November 16, 2009

Hello Developers,


Today I have quite a few links to share with you! I hope these links will provide you with a great deal of information:

• Ebooks 101: This is a link to a recorded training from the in-service. It is a 45 minute session that tells you all about the Ebooks that are available through the GEN library. There are a ton of hidden gems in the library - check it out! Thanks Elaine for sharing this with us!


• Learning Through Play: This is a link to a recorded training from the in-service. It is a 45 minute session that talks about how to use play to increase student learning. Great tips for having fun with your course design! Thanks Heather for sharing this with us!


• Blackboard Grade Center: This is a link to a recorded training from the in-service. It is a 45 minute session that gives you a ton of tips and tricks about the grade center. If you are uncomfortable working in the grade center this training is well worth your time. Thanks Kelly for sharing this with us!


• Two New Skillsoft Resources: This is a 4 minute Jing training. We have signed a new contract with SkillSoft and it now includes TWO new pieces: The Leadership Channel (Leadership Videos by high profile speakers) and The Business Exploration Series (Management/leadership Interactive Simulations). See how to access each area in the 4 minute training. Please USE these videos and simulations for your developments.


• Cramberry Flash Cards: This is a short training done by Heather Thomton-Stockman on how to create flash cards using cramberry. It is a great way to familiarize yourself with this tool as well as using flashcards on the internet in general. Here is a link to other flash card sites

Have a great week!

Amy

June 15, 2009

Good Afternoon Developers,

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! If you live in Minnesota, it is finally starting to feel like summer here. If you live in other states, I hope you are enjoying some summer weather too.

As you continue working on your course development(s), please be thinking of ways to incorporate writing into your course(s). Globe Education Network's Writing Across the Curriculum initiative serves to prepare our students to be effective communicators in their professions. Recognizing this at the development stage of a course helps to reinforce this in all programs.

When it comes to creating a writing assignment, in today's media world the options are endless. While the informality of online or social writing and its place in academia is highly debated,
The Chronicle of Higher Education highlights an excellent study out of Stanford in terms of what students can gain from both formal and informal writing assignments. I encourage you to click here and read this article: Studies Explore Whether the Internet Makes Students Better Writers. The "Curricular Implications" segment in particular offers some great ideas on how informal writing as part of a course can strongly prepare students for the real life professional environment.

After reading the article, I encourage you to think of a writing assignment that you could implement into your course development(s) even if the course(s) is not a traditional writing course.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thanks,
Heather

January 5th, 2009

Good Morning!

This is my first post of 2009 - I hope that everyone had a great holiday! I hope that you all had a chance to work on your courses over the break, but just in case you didn't I want to alert you of a few changes in Blackboard:

• Over the break we updated to a new version of Blackboard. When you go into find your grade book you will now find the "Grade Center" instead. I will be e-mailing out the new "how to" document on the grade center, but a few pointers are listed below.
• To move stuff around in the Grade Center hover over "Manage" and click on "Organize Grade Center". Use the Drag and Drop Feature on the far left column to sort the assignments by unit and then click "submit" on the lower right.
• To view the total points in the grade book (grade center) you go to the "total" column and select the drop down arrow and then select Column Information.
• The Grade Center does not update as quickly as the grade book. If you update something you will likely need to go back to the control panel and then back into the grade center to see the change you made.

I hope you are all enjoying working on your courses and that you have a great week!

Amy