Tag: eLearning workshops

Social Media in Teaching and Learning

So today, I ran a workshop on the Power of Social Media in Teaching and Learning.  As we discussed in the session, there are many things to keep in mind when considering using social media in education (privacy being only one of these many things), and at some point I will write a post outlining some of these considerations.  But, at the end of the session I shared a document listing a number of really useful social media tools, as well as ideas of how they can be used in educational settings, and links to specific examples.  And after I thought I should share them here as well so others can take a peek and think about how these tools might support their students.

If you would like an electronic copy of this handout, or if you would like to know more about using social media tools in your teaching, come and talk to us!

Social Media Workshop, September 21 2016 – Examples to Think About and Links to Check Out

Networking Tools

Example activities

Image sharing

  • Flickr – http://www.flickr.com/ (used for storing and organizing images and sharing them out, with search functions) – CAN LIMIT SHARING
  • Instagram – http://instagram.com/ (a photo sharing app for smart phones built for social networking and sharing images) – MOBILE (limited)

Example activities

Video sharing

  • YouTube (for storing, organizing and sharing out videos) – http://www.youtube.com/ – CAN SHARE TO LIMITED PEOPLE
  • Vimeo – https://vimeo.com/ – for storing, organizing and sharing out videos – NO ADS, FREE LEVEL IS LIMITED
  • Slideshare – http://www.slideshare.net/ – for creating voiceover PPT presentations and sharing them (note, no privacy options unless purchased)
  • Vine – https://vine.co/- create and share looping videos – smart phone app allows you to create a video up to 6 seconds long with the in-app camera – MOBILE

Example activities

  • Showing activities on a field trip
  • Student projects (showing steps of an activity, lab experiments, etc.)
  • Interviews, case studies, practicum activities (privacy could be a concern – waivers, etc.)

Organizing and sharing information – Curation: collecting and sorting content, and in this case, digital assets (digital curation)

Example activities

Blogs (for pushing out content, usually posting content on a regular basis, and allowing for interaction by way of liking and commenting) (wordpress, blogger, tumblr)

Example uses of Twitter

  • Announcements and reminders
  • Quick links to interesting resources, searching for experts in the field and industry-related feeds
  • A way for students to network with industry and industry professionals
  • How about a twitter story, for example in ESL
  • In the classroom – a way of keeping tabs on ongoing questions during a lecture or video
  • 60 Inspiring Examples of Twitter in the Classroom: http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2011/12/60-inspiring-examples-of-twitter-in-the-classroom/

Use of blogs in education

Collaborative tools

  • Wikis (for example, Wikipedia) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
  • Etherpad – http://etherpad.org/ – a synchronous wiki-like tool used for notetaking and archiving – can be used by multiple people at the same time, so is a collaborative tool – I’ve seen it used it in meetings where everyone can take notes at once to make sure everything gets recorded.
  • Google Docs – https://docs.google.com/

Example activities

General examples

Synchronous communication

  • Skype (a synchronous communication tool) – http://www.skype.com/en/ – LIMITED VIDEO
  • Google+ hangouts – you can broadcast video “hangouts” where people can get together and discuss issues live, or bring in guest speakers – https://plus.google.com/hangouts

General Resources

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) “Slam”

You are Invited to eLearning’s Inaugural “UDL Slam”!

Do you often ask yourself questions like: “Does anyone else at Camosun encounter this same barrier or challenge for students in their classes?” and “What are my fellow instructors trying out in their classes to address these barriers that might work for me too?” Or maybe you have come up with a solution to a barrier and would love to have 5 minutes or less to share your idea with colleagues.  Yes?  This event could be for you!

In the spirit of bringing members of our teaching & learning community together to share creative ideas to address barriers and challenges to student learning, we are excited to invite you to participate in Camosun’s first ever UDL Slam!

Need a little background on what UDL or Slams are before you decide?

UDL

At its core, UDL (Universal Design for Learning) is about proactively designing “barrier free” learning opportunities for students. UDL recognizes that we cannot design learning experiences for a singular type of student. UDL is therefore based on three key principles for providing a diverse community of students with Multiple Means of:

  1. REPRESENTATION.
    This is the “what” of learning and learners differ in how they perceive & comprehend information given to them.
  2. ACTION & EXPRESSION.
    This is the “how” of learning and learners differ in how they navigate a learning environment & express what they know.
  3. ENGAGEMENT.
    This is the “why” of learning and learners differ markedly in the ways in which they can be engaged or motivated to learn.

