Moving forward on the EdD in EDTECH

Great news--we've received permission to move forward with planning of our online EdD program in EDTECH! Our goal is to launch the program by fall 2010. I'm hesitant to announce it here, as we begin to get a lot of interested students wanting to know if they can take courses NOW that will apply THEN. Although I'd love to say yes, in reality, we can't count our chickens before they are hatched.

There are many levels of approval before a doctoral program launches. The program has to be reviewed within a university, and once that's done, it goes out for external review before being submitted to the State Board of Education for approval! The process can get bogged down or suspended at any point along the line, so from a student's perspective, it's not wise to take coursework now anticipating something that may not be there when they need it.

Now, having all the disclaimers out of the way, let me say I'm VERY excited to begin re-visioning our program. I say re-vision, because we actually outlined a doctoral program two years ago. A lot has changed in two years--we are a larger department, with more faculty, more courses, and a little more experience and understanding about where we want to head as a program. We've been encouraged to align our work to the Carnegie Foundation's Initiative on the Doctorate. Excellent! I'm looking forward to working with our team of faculty and staff to reflect on notions of excellence in doctoral education, especially as they apply to a program that likes to focus on emergent technologies for teaching and learning.

I'm baaaack....with EDTECH Island!

Well, it's been 2 years, and I rediscovered my blog! Wow, a lot can happen in two years. No doubt, the most interesting thing I've been doing is building EDTECH Island in Second Life. What started as an experiment to run an online graduate course in Educational Games & Simulations has turned into a virtual world community with over 1,000 members, guest speaker events, and hosting numerous courses on the island. Ooops, I didn't even mention the great residents who've taken up living in our condos! Seriously, if you have yet to venture into virtual worlds, check out http://secondlife.com. And for those of you who have participated in our work there, thanks for everything you've done to contribute to who we are!

video blogging or vblog

OK, check it out!  A video blog entry
using Sightspeed.

video conferencing & programmatic needs

As some of you know, I've been fascinated with pedagogical uses of video conferencing technology for the last year. This year, as I begin serving our department as the Chair, I'm starting to understand that there are uses for video conferencing technology at the programmatic level, as well.

At the beginning of the semester, we piloted a "New Student Orientation" in Breeze for our online graduate students. The purpose was two-fold. First, we wanted to introduce our new graduate students to using Breeze, an initial training in how the tool operates and functions. Second, it was a chance to provide program information and resources. Finally, it was a chance for students to see our faces, hear our voices, understand we are real people behind those screens, and ask questions.

Later this semester, we will try a live "open house." This is a chance for instructors and students to visit "classrooms," see work in progress, meet upcoming instructors in future classes.

training online teachers

It's been awhile since I've posted, but wow, was the ride worth it! I just completed a four week online training with about 30 9th grade virtual teachers based around the country. Their talents and knowledge is extraordinary, and the pioneer spirit is still strong.

Everytime I teach, I learn something new or something old all over again. Key memories from this experience include:

No one knows everything. Even the most expert and experienced teacher in one area can be missing information in another area. The key is learning to learn from each other's strengths.

Even expert teachers can feel like novices when placed in new teaching and learning environments. I've experienced this phenomenon myself each time I've switched teaching environments such as a live class, a class in a computer lab, a hybrid course, or a fully online course. The key is to remember that expert teachers understand good pedagogy, and these principles apply in ALL environments. We just have to learn the tools of the trade and the context in order to apply those principles.

Online teaching isn't a cure all. Many of these teachers reported working with at-risk or special needs kids. And the need for additional assistance can actually be created by the online environment itself, thus resulting in the need for assistive technologies, and training in the use of assistive technologies.

It was a great experience to be part of their learning process. I'm imagining myself supervising online students teachers in the near future....via video conferencing, of course.

video chat library for online teachers

I'm so proud of the graduate students with whom I have the privilege to work. This semester, they first learned to use Breeze video conferencing software. Then, working in pairs, they designed and created video tutorials to help other online teachers. I hope you'll check out the work of Paul, Julie, Dallas, Bou, Pam, Caryn, Blaine & Kate.
Kelly also did a great tutorial on using Kidspiration with ESL Learners.
Thanks guys!

SimSchool

I am so pleased to see the release of SimSchool, a role play simulation that allows teachers, or preservice teachers, to practice their classroom management and teaching skills. Using a 3D role play environment, similar to the ever popular Sims series, this tool is a boon to teacher education programs! The program takes into account different learner profiles, attitudes, and learning styles. Imagine standing in front of the class, trying to teach, when you are confronted with students who are bored, falling asleep, or have learning difficulties...what do you do? Registration is currently free. Take a tour.

simple videoblogging

OK vbloggers...Conn McQuinn introduced me to Sightspeed, a free, cross-platform tool for video conferencing. Now you can record your videos, up to 60 seconds, and post them to your blog. Check out Conn's video.

using add-ins and mash-ups

If you are involved in presenting any kind of information on the web (websites, blogs, etc), then you want to know about add-ins* and mash-ups. Add-ins and mash-ups allow us to integrate live feeds from other sites into our own.

For example, here's a live map showing all the ski conditions around Tahoe. I was able to create the feed for this map at Skibonk.com

Try clicking on any of the links or information in the map--you'll immediately see the power of add-ins.

Some other examples:

• Integrate a daily news feed to display on your site
• Insert a live map into your website
• Insert a live poll into your blog

What we are doing in reality in using a javascript script tag to call that dynamic feed into our own site. Not familiar with javascripting? No problem! Use the converter at http://www.rss-to-javascript.com/ to create the code for you! Then all you have to do is paste that code into your website or blog. What could be easier?

keeping current in online teaching

A lot of teachers ask me how I stay current and up-to-date in online teaching: best practices, standards, new technologies, the list goes on. Well, in addition to attending conferences, reading books and journals, I use these free internet resources:

• First, I subscribe to the daily news at Distance-educator.com. This quick email gives me highlights of the latest news in distance learning.
• Second, I subscribe to the Pew Internet Reports. These research reports are fascinating and give trends on usage of internet technologies. If you want to know what's hip, what's happening and current, subscribe!
• Third, I'm a blogger. I like to read a variety of blogs in educational technology, and use Google Reader as my RSS aggregator. Don't know about RSS aggregators? Basically, Google Reader allows me to subscribe to multiple blogs and all the daily entries show up in my browser--saves me time having to click around from blog to blog. Also, check out Google's Blog search tool to find blogs of interest to you.
• Fourth, I created the Center for Online Educators as a home for all the information I collect! I'm so happy to be able to share those resources in a centralized location for other online teachers.