From NMSU Hotline: NM online learning policies and practices ranks nationally

Great news from VSS, but forgot to report here. NMSU Hotline for today reminded me:

New Mexico’s eLearning support system, IDEAL-NM (www.ideal-nm.org), has been ranked number six in the country for online learning policies and practices by The Center for Digital Education. IDEAL-NM provides eLearning services in partnership with K-12, higher education and state agencies.

Two programs administered through NMSU, NM Learning Network Program (www.nmln.org ) and RETA (reta.nmsu.edu), have been integral to the success of IDEAL-NM.

Introduction to Moodle - On Demand!

Catch the aforementioned RETA Webinar at your convenience here.

Catch the Moodle Fever

You are invited...
Introduction to Moodle - RETA Webinar
Presented by Holly Rae Bemis-Schurtz

Moodle is an open source course management system used by educators around the world. Created by Martin Dougiamas to support social constructivism, Moodle provides flexibility and autonomy for districts and teachers while supporting a wide variety of interactive social learning tools. In this introductory session you will learn more about what Moodle can do and find out how it can be implemented. You will even be able to hear from some teachers who have used it in both distance and blended education and see examples from their courses.

When: TODAY
Tuesday 29 April 2008, 04:30 PM - 05:30 PM MST


TO JOIN THE WEBINAR
Our webinars are one hour and will begin promptly at 4:30pm MT (5:30 CST;
6:30 EST; 3:30 PST).

If you have not registered for this event, please go to the following link
to register at least 24 hours prior to the event:
http://nmsu.acrobat.com/intromoodle1/event/registration.html

If you have previously registered for this event, attend by going to the
following link and enter the email address and password you used to
register: http://nmsu.acrobat.com/intromoodle1/event/login.html

Join the webinar 20-30 minutes prior to the start time to configure your
computer. To participate speakers are required; a simple computer microphone and/or headset is ideal for complete interaction. A webcam is
optional. If you have never used Acrobat Connect Professional, please test
your connection at:

http://admin.adobe.acrobat.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

TECH ASSISTANCE
If you have questions or need assistance, please contact webinars@nmsu.edu or call us at 575.646.6143.


FOR MORE INFORMATION
Please visit us at http://webinars.nmsu.edu

Have a cup of coffee, invite a colleague and raise your eQ (eLearning
Quotient) with us.


Thank you,
The RETA Webinar Team

Wikis in the K12 Classroom - Just how do you do this?

Wikis are all the rage - with very good reason. Exactly how, however, do you do this, especially in the K12 classroom? What about guidelines, permissions, safety...?

Check out this post I made to Moodlebots Blog to find out how you can learn about wikis in the classroom today, tomorrow, and beyond.

http://moodlebots.blogspot.com/2008/03/using-wikis-with-your-students.html

Bon (Wiki) appetit!

I think, therefore I Moodle...

For the Moodlebots, OTLO, EDUC8, and Dexter E2T2 groups I work with...

This week’s RETA Webinar!

Blogs in the Classroom I by Cissy Lujan-Pincomb and Miley Grandjean
Tuesday, March 4, 2008 – 4:30 pm-5:30 pm
Register at: http://webinars.nmsu.edu/

You hear about blogs everyday from students or co-workers, but have you thought about using them in your classroom? In this webinar session you will be introduced to the refreshing world of blogging where you will begin generating ideas on how you might use blogs within your own classroom. In this first session we will introduce you to: what a blog is, what a blog can be used for, help you set up your own blogging account, and then send you on your way with resources, so that you will make an informed and enjoyable push into the “blogging world.”

This week’s Show me the Moodle Webclass!

Show me the Moodle Blocks by Holly Rae Bemis-Schurtz
Thursday, March 6, 2008 - 5 – 6 pm
Register at: http://moodlebots.pbwiki.com/register+here

How do you add RSS feeds to the sidebar of your course? What if you want an interactive calendar for students? These are only a couple of the Blocks available in Moodle. In this one hour session, we will demonstrate implementation of these popular blocks and show you how you can add Widgets to incorporate other dynamic content into your course.

This session is for Moodlers who have already had an introduction to Moodle Course Design.

This session will be recorded for on demand viewing. Details will be shared after the session.

Attending these sessions

A simple computer microphone and/or chat headset is ideal for participation. A web cam is also nice, but not required. Please plan to join the session at least 20 minutes prior to the start time to configure your computer.


Tech Assistance

Support will be available 30 minutes prior to the start of session for tech assistance.

More great eLearning webinars and webclass sessions coming up every week! For more information, see
http://moodlebots.pbwiki.com/Synchronous+Learning+Events

For more information on Moodle

Our ancillary resource for this session is the Moodle 1.8 Handbook at our site at http://reta.nmsu.edu/moodle. After attending, you should be able to practice the ‘hands on’ component in your own Moodle classroom (contact me if you would like a course environment for your use at RETAMoodle - http://reta.nmsu.edu/moodle).

Can’t make it?

Sessions will be recorded. A link for a session recording will be available. Contact me for more information.

Upcoming Show me the Moodle Sessions

Hi Everyone ~ Happy Leap Year to all from RETA Moodle!

