Archive for the ‘Learning Design’ Category

Countdown to Camp 3: Primer for Three Sessions and Update on Discussion Topics

Hi Everyone.  In our third of five “Countdown to Camp” notes, I’d like you to get thinking about some of the main sessions that we’ll be having.  In each of these four sessions, the presenters will talk about their topic for about 20 minutes and then open the floor for a more general discussion.

1. Scott McDonald and Cole Camplese used a variety of technologies in a Curriculum and Instruction course that they co-taught this spring.  One of these technologies pulled together blog posts that students were writing to a central location, where they were rated and discussed.  The most highly rated posts became topics for future class discussions.  All of this happened in the open and can be viewed online by going to their class social rating site.  We also have a whitepaper about social rating systems if you would like to learn more about these kinds of technologies.

2. Matt Jackson, from the College of Communications, will be talking about topics such as copyright, digital media, mashups, the TEACH Act, Fair Use, and Creative Commons. The Digital Commons staff and I talked with Matt Jackson (which we recorded) a couple of months ago and he was able to clarify some misconceptions that we had about the use of digital media for educational purposes.  This was a nice compliment to Lawrence Lessig’s keynote presentation at the 2008 TLT Symposium.

3.Carla Zembal-Saul is working with ETS over the summer on the idea of Blogs as Portfolio.  She has been using a wiki to keep track of her thoughts, plans, and resources.  If Carla’s name sounds familiar, it may be because she and Scott McDonald were featured at the TLT Symposium’s “Faculty Success Stories” series for their use of Studiocode to help students analyze their teaching practice.  Carla also participated in the pilot of the Podcasts at Penn State project and got attention for her class’s podcast about Honey Bee Colony Collapse.

4. Finally, I have begun shaping the Discussion Topics that you have submitted into our two lunch times and the morning of Day 2.  During lunch on Day 1, we will break up into groups to discuss topics like harnessing backchannel communication, building online communities, accessibile courseware and tools, educational gaming, competencies for online teaching, and creating new learning environments.  At the end of Day 1, we will have a “pitch session” where people can describe topics that they would like to discuss during Day 2.  These topics can be set before the Summer Camp or topics based on new ideas or questions that come up during camp.  Read more about these sessions in the Summer Camp wiki and propose your own discussion ideas.

Remember that this is a community-shaped event, so if you are interested in a different kind of topic, if you have a particular educational issue that you need to work through, or if you have a pilot project that you want to discuss, please add it to the list of discussion topics.  This is a rare opportunity to discuss your ideas with a group of very smart people from across the university, so make the most of it.

Countdown to Camp 2: Official Tag, Blogs, RSS Feed, Technology Framework Reminder

Hi Everyone.  There is a lot of momentum building around the Learning Design Summer Camp.  Currently, out 90-person attendee list is full and we have another 6 people on the waiting list.  My thanks to those of you who are jumping in to help shape the first incarnation in what looks to be an annual event.  As we get closer to August 12, I wanted to continue the countdown with a few more things that you can do to help get ready for camp:

1. Official Tag: LDSC08 is the official tag for the Learning Design Summer Camp.  Use this tag when uploading related photos or videos, making blog posts, bookmarking sites in del.icio.us, using Twitter, etc…  That way they will be easier to find and aggregate.

2. Blogs: During the Summer Camp, one of the discussion topics will be Carla Zembal-Saul’s investigation of blogs as ePortfolios.  Now is also a good time to sign up for your Penn State Blog if you don’t already have one.  If you want to find out more about blogs, I recommend these videos: Blogs in Plain English, RSS in Plain English, and the ETS Briefing on Blogs at Penn State.

3. RSS Feed: If you are already a user of blogs and are familiar with RSS readers (like Google Reader), you may want to subscribe to the RSS feed for the Learning Design Summer Camp so you can track these kinds of announcements and camp-related items.

4. Technology Frameworks: We don’t want the technology discussed during the Learning Design Summer Camp to be overwhelming to people who haven’t used tools like blogs, wikis, and Twitter.  So to help level the playingfield, we are working on Technology Frameworks that provide basic information and educational uses.  If you are a more experienced user, please take a look at these frameworks, pick one, and fill in some of the sections.

Countdown to Camp 1:Technology Frameworks, Twitter, and Sticker Reminder

Hi Everyone. Thanks for signing up for the Learning Design Summer Camp. We currently have 83 people who have signed up so far. Between now and August 11, I’ll be sending a weekly “Countdown to Camp” e-mail to give you some ideas about things you can do to get ready for this event.

1. Technology Frameworks: For the “Lightning Talk” session of the Summer Camp, we will be having 10-minute presentations about 10 different projects and technologies. In the next month, it would be nice to have some quick community-written pages about each of these technologies so people who haven’t used them can understand what they are, how to get started, and what their educational applications are. So if you can, go to the following URL, pick one of the technologies, and answer a few of the questions. Don’t worry about being perfect the first time — the community will help to shape these pages. And if you’re looking for a fairly complete description, look at the page that people have created for Twitter.

2. Twitter: So far, 30 people on the registration list have shared their Twitter userids. If you are a current Twitter user, you may want to list your userid as well. If you are not using Twitter, this is the right time to give it a try. Create a free account at twitter.com and add other people who are registered for the Summer Camp. Try it for one month – from now until the Summer Camp. If you don’t see value in it by that time, it probably just isn’t the tool for you. However, it may be a way for you to connect to a large network of very smart faculty, librarians, designers, technologists, and eLearning Leaders, 140 characters at a time. To read more about Twitter and its educational uses, see the Twitter Framework.

3. Stickers: As a final reminder, we are ordering community-created stickers for the Summer Camp, but if you want to submit a design, please do so by the end of the day tomorrow. That way, we can make sure that they arrive in time. If you happen to miss that deadline, we can place a second order, but they may arrive after the Summer Camp. See all of the details and the designs that everyone has created so far at the Learning Design Sticker Page.

4. Blog space: If you prefer to stay current with this sort of stuff via RSS, subscribe to the ETS webspace category RSS feed for the camp.

Learning Design Summer Camp Registration

Wow! Who would have thought that a full month out from the event, we’ve filled our first set of alloted seats for the First Annual Learning Design Summer Camp? We’re thrilled, but the work is just getting started! Bounce over to the wiki and contribute thinking and help us round out the program. The wiki is in flux and that is a good thing — just don’t be surprised if things continue to change.

Learning Design Summer Camp!

ETS is planning, with a healthy dose of community involvement, the first annual Learning Design Summer Camp to be held at University Park on August 12 and 13, 2008. Please know that you are invited to participate in the planning and in the actual event. We are doing things a little differently with this event — you register yourself and help build the program by visiting the ETS Wiki space. Login with your PSU credentials and please help us make this a great and open event … find the wiki at http://ets.tlt.psu.edu/wiki/Learning_Design_Summer_Camp

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