits of these three approaches include:
  • Collaboration
  • Creativity
  • Authenticity
  • Community -- around the content; they try much harder – “recreate it for the web”
  • Engagement – students are engaged in participatory explorations
  • Social
  • Local/Global – local issue becomes global and vice versa
  • Immediate – instant experiences; questions researched and answered quickly
  • Participatory -- not just a consumer; students become knowledge creators/synthesizers
Robbins is known to some for her often-publicized, academic exercise where students were asked to portray Kool-Aid people and mill around various Second Life spaces to experience diversity, crowd mentality, exclusion, and discrimination. She explained that because most of her Ball State University (Indiana) students never felt excluded or discriminated against, the “Kool-Aid man experience” was the best way to get them to quickly and easily understand a previously foreign concept.

So how did the students react to this new (and strangely unique) exercise? Robbins said many of them expressed they felt safe because they were in a group who were like themselves; had they been alone, “it would have been worse.” In other words, within five minutes, students learned complex, experiential concepts that were only marginally successful during a 50-minute, face-to-face class.

Robbins shared several other educational uses and applications of Second Life:
  • Chat text from each student can be exported, saved, analyzed
  • Group IM (instant messaging) – allows a lifeline when out interviewing others in SL (like an expert or advisor in an earpiece)
  • Translating metaphorical ideas
  • Role Playing
  • Building, testing, synthesizing theoretical models (e.g., customer traffic flow, chemical molecules)
  • Recreate works from literature to build understanding (e.g., Dante’s levels of hell, science fiction/fantasy recreations or interpretations)
  • Critique and parody
  • Sharing and presenting works to hundreds, rather than only the instructor or single class
  • Student-generated schizophrenia simulator
  • Her students were treated as co-researchers
Robbins closed by emphasizing the need to find and use technologies that meet the needs and goals of the course and your comfort level – not all tools are for everyone or every purpose, just because they are popular or novel. And with that, we’ll close with a few questions about your thoughts… What do YOU think?


How have you used Second Life or other "connecting" tools to engage students? What are your thoughts on teaching/learning in Second Life? (concerns, questions, success stories, ideas, etc.) ...Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!




For more information:

Intellagirl Website

Sarah Robbins' Ubernoggin Blog

Second Life

(Search for Article) Professor Avatar: In the digital universe of Second Life, classroom instruction also takes on a new personality (from The Chronicle of Higher Ed – September 21, 2007)


October 18, 2007

Want to Take a Web 2.0 Journey?

Follow the link below for 23 Learning 2.0 Things. The site gives you tasks designed to make you more comfortable with Web 2.0 technologies. Tips and advice are provided along your journey. Learn more about blogging, RSS, photo sharing, tagging, wikis, and other online tools.

http://plcmcl2-things.blogspot.com/



What tasks have you tried? What ideas or tools you would add to this tutorial? What is your favorite Web 2.0 tool? ...Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!


October 15, 2007

A Vision of Students Today




What is your opinion of the video? Do your students have similar concerns? How can you or the University help to change and encourage better student interaction? ...Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!



For another great video from this group check out The Machine is Us/ing Us a short video about the Web 2.0 revolution.

October 4, 2007

Examining & Discussing Copyright

Here is a sampling of things overheard during the "Challenges Regarding Copyright and Use" Discussion held in the Pallister Conference room of Jerome Library on October 2:
  • Copyright is a balancing test between protecting rights of creators and the promotion of knowledge

  • Copyright law is based on varying interpretations depending on jurisdiction, legal precidents, and intent

  • Common Misuses
    - scanning an article into a PDF format (obtain permission and/or check copyright permissions first)
    - putting a full PDF copy of an article on your Blackboard site (post a link instead, if from our libraries research database)

  • Questions discussed included:
    - use of digital videos
    - transferring from video to DVD (or other format conversions)
    - creating a digital archive or copy of ancient works from another country
    - use of PDFs

  • Keys to remember:
    - link to an article when possible, rather than providing it
    - article in e-reserves - use only once per semester; after that, permission should be obtained
    - course packs - you or printer must obtain permission
    - exercise your citizen rights by contacting legislators regarding proposed/needed changes for educational purposes
    - you must make a reasonable attempt to seek permission
    - make sure YOUR works are available for future use (refer to Author's Rights Addendum from SPARC)

  • Additional Links:
    - Checklist for Fair Use - A general overview of what can be considered Fair Use; developed by Kenneth Crews, Indiana University
    - Office of General Counsel on Copyright at Catholic University of America (News, checklists, and Q&A with a lawyer)

The next University Libraries Discussion session will be Publishing in Transition on Monday, November 5, from 11:30-1:00.

