Cheri+Spiegel

Here are some brief thoughts on the sessions I attended:


 * **Sessions / Presentation** ||  **Overall Thoughts**  ||
 * Literature Reading Groups ||  This idea would be most useful for developmental English and ESL (or perhaps foreign languages). It uses basic chat and discussion software to help students in a classroom collaborate with other students in the classroom and in classrooms away from the area. Allows deeper critical thinking as a result of new voices being added to the discussion. Students choose books and self-pace, to a large degree.  ||
 * Getting Non-techie Folks on Board ||  The key element here is communication and relationship building. The presenter discussed his approach to getting those who were not comfortable with technology on board. He emphasized putting learning before technology, fostering relationships (to hear needs), showcasing good work and letting faculty drive the needs/adoptions.  ||
 * Learning Styles in Second Life ||  This presentation emphasized the ways in which Second Life could be used to meet multiple learning styles. The presentation was primarily a review of features possible in Second Life, however.  ||
 * Blue Pencil ||  This presentation showed a software package in development. It’s design is simple, but it’s aim is important: to streamline the process of both peer and instructor feedback. Takes the comment features in Word to another level. Allows the faculty member to collect data on students based upon areas marked for revision. Not widely available currently.  ||
 * Waypoint Outcomes ||  An interactive rubric software that allows faculty to share rubrics, provide customized feedback to students via rubric and collect data on student outcomes. Developed to respond to the connection between retention on promptness and thoroughness of faculty feedback.  ||
 * Streamlining the Course Review Process for Quality Assurance ||  This presentation explained a database driven approach to organizing and managing the course review process, particularly for online courses. It allows self-reflections and peer review to be housed in one place. Based in Microsoft Access.  ||
 * Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in Our Schools ||  Innovation is the key to creating an Education Nation. It’s a “must-do” not a “nice to know”. The key to education innovation is tying school life to real life. 6 Leading Edges of K-12 Innovation:
 * 1)  Thinking (What are we about?)
 * 2)  Curriculum/Assessment (What is taught and how)
 * 3)  Technology
 * 4)  Time / Place (24/7 learning)
 * 5)  Co-teaching (stronger support)
 * 6)  Youth (the generation itself)  ||
 * Moodle + Universal Design ||  Student writing skills in a diverse business program were weak; the faculty member developed WriteRight e-tutorials and assessments to help strength student writing ability. (Parallels Virginia Tech’s Grammar Gym project from the early 2000s, but was more discipline focused. Gives information in a variety of ways to meet each learning style (focusing on visual, auditory, read/write, kinesthetic). Also gives students options for presenting the material they have learned. Saw improvement in first group studied. Project to be expanded and compared to other research in Rhet/Comp.  ||
 * Learning How to Assess Learning Porfolios ||  Uses a Word Press for eportfolio system for program wide review--they call it bPortfolio for blogging portfolio. The system allows for reflection, tagging of learning on common objectives across classes and peer, self, instructor and program assessment.

__[]__

Posting Rubric: __[]__ ||
 * Teaching with Merlot ||  We all have tons to say on MERLOT now, I’m sure, but just a few nuggets on the ways MERLOT can work in the classroom:
 * 1)  You can send students to MERLOT to do any activity or create their own collection of learning materials
 * 2)  You can bring the resource into class for an interactive lesson
 * 3)  You can use SERC sheets for assistance in preparing lessons (just in time teaching from the pedagogic collection)  ||
 * Concept Mapping ||  Helps assess student understanding at the beginning of the term; can help track learning over the semester; helps present complex material in a visual way.

__[]__ ||
 * Using Social Media (Facebook and Twitter, specifically) ||  Uses of class Facebook Page:
 * 1)  Post lesson plans/notes
 * 2)  Set up events (study groups?)
 * 3)  Post finished products
 * 4)  Celebrate student work
 * 5)  Share announcements
 * 6)  Share tips, advice, video lessons
 * 7)  Connect with other students

Use Twitter for role-playing activities (post like Abe Lincoln, for example)

What we know about students:
 * 1)  They want to feel connected
 * 2)  They need frequent communication
 * 3)  They don’t use email
 * 4)  They use Facebook and Text--a lot.
 * 5)  They don’t have desktops
 * 6)  They are mobile
 * 7)  They forget to go to LMS

Create a Fan page--students don’t have to friend you to participate; create a “teacher” persona online if you don’t want students seeing your personal profile picture; let students opt in--not required.

Use it often and offer both Facebook and Twitter options. Be open--don’t lock everything down

Resources:
 * 1)  Michael Rush’s “A Vision of Students Today”
 * 2)   [|__http://umsocialmedia.wikispaces.com__]
 * 3)  UT Dallas Twitter Experiment (on Youtube).  ||