UAA e-Learning Graduate Certificate Program

Conference

2009-11-24T22:24:00.001-09:00

I have attended this conference in the past and found it informative...

INBOX

Message List | Delete Previous | Next Forward | Forward as Attachment | Reply | Reply All
Subject: TCC 2010 (Apr 20-22): Call for Papers & Presentations
From: "Bert Kimura"
Date: Tue, November 24, 2009 8:21 am
To: TCCOHANA-L@HAWAII.EDU
Priority: Normal
Options: View Full Header | View Printable Version | View Message details | This is Spam

TCC 2010 (Apr 20-22): Call for Papers & Presentations

[Our apologies to those receiving multiple copies of this message.]

15th Annual
TCC WORLDWIDE ONLINE CONFERENCE
April 20-22, 2010
Pre-conference dates: April 7-8, 2010

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow
~ Communication, Community, Ubiquitous Learning, Mobility and Best Choices ~

Submission deadline: January 15, 2010
Homepage: http://tcc.kcc.hawaii.edu

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

TCC 2010 invites faculty, support staff, librarians, counselors, student affairs professionals, students, administrators, and educational consultants to submit proposals for papers and general sessions.

THEME
Since the first TCC Online Conference, the Internet has evolved into a global workspace for communication, collaboration, and community. People, technologies, services, and perspectives have converged on a single platform.
The Internet has changed the teaching profession. How do faculty communicate, collaborate, innovate to produce useful student learning outcomes that differs from the past?
College students place high priority on using mobile smart phones and engaging online social communities daily. What can we learn from our students? How do we build on our students' expertise in digital media, personal publishing, and social networking?
Web 2.0 will continue to evolve. What effective practices have emerged in online learning? How do we assess student learning? How will smart mobile devices be adapted for learning? What is the institutional affect of virtual worlds such as Second Life?
TOPICS
TCC invites papers and general sessions on the continuing progress of distance learning, virtual communities, collaborative learning, social networking, and best choices for instructional technologies such as:

- Retrospectives and personal experiences with the evolution of learning technologies
- Perspectives and applications of Web 2.0 tools for teaching and learning
- Technology applications that facilitate communication, collaboration, sharing, and social networking
- Building and sustaining learning communities
- Instructional applications in virtual worlds (Second Life, etc.)
- Distance learning including mobile learning
- Ubiquitous and lifelong learning
- Open content and open source
- E-portfolios and other assessment tools
- Student orientation and preparation
- Student success and assessment strategies in online learning
- Student services online (tutoring, advising, mentoring, career planning, technology support, help desk, etc.)
- Online learning resources (library, learning centers, etc.)
- Online, hybrid, blended or other modes of technology enhanced learning
- Professional development for faculty and staff
- Accessibility for seniors and persons with disabilities
- Gender equity, digital divide, intercultural understanding, and open access
- Managing information technology and change in educational institutions
- Institutional planning and pedagogy catalyzed by technology advances
- Global learning, ubiquitous learning, and intercultural communication
- The status of educational technology around the world
- Other topics related to online learning and the application of educational technologies

PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS
This conference accepts proposals in two formats: papers and general sessions. Submissions will be accepted online.

For submission details, see:
http://tcc.kcc.hawaii.edu/2010/pres-info.html

To submit a proposal, go to:
http://bit.ly/tcc2010proposal

The coordinators are especially interested in receiving proposals that involve student collaborators. Fees for student presenters will be waived.

The submission deadline is January 15, 2010.

PRESENTERS
- Conduct a 45-minute informal, interactive online session for your paper or general session.
- Upload a photo and brief professional bio to the conference web site.
- Respond to questions and comments from conference participants.
- Participate in a wrap-up session on the day of your presentation.
- Verify descriptions that will be posted to registered participants before the conference.
- Respond to email, as appropriate, from the conference and presenters mailing lists.

REGISTRATION
All presenters are required to register online and pay the conference fee ($99 USD; $149 USD after March 31). Group registration rates for faculty and students are available. Contact Sharon Fowler for details .

VENUE
This conference is held entirely online using a web browser on a computer equipped with a headphones and a microphone. Broadband Internet access is highly recommended.

SPONSORS & VENDORS
Organizations or companies interested in becoming a sponsor of this event may contact John Walber of LearningTimes .

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For additional information, see . For further inquiry, contact Bert Kimura or Curtis Ho .

Technology support and services for this event is provided by our partners at LearningTimes.org.

# # # # #

TCCOHANA-L. You are receiving this message as a member of the TCC Worldwide Online Conference Mailing List, TCCOHANA-L@lists.hawaii.edu. To unsubscribe, send a message from this email address to listserv@lists.hawaii.edu. In the BODY of the message, type: SIGNOFF TCCOHANA-L. For assistance, please contact Bert Kimura . Thank you for your support of the TCC Worldwide Online Conference.

Download this as a file

Attachments:
untitled-[1] 5.3 k [ text/plain ] Download | View

Delete & Prev | Delete & Next
Move to:

Free webinar

2009-10-28T10:46:00.001-08:00

_______________________________________________

Social Media Seminar Series: Trends and Implications for Learning (Online & No Fee)

Friday, October 30, 2009: 9:00 PM Eastern USA
(World Clock Calculator: http://url.aace.org/ft/200910302100)

Faculty:
George Siemens - Learning Technologies Centre, Univ. of Manitoba, Canada
David Cormier - Univ. of Prince Edward Island, Canada

Organized by:
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)
(http://AACE.org )
Co-sponsored by:
Education & Information Technology Library (http://EdITLib.org )
___________________________________________________________

**Please forward to a colleague**

SOCIAL MEDIA SEMINAR SERIES
http://AACE.org/GlobalU/seminars/socialmedia/

AACE Global U is pleased to announce the next seminar in its already successful series, "Social Media: Trends and Implications for Learning." The seminar series, led by George Siemens and David Cormier, is without fee and will include live interactive sessions, in addition to discussions with guest speakers and participants. All sessions are co-sponsored by and archived in the Education & Information Technology Library (http://EdITLib.org )

Social media and emerging technologies are gaining increased attention for use in education. The list of tools grows daily. Examples: blogs, wikis, Ning, podcasts, Facebook, Twitter, Second Life, cloud computing, surface computing, mobile learning, and so on. "Social Media" seminars explore the impact of new technologies, research, and related projects. Finding coherence in the midst of rapid changes is increasingly difficult.

This monthly session will create a forum for educators to gather, present, and discuss the future impact of today's trends.
_______________________________________________

FREE October 23rd EDUCAUSE OPEN SOURCE EVENT

2009-10-14T14:41:00.001-08:00

Oct. 23—Throwing Open the Doors: Strategies and Implications for Open Access

Tracy Mitrano
Director of IT Policy
Cornell University

Heather Joseph
Executive Director
Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Commission

Topic: Throwing Open the Doors: Strategies and Implications for Open Access
Date: October 23, 2009
Time: 1:00 p.m. EDT (12:00 p.m. CDT, 11:00 a.m. MDT, 10:00 a.m. PDT). International participants: You may wish to visit this external time-conversion website to calculate the start time in your time zone.
Duration: 1 hour
In the past decade, the proliferation of Web 2.0 tools for sharing and creating knowledge, coupled with the creation of open-access journals, databases, and archives across the web, has begun to redefine the concept of “openness” in higher education. Advocates of the open-access campaign argue that free, virtual access to scholarly works and research advance scientific discovery and lead to faster knowledge dissemination and richer research collaborations, throwing open the doors that once restricted knowledge sharing and exploration. Critics of the movement have doubted its economic sustainability and raised concerns about its impact on peer review. Regardless, open access requires a new examination of campus copyright and publishing policy. Join us as we discuss the strategies and definitions behind open access and its implications for campus IT, librarians, administrators, and policy offices.

Please note: Materials for facilitating an onsite event around this EDUCAUSE Live! session have been provided on the Campus Team Facilitator Kit wiki. The kit provides the resources you need to transform EDUCAUSE content and events into engaging, thought-provoking events on your own campus. Materials include e-mail prompts to recruit team members, discussion questions, and tips for future action.

The event is free, but registration is required and virtual seating is limited. REGISTER NOW.

Explore Related EDUCAUSE Resources
Follow the link(s) below for articles, conference materials, blog postings, and more in the EDUCAUSE Resource Center. Wherever you see the icon in the upper right of a page (make sure you're logged in to see it), click on it to receive e-mail alerts when related resources are added.
Library Resources on Open Access
7 Things You Should Know About Creative Commons
"Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0"
Additional Resources
Downloadable videos and readings from Open Access Week
Open Education: A New Paradigm
Opening Up Education: The Collective Advancement of Education through Open Technology, Open Content, and Open Knowledge
Technical Requirements
Whether you've participated in an EDUCAUSE Live! Web Seminar before or you're joining us for the first time, please run the Adobe Acrobat Connect Connection Test before the event. View the Adobe Connect technical requirements.
About EDUCAUSE Live!
Struggling to stay current in spite of tight budgets and limited time? Tune in to EDUCAUSE Live!, the online seminar series that lets you interact with today's leaders and pioneers in higher education IT—from the convenience of your own desktop.
During these free events, host Steve Worona and a special guest discuss and answer your questions about a hot issue or emerging trend that has an impact on IT in higher education.
Find archives of past seminars and information about other upcoming events on the EDUCAUSE Live! website.

EDUCAUSE Live! Home Page | FAQ | Technical Information | Contact Information
Professional Development at EDUCAUSE | EDUCAUSE Home Page | Privacy Policy
You are receiving this message because EDUCAUSE believes you will benefit from this information. If you want to be removed from this list, send an e-mail to remove@educause.edu with "remove LIVE ANNOUNCE" in the subject line. For other questions, contact EDUCAUSE at info@educause.edu or 4772 Walnut St., Suite 206, Boulder, CO 80301.

Call for Presentations

2009-09-28T11:03:00.000-08:00

====================================
CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY 2010:
CALL FOR OUTSTANDING PRESENTATIONS
====================================

Campus Technology 2010
July 19 - 22, 2010
Seaport World Trade Center
Boston, MA

GAIN exposure for your work and BENEFIT from in-depth discussions with your peers when you BECOME A SPEAKER at Campus Technology 2010, July 19 - 22, 2010, in Boston, MA. Campus Technology 2010, a division of 1105 Media, Inc., is recognized nationally as a venue where leaders in higher education technology come to share their innovations, methods and best practices with their colleagues.

This year we are especially seeking proposals for sessions that cover how education programs and instructional strategies are supported by the latest information and education technologies. Learning applications and tools, instructional design, learning spaces/smart classrooms, digital campus and IT infrastructure and leadership/strategy are topics of particular interest, along with presenters with expertise in Web 2.0 tools, social software, immersive environments, handheld devices and other technologies applied to teaching and learning.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
***SUBMIT YOUR PRESENTATION FOR ANY RANGE OF SESSION FORMATS***

Indicate breakout session, hands-on workshop, poster session and more. We encourage highly interactive expert panel presentations, case studies, shootouts, expert Q & A, audience participation sessions, audience polling--it's your moment to share your ideas and experiences with peers and experts, so be creative!

>> For a list of topic ideas, information on submission guidelines and access to the electronic submission form, visit:
http://www.1105info.com/t.do?id=3408651:294061

===========================================================

***DON'T DELAY! Deadline for submissions is Friday, November 6, 2009***

============================================================

Site Conference

2009-09-27T20:43:00.000-08:00

SITE 2010

Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education
International Conference

(Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina)

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

** Submissions Due: Oct. 21, 2009 **

Organized by:
Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE)

and
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)
http://aace.org/

Co-sponsored by:
Education & Information Technology Digital Library
http://EdITLib.org
______________________________________________________________

AVAILABLE (digital & paper formats):
Research Highlights in Technology and Teacher Education 2009
http://editlib.org/p/31425

** SUBMIT YOUR FULL PAPER FOR THE 2010 BOOK **

SITE 2010 will offer again an alternative Full Paper submission category.
"Full Papers (Book)" are Full Paper submiss inal by Oct. 21.
These will be reviewed for publication in a book of selected papers as well as a presentation.
http://site.aace.org/conf/categories.htm#FullPapersBook
_____________________________________________________

COLOR POSTER--SITE 2010 CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
Available to Print & Distribute (PDF to print)
http://site.aace.org/conf/pdf/SITE10poster.pdf

>> CONTENTS & LINKS <<

1. Invitation & Call for Papers, Deadline Oct. 21: http://s m

2. Scope & Topics: http://site.aace.org/conf/topics.htm

4. Presentation Categories: http://site.aace.org/conf/categories.htm
5. Proceedings & Paper Awards: http://site.aace.org/pubs/

6. Corporate Participation: http://site.aace.org/conf/corporate.htm
7. For Budgeting Purposes: http://site.aace.org/conf/rates ONT face=Arial size=3>8. San Diego, California: http://site.aace.org/conf/cities/san-diego/
9. Deadlines: http://site.aace.org/conf/deadlines.htm

INVITATION & CALL FOR PAPERS, DUE OCT. 21:
------------------------------------------------------------------
SITE 2010 is the 21st annual conference of the Society for Information
Technology and Teacher Education. This society represents individual
teacher educators and affiliated organizations of teacher educators in all
disciplines, who are interested in the creation and dissemination of
knowledge about the use of information technology in teacher education and
faculty/staff development.

You are invited to participate in which offers
numerous opportunities to explore the research, development, and applications
in this important field. All proposals are peer reviewed.

SITE is the premiere international conference in this field and annually
attracts more than 1,200 leaders in the field from over 50 countries.

* Keynote Speakers & Invited Panels/Speakers
* Papers (Full & Brief) & Posters/Demonstrations
* Corporate Showcases & Demonstrations
* Tutorials/Workshops
* Roundtables & Symposia

-----------------------
Submission Guide: http://site.aace.org/conf/submitguide.htm
Presentation and AV Guide: < e.aace.org/conf/PresenterLounge" eudora="autourl">http://site.aace.org/conf/PresenterLounge
Presenter Lounge: http://site.aace.org/conf/PresenterLounge
------------------------

SCOPE & TOPICS:
-------------------------
http://site.aace.org/conf/topics.htm

The Conference invites proposals from the introductory through advanced level
on all topics related to:

(1) the use of information technology in teacher education, and information technology in
* Preservice
* Inservice
* Graduate Teacher Education
* Faculty & Staff Development

Proposals which address the theory, research and applications as well as
describe innovative projects are encouraged.

