 Online Learning Update Ray Schroeder, editor, COLRS - Online@Illinois SpringfieldOnline Learning Update - a blog published daily since 2001 by Ray Schroeder, Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois at Springfield |
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Monday, April 26, 2010
Update of Online Learning blog!
Hi! After a decade, it is time to update the "look" of the Online Learning Update blog. You will see a "new" blog later this week. The content and publication schedule will remain the same. The URL will remain the same. The RSS feed will continue at: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/OnlineLearningUpdate. Email delivery will continue as before. I hope that you find our new blog will continue to be a valuable resource to you in using online learning technologies to enhance teaching and learning. Best, Ray Schroeder, editor (0) comments
Why Wikis? Student Perceptions of Using Wikis in Online Learning Coursework - Faye Deters, Kristen Cuthrell & Joy Stapleton, JOLT
In recent years, Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, and podcasts have skyrocketed in the number of users. These applications have led to new innovations for teaching and learning. Elementary education professors at a large southeastern College of Education conducted a study for the purpose of exploring student perceptions regarding the use of wikis in online instruction and potential uses for wikis in the K-12 classroom as perceived by respondents. Participants in the study were 40 students enrolled in 1 of 3 graduate level social studies methods courses. Data were collected using surveys and written reflections. Though students reported initial hesitation at learning a new technology, their overall experience using the wikis was positive. The students felt that wikis were a great collaboration tool. Principle themes that emerged from the data were the potential uses of wikis as instructional tools, potential uses for information dissemination, benefits or advantages to using wikis, and limitations regarding the use of wikis. The authors provide a list of questions developed as a result of the study that, when used prior to implementing wikis as a learning tool, will minimize the limitations associated with their use. (0) comments
Literature takes new direction with online learning growth - Hometown Life
At the International Academy, literature is a unique vehicle of travel. From reading and analyzing literature, students can visit far off places from around the world without leaving their local community. One of the benefits of the 11th-grade International Baccalaureate English curriculum is that instructors serve as tour guides in escorting their students, covering the globe, to visit cultures unfamiliar to their own in White Lake. With the aid of novels and non-fiction memoirs written by Nobel laureates, IB English instructors journey with their students to Columbia (0) comments
Middlebury College launches online learning language courses for high schoolers to draw new revenue - Tim Johnson, Burlington Free Press
Middlebury College is embarking on a new venture that seeks to capitalize on its reputation as a mecca for foreign-language instruction. The college announced Wednesday it is entering a partnership with K12 Inc., a technology-based education company in Virginia, to provide online language programs for secondary-school students. The first courses, beginning French and Spanish for high school students, will be available this summer. (0) comments Sunday, April 25, 2010
High-tech cheating: Technology made it easier, but not more acceptable - KRISTEN CATES, Great Falls Tribune
Technology has made life easier for thousands of college students, but it's also brought on an increase in cheating by students, leaving professors and teachers constantly struggling to find new ways to stop the practice. "I think part of it has to do with the culture of getting more things done," said Jeff Brandt, adjunct assistant professor of music at the University of Montana. Brandt teaches the "History of Rock and Roll" a popular general education course at UM that has about 500 students enrolled each semester. At least 100 are taking the course online. Almost one-third of the courses offered at Montana State University-Great Falls College of Technology are online, according to distance learning director Ryan Schrenk, which means the COT has to monitor student work very carefully. (0) comments
Kentucky Colleges Chunk Up Online Learning Course Offerings - Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology
Kentucky Community & Technical College System (KCTCS) has begun offering courses online that run just a few weeks in duration and are short enough to warrant partial credits for their completion. The online program, which was created in 2008 but restructured recently to introduce the short-course structure, also allows a student to test out of a module to receive full credit. (0) comments
Online Learning Can Improve Michigan Public Education - Michael Van Beek, Mackinac Center
Research also demonstrates that instructional quality is not watered down in online environments. In fact, recent studies suggest that online learning can be even more effective than traditional face-to-face instruction. Last year, the U.S. Department of Education analyzed 51 different studies of online learning in primary, secondary and higher education. The study concluded, "Students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction." The greatest potential benefit of online learning is the narrowing of the achievement gaps that have developed between urban, rural and suburban students. (0) comments Saturday, April 24, 2010
Future learning will be both online and in class - Atlanta Journal Constitution
In the future our campuses will still be alive with students who take technology for granted and enjoy talking face-to-face with classmates and faculty. An education that includes classroom instruction, the best technology and more internships is one that will still be flying 50 years from now. (0) comments
University of Wyoming Educators Receive Award for Online Teaching Quality - University of Wyoming
A professor in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming and an extension service emerita educator are being honored for their online learning community leadership course. Randy Weigel in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences and Rhonda Shipp of Cody, who in 2008 retired from the University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service (UW CES), are receiving the Pearson Excellence in Online Teaching award this month. The award is presented to educators using the Pearson LearningStudio platform who demonstrate a significant commitment to quality in online education. (0) comments
University of Missouri Kansas City plans to expand online learning classes - Nicole English, Univesity News
UMKC students may soon find more online options for classes and more flexibility in online academic programs. March 16, an e-mail was sent to all Arts & Sciences (A&S) faculty indicating UMKC’s plans to “enhance our online presence.” It also said the University of Missouri System is “seeking to provide funding for a variety of online degree programs.” (0) comments Friday, April 23, 2010
Creating teachers via online and blended learning - Martha Kearns, the Post.IE
Hibernia’s model is a mix of online and onsite training, using rented education centres across the country to hold classes. Its appeal is that people can continue to live and work in their home counties while taking courses in the evening and at the weekends.‘‘A lot of these were substitute teachers, so they get to qualify without having to give up their jobs for two years, move to a city and rent a flat, or have concerns about childcare.It is a quality programme which is accessible from every county in the country," Rowland said. (0) comments
