Warren Munick, an econ faculty, has presented on this student-driven guest speaker series for some CMC groups.
There's a terrific article on e-news today detailing how students identify speakers and research econ issues prior to the guest's visit.
Guest speakers add real-life perspective. In Leadville's case, it is also a terrific opportunity to connect community experts with CMC learners.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Web 2.0 for College Writing
UNC Colleague Dr. Ben Varner shared a wealth of Web 2.0 sources that were a handout for his presentation at the 5C's conference last Friday in Aims. Thank you, Ben!
Dr. Ben Varner University of Northern Colorado
Web 2.0 Applications
Grammar Bytes: http://chompchomp.com/menu.htm
Daily Grammar Website: http://www.dailygrammar.com/
E.L. Easton's English Quizzes: http://eleaston.com/quizzes.html
Guide to Grammar and Writing: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
Paragraph Punch: http://www.paragraphpunch.com/
Purdue OWL: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
Academic Writing Module: Paragraphs: http://www.victoria.ac.nz/llc/academic-writing/
CSU Writing Guide: http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/
WikiSpaces (create a free wiki): http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers100K
Wikipedia School and University Projects: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:School_and_university_projects
Teachnology (create a free website): http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/web_site/ Googledocs (Writely): http://tinyurl.com/2zktwe
Wetpaint (Create a wiki in three easy steps):
http://www.wetpaint.com/
Paradigm: Online Writing Assistant: http://www.powa.org/
Essay Punch: http://www.essaypunch.com/
Using English for Academic Purposes: http://www.uefap.com/writing/writfram.htm
Protagonize: http://protagonize.com/
Visualize: http://vi.sualize.us/
Footnote: http://www.footnote.com/index.php
Smile (Server Managed Interactive Learning Exercises): http://clear.msu.edu/teaching/online/mimea/smile/v2/index.php
Brain Pop (subscription required): http://www.brainpop.com/english/seeall/
Community Walk: http://www.communitywalk.com/
Tumblr (Tumble Logs): http://www.tumblr.com/
Great Source: http://www.greatsource.com/iwrite/students/s_expos.html
Writing Fun: http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/jeather/writingfun/writingfun.html
BBC Skillswise: http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/writing/
BookGlutton: http://www.bookglutton.com/ReadWithMe
Albion College Digital Portfolio: http://www.albion.edu/digitalportfolio/#Top
Nik Peachy's Blog (Essays based on pictures): http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/2008/01/pictures-worth.html
Open your own chatroom: http://www.chatzy.com NEH EDsitement Website: http://edsitement.neh.gov/
Thousands of Full-Text Free Books: http://www.fullbooks.com/
Engrade (Free gradebook): http://www.engrade.com/
Skype (free telephone calls): http://www.skype.com/
Docstoc (Shared documents): http://www.docstoc.com/search/essays/
Jottit (Create a free website instantly): http://jottit.com/
Teacher Tube (Educational videos): http://www.teachertube.com/
Edublogs: http://edublogs.org/wp-signup.php
Read Please: http://www.readplease.com/
Read the Words: http://www.readthewords.com/
Political Cartoons (Visual Rhetoric): http://politicalcartoons.com/
GoogleSites (Collaborative website): http://sites.google.com/
Wikipedia Writing Assignments: http://scholarship20.blogspot.com/2008/03/wikipedia-writing.html
Webquests (How to create a webquest): http://webquest.org/index-create.php
Educational Uses of Second Life: http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/educationaluses
Open Source Content Management System: http://www.joomla.org/
Dr. Ben Varner University of Northern Colorado
Web 2.0 Applications
Grammar Bytes: http://chompchomp.com/menu.htm
Daily Grammar Website: http://www.dailygrammar.com/
E.L. Easton's English Quizzes: http://eleaston.com/quizzes.html
Guide to Grammar and Writing: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
Paragraph Punch: http://www.paragraphpunch.com/
Purdue OWL: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
Academic Writing Module: Paragraphs: http://www.victoria.ac.nz/llc/academic-writing/
CSU Writing Guide: http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/
WikiSpaces (create a free wiki): http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers100K
Wikipedia School and University Projects: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:School_and_university_projects
Teachnology (create a free website): http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/web_site/ Googledocs (Writely): http://tinyurl.com/2zktwe
Wetpaint (Create a wiki in three easy steps):
http://www.wetpaint.com/