GENERAL TOPICS:
* Assessment and E-folios
* Corporate
* Digital Video
* Distance/Flexible Education
* Electronic Playground
* Equity and Social Justice
* Evaluation and Research
* Games and Simulations
* Graduate Education and Faculty Development
* Information Literacy
* Information Technology Diffusion/Integration
* International
* Latino/Spanish Speaking Community
* Leadership
* New Possibilities with Information Technologies
* Web/Learning Communities
* Workforce Education

CONTENT AREA TOPICS:
* Art Education
* Early Childhood Education
* English Education
* Human Languages Educat nology Education
* Innovative Technology Experiences for Teachers and Students (ITEST)
* Mathematics Education
* Middle School Education
* Science Education
* Social Studies Education
* Special Education/Assistive Technology
* Technological, Pedagogical, And Content Knowledge (TPACK)

PRESENTATION CATEGORIES:
------------------------------------------
http://site.aace.org/conf/categories.htm
The Technical Program includes a wide range of interesting and useful
activities designed to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information. These include
keynote and invited talks, paper presentations, roundtables,
poster/demonstrations, tutorials/workshops, panels, and corporate showcases.

PROCEEDINGS:
----------------------
ht T>Accepted papers will be published by AACE in the Technology and Teacher
Education Annual proceedings series. Books in this series serve as major
source documents indicating the current state of teacher education and
information technology. This proceedings will be published as a searchable
electronic book on CD-ROM.

The Proceedings are internationally distributed through and archived in the
Education and Information Technology Digital Library, http://EdITLib.org.

First and second paper authors are limited to two papers published in the
Annual.

PAPER AWARDS:
-----------------------
http://site.aace.org/pubs/
All presented papers will be considered for Best Paper Awards within
R>Award winning papers may be invited for publication in the:
- Journal of Technology and Teacher Education (JTATE) ( http://site.aace.org/pubs/jtate/) or
- Online journal, Contemporary Issues in Technology & Teacher Education (CITE) ( http://www.citejournal.org/),

Highlighted in the:
- Education and Information Technology Digital Library, http://EdITLib.org.

CORPORATE PARTICIPATION:
-----------------------------------------
http://site.aace.org/conf/corporate.htm
s are available to present research-oriented
papers, or to showcase and market your products and services. For information about Corporate
Showcases (30 minutes) and Corporate Demonstrations (2-hours, scheduled with the Poster/Demos),
click here.

FOR BUDGETING PURPOSES:
------------------------------------------
http://site.aace.org/conf/rates.htm
http://site.aace.org/conf/hotel.htm
The conference registration fee for all presenters and participants will be
approximately $325 (members); $365 (non-members). Registration includes Proceedings on
CD, receptions, and all sessions except tutorials.

The conference hotel, the beautiful Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina, is offering SITE a specially discounted
guest ngle/double).

SAN DIEGO, CA:
----------------------
http://site.aace.org/conf/cities/san-diego/

Where blue skies, miles of beaches, and a gentle Mediterranean climate meet!

It's not just a conference; it can be a vacation! So plan to join us in San Diego for SITE 2010 a great conference in one of America's greatest destinations.

For more information about San Diego, CA, USA, see: www.sandiego.org

DEADLINES:
----------------
Proposals Due: Oct. 21, 2009
Authors Notified: , 2009
Proceedings File Due: Feb. 10, 2010
Early Registration: Feb. 10, 2010
Hotel Reservation: Mar. 1, 2010
Conference: Mar. 29 - April 2, 2010

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Join the SITE Community: http://www.sitecommunity.org/

To be added to the mailing list for this conference, link
to http://aace.org/info.htm

If you have a question about SITE, please send an e-mail to
SITE/AACE Conference Services, conf@aace.o E--Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education
P.O. Box 1545, Chesapeake, Virginia 23327 USA
Phone: 757-366-5606 * Fax: 703-997-8760
E-mail: conf@aace.org * http://site.AACE.org

Dystopia of Distance Learning

2009-09-24T15:23:00.000-08:00

Anyone want to co-author a response???

-The Dystopia of Distance Learning
Reading Zephyr Teachout’s dire warning in her article in this morning’s Washington Post (it appeared in Slate earlier in the week) that online education will eventually take over almost all of higher education if we don’t do something about it -- now -- I couldn’t help but remember my experience visiting the IBM pavilion at the World’s Fair in Flushing, NY, in 1964. Ms. Teachout, associate professor of law at Fordham, is knowledgeable, and clearly worried about the future of higher education. She’s also very smart. Nevertheless, she would do well to remember that predictions about where human beings are headed are inherently problematic.

UAA joins Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Open School

2009-09-07T23:20:00.002-08:00

UAA announced recently in that it has joined the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Open School for Health Professions.

This opportunity is free and available through online classes, podcasts and videos. There are no applications, no admissions requirements, and no due dates. University of Alaska Anchorage students will also have the ability to participate in monthly on-campus events as well.

IHI states is an interprofessional educational community that gives students the skills to become agents of change in health care improvement. Students in nursing, medicine, allied health, pharmacy, dentistry, policy and other health professions are encouraged to participate in order to gain and improve skills like quality improvement, patient safety, teamwork, leadership and patient-centered care.

This looks like a promising prospect for students to become exposed to Open learning and advance their skills. It is good to see the healthcare profession recognizing these courses as accomplishments.

It looks like there are plans to offer completion certificates, although this option is not yet available.

For additional information about the UAA chapter, contact Heidi Mannion at afham@uaa.alaska.edu or (907) 786-6924 or visit the UAA IHI Open School Web site.

SITE Conference: Call for Papers

2009-09-01T17:50:00.000-08:00

* Please forward to a colleague *

http://site.aace.org/conf/
______________________________________________________

SITE 2010

Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education
&nb onference

March 29 - April 2, 2010 * San Diego, CA

(Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina)

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

** Submissions Due: Oct. 21, 2009 **

Organized by:
Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE)
http://site.aace.org/
and
Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)
http://aace.org/

Co-sponsored by:
Education & Information Technology Digital Library
&nbs ; http://EdITLib.org
______________________________________________________________

AVAILABLE (digital & paper formats):
Research Highlights in Technology and Teacher Education 2009
http://editlib.org/p/31425

** SUBMIT YOUR FULL PAPER FOR THE 2010 BOOK **

SITE 2010 will offer again an alternative Full Paper submission category.
"Full Papers (Book)" are Full Paper submissions submitted .
These will be reviewed for publication in a book of selected papers as well as a presentation.
http://site.aace.org/conf/categories.htm#FullPapersBook
_____________________________________________________

COLOR POSTER--SITE 2010 CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
Available to Print & Distribute (PDF to print)
http://site.aace.org/conf/pdf/SITE10poster.pdf

>> CONTENTS & LINKS <<

1. Invitation & Call for Papers, Deadline Oct. 21: http://site.aace.org/conf/call.htm

2. Scope &am ; Topics: http://site.aace.org/conf/topics.htm

4. Presentation Categories: http://site.aace.org/conf/categories.htm
5. Proceedings & Paper Awards: http://site.aace.org/pubs/

6. Corporate Participation: http://site.aace.org/conf/corporate.htm
7. For Budgeting Purposes: http://site.aace.org/conf/rates.htm

8. San Diego, California: http://site.aace.org/conf/cities/san-diego/
9. Deadlines: http://site.aace.org/conf/deadlines.htm

INVITATION & CALL FOR PAPERS, DUE OCT. 21:
------------------------------------------------------------------
SITE 2010 is the 21st annual conference of the Society for Information
Technology and Teacher Education. This society represents individual
teacher educators and affiliated organizations of teacher educators in all
disciplines, who are interested in the creation and dissemination of
knowledge about the use of information technology in teacher education and
faculty/staff development.

You are invited to participate in this international forum which offers
numerous opportunities to explore the research, development, and applications
in this important field. All prop BR>
SITE is the premiere international conference in this field and annually
attracts more than 1,200 leaders in the field from over 50 countries.

* Keynote Speakers & Invited Panels/Speakers
* Papers (Full & Brief) & Posters/Demonstrations
* Corporate Showcases & Demonstrations
* Tutorials/Workshops
* Roundtables & Symposia

-----------------------
Submission Guide: http://site.aace.org/conf/submitguide.htm
Presentation and AV Guide: http://site.aace.org/conf/PresenterLounge
Pres ref="http://site.aace.org/conf/PresenterLounge" eudora="autourl">http://site.aace.org/conf/PresenterLounge
------------------------

SCOPE & TOPICS:
-------------------------
http://site.aace.org/conf/topics.htm

The Conference invites proposals from the introductory through advanced level
on all topics related to:

(1) the use of information technology in teacher education, and
(2) instruction about information technology in
* Preservice
* Inservice
* Graduate Teacher Education
* Faculty & S roposals which address the theory, research and applications as well as
describe innovative projects are encouraged.

GENERAL TOPICS:
* Assessment and E-folios
* Corporate
* Digital Video
* Distance/Flexible Education
* Electronic Playground
* Equity and Social Justice
* Evaluation and Research
* Games and Simulations
* Graduate Education and Faculty Development
* Information Literacy
* Information Technology Diffusion/Integration
* International
* Latino/Spanish Speaking Community
* Leadership
* New Possibilities with Information Technologies
* Web/Learning Communities
* Workforce Education

CONTENT AREA TOPICS:
* Art Education
* Early Childhood Education
* English Education
* Human Languages Education
* Information Technology Education
* Innovative Technology Experiences for Teachers and Students (ITEST)
* Mathematics Education
* Middle School Education
* Science Education
* Social Studi Education/Assistive Technology
* Technological, Pedagogical, And Content Knowledge (TPACK)

PRESENTATION CATEGORIES:
------------------------------------------
http://site.aace.org/conf/categories.htm
The Technical Program includes a wide range of interesting and useful
activities designed to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information. These include
keynote and invited talks, paper presentations, roundtables,
poster/demonstrations, tutorials/workshops, panels, and corporate showcases.

PROCEEDINGS:
----------------------
http://EdITLib.org
Accepted papers will be published by AACE in the Technology and Teacher
Education Annual proceedings series. Books in this series serve as major
source documents indicating the c ducation and
information technology. This proceedings will be published as a searchable
electronic book on CD-ROM.

The Proceedings are internationally distributed through and archived in the
Education and Information Technology Digital Library, http://EdITLib.org.

First and second paper authors are limited to two papers published in the
Annual.

PAPER AWARDS:
-----------------------
http://site.aace.org/pubs/
All presented papers will be considered for Best Paper Awards within
several categories.

Award winning papers may be invited for publication in the:
- Journal of Technology and Teacher Education (JTATE) ( http://site.aace.org/pubs/jtate/- Online journal, Contemporary Issues in Technology & Teacher Education (CITE) ( http://www.citejournal.org/),

Highlighted in the:
- Education and Information Technology Digital Library, http://EdITLib.org.

CORPORATE PARTICIPATION:
-----------------------------------------
http://site.aace.org/conf/corporate.htm
A variety of opportunities are available to present research-oriented
papers, or to showcase and market your products and services. For information about Corporate
Showcases (30 minutes) and Corporate Demonstrations (2-hours, scheduled with the Poster/Demos),
click here.

FOR BUDGETING PURPOSES:
-------- ---------
http://site.aace.org/conf/rates.htm
http://site.aace.org/conf/hotel.htm
The conference registration fee for all presenters and participants will be
approximately $325 (members); $365 (non-members). Registration includes Proceedings on
CD, receptions, and all sessions except tutorials.

The conference hotel, the beautiful Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina, is offering SITE a specially discounted
guest room rate of $149/169 (single/double).

SAN DIEGO, CA:
----------------------
http://site.aace.org/conf/cities/san-diego/

It's not just a conference; it can be a vacation! So plan to join us in San Diego for SITE 2010 a great conference in one of America's greatest destinations.

For more information about San Diego, CA, USA, see: www.sandiego.org

DEADLINES:
----------------
Proposals Due: Oct. 21, 2009
Authors Notified: Dec. 2, 2009
Proceedings File Due: Feb. 10, 2010
Early Registration: Feb. 10, 2010
Hotel Reservation: Mar. 1, 2010
Conference: 9 - April 2, 2010

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Join the SITE Community: http://www.sitecommunity.org/

To be added to the mailing list for this conference, link
to http://aace.org/info.htm

If you have a question about SITE, please send an e-mail to
SITE/AACE Conference Services, conf@aace.org

Contact:
SITE--Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education
P.O. Box 1545, Chesapeake, Virginia 23327 USA
Phone: 757-366-5606 * Fax: 703-997-8760
E-mail: conf@aace.org * http://site.AACE.org

======================================================== his listserv, send "unsubscribe eductech"
to listserv@listserv.uh.edu; to Subscribe, send "subscribe eductech
your_name" to the same address.

Online Teaching & Learning Conference

2009-08-18T11:04:00.000-08:00

It's time once again for the annual Jossey-Bass Online Teaching and Learning Conference (OTL2009), which is sponsored and produced by LearningTimes. The reviews of OTL2008 were very positive and many people called it the most cost effective professional development they participated in all year. We have an exciting new format in 2009; brand new books included with registration; AND an option for Continuing Education Credits.

The event will take place entirely over the Internet on October 7 and 8, 2000. A special pre-conference workshop, hosted by Fielding Graduate University, will be held on October 6, 2009.

Register now and get early-bird registration savings AND a special discount coupon just for returning participants. If you sign-up before September 19th, you will pay $219 - a savings of $50 off the list price. The savings is even higher for groups of 5 or more.

For more information visit: http://www.onlineteachingandlearning.com

Enter coupon code sqzy2 when prompted, to get your extra savings.

The Jossey-Bass Online Teaching & Learning (OTL) Conference offers concrete and practical resources to help higher education practitioners meet the challenges of the online learning environment. During the conference you will:

-- Meet 20 authors in live interactive sessions

-- Network with hundreds of colleagues from across the globe

-- Participate in engaging keynotes and featured workshop sessions

-- Access archived session information at any time after the conference

-- Experience online learning facilitated by leaders in the field

Add to your instant library:

Registrants receive their choice of ANY THREE of the EIGHT books from the Jossey-Bass Online Teaching & Learning series upon registration,for no additional fee. Complete your library with the latest in the collection:

Learning Online with Games, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds: Strategies for Online Instruction, by Clark Aldrich

Assessing the Online Learner: Resources and Strategies for Faculty by Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt

Using Wikis for Online Collaboration: The Power of the Read-Write Web by James A. West and Margaret L. West

Sign up by September 19, 2009 and save $30.00 with the early-bird offer.

http://www.onlineteachingandlearning.com/register

Enter discount code sqzy2 when prompted, to get an extra $20 savings for returning 2007 and 2008 participants

Groups of 5 to 14 people save 10% and groups of 15 or more save 15% off of the Individual Package Early-Bird rate above. Each registrant in your group receives all of the OTL2009 benefits — including the 3 bonus books!

http://www.onlineteachingandlearning.com/register/#group

We hope to see you online in October!

