AEA Learning Online: February 2015

Friday, February 27, 2015

Moodle Moment - Different Forum Types

Our latest Moodle Moment examines four unique forum types. Typically when instructors choose a forum in Moodle, they stick with the default "General Forum for Student Use", which allows students to create their own discussion thread in the forum, and then reply to other people's posts.

This Moodle Moment takes a look at putting your posts in a single thread, putting them in multiple threads but not allowing students to create their own, requiring students to post before they see replies, and prohibiting students from seeing other groups.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

OLLIE Book Club Begins March 2, 2015

Book clubs are a great way for educators to expand their thinking. Participating in a book club pushes the reader

to:

hold onto their thinking

read with intentionality

make observations in the text

connect the text with things beyond the book

develop new and shared understandings with book club members

Because of all of these benefits the OLLIE community will be hosting several online book clubs throughout the year (Note: Since, it is online you can participate in your pajamas while enjoying all the wine, cheese, and chocolate you can get your hands on).

Our first book club will extend from March 2, 2015-March 22,2015. The book we will be reading is The Relevant Educator, by Thomas D. Whitby and Steven W. Anderson. To participate you will need to order a paper or kindle version of the book. Books can be purchased through Amazon here.

The reading schedule is:

March 2-8, 2015: Chapters 1, 2, and 3

March 9-15, 2015: Chapters 4, 5, and 6

March 16-22, 2015: Chapters 7, 8, and 9

Each week links to the discussion prompt will be sent out via the community announcements and twitter. You can also located the weeks discussion threads here. Look for the thread labeled, "Book Club: MO/DD/YEAR". For example, Book Club: 03/02/2015 will be the first week of the upcoming discussion.

Participants in the OLLIE Book Club can earn badges.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Gamebased Learning: What is it?

When I was a kid ( a loooong time ago) there was no such thing as video games--because there were no in-home computers yet. I know, showing my "age". Our games were those we made up, learned at recess, or the board games we received as birthday and Christmas presents.

Even when I was a new teacher, computer technology had not yet become a classroom tool. Today, many students in our classrooms have more powerful technology in their hands/pockets/backpacks, than ever. They are hardly ever disconnected from the Internet. It is hard to compete with this ever-evolving mass of multimedia. So, how do we compete with that as classroom teachers? One answer to that is game-based learning. When you really think about it, video games are essentially learning engines.

You start out not knowing anything about how to play the game and gradually you learn the rules and through repeated practice, trial and error, repeat the process over and over until you have mastered the first level. The program waits for you to master it before it will let you move on--unlike in our classrooms, where the teacher moves the students forward whether the student is ready or not--there is a curriculum to be covered and we only have 180 days to get it done.

You are allowed to fail in a video game and learn from your mistakes. Failure is rarely seen as an insurmountable block that cannot be overcome. It is a challenge to get to the next level. As a gamer, you aren't going to start at the highest level--you would quit the game before you had ever finished.

Of course if you do a search on "game-based learning" you will find a slew of resources that may spark some ideas for you to try in your classroom. In a post, A Guide to Game-Based Learning by Vicki Davis@coolcatteacher, she shares tools to analyze game-base learning along with the characteristics of various types of games. The Gamifi-ed wiki, compiled by her ninth graders and Master's program students from the Univeristy of Alaska Southeast, lists some recommended games for classroom use that are great for learning. Other sites like Common Sense Media and Free Technology for Teachers also frequently feature new games and simulations that are great for classroom use.

Are you a gamer? What games do you play on your smart phone--Candy Crush? Trivia Crack? Minecraft? Words with Friends? If you play any of these types of games, then you are a gamer. How can you take gaming experiences and make them classroom worthy? Think about that and we will talk about it in the next Friday Feature.

Shall we play a game?

Peggy Steinbronn, Ed.D.

AEA PD Online Instructional Designer

www.aeapdonline.org

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Digital Citizenship for 3-5 students

While the Student Personalized Learning System is still in pilot phase we are working to add content that supports the curriculum. In this system are Digital Citizenship modules that can be assigned to 3-5 grade level students. The content in these Digital Citizenship modules was taken from Common Sense Media. Teachers, administrators and counselors of school districts could assign any or all of them to their students. Here is the current listing:

Digital Citizenship 3-5: Searching

Digital Citizenship 3-5: Copyright

Digital Citizenship 3-5: CyberBullying

Digital Citizenship 3-5: Safety

Digital Citizenship 3-5: Final Module

Friday, February 13, 2015

Moodle Moment - Advanced Moodle Layout

We are almost halfway through our 28 Days of OLLIE, and have been very excited with the number of Iowa teachers participating so far. However, the community has raised quite a few questions in my inbox. Specifically about...

How did you build that in Moodle?

Good question. The OLLIE Community doesn't look very Moodle-esque. We've actually integrated many other tools into it, and used a little-known feature called "orphaning" to design the course space.

Our Moodle Moment today gives an overview of those strategies.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

The importance of Social Presence in Online Courses

Studies about Social Presence might help us understand about an important aspect in online courses. Includes a neat infographic you might want to check out.

http://lifefeast.blogspot.com.br/2015/01/the-importance-of-social-presence-in.html

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Upcoming Course: March 1-April 15, 2015

See below for a list of upcoming online professional learning opportunities. To register, click on

the activity number listed with each course. To conduct your own search for professional development classes, download the AEA PD Online app at myapp.is/aeapdonline or click here to go to the AEA PD Online catalog.

IMovie: Digital Video in the Classroom

Course Dates: Mar. 2-Mar. 22, 2015

Credit(s): 1

Iowa Core Fraction Domain for Grades 3-5

Course Dates: Mar. 2-Apr 13, 2015

Credit(s): 2

MovieMaker: Digital Video in the Classroom

Course Dates: Mar. 2-Mar.22, 2015

Credit(s): 1

Plan-Read-View: Using GP Digital Online Databases and eBooks in Units

Course Dates: Mar. 3-Apr. 9, 2015

Credit(s): 1

Pinterest: Using Pins, Boards, and More in Your Classroom

Course Dates: Mar. 4-Mar. 31, 2015

Credit(s): 2

Intro to Google Apps: Tools to Integrate

Course Dates: Mar. 8-May 3, 2015

Credit(s): 2

Anxious Kids Searching for Calm

Course Dates: Mar. 9-May 11, 2015

Credit(s): 3

iPods & iPads for the Classroom

Course Dates: Mar. 9-May 11, 2015

Credit(s): 3

Reading in the Content Areas

Course Dates: Mar. 9-May 1, 2015

Credit(s): 2

Incorporating Bloom's Revised Taxonomy to Increase Learning

Course Dates: Mar. 10-Mar. 31, 2015

Credit(s): 1

French Essentials for Educators

Course Dates: Mar. 11-Apr. 21, 2015

Credit(s): 1

Learning Japan

Course Dates: Mar. 12-Apr. 22 , 2015

Credit(s): 1 (renewal only)

The Mexican-American Experience: Introduction to Chicano Studies

Course Dates: Mar. 12-22, 2015

Credit(s): 1 (renewal only)

iEvaluate

Course Dates: Mar. 16-May 13, 2015

Credit(s): 2 (renewal only)

Examining Dyslexia: Remediation that Works!