CTC Ed Tech 2-19-13 Student Readiness

I have two items for you this week:

Student Readiness for Online Learning

I came across a great set of resources for assessing student readiness for online classes.  Here are a few instruments that students can use to assess whether an online class is right for them: 

Online Learning Readiness Questionnaire  from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Online Readiness Self-Assessment from California State University Stanislaus

Skills for Effective Online Learning from Portland State University

Time Usage Survey from Ohio Higher Ed

Self Assessment of Online Learning Readiness  from Loyola University.

The topics addressed in these instruments include time management, self discipline and motivation, tech skills, and tech equipment. Maybe we can borrow from these to develop our own instrument?  

I will teach a workshop this Friday:

Rubrics in Blackboard - Feb. 22, 11:30 - 12:30 pm, UC 133

Rubrics make expectations for assignments transparent to students and simplify grading for instructors.  Learn to build and use interactive rubrics in Blackboard to assess student work.   We will also discuss building a rubric collection that can be shared.

I am fascinated that there is a workshop on rubrics this week at the Chugiak Eagle River Campus today.  Rubrics must be in the air.

CTC Ed Tech 2-12-13 Horizon Report

The eTech Fair is this Friday, February 15.  

Created by the UAA eLearning workgroup, the annual eTech fair promotes technology tools and concepts for teaching. Sessions will be held throughout the day via eLive web conferencing. One randomly chosen participant will win an iPad (sponsored by the FTC)! A wide variety of topics will be covered, including Blackboard, mobile learning, ePortfolios, virtual worlds, Google apps and more. Mark your calendars and check the website for updates .  Feel free to attend any session. 

The Horizon Report is out

This is "a decade-long research project designed to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have an impact on learning, teaching, and creative inquiry in higher education. Six emerging technologies are identified across three adoption horizons over the next one to five years, as well as key trends and challenges expected to continue over the same period, giving campus leaders and practitioners a valuable guide for strategic technology planning."  From the New Media Center Website.  

We are in a time of rapid change.  The Horizon Report makes educated predictions each year about new technologies for education.  I would love to talk about the report and its implications.

CTC Ed Tech 2-5-13 Student Engagement

Student engagement in online classes is an ongoing topic of discussion among faculty I know who teach online.  Here's an article from the Chronicle of Higher Education on how to increase student engagement in asynchronous classes.  There are other techniques for synchronous classes.  For instance, in eLive, I always start with some sort of icebreaker/checking so I can hear the students' voices, get to know them, and verify that their microphones are working.   I also use the polling tools regularly to see if students are with me.  

What do you do?  I have created a survey to collect your suggestions.  I will share the survey results with the CTC faculty and adjunct faculty list serves in a couple weeks.

All faculty and adjunct faculty are welcome  to this Friday's workshop:

Designing your course for distance - Feb. 8, 12:30 – 2:00 pm, UC 130N

Intentional course design improves student learning and makes course management easier.  It is also essential for distance courses.  We will use the course design checklist from the Faculty Technology Center as a starting point for course design.  We will also discuss the backward design model for course development. 

If you are interested in attending via eLive, let me know and I'll see if I can set up an eLive session in UC 130N.

Please come to the eTech Fair by the eLearning Workgroup on Friday Feb. 15.   

Sessions will be held throughout the day via eLive web conferencing. One randomly chosen participant will win an iPad (sponsored by the FTC)! Topics include Blackboard, mobile learning, ePortfolios, virtual worlds, Google apps and more. Mark your calendars and check the website for updates.  

I will be doing three workshops at the eTech Fair - Rubrics in Blackboard, Sneak Peak at Collaborate, and Teaching Mixed Mode: Focus Group Results.  Those that remember my workshop schedule here will note that I will also teach the rubrics and Collaborate sessions here.

CTC Ed Tech 1-29-13 Workshops

Beyond Anchorage Workforce Development Grant

UAA Community and Technical College

Spring 2013 Workshops

All CTC faculty & adjunct faculty are welcome!

Designing your course for distance - Feb. 8, 12:30 – 2:00 pm, UC 130N

Intentional course design improves student learning and makes course management easier.  It is also essential for distance courses.  We will use the course design checklist from the Faculty Technology Center as a starting point for course design.  We will also discuss the backward design model for course development. 

Rubrics in Blackboard - Feb. 22, 11:30 - 12:30 pm, UC 133

Rubrics make expectations for assignments transparent to students and simplify grading for instructors.  Learn to build and use interactive rubrics in Blackboard to assess student work.   We will also discuss building a rubric collection that can be shared.

Sneak preview of Collaborate - March 1, 1:00 - 2:00 pm, UC 133

eLive will be going away in Fall 2013.  Take a trial run of the likely replacement.  Also find out how to archive and save any eLive recordings you want to keep.

Blackboard sharing  - March 22, 1:00 - 2:00 pm, room UC 130N

Share your neat use of Blackboard for student learning or course management. Find out how your colleagues are using Blackboard to improve student learning and manage their workload.  Join the conversation about how CTC faculty are using Blackboard to improve student learning. 

For further info:  Lee Henrikson - lee@uaa.alaska.edu - 786-4903

CTC Ed Tech 1/22/13 Digital Detours

When you are teaching a distance class if Blackboard or eLive go down, you have to take a "digital detour" to get around the outage and meet your learning objectives. 

The eLearning Workgroup put together a list of suggestions to be ready in case you have to take a digital detour.  Here is their first step -  make sure you can communicate with your students if Blackboard and/or email is down:

Collect external contact information from students at the beginning of the semester. 

1. Create local spreadsheet or email contact group to save your students’ contact info.
2. Create a content folder or menu item in Blackboard (e.g. Start Here or Precourse Activity) that might include:
   1. An activity for students to update their UAOnline contact information (phone/email primarily) so you will be able to utilize the Email Class feature in the Faculty section of UAOnline.
   2. Create a Blackboard quiz or form (e.g. Google Docs) to collect student alternative email/cell phone.
   3. Create student groups that have each others’ contact info (or a phone tree).

If you want more information on preparing for digital detours, check here.

I will be sending regular emails to CTC faculty on educational technology topics.  Let me know if there is something you'd like me to write about.