UNHCE Information Technology & Distance Education Blog: Distance Learning Archives

An on-line training module has been developed to help familiarize mentors with the goals of the UNHCE mentoring program. You can view this guide in your browser window at: Mentor's Goals on-line module

Note that you will need to have Flash installed on your computer to view this module.

For more information on the mentoring program, go to the UNHCE New Employee Orientation page and scroll down to the section on the mentoring program.

Adobe is offering free sessions on eLearning design. These sessions are being led by Michael Allen, a respected leader in the ELearning design field.

For further information or to sign up for this series, go to Adobe's event details and registration at:
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/event/index.cfm?event=detail&id=472090&loc=en_us

A good article on how to construct questions in eLearning experiences, so that you ascertain if the learner can apply knowledge rather than just spit back what they've heard, is available at Catchy Moore's blog. Click here to read the article.

A great article on designing learning experiences, maximizing the benefits of visuals, text, and audio is available on Adobe's site at: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/captivate/articles/max_learning_03.html

This article is based on the research of Richard Mayer, among others. Mayer has been a recognized leader in the field for over 30 years.

Of particular interest is a diagram which shows how to incorporate audio and visual effects to enhance learning, based on audience considerations. That is available at: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/captivate/articles/max_learning/fig01.jpg

A group titled "Shift Happens" has posted an interesting item on YouTube, regarding how technology affects the way we educate and learn, and how globalization impacts the 21st century. It can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o

Matt Tarr and Karen Bennett have developed a series of videos showcasing UNH Cooperative Extension Forestry & Wildlife staff members. Each short video introduces staff members, and highlights ways the staff members can provide assistance to our clientele.

These videos were recorded and posted with the assistance of Adam Donovan, a student intern from the UNH Communications Department. They are listed on a NH map on the UNHCE Forestry and Wildlife Program web page. (See: http://extension.unh.edu/Forestry/Forestry.htm ) Clicking on a link to a county brings up a video of the forester.

In addition to the staff postings, videos about specific programs are also included. One good example is a video with Phil Auger on Protecting Your Land. (See: http://extension.unh.edu/Forestry/Media/auger/auger.htm )

This project not only helped improve visibility of our foresters, it also strengthened our partnership with the UNH Communications Department. The intern was able to get valuable experience working with the Forestry and Wildlife Program's top of the line video editing equipment.

Check it out!

A UNHCE Employee orientation course has been posted to our website. You can access it by clicking on the link or going to: http://extension.unh.edu/elearning/course/view.php?id=7&sesskey=lN2szvDBl6&switchrole=5

This was designed to supplement the formal orientation process and to give new employees a reference they can use even before the formal orientation session or meetings with their supervisors. It also has useful links to all UNHCE staff.

This course was developed using MOODLE, which is a Learning Management System. MOODLE is similar to BlackBoard, but less robust. It is available for free to UNHCE staff.

For more information on MOODLE, contact Steve Judd or Barbara Wright.

eXtension is offering the following sessions in November.

* Nov 15th - 30 Minute Session: Blogging
* Nov 19th - In-MoodleMeet
* Nov 20th - 30 Minute Session: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Application. (This is designed to enable educators to find answers to your clients' questions.)

For further information or to "attend" one of these on-line sessions, go to: http://about.extension.org/

An on-line slideshow titled, "Community Assets for People Mapping" is available at: http://extension.unh.edu/CommDev/CAP-Map/CAP-Map.htm

This is not only a useful resource, it provides a model for using Captivate to create a PowerPoint with voiceover. Captivate allows the user can to the speed, rewind, fast forward,etc., while viewing a slideshow.

CIS has opened a new service in Dimond Library called Dimond Academic Commons (DAC.) This facility, located on the 3rd floor of Dimond Library, provides a multitude of services for faculty, staff, and students, as well as the general public. UNHCE staff can avail themselves of services such as scanning documents & images; help with Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; and repairing damaged files. They also offer technology-enhanced group work rooms.

For further information, visit the library, or see their web site at: http://www.library.unh.edu/dac

In September, eXtension is offering "30 Minute Sessions" on some new topics such as Second Life, Slideshare, AJAX, and Developing Quality Web Content. These sessions will be held at their Web Conferencing Center at:
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/learn and your telephone.

eXtension's professional development opportunities are open to all Cooperative Extension faculty, staff and employees. No pre-registration.

