Active learning

Active learning

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This is an excellent, compelling talk (“Student Engagement: Integrating Active-Learning into Health Science Courses”) by Dr Patrick Brown from ​East Tennessee State University. The Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative is a multi-year project at The University of British Columbia aimed at dramatically improving undergraduate science education. Their website is full of useful resources for developing learning activities. There are a particularly useful set of videos about evidence-based activities. Quizlet – provides free, online tools such as flashcards to help students with memorising terms or short answers….

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Free images

Free images

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Pixabay – Free to use any way you like, with no acknowledgement required. Photos are contributed by users and as such, you are relying on their confirmation that the images are theirs to share (although the site moderator reviews all contributions). Pexel seems to operate similarly and also turns up a lot of images from pixabay. Emojipedia – emojis evolved from the text-based pictures created by users such as a colon : plus a right-hand parenthesis ) to represent a smiley face :)….

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Curriculum design for online delivery – the social and teaching presences

Curriculum design for online delivery – the social and teaching presences

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One of my favourite models for e-learning design is the ‘Community of Inquiry’ (Garrison et al. 2007), because it emphasises the importance of nurturing the social and teaching presences as well as the cognitive presence in the educational experience. This is in danger of being neglected when curriculum design goes online. Online discussions – great video from CoFA Online with experts sharing their tips for nurturing online discussions. The CSU online learning model – Great information for improving online engagement. They also have…

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Assuring graduate capabilities – creating rubrics

Assuring graduate capabilities – creating rubrics

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Assuring graduate capabilities – this site explores a whole of course (degree) level approach to assuring standards of graduate capability achievement focusing on employability. There are also a heap of examples of rubrics for course learning outcomes and standards for graduate capabilities in Business and Law, Health Sciences, Science and Engineering, and Arts and Education. Jon Mueller’s Authentic Assessment Toolbox – a how-to text on creating authentic tasks, rubrics, and standards for measuring and improving student learning. Rubistar is a free online tool for…

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Sharpen up your job application

Sharpen up your job application

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Jobscan – With a vision of helping you “land more interviews and job offers than ever before”, Jobscan offers many services including a freebie comparison of your resume with the job description of your choice. Simply cut and paste the relevant text and Jobscan will return a report noting how well matched they are, and showing you the key phrases that would be picked up by Applicant Tracking Systems, used by some employers to sift through applications. Regardless of whether or…

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ePortfolios

ePortfolios

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ePortfolios with Google Apps – Helen Barrett’s extensive guide to using Google sites to create your own personal online ePortfolio. You can also make your LinkedIn page your professional online presence (although you are then restricted to their design and control), or create your own website – Weebly has some portfolio themes and intuitive drag & drop tools.

Creating online resources

Creating online resources

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There is always a tension between using your institution’s learning management system (LMS – like Blackboard or Moodle) and using ‘external’ channels (like Facebook or Youtube). The tools associated with the LMS will generate useful analytics for how students are using the materials you provide, and also provide a single login point for students. They are generally considered ‘safe’ spaces with central support. However there is something to be said for using platforms that are ‘in the wild’, preparing students…

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Animations

Animations

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Animator – create unlimited 2 minute animations for free. Drag and drop, easy to use. You can also upload your own characters. Mysimpleshow – free for limited function but still fab – fill in the storyboard template, edit the visualisations (upload your own images if you want), and Mysimpleshow will produce a (robotically) narrated animation complete with sweeping hand transition. The novelty of the presentation type will wear off quickly but fantastic for limited use. Or upgrade for more choice. Moovly – Online…

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Creative writing

Creative writing

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Sometimes things are too true to be funny. Try this web economy bullshit generator and try to find a phrase you definitely won’t hear around the traps…it’s harder than you think! Once you decide to integrate transparent applications, you’ll be able to recontextualize frictionless methodologies and ​embrace bricks-and-clicks architectures.