I have some information I'd like for you to know. Feel free to share this with friends. In addition to the wonderful RETA Webinars coming up in the next couple of months, I have scheduled some 'Show me the Moodle' webclass sessions on specific topics. These topics are designed to help you with specific parts of Moodle course design. You will find more information at the Moodlebot Wiki - http://moodlebots.pbwiki.com/Synchronous+Learning+Events

Show me the Moodle - Blocks - March 6 - 5 pm MST [register here]

How do you add RSS feeds to the sidebar of your course? What if you want an interactive calendar for students? These are only a couple of the Blocks available in Moodle. In this one hour session, we will demonstrate implementation of these popular blocks and show you how you can add Widgets to incorporate other dynamic content into your course.

Show me the Moodle - Adding Resources - March 13 - 5 pm MST[register here]

Adding content to your course is a breeze with Moodle. Find out how to add websites, HTML, PowerPoints and other types of files in this one hour on Moodle Resources.

Show me the Moodle - Assignments - March 16 - 11 am MST[register here]

There are four main ways to use the Assignment activity in Moodle. In this one hour session we will demonstrate each of these and give examples of how they can be used in online teaching and blended instruction.

Show me the Moodle - Choice and Journal Activities - April 6 - 11 am MST [register here]

Moodle Choice and Journal Activities are some of the easiest Moodle activities to implement. In this hour long webclass we will demonstrate how to implement these activities and discuss how we can use them in our online and blended classrooms.

Moodle Administration Professional Learning Community [register here]

March 11 - 4:30 pm MST and April 8 - 4:30 pm MST

This is an open learning community of educators who are currently or planning to administer a Moodle site. Topics of discussion may include security, course management, user management, troubleshooting, etc. Participants in this group are invited to return on a monthy basis to share ideas and discuss how they can support Moodle in their schools and districts.

Moodle@Picacho: Transforming Teaching with Interactive Online Course Management Tools

I dig action research. I was very lucky in my graduate experience to be invited to the Center for Teaching Excellence Action Research conference in Taos in 2006 to present my study on a strategy I used in my classroom.

During the 2006-2007 school year, I lead an action research study using CTE grant funding with a wonderful team of teachers at my site. We studied Moodle in our own professional learning and we used it with our students - collecting data and reflecting on our work along the way.

The result is the lengthy Action Research Report that I will post today. It's been in Google Docs for a long time now and it's time to put it on record. This report will be included in the CTE Action Research report which will come out in June at this year's conference.

The report is located here: http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dg2jjhbv_45dndxn5

As Moodle has changed, so has the relevance of the technical discussion of Moodle within the report. The highlights, however, reveal that customized professional development and access to a professional learning community supports teachers in their adoption and implementation of Moodle. By working together, educators mediate the challenges of implementing new tools with students. There is also some interesting data on the attitudes of the students who participated.

Almost a year out from the busy time when I wrote this final report, I view it more as a comprehensive snapshot of what we worked on and what we learned, rather than something which informs other educators from a research standpoint. Don't get me wrong~ It could very much be useful, but I am learning every day how the little things about technology change rapidly and the conversation is more about reflective practice than analysis of the tool.

I look forward to future writings on my work with educators and Moodle, now that I can see the study from different angles. I would enjoy engaging in a discussion about the report and the question of how it could inform what teachers are doing today with online tools.

Theme of the Day: Help people learn more in better ways!

I received some excellent news updates today on the topic of differentiation and assistive technology. What it all boils down to is that the edtech leaders and evangelists among us have much to do with special education and assistive technnology, or rather all of us, in all of those fields, have work to do, together.

Then TechCrunch served up this story about Howcast. What a perfect opportunity to break down a task analysis in the spirit of Dr. Poel at NMSU.

Here's an example of the helpfulness and straight up 'how to ness' of Howcast. How do we get these clever ex-Googlers to work for the Force? Of course, by force I mean, the good side....aren't all of us ed-vangelists on that side?

Free books on Digital Media and Learning for download

Here's the description from the website at http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/dmal?cookieSet=1

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning examines the effect of digital media tools on how people learn, network, communicate, and play, and how growing up with these tools may affect a person's sense of self, how they express themselves, and their ability to learn, exercise judgment, and think systematically. The full text of each volume in the Series is provided for free and open access thanks to the generous support of the MacArthur Foundation. The full text of these chapters is openly available below. We ask that you complete a brief site registration process, or log in if you are already registered at MIT Press Journals. Registration is entirely optional, but we hope you will register because the information that we gather helps us learn more about open access publishing. If you're experiencing access problems or have questions about e-access registration, please email journals-access@mit.edu.

Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth

Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility

The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning

Digital Young, Innovation, and the Unexpected

Learning Race and Ethnicity: Youth and Digital Media

Youth, Identity, and Digital Media

Silent 'Film'

I found this on Slideshare (which I really enjoy, btw) and it has no sound. I really don't know what Alan Levine would narrate...but there are some nice visual moments here as relates to Web x.0 and education. I also like it when slideshows are dominated by visuals rather than text. Anyhow, enough with the intro...

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P.S. Must pick up the CogDogBlog feed.