Sessions include:
* Sept 11: Introduction to Second Life
* Sept 12: Social Bookmarking
* Sept 20: Using Slideshare for Collaboration and Online Learning
* Sept 26: AJAX: Cleaning up your Web Applications and Reducing User Clicks,
* Sept 27: Developing Quality Web Content

RECORDINGS:
Recordings of many past professional development sessions can be found at the main eXtension wiki at http://about.eXtension.org/wiki and scroll down under Professional Development heading and find "Recordings of eXtension Professional Development Sessions", or search on the word Recording.

For further info, see below.

Each session will be held at 3:00 Eastern Time (2:00p CT, 1:00p MT, 12:00n PT, 11:00a AT; 9:00a HT) unless otherwise noted.

TO PARTICIPATE in any of the 30 Minute sessions...
1. Five minutes before the start time, go to our Web Conferencing Center meeting room at http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/learn.
2. You will be presented with a login screen that has an "Enter as Guest" option.
3. Enter your first name, your last name, and your institution/university, then click the "Enter Room" button to join the conference.
4. To hear the audio of the workshop and participate in the Q&A portion of the workshop they will be using Adobe Connect Pro's built-in teleconferencing capability. Once you log into the meeting you will be presented with the option to enter your call-back number. After entering your number you will be automatically called and joined into the audio portion of the Web conference on your phone.

eXtension is offering a session entitled, "Designing for Web 2.0: The Visual Ecosystem."

This session has been touted as being of high quality. It should be of value to anyone who works with, or creates content for the web.

The event, "Designing for Web 2.0: The Visual Ecosystem" is coming up this Wednesday, July 18 from 3:00 - 5:00 ET (2p CT; 1p MT; Noon PT; 11a AT; 9a HT). The session features Luke Wrobleski of www.lukew.com. For more information see the session announcement: http://about.extension.org.

An article on When and HOW to use PowerPoint, titled, "PowerPoint No, Cyberspace Yes," is available at: http://www.ntlf.com/html/sf/cyberspace.htm

Some of the key points re:good pedagogy that contribute to meeting your delivery goals include:

1. Courses should focus on learning rather than teaching (student-centered vs. teacher-centered).

2. Interaction with the material should be student-controlled rather than teacher-controlled.

3. Content delivery should be based on student knowledge, driven by frequent formative feedback (classroom assessment).

4. Courses should be structured so that students interact with material in a pedagogically sound way.

Using many text bullets with voiceover saying the same thing is actually counterproductive to the learning process. A better approach is to use a PowerPoint slide with a meaningful graphic, and then present the information orally.

For further info, here are some research-based articles:

Help! My Brain is Overloaded! http://www.unsw.edu.au/news/pad/articles/2007/mar/Cognitive_load_theory.html

Effective Teaching: Learning Theory Approach http://connect.educause.edu/library/abstract/EffectiveTeachingwit/43763

An innovative way some colleges & universities (including places like Harvard) are conducting some classes is in a virtual reality environment. IT is unconventional, to say the least, but has some potential for some audiences.

CNN had an article covering the basics at: http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/11/13/second.life.university/index.html

IN addition, a review of one Harvard professor's class is posted at : http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/node/5553

Educause Connect offers helpful information as far as designing learning experiences using technology as a mode of delivery.

Their offerings include publications, conferences, articles, and virtual communities.

To see their offerings related to Instruction Design, go to:
http://connect.educause.edu/term_view/Instructional+Design

This article has pointers on 7 ways to increase the effectiveness of your PowerPoint presentations.

http://www.kevineikenberry.com/uypw/ezine/07/issue4_24_print.asp

The attached article has information on when and how to effectively use on-line learning. It also includes some pointers on conducting web conferences.

Download file

Judy Baker, of Foothill College, has developed this slide show on considerations when offering learning experiences on line.

