TLP Blog

Virtually everyone has heard of YouTube by now and millions of viewers who go there daily attest to that fact. And although there are oodles of quality video there, finding the good stuff becomes a bit of a task. I have listed below a few alternates to YouTube that educators and students might find more valuable. If you give one a try and form an opinion, please let us know by leaving a comment.

Snag Films
What is great about this site:
All of the movies on Snag Films can be embedded into a blog or into a learning management system.
Dozens of NOVA and National geographic films are there and for free.
It is committed to providing the world‘s most compelling documentaries.

Teacher Tube
What is great about this site:
It is an educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners.
TeacherTube community members are a major part of the evolution of the site.
The service is free for everyone.

School Tube
What is great about this site:
SchoolTube provides students and educators a safe and FREE media sharing website.
It contains only moderated and teacher approved videos.

DotSub
What is great about this site:
It is a browser based tool enabling subtitling of videos on the web into and from any language.
Anyone has the ability to translate video content into multiple languages via subtitles rendered over the bottom of the video.
There is nothing to buy and nothing to download.

Woopid Video Tutorials
What is great about this site:
It has thousands of FREE video tutorials for PCs, Macs, and tons of different applications.
You can have tutorials created for you by Woopid.
You can create bundles, which are collections or groups of related videos.

If you’d like a starting point for searching for free technology solutions for teachers and students, a good place to start is with Richard Byrne’s Free Technology for Teachers at freetech4teachers.com.

During this presentation, Bill Maligie, a recipient of one of CSU, Chico’s 2009 Exemplary Online Instruction awards, details practical ways to apply the Rubric for Online Instruction to create better organization in Vista classes. Throughout the presentation Bill shows how he reorganized his file system, created learning modules, and recorded Camtasia videos to create an online environment that has won rave reviews from his students.

Watch the presentation here. At the login window use the Participant Login and please enter your name. No password is required.

Watch the Camtasia video created by Bill Maligie for his Vista class.

This presentation was previously given by Bill Maligie at the 2009 CELT Conference.
List of all Exemplary Online Instruction winners

When: Thursday, November 5, 2009 6pm Second Life Time
Where: Second Life at ISTE Island Events
Event support is coming from ISTE, Metanomics and the University of Michigan.

The federal government of the United States of America has assembled an 18 person team to update and revise the National Education Technology Plan. Their report deadline is November 11, 2009. There will be a community meeting in Second Life for educational technology stakeholders to provide input into the planning process. Currently, we expect that a representative of the national team will be present as an observer at the SL event.

The event coordinator is Perplexity Peccable (RL: Patricia F. Anderson, patriciafanderson@gmail.com). Perplexity is the University of Michigan Emerging Technologies Librarian for the Health Sciences, and the community manager for Wolverine Island in SL. Contact Perplexity for more information or to volunteer support or services for this event.

Information on prior versions of the plan is available here:
National Educational Technology Plan: http ://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/plan/index.html

Information on the current planning process is available here:
National Educational Technology Plan: https ://edtechfuture.org/

The team is seeking input from the public. You can join the conversation on their website here.
Opportunities for Input: https ://edtechfuture.org/?page_id=888

“If you had five minutes to talk with President Obama about educational technology, what would you say?”

The key topic discussion points are these.

* Learning: Providing unprecedented access to high-quality learning experiences.
* Assessment: Measuring what really matters and providing the information that enables continuous improvement at all levels of the education system.
* Teaching: New ways to support those who support learning.
* Productivity: Redesigning systems and processes to free up education system resources to support learning.

4 Sims allocated for this meeting, all at the ISTE site:

1. http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/92/83/30

2. http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island%202/128/128/2

3. http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island%203/2/190/30

4. http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island%204/208/215/25

If any CSU Chico faculty or staff would like to attend this virtual conference, please contact Ann Steckel in the Technology & Learning Program at X6780.

Learn how Rovane Younger of the CSU, Chico Construction Management Department has used Blackboard Vista to assess student learning.

This presentation was given on Wednesday, October 28
Presenter: Rovane Younger
In this TILT session, Rovane Younger details the process his department has gone through to assess student learning using Blackboard Vista. His presentation includes examples of test questions, testing scenarios, setting changes and recommendations, as well as what his department hopes to accomplish in the future.

View the Archive of the Presentation

Wednesday, October 14 POSTPONED – DATE TBA
2:00 – 3:00 pm
Presenter: Dr. Janja Lalich, CSU, Chico Sociology Professor

In this TILT session, Janja Lalich will show participants a survey she has created in Vista to obtain feedback about text selections, course curriculum, and class procedures. This session will include examples of survey questions, the basics of survey setup, as well as interpreting the results.

Three Ways To Attend:
Live – Come to MLIB 31 and participate in the audience
Online – Log in via the Guest Access Link
After The Fact – View the Archive

Podcasting is a route many professors are taking to provide supplementary lecture material for students, however to many, this process is still a bit fuzzy. The article, Podcasting Your Lectures 101: Recording, is a good place to begin reading about the basics of recording lectures or other content to further engage students with content.

For those teaching at CSU, Chico, the university provides every instructor with the Wimba Podcaster which is built into Blackboard Vista. This product is fairly simple to use for both faculty and students and requires little equipment to create content. If you would like to learn more about the Wimba Podcaster go to the TLP website or contact Ann Steckel in TLP at X6780 for a consultation.

Want More?
Go to the article, Podcasting Your Lectures 101: Recording

The TLP Website, The Wimba Podcaster Tool

From Inside Higher Ed:

“The question of whether distance education is as effective as classroom education is hotly debated in academe and largely unanswered by existing studies. However, new research from South Texas College suggests that hybrid courses — those that are offered online but also involve substantial face time — can produce better outcomes than those that are delivered exclusively on the Web or in the classroom. ”
Read more: Sustainable Hybrids – Inside Higher Ed http://bit.ly/JSW9Z

This presentation was held on Wednesday, September 23.
Presenter: Dr. Kim Jaxon, from CSU, Chico’s Department of English
In this TILT session, Kim Jaxon presents classroom practices she uses with her students in order to make their group work productive. This session includes video of students working together as they establish norms, negotiate work, and discuss ideas.

After The Fact – View the Archive
Go to the Participant Login and please enter your name. No password is required.

“While there are still some educators who dispute the importance of technology in the classroom, there is no dispute over the fact that technology is here to stay in schools. Whether you are one of those tech-savvy teachers who can’t get enough of technology news and ideas or you are a teacher just learning to embrace technology in the classroom, these blogs offer a wealth of information straight from teachers and other professionals in the education field themselves.”

This blog lists some excellent resources ranging from Technology in Education to Special Education and Assistive Technology. This resource can be found at: Online Courses.org

Registration for the 2009 CELT conference is now open. The event which runs from Wednesday, October 7 and until Friday, October 9, includes sessions by CSU faculty and staff. For more information and to register, please go to: http://rce.csuchico.edu/celt/.