Uri's Brain

Uri's Jing Creation

2011-03-12T12:38:00.001-08:00

I post this jing as an introduction to my teaching.

Uri

Pseudo Information?

2011-02-01T08:08:00.000-08:00

We are all concerned with finding authoritative information, information we can use. Tomorrow, Groundhog Day, presents an opportunity to reflect on authoritative information versus pseudo information. If Puxatony Phil sees his shadow, this will be very important to many people. However, it is pseudo information because it will not really affect the length of winter. Winter will go on and on and on ... at least in Chicago! That is just science at work.

A brief history of my blogging experience

2011-01-28T08:06:00.001-08:00

I have been blogging on and off (mostly off) with the Blogger tools for about four years (http://urifrommissouri.blogspot.com/. I had read some library-related blogs and then my library at the time (Schaumburg) initiated a hands-on tutorial “12-things we learned about technology,” much like we are doing now (thanks Jim and Julie). During the Schaumburg library program I developed a blog and blogged pretty regularly on marketing in libraries. I took a hiatus for a while (not uncommon among bloggers) and then was reenergized when I started taking online classes through the Illinois Online Network and a couple of my classes (like Technology Tools) required blog posting. This class has introduced me to blogs. I find that I am fairly competent at basic blog posting and recognize that blogs can have an important role in institutional branding, so long as they have a good purpose and are maintained regularly.

Finding Already Created Content

2010-10-13T03:41:00.000-07:00

The Internet is a global library and there are many opportunities to use already created content in an online class. Of course, the key is to make it relevant to your class. Everyone really seemed to like th video below, which talks about some of the differences between scholarly and popular articles, an important concept in information literacy.

http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/peabody/tutorials/scholarlyfree/

I have used the website above as a way of introducing the concept of scholarly and popular magazines. I have students watch the video below and then post three differences between scholarly and popular articles. The students do this in a discussion forum so they can see each others' work. I also respond to every post so there is feedback from me. Some instructors question whether it is true learning if the students can simply copy from one of their classmates. I feel that mimicry is a form of learning and feel that students are inhaling good ideas, especially when they can see my comments.

Synchronous Communication -- Communicating in Real Time

2010-10-13T03:13:00.000-07:00

Getting people together for an online class can be a bit difficult. Afterall, many students (including yours truly) sign up for online classes because of the flexibility it affords in terms of when we learn. However, synchronous communication has an important place in the online world because it helps create different and collaborative learning situations.

We did a number of synchronous activities in this class, including Elluminate and Second Life. The Elluminate session was the most dynamic online conferencing I had. I think this is due to the number of participants (6) and Susan did a good job of engaging us. Still, I found it pretty hard to concentrate over time. I think 30 minutes might be a good target for time. In terms of classroom dynamics, it was nice to hear voices of people who I have corresponded with, so perhaps Elluminate will work best if given after the class has developed for awhile. Technological glitches can be problematic, such as when Susan's audio cut out from time to time.

Asynchronous Communications -- Audacity and Twitter

2010-10-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

One of the great strengths of online learning is that students can learn when they want, allowing them to reflect and share back without the real time pressure of communicating when everyone else is physically there. Asynchronous Communications with tools like Audacity and Twitter allow instructors and students to correspond in a meaningful way.
Audio exchanges through tools like Audacity are a great way to bring your voice into the online classroom. Explaining concepts or simply extending a welcome are two ways of applying this technology to your classroom. Here is a link to audacity .

Twitter encourages short communication exchanges, a short hand way of blogging, in a way.

Creating Content -- Jing

2010-10-10T04:10:00.000-07:00

Videos, especially those that are self-made, are a great way to personalize the learning process and show students how to do things or remind them of something you want them to be able to review at their own pace. I found Jing to be pretty easy, although I was helped by having a colleague who could help me over some of the rough spots.

Here is a Jing video I created to go over an extra-credit assignment.

For My Elective -- Flickr

2010-10-09T12:47:00.001-07:00

I think Flickr, the photo sharing site, is a great tool to teach about web 2.0 . It is so practical. Students will immediately grasp how it might help them organize and find photographs. I have been using it for mostly personal photos, but also professional photos.

I'd love to get some ideas on how to incorporate Flickr in the online classroom.

Take a look at my current Flickr site.

23 Things Online Instructors Should Know

2010-10-09T12:42:00.000-07:00

1. You don't need to be a tech guru to implement good ideas. Helene Blowers, who popularized a technolgy training program in libraries, has a BS in organizational communications.

2. Make learning fun and practical. Introducing sites like Flickr. com will help as students can hopefully immediately grasp how technology can help them.

3. Synchcronous tools like Skype can be used for office hours and group chat.

4. Asynchrounous tools like wikis are strong collaborative tools.

5. Don't be intimidated by the learning curve. The learning curve is not a learning curse.

6. Online tools are also effective for f2f and blended classes.

7. Online tools are just that -- tools -- they can not make up for lack of content.

8. Instructional design is key to online effectiveness and f2f teaching success.

9. Younger students will probably already be using a lot of these tools in their everyday lives.

10. Help your students feel comfortable with technology, but don't let their fears stop you from trying these tools.

11. In online discussion groups, let students take the lead.

12. Online teaching is collaborative by nature. You as the instructor will be a facilitator much of the time.

13. Find other instructors you trust who can help you.

14. Help other instructors get to your level. Nothing succeeds like success.

15. Videos like youtube can be strong teaching tools. Use prompts to increase collaboration.

16. Audios can be used to explain assignments or processes that students might want to review at any time.

17. Wikis are good for student collaborative work and also a nice way for instructors to build assignments with their colleagues.

18. Blogs are very intuitive ways of creating content and can easily be used as a touchpoint for class activities.

19. Instant Polling is a quick way to check in with students and find out how they are doing.

20. Online teaching and learning allows for far greater reflection that most f2f classes.

21. Blended classes might be the best solution where instructors feel they need to maintain a personalized approach. Classes like cooking might benefit from online and f2f components.

22. Online is not a fad in education. It offers great opportunities and challenges.

23. You will need to adapt any f2f class for successful online teaching. There are different instructional design techniques for each environment.

Diigo, Delicious, and Google docs -- Social Networking

2010-10-05T18:44:00.000-07:00

Since online learning is largely a collaborative process, it made sense that we spent a lot of time on these during the class.

We experimented with Diigo and all the students posted at least three recommendations. Take a look at our class Diigo site.

I have used delicious.com for a long time and I really like the portability that it allows you. Take a look at all the links I have at my finger tips whereever I go.

In terms of project creation, I really liked Google docs. Google Docs seems like a strong application for people who want the flexibility of accessing their data files from anywhere, much like del.icio.us gives people access to their web links from anywhere. It is also a powerful tool for sharing documents, forgoing the need to email attachments in this virus-filled age.