eLearningpod.com

Love how this blogger uses references to the “Dead Parrot” skit to make his points:

http://moreorlessbunk.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/i-know-a-dead-parrot-when-i-see-one-and-im-looking-at-one-right-now/

Particularly fond of “only resting”.

Remembering the “Online Teacher Certificate Program”  (http://ecourse.sl.on.ca/OT/ot1.htm). We were so ahead of our time! This article talks about the SLOAN-C Conference and some of today’s faculty development models for preparing faculty to teach online:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/22/online-learning-conference-preparing-faculty-online-education-dominates-agenda

I think our model was excellent. It was entirely online and faculty devoted a lot of time to completing the program. The spin off of the “Online Teacher Program” were two similar programs where faculty were off-loaded and we worked as a cohort in a blended learning environment. The best part was that the program was sustainable in that the skills and experiences, which faculty developed as a part of the program, are still being used today. We had fun, too!

A refresher for elearning development. Good ideas to keep in mind:

http://elearningbrothers.com/5-ways-to-handle-boring-elearning-content-like-a-pro/

how true ..

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2013/11/bullying-is-theft.html

Great example of  how storytelling can work in compliance training:

http://christytucker.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/selling-storytelling-in-learning/

Good resource for anyone already using, or thinking about using, GoogleApps in the classroom:

http://pages.backupify.com/rs/backupify/images/Matering_GoogleApps.pdf

via Twitter @JaneBozarth Thanks!

on moocs –

Article questions whether mooc’s are really having much of an impact or “disruption”. “It doesn’t help that several institutions have excluded faculty and other affected stakeholders from conversations and strategic planning in the first place.” How true! Some other interesting points and things to think about in the following article:

http://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2013/10/28/moocs-as-non-disruptors-so-where-do-we-go-from-here/

Second week of World Wide Ed – Online Instruction for Open Educators course. Work takes up all my free time right now so I can’t keep up with all the info, discussions, etc. I do try to take a quick look at some of the materials each week. A couple of things that resonated with me so far:

1. Quote by Terry Anderson on teaching online:

“First and primarily, an excellent e-teacher is an excellent teacher. Excellent teachers like dealing with learners; they have sufficient knowledge of their subject domain; they can convey enthusiasm both for the subject and for their task as a learning motivator; they are equipped with a pedagogical (or andragogical) understanding of the learning process, and have a set of learning activities at their disposal by which to orchestrate, motivate, and assess effective learning.” Anderson, T. (2008). Teaching in an online learning context.. In T. Anderson (Ed.), The theory and practice of online learning (pp. 343-365). Athabasca, AB: AU Press.

2. On costs ..

One of the largest complaints from academics is that university administration expenses are growing even faster than those associated directly with teaching and research. University hierarchies continue to grow with more deans, chairs, vice  presidents,  and a  most  of other  roles  (usually accompanied with support staff).  This spending  on administrative growth has outpaced the growth in expenditures for teaching since the 1930s (Bergmann, 1991). Unlike in other economic sectors, few universities have chosen (or as yet been forced by economic exigency) to flatten their organizations, merge, share services or otherwise drastically reduce administrative overhead.

Source: Anderson, T., & McGreal, R. (2012). Disruptive Pedagogies and Technologies in Universities. Education, Technology and Society, 15(4), 380-389. Retrieved from http://www.ifets.info/journals/15_4/32.pdf

3. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/890/182

4. I tuned in on Saturday for a class with Terry Anderson. I was back and forth about whether to attend … it was Saturday, I was super busy, no credit, etc. But it was Terry Anderson and I was interested in hearing him speak on the subject. Unfortunately he missed the session. Funny story — http://terrya.edublogs.org/2013/10/27/my-participation-in-online-instruction-for-open-educators-mooc/ Not sure what it means for future of Mooc’s, but certainly something to ponder.