Warm regards,

John Walber

Social Media: Trends and Implications for Learning

2009-08-06T16:26:00.002-08:00

Social Media: Trends and Implications for Learning (Online & No Fee) http://AACE.org/GlobalU/seminars/socialmedia/ Monday, August 10, 2009; 9 PM (Eastern US) Worldclock: http://url.aace.org/FT/200908102100Faculty: Georg nologies Centre, Univ. of Manitoba, Canada David Cormier - Univ. of Prince Edward Island, Canada > Please forward to a colleague < eudora="autourl">http://AACE.org ) Co-sponsored by Education & Information Technology Library ( http://EdITLib.org)

By my calculations this will be 5pm Alaska time.

Obama and Open Learning

2009-07-31T19:15:00.005-08:00

Our new president is hip to Open Learning.

The Obama Administration recently announced that it is to invest $500 million in the provision of free online learning content. The announcement was made by President Obama on his visit to Macomb Community College, Warren, Michigan on July 14th, and is part of a $10 billion education bill for community colleges and skills training. $500 million would be awarded to create online instructional materials that would be available free to community colleges and their students. Much like OpenLearn and OER, the course materials will be available under a Creative Commons license, being freely available to reuse and remix as appropriate.

"We're going to support the creation of a new online, open-source clearinghouse of courses so that community colleges across the country can offer more classes without building more classrooms. And this will make a big difference especially for rural campuses that a lot of times have struggled to attract students and faculty,” Obama stated. You can read full text of the speech here.

ALISON is an online publisher of high-quality, interactive multimedia training content on a variety of public interest and workplace topics. The content is open and free of charge. ALISON CEO Mike Feerick stated that “the opportunity and potential of free learning was now being accepted by the White House, and this policy step is likely to have global and not just national implications. The investment creates the possibility that all basic education and training will eventually by accessible for free worldwide by encouraging and supporting the model of education pioneered by ALISON.”

The world is waking up to these issues. Less than a month ago, the UK Government also announced a dedication to online learning, giving £7.8m to The Open University to create a support center for OER and share expertise with other institutions.

Locally, and recently, The University of Alaska Fairbanks joined the OpenCourseWare Consortium, joining more than 200 educational institutions around the world, including MIT. You can learn more about this at UAF's uLearn.

These are exiting steps for the higher education community nationwide and worldwide, as the face of the university as a system changes rapidly.

UA, Google, Bboogle and collabrative learning

2009-07-21T11:00:00.004-08:00

On April 14, 2009, The University of Alaska Statewide and UAF announced the consolidation of nearly 20,000 OIT maintained and supported email accounts to the new Google supported Google Apps @ UA interface. This effort will save UA hundreads of thousands of dollars a year. You can read more about this in an article on the Statewide Voice Web site. This is exiting as other Universities serve as success stories using this format.

Recently at the BB World conference, Northwestern University (one of the first Universities to deploy Google Apps Education Edition in 2007), unveiled a Blackboard Building Block called "Bboogle" that they have built and are releasing to the community as open source. Building Block includes single sign-on, automated account provisioning, and automated sharing of Google Documents and Calendars through Blackboard course sites.

According to Jonathan Smith, Software Architect at Northwestern, "I initiated our Google integration project because we were approached by a faculty member in anthropology who had been using Google Apps in his classes. In the past we had used wikis in history classes to allow students to work directly with primary source materials, and it occurred to me that Google Apps could support a much higher level of student and faculty collaboration. By integrating the applications into Blackboard we could make that kind of collaborative learning experience available to more of our students than ever before."

As the University of Alaska Anchorage continues to move forward with their migration to Microsoft Exchange servers, and opt out of the Google migration with UAF and UA Statewide, I can only hope that there will be some sort of studies and cost/benefit analysis done at upper management levels concerning the effectiveness the two platforms. It would be great to see the University of Alaska as a whole all on the same page, lessoning the confusion to students that may be taking classes across the campuses, and futhering UA's ability to participate in such Open platforms.

BuddyPress 1.0 is Released...

2009-05-13T21:31:00.002-08:00

The WordPress team have just released BuddyPress 1.0. BuddyPress is best described as a social network in a box. You can download it and install it on your servers to create your own personal Facebook or MySpace. Best of all its open source so its free! Matt does a good job of explaining why BuddyPress will be so useful…

“I don’t think BuddyPress will be something you use instead of your existing social networks, I mean all your friends are already on Myspace, but if you wanted to start something new maybe with more control, friendlier terms of service, or just something customized and tweaked to fit exactly into your existing site, then BuddyPress is a great framework to use.”

This holds great promise for creating private social networks that you or an organization can control the content and creation. Check it out!

Virtual Worlds? "Outlook Good"

2009-05-13T20:53:00.001-08:00

AJ Kelton (“AJ Brooks”) is Director of Emerging Instructional Technology in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Montclair State University.

"A year ago, I picked up the Magic 8-Ball sitting on my desk and asked: “Are virtual worlds a viable teaching and learning environment?” Turning the ball over, I received my answer: “Reply hazy, try again.” Even six months ago, the outlook for virtual worlds was uncertain. Many people believed that virtual worlds would end up like the eight-track audiotape: a fond memory of something no longer used (or useful). Yet today there are hundreds of higher education institutions represented in three-dimensional (3D) virtual worlds such as Active Worlds and Second Life. Indeed, the movement toward the virtual realm as a viable teaching and learning environment seems unstoppable.

The idea of synchronous interactive spaces is not new, of course. Chat rooms, MOOs, MUDs, and other multi-user online experiences have been on the periphery of education for decades. The 3D interactive environment Active Worlds has been around since 1997. Yet more recently, the mass cultural appeal of Second Life has caused a tectonic shift. An aftershock to the initial boom was the late 2007 introduction of virtual worlds into mainstream popular culture via nighttime television.1 Add the fact that more virtual worlds today are for the under-eighteen crowd than for the over-eighteen users, and we begin to hear what could be the rumblings of a massive shift in the educational paradigm."

Leadership for Web2.0 in Education: Promise and Reality

2009-05-06T22:33:00.001-08:00

While K-12 district administrators are "overwhelmingly positive" about the value of Web 2.0 in schools, the use of Web 2.0 tools in actual learning environments is "quite limited," according to the results of a new study from the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), a professional association for district technology leaders.

The report, "Leadership for Web 2.0 in Education: Promise and Reality," compiled data from about 1,200 schools, polling superintendents, technology directors, and curriculum directors on policy issues related to the adoption of Web 2.0 technologies in districts around the country.

For more information, go to District Administrators See Advantages of Web 2.0 in School

Games + Learning + Society Conference

2009-05-06T22:26:00.004-08:00

Join the first RezEd Conference on Learning and Virtual Worlds! Are you an educator using virtual worlds for learning? Interested in gaining inspiration for your work, showing off your program, learning practical tips, and connecting with your peers within this emerging field of practice?

If so, then the first RezEd conference on Learning and Virtual Worlds is for you! The conference will run from June 10th - 12th in partnership with the renowned Games, Learning and Society Conference at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. As an official "working group" of GLS, RezEd conference attendees will participate in RezEd-only sessions and gatherings while gaining full access to the always remarkable GLS agenda.

RezEd is an online social network of over 2,000 educators using virtual worlds for learning across a variety of worlds and learning institutions. The mini-conference will feature intimate, interactive sessions with luminaries like Robin Harper, James Paul Gee, Peggy Sheehy and others. There will be many opportunities for small group discussions, networking, and sharing of best practices.

Go to Games + Learning + Society Conference to register for the RezEd.org Mini-conference for just an additional $50 (or $245 if new to both). Space is limited so join us today!

Virtual Worlds Libraries, Education, and Musuems Conference

2009-04-16T21:10:00.002-08:00

Community by LearningTimes

Friends:

I'm writing to ask for your support for an online conference that benefits our friends at the Alliance Library System. I'm sure you will be struck - as I was - by the amazing program they have put together for second annual "Virtual Worlds: Libraries, Education and Museums Conference" (VWLEM). Here are just a few of the topics:

- The Immersive Virtual Natural History Experience
- Virtual Heritage Preservation, An Unfulfilled American Necessity
- Visual Representation of Chemical Data in Virtual Worlds
- Planning an Event in Second Life
- History-Related Sites and Museums in Second Life: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

This unique gathering will be held entirely online April 24-25, 2009.

Registration is only $49 and helps cover costs for the operation of Alliance Virtual Library in Second Life. For more information and to register, go to the conference website at:

http://www.alliancelibraries.info/virtualworlds

VWLEM provides a gathering place for librarians, information professionals, educators, museologists, and others to learn about and discuss the educational, informational, and cultural opportunities of virtual worlds.

Keynote speakers include:

Jeremy Kemp, San Jose State University

Jeremy is best known for SLOODLE his instructional technology project connecting Moodle and Second Life. He is an instructional designer at San José State University and keeps the official wiki for educators using the Second Life immersive environment.

Anders Gronstedt of the Gronstedt Group

Anders helps global companies like Dell, Sun Microsystems, Jamba Juice, Volvo Cars, Ericsson and ADT improve workplace performance. He is the host of the weekly “Train for Success” meetings in Second Life - and his articles have appeared in the Harvard Business Review.

Bryan Carter, University of Central Missouri

Bryan has taught in Second Life for several years and has been involved in the design and develop of several islands in Second Life, including Virtual Harlem and Virtual Montmarte.

Please visit the conference website for the complete program, schedule and and registration:

http://www.alliancelibraries.info/virtualworlds

Conference sponsors are Alliance Library System, TAP Information Services, and LearningTimes.

We hope you will join us online!

________________________________
Community by LearningTimes
http://www.learningtimes.net

Edufrag

2009-04-13T00:02:00.008-08:00

Educational Gaming: Unreal Tournament, Chemistry, and Second Life... What could be better???

Jean-Claude Bradley of Drexel University is a Chemistry professor (http://chem241.wikispaces.com/) who takes an unique approach to teaching chemisty. He utilizes the Unreal Game Engine to create mods for the game, Unreal Tournament, where quiz questions, chemical reactions or statements are posted on doors within maps. Correct answers lead to further exploration of map. Incorrect answers lead to starting over in a study room.

At Drexelisland, SURL, "The blue obelisks are used as quizzes. When students click on them 4 images appear. Clicking on a correct images generates the next set of images while clicking on an incorrect one makes the student start over. There are usually 20-30 sets of images and I also run these as races. Students start at the same time and the first one to complete the set wins a prize (a book or molecular model kit).

I also provide a few sample screencast recordings of my lectures. The viewer currently available does not permit skipping ahead or rewinding so it is more convenient to view the lectures on the class wiki."

He has a research paper, New Approaches to Games for Learning Organic Chemistry available on the web.

This is a very interesting perspective on educational gaming. I highly recommend reading his research paper.

MindMeister

2009-04-12T23:47:00.002-08:00

Collaborative Online Mind Mapping

MindMeister brings the concept of mind mapping to the web, using its facilities for real-time collaboration to allow truly global brainstorming sessions. Users can create, manage and share mind maps online and access them anytime, from anywhere. In brainstorming mode, fellow MindMeisters from around the world (or just in different rooms) can simultaneously work on the same mind map and see each other's changes as they happen.

There is a free version as well as paid subscriptions. The concept is similar to Inspiration, but as a web tool, it allows for multiple collaborators to use and to contribute to a document. Once finished, the concept map can be exported as an image, PDF, or RTF file.

This show great promise for group collaborations of students working on a project. Give it a try - there is a free version!

Educational Uses of Second Life

2009-04-08T00:59:00.001-08:00

An overview of educational uses of Second Life including educational locations, tools, and learning archetypes that are applicable to Second Life.

Mendeley

2009-04-07T20:58:00.004-08:00

Mendeley is free social software for managing and sharing research papers. It is also a Web 2.0 site for discovering research trends and connecting to like-minded academics. To achieve our long-term vision of a “Last.fm for research“, we’re working with the former founding engineers of Skype and Last.fm’s former chairman.

From their website, Mendeley is a combination of a desktop application and a website which helps you manage, share and discover both content and contacts in research.

Our software, Mendeley Desktop, offers you:

* Automatic extraction of metadata (authors, title, journal etc.) from academic papers into a library database, which saves you a lot of manual typing! As more people use Mendeley, the quality of the data extraction improves.
* Super-efficient management of your papers: "Live" full-text search across all your papers – the results start to appear as you type! Mendeley Desktop also lets you filter your library by authors, journals or keywords. You can also use document groups, notes and tags to organize your knowledge, and export the metadata in different citation styles.
* Sharing and synchronisation of your library (or parts of it) with selected colleagues. This is perfect for jointly managing all the papers in your lab!
* More great features: A plug-in for citing your articles in Microsoft Word, OCR (image-to-text conversion, so you can full-text search all your scanned PDFs) and lots more new features being worked upon.

Our website, Mendeley Web, complements Mendeley Desktop by offering you these features:

* An online back up of your library: Store your documents in your account and access them from anywhere through your browser.
* Detailed statistics of all things interesting: You can upload your own publications to your research profiles, then track the evolution of your readership. How often are your papers downloaded? How often are they read? From which academic disciplines and geographic regions do your readers come from? Additionally, there are detailed statistics for each academic discipline and research topic. Who are the up-and-coming authors in your discipline? Is the interest in a research topic growing or declining? What are the most widely read papers on a specific subject?
* A research network that allows you to keep track of your colleagues' publications, conference participations, awards etc., and helps you discover people with research interests similar to yours.
* A recommendation engine for papers that might interest you, but are not yet in your library! Based on what you know already, what should you read next?

I found the registration process to be fairly quick and easy. The desktop app is a small download, installs and runs easily without any glitches despite being only a beta version. One may only search by author, I found this to be frustrating. Currently, there is not a clear method for searching for papers except by author, whom have submitted their paper to the database. However, for the professional researcher, Mendeley holds promise for future collaboration.

Global Kids main grid launch of Teen produced game CONSENT!

2009-04-07T20:51:00.002-08:00

Join Global Kids this week, Wednesday, April 8, 2009, 2:00 - 4:00 PM (EST), 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM (SLT) in the Clemson Teaching Learning, (173, 212, 26) sim for the Second Life main grid opening of the game CONSENT!

CONSENT! is a first person, simulation game based on Harriet A. Washington's book "Medical Apartheid" (www.medicalapartheid.com) in which your avatar assumes the role of an African-American prisoner who has to make tough decisions about whether to choose to 'consent' and submit to medical experiments, which took place during the time period of the 1940s to the present.

The game was designed and developed by Global Kids youth leaders in the Playing 4 Keeps after school program at South Shore High School, NYC using tools in the virtual world of Teen Second Life. Additional building and scripting was also done by the teen-run TSL development company, Digital Refinery.

Find out more information on CONSENT at Global Kids Playing 4 Keeps program site.

2 Interesting Posts on Lifehacker.com

2009-03-31T21:24:00.003-08:00

Skype for iPhone Brings Reliable VoIP to Your Pocket

The first is Skype for the iPhone/iPod! Woot! Finally a way to participate in Monday morning Skype calls awhile working on a computer out of the office!