POV: Educators can embrace, and control, online learning - New York Teacher
If virtual learning is integrated effectively into our schools in a way that supplements, not supplants, our current class models, we could make great strides toward closing the achievement gap by improving access and significantly enhancing students' educational opportunities. We believe that this increased access will likewise reduce student attrition and support improved graduation rates. (0) comments
State opens door for more online learning schools - LORI HIGGINS, FREE PRESS
Many Michigan teens are thriving in online high school classes, but new rules would allow two new cyber schools to open, both serving grades K-12.Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland, who sponsored the legislation that Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed into law in January, said it's important for students to have choices, and online education is one of them. "There are no boundaries, no barriers. Kids are able to work at their own pace." (0) comments Thursday, April 22, 2010
Fostering an informal online learning community of computer technologies - Seunghee Sydney Jin, Distruptive Technologies in Teaching and Learning
This article describes an online course design project in which a group of students designed an online health course for their middle school and teachers played the roles of facilitators and learners. During the project process, the students learned to use the open source courseware Moodle and designed the course website. The authors point out that learning progressions from informal learning activities can be classified into four categories (Foster, 1997). (0) comments
Pros, cons of shifting more Grand Rapids high school learning online - Kym Reinstadler, The Grand Rapids Press
Spending half of her school day learning online really clicks with Araceli Hurtado, a freshman in Grand Rapids Public Schools' Academy of Construction and Design at Union High School. The 15-year-old didn't know she'd be learning core academic subjects in a computer lab through online modules when she enrolled in ACD, but it's working for her. "I think it's a better use of my time," Araceli said while watching a recorded lecture on the Cold War. "In a traditional class, where everyone is learning the same thing at the same time, kids are always interrupting. So many questions slow down the teacher." (0) comments
Online learning- Learn it the e-way - TechnoFirst
Online learning is the new trend on the path of learning in this 21st century. The grim picture of learning is getting replaced with that of virtual classrooms, e-tutorials and online exams. With the direct communication developing between the experts and students, the education has opened up its wings for better education. Gone are the days when students have to slog for lectures and make notes, e-learning makes it “study in your way” possible. Flexible, cost effective and on-demand availability makes e-learning- the future path of learning for all. (0) comments Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Online Learning: A SCHOOL SANS WALLS - TANYA ALBERT and JILLIAN FREDENHAGEN, Tampa Tribune
Florida Virtual School was started in 1997, when most households had dial-up Internet connections and public schools were scrambling to find computers for classes to share. The school began after Orange and Alachua counties received a grant to encourage the development of different ways to educate students, said Caprice Woodburn, Southwest Florida's liaison to the virtual school. Created was a curriculum of five online courses available to high school students throughout the state. Seventy-seven students initially enrolled. The program served more than 71,000 students during the 2008-2009 school year, according to its Web site. (0) comments
Podcasts and wikis turn cafes into lecture halls - Natalie Craig, the Age
Many university students are using new technology to catch up on missed lectures. First-year tertiary students are spending less time on campus and more time online, as podcasts of lectures become increasingly common. Three out of four students use podcasts of lectures and a third believe online lecture materials can be a replacement for attending classes, according to the nationwide survey of 2422 first-year students by the Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Melbourne. (0) comments
Schools Save with Online Learning - Daily Press
WHRO, the region's public broadcasting station, applauds Gov. Bob McDonnell's vision for online learning in Virginia. Online learning offers students the opportunity to take credit and non-credit courses from remote sites that are bound neither by time nor physical location. No matter where the student is — no matter what the time of day or night — course material is at the ready with the click of a computer mouse. The governor's initiatives will ensure that homebound students, adult or working learners, all have access to the richness of a full education through online learning. (0) comments Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Harvard Udergraduate Council Launches New Online Initiatives - Janie M. Tankard, Harvard CRIMSON
As they brainstormed innovative ways to benefit the student body, many ideas seemed conducive to a Web-based approach. “We were looking for things that the UC could do itself without much administrative approval and that wouldn’t cost that much,” Bowman says. “And we realized one great way to do this was through new online projects.” For inspiration, the pair looked at student government initiatives at other schools, including Princeton and Yale. Bowman says that these schools appeared “way ahead of Harvard in the online department,” noting that this trend might be the result of structural differences. (0) comments
Learning through online partnership programme - TMC Net
It's one among 30-odd Mumbai schools participating in the British Council's 'global school partnerships' programme between schools in the UK and India. With a total of 290 participating schools, India has the largest number of such partnerships among the 56 participating countries. South Africa has 266 and Ghana is third with 260."In the UK there is a lot of interest in India, as it is an emerging economy," said Ruchira Ghosh, head of global school partnerships and school communication for the British Council in India. "With our historical connections and education systems being similar there are linkages." "The government is keen to use this as an opportunity for students to improve their English and computer skills as a lot of the interaction is online," added Ghosh. (0) comments
Florida continues to make strides in online learning - TANYA ALBERT and JILLIAN FREDENHAGEN, Tampa Bay Online
Florida Virtual School was started in 1997, when most households had dial-up Internet connections and public schools were scrambling to find computers for classes to share. FLVS began after Orange and Alachua counties received a grant aimed at encouraging different ways to educate students, said Caprice Woodburn, Southwest Florida's FLVS liaison. They created a curriculum of five basic online courses available to high school students throughout the state. Seventy-seven students initially enrolled. The program served more than 71,000 students during the 2008-2009 school year, according to its Web site. (0) comments Online Learning News Blog Archives OTEL - Ray's Home Page - Notebook - UIS Online - U of I Online - UIS Home Fair Use
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