(Thanks to Jessi Van Der Volgen for pointing out this video).

• Presentation skills, including better PowerPoint design
• Tips for creating participant-centered training activities
• Distance learning recommendations

Date:  November 7, 2012

Time:  3 – 4 pm ET

Place:  Adobe Connect; web address will be sent to registrants

Register here:  http://nnlm.gov/ntcc/classes/schedule.html#class501

In this class, you will learn about using technology tools for teaching distance learning courses. We will discuss options and best practices for asynchronous and synchronous distance classes, as well as “blended” classes that offer both in-person and online options. Adult learning principles will be reviewed. We will examine and discuss examples of software and website tools in teaching.

The class is taught “asynchronously” using the Moodle course management system, so you can complete the classwork at a time convenient for you. Allow approximately 2 hours per week for independent classwork. There are 4 weeks of assignments, readings, and discussions, with the 5th week saved for a “catch-up” week. Upon completion of the class you will receive 8 MLA CE credits.

The class is free and open to residents of the U.S. Class enrollment is limited, so we do ask that you check your schedule to be sure you have time to complete the class.

To register: http://nnlm.gov/ntcc/classes/schedule.html

Once you close that graphic window you will be on a page with more links for Bloom Taxonomy (print out the Action Verbs chart if you don’t already have one by your work area). This page is available via Worldlanguagestech. You will have an opportunity to join their wiki entitled 21st Century Tools to Teach, Learn, Collaborate and Advocate for Learning.

The second link to look at: Gary’s Social Media Counts:
http://lockerz.com/d/5696915

One of the sessions I attended focused on choosing online activities that support learning objectives. The session talked about integrating the absorb, do, and connect approach; an idea put forth by William Horton, an eLearning guru.

Absorb activities impart facts. A learner may read an article, listen to an audio explanation, or watch a short video, etc. to access and acquire the information. This is sometimes seen as a passive learning activity, but our brain is most likely not in a passive mode as we process the new information and try to make it fit into our existing knowledge framework.

One way to make a seemingly passive learning activity more active is to augment the activity. The University of Arizona Library uses a system called Guide on the Side to augment their library instruction. Watch their tutorial about how to find articles using JSTOR. http://www.library.arizona.edu/applications/quickHelp/tutorial/searching-jstor

The first workshop I attended started with a video produced via Xtranormal.

Xtranormal makes your stories come to life. You select your “animated actors”, type or record your script, add sounds, gestures and voila, you have a short video.

Xtranormal is an online moviemaker program, an easy, full-featured web 2.0 tool. It started as a completely free tool and has now  converted to a pay for points format.  However, previews are still free and may suffice for your purposes. Xtranormal now has a  teacher dashboard to manage classes, students, and assignments, all using a simple and clean web interface.

From their website:

Xtranormal for Education was tested by Noisecast, “The World’s Noisiest Tech Blog”. Xtranormal was quite happy with the results… “We’re about as happy as a kid who just received straight A’s on his report card! You better believe we’ve got this review hanging on the Xtranormal fridge.  The folks over at Noisecast really hit the nail on the head in their assessment of Xtranormal for Education. In the review, they deliver a well-organized and simple overview of the product – what it is in a nutshell; how it works exactly, key features that differentiate the teaching platform from basic, etc. They even created their own Xtranormal video to introduce the review, which reportedly only took about eight minutes to make.”

Try it out.

Building games can be time consuming and difficult, but one possibility is to use an online Game Builder to experiment with using games as a teaching activity.  One example is available at WISC-Online.

In this class, you will learn about using technology tools for teaching distance learning courses. We will discuss options and best practices for asynchronous and synchronous distance classes, as well as “blended” classes that offer both in-person and online options. Adult learning principles will be reviewed. We will examine and discuss examples of software and website tools in teaching.

The class is taught “asynchronously” using the Moodle course management system, so you can complete the classwork at a time convenient for you. Allow approximately 2 hours per week for independent classwork. There are 4 weeks of assignments, readings, and discussions, with the 5th week saved for a “catch-up” week. Upon completion of the class you will receive 8 MLA CE credits.

The class is free and open to residents of the U.S. Class enrollment is limited, so we do ask that you check your schedule to be sure you have time to complete the class.

To register: http://nnlm.gov/ntcc/classes/schedule.html