What other questions or comments do you have regarding copyright?...Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!


October 3, 2007

Ask-a-Librarian

Here are a couple of useful resources that we would like to share:

The Library of Congress offers an Ask-a-Librarian service, where they provide the ability to choose a research area and then ask a librarian via either online chat or email.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/

Another option is to use BGSU's own Ask-a-Librarian service, The library offers help via online chat, email, phone, and one-on-one consultations.

http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/infosrv/ref/ask.html


Both of these services can provide useful tools that can be utilized from home, office, or dorm room.

What luck have you had with either service? Have you shared these resources with your students? Are there any other similar services that you use?...Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!


September 27, 2007

Ask AL- Tips for Office 2007

"Office 2007 looks totally different different. How do I use the new interface?"

AL's answer for Excel 2007
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=28638

AL's answer for PowerPoint 2007
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=29120

AL's answer for Word 2007
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=28723


Do you think ribbons are more effective than drop down menus? What other new features have you used in Office 2007? ...Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!


September 26, 2007

CTLT Fall #1 Newsletter




The most recent CTLT newsletter, "Communicating for Learners," is available online as a PDF. Here is a listing of what's available in this issue:

For previous issues of the Center's newsletter, see our archives.

September 18, 2007

MyFiles: Easy File Storage and Access

(This is a re-posting of a previous post on MyFiles @ BGSU. See the full, original post here.)

BGSU has unveiled a new service for Faculty, Staff, and Students...

MyFiles is a network-based, file storage system. It can be accessed at myfiles.bgsu.edu, simply login using your BGNet Username and password. MyFiles provides 1 Gigabyte of disk space per person and allows an individual to store copies of important documents such as homework, notes, papers, and graphics on a system that is accessible from anywhere on the Internet.

What is MyFiles?
  • Files stored on MyFiles can be accessed from any computer connected to the Internet through a web browser such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Safari.

  • Files can be shared with friends, colleagues, collaborators, conference attendees, project team members, and others, both on and off campus. File owners are able to provide access that can be read-only or read-write, allowing for controlled access and collaborative editing.

  • Files can be tracked to see who has read the file and who has made changes to the file. MyFiles can even store multiple versions of a file to keep a history of revisions.

  • Files are secured by BGSU authentication username and password, and can be accessed by others only if the account owner gives permission. Access can be assigned based on BGSU usernames and passwords, or by electronic ticket that allows individuals not associated with BGSU to gain read-only or read-write access.

  • Files can be accessed by clicking on a designated web URL. Each file has a specific web URL that can be sent to others through email instead of sending entire files as attachments.


What MyFiles is NOT:
  • Not a place for instructors to store class notes for students, Blackboard should be used for this.

  • Not a place to share unauthorized copies of media or other digital files.


How could (or have) you as a faculty member or student utilize(d) MyFiles?
--> Click on the COMMENTS link below to post your thoughts!


September 17, 2007

Reflection: Share Your Thoughts -- "I'm Grateful For..."


For Teaching Faculty and Graduate Teaching Assistants:
As an educator at BGSU, what are you most grateful for so far this semester?


-->Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!


September 14, 2007

Slideshare: The Show Must Go On! (and on, and on...)

Slideshare is a site for hosting slidecasts - a new multimedia format for viewing slideshow (i.e. PowerPoint) synchronized with a podcast. However, presentations do not need to contain audio to be viewed on Slideshare.net. It can be used for conference talks, musical slideshows, audio picture books, portfolios or whatever else you can imagine.

Slideshare can be an alternative to Blackboard, when you want your presentations to be available to a wider audience than only your current students or community members, such as conference attendees, colleagues, future/prospective students, etc.

