The Tech Corner

Sunday, March 1, 2009

So You Want to Teach Online

What steps should you take to change face-2-face
course content to online content?

First you will need to know what course management system (CMS) your school system is using. Is your school system using Moodle, Blackboard or WebCT? Take time to learn the features of the CMS, the interactive components, the gradebook and decide what features would work best for your course content. If there are features missing that you would like to use, then look for free Web 2.0 tools such as Flickr, Google Blogger, Webpaint, VoiceThread or other free online tools.

The modules of the CMS form the navigational structure of the course so make sure to know the layout of the CMS your school system will be using. Now begin to organize your course content into the modules. To make this easy use a concept mapping tool such as Inspiration, Microsoft Word or just map out the course with pencil and paper. Make sure each module of the online course focuses on the goals and objectives of the curriculum. There are three areas the course should be organized around – course materials, discussions and assignments/activities. Make sure to include completion times for each course task to help students plan time to complete all work.

Let’s look at each area:
Course Materials. Course materials can be web sites, video clips, PowerPoint presentations, podcasts, online articles or lecture notes. Remember to find ways to differentiate the instruction to meet the needs of all students.

Discussions. A discussion board is one of the primary tools for connecting with the students to see how well they understand key concepts of the course. Make sure discussion questions require students to engage in higher-order thinking. Also, think of ways to use the discussion board to motivate the class and remember that teachable moments will occur in the discussion board. Use a detailed scoring rubric for the discussion board so students know the expectations required for postings.

Assignments/Activities. Think about listing all assignments, due dates and scoring rubrics in a downloadable document to help students stay organized and to make sure they understand expectations. Make sure students know the file formats accepted for posting assignments. Instructors should not have to spend a lot of time trying to open student assignments from various software applications. Think about using a Frequently Asked Questions forum where students can ask questions about the course and assignments.

Once the content modules are created and organized, decide how many modules to make available to students at a time. Post modules weekly to prevent students from jumping ahead while allowing students time to post missed assignments from the past weeks. It’s also helpful to make sure students have a complete understanding of the past modules before working on future modules.

Whether posting complete courses or supplemental materials online for a face-2-face course, instructors will need to know the technology skills of the students. Instructors can prepare a student information sheet listing the necessary technology skills for the students. Make sure to outline all course expectations for the students letting them know that online courses usually need more time than face-2-face courses. Even though online courses are accessible 24 hours a day, students need to know they should expect responses to assignments and other postings within a time period set by the instructor.

If your school system offers online courses and/or online supplemental materials it would be helpful for students to complete an orientation to familiarize them with the online course software and the navigational structure of online courses. As students work through the online materials always look for ways to improve the course, making note of what worked well and what changes are needed. At the end of the online course provide students with a course evaluation to help decide if the online course met the objectives for the course.

Once an instructor decides to remake a face-2-face course to an online course there are many helpful resources. Here are just a few resources.

The Technology Source: Creating Online Courses http://technologysource.org/article/creating_online_courses/
Moodle Community: http://moodle.org/
E-Learn Magazine: The Reluntant Professor http://www.elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=case_studies&article=41-1
Blackboard Tips: 10 Easy Steps to Creating Your Online Course http://med.uth.tmc.edu/administration/edu_programs/ep/blackboard/text/10ezSteps.pdf
Leading & Learning with Technology: Turning Face-to-Face Content inot Meaningful Online Courses http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/200902/

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

To Moodle or Not to Moodle?

Since I am learning about Moodle and building a Moodle site for our school district I thought I would explore Moodle sites this week. Moodle was developed as free open-source e-learning software that helps people create online courses for students and adults. So how are other people using Moodle outside of public school or college education?

