eLearning Conference- Creatively Combining Technologies for a Succesful Online Course

Sue Quast, Media Production manager
Angela M. Lohr, Professor of Humanities

Portland Community College

How to bring our heart and our perspectives to our online courses in a way that blends the technologies and meets our needs and student needs?

Why do we design?
*to be organized
*to be successful
*to be personal
*other practical reasons
So enjoy what you do along with the other pragmatic reasons

What do we want?
* want to work
* want it to be engaging
*easy to use

How do we get there?
Pedagogical Philosophies that guide design
*Course design as a form or art, expression, creativity
*Designing in a way that is fluid, elemental, unimpeded
*Sharing yourself to build community
*Engaged teaching that comes from the heart (if you don't care what you're doing it will translate into your classes and there's no technology that will help or creat it for you)
(Build in those idiosynconies? humaness of you the instructor as it it evident in face-to-face but often ignored or missing in the online. Want students to feel connected. Add those personal elements)

As educators, we are ethically obligated to keep ourselves current and vested in the dynamics of our craft. Don't want to stagnate. Don't be afraid to try something new

Tools in the Faculty Bag O'Tricks
*Elluminate (virtual office hours)
*Mobile Devices (responding to students)
*Surveymonkey (risk-free feedback)
*Mediasite (lecture possibilities)

Don't be hesitant to try something new but you can make sure you use a survey function to check to see how successful it is. Involve them in the feedback and they may feel more vested.

Having a basic picture so students can identify a PERSON behind the class--hard to build a community without people so it starts with that at the beginning.

(FROM TWEET FEED:No one knows how much you know until they know how much they care )

Notes from Active-Learning:
Graphics--banners Micromedia Fireworks (part of studio suite, dreamweaver, google graphics/sound bites) Cartoons, photos, banners, videos, soundfiles (hear earthquake), Wimba, Windows Live Messenger, (See and Hear a ripwave), playlists, flipvideo

Xtranormal.com (public, free cartoon program, can choose camera angles, just type in text, can add basic behaviors/gestures)

Group suggestions:
Keep it simple
Keep it short (for sure less than 15 minutes)
Minimize reading
Add humor
Don't get too gimmicky