Paradigm: Online Writing Assistant: http://www.powa.org/
Essay Punch: http://www.essaypunch.com/
Using English for Academic Purposes: http://www.uefap.com/writing/writfram.htm
Protagonize: http://protagonize.com/
Visualize: http://vi.sualize.us/
Footnote: http://www.footnote.com/index.php
Smile (Server Managed Interactive Learning Exercises): http://clear.msu.edu/teaching/online/mimea/smile/v2/index.php
Brain Pop (subscription required): http://www.brainpop.com/english/seeall/
Community Walk: http://www.communitywalk.com/
Tumblr (Tumble Logs): http://www.tumblr.com/
Great Source: http://www.greatsource.com/iwrite/students/s_expos.html
Writing Fun: http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/jeather/writingfun/writingfun.html
BBC Skillswise: http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/writing/
BookGlutton: http://www.bookglutton.com/ReadWithMe
Albion College Digital Portfolio: http://www.albion.edu/digitalportfolio/#Top
Nik Peachy's Blog (Essays based on pictures): http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/2008/01/pictures-worth.html
Open your own chatroom: http://www.chatzy.com NEH EDsitement Website: http://edsitement.neh.gov/
Thousands of Full-Text Free Books: http://www.fullbooks.com/
Engrade (Free gradebook): http://www.engrade.com/
Skype (free telephone calls): http://www.skype.com/
Docstoc (Shared documents): http://www.docstoc.com/search/essays/
Jottit (Create a free website instantly): http://jottit.com/
Teacher Tube (Educational videos): http://www.teachertube.com/
Edublogs: http://edublogs.org/wp-signup.php
Read Please: http://www.readplease.com/
Read the Words: http://www.readthewords.com/
Political Cartoons (Visual Rhetoric): http://politicalcartoons.com/
GoogleSites (Collaborative website): http://sites.google.com/
Wikipedia Writing Assignments: http://scholarship20.blogspot.com/2008/03/wikipedia-writing.html
Webquests (How to create a webquest): http://webquest.org/index-create.php
Educational Uses of Second Life: http://sleducation.wikispaces.com/educationaluses
Open Source Content Management System: http://www.joomla.org/
A Session About Placing Directions in Course Shells
At Telecoop last week, Mary Croissant from FRCC provided this session on writing instructions and getting students to read them:
Instructions provide the path.
Let learners take responsibility for reading and following instructions.
Smart Redundancy: She supports placing instructions in more than one place and provides them in multiple ways.
Possible Places in a course shell where you can place directions:
Learning Module
Course Contents
Assignment Drop Boxes
Audio Presentations
Video Presentations
Home Page as Separate Icon
In Announcements (with the email option)
In the Calendar
Can there be overkill w/ redundancy?
Redundancy can mean you provide directions in text and auditory formats.
Robert C from CMC tells students to use the assignments page as a checklist.
Keep a course blog where the directions are posted.
Mary's experiences:
She participated in a peer, writing-across-the-curriculum. She re-wrote directions and said the quality of papers has improved. She checks in student view once a week to double check it is where you think it is. She also sought student advice.
Student advice:
Be funny.
One faculty included a weird phrase in the directions (ex. “green duck”). We are supposed to put the phrase on our papers to indicate we read the directions.
“Say it out loud as well as in print.”
Don’t include dates in the directions if you plan to use material again.
Side Info: She said that the GT course expectation that 25% of a course assessments will call for writing.
Communication is such a complex process. I really appreciated this session. The only thing I'd personally add is an anonymous discussion topic for each week where students can ask questions about the directions...
Instructions provide the path.
Let learners take responsibility for reading and following instructions.
Smart Redundancy: She supports placing instructions in more than one place and provides them in multiple ways.
Possible Places in a course shell where you can place directions:
Learning Module
Course Contents
Assignment Drop Boxes
Audio Presentations
Video Presentations
Home Page as Separate Icon
In Announcements (with the email option)
In the Calendar
Can there be overkill w/ redundancy?
Redundancy can mean you provide directions in text and auditory formats.
Robert C from CMC tells students to use the assignments page as a checklist.
Keep a course blog where the directions are posted.
Mary's experiences:
She participated in a peer, writing-across-the-curriculum. She re-wrote directions and said the quality of papers has improved. She checks in student view once a week to double check it is where you think it is. She also sought student advice.