Here is a short list of some of the interesting sites I found in the United States at: http://moodle.org/sites

Learn to Speak the French Language Online for Free: http://learnfrench.elanguageschool.net/ This site listed 10 languages that people could learn for free online. So how’s your Dutch?
Adoption Education Classes: http://www.adoptioneducationclasses.com/classroom/ This site was created for those interested in adoption.
After Hours Electrical CEUs: http://course.electceu.com/ This site requires payment but think of the advantages to earning a certification and a better paying job while still working.
Adult Caregiver Training: http://caregivermanagerceus.com/moodle/login/index.php This site is for people who care for others.
Free Online Games: http://ahshornets.moodle.com/ Hadn’t thought about hosting online games through the Moodle software.
Pharmacy Training: http://pharmacylessons.com/ Pharmacy technical training and continuing education.
Aircraft Technical Computerized Service Professionals: http://www.atcspro.com/index.html This is a new site that opened January 2009 for Boeing aircraft training.

And last but not least I couldn't resist including this site:

After School Hackers: https://www.ashprogram.com/ – OK, I know what you’re thinking and so did I at first, but this is actually a site for school-aged children to learn computer programming. This site is for a specific school district so I wasn’t able to log in as a guest but what a great idea – fun learning for students after school.

There are over 10,000 registered Moodle sites just in the United States so this is just a small sampling of the various ways that people are using Moodle. Realize that most of these sites require a person to log in which means creating a Moodle account. Just because you may already have a Moodle account for a course or school district doesn’t mean you can automatically log into another site. But you can continue to use the same username, email address and password for each Moodle account you create.

We should all be lifelong learners and the Internet along with Moodle is creating many online learning opportunities for people.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Low Tech Meets High Tech

Stop motion animation is a process where someone creates an armatured, poseable puppet that is brought to life in a movie by slowly moving the puppet in small increments and filming one frame of film per increment. Sound’s hard doesn’t it and a little boring.

But there are several excellent films that have been created by using armatured, poseable puppets. Two films were produced by Tim Burton, Nightmare Before Christmas in 1993 and Corpse Bride in 2005. Recently Coraline was released as a new 3-D stop motion animation movie based on a Neil Gaiman novella.

So why use stop motion animation? It takes years to produce a movie, lots of building miniature sets, and lots of puppet parts. For Jack Skellington’s face there were at least 25 different heads each with a different facial expression. The small scene sets have to be created in detail and filmed from every angle. Some of you may wonder why people would work for several years just to produce one movie. People like Tim Burton do this type of work because they have a passion for animation and ways to bring animation to life. Every child has had a doll, animal or toy that they brought to life in their mind everyday when they played. Disney has brought many animated characters to life in movies for children and adults to enjoy.

Today the low tech aspect of creating poseable puppets or spending hours drawing animated characters has blended with high tech computer graphics and digital medias to produce visually entertaining 3-D movies like Coraline and Shrek.

So what does all this mean for students today? In North Carolina there are two good film schools for students. The University of North Carolina at Wilmington has a film studies program that prepares students for careers in film production. This program is the third largest film production center in the United States, which is also a part of EUE/Screen Gems Studios, the largest film studio outside of Hollywood. The University of North Carolina School of the Arts also has a School of Filmmaking which prepares students for careers in traditional film production and digital medias.

For students in Forsyth County, Reynolds High School will be offering a new “Arts for Academics” program this fall that will teach animation. The three courses are:

Animation – to introduce students to the many types and techniques of animation
Introduction to Art / Foundations (Art One) – to provide an overview and emphasis on the elements and principles of art and design.
Electronic Media – to show students how the computer may be used as an art making tool through programs such as Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash.

Any student can learn about stop motion animation through websites like

Clay Animator that teaches about clay animation and stop motion animation. Students can learn about the art and science of creating, animating, and editing clay and stop motion animation projects. The website also demonstrates the stop motion animation techniques by using interactive tutorials, lessons, pictures and videos and the site offers a list of suggested animation software. Check it out the dancing figure at http://www.clayanimator.com/english/character_motion.html.

Images found at Clay Animator: http://www.clayanimator.com

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Black History Month

February is Black History Month and many teachers incorporate lessons and activities about Black History Month into their curriculums. So I thought this week I would provide a list of sites for teachers, students and parents. Some sites may be familiar and some sites may be new to you so enjoy browsing through this list of twenty sites.

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