Archive of ‘hybrid learning’ category
Creating Cartoons to Spark Engagement, Learning
http://www.toondoo.com/
my note:
Avoid using infographics for purposes, which toodoo can serve.
Infographics are for about visualization of stats, not just visualization.
#FindTheRightTool
By Vicki E. Phillips
As instructors, we are constantly looking for new ways to capture our students’ attention and increase their participation in our classes, especially in the online modalities. We spend countless hours crafting weekly announcements for classes and then inevitably receive multiple emails from our students asking the very same questions that we so carefully and completely answered in those very same announcements! The question remains, how do we get them to read our posts?
It was precisely that problem I was trying to solve when I came across several articles touting the benefits of comics in higher education classrooms. I knew I couldn’t create an entire comic book, but I wondered if I could create a content-related cartoon that would not only capture students’ attention and maybe make them laugh, but also interest them enough that they would read the entire announcement or post. In doing so, I would be freed from responding to dozens of emails asking the same questions outlined in the announcements and students could focus on the homework.
A quick Internet search led me to a plethora of free “click and drag” cartoon making software applications to try. I started posting my own cartoons on characters, themes, etc. on the weekly literature we were studying in my upper division American and Contemporary World Literature classes, as well as to offer reminders or a few words of encouragement. Here’s an example of one I posted during week 7 of the semester when students can become discouraged with their assignment load: http://www.toondoo.com/cartoon/10115361
After a positive response, I decided to provide my online students the opportunity to try their hand at cartoon creation. I created a rubric and a set of instructions for an easy to use, free program that I had used, and I opened up the “cartoon challenge” to the students. The results were nothing short of amazing—what intrigued me the most was the time and effort they took with their cartoons. Not only did they create cartoons on the story we were reading, but they also wrote additional posts explaining their ideas for the creation, discussing why they chose a particular scene, and identifying those elements pertinent to the points they were making. These posts tended to receive many more substantial comments from their peers than the traditional discussion board posts, indicating they were being read more.
When students in my face-to-face course heard about the cartoons, they asked to try this approach as well. Their cartoons, shared in class via the overhead projector, led to some of the most engaging and interesting discussions I have ever had in the residential literature classes as students explained how they came up with the elements they chose, and why they picked a certain scene from the reading. The positive student feedback has been instrumental in my continuing to offer this option in both my online and face-to-face classes.
How does one get started in making these cartoons? The good news is you do not have to be an artist to make a cartoon! There are free programs with templates, clip art, and all the elements you would need to click and drag into place all those wonderful ideas you have simmering in your brain. My favorite to use is ToonDoo, available at http://toondoo.com. I like it because there are literally hundreds of elements, a search bar, and it lets me customize what I want to say in the dialog bubbles. It is very user friendly, even for those of us with limited artistic ability.
The whole experience has been overwhelmingly positive for me, and judging from the feedback received, for the students as well. It has also reminded me of one of my teaching goals, which is to incorporate more activities which would fall under assimilating and creating aspects of Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy, 2001). If that is your goal as well, then try inserting a cartoon in those weekly announcements and ask for feedback from your students—I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!
References:
Armstrong, Patricia (n.d.) Bloom’s Taxonomy, Vanderbilt University, Center for Teaching. Retrieved from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/#2001
Pappas, Christopher (2014) The 5 Best Free Cartoon Making Programs for Teachers. Retrieved from: https://elearningindustry.com/the-5-best-free-cartoon-making-tools-for-teachers
Vicki E. Phillips is an assistant professor of English and Literature at Rasmussen College, Ocala, Fla.
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cartoons for historians and history teaching / learning:
http://www.historycomics.net/
http://www.readingwithpictures.org/
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2016/10/10-ideas-for-using-comics-in-your.html
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more on effective presentations in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=presentations
more on create infographics in this IMS blog:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2014/04/09/infographics-how-to-create-them/
http://www.hotlunchtray.com/much-online-content-blended-learning/
In 2007 The Sloan Consortium ( presently the Online Learning Consortium) asserted that when 30-79% of class content is available online that is a blended learning class.