Six Best Video Editing Applications

The second is a run down of the top six video editing apps. I'm a little disappointed to say the least that iMovie HD didn't make the cut, while iMovie 08 and Movie Maker did...Obviously, folks don't know how to search the Apple website and find the download for iMovie HD. If you have an Apple, you can download it here.

At least my Adobe Premiere Pro was on the list! That program rocks and integrates into to the rest of the Adobe suite. Now I just need time to learn all the apps in my Adobe Master Collection!

2009-03-31T18:51:00.005-08:00

A great new site I came across for sounds, images, and music for your machinima (video, film, audio and multimedia). You may use the sound effects on this web site free of charge in your video, film, audio and multimedia productions (but do not re-sell them or post on a web site for download). There are some great links to film sound theory as well.

Selene: A Lunar Science GaME

2009-03-30T20:45:00.002-08:00

Would young people learn science better if it were packaged in a videogame?

That's the question at the heart of the Selene project. Originally funded by NASA and now carried on through a four-year grant from the National Science Foundation, Selene studies videogame learning and the ways researchers can assess how effectively that learning takes place.

The Center for Educational Technologies® at Wheeling Jesuit University created the Selene online game to see how organizations like NASA could best use videogames to introduce important science concepts.

Named after the Greek lunar goddess, Selene challenges players to learn the major geologic processes scientists believe formed the modern Moon. Players create their own moon and then pepper it with impact craters and flood it with lava. It's a great opportunity for students to learn about lunar geology while helping researchers study some key videogame design principles. In addition, playing Selene offers a way to take part in the International Year of Astronomy 2009, a global celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society and culture, highlighted by the 400th anniversary of the first use of an astronomical telescope by Galileo Galilei.

At the Center for Educational Technologies we believe games can prepare people with just the right knowledge to be successful at learning. Through a grant from the National Science Foundation, we conduct research to see if this is true. Our research project, CyGaMEs, uses the Selene game to introduce players ages 13-18 to concepts about the Moon's geology. Researchers track players' gameplay to study how Selene helps players to learn about the geology of the Moon.

The developers currently have the learning activity aligned to National Science Standards and to the Texas State Science Standards. Other states standards are currently being developed.

There are numerous opportunities for educators to become involved in the project: working on game design and development, collaborative research; and utilizing the project with students.

The Center for Educational Technologies produced Selene to conduct its research. If you're a student between the ages of 13-18, we'd love to have you play. The game takes about an hour to complete, but you can spend more time after checking out Selene's various resources about the Moon. To play, though, you have to be enrolled by an adult recruiter to ensure parent/guardian consent for your participation.

If you're an adult who'd like to help out, click on the Recruiter button at left and help us find players to take part in the study. Being a recruiter is simple and doesn't involve a lot of paperwork. The whole process involves getting oral consent from a parent or guardian, then forwarding Selene registration access to your recruited players. It's that simple.

Join in this exciting venture and be a part of cutting-edge research sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

Foul Whisperings, Strange Matters- A Second Life Treatment of Macbeth

2009-03-29T20:49:00.002-08:00

Virtual Macbeth is an island in Second Life which is dedicated to the exploration, adaptation and performance of Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Macbeth is the story of a serial killer, a story that tales place on the battlegrounds and copses (small forest) of a windswept heathland and within the uncanny domestic spaces of the protagonists’ castles. The presence of the paranormal is strong: it symbolises the ‘dark side’ with which one can choose to bargain if one dares; a parallel universe where deepest desires and power struggles are played out. They are the inner demons of us all.

The island is divided into four key spaces: the arrival grove, Macbeth's head, the "what if?" copse and the teaching studios. In general, the island has a feeling of being windswept heathland. In addition to being windswept, the heath has areas where fog is thick and “dirty”, to resonate with the foul imagery from the play.

There are numerous resources on the wiki for teachers and instructors for visiting Virtual Macbeth. The island and accompanying wiki are definitely a must see for SL and Shakespeare aficionados alike...

The Journal of Virtual Worlds and Education

2009-03-29T20:44:00.001-08:00

What Is The Journal of Virtual Worlds and Education?

The Journal of Virtual Worlds and Education is an academic peer-reviewed journal that will present the best writing and thinking available about Virtual Worlds and their applications and implications for the field of education.

Driving the creation of the Journal was the awareness that, although much excellent thought and research on the subject was being written and disseminated, often the work would appear scattered on various mailing lists or in journals and venues whose main focus was directed to other or only partially-related topics. No eminent peer-reviewed publication with an exclusive focus on conjunction of virtual worlds and their meaning and relevance to educators and education was in evidence. The Journal of Virtual Worlds and Education was created to fill that need.

The Journal plans initially to publish freely available materials online in digital formats three times annually at its web site, The Journal of Virtual Worlds and Education.

Volume 1, Number 1
Theme: The Arts, Education, and Virtual Worlds

Guest Editors:
Sarah Higley, University of Rochester, USA
Anton Hand, University of Buffalo, USA

Anticipated Publication Date: June 2009

Best Practices for Delivering Virtual Classroom Training

2009-03-28T16:25:00.005-08:00

This a white paper written by Adobe for users of their ConnectPro software, but it does contain numerous tips for the elearning instructor...

1. The Usual Suspects
Review of some basics that are key to any type of training and even more pertinent for an online class.

Qualify Your Audience
Deliver Great, Organized Content
Hold a Rehersal

2. Be More of Yourself, with Less
Developing your online teaching style, and making yourself and your learners comfortable in the online environment.Do tell brief anecdotal stories or use analogies to demonstrate a point.

3. Engage People, Often
Encourage and hold attention and active student interaction in your online classroom.
Do show users where to find emoticons and feedback tools provided in the virtual classroom.Do solicit specific, regular interaction from the entire class. A rule of thumb, but one that I encourage you modify based on what works for you, is to request some form of interaction every 3-5 minutes, or as you round off a topic or theme. Ask a specific question, and include in your direction a clear description of how you want students to respond – how you want all of them to respond.

4. Be Aware
Now that everyone is interacting with you, deal with all that information.

Make sure the goals of your class match the learning objectives of the students. A second way to make everyone feel an important part of the learning community in your class is to encourage and direct hands-on activities.

5. Deliver Meaningful Fun
Use multimedia in online environment to make training form follow function. Do invest in multimedia and games that are specifically designed to augment the learning experienceand help meet the goals of your class.

Paint it . . . White?

2009-03-28T16:19:00.002-08:00

To quite this blog:
"So what I’m asking is why are we investing so much into a technology that costs a ginormous amount of money and yet, as most of the teachers I’ve seen use it, performs the same function as an $8 dollar sheet of showerboard and a pack of four Expo markers? Personally, I think the problem lies in the difference between knowing how to “work” something and knowing how to “use” something. Lots and lots of teachers today can “work” an IW. They can write on it with their fingers and pull things around and click on the Web without going to their computers. But that’s all."

She continues to say that teachers are afraid of using their whiteboards and are afraid of letting students use them. I agree - I know of several teachers who do the same thing with their whiteboard in ASD. It sure makes a nice projector screen... Let's make them interactive as they were intended!

The Top Five Emerging Technologies in Learning Technology

2009-03-28T16:15:00.002-08:00

In this Total Sum White Paper, the authors discuss the top five emerging technologies in learning technology. The trends as they see it are:

Trend 1: Increased adoption of mobile devices

No matter where you go on the globe, you can’t escape mobile devices. In fact, according to a study by the Market Intelligence Center in Taiwan, our planet will hold an astonishing 3.3 billion mobile subscribers by 20101—possibly over a third of the world’s total projected population. It’s no wonder, then, that mobile users are now looking to take learning technology on the road.

Trend 2: Blended learning environments

As the name implies, a blended learning environment is one where an organization has wrapped different modalities of training—such as self-paced and instructor-led—into a combined program.

Trend 3: Talent development suites

Talent development combines five key elements into a single, unified solution:

* Measuring employee performance and planning for succession
* Delivering learning that expands or fills gaps in performance or competency
* Offering community, content management, and informal learning capabilities
* Compensating people appropriately for their achievements
* Providing for delivery of information both online and offline via mobile and disconnected modes

Trend 4: Integration of Web 2.0 technologies

The first generation of Web technology was about pushing information to passive users. Today’s Web 2.0 technologies take a vastly different approach. They enable users to build and share their own content within interactive discussion groups, forums, wikis, and blogs. In short, Web 2.0 is about helping users participate more actively in their own online experiences—and more companies are expressing interest in integrating these types of capabilities into the learning management field for what has become known as “informal learning.”

Trend 5: Immersive technologies

Immersive technologies create simulated worlds, where users can be completely submerged in a particular environment. These simulations are far more detailed than those previously incorporated in learning technology. Rather than simply walking a user through a scenario from a distance, immersive technologies enable real-time, user-to-user interaction within a virtual reality—as in Second Life, an online world where users take on avatars and interact with each other in a completely simulated environment.

Overall, the white paper is a nice concise evaluation of the drivers and obstacles of growth.

Recession-Inspired Video Game

2009-03-19T21:31:00.004-08:00

The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on 18 March 2009 that Dartmouth Digital Humanities Professor, Mary Flanigan, created a new video game for educating students in the current realities of the economy. Working with fellow researchers from the "Values at Play research project design video games that seek to engage players with the real world, rather than distract them from it.

Funded in part by the National Science Foundation and Microsoft, the project aspires to “harness the power of video games in the service of humanistic principles, or human values, knowing that their work can have a tremendous and wide-ranging impact on our world,” according to its Web site."

One of the main goals of the game, Layoff, is to remind people of the human costs of the current financial crisis by increasing the players social consciousness and encourage people to “take a stand.”

Layoff and Values at Play have websites for more information, however, both were down when I tried to visit them on 19 March 2009.

President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address by David Bergman

2009-03-15T18:37:00.004-08:00

An interesting use of NASA's technology that was developed for the Mars Rovers mission. A 1,474 megapixels image of Obama's inauguration speech. Amazing! Imagine what you could do with this technology in an environmental science class!

The Gigapan camera is a simple robotic platform for capturing very high-resolution (gigapixel and up) panoramic images from a standard digital camera. Sponsored by Google, CMU and the NASA Ames Intelligent Robotics Group, the Global Connection Project has also developed software which places you inside the panorama and lets you explore.

An earlier version of this imaging technology was developed for the Mars Exploration Rovers; the panoramas created from Mars enabled a simulated experience of being on another planet. The Gigapan project aims to create a similar experience, but for exploration of Earth.

For more information and images, visit:

Gigapan

Global Connection Project

A World without Oil - Play it before you live it!

2009-03-15T17:36:00.004-08:00

An alternate reality online game, A World without Oil the players live through a simulation of a world with out oil. The players are themselves, not a 3D avatar or character, they have to change their lifestyle to adjust to the alternate reality.

A great concept where the players communicated through CMS/LMS, blogs, nings, podcasts, and video. There are a set of 10 lesson plans are interdisplinary across economics, history, english, current events, geography, and others. The lessons meet state and national standards.

From the website of A World without Oil:

" “What if there was an oil shortage?
Starting today? How would your life change?”

In May 2007, over 1,800 people combined imagination with insight to create World Without Oil (WWO), a realistic simulation of the first 32 weeks of a global oil shortage chronicled in 1,500 personal blog posts, videos, images and voicemails. Via these lesson plans, high school teachers can use this collaborative grassroots simulation to engage students with questions about energy use, sustainability, the role energy plays in our economy, culture, worldview and history, and many others.

World Without Oil was an alternate reality game – when submitting their stories, its players pretended the oil crisis was really happening. We encourage teachers to do the same: to get "in game" and act to make the crisis seem real. Each day your students will immerse themselves in an exploration of a World Without Oil, and prepare their own "in-game" stories that they can contribute to the WWO online archive."

There is a great informational video available on YouTube or on the homepage of A World without Oil.

Ten Usability Heuristics

2009-03-15T17:13:00.004-08:00

While researching web design and user interface design, I came across an interesting set of articles regarding web usability principles which have applications for our eLearning design projects.

First Principles of Interaction Design is a more extensive reference for web interface usability. It is a great addition for an instructional designers tool box as a set of principles to follow when designing web based learning objects.

To summarize from the title article:

"These are ten general principles for user interface design. They are called "heuristics" because they are more in the nature of rules of thumb than specific usability guidelines.

Visibility of system status
The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.

Match between system and the real world
The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.

User control and freedom
Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.

Consistency and standards
Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions.

Error prevention
Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.

Recognition rather than recall
Minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.

Flexibility and efficiency of use
Accelerators -- unseen by the novice user -- may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.

Aesthetic and minimalist design
Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.

Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.

Help and documentation
Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large."

Realize Science Technology Grant

2009-03-13T09:09:00.001-08:00

This grant is open to all teachers in the United States.
Each individual teacher awarded this grant will receive a new hand-held video microscope (or microscopes) with software for PC to take still pictures, video, time lapse movies, etc., and an accompanying curriculum binder with lessons designed to meet both state and national science standards. The top 3 applicants will receive 4 additional microscopes, making a total of 5 for their classrooms. Thirty video microscopes will be awarded in all, to 18 individuals.

The deadline for applications is April 30, 2009. Notification of grant awards will be sent out by May 15, 2009. Video microscopes and curriculum books will be delivered by May 31, 2009.

This is a competitive grant based on the quality and value of the applicants intended use. We are looking for creative, innovative and educationally valuable uses of hand-held video microscopes.

The final recipients of this grant are required to submit information after receipt and use of the equipment which may be shared with other teachers and educators to advance the use of this microscope technology in the classroom. Acceptable examples include: lesson plans, testimonials, anecdotal stories and student made work such as artwork/drawings, writings, movies, presentations, multimedia, reports, etc.

The deadline for submission of this information for teachers who are awarded the grant is December 31, 2009.

Click here to download the grant application form.

Completed applications may be mailed or faxed as per the instructions on the form.

Sponsored by STR – School Technology Resources (www.schooltr.com) and Real Curriculum (www.realcurriculum.com).

A Model of Learning Objectives

2009-03-11T22:28:00.002-08:00

A Model of Learning Objectives
A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing:
A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives

Iowa State University's Center for Excellance in Learning and Teaching has developed a three dimensional model of Bloom's Taxonomy. It is a great representation of the Knowledge Dimension and the Cognitive Process Dimension ranked hierarchically. It will be a great addition to anyone's toolbox when discussing eLearning and 21st Century Skills. The model is Flash based so when one scrolls over the column's examples of learning objects appear, ie. at the top "students will be able to Create an learning portfolio". It will aid the adult visual learner to see the representations and examples.

Also, ISU gives examples and rankings of lower - higher order skills and concrete/factual -abstract metacognitive skills.