Student advice:
Be funny.
One faculty included a weird phrase in the directions (ex. “green duck”). We are supposed to put the phrase on our papers to indicate we read the directions.
“Say it out loud as well as in print.”
Don’t include dates in the directions if you plan to use material again.
Side Info: She said that the GT course expectation that 25% of a course assessments will call for writing.
Communication is such a complex process. I really appreciated this session. The only thing I'd personally add is an anonymous discussion topic for each week where students can ask questions about the directions...
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Learning Feedback During the Term and Team Work
I'm at the Innovation2008 Conference in Breckenridge. This morning I attended Ana Paula Correia's presentation based on her recent article in Innovate Journal Online: http://innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=495&action=synopsis
By establishing an account, you can read all articles in this online journal.
This was a most enjoyable presentation because it was a real, in-the-trenches account of how the faculty built real-life projects and team projects into the course.
Here are two highlights I'd like to share:
Her remark about giving ongoing dialogue with on how things are going during the term: "There's nothing I can do for those students if I only look at the end-of-term evaluation."
By establishing an account, you can read all articles in this online journal.
This was a most enjoyable presentation because it was a real, in-the-trenches account of how the faculty built real-life projects and team projects into the course.
Here are two highlights I'd like to share:
Her remark about giving ongoing dialogue with on how things are going during the term: "There's nothing I can do for those students if I only look at the end-of-term evaluation."
This question from the audience: "How do you make a team and not just a group?"
Ana did have a few readings she gave the class members about team-based projects. She has generously offered to share sources if I email her.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Great Resources for April's National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry month and the American Academy of Poets offers some amazing resources at poets.org with recordings, bios, events,and poem-a-day deliveries into your email.
The Library of Congress, NEA, and other partners have funded another media-rich project called The Favorite Poem project which hosts videos of American reciting their favorite poems: http://www.favoritepoem.org/
Want to participate by recording a poem you've written or read? You can do so through a free service call Gabcast. A channel we've set up for National Poetry Month is called Necessary Angels after a poem by Wallace Stevens. To listen to recordings, go to gabcast.com and search by Necessary Angel or the channel number which is 18857. You can listen to recordings there.
If you want to create a recording for this channel, call 1.800.749.0632. When asked for the channel number, enter 18857# and when asked for the password, enter 42008#.
There is no cost to create a recording (only cost to you is cell minutes if you are on a cell phone).
The Library of Congress, NEA, and other partners have funded another media-rich project called The Favorite Poem project which hosts videos of American reciting their favorite poems: http://www.favoritepoem.org/
Want to participate by recording a poem you've written or read? You can do so through a free service call Gabcast. A channel we've set up for National Poetry Month is called Necessary Angels after a poem by Wallace Stevens. To listen to recordings, go to gabcast.com and search by Necessary Angel or the channel number which is 18857. You can listen to recordings there.
If you want to create a recording for this channel, call 1.800.749.0632. When asked for the channel number, enter 18857# and when asked for the password, enter 42008#.
There is no cost to create a recording (only cost to you is cell minutes if you are on a cell phone).
Thursday, April 3, 2008
CMC Aspen Partners with Local and National Sources for a Community Read
Aspen CMC has partnered with several agencies to bring a series of reading events to the Roaring Fork Community with the book Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya.On April 9th,a panel of professional writers and teachers will talk about effective book group strategies. The event will be held from 6pm-7pm. Call 925-7740 to reserve a seat!(Office hours: M-Th 8am-10pm, F 8am-5pm). The location for this event is Aspen CMC Morgridge Family Academic Center, 255 Sage Way, Room 216. Complimentary Spanish and English versions of the book will be given to attendees.
On April 30th, from 6:00pm-7:00pm, there will also be a book discussion that utlizes the book discussion strategies. This event will also be at the Aspen Colorado Mountain College Morgridge Family Center, Room 216.
These events are presented in partnership with the Aspen Writers’ Foundation and Pitkin County Library,presenters of the Big Read Roaring Fork Valley: http://www.aspenwriters.org.
The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Arts Midwest: http://neabigread.org/books/blessmeultima
This blogger remarks: What are the benefits of community literary reads? Community, textual literacy and critical thinking, plus the exposure to imaginative writing.
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