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The teaching and learning 2.0 class has been so much fun. It will be interesting to watch what this group is able to do with these tools. As part of the class I created a quick podcast as a demo. Listen to the podcast

On June 9, BJ sent us an email that is a "must read." I saved it in a file located on the right column. (Click on file storage to see it.) I am not slick enough to create a link to it! The article made some great suggestions on how to encourage particpation  in online discussion forums. In my humble opinion the discussions boards are the key to creating a successful online learning community. They are the glue that holds the class together. The topics need to be relevant and they need to carry a descent amount of weight to compel participation.

Last year when we taught summer school using the Colorado Online model we utilized the rubric from the math class. We can use that rubric as, at the very least, a starting point.

I will tell you that it is not easy to sell students on the purpose of discussion boards. Some students try to get away with the minimal amount of thought. I think it is incredibly important to model what a "great" response looks like and to tell them to not even bother with the "atta boy" comments unless they contain substance as well. Despite what you may be told by others or have experienced with your own online classes, I think it is vital for there to be a teacher presence in the discussion board. Once students get the hang of it this is not so important. But for the first few posts we need to be there to make sure we keep the students focused and on track. It will eventually become easier for them, but it is very difficult for students to adapt.

I think I speak for our groups of teacher when I say the last two days has been crazy! There is a lot of pressure being put on us but I think all of us work well with that added stress. We will all be fine if we keep this in perspective. Once we get what we want to do lined up everything else will fall into place. The way that Julie is having us plan our curriculum makes a lot of sense. It seems overwhelming, but in the long run I think it will save us lots of time. Having the assessment written ahead of time gives us a target to aim for.

We all need to remember that we cannot try to do everything all at once. This is a learning process. It will be much easier to add the bells and whistles once we see how they will fit into what we are doing.

If you are overwhelmed by the Web 2.0 tools don't worry. It will come with time. Sometime when you have a spare 10 minutes (yeah right----) take a look at the latest version of this  PowerPoint on Web 2.0 tools. It is really powerful stuff.

 

During one of my evening searches for interesting web content, I was looking for content that could be used in the Moodle courses that will be developed. One site that sparked my interest is "Open Learn", which is a segment of "The Open University." One thing that they do is create individual learning modules rather than a complete course. This may be something we want to explore as we move forward with this project. If we were able to create high quality learning modules specifically targeting identified power standards, we could then share these with other teachers in the region/state. It would be exciting to follow the Open Learn model, and create a repository of the best learning modules focused on Nebraska standards.

This community is intended to be a homebase for those of us working on the VALTS/Virtual project, but we welcome any teacher who is interested in developing online content.

It has been said many times over the last few months that this project is somewhat challenging because we have no model to follow. We are all taking bits and pieces of what we know based on our experience and we are synthesizing something completely new.

It is my hope that we use this blog to discuss our success and failures. When I have a problem I will post it in here so other members can comment and hopefully help me figure out what to do. We will work through the summer to develop curriculum for the fall and chances are we are going to have some of the same questions. This blog will allow us to collaborate when we are working at odd hours.

 

The embedded video below has information that should give the world of education some things to consider. Are we using available technology to teach 21st century skills? Are we using available technology to engage students? Are we using available technology to make global connections?