Here are the simple steps to create your own SlideShare show:
  • Upload your PowerPoint presentation file to Slideshare
  • Go to edit slide show > Create Slidecast tab and enter your URL here
  • Synchronize slides and audio using the synchronization tool and click publish
  • Your Slidecast is now ready for public viewing on SlideShare or anywhere else you embed the presentation, such as in a blog, wiki, or other web page.



How could you use Slideshare to enhance student learning? What types of "shows" would you like to share or view?...Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!


September 5, 2007

Ask AL- Wiki Tips

Question 1
How might I use a wiki in an educational setting?

AL's answer for Mac
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=31064

AL's answer for PC
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=31064&format=1

Question 2
How can I set up a pbwiki site?

AL's answer for Mac
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=31071

AL's answer for PC
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=31071&format=1

Do you currently use wikis in the classroom? If so, how? Can you think of any instances where wikis could improve communication and collaboration amongst your students?...Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!


September 4, 2007

TeachU Online Seminar Series for 2007-2008


The Ohio Learning Network (OLN) announces the 2007-2008 online webinar series. OLN’s TeachU webinars are hour-long interactive web seminars on uses of emerging technologies and pedagogies within the contexts of teaching, assessment, and student success. They’re also free! 

To register go to: http://wiki.teachuohio.org/page/Register

Additional Webinars in the 2007-2008 TeachU Series Include:

October 4th @ 2:00 pm:
The Web 2.0 Classroom: What's Available, Where to Begin, and Innovative Integrations
Presented by Garrick Ducat, Mercy College and Terence Armentano, Bowling Green State University

November 8th @ 3:00 pm:
Stretching Into the Future
Presented by Kay Strong, Bowling Green State University

January 17th @ 11:00 am:
Creating a Course and Open Source Portfolio for First Year Students
Presented by Jason Tetzloff, Owens Community College

January 24th @ 2:00 pm:
Mobile Learning
Presented by Sheri Stover, Bryan Beverly, Frank Carone, Terri Klaus and Chris Roberts, Wright State University

February 14th @ 1:00 pm:
Reverse Benefits: How Teaching Online Improves Face to Face Teaching
Presented by Paul Pennington, Dean of Distance Education and Institutional Research, Cincinnati Christian University

March 20th @ 2:00 pm:
Making CENTSS of Web-based Student Services
Presented by Melody Clark, University of Cincinnati and George Steele, The Ohio Learning Network

April 24th @ 11:00 am:
Blogs and Wikis in an Integrated Curriculum
Presented by Lisa Meloncon, University of Cincinnati

May 29th @ 11:00 am:
Creating Hybrid Courses
Presented by Antoinette Perkins, Judith Anderson, Ingrid Emch, and Sharon Barnewell, Columbus State Community College

August 28, 2007

Service-Learning Faculty Focus Discussion Series

These discussion based programs feature faculty talking about their service-learning courses and experiences working with all aspects of service-learning and civic engagement. For more information, visit the Office of Service Learning website.

(NOTE: All presentations take place at the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology @ 201 University Hall)

September:
Thursday, 9/6/07, 1:00 pm-2:00 pm

Experiential, Transformational Learning Trips: Or two old (wise) guys take students on trips to places they might never go to on their own
Gordon Rickets, Director of Arts Village and School of Art,
Bill Thompson, Instructor, Continuing & Extended Education

These two presenters hold extensive knowledge and experience of incorporating experiential learning with undergraduate courses in both the arts and social work fields. [more...]

October:
Wednesday, 10/17/07, 9:45 am-10:45 am

Report on the 2007 National Gathering of Service-Learning: The CSUMB Workshop Experience
Khani Begum, Associate Professor, English Department,
Kate Collins, Instructor, Theatre & Film Department & Chapman Learning Community

Returning from the recent Service-Learning Conference in Monterey Bay, California, these presenters will share their experiences and discuss their developing ideas regarding connecting service-learning with curriculum design and pedagogy development for the engaged college course. [more...]