!["content](https://i1.wp.com/www.hotlunchtray.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Screenshot-2016-02-26-06.41.14.png)
entire report here: http://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/blending-in.pdf
Choice within Online Content
Another often referenced definer of Blended Learning is The Christensen Institute. Student control of Time, Place, and Path are important in this definition.
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more on blended learning in this IMS blog:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=blended+learning
more on online learning in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=online
Save
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/180073685080753333/sent/?sender=122441821027571715&invite_code=fb43268866cc952ca75f134d842b8a82
![blended learning](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/0f/a5/be/0fa5be54c90884cf1256b14eeea05be1.jpg)
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more on blended learning in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=blended+learning
http://elearninginfographics.com/10-blended-learning-trends-infographic/
![trends in blended learning](http://elearninginfographics.com/wp-content/uploads/10-Blended-Learning-Trends-Infographic-1000x3353.jpg)
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more on blended learning in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=blended+learning
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The Secret to Digital Innovation in the Liberal Arts
Small liberal arts colleges looking to innovate with technology in education are finding strength in numbers.
By David Raths 12/12/16
https://campustechnology.com/Articles/2016/12/12/The-Secret-to-Digital-Innovation-in-the-Liberal-Arts.aspx
During a Dec. 8 Future Trends Forum video chat hosted by futurist Bryan Alexander, several liberal arts technology leaders spoke about their efforts to define their colleges’ approach to digital innovation.
As an example of a more promising liberal arts partnership, Eshleman pointed to LACOL, the Liberal Arts Consortium for Online Learning. LACOL’s nine member institutions comprise Amherst, Bryn Mawr, Carleton, Haverford, Pomona, Swarthmore, Vassar, Washington and Lee and Williams. LACOL is an effort to create an experimental framework that supports project work across the nine campuses. There are interesting experiments happening on each campus, and LACOL provides opportunities to use a digital network to take those to a new level, said Elizabeth Evans, LACOL’s director, who joined Eshleman on the Future Trends Forum virtual stage to describe the consortium’s setup.
This involves a multi-campus team of faculty and instructional designers, all organized around a central project, which has its ups and downs, she added.
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She is starting to work with Davidson’s Center for Interdisciplinary Studies and an entrepreneurship initiative to foster projects that are “bottom-up from students, faculty and staff who want to experiment with models of innovation.”
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She said she has learned to keep the focus off of technology initially. She asks faculty members to think about what have they wanted to do around student learning and why. “It is about that first, and technology second,” she stressed, adding that she has moved away from quantitative evaluation of projects and more toward storytelling.
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more on digital innovation in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=digital+innovation
Report: Flipped and Mobile Helping to Drive Growing Momentum in E-Learning Content and Courses
By Leila Meyer 11/28/16
https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/11/28/report-flipped-and-mobile-helping-to-drive-growing-momentum-in-elearning-content-and-courses.aspx
According to the report, one of the main reasons for the growth in generic e-learning content and courses is the adoption of teaching and learning methods such as the flipped classroom, blended learning and virtual classrooms
The report identifies the proliferation of mobile devices on campus as the third factor helping to drive adoption of these courses. “The availability of gadgets such as e-book readers, tablets, and laptops, coupled with better and uninterrupted Internet connectivity, has led to a greater penetration of digital classrooms and e-learning products,”
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more on elearning in this IMS blog:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=elearning
What Does Recent Pedagogical Research Tell Us About eLearning Good Practice?
Many instructors indicate that they want their elearning teaching approaches to be evidence-based. Indeed, there are rich and varied sources of research being conducted on elearning good practices available in scholarly journals and government reports. However, few of us have time to keep up with these publications. In this session Christina Petersen will do some of that work for you. She summarize findings from recent government and university reports which review over 1,000 online learning studies. Additionally, she will summarize the findings from newly published articles from pedagogical journals with important information about good practices in online education. These practices address evidence-based methods for promoting student engagement in online courses, good practices for video production, and other topics related to online teaching. We will discuss the importance of all of these findings for your teaching.
