Monday, January 9, 2012

January 9, 2012

Good Morning Online Instructors,

Last week I blogged about Parade of Games and the great "learning game" options you can create for your students through this site.  Another great site to help you create "learning games" for your students is PowerPoint Games.  There are a number of PowerPoint Game templates available to you on this site that you can tailor to your own teaching needs.  These could be a great option for helping students study for exams or solidify course content comprehension.  It may even be a site you'd like to share with your students so they can create their own games for studying.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Thanks,
Heather Thomton-Stockman
Online Instructional Specialist

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

January 4, 2012

Welcome to 2012 and Winter Quarter!  I hope everyone had a nice and relaxing holiday season!

As we start a new quarter, I encourage you to challenge yourself to enhance your courses through various technology resources available.  Connecting with our students through various technology enhancements helps us to connect with them on their playing field.  For the younger generations, in particular, many are used to "learning" through "playing."  Implementing "learning games" into your coursework is a great option to help students engage with and comprehend the course material on a deeper level.

A great "leaning game" option is the use of the website Parade of Games.  


Using their own words, "The Parade of Games web site was created to provide educators and trainers with easy-to- assemble educational games in a technology-enhanced environment to support key learning points.   The site demonstrates the creative use of popular game shows and other familiar games to reinforce learning."
I encourage you to check this site out, give one of the game formats a try with your students (they are really easy to use!), and let me know what you think.

Thanks!
Heather Thomton-Stockman
Online Instructional Specialist