An article titled, "The Seven Principles of Good Practice:
Using Technology to Improve Learning Outcomes" is available at: http://www.tltgroup.org/seven/seven-other.htm

A Glossary Features, tools & terms used in Distance Learning and Course Management Systems is available at:
http://www.edutools.info/glossary.jsp?pj=4

CIS is offering free training in BlackBoard (a course management system) to UNH employees.

Anyone in the UNH Human Resources database is eligible to have a BlackBoard account, which can be used to deliver and take classes. (Note that classes may only be accessed by others with UNH BlackBoard accounts, so BlackBoard cannot be used for volunteer training.)

For information on their upcoming classes, including a QuickStart (Intro) class and a class on Discussion Boards and Workgroups, see the CIS website at: http://training.unh.edu/default.html

A decision-making matrix which contains information on features, costs, and considerations for various distance learning technologies has been posted to our web site.

To view the on-line version, go to: http://extension.unh.edu/blogs/itde/DLmtrxOL.pdf
Note that this is a large document (11x17 landscape mode.) For that reason, you may want to view in full-screen mode, and magnify the document (using the magnifying glass icon) to see the details more clearly. Use the scroll bars on the right and bottom of your browser window to scroll through the various features.

The printable version is housed at: http://extension.unh.edu/blogs/itde/DLmtxPrt.pdf

What's all this about Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 refers to a second generation of Web-based services--such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, tagging, and folksonomies--that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users.

A 90-minute recorded session titled "Ten Steps to Web 2.0" is available on line at eXtension at: http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/p79691970/

This previously presented session was conducted by Beth Kanter. Beth Kanter was recently recognized by NTEN as the most valuable member of the nonprofit technology community.

You can learn more about Beth Kanter at http://www.bethkanter.org/ and read her blog at http://beth.typepad.com/.

Beth Kanter will be providing an eXtension session titled, "Tagging for Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing" on May 9 from 3:00 - 4:30 Eastern Time.

This session will answer the questions: What is tagging? Why is it useful for individuals as well as groups? What are the pitfalls? What is social bookmarking? What does a community tagging project look like?

Beth Kanter is an experienced coach to "digital immigrants" in the personal mastery of using new web tools. Her work primarily deals with educational technology and working in communities. Many of the things she writes and presents about fit closely with Extension.

You can learn more about Beth Kanter at http://www.bethkanter.org/ and read her blog at http://beth.typepad.com/. If you missed it, see the Recording of "Ten Steps to Web 2.0" that she presented in April. It's linked from the About eXtension wiki's Recordings of eXtension
Professional Development Sessions page at http://tinyurl.com/2c3lzk.

To attend "Tagging for Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing" via Connect (formerly Breeze) go to http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/learn . Please join the session 5-10 minutes before the starting time at 3:00-4:30 Eastern Time. Telephone access is also required.

An article about the pros & cons of on-line learning & how they relate to learning styles is available at: http://www.wmur.com/highvoltage/11434953/detail.html

An on-line webinar titled, "Online course design: proven techniques for enhancing student learning using rich media webcasting" presented by an award winner in On-line instructional design is available at: http://hosted.mediasite.com/hosted4/Viewer/Viewers/Viewer320TL.aspx?mode=Default&peid=4767db51-78f4-4146-a05e-e5c97ca6ae4b&pid=eee70414-7cc9-4c31-9448-5aa9a6e30ca1&playerType=WM64Lite

This course talks about the 7 principles for Good Practice, and adds 3 to consider when designing on-line learning experiences. It is geared toward undergraduate courses, but the concepts are adaptable to any learning audience, particularly when designing a multi-phase course with learning modules.

Note that this webinar requires installing an ActiveX controller. If you need assistance with that, please contact the hot seat.

eLearn's on-line magazine: (http://www.elearnmag.org/index.cfm ) offers articles, tutorials, research, and information on best practices in the on-line learning community. It will help you implement your distance learning offerings.

Check it out for information on using distance learning as a mode of delivery for your programs.

An on-line interactive Course Management Systems Comparison Guide is available at: http://www.edutools.info/item_list.jsp?pj=4

At time of publication, there were 16 CMS products reviewed. Users can compare up to 10 products at one time.

WCET (Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications), offers articles, resources, research and training for the use of distance learning technologies as a mode of delivery.

To access their site, go to:
http://www.wcet.info/about/news.asp