November 2008
November 30, 2008
A benchmark month.
I have been writing in this blog for years (since 2003) and I have never in all those months placed an entry in every single day...this month is a first...an entry every day...yahooo. I have gotten as close as only missing one day in August 2007 and two days in a few other months but never every day.
This month I also found out that the movable type server at University of British Columbia will be moving to word press. I have been proud to be part of the U of BC server for the last five years and would like to thank them for all the support over the years. I will be moving to the server at the Greater Saskatoon Catholic School division and will be redesigning the blog. If anyone out there has a template or design they think would look good on TADO, I am open to suggestions.
Thanks again to all for the support, nomination, comments and time over the years, a new era for TADO will begin soon.
D. Cannell
I am honoured...thanks you.
I’d like to nominate Teaching and Developing Online for the 2008 Edublog Awards in three different categories:
6. Best teacher blog
8. Best educational tech support blog
9. Best elearning / corporate education blog
TADO - Edublog Nomination � Virtual High School Meanderings
Dumbed down
The troubling science of how technology is rewiring kids’ brains
Teachers need to join the wired students
Teachers need to mentor the behaviour of the wired student.
Quote of the Day
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true.
Robert Wilenksy (as spoken at a 1996 conference)
He is cool
November 29, 2008
Unexpected growth in the cyber school
How do you staff unexpected growth in a cyber school ?
Quote of the day
The most overlooked advantage to owning a computer is that if they foul up there's no law against wacking them around a little.
Joe Martin
Cartoon of the Day
November 28, 2008
Let me google that for you.
This is a simple site you can use for those people who think the internet is toooooo hard for them to figure out.
Its a wonderful Internet
neat.
Successful Online Model
How do you create a successful online elearning model?
Quote of the Day
One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.
Bertrand Russell
Cartoon of the Day
November 27, 2008
Frengly.com
This is a quick and easy to use text translator.
free online translator | frengly.com
Four levels of Online Courses - Level 4
A description of level 4 online courses
A good rule to live by.
Every day I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I'm not there, I go to work.
Robert Orben
Cartoon of the Day
November 26, 2008
Sage vs Guide
To answer the challenge of transforming education to welcome the Digital Natives and information age requires the 'Sage on the Stage' approach be transformed into Guide on the Side. (McKenzie, 1998) McKenzie provides "a list of descriptors of the role of a teacher who is a 'Guide on the Side' while students are conducting their investigations; the teacher is circulating, redirecting, disciplining, questioning, assessing, guiding, directing, fascinating, validating, facilitating, moving, monitoring, challenging, motivating, watching, moderating, diagnosing, trouble-shooting, observing, encouraging, suggesting, watching, modeling and clarifying." And he continues to explain that "the teacher is on the move, checking over shoulders, asking questions and teaching mini-lessons for individuals and groups who need a particular skill. Support is customized and individualized. The 'Guide on the Side' sets clear expectations, provides explicit directions, and keeps the learning well structured and productive."
Just another day at the cyber school.
Wednesdays at the Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School tend to be a little bit more crazy than other days.
See Ancient Rome in 3D
How come only United States Educators???
Welcome to Google's Ancient Rome 3D Curriculum Competition!
While Google's suite of geospatial tools--Earth, Maps, SketchUp, and Sky--are used daily around the world by educators hoping to bring a fresh perspective to lessons, every once in a while a new product feature comes along that we believe will knock the socks off teachers and students alike! We're proud to announce the Ancient Rome 3D Curriculum Competition in conjunction with a brand new layer in Google Earth that models the ancient city of Rome in unbelievable detail.
For the first time ever, K-12 educators in the United States will have the chance to highlight their creativity and technical know-how by combining this brand new Google Earth content with classic classroom curricula.
Four levels of Courses Explained
1) Textbook style - read content quiz at the end of the unit.
2) Teacher not content expert has to rely on the text book to teach curriculum
3) Content -test - Content cycle
4) Mostly text based
5) Copies successful face to face instruction
6) Teacher developer and ownership
7) Never finished...always under revision.
8) Internet infused course Websites all through the course
9) Bells and whistles added. Flash audio video images.
10) Sage on the stage
11) Student centered
12) Problem first solution second cycle
Online courses can be divided into four different levels, which are not determined by the LMS used. They are determined by the developer's approach. Recognition of the approach will make it easier to determine the methodology of the study.
Level One Courses
The characteristic that indicates that you have developed a level one course is that it is an attempt to recreate the textbook style of teaching. Often recognized as the boring high school class it consists of the premise that you must read the content and do the questions at the end of the unit. We have all taken this type of course in the face to face classroom. It is normally taught by the teacher who is not a content expert and has to rely on the textbook to teach the curriculum.
