Category Archives: Online Learning

UW-Madison Online Learning Jobs

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Kimary Peterson just shared information about these three positions with me:

1) Online Instructor in Distance Education (DEPD position)
UW-Madison, Division of Continuing Studies (DCS)
We are working to fill a vacancy for an Online Instructor in Distance Education in our Continuing Studies Distance Education and Professional Development department.
The application deadline is Aug. 22nd, 2014.

For a full description of the position and how to apply, please go to: http://go.wisc.edu/59374a

2) Instructional Designer/Instructional Technologist (DEPD position)
UW-Madison, Division of Continuing Studies (DCS)
Are you interested in joining a team of outstanding professionals to engage lifelong learners through high-quality and innovative programs and services? We are seeking an instructional designer/technologist to work with faculty and staff developing blended and online courses primarily within the Distance Education Professional Development (DEPD) unit. DEPD prepares educators for online teaching and leadership roles through online courses, certificates, and participation in the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning. You would also develop online/blended courses for a variety of other units in the DCS Department of Liberal Arts and Applied Studies (LAAS).

The ideal candidate will have at least three (3) years of demonstrated experience in instructional design and instructional materials development. A Bachelor’s degree required; graduate degree in educational technology, instructional design, education/curriculum development or related discipline preferred.

This position is based in Madison, WI. Applications are due by September 2nd,, 2014.

For a full description of the position and how to apply, please go to: http://go.wisc.edu/mg7tc5

3) Professor of Adult Teaching & Learning (Division position)
UW-Madison, Division of Continuing Studies
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is a public, land-grant institution that exemplifies the “Wisconsin Idea” – that the boundaries of the university are the boundaries of the state and beyond. We seek two tenurable or tenure track faculty to provide leadership and contribute to the department’s expertise in adult teaching and learning, continuing education, and distance learning. These individuals will enhance the department’s capacity to conduct research related to continuing education, including distance education. Applicants must show evidence of the ability to develop an excellent research program in adult teaching & learning, and/or continuing education, as well as evidence of knowledge and demonstrated excellence in distance education and teaching adults. An earned Ph.D. in education or related field is required.

Applications are due October 8th, 2014.

For a full description of the position and how to apply, please go to: http://go.wisc.edu/n03l2d

iPad Lecture Capture

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iPad Lecture Capture

I am presenting an Information Session (iPad Lecture Capture: Information Session I-3) at the 30th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning. The presentation will take place on Wednesday 13th August from 10:30-11:15 a.m. This will be part of the Technology, Tools, and Media track.

The presentation notes, hyperlinks, and PDF can be accessed here: http://condor.depaul.edu/jmoore/ipad-capture/

 

Teaching Online: Guide To Four Complex Learning Theories

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I am currently in Week One of the MOOC “Teaching Online: Reflections on Practice,” and already there is a wealth of material that I am putting to (good) use. My primary reason for taking the course was to get a deeper experience of Canvas (a Learning Management System), but the course aligns nicely with work and my interests.

One of the resources shared this week was an infographic for “A Simple Guide To 4 Complex Learning Theories” (Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism, Connectivism). Very useful, and worthy of sharing:

A Simple Guide To 4 Complex Learning Theories

A Simple Guide To 4 Complex Learning Theories

Source: Edudemic

Google’s News LMS (Apps for Education)

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A colleague at work alerted me to the news that Google has a new free LMS for schools. Google Classroom will be the new tool that adds a Learning Management System to Google Apps for Education.

Campus Technology has a brief piece of news here, and Google has a page where you can sign up for an invite.

There is a certain degree of déjà vu all over again with the news. Google has released, or announced, similar initiatives in the past:

Google is known for discontinuing great products and services (such as Lively, Wave, Google Reader), seemingly because a product manager leaves or moves on to another project. Whilst being a free option, there may be some risk in committing to the new Google Classroom.

CourseMaster, edX, and my LMS Wishlists

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Coursemaster

On Friday, I had the chance to talk with Daniel McKelvey (VP of Business Development at CourseMaster).  CourseMaster is positioning itself as an edX service provider. edX is open source, so those with both the technical resources and the inclination can download and install their own instance of the software. Alternatively, organizations can turn to a third party like CourseMaster.

In our conversation, Daniel positioned CourseMaster as having three distinct advantages (i.e. elements added by the company):

  1. LMS core (branded, fully serviced and supported)
  2. Faculty dashboard
  3. Social collaboration and gamification

Support is for both faculty and students.

The business model is based on users (defined as interacting with 20% of course content) and duration of the course.

This looks interesting, and I intend to investigate further. Working on getting some colleagues to collaborate on a pilot.

The faculty dashboard and collaboration modules are what I am most interested in. Currently, Learning Management Systems are still pretty much Web 1.0. Most educators use the LMS as a publishing platform, and student interaction gravitates towards discussion, quizzes, and the uploading of files. Hopefully we will soon see Learning Management Systems approach Web 2.0 interactivity.

For example, services like Doodle allow me to quickly (and automatically) negotiate the best time for a group of colleagues to meet. Imagine if a LMS allowed for that type of automated decision making for the composition of student groups (based upon skillset, timezone preference, and/or project preference).  Affordances like this are what is needed in a LMS, particularly as we see increasing time demands on both students and faculty. I still have yet to see true collaboration tools built into the leading LMS providers that come close to the power of Google Docs, Skype, or Facebook. WordPress is a model that I would like to see Learning Management Systems follow here, where you could browse for plugins that add the collaboration functionality you need (that being said, WordPress  can be used as a LMS).

Introduction To Flipping The Classroom

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Flipped learning skepticism: Is flipped learning just self-teaching?

A colleague at work shared a great article from the Chronicle of Higher Education on flipping the classroom (Flipped learning skepticism: Is flipped learning just self-teaching?).

The article (by Robert Talbert) provides a well-articlated reason to teach in a flipped manner, and suggest ways to use the in-class time effectively (think coaching). If looking for a good introduction/example to share, this is a contender.

Blue Jeans: Web-Based Videoconferencing

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Blue Jeans

Blue Jeans

A colleague at work suggested I look at Blue Jeans, a web-based videoconferencing service  (similar to Google Hangouts or Vidyo). I had never heard of the service until the suggestion. Blue Jeans looks interesting, and does 80% of what Scopia does (another service we use).

Cost seems to be about $50 per user per month. I don’t know if that would be a floating license. I think the service is worth testing, and will try and find some time to do so. Vidyo, their competitor, had a strong product when I looked at it last, so I am wondering how well it competes (in terms of usability and cost) with VidyoH2O for Google Hangouts.

Online Learning: Key Design Principles

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Key Design Principles

Key Design Principles

Hank Bowman (Chief Sales and Marketing Office, Adapt Courseware) recently gave a presentation at the New Directions in Online Learning conference. His presentation was focussed on introducing Adapt Courseware to the audience, and the underlying design philosophy of the company. One particular slide caught my eye, and this was the five gurus they looked to for Key Design Principles. This is a particularly useful cheat sheet for anyone in the field of online learning and instructional design:

Key Design Principles

 

I have added links for those interested in exploring further.