Faculty developing a new course or modifying an old one might want to have a look at the Phoebe project. The aim of the project  is to guide practitioners working in higher education in designing effective and pedagogically sound learning activities. The project, based at Oxford University, has developed a prototype online planning tool known as the Phoebe Pedagogic Planner that offers users both flexible and guided paths through the planning process and encourages them to explore new approaches and tools in their pedagogy. The design guidance is provided via a wiki-like tool that offers content and explanations that help structure the course development experience. 

The folks at Michigan State University’s Virtual University Design and Technology group (vuDAT) have developed a nice guided walk-through for online course developers. The collection of tools and tips is built around  the course design process, laid out like a subway map, with important stops highlighted along the way.

Knowledge Works Foundation www.kwfdn.org and the Institute for the Future  www.iftf.org, have created a “conversation catalyst” called the Map of Future Forces Affecting Education years 2006 to 2016. The map is divided into the drivers of change and the basic forces (family, community, markets, institutions, etc.) along with the trends, hotspots and dilemma that they see for the future of education. For example, one named driver of change is the “Urban Wilderness” and the challenge is “how will people’s needs and strategies adapt in extreme cities” and how will the future “reshape urban schools”? You can download a printable copy at their web site, www.kwfdn.org/map. Map of Future Forces Affecting Education

Brendan Barrett of the UN University reports that the Parlimentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has gone on record supporting open educational resources and open source tools like Moodle. Here’s more from Brendan:

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has just endorsed a recommendation to promote e-learning. This recommendation draws on the discussions that took place at preparatory e-conference on 1 October 2007, in which the UNU Media Studio participated via video conference (see blog post – http://www.mediastudio.unu.edu/en/2007/10/16/unu-recommendations-to-the-council-of-europe-2/).

The really good news is that the recommendation contains specific reference to the importance of promoting open source software and open educational resources, as proposed by the United Nations University. Here is the direct quotation:

“E-learning can be a powerful means of creating open educational resources accessible to everybody thus counteracting a divided knowledge society. In this regard, the Assembly calls on member parliaments to support the so-called “open source” movement in software development and initiatives for open educational resources – freely accessible on the Internet, and to adopt measures to combat the digital divide in order to close the gap between those who have access to ICT and the acquisition of ICT skills and those who do not, thus ensuring digital literacy for all.”

They later go on to make specific reference to the adoption of open source LMSs such as Moodle.

This is a truly important development for Europe (and for the entire world I hope!). Full recommendation attached. See the following conference website for papers and presentations 

- http://assembly.coe.int/Main.asp?link=/Conferences/conferences_e.htm

This is a document that contains a table of best practices, tools and uses for building critical thinking skills while teaching online. It is based on a document called: Designing Online Instruction that Develops Critical and Creative Thinking Skills, Paula Jones, ABD, MaryAnn Kolloff, Ed D Fred Kolloff, Ph D; With additions and suggestions from: Office for Teaching and Learning, WSU

Best Practices Compilation

I recently worked with an instructor from the Languages Department to add recorded voice messages and instructions to a Blackboard course. We used a tool called Audacity, open source software for recording and editing. It was easy to use, has an intuitive interface, and met all the needs of her course. It’s free and works on both a PC and a Mac. You can download it at http://sourceforge.net/

Adding voice to your course can make it more engaging, assist in accessibility, and provide a natural and compatible alternative to textual and visual information. I have put my own voice here. My message on adding voice

Here’s a useful reference work on challenges educators face with respect to copyright and the use of digital resources for teaching. From the Executive Summary: 

This foundational white paper reports on a year-long study by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, examining the relationship between copyright law and education. In particular, we wanted to explore whether innovative educational uses of digital technology were hampered by the restrictions of copyright. We found that provisions of copyright law concerning the educational use of copyrighted material, as well as the business and institutional structures shaped by that law, are among the most important obstacles to realizing the potential of digital technology in education.

The paper builds on four detailed case studies of initiatives that have encountered such obstacles. Each of these initiatives is moving forward, but only by fighting against a copyright-related system that instead should be helping educators accomplish their goals. The four case studies are: 

• A plan to use social networking software to help new social studies teachers interact and share classroom resources, which confronts copyright problems when teachers incorporate third-party content into their materials;
• The need of film studies professors to bypass encryption on DVDs – likely in violation of federal law – in order to show selected film clips to their students;
• An effort to make a digital database of hard-to-find but important American music available on college campuses, which encountered massive obstacles in the rights clearance process;
• The shortcomings of special statutory provisions intended to benefit public broadcasters, but limited to over-the-air broadcast so that they have become nearly irrelevant as the need to distribute content on multiple digital platforms increases.

Suggestions from R. Palloff and K. Pratt (2007) Building Online Learning Communities: Effective Strategies for the Virtual Classroom, John Wiley & Sons, San Francisco, CA

These are a few suggestions that might be relative to your online teaching. Collaborative learning is a powerful principle and your students might benefit from working together. See if you could apply some of the following examples:

Have students read a case study and then with a partner from class come to consensus on issues involved in the case, a diagnosis of the problem, a treatment plan, or suggestions to resolve the issue or problem. Post their work as a position paper.

Students form teams and come up with a discussion topic which the group researches. They must also post questions to each other and summarize answers to the questions. The team then decides the format they want to use to present the research on the topic to the whole class. The group organizes around that format with individual members taking on different responsibilities for the presentation.

Student teams develop and produce a simulation or role play that demonstrate one of the main concepts or principles for the subject. The simulation could then be performed live by the team or using animations or props.

The interdependence of the students will help create learning communities and encourage collaboration and group study habits that can translate to their future lives.

Hi everyone! I came across a good article on the web titled, “A Brief Summary of the Best Practices in College Teaching.” It’s a nice little summary of ideas, including practices for making your lectures more effective, improving group discussions, motivating students, and much more (click the title of the article above to access it online).

I hope you find it helpful!
Kristi