All the problems associated with this method of teacher in the face to face classroom are carried over to the online world. These courses achieve mild success online. We could get into an intellectual discussion about what is success. But for this theory we are talking about the students staying in the course and passing it. The design of the course fulfills the curriculum and is a content presentation...test...content presentation cycle. This is mostly a text based course and the teacher is there to keep the students on task. The response when asked a content question often is, "It is written write there in plain English. Can't these students read?" This method of cookie cutter design is the easiest to create. Digitize a text book's content and add the unit questions into the online testing system. Once recreated, revisions are few. (PowerPoint slides converted to html with a discussion board attached courses are not even at this level but that is another discussion.) This level of course will never develop into a level two. It is destined to always be a level one type course. It is missing the ownership of an instructor. The question about the student success that needs to be asked is:
Does the design of the course have any impact on the student's success rate?
Is the type of student who remains in the course the type of student who would be successful no matter what type of design was used?
Level Two Course
The characteristic that indicates that you have developed a level two course is the recreation of a successful face to face course online. It is based on a content expert's approach to the teaching of curriculum. The design approach is "What would you do on day one in the F2F classroom?" Create that as closely as you can in the online environment. If you have introduced yourself, create an html file with an image of your face, and a file containing the content that you would tell the students in the F2F. Then ask yourself what is the second thing you do in the F2F, digitize that and so on. Success rate in this level of course is a little higher than level one because it tends to have a little bit more personality than the text book approach. This type of course is taught by the teacher who created it and has taken ownership for it and has a vested interest in seeing the student be successful. A certain level of confidence is needed by the teacher, as well as a certain level of reflection on their teaching style and lessons. This type of course is never finished and is being revised continuously and in time develops into the next level. It will become a level three course when there is some recognition by the teacher that F2F teaching strategies are not enough to ensure success for students online. The teacher's need for the course to succeed and amount of "student mothering" that occurs increases the success rate of the students. The resources used in this type of course are the teacher's ideas and the text book.
A good question to ask if you want to know if you have a level two course is: "Is it possible to take what you have developed back into the face to face classroom with very few alterations?"
In other words the technology and the internet did not influence the course development in any way.
Level Three Course
The indication that you have developed a level three course is when a level two course teacher recognizes the fact that they are teaching with the largest library in the world at their fingertips and have access to technology.
The general design of the course is still content presentation...test...content presentation cycle. This is a carry over from the face to face classroom. The teacher is still not willing to totally step away from the procedures that have worked so well for them in that F2F environment. The courses are still text based but the developer/teacher has started to see some of the cool things that technology can do and starts to see ways to integrate these into the content. These java applets, video, flash files are used to support the content text. These are attached outside the course content and are previewed and chosen by the instructor. The instructor has started to realize that there are resources on the internet created by someone else that can be used as course content and starts to explore methods of making this happen. As stated in the earlier post "the teacher starts to remove themselves from the stage and begins to recognize that the answer to the questions do not have to come from themselves or even from with the course presentation. The course starts to lean towards a student centered self discovery method of learning. The teacher asks the questions and facilitates or gives the students the tools and skills to find the answers. This type of course starts to lean toward learning the problem first and then answering it. Most courses before this were always having the answers first and then discovering the problem.
Level Four Course
The characteristic that indicates that you have developed a level four is when a level three course recognizes that the student might be able to choose the questions and the teacher assists them in using the technology and the internet to find the answers. This is a question first, answers second model. The teacher is just a facilitator whose role is to assist the student and teach them the skills they need to critically analyze vast stores of information on the net. The student and teacher work as a team toward covering the curriculum and tailoring the questions to achieve this. Honestly, I have never yet seen such a course but it is where we are going. There is too much information now to effectively teach it all. The teacher choosing to teach what they are interested in is a model that works for level 1,2 and 3 courses but a change that allows the students to decide to study what they are interested in might be positive change.
The proposal needs to clarify exactly what the implementation of a Learning Management System is trying to achieve. As shown above it can be used for a variety of different scenarios of which some are very simple and others very complex.
Blondes are going to be mad.
Now blondes can have more fun while typing with Keyboard for Blondes
Online time 'is good for teens'
Surfing the internet, playing games and hanging out on social networks are important for teen development, a large study of online use has revealed.
BBC NEWS | Technology | Online time 'is good for teens'
My Writing type...???
I typed the url from TADO into the Typeanlyzer and...
The analysis indicates that the author of TADO is of the type:
ISTP - The Mechanics
The independent and problem-solving type. He is especially attuned to the demands of the moment is masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. He generally prefer to think things out for himself and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.
The Mechanic enjoys working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in his work and personal life. He enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as a policeman and firefighter.
Analysis
This show what parts of the brain that were dominant during writing.
I have not been nominated yet :(
Now this edublog award I have not been nominated for...but it is an award that I won in 2004.
The 2008 Edublog Awards! The Edublog Awards
I was nominated.
I was nominated in two categories for the Canadian Blog Awards.
Teaching and Developing Online was nominated for the Best Professional/Career Blog.
DDC art gallery was nominated for the Best Photo/ Art Blog.
If you are so moved and feel like voting check it out.
Four level of Online Courses - Level three
A description of level three online courses.
Quote of the day
Personally, I don't think there's intelligent life on other planets. Why should other planets be any different from this one?