Christina Petersen is an Education Program Specialist in the Center for Educational Innovation at the University of Minnesota where she partners with faculty and departments to help create and redesign courses and curriculum to promote maximal student learning. She facilitates a monthly Pedagogical Innovations Journal Club at the CEI. She has a PhD in Pharmacology and her teaching experience includes undergraduate courses in Pharmacology, and graduate courses in Higher Education pedagogy. Her teaching interests include integrating active learning into science courses, teaching in active learning classrooms, and evidence-based teaching practice. She is co-author of a soon-to-be-released book from Stylus, “A Guide to Teaching in Active Learning Classrooms”
View the eLearning Summit presentation
WebEx link for the webinar
Date: Thursday, December 1, 2016
Time: 2:00 p.m., Central Daylight Time (Chicago, GMT-05:00)
Session number: 805 333 130
Session Password: MNLC@2016
Teleconference information
To receive a call back, provide your phone number when you join the training session. Alternatively, you can call one of the following numbers and enter the access code:
Call-in toll-free number: 888-742-5095
(US) Call-in number: 619-377-3319
(US) Conference Code: 297 345 8873
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more on elearning in this IMS blog:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=elearning
Technology Use Among Teachers Strong and Growing
By David Nagel 11/17/16
https://thejournal.com/articles/2016/11/17/technology-use-among-teachers-strong-and-growing.aspx
The study, conducted by adaptive learning provider Front Row Education, found that 75 percent of teachers use technology with students on a daily basis and that a bit more than half have a 1-to-1 ratio of devices to students in their classrooms (up 10 points from last year’s survey). That increase in student devices is helping to drive an increase in the use of technology, with about 60 percent of teachers surveyed saying they expect to increase the use of technology in the 2016–2017 school year.
60 percent of teachers have access to Chromebooks, up 15 percent from last year; 64 percent have access to iPads, down 5 percent from last year. iPads tend to be the tool of choice in lower grades (75 percent in K–2), while Chromebooks dominate the middle school years (66 percent). Interestingly,
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more on technology use among teachers in this IMS blog:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=technology+teachers
Eleven effective ways to use Twitter in education
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2014/12/11-effective-ways-to-use-twitter-in.html
- Hold after class discussions
- Create an online community of students
- Ask questions relevant to course materials
- Start backchannel talks
- Create a classroom hashtag
- Use it for class announcements
- Get feedback from students
- Share interesting online materials
- Pass on information about events
- Have a Twitter account for each class
- Reward participation
- Integrate Twitter into Syllabus
![Eleven effective ways to use Twitter in education](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aMX8V2TARQs/VIFKnu8KspI/AAAAAAAArMQ/zVjKjKv2RMs/s1600/1.png)
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more for the use of Twitter for education in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=twitter
Discussion on the EDUCAUSE Blended and Online Learning Group’s listserv
Question:
develop anonymous mid-course student evaluations allowing students to reflect on course and progress and informing instructor about what is working or not in the course.
Answers:
– what is working well for you in the course?
– what is not working well for you in the course?
krajewsk@AUGSBURG.EDU
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- What is helping you learn?
- What is hindering your learning?
- What suggestions do you have to make the course better for you, your peers, or the instructor?
Katie Linder Research Director Extended Campus, Oregon State University 4943 The Valley Library Corvallis, Oregon 97331 Phone 541-737-4629 | Fax 541-737-2734 Email: kathryn.linder@oregonstate.edu
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At the University of Illinois, we have been using Informal Early Feedback as a way to gauge information from our students to help improve the courses before the end. Here are a couple of links to our site. The first is the main page on what IEF is and the second is the question bank we offer to faculty. This is a starting point for them, then we meet with those who want to work on tweaking them for their specific needs.
* About IEF: https://citl.illinois.edu/citl-101/measurement-evaluation/teaching-evaluation/ief
* Question Bank: https://citl.illinois.edu/citl-101/measurement-evaluation/teaching-evaluation/ief/ief-question-bank
If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to ask.
Sol Roberts-Lieb Associate Director, Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning Pedagogy Strategy Team and Industry Liaison UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
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more on student evaluations in this IMS blog:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=student+evaluation