Tuesday, 7 September 2010, 12:26 PM
Site: Instructional Technology CouncilCourse: Instructional Technology Council (ITC)
Glossary: Library: Articles, Abstracts and Research
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'A Better Pencil':(Sept. 18, 2009) by Serena Golden “In this electronic age, new writing technologies seem to proliferate and evolve with alarming speed -- but of course, people have been coming up with new ways to communicate their thoughts for as long as language has existed at all. Writing itself -- writes Dennis Baron -- was once the object of much suspicion; Plato wrote that it could attenuate human memory, since writing things down would obviate the need to memorize them. In his new book, A Better Pencil: Readers, Writers, and the Digital Revolution (Oxford University Press), Baron looks at the history of writing implements and communication technologies, and explores the digital revolution's impact on how we write, how we learn, and how we connect with one another.” . . . Web site |
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10 Killer Content Sources for Your iPod Learning Mix:(Oct. 14, 2009) by Jeffrey Cobb, Mission to Learn Web site Here are 10 great ones, in no particular order: Quick and Dirty Tips - Probably best known for the Grammar Girl podcast, Quick and Dirty Tips offers short and snappy content on a range of other topics, like nutrition, public speaking, investing, and even dog training. http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/ LearnOutLoud - I’ve been a fan of The Philosophy Podcast for a while now, but LearnOutLoud has a lot more to offer. In fact, the site claims to have “the Internet’s first directory for podcasts you can learn from.” And LearnOutLoud also has a great selection of learning resources for kids. http://www.learnoutloud.com/ MindBites - I interviewed MindBites CEO Jason Reneau for a Radio Free Learning podcast a while back. His company’s site offers a large and growing collection of video “instructionals” on topics ranging from sewing to calculus to baby sign language. http://www.mindbites.com/ Radio Lingua Network - Radio Lingua offers the popular Coffee Break Spanish and Coffee Break French podcast series as well as “My Daily Phrase” and “One Minute” podcasts for a number of other languages. http://www.radiolingua.com/ourpodcasts/index.html iTunes U (Opens in iTunes) - iTunes U is the place for great free content from top universities and other educational institutions. Apple claims there are more than 200,000 educational audio and video files available. Here are direct links to a few of the participating institutions and organizations. Carnegie Melon University, Oxford University, Open University, Stanford University, Edutopia, and Teacher’s Domain (WGBH/PBS) http://deimos3.apple.com/indigo/main/main.html?v0=WWW-AMUS-ITUNESU070521-N48LX (You will have to have iTunes installed for these to work) Education Podcast Network - The Education Podcast Network bills itself as “an effort to bring together into one place, the wide range of podcast programming that may be helpful to teachers looking for content to teach with and about, and to explore issues of teaching and learning in the 21st century.” Of course, you don’t have to be a teacher to use it! http://epnweb.org/ The Naked Scientists - If you have the slightest interest in science, The Naked Scientists is a site you will want to subscribe to. A project of the BBC, it offers up a continuing stream of interviews with famous scientists along with news and information about science, medicine and technology. http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/ Librivox - Librivox is the source for free audio book content on the Web, and it offers a variety of podcast options. You can pull pretty much any audio book on the site into your iPod, or try out one of these five channels for an automated stream of content: LibriVox Books Podcast, LibriVox Community Podcast, LibriVox Poetry Podcast, LibriVox Short Story Podcast, LibriVox New Releases Podcast http://librivox.org/ TED Talks - I’m continually amazed at the stream of high quality content coming out of the Technology, Entertainment, and Design conference. The Web site is very popular, but you might not be aware that you can subscribe to both a video and an audio version of TED talks through iTunes. http://www.ted.com/talks Teaching Company - I’ve got a bit of a chip on my shoulder when it comes to The Teaching Company. They, along with Amazon and many others, dropped their North Carolina affiliates like a hot potato after the NC Legislature passed a hare-brained new tax law late this summer. Still, if you are willing to pony up the bucks for it, the company offers some pretty amazing, in-depth educational content. “Great courses taught by great professors,” as they put it. http://www.teach12.com/teach12.aspx?ai=16281 |
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2 Kinds of Part-Time Students: |