From their website, A Model of Learning Objectives:

A statement of a learning objective contains a verb (an action) and an object (usually a noun). The verb generally [refers to actions associated with] the intended cognitive process. The noun generally descibes the knowledge students are expected to acquire or construct. (Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001, pp. 4–5)

The cognitive process dimension represents a continuum of increasing cognitive complexity—from remember to create.

The knowledge dimension represents a range from concrete (factual) to abstract (metacognitive).

Horizon Report: 2009 K-12 Edition

2009-03-11T22:20:00.001-08:00

The New Media Consortium (NMC) today released the Horizon Report: 2009 K-12 Edition, marking the first time the renowned research project has turned its attention to emerging technology use in elementary and secondary education. The report, unveiled at the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) annual conference in Austin, TX, identifies and describes emerging technologies that will likely have a significant impact on K-12 education.

"This is the first report we have developed with a focus on emerging technologies for elementary and secondary schools, and we hope that K-12 educators will use it as a resource for robust dialogue and technology planning," said Larry Johnson, CEO of the NMC. "The technologies we identified have the power to transform teaching and learning both in the short and long term."

The Horizon Report: 2009 K-12 Edition, identified emerging technologies based on their time-to-adoption horizon – one year or less, two to three years and four to five years.

Emerging technologies detailed in the report include:

Time-to-Adoption: One Year or Less
Collaborative Environments
Online Communication Tools

Time-to-Adoption: Two to Three Years
Mobiles
Cloud Computing

Time-to-Adoption: Four to Five Years
Smart Objects
The Personal Web

The report also outlined key trends and challenges associated with adoption of these technologies.

Critical Challenges

There is a growing need for formal instruction in key new skills, including information literacy, visual literacy, and technological literacy.

Students are different, but educational practice and the material that supports it is changing only slowly.

Learning that incorporates real life experiences is not occurring enough and is undervalued when it does take place.

There is a growing recognition that new technologies must be adopted and used as an everyday part of classroom activities, but effecting this change is difficult.

A key challenge is the fundamental structure of the K-12 education establishment.

Key Trends

Technology continues to profoundly affect the way we work, collaborate, communicate, and succeed.

Technology is increasingly a means for empowering students, a method for communication and socializing, and a ubiquitous, transparent part of their lives.

The web is an increasingly personal experience.

The way we think of learning environments is changing.

The perceived value of innovation and creativity is increasing.

Why Second Life Rocks for Meetings

2009-03-11T21:45:00.003-08:00

Clever Zebra run a set of blogs describing why Second Life sucks for meetings and why it rocks for meetings.

Why it Rocks can be broken down into 3 main categories: Building, Functionality, and Cost. The ease of building inworld and the creavity that exists for building custom spaces is unrivaled in relative to other mediums. The ease of creating scripts and prims develops unrivaled functionality for sims and creative outlets. Compared to other platforms, the cost (outside of land) is cheaper than other mediums for holding online discussions and workshops.

Where else can one visualize 3D hearts, molecules, and art so easily?

Why Second Life Sucks for Meetings

2009-03-11T21:32:00.004-08:00

Clever Zebra run a set of blogs describing why Second Life sucks for meetings and why it rocks for meetings.

Why it sucks:

Anyone who has spent time in Second Life knows what its like to move like you're stuck in frozen molasses, get dropped by the grid or have noobs run into you. Clever Zebra looked at it from a business point of view - I agree I have been at online conferences only to be dropped and unable to join back in to the same location. Very frustrating!

From the Clever Zebra website: Second Life is a networked grid of servers. This means that although you can't necessarily see it, every island is connected to every other island, and every avatar to every other avatar through a central bank of servers. These servers deal with things like an avatars inventory, including clothes, and the ability to teleport to other locations in the world.

If due to high usage those servers get overloaded, or experience any other technical problems, it can affect the entire world. Unfortunately this is a fairly common occurance.

You cannot (yet) control those servers. You are wholely reliant upon Linden Lab, makers of Second Life. The best you might hope to do in an emergency is submit a support ticket and pray someone gets back to you that day.

The recent case study that we published (and then Linden Lab did, with much better press coverage!) of IBM's large scale virtual conference is missing one very important point at first glance. (The details are in there, but not in the headlines you read.): IBM, by special arrangement with Linden Lab ran their conference on their own servers, behind their own firewall, and had complete control over the entire experience.

The Virtual World Educators Conference

2009-03-10T23:21:00.003-08:00

Due to sponsorships, this event will be a free for K-12 educators!

The Virtual World Educators Conference is being organized by the Greenbush Southeast Kansas Education Service Center and is intended for K-12 virtual world educators. The event will be held on July 30th - 31st at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg Kansas.

The goal of this conference is to:

* Showcase virtual world technology for education (Opensim, Wonderland, Open Cobalt, ActiveWorlds, Secondlife, and others)
* Share best practices
* Share taxonamy's and pedagogy's
* Share resources
* Connect with like minded educators
* Have fun !

Lifestreaming...

2009-03-10T23:10:00.004-08:00

Lifestreaming, according to Wordspy, is "an online record of a person's daily activities, either via direct video feed or via aggregating the person's online content such as blog posts, social network updates, and online photos."

There's even a niche blog devoted to lifestreaming, called The Lifestream Blog. It recently noted that Wired magazine named lifestreaming a "wired" technology (as opposed to 'tired' or 'expired'). So it seems lifestreaming is the new black.

ReadWriteWeb has two excellent blog posts and reviews of over 35 lifestreaming apps. If you haven't read ReadWriteWeb yet, it is a highly recommended read to stay on top of the latest web trends.

Lifestreaming 35 Apps

Lifestreaming Primer

The Path of Support

2009-03-09T15:19:00.003-08:00

The Path of Support is a place to find out about the wide variety of healthcare support groups in Second Life. It is located on the http://healthinfoisland.blogspot.com/ in Second Life. It would be worth a visit for those interested in the health care fields if you haven't already. There are many interesting sims and groups located on the island.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/108/88/21/

Podcast: “Learning as a Way of Leading” with Dr. Stephen Brookfield

2009-03-08T22:40:00.002-08:00

In this podcast, Dr. Stephen D. Brookfield joins Jonathan Finkelstein of LearningTimes and the IOC program committee to discuss “Learning as a Way of Leading”.

The conversation explores a new way of looking at leadership that has important implications for how we teach or “lead” our courses, as well as how we teach our students to be leaders. The conversation will interest anyone looking for ways to improve their facilitation skills and foster more inclusive learning communities — online or offline.

This podcast is a pre-cursor to the 7th Annual International Conference Online to be held March 30-31, 2009, during which Brookfield will address this topic further as part of his online keynote address. The podcast and keynote session are based on a recent book co-authored by Brookfield and Stephen Preskill: Learning as a Way of Leading: Lessons from the Struggle for Social Justice (Jossey-Bass, 2008). Brookfield’s session is sponsored by Jossey-Bass.

http://www.internationalonlineconference.org/brookfield

WI Schools Ban Facebook, IM Fraternizing Between Staff, Students

2009-03-04T21:08:00.004-09:00

According to The Journal and The School Library Journal , school districts in Wisconsin are cracking down on the types of Web 2.0 tools that are allowed in teacher - student communication. Aimed specifically at Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter tools, Elmbrook Schools Board of Education revised language in its IT and communication policy to limit interactions between teachers and students. The main goal of the policy change was to limit "The technology steering committee for the district will use the new policy to educate teachers about the risks in using IM and social networking. Among the concerns: the potential for disclosure of too much personal information, as well as the inability to control who can view postings, since "friends" of friends can read Facebook pages; and teacher exposure to student posts that may reference the use of drugs or participation in illegal events, which the teacher must then report."

The school district provides other Web 2.0 tools for communication such as Blackboard, email, and will be developing a set of iGoogle type of tools for teachers and parents.

This seems like a good change of policy that ASD should investigate and follow, as tools such as Facebook continue to grow, both teachers and students need to learn the implications of using such tools. If the district provides tools that can accomplish the same type of communication in a more controlled environment, then ethical and safety standards of teachers and students can be ensured.

Tools as a Service

2009-03-01T20:29:00.001-09:00

Tools as a Service (TaaS) enables software developers to access IBM software development tools through the internet as units of service, making software development tools as a service available 24/7 online with no installation required.

This project is the result of a partnership between the IBM Canada Software Lab Center for Advanced Studies (CAS) in Toronto and the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE). Tools as a Service (TaaS) is a commercialized engineering implementation done by CAS' Technology Incubation Lab, harvesting the research results from the Centre of Excellence for Research in Adaptive Systems (CERAS). TaaS will be deployed over the CERAS cloud computing infrastructure as a technology showcase and is a major milestone of this strategic research partnership.

Web 2.0 Finally Takes on Textbooks

2009-03-01T20:10:00.004-09:00

This editorial discusses the Web 2.0 model for producing and publishing textbooks. A new player in the textbook market, Textbook Revolution is urging students to lobby their college professor to adopt free online textbooks that can be printed in .pdf format if the need arises. They are using the basic Web 2.0 model with advertising to provide the ebooks free of charge. I can see many problems with ads in text designed for K-12, however, one would hope that the model can provide ad-free textbooks for places such as Rural Alaska and Underdeveloped Nations. If free high-quality online texts are developed for use in eLearning and Distance Education situations, it could provide an economic windfall to regions that could use the money for hardware instead of texts.

See Web 2.0 Finally Takes on Textbooks for the article.

Instructional Tools for Second Life

2009-03-01T20:08:00.002-09:00

Taught by the dynamic duo of Miss Hypatia "*la reference, c'est moi*"
Dejavu, and Mr. JJ "Steam-powered Librarian" Drinkwater

This is too basic for many on this list, of course! But for those of you who
are new-ish to SL it may usefully fill some gaps. And, of course, if anyone
on this list knows where to direct this posting, to reach people who want to
learn more about edu tools and practices in SL, we would be much obliged.

*Instructional Tools for Second Life*
Description: Virtual worlds are proving to be an excellent venue for classes
at a distance. But like all forms of class presentation, an instructor needs
to know what tools are available and how to make the best use of them. This
four week class will introduce students to the educational tools available
in the virtual world of Second Life.

- Week one - The Basics: text chat, voice, audio streams, and notecards.
- Week two - Visual Aids: textures, slide shows, video streams, and lag
concerns.
- Week three - Immersive Environments: learning by doing, roleplaying,
and using the environment as a tool.
- Week four - Integration: combining methods and augmenting virtual
worlds with internet resources.

Instructors: S.Thompson, JJ Drinkwater
Audience: Open to anyone interested in learning about instructional tools
for virtual worlds. Students should feel comfortable navigating in Second
life or have taken Second Life 101.
Dates and times:
Thursdays, March 5, 12, 19, 26 from 5:00 - 7:00 PM SL (US Pacific) time
Location: Second Life
Cost: $125
Register here: http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/programs/cpd/VW/tools.html

Huddle

2009-03-01T19:28:00.005-09:00

Huddle a new online collaboration and project management tool. I'm not exactly sure if this is the Google Docs killer as it is still in Beta but there do seem to be some advantages over using Google such as the interactive whiteboard. Huddle seems to be geared towards business and enterprises with 5 different versions available. The free version is limited to 1G of data online.

From the Huddle website:

Use Huddle for:

* Personal projects : Secure online file storage, view/edit Word .doc and Excel .xls documents online without buying the software, manage events, sports teams and co-ordinate friends/family.
* At work : Project management, team collaboration, document sharing.

Solutions for:

* Marketing : Store product artwork centrally. Share large files with your team, agencies and suppliers while controlling level of access. By-pass email system and avoid FTP servers.
* PR: Branded client extranet. Store all press materials. Post photography and share large files. Track changes to press releases. Provide coverage and reports.
* IT: Connect remote development teams. Central document repository. Separate workspaces for different projects. Use API to connect with code and testing tools.
* Consultants: Professional branded client extranet. Manage multiple projects securely from one interface. Store all documents online. Access anywhere.
* Professional services: Secure file repository with built-in workflows. Client extranet. Track changes, audit trail and automatic version control. Review and edit documents online.
* Publishing : Create/edit copy collaboratively. Review and comment online. Connect freelancers. Upload and store images centrally.
* Start-ups: Free alternative to your own fileservers. Central document storage accessible anywhere. No software needed to view/edit docs. All your data securely backed up.
* Company boards : Secure space for storing all board communications. Everyone has visibility. Track minutes, comments, changes and views. RSS and email alerts.
* Academic : Access from Facebook. Work on project documents together regardless of location. No word/excel software needed. Automatically store previous versions.
* Government : Policy discussion and collaboration. Connect teams inside and outside your department. Secure file storage. Document revisions, audit trails and approvals online.
* Media production : Pitch ideas. Store docs centrally. Control budgets. Script versioning. Shoot schedules. Audio samples. Offline edits.

What will happen to our digital life/data when we die?

2009-03-01T19:02:00.005-09:00

I was reading the Q&A at LinkedIn, another networking site for professionals, "LinkedIn is an interconnected network of experienced professionals from around the world, representing 170 industries and 200 countries. You can find, be introduced to, and collaborate with qualified professionals that you need to work with to accomplish your goals." , and came across an interesting discussion on digital data.

What will happen to our digital life/data when we die?

Most of us use multiple email accounts, blogs, subscription to email lists, social networks, web sites etc. In the future with web2.0 and web3.0 we'll be using the internet more often and the www and intern we'll be putting lot of data/information online. But when we die, what will happen to all these? I know that there are some mechanisms to close down some of the services if are not used/inactive for some defined period of time.

There was a cartoon some time back saying " on the Internet, no body knows you are a dog". So, is it correct to say " on the Internet no body knows you are dead"?

Have you ever thought of this? What do you think?

Check out the 1000's of questions and 500 pages on eLearning!

Master Digital Worlds at Campus Technology 2009

2009-03-01T18:52:00.002-09:00

Campus Technology Conference
July 27–30, 2009
Boston Convention and Exhibition Center

As one of higher education’s most trusted providers of information on education technology, Campus Technology conferences offer you the opportunity to learn about and master the cutting-edge technologies that drive student success and educational advancement both in and out of the classroom.

This year's event, “Mastering Digital Worlds” will explore the tools, strategies and innovations that help you adapt to the next stage of Internet innovation in teaching and learning by focusing on best practices and the broader implications of this evolution. You’ll come away armed with tricks, tips and techniques that you can apply immediately to your campus instructional technology plans and initiatives.Campus Technology 2009 returns to Boston with more workshops, more sessions and more opportunities to network and share with technology experts and peers in higher education. Find out "what's next" in teaching and learning technology.

Questions? Contact us: CTConferences@1105media.com

SLOAN 2009 Conference Call

2009-02-24T11:15:00.002-09:00

CALL FOR PAPERS

We invite you to submit a proposal for the 15th Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning: “The Power of Online Learning: Opportunities for Tomorrow.” The conference strongly encourages proposals that reflect the implications for the field of specific e-learning experience and practices.

