LearningTimes Green Room

In this unusual episode, Dan interviews Susan about a recent online synchronous training seminar she conducted. He asks her to walk him through her planning process, the decisions she made, the activities during the seminar, and what she hoped to achieve.

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Show Notes:

The recent online synchronous training seminar that Susan conducted was presented to a group of doctoral students at Western Illinois University who are examining the idea of integrating technology into the K12 setting. There was also a corollary group in China, and those students were awake in the middle of the night to participate! What Susan knew of the group was that most were principals or superintendents.

Susan’s topic focused on adding digital audio and possibly multimedia to today’s classroom.

Susan started to focus on case studies, but later organized the program according to specific tools. She asked to learners to clarify which tools would be of most interest.

The activities she planned in order to keep learners engaged included polling and demonstration. She knew exactly where she would ask for input. Because the participants had been using this presentation tool earlier in the day, she did not have to train them on what buttons to push.

A question Susan had not anticipated was about funding sources. All the tools she uses are either free or very low cost, but she and Dan discussed the possibility of referring people to publications that list grants, such as eSchool News, or seeking private funding through local businesses and partnerships.

Susan ran out of time because she had too much content! Showing the examples took more time than she anticipated. She also would have been a little more culturally sensitive in the images that she showed if she had known that there was going to be an international audience. She uses the example of Laurel and Hardy and how she needed to put them in a context in case the learners did not know who these figures were.

By the way, Susan talked about her use of:

• Podcasting and audio
• Site Pal (or talking avatars)
• Digital Storytelling
• Voicethreads
• “Tubes” and video
• Skype

She referenced her links in del.icio.us and you too can follow her links
at: http://del.icio.us/smanning/WIU-program.

Listeners, go interview a colleague at the next time he or she presents a seminar and find out what they were thinking! Be surprised what you learned.

You can respond using the “Comments” link below or talk to us in LearningTimes. Or call us at 1-800-609-9006 x8055 (US and Canada) or 678-255-2174 x8055 (outside US and Canada). Join us!

In this episode, Dan and Susan share their holiday wish lists. They might have some surprises under the tree!



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Show Notes:

Dan and Susan share their holiday wish lists. They might have some surprises under the tree!

Dan wishes for something that would help unmotivated learners get motivated real quickly. Likewise Susan wishes that students were adequately advised before they signed up for online courses.

Susan wishes for an easy solution to helping learners manage their expectations. When you read the course catalog, does the description fit the course? What expectations due learners bring to the virtual classroom, and how can instructors clarify what is expected of learners?

Susan needs (wants) a new laptop. A ruby red one, please.

Susan would like an open-source web-conferencing tool that combines graphics, whiteboard, interactivity and audio.

Dan would like a replacement for multiple-choice quizzes. What he really wants is a tool that creates multiple-choice quizzes that foster critical thinking. Check out http://www.willatworklearning.com/.

Susan is really dreaming when she asks for an answer to the security question related to assessment. How I know that the person in my online class is really who she says she is?

For the K-12 teachers and of the world, Susan wishes for fewer filters so that they can access some of the cool collaborative tools that are available online.

Dan wants a tool to tell him which tools he needs to learn.

Susan needs a digital cleaning service that will clear her hard drive of old files that are probably now clutter more than resources.

Dan needs a service to tag all his digital photos.

Dan wants a simple solution for audio e-mail. Susan wants free transcription for podcasts.

Dan and Susan leave their listeners with well wishes for happy holidays and would like to hear what’s on their lists.

You can respond using the “Comments” link below or talk to us in LearningTimes. Or call us at 1-800-609-9006 x8055 (US and Canada) or 678-255-2174 x8055 (outside US and Canada). Join us!