2006 Campus Computing Project: Wireless Networks, IT Security Incidents Decline:Web site |
2008 Global Student E-book Survey:Student academic use of information resources (table 2): 81 percent [2,593] Google, 78 percent [2,517] E-books, 77 percent [2,478] Print books, 69 percent [2,206] E-reference, 67 percent [2,142] Wikipedia, 65 percent [2,098] Print textbooks, 65 percent [2,080] E-journals, 62 percent [1,992] Databases (ProQuest, LexisNexis, JSTOR, etc.)" Website |
2009 WebWise Conference on Libraries and Museums in the Digital World: |
25 Practical Ideas for Using Mobile Phones In The Classroom:(Nov. 20, 2009) by Graham Atwell, Poltydysgu “We have been writing a lot about ideas on how mobile devices, and particularly phones might be used to support learning. But most of this work has been from a somewhat theoretical angle. Now Jenny Hughes has written a great guest blog on the practical work she has been doing on the use of mobiles in schools. I’ve been working with (primary and secondary teachers) on e-learning in the classroom – particularly the use of web 2.0 applications – as the roll out and dissemination of the TACCLE project. Part of this has been looking at the use of mobile phones as learning tools in schools. There seems to be a lot of debate around the technology, the theoretical perspectives, the social dimension and so on but just at the moment the ‘doing’ is engaging me far more than the research. And as I’m always the first to complain about the practitioner – researcher divide, I thought maybe we should contribute by sharing some stuff we are experimenting with in the classroom.” “What follows is some of the output from teachers. Firstly there has been a debate around the feasibility of using mobile telephones in schools; teachers from schools that have banned them outright, teachers from schools where they are allowed and teachers who are actually using them for learning generated a list of For-and-Against arguments. Secondly, there are some practical suggestions for using mobile devices (mainly phones), tried and tested and either contributed by teachers or trialed on the TACCLE course.” . . . Web site |
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7 Things You Should Know about Google Wave:Educause What is it? Who is doing it? How does it work? Why is it significant? What are the downsides? Where is it going? What are the implications for teaching and learning? “Google Wave is a web-based application that represents a rethinking of electronic communication. E-mail is 40 years old, predating most of the technology that people today take for granted, and the basic model of e-mail remains unchanged. Other forms of electronic communication have emerged, such as instant messaging, chats, blogs, and texting, and many communication tools have also migrated to the cloud rather than running on local campus servers.” “With these trends in mind, Google is developing an application that has elements of existing communication tools but is built around a different model of how communication -- and collaboration -- take place. With Wave, users create online spaces called “waves,” which may include multiple discrete messages and components -- “blips” -- that constitute a running, conversational document. Users access waves through the web, resulting in a model of communication in which separate copies of multiple messages are not sent to different people; instead, the content resides in a single space. People go to a wave to access the content, respond to it, change it, replay it, send it to a blog, or add new material or attachments.” Web site |
70 Signs of Intelligent Life at YouTube:“Smart video collections keep appearing on YouTube. But rather antithetical to the ethos of its parent company (Google), YouTube unfortunately makes these collections difficult to find. So we’ve decided to do the job for them. These enriching/educational videos come from media outlets, cultural institutions, universities and non-profits. There are about 70 collections in total, and the list will grow over time. If we’re missing anything good, feel free to let us know, and we’ll happily add them. You can find the complete list below the jump.” Website |
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A Balancing Act: Improving Student Online Discussion Participation: |
