Blog
Textbook Selection
We were recently working with teams of faculty who are redesigning their large courses, and one team mentioned how they had been working very closely with different textbook publishers to determine which one would best serve their needs. I know I said "textbook publishers," but these could be more accurately described as content providers. They all offer electronic materials now, too, from video tutorials and simulations to quizzes and e-texts. One particular publisher was very willing to treat the relationship as a partnership, which is excellent. We need
10 Tips Before You Record
If you've ever recorded a screencast using Camtasia or other software, you know how involved the process can be. To help, CTL has created a brief Video Best Practices page.
Now TechSmith, Camtasia's publisher, has posted a more extensive guide: 10 Tips Before You Record.
Matching Goals and Activities
A recent post from Sam stated:
If you want your students to be creative, you must give them opportunities to create content frequently.
I would take that a slight step further and call it a Law of Learning:
If you want your students to be able to [X], you must give them opportunities to [X] frequently.
Reflection = Professional Development
I believe that being a reflective practitioner is a key to professional development. In a sense, all professional development activities--workshops, conferences, etc.--allow you to take a timeout from your usual schedule and really think about what is going in in your classroom. You reflect upon things which may or may not work in your classroom, measure your practices against others'.
Inspiring Creativity
A simple challenge on Wesley Fryer's Moving at the Speed of Creativity blog. If you want your students to be creative, you must give them opportunities to create content frequently.
I especially liked the example of creativity as a regular part of learning he cites from a book about a ceramics assignment. Needless to say, this can be applied in other disciplines as well.
Moodle Top 10
OK, it's not the production server, but still pretty cool. :)
Scroll down to the Top 10 sites by courses.
Moodle Tool Guide for Teachers
Here's what looks like a very valuable resource, a Moodle Tool Guide for Teachers, created by Joyce Seitzinger. It's a poster size guide that allows you to look at a tool and then see its functionality and educational advantages, including a column on ease of use.
Free Teaching and Learning Conference @ Elon
Elon U. is having its 7th annual conference for faculty and instructional staff who want to engage deeply on issues related to teaching and learning. It's free, and it's only 90 minutes from here. I've been to it once before, and it was great. I highly recommend it. Here is the full invitation:
Tweeting the US Constitution
Here's an educational and fun use of Twitter. 223 years ago, a group of men gathered in Philadelphia to write the US Constitution. From May 25 until September 17 – when the document was finally signed – the National Constitution Center is using Twitter to reenact the events as reported by a "secret delegate."
