NMSU's ITAL and Take the Plunge

It's been a hectic but fun several weeks of workshops with some really cool NMSU Faculty and Staff. We want those of you who attended to know that we will continue to work hard providing more workshops to help you with the technology that you want to add to your courses. Keep emailing us and letting us know what you'd like to see more of.

Here's the link to some of the materials we recently used:

Take the Plunge Resources

:)
~julz

Lots O' Blogs

Forbes.com Blogs Directory

Code for eSchool News Online

reminder to self to go to edit posts, edit html to view the code that does this.

Online Course Extreme Makeover aka Pimp My Course :)

Recommendations for an Extreme Makeover
Click here to download the doc file

First

• Review the EM Checklist provided
• Listen to the NCQ Extreme Makeover Podcast - http://www.ncqtalk.com/?p=14
• Revise the checklist if you feel anything is missing based on the podcast
  

Second

• Use the EM Checklist to review your course and conduct an Extreme Makeover

Third

• Continue Formative Assessment of Your Courses
• Allow your students to use the checklist to review courses
• Do Fun Online Course Makeover Activities

Note: The use of the word extreme here is for a fun basic course review and makeover. See the Quality Matters Rubric and Checklist for a more thorough review.

EM Checklist Contents
Initial Impressions (structure, organization, appeal)

• Is it neat and uncluttered?
• Is the text on the page inviting?
• Can I tell at a glance where I should go and in what order?
• Is there a Welcome page?

Syllabus

• Is the syllabus easy to access? Is there an option to download? Is all of the information for accessing syllabus immediate?
• Does it have the basics?
• Overview/Intro
• What is course worth to me? What can I expect from this course?
• What is expected of me? What can I expect from instructor?
• What are the activities, when do they take place, when are they due, and what are they worth?
• Is the syllabus appropriate for online delivery? Does it have f2f info if applicable?
• Does the syllabus have information regarding changes in procedures, scheduling, syllabus, etc? How will students be informed and how will students inform instructor that they received change info?

Schedule (may be combined with Syllabus)

• Is it very clear what is being assigned and when?
• Are due dates for every assignment clear?
• Is it clear how assignments are to be turned in?
• Are naming conventions discussed? Subject lines, doc names, etc.
• Are there procedures for alternate procedures for turning in assignments in case of tech difficulties?
• Are f2f and/or online meetings clearly designated? When, where, how, expectations, etc…

Materials Formatting

• Are course materials in proper formats? Html, pdf, jpeg, gif, mp3…
• If materials download, is there warning or instructions if needed?

Activities

• Are there individual activities?
• Are there group activities?
• Are there discussion activities?
• Are there community-building activities?
• Are activities relevant to student experience?

Specific Comments:
• If planning team assignments, build in twice as much time as in f2f
• Plan for grouping, don’t recommend self-selection grouping


Fun Online Course Makeover Activities
Join an Online Community
Learning Times Network
http://learningtimes.org

Start a Peer Review Group
Use the Quality Matters Site, Rubric, and Checklist for support
Site - http://qualitymatters.org/
Tools - http://www.qualitymatters.org/documents.htm#tools

Listen to Informative Podcasts
NCQ Talk – The Intersection of Technology and Learning
http://ncqtalk.com/

Check out helpful sites
Florida Gulf Coast University: Principles of Online Design
http://www.fgcu.edu/onlinedesign/designDev.html

Macewan Criteria for Evaluating the Quality of Online Courses
http://www.imd.macewan.ca/imd/content.php?contentid=36

E-Class: Creating a Guide to Online Course Development for Distance Learning Faculty
http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/winter34/gerson34.html

WebCT Exemplary Course Project
http://www.webct.com/exemplary

Pedagogy 101 for Distance Learning
http://telelearning.dcccd.edu/profdevsem0405/pedagogy101/

MIT Open Courseware
http://ocw.mit.edu/

The National Academies Press
http://www.nap.edu/

Xanedu
www.xanedu.com

Check out new tools
Skype
http://skype.com

Writely
http://www.writely.com/

CMAP
http://cmap.ihmc.us/

Vyew
http://www.vyew.com/content/

GoToMeeting
http://www.gomeetnow.com/

Wikis

• Article w/ more links - http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/apr03/mattison.shtml
• Wikipedia definition - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki
• VERY cool SLOAN-C Wiki - http://www.sloan-c-wiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

Blogs

• Wikipedia info - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog
• Educational Blogging Support - http://supportblogging.wikispaces.com/

Podcasts
Wikipedia info - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasts

I need another blog...

...like I need a new pair of shoes! :) So this blog is dedicated to my NMSU friends & students. Anything I need to share with my NMSU amigos shall go here for now.
:)
~julz