A Case Study Analysis of Factors that Influence Attrition Rates in Voluntary Online Training Programs:Abstract: This article examines utilization of online training courses in a Midwest-based landscaping company in the United States. The company had implemented online training to facilitate employee development for their 5,000 employees who were in locations throughout the United States. The courses had been in place for about a decade before the organization attempted to evaluate their effectiveness. In the 14-month process of collecting data to evaluate course effectiveness, researchers discovered that only 21% of employees who enrolled in online training during this time period actually completed the training. This finding surprised researchers and company management and motivated an investigation into the causes underlying this high rate of attrition. Attrition survey data revealed that attrition was not due to dissatisfaction with course design, technology, or content. Rather, lack of time available both at work and at home was the principal factor that contributed to course attrition. Additional contributing factors included course enrollment procedures, low employee motivation, and employee turnover. Recommendations for implementation of online training in organizational settings are offered. Website |
A Constructivist Approach to Online Training for Online Teachers: |
A Critical Examination of Blackboard’s e-Learning Environment:Blackboard’s e-learning system dominates the online learning software market. In this essay I critically examine the structure of Blackboard’s two online learning delivery systems, Blackboard 8.0 and Blackboard CE6. I identify ways in which the platforms both constrain and facilitate instructor–student and student–student interaction. I addition, I delineate features that sustain and challenge traditional power relationships in the classroom. I conclude with implications for online pedagogy and practical applications for instructors and students. Website |
A Cross Sectional Review of Theory and Research in Distance Education: |
A Design Framework for Electronic Cognitive Apprenticeship: |
A Faculty Evaluation Model for Online Instructors: Mentoring and Evaluation in the Online Classroom: |
A Framework for Design and Evaluation of Internet-Based Distance Learning Courses: |
A Framework for Operational Decision-Making in Course Development and Delivery:(2004) by Stella Porto. The author discusses factors that influence operational decision-making during curriculum and course development and delivery, how these factors integrate, findings in the literature and how they apply to the practical context. Porto provides a framework to support decision-making processes. Web Site |
A Framework for the “Entrepreneurial” Learner of the 21st Century:(2005) by Connie Reimers-Hild, James W. King, John E. Foster, Susan M. Fritz, Steven S. Waller and Daniel W. Wheeler. This paper presents a theoretical framework for examining the characteristics of successful distance learners through the lens of entrepreneurship. Web Site |
A Giant Leap and a Big Deal: Delivering on the Promise of Equal Access to Broadband for People with Disabilities:(April 2010) by Elizabeth Lyle, Federal Communications Commission [from the press release, “Today, the Federal Communications Commission issued the agency’s first-ever working paper addressing accessibility and technology issues. Part of a series of working papers released in conjunction with the National Broadband Plan, the paper considers the numerous barriers to broadband usage faced by people with disabilities, including inaccessible hardware, software, services, and web content and expensive specialized assistive technologies. http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-297711A1.pdf ] “There are 54.4 million Americans who have disabilities, and 35 million Americans who have a severe disability.2 For those aged 15 and over, this includes 7.8 million who have difficulty seeing the words in ordinary newsprint; 7.8 million who have difficulty hearing a typical conversation; 2.5 million who have difficulty having their speech understood; 27.4 million who have lower body limitations; 19 million with upper body limitations; and 16.1 million with cognitive, mental, and emotional functioning disabilities.” (2005 US Census Report) . . . “This paper will first consider numerous barriers to broadband usage faced by people with disabilities, including inaccessible hardware, software, and services, and inaccessible web content. It will also identify barriers related to specialized assistive technologies that people with disabilities use to gain access to broadband services as well as barriers faced by specific populations within the disability community. Next, the paper will discuss existing private sector efforts to address these barriers, including the advances made by industry innovation and collaborative efforts. It examines how government grant programs and legal and regulatory measures address these barriers as well. “After identifying existing barriers and efforts, this paper next considers the gaps in current efforts to address accessibility for people with disabilities and the needs that must be met if we are to accelerate the adoption path for people with disabilities. Specifically, the government must • Improve implementation and enforcement of existing accessibility laws; • Gather and analyze more information about disability-specific broadband adoption issues; • Coordinate accessibility policy