Bob Monkhouse
Cartoon of the Day
November 25, 2008
Welcome to Google Lit Trips
This site is an experiment in teaching great literature in a very different way. Using Google Earth, students discover where in the world the greatest road trip stories of all time took place... and so much more!
Four levels of Online Courses - Level two
This video explains the level two of the four levels of online courses.
Quote of the Day
All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.
Sean O'Casey
Cartoon of the Day
November 24, 2008
SCCS Summary
Here is a very long summary of the Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School. It is eighty pages long so be prepared to dedicate sometime to the read.
Interesting things for ESL students
Interesting Things for ESL/EFL Students (Fun English Study)
Games Games .com
Play Free Online Games at GamesGames.com
Spin and Spell
A cool spelling game.
SpinandSpell.com
Kids Spell
The Absolutely Free And Totally Fun Way To Improve Your Spelling. Kidspell.com helps to dramatically improve your students ability to learn and retain spelling words.
Free Spelling Games And Activities For Kids - By KidsSpell.com
Four levels of online courses - level one
This is a description of a level one online course.
Quote of the Day
After one look at this planet any visitor from outer space would say "I WANT TO SEE THE MANAGER."
Willliam S. Burroughs
It's Monday let us relax.
November 23, 2008
High school education should be free.
No matter your age high school education should be free
Cyber School teacher defines
November 22, 2008
Cyber school options
Students take classes for all sort of reasons one is no better than the other I think it is necessary to give them the options.
Quote of the day
Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.
Cartoon of the Day
November 21, 2008
IBM to build brain-like computers
IBM has announced it will lead a US government-funded collaboration to make electronic circuits that mimic brains.
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | IBM to build brain-like computers
Internet not the child-devouring swamp many adults fear
A three-year research project, headed by Mimi Ito, involving 28 researchers and 800 subjects, and sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation, finds that the stereotypical idea of the Internet as a soul-devouring, anti-social wasteland for our kids is just plain wrong. If you suspected otherwise, now you know you were right.
Joho the Blog � Internet not the child-devouring swamp many adults fear
LMS Tracking Tool
Tracking tools and how it helps us run and teach at the cyber school.
Programmers defined...
Programmers - Computer avengers. Once members of that group of high school nerds who wore tape on their glasses, played Dungeons and Dragons, and memorized Star Trek episodes; now millionaires who create "user-friendly" software to get revenge on whoever gave them noogies.
Cyber school was built on caffeine
November 20, 2008
Exemplary Course Program
Welcome to the Blackboard Exemplary Course Program page. Here you will find a rubric to help you develop and assess engaging online courses, examples of courses rated as exemplary through the review process of the Exemplary Course Program, and information on how to submit your course to the 2009 Blackboard Exemplary Course Program.
Exemplary Course Program - Exemplary Courses - Blackboard WikiKB
Computer expert talks to me about computers.
A computer expert thinks the computer is good for webkinz
Quote of the day
Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it.
Theodore Roosevelt
Faith in technology
November 19, 2008
Science-tube.com
science-tube - chemistry and physics experiments and videos for school, studies and everyday life
K-12 alerts
With the creation of K12 Alerts®, schools and districts are able to communicate important messages to parents in a matter of seconds. K12 Alerts® is an emergency messaging platform for school districts that enables them to send real-time emergency messaging to parents, community residents and staff. The information is accessed through work and home emails, text messaging to cellphones and telephones. Simply type in a text message and have it converted to a male or female voice and send it to your group list using our Text-to-Speech tools.
K12Alerts.com - K12 school district real-time emergency messaging to parents
Cassiopeia Project
No science teacher left behind
The Cassiopeia Project is an effort to make high-definition science education videos available to anyone who wants them.
Welcome to the Cassiopeia Project
Google Image Search - To Steal or Not to Steal
I found this an interesting read.
Google Image Search - To Steal or Not to Steal : StraightUpSearch
The internet in five years
What is the internet going to be like in five years?
Quote of the Day
I love the information age. I do not want to denigrate the internet neophytes, it is their choice to stay away from the information age. And for those neophytes denigrate means 'put down' and neophytes means "a beginner or novice".
Darren Cannell
File Compression
November 18, 2008
Re:post from March 7, 2005
Here I am three years later and with all my tracking tools, I still have no idea how many people are reading my words...but since I write this for my teaching staff at the Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School it matters not...but I thought I would ask the question again and see if anyone out there has found a better way to track people...and what the heck is an A-list blog...where is this list and how do I get on it?
Anyways here is the post from three years ago...feel free to comment.
A few things have been happening on my blog that makes me wonder ..."How many people are actually reading my blog?"
Every once in a while I write a postings that is a view through my cyber glasses. These postings are uniquely mine or in other words written by me. They are not the interesting sites that I posted to the blog that I find as I am surfing around the net. These are "posting through my cyber glasses" and as they appear on other people's blogs or on websites it makes me wonder how many people are actually seeing the material posted to my blog.
