Wednesday, May 25, 2011

May 25, 2011

Good Morning Online Instructors,

This week's video resource will be particularly beneficial to any instructor that teaches business, finance, communications, or general organizational courses.  The Wharton Video Lectures from the Wharton Leadership Lectures Series and the Wharton Entrepreneur Workshops at the University of Pennsylvania can offer our students first-hand exposure to industry leaders and executives.

I encourage you to check this great video resource out by clicking on the above link, browsing through the numerous videos, and adding one or more to your course.

Let me know what you think, how your students respond to the videos, and whether or not you have any questions.

Thanks,
Heather Thomton-Stockman
Online Instructional Specialist

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

May 18, 2011

Good Afternoon Online Instructors,

For much of this quarter I have blogged about many different audio resources that are readily available to you for use in your classrooms.  I encourage you to continue checking these resources out.  In addition, I encourage you to also personalize your classes with your own audio presentations (and maybe even give video recording a try too).

There are many great, free tools available to you for audio development, but the three that I'd like to highlight today are:  Jing, Screencast-o-Matic, and Screenr.
  • Jing:  Some of the great features of Jing are that you can create short 5-minute screencasts that allow you to share a URL link or save and upload the actual file within Blackboard.
  • Screencast-o-Matic allows you to record 15-minute screencasts without the requirement of any software downloads.  You do need to share via some form of a YouTube account though.  AND a really fun feature of Screencast-o-Matic is that you can do webcam recordings if you'd like to physically demonstrate something for your students or even just talk to them more "in-person" with the video feature.
  • Screenr , in essence, is a blend of the best of both Jing and Screencast-o-Matic.  Screenr has the user-friendliness of Screencast-o-Matic in terms of not needing any software downloads (you simply click record and talk) but also the sharing friendliness of Jing as you can quickly and easily share the recording's URL with others rather than needing to upload to a YouTube site, etc.
Regardless of what you use, I definitely encourage you to at least try one of these out and connect with your students on yet another level.  If you have any questions as you are trying out these resources, please let me know.

Thanks,
Heather Thomton-Stockman
Online Instructional Specialist

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

May 4, 2011

Good Afternoon Instructors,

As promised, I will continue this week's blog with another video and podcasting resource, but there is one caveat, it is a resource geared directly to science instructors.  So, science instructors, here you go!!!  Check it out and let me know what you think!  (And for the rest of you - and myself included, since I'm not a science instructor either - if you have found a discipline specific resource that you use in your own courses that you think others that also teach in your program could benefit from, please send it my way so I can share it with your colleagues too!)

The Wildclassroom is a science focused online resource with the tag line "Education for the Next Generation."  This online resource offers many professional, educational, and intentionally humorous video episodes, podcasts, lesson plans, and other resources.  As stated by The Wildclassroom, the following is its mission:  
"As an organization of next generation scientists, The Wild Classroom and sister site Explore Biodiversity work to promote an interest in conservation, ecology and biology in a manner appealing to our youth and young at heart"  (http://www.thewildclassroom.com/home/nav/mission.html).

I encourage you scientists to check this resource out and once again, let me know what you think.

Thanks!
Heather Thomton-Stockman
Online Instructional Specialist