Proposals that address blended learning, issues of diversity, international applications of online learning, open educational resources and/or social networking are especially encouraged. Last year’s conference attracted over 1100 participants to more than 180 presentations, as well as exhibits, pre-conference workshops, keynote and plenary addresses, and a variety of other special events.

Click here to submit your proposal

Program Tracks:
“The Power of Online Learning:
Opportunities for Tomorrow”

Learning Effectiveness
Technology and Emerging Learning Environments
Student Services and Learner Support
Faculty Development and Support
Professional Development and Workforce Training
Leadership and Societal Change

The Best Way to Build an Online Classroom

2009-02-19T10:48:00.000-09:00

This month we have some awesome tips from Sharon Grimes of the Baltimore Country Public School District. The BCPS is rolling out wikis for each classroom in the district - over 100,000 students and 8,850 classroom teachers!

BCPS are using wikis to offer students 21st century tools for collaborating with classmates, and peers around the district. Teachers wanted real-world technology that offered opportunities for research, writing, and editing — technology that students would see once they graduated.

Learn more about BCPS, see examples and review their self-paced tutorial wiki.

Live Event - The best way to build an online classroom

Join the PBwiki Team to learn how to create a rich online learning environment for your students. Discover how to:

Encourage research, writing, and editing for a real life audience
Improve peer review and editing skills
Upload and share diverse writing examples

Register today for this live event on Wednesday February 25th at 1:00 PM EST /10:00 AM PST

Web 2.0 Shift

2009-02-18T09:45:00.001-09:00

Web 2.0: What does the future hold for schools?
TCEA panel says Web 2.0 marks a complete shift from the old models of instruction ... and schools need to shift accordingly

Webinar Friday Feb. 20th

2009-02-17T11:34:00.000-09:00

Dear Education Leader,

Wimba is offering these free online seminars exclusively to education professionals like you. Please feel free to forward this invitation to your friends and colleagues.

How Online Learning Technologies Help Institutions
Serve Adult Learners in the New Economic Climate

Presenter: Steve Montano & Scott Smith, Wimba

Date:

Feb 20

Time:

2pm EST

Place:

Online - Register Here

With the current economic climate, adult learners are pursuing a college education in increasing numbers, and they are becoming a fast-growing part of the undergraduate population at college campuses around the world.

Join former academic IT administrators Steve Montano and Scott Smith of Wimba in a new series on education from both a technological and pedagogical perspective, in the premiere presentation of the Wimba Expert Series.

This first presentation will examine the fact that one of the interesting results of the current economic climate is that more adults than ever are going back to school. Steve and Scott will discuss how online technologies can help schools not just cope with increasing enrollments, but thrive.

7th Annual Online Conference

2009-02-12T10:35:00.001-09:00

Dear Colleague,

Please join us for the 7th Annual International Online Conference (IOC) for Teaching and Learning on March 30 and 31, 2009. IOC 2009 features wonderful speakers, an exciting new format, and a truly global program. The emphasis is on sharing, networking and generating a universe of ideas that everyone can use immediately in their practice.

The event will take place entirely over the Internet on March 30 & 31, 2009 - with live sessions conveniently scheduled for participants around the world.

For more information visit: http://www.internationalonlineconference.org/

IOC 2009 includes a variety of ways to connect with and learn from colleagues. Each day will feature live online presentations during which you interact with panelists and peers. All sessions will be recorded and posted immediately for those who cannot attend live. Keynotes include:

*** Dr. Stephen D. Brookfield, best-selling author, will explore "Learning as a Way of Leading: Lessons from the Struggle for Social Justice", a presentation based on a book by the same name (co-authored by Stephen Preskill). Dr. Brookfield's session is sponsored by Jossey-Bass.

*** Stephanie Norby of Smithsonian Education joins us live online for a tour of the many free teaching resources available online from the Smithsonian museums. Regardless of the discipline you teach, Norby's guided exploration will undoubtedly yield treasures that will engage your learners.

*** Michael Coghlan, E-learning Facilitator for TAFE South Australia and independent E-learning Consultant, will offer his keen insights on online learning and his hands-on and innovative approach to connected education.

The cost to participate in this unique learning experience is only $99 USD, with discounts available for groups of 5 or more.

The sponsors of IOC 2009 include LearningTimes, Illinois Online Network (ION), Illinois Community Colleges Online (ILCCO), Lake Land College, and Jossey-Bass. There are several opportunities available for organizations to interact with participants and exhibit their products and services during IOC. Write to ioc@learningtimes.net for details.

WEBINARS

2009-02-10T11:25:00.001-09:00

Wimba is offering these free online seminars exclusively to education professionals like you. Please feel free to forward this invitation to your friends and colleagues.

Are you a 21st Century Educator?

Do you have the skills of a 21st Century educator? Are you familiar with the technologies that are already enhancing teaching and learning in today's classrooms? Stay current with Wimba's Distinguished Lecture Series, free for educators like you.

Upcoming:

Innovative Uses of Wikis
Mashups: Unique Instruction

Available Now:

WCET 2009 Conference Proposals

2009-02-02T11:15:00.002-09:00

Here's the link to the Call for Proposals for the WCET conference Oct 20 in Denver.

LINK

andy

SLOAN C Emerging Technology Conference

2009-01-08T14:50:00.001-09:00

The conference is June 17-21 in San Francisco. Proposals are due Jan. 15th.

Online conference about online learning

2009-01-07T17:21:00.001-09:00

LearningTimes is pleased to announce a very special online conference developed through our work in District 75 of the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) with students who are severely emotionally challenged, multiply disabled, and/or on the autism spectrum.

The first ever "Positive Behavior Support Online Conference" will take place live over the internet January 21 and 22 from 3:15 to 5:00 pm EST (New York Time). This unique event brings four esteemed experts - and hundreds of peers - right to your computer for live collaboration, learning and networking. For more information and to register, click here:

http://district75.net/behaviorconference/

Nationally-recognized researchers and experts will outline evidence-based systems and practical tips. Speakers will include:

- Dr. Lucille Eber (Director, IL PBIS Network)
- Dr. Nicholas Long (founder of the Life Space Crisis Intervention Institute)
- Dr. Marc Brackett (Yale University)
- Dr. Laura Riffel (Behavior Doctor Seminars)

The Online Conference will include:

• Practical tips for designing classroom and community-based positive behavior support systems that support all students

• Understanding why children engage in disruptive behaviors, and interventions for breaking the conflict cycle when supporting children in crisis

• The basic tenets of emotional literacy, including how to understand and regulate your own emotional responses when faced with stressful situations in the classroom

The conference will be held live online January 21 and 22, 3:15-5:00 PM on both days. The registration fee is $95 per person. (Group rates are available.)

For more information on the conference, please visit:

http://district75.net/behaviorconference

Warm regards,

LearningTimes

and

Bonnie Brown
Superintendent, District 75
New York City Department of Education

eSchool News FREE publication

2008-12-30T19:33:00.000-09:00

Technology News for Todays K-20 Educator
eSchool News

7920 Norfolk Ave Ste 900

Bethesda MD 20814

Free Subscription Offer for Your Colleagues!

eSchool News in Print

"Your newspaper is the most informative, up-to-date and timely periodical that comes across my desk. I pick up your newspaper before I pick up any of the others because I know its got the best up-to-the-minute newsespecially when it comes to the eRate."
-- A technology services chief for a state department of education

eSchool News in Print
Help your fellow colleagues this new school year by referring them to eSchool News for their own free subscription.

Dear Andy Page,

Thank you for being a loyal reader to eSchool News.

Help your fellow colleagues this new school year by referring them to eSchool News for their own free subscription.

We've made it easy for you. Just forward this email to all your colleagues who would also enjoy reading eSchool News.

Thanks for the help.

_______________________________________________________

Dear Colleague;

Get your complimentary subscription to eSchool News today.

Find out for yourself why over 80,000 educators just like you are reading and learning how technology is changing and improving learning in our nation's schools.

Downey signature
Gregg Downey
Publisher
eSchool News

You must fill out this form and return by January 9th to receive your free subscription.

For fastest service, click below to fill out this form online.

https://www.eschoolnews.com/freesub/referral.cfm

To reply by email, simply hit reply, then fill out the form by typing an X next to your selections and return.

1. Please enter your name and address below. (Choose One)

[ ] YES, I want to receive (continue to receive) the PDF edition of eSchool News newspaper.

[ ] No, I do not want to receive eSchool News.

Name:___________________________________

Company:________________________________

Address:_________________________________

_______________________________________

City:____________________________________
State:___________________________________
Zip:____________________________________

Country:_________________________________

Offer expires: January 09, 2008

4. Job Title (Choose Only One)

[ ] Administrative Support Staff (h)

[ ] College / University Official (O)

[ ] Curriculum Director (C)

[ ] Deputy/Assistant/Area Superintendent (T)

[ ] District Administrator (R)

[ ] Educational Services Agency Dir (P)

[ ] Federal Official (Q)

[ ] Federal / State Program Admin (l)

[ ] Governors Office Staff Member (Z)

[ ] Legislative Staff Member (b)

[ ] Librarian / Media Specialist (J)

[ ] Library Services Director (G)

[ ] MIS/IT Director (D)

[ ] Non-Educator / Parent (c)

[ ] Principal / Assistant Principal (H)

[ ] Safety / Security Director (S)

[ ] School Board Member (V)

[ ] School Business Official (e)

[ ] Special Ed Director, K-12 (i)

[ ] State School Official (K)

[ ] Superintendent (General) (A)

[ ] Teacher (W)

[ ] Technology Coord, School-Level (L)

[ ] Technology Director, District-Lvl (U)

[ ] Vendor (G)

2. Where do you work? (Choose Only One)

[ ] School District (A) [ ] School Building (B)

[ ] Higher Education (C) [ ] Federal / State (D)

[ ] Other (E)

3. Signature:_____________________Date:_______

(Not Valid without Signature and Date)

(Type Name or use electronic signature if sending by eMail)

ED1229REF

5. Please return the completed form today to:

Reply Online: https://www.eschoolnews.com/freesub/referral.cfm

Fax: 301-913-0119

Mail: eSchool News, Circulation, 7920 Norfolk Ave. #900 , Bethesda, MD 20814

eMail: custserv@eschoolnews.com

QUESTIONS CALL: 800-394-0115 X199

Contact Information: eSchool News, 7920 Norfolk Ave., Suite 900, Bethesda, MD 20814, 1-800-394-0115, Fax 301-913-0119
eSchool News Online connects you to all the latest news, information, and resources on how today's K-20 educators are using technology to improve school management and student learning.
Copyright 2008 eSchool News. All rights reserved.

You are receiving this eMail newsletter at andrew@uaa.alaska.edu as part of a free information service from eSchool News.
To unsubscribe please click here.
Please do not reply to this e-mail. This is an unmonitored e-mail box. You may direct inquiries to the address below.

eSchool News
7920 Norfolk Ave., Suite 900
Bethesda, MD 20814
(800) 394-0115 - Fax (301) 913-0119
www.eschoolnews.com
custserv@eschoolnews.com
Contents Copyright 2008 eSchool News. All rights reserved

Beyond Email

2008-12-14T09:21:00.002-09:00

Lately there's been more talk about Facebook by some staff, and it turns out there's a trend out there where more older people are on Facebook. Turns out, it's a way to be somewhat connected with your kid without the irritate eye-roll you get when you start asking questions as they're trying to escape the house.

Anyway, I'm there, for several reasons. If you've been thinking about it.....it's worth a look. Yes, as technology-using folks, we all know what it is, but like so much of life, you really don't get it until you try it. Like it or not, this is the way a lot of the world stays in touch. It's different, and if you've only read about it, there's a limit to what you get.

So, if you do log in, feel free to invite me. I also started some groups....an Anchorage School District group and an Alaska Educators group. Feel free to join (permission has to be granted for the ASD group as I want to keep students out).

See you there, perhaps?

Online Technology Conference

2008-11-22T19:29:00.001-09:00

RE: TCC 2009 Proposal Submission Info Update

Aloha everyone,

We are now able to accept your TCC 2009 proposals for general
sessions and papers. Thank you for your patience with this matter.

To submit a proposal for a general session or or a paper online, see:
https://skellig.kcc.hawaii.edu/proposals/

For info to prepare proposals for general sessions and papers, see:
http://tcc.kcc.hawaii.edu/2009/tcc/pres-info.html

For TCC Homepage, see
http://tcc.kcc.hawaii.edu

Attached is the previous released Call for Proposals with updated
info. Please forward to interested colleagues. We welcome
presentations by graduate students and will waive their fee.

Cheers,
-bert
For the TCC 2009 team

======= TCC 2009 CALL FOR PROPOSALS =========
RE: TCC 2009 (Apr 14-16): CALL FOR PAPERS & PRESENTATIONS

[Our apologies to those receiving multiple copies of this message. -byk]

Fourteenth Annual
TCC WORLDWIDE ONLINE CONFERENCE
April 14-16, 2009
Pre-conference dates: April 1-2, 2009

The New Internet:
Collaborative Learning, Social Networking,
Technology Tools, and Best Practices

Submission deadline: January 12, 2009
Homepage: http://tcc.kcc.hawaii.edu

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

TCC 2009 invites faculty, support staff, librarians, counselors,
student affairs professionals, students, administrators, and
educational consultants to submit proposals for papers and general
sessions related to the conference theme.

THEME
The Internet has evolved into a global workspace for collaboration
and sharing while providing forums for different voices, cultures,
new challenges, and creativity. People, technologies, and
perspectives have converged. Now, there is a greater diversity of
technological tools to communicate, collaborate, create, and compete.

Students learn best when they are actively involved. Regardless of
content, students who work in small groups learn more and retain it
longer than with other instructional forms of delivery. Collaboration
also leads to greater satisfaction with classes. (Source: Barbara
Gross Davis, 2002).

Within this global arena, how do faculty, staff, students and the
communities they serve communicate, collaborate, innovate and produce
useful learning outcomes? What best practices have emerged in
collaborative learning? Is Internet-based collaboration effective and
worth the effort? How can we efficiently assess student outcomes?
Which tools will work best for us? How do we support our colleagues?
How do we overcome our feelings of being overwhelmed? How do we keep up?

College students participate actively in online social communities
that are increasingly important in their daily and social lives. What
can we learn from our students? How can we build on our students'
expertise in digital media, personal publishing, and social
networking? How will mobile devices be adapted for learning? What
advances have occurred with intercultural understanding, diversity,
and accessibility?

Smart institutions learn how to engage the online behavior of
students prior to college life. How do organizations embrace and take
advantage of such technologies as open source and open educational
content? How can organizations manage the blurring of play and work?
What is the promise of virtual worlds such as Second Life?