I will clarify, I posted a site the other day that I found on a Chinese blog and tried to translate it into English. It caught my eye because my name appeared in it. In the posting to my blog I requested some help in translating the entry. Within three hours I got a response back and a second response less than half hour after that. I loved it, but it also got me to thinking.
According to my hit counter on my site, I get about 14 hits a day, the chances of someone seeing the posting and commenting on it within four hours are very slim when you only have about 14 hits on the site a day. The chance that two of those 14 would speak chinese and comment are slim. Am I way off on the number of people who are reading the blog? Maybe my hit counter is no good? Maybe RSS feeds account for more hit on the site than I know?
There was a lot of talk about "A-List" blogs a few weeks ago and it got me to thinking...
I have no idea how many people are actually reading my blog.
I am looking for suggestions on how to figure out this question and how to increase the readership. If the RSS feeds are the most popular way people are reading my blog, how do I go about capitalizing on this fact?
My cyber glasses need some help in seeing.
Student survey ... Part 2
Survey results from the preparation course at Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School...
Should every student have to take a course from the cyber school to graduate from our school division?
| answer | 1093 responds | percent |
| Yes | 158 | 14.4% |
| No | 935 | 85.3% |
Is the cyber school's method of course delivery better preparing students than face to face schools methods?
| answer | 1092 responds | percent |
| Yes | 573 | 52.3% |
| No | 519 | 47.4% |
Will the fact that you took a cyber school course better prepare you for university?
| answer | 1093 responds | percent |
| Yes | 805 | 73.4% |
| No | 288 | 26.3% |
Do you think a text book is necessary for a cyber school course?
| answer | 1089 responds | percent |
| Yes | 220 | 20.1% |
| No | 869 | 79.3% |
Should the students have to take a their final exam face to face for a cyber school course?
| answer | 1090 responds | percent |
| Yes | 164 | 15.0% |
| No | 926 | 84.5% |
Should students be charged an administration fee for cyber school?
| answer | 1093 responds | percent |
| Yes | 55 | 5.0% |
| No | 1038 | 94.7% |
Is the cyber school better for_______students?
| answer | 1093 responds | percent |
| Advanced | 416 | 38.0% |
| average | 578 | 52.7% |
| below average | 99 | 9.0% |
Should the cyber school have a dress code?
| answer | 1092 responds | percent |
| Yes | 47 | 4.3% |
| No | 1045 | 95.3% |
Did the cyber school website answer your questions?
| answer | 1093 responds | percent |
| Yes | 972 | 88.7% |
| No | 121 | 11.0% |
Have you ever been a victim of a cyber bully?
| answer | 1092 responds | percent |
| Yes | 111 | 10.1% |
| No | 981 | 89.5% |
Are you more computer literate than your parents?
| answer | 1093 responds | percent |
| Yes | 923 | 84.2% |
| No | 170 | 15.5% |
Should cyber instructors post their office hours?
| answer | 1093 responds | percent | |||||
| Yes | 873 | 79.7% | |||||
| No | 220 | 20.1% |
| answer | 1093 responds | percent | |||||
| Yes | 197 | 18.0% | |||||
| No | 896 | 81.8% |
| answer | 1091 responds | percent | |||||
| Yes | 262 | 23.9% | |||||
| No | 829 | 75.6% |
| answer | 1092 responds | percent | |||||
| Yes | 798 | 72.8% | |||||
| No | 294 | 26.8% |
| answer | 1089 responds | percent |
| Yes | 762 | 69.5% |
| No | 327 | 29.8% |
Phones in education
The future of phones in education.
Computer Users clarified
USERS - Collective term for those who stare vacantly at a monitor. Users are divided into three types: Novice, intermediate, and expert.
=> Novice Users - People who are afraid that simply pressing a key might break their computer.
=> Intermediate Users - People who don't know how to fix their computer after they've just pressed a key that broke it.
=> Expert Users. People who break other people's computers.
Computers are not intelligent...
November 17, 2008
Student survey Part one
Survey results from the preparation course at Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School...
Are you enrolled in a face to face school?
| answer | 1091 responds | percent |
| Yes | 870 | 79.4% |
| No | 221 | 20.2% |
Have you already completed 4 years of high school?
| answer | 1092 responds | percent |
| Yes | 178 | 16.2% |
| No | 914 | 83.4% |
Do you have internet at home?
| answer | 1092 responds | percent |
| Yes | 1048 | 95.6% |
| No | 44 | 4.0% |
Do you spend 5+ hours a day on the internet?
| answer | 1092 responds | percent |
| Yes | 225 | 20.5% |
| No | 867 | 79.1% |
Have you been in a cyber school course before?
| answer | 1092 responds | percent |
| Yes | 326 | 29.7% |
| No | 766 | 69.9% |
Would you take a second cyber school course?
| answer | 1091 responds | percent |
| Yes | 893 | 81.5% |
| No | 198 | 18.1% |
Do you think your marks in cyber school will be higher than in face to face?
| answer | 1091 responds | percent |
| Yes | 778 | 71.0% |
| No | 313 | 28.6% |
Would you have take cyber school if there was any other way to do it?