and spending priorities; • Update accessibility regulations; • Update subsidy programs and ensure the availability of training and support; and • Update its approach to accessibility problem solving.” “Finally, this paper reviews the three broad recommendations from the National Broadband Plan which seek to address the range of disability access concerns and discusses how the recommendations address the needs identified above. The recommendations include: (1) the creation of a Broadband Accessibility Working Group (‘BAWG’) within the Executive Branch; (2) the establishment of an Accessibility and Innovation Forum at the FCC; and (3) the modernization of accessibility laws, rules, and related subsidy programs by the FCC, the Department of Justice (‘DOJ’), and Congress.” Web site |
A Graying Population, a Graying Work Force:(April 24, 2010) by John Leland, New York Times . . . “In an aging population, the elderly are increasingly being taken care of by the elderly. Professional caregivers -- almost all of them women -- are one of the fastest-growing segments of the American work force, and also one of the grayest. A recent study by PHI National, a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of caregivers, found that in 2008, 28 percent of home care aides were over age 55, compared with 18 percent of women in the overall work force.” “The organization projects that from 2008 to 2018, the number of direct care workers, which includes those in nursing homes, will grow to 4.3 million from 3.2 million. The percentage of older caregivers is projected to grow to 30 percent from 22 percent.” . . . See the study “Who are Health-care Workers” at http://www.directcareclearinghouse.org/download/PHI%20FactSheet3_singles.pdf Web site |
A House That’s Just Unreal:(August 2007) by Seth Kugel for The New York Times. “From the roof deck of Sherman Ochs’s Mexican-style villa atop a breezy bluff, the entire island of Jalisco, population about 20, spreads out below. It is a picturesque place of palm trees, lush lawns and near-cloudless skies. And, of course, there are the perfect sands around the lagoon, where residents grind their perfect bodies together in an N.C.L., or Naked Conga Line. It is not exactly real, of course: Mr. Ochs is Don Ainsworth, a 57-year-old retired music teacher who lives in Ventura, Calif., and Jalisco is a sim (for simulator), a plot of land in Second Life, the virtual world introduced in 2003 by Linden Lab, a San Francisco company.” Web site |
A Look at Online Orientations: |
A Model for Sustainable Student Retention: A Holistic Perspective on the Student Dropout Problem with Special Attention to e-Learning:(May 2004) by Zane L. Berge and Yi-Ping Huang. A customizable model of student retention that considers personal, circumstantial, and institutional factors. The model can provide guidance for institutional and students’ personal decision making. Web Site |
A Nation Online: How Americans Are Expanding Their Use of the Internet:(2002) The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Economics and statistics Administration published this report, which is based on the September 2002 U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey. The data analyzes the use of Internet, broadband, and computer connectivity of Americans. Web Site |
A New Addiction: Internet Junkies:Sept. 8, 2008, University of Montréal |
A New Kind of School:(2002) by Kathleen Vail. Subheadings for this five-page article include: how do you start, how are online schools funded, varieties of online schools, what about teachers and courses, questions for policy makers, what technology is required, asynchronous or synchronous, what about control and oversight, is that is? Web Site |
A Planning and Assessment Model for Developing Effective CMS Support:(2004) by Douglas F. Johnson. “In the face of rapid growth, support resources for the CMS [at the University of Florida] had not kept pace, remaining constant over the preceding five years. UF administration is now addressing that problem, and CMS support is undergoing reorganization and expansion. The critical task at this point is to ensure that UF develops a CMS support program that can effectively allocate responsibilities across tasks and hire staff who will bring to UF the knowledge and skills necessary to complement and extend existing resources.” Web Site |
A Preliminary Look at the Structural Differences of Higher Education Classroom Communities in Traditional and ALN Courses:(2002) by A. Alfred P. Rovai. The method, not the media, matters most in learning effectiveness. How does a sense of community differs between traditional face-to-face and online students? Web Site |
A Profile of Participation in Distance Education: 1999-2000:(2002) from the National Center for Education Statistics. An overview of distance education participation with respect to student demographic and academic characteristics and institutional types. Web Site |