TOPICS
TCC will feature papers and general sessions on the continuing
evolution of distance learning, online communities, collaborative
learning, social networking, and best practices of instructional
technology. The coordinators are interested in a broad range of
submissions that highlight evolving uses and issues in educational
technology. These include and are not limited the following:

- Online, hybrid, blended or other modes of technology enhanced learning
- Emerging Internet and Web 2.0 tools for teaching and learning
- Technology applications that facilitate communication and
collaboration
- Building and sustaining learning communities
- Instructional models for collaboration in virtual worlds (Second
Life, etc.)
- Distance learning including mobile learning
- Ubiquitous and life-long learning
- Open content and open source
- E-portfolios and other assessment tools
- Student orientation and preparation
- Student success and assessment strategies in online learning
- Student services online (tutoring, advising, mentoring, career
planning, technology support, help desk, etc.)
- Online learning resources (library, learning centers, etc.)
- Professional development for faculty and staff
- Accessibility for seniors and persons with disabilities
- Gender equity, digital divide, intercultural understanding, and
open access
- Managing information technology and change in educational institutions
- Institutional planning and pedagogy catalyzed by technology advances
- Global learning, ubiquitous learning, and intercultural communication
- Educational technology around the world

PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS
This conference accepts proposals in two formats: papers and general
sessions. Submissions will be accepted beginning November 11, 2008.

For submission details, see:
http://tcc.kcc.hawaii.edu/2009/tcc/pres-info.html

For online submission, go to:
https://skellig.kcc.hawaii.edu/proposals/

Papers must be submitted in full and will be subjected to a blind
peer review. Accepted papers will be published in a conference
proceedings.

General sessions may be conducted in one of several forms including
forums, discussion, roundtable, and pre-conference activity. These
proposals will also be subject to a blind peer review.

Acceptances for all submittals will be conveyed to the primary author
or presenter by email.

The coordinators are especially interested in receiving proposals
that involve student collaborators. Fees for student presenters will
be waived.

The submission deadline is January 12, 2009.

PRESENTER RESPONSIBILITIES
Presenters are expected to:
- Conduct a 45-minute informal, interactive online session for your
paper or general session.
- Upload a photo and brief professional bio to the conference web site.
- Respond to questions and comments from conference participants.
- Participate in a wrap-up session on the day of your presentation.
- Verify descriptions that will be posted to registered participants
prior to the conference.
- Respond to email, as appropriate, from the conference and
presenters mailing lists.

REGISTRATION
All presenters are required to register online and pay the conference
fee ($69 USD; $99 USD after March 31). Group and site registration
rates for faculty and students are available. Group registration may
reduce the conference fee to as low as $10 USD per participant.
Contact Sharon Fowler for details .

VENUE
This conference is held entirely online using a web browser for
access to content and technology services. A computer system
purchased within the past 3-4 years with headphones and microphone as
well as broadband Internet access is highly recommended.

SPONSORS & VENDORS
Organizations or companies interested in becoming a sponsor of this
event may contact John Walber of LearningTimes

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For additional information, see . For
further inquiry, contact Bert Kimura or Curtis Ho
.

Mailing address: TCC Worldwide Online Conference, Attn: Sharon
Fowler, University of Hawai'i, Kapi'olani Community College, 4303
Diamond Head Road, Honolulu, HI 96816, USA.

The University of Hawai'i, Kapi'olani Community College and
University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Educational Technology Department,
College of Education host this event in partnership with Osaka Gakuin
University, Japan and LearningTimes.org. Additional support is
provided by the Pan-Pacific Distance Learning Association and the New
Media Consortium.

2008-11-20T15:10:00.004-09:00

Conference Opportunity

2008-11-15T09:18:00.001-09:00

Announcement
-------------------------------------------------------
Call for Papers/Abstracts and Invited Sessions Proposals for The 3rd International Conference on Knowledge Generation, Communication and Management: KGCM 2009 (http://www.2009iiisconferences.org/kgcm). It will take place in Orlando, Florida, USA, on July 10th - 13th, 2009.

Deadlines:
Papers/Abstracts Submissions and Invited Sessions Proposals: December 19th, 2008 Authors Notifications: January 14th, 2009 Camera-ready, full papers: February 11th, 2009
-------------------------------------------------------

MainTopics:

Knowledge Communication
Knowledge Generation
Knowledge Management
Knowledge Engineering
Knowledge Representation
Knowledge Communication and Conferences
Knowledge Verification and Validation
Peer Reviewing
Scientific and Technical Publishing
Electronic Publishing
Electronic Libraries

All Submitted papers/abstracts will go through three reviewing processes: (1) double-blind (at least three reviewers), (2) non-blind, and (3) participative peer reviews. All accepted papers of registered authors will be included in both the printed and the CD versions of the proceedings.

Awards will be granted to the best paper of those presented at each session. From these session's best papers, the best 10%-20% of the papers presented at the conference will be invited to adapt their papers for their publication in the Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, with no additional cost for their authors.

For Invited Sessions Proposals, please go to the conference web site or, directly, to http://www.2009iiisconferences.org/KGCM/organizer.asp

KGCM 2009 Organizing Committee

Quotes

2008-11-11T13:44:00.001-09:00

Quotes - quotes4all.net!great free widgetsWidgetbox

Moon Phases Gadget

2008-11-11T13:33:00.001-09:00

Cluster Maps

2008-11-11T13:14:00.001-09:00

NECC 209

2008-09-08T14:07:00.001-08:00

The NECC 2009 Call for Participation is Open

Online Teaching and Leanring Conference

2008-08-26T17:29:00.002-08:00

I have registered for this Online conference. Thought you might be interested.

Simulations & Role Playing in Education

2008-08-18T13:02:00.001-08:00

Several of you have expressed an interest in SIMULATIONS. Here's some info that I thik you will find helpful.

This special issue will focus on how online simulation and role
playing in virtual worlds may lead to new forms, methods, and modes of
communication, collaboration, and creation that will enhance the
educational process. It is being developed in cooperation with the
organizers of the 5th Annual Colloquium on Online Simulations,
Role-playing, and Virtual Worlds [1] to be held in Hong Kong this
coming October.

Hundreds of virtual worlds have been created to serve entertainment,
educational, and corporate markets, yet few offer more than a glimpse
of what technological innovations in these worlds may mean for the
real world. What will the unprecedented growth in virtual worlds mean
for education? This special issue will consider the opportunities and
challenges offered by the proliferation of virtual worlds and online
simulations. In contrast to our forthcoming special issue on Academics
in Virtual Worlds, scheduled for publication in December 2008/January
2009, which focuses on higher education, this issue will look at the
uses of virtual worlds for education across the spectrum, from K-12 to
corporate training to informal learning, thereby reaching beyond the
campus, virtual or actual, to encompass a wide range of contexts.

Submissions for this special issue may address, but are not limited
to, these key areas:

1. Technologies used to create and manage virtual environments
(tools, hardware, software)

2. Vision for what virtual environments could be (architecture,
metaphors)

3. Teaching and learning in virtual environments

4. Role playing and simulations

5. Social constructivism

6. Communication and collaboration in virtual environments

7. Serendipitous interactions and learning

8. Community formation in virtual environments (interaction,
self-presentation, social presence)

9. Administrative or technical support issues in virtual environments

10. Change in virtual environments (advocacy for, dissemination and
sharing of research, how change takes place)

11. Resources for creating or supporting virtual environments

12. Research on virtual environments in general or in support of any
of the above themes

If you would like to submit a manuscript for this issue, please
review our submission guidelines [2] and send your manuscript to the
guest editors, Stephen Bronack [3], Owen Kelly [4], Roni Linser [5],
and to the editor-in-chief, James Morrison [6], no later than November
1, 2008.

Thanks!

Jim
----
James L Morrison
Editor-in-Chief, _Innovate_
http://www.innovateonline.info [7]
Fischler School of Education and Human Services
Nova Southeastern University
http://www.schoolofed.nova.edu/home.ht [8]

Links:
------
[1] http://www.leagueofworlds.com/
[2] http://www.innovateonline.info/?view=contribute
[3] mailto:bronacksc@appstate.edu
[4] mailto:owen.kelly@arcada.fi
[5] mailto:ronil@simplay.net
[6] mailto:jlm@nova.edu
[7] http://www.innovateonline.info/editor.php
[8] http://www.schoolofed.nova.edu/home.ht

---------------------------
Please note: You are receiving this message because you have subscribed to
the journal Innovate. If you would like to opt out of such announcements in
the future, please visit our account management page at
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=unsubscribe to update your
preferences.

Summer reading

2008-05-21T15:13:00.001-08:00

I was reading the Educause Quarterly and there is an article about Open Source Software in Education that I thought you all might be interested in. http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQM0824.pdf . There is also an article on course management systems and pedagogy that could prove an interesting point of discussion in your courses or among peers. http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/EQM0820.pdf

andy

Article about SecondLife and Real Life

2008-05-13T21:59:00.003-08:00

This is a TIME magazine article that was interesting. Also, the latest issue of Campus Technology is dedicated to Web 2.0 tools.
Addressed in the article are some ways of "HOW" these technologies are being used.

Oh Google, is there anything you won't give us for free......??

2008-04-30T22:05:00.002-08:00

I took a look at Google Apps. I was lucky enough to have a domain for an educational organization lying around (GoldenviewMiddle.org). It's quite the environment, with email accounts, and all for free for schools and non-profits (look for it to come to an NEA affiliate near you!!).

First thing to go was our old way of doing a school calendar, which was the conventional step of posting a calendar near the end of every month for the next one, and rarely updating it. We now use our Google calendar embedded (http://www.asdk12.org/schools/goldenview/pages/calendar/index.htm ). We now can put stuff up way in advance, and update on the fly frequently and easily. Next will come calendars for teams embedded on their team contact page.

Neat ability to set up workgroups and share docs. I see teachers making use of it. I'm not sure about using it with students.

It's the same service offered to business's at $50 per user per year. If you're interested in seeing what it looks like, drop a note to techc@goldenviewmiddle.org . I'll set up an account for you.

Webinar

2008-04-29T09:10:00.002-08:00

I participated in a Webinar yesterday, hosted by Atomic Learning and Technology & Learning magazine. The speakers were Vicki Davis (CoolCat Teacher) and Darren Crumine (teacher from Sedgwick KS). They talked about the Flat Classroom Project and the Horizon Project. In addition they talked about the integration of technology into the classroom and the use of ~~Web 2.0~~, I mean Online Collaboration Tools. I am amazed at how advanced some of these schools are in the use of technology in the classroom, the use of educational networking (Davis does not like the term 'social networking' when speaking about uses of networking in education).

One of the good parts of the webinar was how they talked to teachers who had never even heard of RSS, Blogs or a Wiki. They gave good tips on how to get started.

I believe they will have this posted on the Technology and Learning website for others to hear.

Dictionary in your Blog

2008-04-23T18:00:00.004-08:00

I found this service while I was reading through a technology blog. It is a great tool, especially for students who may struggle with vocabulary. Answers.com You can embed the code into your blog template and it turns your blog into it's own dictionary. Any word that is not a link can be double clicked and a pop-up reveals a dictionary. It's super easy to use! They even have instructions on how to embed into popular blogs (like blogger).

Using Jing SWF files

2008-04-22T08:59:00.002-08:00

Earlier I posted about my troubles sharing SWF files of screen movies. I worked with Todd Saur in ed tech and he came up with a script in Text Wrangler that will allow you to add the swf file to your sitebuilder site and for it to show full screen. There is a READ ME file and the actual script. If you would like these files, send me an email and I will be happy to pass them on.

Another Source...

2008-04-21T12:55:00.003-08:00

Here's another compilation of ~~Web 2.0~~ I mean Online Collaboration tools ;-)

http://oedb.org/library/features/101-web-20-teaching-tools

Do Schools kill creativity???

2008-04-17T23:04:00.000-08:00

An interesting take on schools by Ken Robinson speaking at the TED lectures. Very witty, funny, engaging. Full of thought provoking ideas.

iMovie08???

2008-04-17T20:39:00.002-08:00

I am just wondering if anyone else has had troubles with the new and "improved" iMovie 08? Thinking my movie was completely done, I learned as I was exporting it that alas it was not done -- but corrupted and apparently unusable. I love the new changes to iPhoto, and the differences to GarageBand are minimal. But, the good old workhorse of iMovie 06 is gone. Yes, the 08 version looks slicker and easier, but it is such step backward.

The features such as slow/fast motion are gone, the volume adjustment is cumbersome, and it seems so susceptible to glitches. I have searched the forums out there, and I see that I am not the only one disappointed with Apple's newest changes to iMovie (even with the newest updates).

Has anyone else used it for a full class project yet? I stuck with the 06 version for movie projects with students this year. This most recent project pitfall has been a not-so-gentle reminder for me to keep using 06, for iMovie at least, with my students and on my own. So glad I still have the 06 version on my machine. . .

Any thoughts?

Programming as a skill

2008-04-12T10:33:00.002-08:00

I came across this article in Edutopia that I thought said some things nicely I've been trying to put to words. Programming has turned into something different from what it meant 15 years ago. It does still involve some understanding of how these machines operate and how to "bend them to your will".

I sent the link out to my school, and to SecTec Coordinators, so if you're on that list, you got it (it turns out I am too lowly to email ASD "SecTec".....the "Coords" are a notch below.

My real concern is that educators need to be programmers in the sense of this article, but many don't realize it. The machines are ever more versitile, but to use them effectively we have to understand how they work, and how they can work in the particular way we want them to.

I think, anyway.

I would love to know what the rest of you are thinking. Should we wait for others to write the software and sell it to us or figure out how to wire up something so it's cooler than it was meant to be, or do we learn to make the links ourselves? If you've used the word "mashup" in a meaningful way, that's the software side. There's still the hardware side also.

http://www.edutopia.org/programming-the-new-literacy

Did you know?

2008-04-05T17:05:00.002-08:00

My principal forwarded this Shift Happens video to me and wants to show it to our staff in April. We've seen something similar in the first class, but this is just a different video that talks about the change in technology and lobbying for change in our educational system.

Article: Creating a Captivate Movie

2008-04-03T10:07:00.002-08:00

I was reading the article from the supplemental readings and I was struck by the statement "....never forget there will be a human watching the presentation. In this case, the message that the movie conveys, is far more important than the technology." It is one of those statements that applies to so much more within education but I think is something that we need to particularly keep in mind as we work on creating distance education and professional development.

In the online format, we so often lose a lot of the feedback cues that we are dependent on as teachers to adjust our delivery and methods. I know that that is one of the things that I struggle with most as a student in online environments. I really miss the face to face interaction with the instructor and the students in a class.