| answer | 1090 responds | percent |
| Yes | 760 | 69.3% |
| No | 330 | 30.1% |
Do you think it is easier to cheat in cyber than in face to face school?
| answer | 1093 responds | percent |
| Yes | 329 | 30.0% |
| No | 764 | 69.7% |
Have you ever cheated in a face to face course?
| answer | 1092 responds | percent |
| Yes | 142 | 13.0% |
| No | 839 | 76.6% |
Have you ever cheated in a cyber school course?
| answer | 1093 responds | percent |
| Yes | 28 | 2.6% |
| No | 1017 | 92.8% |
Do you think the cyber school 150 days system is better than a semester system
| answer | 1093 responds | percent |
| Yes | 931 | 84.9% |
| No | 162 | 14.8% |
Destination Impossible
Words - Destination Impossible game to practise reading and following instructions - Game
I love Smartboards
If you are looking for smart board resources this is the location.
I love Smart Boards!
Scratch
Scratch is a new programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art -- and share your creations on the web.
Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also gaining a deeper understanding of the process of design.
Scratch | Home | imagine, program, share
Incredibots Game
This is fun.
IncrediBots - Online Robot Physics Game!
Ask a Scientist
Welcome to Ask A Scientist! Our service has been in operation since 1991. We have already compiled answers to more than 20,000 questions – and this site now receives more than ten to twelve million hits each month!
Ask A Scientist - Submit Question
Mrs P.com
www.MrsP.com is a fun, new children's entertainment site that celebrates reading and books. The site features TV star Kathy Kinney as Mrs. P, an adventurous redhead who brings Story Time to life with her video library of classic children's...
Cloud computing
Is there an LMS that lives out there in the cloud computing.
Quote of the Day
I won't say ours was a tough school, but we had our own coroner. We used to write essays like: What I'm going to be if I grow up.
Lenny Bruce
Computer mistakes
November 16, 2008
Cloud Computing
I think this is the next wave in computing and we may as well join in before it gets to far down the path.
Cloud computing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Would I have taken cyber school?
Quote of the Day
it only takes one smile to offer welcome
and blessed be the person who will share it.
it only takes one moment
to be helpful
and blessed be the person who will spare it.
it only takes one joy
to lift a spirit
and blessed be the person who will give it.
it only takes one life
to make a difference
and blessed be the person who will live it.
amanda bradley
Looking Back
November 15, 2008
Flexibility
Flexibility is the key to the cyber school but it comes at a cost
Quote of the Day
The teacher is one who made two ideas grow where only one grew before
Elbert Hubbard
Passing Notes
November 14, 2008
Ideal number of Students
What is the ideal number of students to have in a cyber school course.
Quote of the Day
Sometimes one sees in the school simply the instrument for transferring a certain maximum quantity of knowledge to the growing generation.
But that is not right.
Knowledge is dead.
The school, however, serves the living.
It should develop in the young individuals those qualities and capabilities which are of value for the welfare of the commonwealth.
But that does not mean that individuality should be destroyed and the individual become a mere tool of the community, like a bee or an ant.
For a community of standardized individuals without personal originality and personal aims would be a poor community without possibilities for development.
On the contrary, the aim must be the training of independently acting and thinking individuals, who however, see in the service of the community their highest life problem.
Albert Einstein, 1936
Man vs Computer
November 13, 2008
Taylor Mali on what teachers make
I just listen to Taylor Mali quote his poem "on what teachers make" at the ECOO conference in Toronto.
Very entertaining.
My Space numbers
If my space was a country it would be the 8th largest in the world. (Between Russia and Nigeria) Are we comfortable with our students growing up in a country with no adults.
My Space stats
Over 70 yrs old .................................................................3.20%
51-70 yrs old......................................................................0.48%
41-50 yrs old.......................................................................0.48%
31-40 yrs old......................................................................1.34%
22-30 yrs old......................................................................8.49%
18-21 yrs old......................................................................22.80%
14-17 yrs old......................................................................60.01%
Tim Hawes at the ECOO conference says "This is a concern."
Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us
Techies love it when ... 25 (last one in the series)
November 12, 2008
Track this Now
Track news articles on any topic across the world, all in REAL TIME!
Track This Now - TRACK news articles across the world in REAL-TIME
Course offerings and class loading
Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School needs to decide which courses to offer and how many students they place in each of the courses.
Quote of the Day
The desire to know is far more important than achievement and/or performance measures.
Caine & Caine
Techies love it when ... 24
November 11, 2008
Your thoughts about elearning.
Talking about Hybrid courses
Todd is talking about hybrid courses in the Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School.
Quote of the Day
When I think about all the crap
I learned in high school . . .
. . . . . it's a wonder I can think at all.
Paul Simon
Techies love it when ... 23
November 10, 2008
Teaching Video Five - Teachers
A short discussion on what makes a good or a bad teacher.