Slams

“Slams” have long been popular, competitive events in poetry circles where participants recite original works no longer than three minutes long. The idea has been adopted by tech giant, Google, which regularly hosts Demo Slams at its education workshops to encourage members of the public to present short and user-friendly tutorials about the innovative uses they have come up with for a technology. These ideas might be obvious to you but can be amazing and inspiring to others.

Whether or not they are competitive events, in any Slam event participants are required to present a concept to an audience within a tight and enforced timeframe before giving the floor to the next participant in line.

Format for UDL Slam 2016

Are you intrigued? Excited to share your ideas and hear creative solutions from around the College? Here’s what you need to know to participate.

There is no need to prepare formal presentations for a Slam – this is about rapid-fire sharing of ideas and hearing from as many participants in the space of one hour as possible.  There are lots of faculty around Camosun who are using UDL in their teaching practices and our key goal for this event is to collect as many exciting ideas as we can about UDL principles-in-action.

You will have a maximum of 5 minutes to share your UDL Slam story. Your story needs to include:

  1. Your name & the course/s you are talking about;
  2. The barrier to learning you identified in the course (and who it affected);
  3. The solution you designed to address the barrier;
  4. Your assessment of this solution (if you have already implemented and tried it out: Any lessons you learned? Adjustments you’d make?).

Bare-bones format for a UDL Slam story:

“My name is ### and I teach ###. I have decided to do ### project in my course in lieu of a final exam because I found the barriers to success were ####. I hope that the results will be ###.”

Slam! (On to the next participant)

We will not be taking questions in between each Slam story, but will hold 15 minutes at the end of the event for discussion.( Participants can also follow-up with each other as needed, and eLearning will include details about UDL stories in subsequent blog posts.)

For more information about how to participate, visit to our website at http://web.camosun.ca/cetl/content/universal-design-learning-udl-slam.

eLearning Fall Workshops Open for Registration

Don’t forget to register now for eLearning Fall 2016 Workshops. 

The eLearning Workshop Series is designed to assist faculty (beginner to advanced) with incorporating educational technologies into their teaching, as well as with blended and online course/program planning and development.  Make sure to register for the session(s) you would like to attend so that we can notify you if there is a room change or cancellation.

This fall we have an exciting array of new workshops covering everything from D2L, WordPress, multimedia design and integration, and social media, which will include considerations around issues of accessibility, copyright, and inclusion of library resources in your D2L courses.

Visit our website at http://web.camosun.ca/cetl/elearning-workshops to find out more!

eLearning Winter 2016 Workshops Start This Week!!

Don’t miss out!   eLearning D2L Workshops for Winter 2016 start this week.

Here’s what is on the roster this month:

Getting Started with Desire2Learn (D2L)

Designed for new instructors and/or beginners to our learning management system, Desire2Learn (D2L), this workshop will provide participants with an overview of the essential teaching tools available in D2L, and how courses are set up and supported through eLearning Development and Support Services at Camosun College.  Whether you are looking to supplement your face-to-face classes, transition from using a basic course website, or simply want to learn more about how to enhance your current teaching methodologies with using D2L, this session has a little something for everyone. Come explore the possibilities!

Setting Up and Managing Your Gradebook in D2L

This hands-on workshop will focus on setting up your D2L Gradebook from start to finish. Please bring your course outline (or a breakdown of your assessment items) to the workshop if you wish to build your own Gradebook.

Managing your D2L Course

This workshop will provide an overview of how to administer your D2L courses by managing and customizing navigation bars and homepages, copying course component from one course site into another, and using other admin tools in D2L.  In addition, participants will learn how courses are set up and supported through eLearning Development and Support Services at Camosun College.

Using the Content Tool in D2L

Gain hands-on practice on using the Content tool in D2L.  In addition to being given an overview of the content tool, participants will also learn to organize and manage their course files (in the Manage Files area) and how to add modules and topics.

Creating Quizzes in D2L

Learn how to master the Quiz tool in D2L! This workshop will explore ways to create, customize and grade quizzes. We’ll also tackle creating randomized Quizzes and how to effectively set up your questions in the Question Library.

Managing Assignments Using the Dropbox

The Dropbox tool enables students to submit assignments online while streamlining the grading process for instructors. This workshop provides hands-on practice creating, managing and grading assignments using the assignment in-line viewer.

Register from the eLearning website at http://web.camosun.ca/cetl/content/elearning-winter-2016-workshops