Flat Classroom

2008-04-02T09:20:00.003-08:00

I was reading through my blogs and found this interesting entry. I enjoy reading cool cat teacher as she is using many of the technologies in her own classes while keeping abreast of what is up and coming. In this entry she shares the 5 phases she uses to help acclimate her children to the flat classroom as well as how to interact with others.

Webinar

2008-04-01T08:15:00.001-08:00

This is a free webinar about TEAM BASED LEARNING (TBL).

Team-Based Learning: Bringing Active Learning to Large Classes

Presented by: Jim Sibley, University of British Columbia

Team-Based Learning (TBL) is a powerful methodology that can be applied to a wide variety of disciplines and class sizes. The inherent structure of a TBL course addresses many issues and problems that we all commonly encounter when using other styles of group and team work. We will examine the fundamental shift in course objectives and the necessary classroom activities to support this shift in objectives. Come hear about our TBL success stories at the Faculty of Applied Science at the University of British Columbia.

Connecting School to the Real World

2008-03-31T21:54:00.002-08:00

I mentioned an email that I get on a weekly basis from The Futures Channel. This website has movies related to Math, Science and Technology. Check it out to see some of the fun videos for the classroom.

Anyone know anything about converting .swf video files?

2008-03-26T16:21:00.001-08:00

I was playing with JING which has some real positives in terms of ease of use but see below the post I made on the JING Blog regarding my frustrations. Do any of you know how to get around the flash (.swf) issue?

Hi.

I ran across JING the other week and I thought it was a great program for an educator to use. I can see all kinds of applications for teachers and for those like me who are involved in professional development. It is simple to use and the resulting video seems to have good picture and sound quality. But I am so disappointed.....swf doesn't work for me. I use a macbook pro and to play the saved file it has to open up my parallels and XP and play it in explorer ( a time consuming process - I use firefox), I can't upload it to my wiki as it only shows the center part of the video - not the whole screen, Teachertube doesn't recognize it as a file type, Zamzar doesn't recognize it as a file type so I can't convert it, and I haven't been able to upload it to VoiceThread. I can understand making it simple, but I'm not willing to pay for ScreenCast when TeacherTube is free and I can't figure out how to actually use the video I created. Ok, enough whining, maybe you have a really simple fix for this, I hope so.

Students as Digital Natives - Kluge Center Lectures

2008-03-25T14:41:00.003-08:00

FYI... Looks Interesting...

Press contact: Donna Urschel (202) 707-1639, durschel@loc.gov
Public contact: Robert Saladini (202) 707-2692, rsal@loc.gov

THE JOHN W. KLUGE CENTER AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
OPENS LECTURE SERIES ON „DIGITAL NATIVES‰

Young people today born into a digital world are experiencing a far different environment of information-gathering and access to knowledge than a generation ago. Who are these „digital natives‰ and what are they thinking? How are they using the technology, and are IT experts adequately responding to them?

These questions will be addressed in a new Library of Congress series titled „Digital Natives.‰ The first lecture will explore how young people think, learn and play.
Distinguished scholar and child-development expert Edith Ackerman will present „The Anthropology of Digital Natives‰ at 4 p.m. EST on Monday, April 7, in the Montpelier Room on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. Sponsored by the Library‚s John W. Kluge Center, the event is free and open to the public. No tickets or reservations are needed. In addition, the lecture will be webcast live at www.loc.gov.

Ackerman is an honorary professor of developmental psychology at the University of Aix-Marseille in France. She is currently a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the School of Architecture and a visiting professor at the University of Siena in the Department of Communications.

The four-lecture series will examine the generation that has been raised with the computer as a natural part of their lives, with emphasis on the young people currently in schools and colleges today. The series will seek to understand the practices and culture of these digital natives, the cultural implications of the phenomenon and the implications for education - schools, universities and libraries.

Ackerman is particularly interested in helping shape the future of play and learning in a digital world. „I study how people use place, relate to others and treat things to find their ways - and voices - in an ever-changing world,‰ she said.

Future lectures in the series will be at 4 p.m. in the Montpelier Room of the James Madison Building. They include:

Monday, May 12: „Internet, the Private Mind?‰ by Steven Berlin Johnson, author of „Everything Bad is Good for You.‰

Monday, June 23: „The Anthropology of YouTube‰ by Michael Wesch, assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University.

Monday, June 30: „Screenology‰ by Douglas Rushkoff, author of „Playing the Future: What We Can Learn from Digital Kids.‰

The moderators and coordinators for these events are Deanna Marcum, associate librarian for Library Services at the Library of Congress, and Derrick de Kerckhove, holder of the Harissios Papamarkou Chair in Education at the Kluge Center.

The Papamarkou Chair in Education was established at the Library of Congress by a gift from Alexander Papamarkou (1930-1998), an investment banker who was generous in his support of the arts, education and medicine, in honor of his grandfather, a Greek educator. Holders of the Papamarkou Chair focus their research on the Library‚s role in education and examine the impact of education on individuals and society.

Through a generous endowment from John W. Kluge, the Library of Congress established the Kluge Center in 2000 to bring together the world‚s best thinkers to stimulate and energize one another to distill wisdom from the Library‚s rich resources and to interact with policymakers in Washington. For further information on the Kluge Center, visit www.loc.gov/kluge/.

Free Training

2008-03-16T13:00:00.002-08:00

Recently we talked about Atomic Learning (http://atomiclearning.com/) and it was pointed out that the school system has a contract to provide asynchronous computer training. Last week the U of A system pushed out an email from Fairbanks to all employees that there was training available. I assume this training comes at a cost as does the Atomic Learning.
Well, no one asked me about how I would address the shortfall of computer skills training. I would have directed those that make the decisions to http://alison.com/ Check it out! The motto is: The FREE Global Learning Experience. You will be amazed at not only the amount of FREE training but pay close attention to HOW this training is designed. Nice audio and visuals combined with text. I like the structure and overall logical flow of information. Compare this to Atomic Learning. I tried the Excel Spreadsheet tutorial and the Psychometric tests on Personality....insightful and my overall opinion is that this can be a potentially liberating experience for those who are on the wrong side of the Digital Divide.

Elluminate and PowerPoint

2008-03-14T16:53:00.002-08:00

I'm wondering if others feel that Elluminate leaves something to be desired in terms of a vehicle to share PowerPoint presentations. I found it awkward, and that it gets in the way.....most of us seemed to have some issues.

I'm wondering if one of these other mechanisms might be worth a try for when we do the next one?

NEA Technology and Education

2008-03-14T16:01:00.002-08:00

So, I was reading some of the suggested readings for our class this Monday and since we haven't had time to talk about them as part of the class, I thought I would throw out some observations here.

I read the NEA position paper on technology and Education and have included their 7 .... understandings.....

NEA Positions on Technology and Education

More funding is needed at all levels to better integrate technology into schools and classrooms.
The technology available to educators and students should be compatible with, and at least on the same level as, technology in general use outside of schools.
Education technology budgets should reflect the importance of professional development. At least a third of all tech budgets should be reserved for school staff to become proficient in using and integrating technology into their classrooms.
Educators themselves should be involved in decisions on planning, purchasing, and deploying education technology.
Teacher education programs need to embrace educational technology and help prospective teachers use it effectively in the classroom.
Technology should be deployed and applied equitably among all students and educators, regardless of geography or demographics.
Students should also be taught the appropriate and safe use of technology.

I really can't disagree on these, they all seem very reasonable, but how achievable are they? We face a huge digital divide within our school district because, in part, we don't have a clearly thought out and funded plan for maintaining digital parity. Many of the school must rely on remodel/construction money, PTAs, grants. The question then becomes, is it the responsibility of the school district (and I don't mean just ours, but all) to provide a minimum level of technology for all schools? How is that reasonably to be funded? Should infrastructure be a priority or is equipment the priority? How do you equalize schools that have a lot of community support and funding with schools that don't have active pta's, grant writers, and construction - should those schools have more of the district tech budget? or should all schools receive equally and those that can get more, more power to them?

Just a few of the thorny questions that occurred to me as I was reading this short piece.

Ann

Webinars

2008-03-14T10:01:00.007-08:00

Wimba, recognized by academic leaders worldwide as the leading provider of collaborative learning solutions, understands harnessing the power of technology requires new skills.

Wimba knows "People Teach People" and offers a multitude of free educational seminarsto help teach the skills required to excel in the digital economy. After all, the use of collaborative technology for synchronous and asynchronous learning continues to accelerate and is here to stay.

Mar 18 & 19 - 2pm ET		Fostering Team Work in a Virtual Classroom
Register Here		Presented by: Mike Orey, University of Georgia

		We've all heard that collaborative software is beneficial for producing positive student outcomes and helping schools retain students. But still, very few know how to foster team work in a virtual classroom environment. This presentation will give specific, proven examples of how to foster team work in an online environment. It was also explain the benefits that result from successful team work.

Amazing Flash Website

2008-03-09T08:17:00.002-08:00

Mark VanArsdale, who is the very techie head of the science dpt. at ERHS, showed me this site last week, and it is one of the most amazing uses of Flash that I have seen. After doing my presentation on Jakob Nielsen, I realize how anti-flash he is for websites, but this one seems like a really valid use of the technology.

Apparently this link was on the ADN website. http://thewhalehunt.org/whalehunt.html

Enjoy,

Sonnet :)

e moderating

2008-03-06T18:39:00.001-09:00

I finally received a copy of "e moderating' by Gilly Salmon (thanks for the good presentation Jan). I am looking forward to diving into this book. Anyone else have a copy?

E to go: Internet in your pocket article

2008-03-05T18:08:00.002-09:00

After reading the article about the mobile internet access, I had a few thoughts. The author, Don Decsy, writes about having to pay per megabyte of data transmission, and I just sat here thinking, "Wow, he must have a really bad phone plan still." Then I looked and the article was dated 2006, which is really not that long ago, but the world of internet on our cellphones has really exploded in that time. I realize that I am writing this as someone who recently purchased an iPhone and it and I are still in the honeymoon stage (it really is amazing!).

I wonder though when the author's prediction that it will be easier to just carry a phone instead of to lug around a whole laptop will materialize? Any thoughts? While I do love my web-enabled phone, I don't know that I would trade the speed and efficiency of my laptop for any extended internet searching.

Innovate Conference 2008

2008-03-03T19:00:00.001-09:00

Early-bird registration for Innovation 2008
(http://education-2008.org) closes March 15, as does early-bird
reservations at the Beaver Run Resort and Conference Center in
Breckenridge, Colorado.

This conference, co-hosted by Innovate, brings together world-class
scholars and educators along with business and governmental leaders
to formulate a vision for the future of education and the role of
technology in that future. Previous attempts to integrate technology
into education may have met with difficulties because solutions have
not taken into account the total social system around teaching and
learning. With that in mind, we will look at what's next not just in
technology, but also in the social, cultural, and methodological
dimensions of education to shape a realistic appraisal of the present
and a forecast for the future. Our intent is to bring together leaders
in education, business, academia, and government in a conference
environment organized around these themes to produce significant new
ideas, perspectives, and initiatives.

Please review the conference program at
http://www.education-2008.org/ and join us this coming April!

TCC 2008 Online Conference

2008-02-26T10:55:00.000-09:00

Hello Everyone,

TCC will host a TCC 2008 Preview Event on March 13: Virtual Worlds in Education. The event is FREE but registration is required. Seating is limited so it is important to register early if interested.

Also, please note that registration for TCC 2008, April 15-17, is now available online.

Cheers,

-Bert Kimura for the TCC 2008 Conference Team

[Our apologies to those receiving multiple copies of this message. -byk]

Thirteenth Annual

TCC WORLDWIDE ONLINE CONFERENCE

April 15-17, 2008

Pre-conference dates: April 2-3, 2008

FREE PREVIEW & PANEL PRESENTATION

The New Internet: Virtual Worlds in Education

March 13, 2008

Join us for a free, live preview webcast of TCC 2008. The session includes presentations about the role and value of virtual worlds in education and getting started quickly in these new learning environments. The session will be followed by in-world virtual tours of Second Life and There.

March 13, 2008 (Thursday), 200 PM HST (800 PM EDT)*

200-300 PM: Panel session featuring Dr. Cynthia Calongne, Colorado Technical University (Second Life),

and Mr. Frank Whiting, Shasta College (There).

330 PM: Second Life in-world tour.

430 PM: There in-world tour.

TCC 2008 Preview Registration

This event is FREE, but registration is required. To reserve a virtual seat for March 13, register at:

http://portal.coe.hawaii.edu/workshops.php?event=43

TCC 2008 Conference Registration

Individuals $69, see homepage for group discounted rates or contact Sharon Fowler <fowlers@hawaii.edu>.

https://skellig.kcc.hawaii.edu/tcc2008/registration/online_reg.php (Registration)

http://tcc.kcc.hawaii.edu (Conference homepage)

For more information, contact Peter Leong <peterleo@hawaii.edu> or Bert Kimura <bert@hawaii.edu>.

Hosted by the University of Hawai'i, Kapi'olani Community College and University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Educational Technology Department, College of Education in partnership with LearningTimes.org and the Pan-Pacific Distance Learning Association. Additional support provided by the New Media Consortium and Osaka Gakuin University.

----------------------------------------------------------

* For a conversion to your local time zone, see:

http://tinyurl.com/32s8bj

Process vs. Program

2008-02-26T09:02:00.002-09:00

After listening to the presentations last night I started to think about teaching a process vs. teaching a program. I believe Craig's presentation (sorry if I am mistaken on who gave this one) on Microsoft got me thinking because the statement was made about every student knowing how to use Windows and Office. I've heard arguments (not just with Office and Windows) about teaching the process vs. the program. I am interested in hearing what everyone else thinks about this. Should we be focusing less on teaching specific programs and more on teaching a process that can be adapted in different software programs? Or does the process come with teaching the program?

Spyware, Malware and Macs

2008-02-25T18:23:00.003-09:00

I have been admittedly ignorant of spyware, malware and adware issues until now. Way back in the dim recesses of my consciousness, I was aware that such problems existed for PC owners. But I have been buffered from such experiences by a continuous history of running a Macintosh machine. Seems like just another reason to own one...

This seems like quite the hassle for PC owners. Just another hidden cost of the "cheaper" platform... "Everyone learn how to protect yourself from the defects of your operating system..." No thanks.

Assistive technology

2008-02-20T12:58:00.001-09:00

The fifth annual Reel Eyes showcase of films by and about people with disabilities will take place this March. Films will be shown on eight campuses including Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Palmer, Soldotna, Homer, Kodiak, and Valdez. Please encourage students and members of the community to attend these free film showings. There is also 500 level credit available for those who are interested. The full schedule is available on the DSS website at http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/dss/information/reeleyes.cfm

Classroom 2.0 Discussions

2008-02-13T14:40:00.001-09:00

Classroom 2.0 is sponsoring online discussions many of you would find interesting. Please check the schedule for dates and times -- they start this week!