Learn English Online
U.S.A. Learns was an outgrowth of a project that was conceived by the U.S. Department of Education (ED), Office of Vocational and Adult Education, Division of Adult Education and Literacy (DAEL). Core funding for U.S.A. Learns was provided by ED. Additional funding for U.S.A. Learns was made available by the California Department of Education, Office of Adult Education.
DAEL promotes programs that help American adults get the basic skills they need to be productive workers, family members, and citizens. The major areas of support are Adult Basic Education, Adult Secondary Education, and English Language Acquisition. These programs emphasize basic skills such as reading, writing, math, English language competency and problem-solving.
Expedition Game
This is a very cool game.
Expedition Week | Expedition Game | National Geographic Channel
Glossopedia
Glossopedia™, is our free, safe, multimedia online interactive encyclopedia, connecting kids to the world by supporting explorations of nature, animals, science, and culture.
Discover Primary Science
Audios and videos for download for school - Teaching Science in Primary Schools Ireland
Engaging Science Online Games
Engaging Science is a teacher professional enrichment program designed to engage you in a fascinating journey of exploration and discovery to bring fresh ideas to your classroom. It is designed to help BC teachers implement the science curriculum in the new Integrated Resource Package.
Engaging Science - Online Games
Math Moves U
This is your place to explore the stuff you're into have fun and pick up some cool math skills along the way.
MathMovesU.com: Explore, have fun, and pick up cool math skills!
SCCS Course Development
Todd talks about the Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School and how teachers are important and following the rules.
Quote of the Day
Passive acceptance of the teacher's wisdom is easy to most boys and girls. It involves no effort of independent thought, and seems rational because the teacher knows more than his pupils; it is moreover the way to win the favour of the teacher unless he is a very exceptional man. Yet the habit of passive acceptance is a disastrous one in later life. It causes man to seek and to accept a leader, and to accept as a leader whoever is established in that position.
Bertrand Russell
Techies love it when ... 22
November 9, 2008
Teacher Education Goes Into Virtual Schooling
Teacher Education Goes into Virtual Schooling (TEGIVS) is a national project leading preservice teacher education programs across the U.S. and the world. Its curriculum development and research prepare future teachers for the twenty-first century phenomenon of K-12 distance education (Virtual Schooling), through which all ages of students are learning from a teacher who is not located in their school. Students in all U.S. states are engaging in VS and the number is growing exponentially. A key to effective practice is teacher support in each student's location, thus, there is a pressing need to prepare all teachers for VS. TEGIVS will provide a model to incorporate VS in teacher education training for preservice programs across the U.S.
Teacher Education Goes Into Virtual Schooling
Online disaster
What was your biggest online disaster?
Quote of the Day
Cautious, careful people always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform.
Susan B. Anthony
Techies love it when ... 21
November 8, 2008
These traits make online teachers successful
What are the qualities that help instructors succeed when teaching online? That was the focus of a lively discussion at the 14th annual Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning Nov. 6.
Presenter Bill Phillips of the University of Central Florida discussed findings from his research on the topic. Not surprisingly, he said, successful online instructors share many of the same characteristics that successful teachers in traditional classrooms exhibit--but they also spend a lot of time establishing a persona of approachability and ensuring students' comfort in the course.
Top News - These traits make online teachers successful
SCCS course video - Media Studies 20
This grade 11 media studies course is taught at the Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School.
Tado what is it?
Quote of the day
Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from the learner; put yourself in his place so that you may understand . . . . . . . . . . . . . what he learns and the way he understands it.
Kierkegaard
Techies love it when ... 20
November 7, 2008
Teaching Video four- Do you teach or do you educate?
"Education is not the filling of a vessel, but the kindling of a flame." - Socrates
SCCS course video - Information Processing 10
Spelling City
We are an online spelling program that makes practicing for spelling tests fun. SpellingCity.com has:
- Over 37,000 spelling words and eight spelling games!
- A REAL person who says each word and sentence
- Thousands of free spelling lists. Or save your own!
- A free forum and newsletter with more resources!
Teacher Collaboration Online
What does teacher collaboration mean when they work online?
Quote of the Day
If toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet, what happens if you strap toast on the back of a cat and drop it?
Techies love it when ... 19
November 6, 2008
SCCS Course video - English Grade 11
Planet Green Game
Today is all about educational games...what a fun way to learn.
Sea Monsters
Fun fun fun...
Map Games
Way cool, I enjoyed playing these.
National Geographic Maps: Tools for Adventure - Map Games
Send a robot deep into an ancient Egyptian pyramid to find hidden hieroglyphs—and uncover a secret chamber!
Life or Death
this is very cool...I died on the second screen.
Life or Death Game : Discovery Channel
Math people are always asking.
MathCast is an equation editor, an application that allows you to input mathematical equations. These equations can be used in written documents, webpages, and even databases. They could be rendered graphically to the screen, to picture files, or to MathML - today’s leading standard language for describing mathematics.
TADO Teacher Justification
Why do we need a blog like Teaching and Developing Online...what does it provide?
I could not resist...2nd quote of the day.
If all the students who slept through lectures were laid end to end, they’d all be a lot more comfortable.
