Thanks and Farewell

Fairwell good friend
Person of color

The world
Seems...
More Black and White
This morning
With the news of your passing



Njeri Jackson
http://www.afam.vcu.edu/people/jackson.html

Looking Through the Fog: Blogs vs Online Discussion Forums

My recent trip to Yellowstone gave me several encounters with fog, thus the title of my post. Fog has long intrigued me. I'm fascinated by the mind's ability to conjure up a concept based on the lack of clarification in its' presence and I love to watch as objects become defined as it lifts. Metaphorically, I'm watching this happen as I continue to contemplate the differences between online discussion forums and blogs.

I’ve been blogging periodically for some time and I’ve spent considerable time in online discussion forums. I see some obvious differences, but still wrestle with the “conversation” which can be conducted in both. As I diagrammed my own understanding on a white board this morning, I found that I really do see clear differences. However, a now dated post by Lee LeFever made me realize that the subtle difference I have been missing is between comments to a blog and replies to a discussion make all the difference.

Lee provides a nice table to compare weblogs and message boards and illuminates the differences in his text post.

See:
What are the Differences Between Message Boards and Weblogs?

Test of Softchalk Connect Rating and Polling Activities

SoftChalk Connect now allows you to create an activity to rate a web site or component. It generates code to be pasted into the html of your page and then embeds the rating system. So, let's experiment: what to you think about this capability?

Before you use this, read my

Full disclosure: my wife works for SoftChalk, but I am experimenting with this feature on my own to see how it works. I'm testing features to see how I might want to employ them and to assist facutly/educators. Of course, I share my experience with my wife and the SoftChalk team, so I want you to be comfortable with that.

Using Digital Story to Explore Effective Online Teaching

I have found that the creation of digital stories can be a powerful reflective tool to explore personal meaning. In this post, I'm providing a preview of a work in progress. This is a draft digital story about the transition from face-to-face classes to online teaching and learning. It explores at least 7 hallmarks of effective online teaching, as supported by research. The audio will be re-edited and credits will be developed to recognize those who have provided resources and constructive criticism in the development process. I encourage discussion about the use of digital story as a reflective, narrative process which might be used as an educational tool by both faculty and students. I also welcome comments about the content.

Working title: Transitioning: Effective Online Teaching

Technology in the Classroom is a Given

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

This blog post is being dictated into my iPhone using an application
for Dragon Naturally Speaking. There's a reason for stating this
production method, which will become clear as I expand on my thinking
in this blog post.

Earlier this morning I read a tweet by @timbuckteeth. This tweet
contains a link to a video which portrayed a class that purportedly
was on the use of technology in the classroom. http://tinyurl.com/yc6x3ro However, the instructor had no knowledge of how to actually use
technology in the classroom. As the camera panned around the
classroom it was painfully obvious that the students were in most
cases bored and in the worst cases, asleep. Subsequently, student
interviews stated that they were thoroughly dissatisfied with the
class and had expected to be using technology in their learning
experience.

This video prompts me to share my recent thinking. Their should no
longer be a debate about the use of technology in the classroom. The
debate should be about how we incorporate appropriate use of
technologies, which in fact exist in our classrooms.

I think the classroom portrayed in this video is rather typical of
classrooms in 2010. I propose a challenge. With the technologies that
can be rounded up within a classroom, I would like to see exactly what
might be able to be accomplished either individually or
collaboratively by the students in the classroom. Between the use of
laptops and smart phones alone, students have the power to do
research, communicate invarious ways, collaborate, write, record
audio, record video, edit and stream video, manipulate images, use
Google maps, geotagging, and yes even dictate to their iPhone to
convert voice to text. This list is surely the tip of the iceberg.

Technology is in the classroom. Let's embrace it wisely and use it to
enhance our teaching and learning.




Note: tools used were my iPhone, Dragon App, iPhone Notes, e-mail and Blogger. My goal is to produce in a more direct manner, so stay tuned.

Digital Storytelling Program - week 4 - Editing

This week was the introduction to the editing process. Transitioning from script and storyboard to the production environment. It can be a scary business...

Digital Storytelling - A Labor of Love

During the past 3 weeks, I have been guiding faculty participation the VCU CTE Digital Storytelling Program. This has been a labor of love. Interest in the program is high and the participants are fully engaged, with a second contingency tentatively scheduled in a few weeks. Little did I know that I would be inspired to transform my own reflections on our sessions into a serial production of digital stories, but the feeling has been so strong, that I had to create these stories. I hope that my response and actions might serve as a model for the participants and others who are interested in exploring the creation and use of digital storytelling in education.

Thanks to Terry Carter for providing initial feedback to the program and stories on her blog, Comming About: Learning About Digital Storytelling.

Guiding You is the title of the first story, which is my reflection on week 1, and that is exactly what I hope I am doing. Guiding is the act of leading, sharing information and learning with others as we correct our own course and make new discoveries.

Guiding You (week 1)

Story Circle (week 2)

Storyboard (week 3)