Using Online Tools to Improve the K-12 Experience

Janet GubbinsUniversity of West Georgia

Challenges Faced?

Meeting the Challenges Time Constraints v Variety of Needs

Grading – auto-graded time quizzes provide instant feedback (also practice for standardized tests)

Secure online grade book, calculates grades

Alternate delivery options of content or feedback appeals/ interactive media appeals to different learning styles

Meeting the Challenges Time Constraints v Variety of Needs

Ability to ‘replay’ or review helps learners and their parents– esp. the learning disabled

Organizational tools – calendar, to do lists, helps keep users on-track and illustrates time-on-task

Introduces computer skills, more timely information, and wider scope of experiences

Meeting the Challenges Time Constraints v Variety of

Needs Can improve relations w/ parents,

your students and admin Can serve as your own portfolio for

career advancement, research

Meeting the Challenges Time Constraints v Variety of

Needs Emphasis on writing, critical

thinking, collaboration, constructive approach to learning

Balancing Act How can

online tools help? CMS Wikis Blogs Other Tools

& Examples

Course Management Tools CMS or LMS Costly v Free

WebCT/Blackboard

Angel Desire2Learn Moodle Sakai Manhattan

free

Free Alternate Options

Google Apps for Ed

Wikis Wikispaces

Blogs Blogger.com

Google Apps for Ed

http://www.google.com/a/edu/

WikisEx.

http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers

building activities in an online environment that encourages the free exchange of ideas and emphasizes high level, clear communication and critical thinking

Wikis 2Ex. From Wikibooks, the open-

content textbooks collection: Blended Learning in the K-12 Environment

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Blended_Learning_in_K-12

(and search other related articles)

Blogs

Blogs in Education – explanation of uses, examples, tools = http://awd.cl.uh.edu/blog/

Search term “blogs for education”

Mine uses www.blogger.com http://janetplanets.blogspot.com/

Center for Learning & Emerging Technologies

Jane’s eLearning Pick of the Dayhttp://janeknight.typepad.com/

Center’s website w. directory of tools:

http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/

2006 Exemplar K-12 Course

“Earth Science” Linked from http://www.webct.com/exemplary

- Along w/ many other exemplary courses

Screencast Videos

Wacom Graphire Pen, Whiteboard or Tablet PC

Enables mark-up of any Microsoft document.

Similar products on the market – more to come w. Office 2007 and Vista OS

Use of Electronic Pen

Use of Electronic Pen with Video & Audio

Short arrows, question marks, circles

Video Feedback A screencast

A digital recording of computer screen output, often containing audio narration.

Camtasia supports compact file formats has editing features that allow mouse movement and

audio.

A screencast is essentially a movie of what a user sees on his monitor.

Screencasting

Traditionally useful for software developers to show off their work.

Now realizing full potential for other uses; to show others how a given task is accomplished, provide visual/oral feedback, or construct a digital story

Screencasts are excellent tools for any discipline – math, science, writing, history…

Using Camtasia

1. Open and evaluate student project.

2. Use Graphire Pen to circle, draw arrows.

3. Film the project corrections and record audio.

Example:Correcting a formula in Excel.

Resources

Camtasia: Free Trial:http://www.techsmith.com/download/camtasiatrial.asp

Editing Tutorials:

http://video.techsmith.com/camtasia/latest/edu/showme/enu/cs_showme.html

Just-in-Time Support/Training

SnagIT (still images – some text $29)

Other Methods – Other Uses

History of MathCasts: tools,

grants & lessons learned http://www.mathcasts.org/index.php?title=History

I was moved to tears while watching and listening to 3rd graders create

whiteboard movies. I would never have guessed 8 years ago that

the work that was then so difficult could later be done so easily by

such young people and that they would be so engaged and love

doing it so much. And I think that it was perhaps because I could

almost see them learning well as they created their movies while

they talked and wrote that I fully convinced that student- created

whiteboard movies were an even more powerful learning tool than

teacher-created movies.

Other Methods – Other Uses

BYU: homework

solution http://www.techsmith.com/

camtasia/interview/glawlor.asp

MathTV: many for

the price of 1 http://www.mathtv.org/

Other Methods – Other Uses

Villanova 2005 Roundtable demos: Chemistry – podcasts, screen casts,

games for feedback & instruction English/Writing – Camtasia to provide

feedback on written papers Psychology – blogs for journaling/ e-

Portfolio

Other Methods – Other Uses

Drexel resources:

“Augmenting WebCT Courses Using Podcasts,

Screencasting, Blogs, and Games” Roundtable @

Villanova WebCT Conference 2005

More at

http://drexel-coas-talks-mp3-podcast.blogspot.com

Tutorials:

http://drexel-coas-elearning.wikispaces.com/tutorials

Thank you to Jean-Claude Bradley for permissions

Free Alternatives

Screen View (like Camtasia/ AV Editor) http://sourceforge.net/projects/scrview

Audacity (Audio Editor) http://sourceforge.net/projects/audacit

y MultiMedia Office (Audio, Video,

Image, and HTML Editor) http://sourceforge.net/projects/platasof

t/

Free Learning Objects

On iTunes U sites… ex. Lit2Go http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/

MERLOT http://www.merlot.org

Collections of other LO sites http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/CIE/AOP/LO_global.html http://www.libraries.uc.edu/help/distance_learn/

lores.html

Issues

Open/Closed Environment Student/Teacher Privacy Time requirement – learning curve ADA Accessibility Copyright Spam if shared Cost – haves v have-nots

Your Thoughts

Questions? Comments? Ideas?