Unknown
Quote of the Day
Every instructor assumes that you have nothing else to do except study for that instructor’s course.
Unknown
Techies love it when ... 18
November 5, 2008
SCCS Course Video Info Pro 20
Teaching video three: Why I teach.
Internet History Sourcebooks Project
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use.
Paul Halsall/Fordham University: Internet History Sourcebooks Project
Tar Heel Reader
Welcome to the Tar Heel Reader, a collection of free, easy-to-read, and accessible books on a wide range of topics. Each book can be speech enabled and accessed using multiple interfaces (i.e. switches, alternative keyboards, touch screens, and dedicated AAC devices). The books may be downloaded as slide shows in PowerPoint, Impress, or Flash format.
Hard Spell
Interesting game
BBC - Entertainment - Hard Spell
TADO from a teacher's point of view
Quote of the Day
If you can't learn to do it well, you should learn to enjoy doing it badly.
unknown
Techies love it when ... 17
November 4, 2008
Teaching video two - Do You Have What it Takes?
Again I am honoured to be mentioned.
Darrell Cannell is a member in good standing of the Canadian Content Contingent. His Teaching and Developing Online blog is one of my “Must Read” feeds.
phaedrus Blog Archive Alec Courosa Open Doctrine
I will take the challenge.
I am a few days behind but I will try to catch up and then follow the challenge for 30 days. It should be fun.
Be a Better Blogger in just 30 Days - Teach42
SCCS Course Video - English Grade 10
We are honoured
I am honoured to be mentioned by such a famous researcher. Thank you for the support you have shown for TADO. And I link to your postings because they are interesting so keep up the good work.
I like the description of TADO being the online staffroom that is a very good way to explain what it is all about.
Day Three - Thirty Days To A Better Blog � Virtual High School Meanderings
Cookie Cutter Approach
The cookie cutter approach to course creation in elearning does not work. The teacher needs to be the focus.
Quote of the Day
"Some things Man was never meant to know. For everything else, there's Google."
Techies love it when ... 16
November 3, 2008
• National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
Utah State University hosts a wonderful site that explores different ways of using technology to solve math problems. Users are presented with a matrix when they enter a site, where they can select an age group, as well as mathematics strand. There are even logic games such as Mastermind and Tangrams.
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
Remembrance Day - Teacher Resources
This site contains information and links to resources that teachers may use to plan student activities for their Remembrance Day planning.
Remembrance Day - Teacher Resources
Teaching video one - Google teacher academy
This is a spin off from the video "Shift Happens"-geared towards motivating students in the classroom. An video entry for the Google Teacher Academy.
SCCS Course video - English as a second language
Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School course video - English as a Second Language Grade 10
Cyber Tracker Staff Testimonials
8. Staff Testimonials
Cyber Tracker brings to my fingertips and overview of the communications being done within my cyber school. At any given time, I can check on a student's progress and view the communication that has been made between the instructor and the students. By using the program it places all communications within one area making it easy to store and find hence giving me a bird's eye view of my school.
Darren Cannell - Administrator
The Cyber Tracker saves me a lot of work. The steps I no longer do:
1. Forward registration to teacher
2. Update WebCT grade book with html code where the teacher clicks on "email" and has their email open up with the student and parental emails included.
3. Add start dates and end dates for students in WebCT grade book.
4. Update the Global calendar with the student's start date, 2 week warning to midterm, midterm, 2 week warning to final, and final dates by placing name and dates in excel and uploading the excel file into WebCT.
If there were ever changes in start dates for whatever reason, or email addresses etc., I would have to change it in the global calendar and/or teacher grade book. This was a lot of work, especially when a student drops because all dates had to be searched in the global calendar and removed one by one, there was no way to remove more than one date entry at a time. This actually, for the most part, didn't get done due to time constraints.
The MAT program has always been updated for every student; this is not an added step for me. So now, if there are ever changes in student information, updates are only done in one program and all necessary information is pulled over from that data into the Cyber Tracker.
In my estimation this saves me a minimum of 2 minutes per student, and upwards of 5 minutes for changes in global calendar entries.
Sandra Climenhaga - SCCS On-line Registrar
Cyber tracker has been a life saver with regards to keeping on top of my students' progress in my cyber school class. Not only does it make tracking student progress easier for the teacher, but by increasing communication with the students, it enables them to be more successful in the course.
The potential of cyber tracker is also evident . . . continuing to enhance this important tool will further the way we communicate with students, assess their learning, and ensure student success.
The time saved tracking students with Cyber Tracker has allowed me to focus my energy on other important tasks like assisting them with the course material and further developing the course.
Krista Hayes - SCCS Instructor
Previously I have found the job of tracking, contacting, and administering 60 students in two online classrooms to be a daunting and time consuming task. Research has shown that the contact we establish with online students is one of the key factors in success. With Cyber Tracker I am able to get a quick and reliable picture of my student's online activities, and manage the communication between myself, the student, and their parents or guardians. I have found that it saves me time, and improves my contact with all students, leading to greater success in both of my online courses.