Friday, 10/26/07, 11:00 am-12:00 pm
Service-Learning for the Introductory Experience: Field Experience in EDHD 201
Sansanee Ohlson, Instructor, Teaching & Learning
Every year, nearly 900 students engage in community based learning as part of their EDHD 201 Introduction to Education Class. This team taught course is designed to not only help students decide whether or not to pursue the teaching profession, but also to help impact a community agency during the discovery process. [more...]


What kinds of service learning activities or experiences do you include in your course(s)? Click on the COMMENTS link below to share your thoughts or ask more questions.


August 22, 2007

Instructional Strategies for Blogging



An article by Ruth Reynard, Associate Professor from Trevecca Nazarene University in Tennessee, discusses the inherent, powerful learning opportunities for students when they reflect on their learning in a written fashion - in particular, through blogging. She states,
(w)hile the notion of "finding individual voice" is not new to the learning process, technology such as blogging has presented a unique opportunity for teachers and students to work intentionally at this process.
She continues, noting that
(s)tudent response statements really cover a wide variety of "types" that reflect the instructional goals of the courses. That is, when developing individual voice throughout a learning process, each stage of that process is often reflected in the students' comments. I have described each of these that I have noticed into the following categories:
  • Reflective statements;
  • Commentary statements;
  • New idea statements; and
  • Application statements.
In a 2005 article Blogs in Higher Ed: Personal Voice as Part of Learning, Reynard expresses the importance of blogging for learning:
(f)inding personal voice as a pedagogical method is important to establish learner identity and focus, and journaling has long been recognized as an effective way to provide space for this to occur.
Furthermore, with regard to assessing student learning,
(t)he idea that more than one person will view the work is quite powerful in promoting a sense of ownership from the student. Teachers can also benefit from "hearing" the personal voice of their students to begin to really understand the learning path of each student through a course.
For more information about the basics of blogging in education, visit this page, organized by Drs. Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson or visit The Center's Blog & Wiki Resource Page.

What has been your experience with blogging for learning? How can blogging be used in your teaching, research/scholarship, service, and engagement? What type of blogging assignments do you create for students?

August 21, 2007

The Center's New Resource Page

Our newly designed Resource page is now available on the Center for Teaching Learning, and Technology's web site. The new appearance was designed to allow the user to navigate various resources more easily. The page contains an organid set of resources located in sections pertaining to The Center, Technology Tools for Learning, The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and Blogs and Wikis in Education. To view the new Resources page, click on the link below.
http://www.bgsu.edu/ctlt/page10679.html



What other resources (Web or print) do you find valuable? Click on the COMMENTS link below to leave your suggestions.

August 17, 2007

Developing a Learning-Centered Course Syllabus

The process of teaching and learning requires detailed preparation. One of these important steps in preparation is developing a course syllabus. There are many methods for syllabus creation and a great resource for such a task is the book The Course Syllabus: A Learning-Centered Approach by Judith Grunert. This manual is intended to assist instructors in planning and constructing a learning-centered course syllabus that incorporates tools and information to aid students' learning.

In the book, Judith notes that "...[A] syllabus can serve a wide variety of functions that support and challenge students as they engage in their educational activities" (p.14). Some of these functions are: Establishing an Early Point of Contact and Connection Between Student and Instructor, Helps Set the Tone for Your Course, Describes Your Beliefs About Educational Purposes, Acquaints Students with the Logistics of the Course, and Provides a Conceptual Framework.

Below is a checklist designed to help an instructor develop a learning-centered course syllabus. This checklist was taken from page 81 in Judith's book.

Grunert, Judith. The Course Syllabus: A Learning-Centered Approach.
Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company, Inc., 1997.

For a more detailed description of the Judith Grunert's book visit:
http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1882982185.html

See these web sites for more syllabus examples:
http://cte.udel.edu/syllabus.htm

http://www.udel.edu/pbl/courses.html


How are Judith's tips helpful to you in developing a syllabus?
What other methods for syllabus development have you used?
Are there any other important functions of a syllabus you would like to share?

August 16, 2007

What's New for this Semester?

Are you trying something new this semester? Perhaps a new active learning strategy or a new assessment? Leave a comment (anonymously or with your name) telling us what new strategies you'll be implementing this fall in your course(s).

Click on the COMMENTS link below to share a strategy