Todd Paslawski - SCCS Instructor
I am absolutely elated at Cyber tracker's efficiency.
It saves me time and paperwork. At a touch of a button I can see all students' referrals from least to most current. I can click on another button and see all correspondences under each student's individual files which tells me whether I need to send an Activity letter, an RTD (required to drop) form, a call home or simply DROP them from the course. Every detail is compiled on that ONE file (class, registration information, correspondences, marks, days active or inactive etc.) which means no more searching for that information in different files. It cuts my time in half. When talking to parents on the phone the information is at my fingertips...no need to keep them on the phone searching data.
Cyber tracker organizes the information for us making our jobs easier and more efficient as well as saves paper.
Yvette Forcier
School Counselor
Cyber Tracker Described
Student tracking and communication is an essential component of an e-learning environment in the K-12 situation as well as for on-line universities and e-learning in general. E-Learning success is not only measured by student academic achievement but by the ability to track student participation and instructor involvement their course.
Our initial concept involved developing a program to track students enrolled in Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School. Web CT, the learning management system this program was designed to accompany, does have student tracking capabilities however, it is designed to work primarily with semester based courses. SCCS runs on a 150 day calendar rather than in a semester format. Tracking the students are different stages became confusing and time consuming. Some students were inactive and ultimately other students were on wait lists and not able to access courses.
There is a necessity for this type of program for K-12 on-line schools. Web CT tracking is designed for post-secondary institutions that run on a semester system and does not answer the needs of the K-12 e-learning facility. Instructors at the K-12 level are required to keep in close contact with their students as well as collect statistics. Post-secondary instructors are not required to track and communicate with students on a regulated basis. With that being said, this program is extremely useful for post-secondary institutions by giving them the opportunity to also have auto-generated communication with their students.
Cyber Tracker
Quote of the Day
"Education would be so much more effective if its purpose were to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they don't know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it."
-- Sir William Haley
Techies love it when ... 15
November 2, 2008
Mentoring K-12 students...live where they live.
Furdyk (2007) states "teachers need to exist in the spaces the students exist, understand their culture. You have no credibility if you are not where they are" (taken from a keynote). The information age allows the students the opportunity to "create, consume, remix and share material with each other" as described by Rainie (2006, ¶ 3).
To effectively mentor K-12 students an educator needs to incorporate the authentic learning characteristics of real-world relevance: The social networking tools that have come with Web2.0 bring a completely different set of tools into the hands of the digital natives. The popularity of these tools has surprised and frightened the 'Digital Immigrants' to the state where most schools virtual or face to face, rather than embracing these tools, have banned them. The banning of facebook, instant messaging, blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, myspace, social bookmarking, podcasts, youtube, and flicker, just to mention a few, has made a huge statement that education systems are not willing to join the 'Digital Natives' in their world. Educators who try to use the web2.0 tool will create a learning environment and community which will reflect the reality of the students living in the information age. A couple of high school student's quote clarifies how they feel about the current educational system. "We have learned to 'play school'. "We study the right facts the night before the test so we achieve a passing grade and thus become a successful student." "It's not attention deficit - I'm just not listening" (Ferriter, 2007 ¶ 3)!
Educators current approach in face to face schools have resulted in a dropout rate of nine point four percent (2005) and only twenty-eight percent of 12th grade high school students believe that school work is meaningful. Twenty one percent believe that their courses are interesting and a mere thirty-nine percent believe that school work will have any bearing on their success in later life. (Wirt, Choy, Gerald, Provasnik, Rooney and Watanabe, 2002 p. 20) Students today according to Gardner (1983) are "interpersonal, logical, spacial, intrapersonal, musical, linguistic, naturalist and Bodily-kinisthetic learners"(p. 6). However Prensky (2001) proposes that "Today's students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach" (¶ 1). A couple of high school student's quote clarifies how they feel about the current educational system. "We have learned to 'play school'. "We study the right facts the night before the test so we achieve a passing grade and thus become a successful student." "It's not attention deficit - I'm just not listening" (Ferriter, 2007 ¶ 3)! Online education should not mimic face to face education it needs to create a new educational approach in which the educator mentors the behavior of the wired students.
SCCS Course Video - Christian Ethics Grade 12
The course video for grade 12 Christian Ethics at the Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School
What does a successful online look like...
What characteristics does a successful online student exhibit?
Quote of the Day
We sometimes feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.
Unknown
Techies love it when ... 14
November 1, 2008
CBC news March 2000
I found this on the web, march 2000, holy crow that was along time ago. I don't even remember talking to CBC.
It would be interesting to do a follow up talk with them now, how things have changed.
High school classes to go on line.
SCCS Course Video - Mathematics Grade 9
Standing on the shoulders of giants.
Well maybe not giants but the online teachers before you. The more online teachers we have the more examples we have of good online practice.
Quote of the Day
"I am beginning to suspect all elaborate and special systems of education. They seem to me to be built up on the supposition that every child is a kind of idiot who must be taught to think."
-- Anne Sullivan
Techies love it when ... 14
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