Login as guest:  Moodle Classroom

How much time will this take?

Plan for at least 5 hours of instruction (about an hour a day). It will be easy to put in more time than that. We hope you’ll find the information so interesting that the time will fly by.

Do I have to login at a specific time each day?

The course is completely time shifted. It’s designed so that participants can enter the online classroom 24/7 and still interact. This let’s you fit the class to your schedule. We’ll go Monday – Friday, with the following Saturday to wrap things up.

What will I learn how to do?

• Create a Google account
• Upload documents to Google docs
• Share a Google document with a colleague
• View the revision history of a shared document (a wiki like function of Gdocs)
• Publish a shared document as a web page that automatically updates when the source document is edited.
• We also have an optional independent study module on how to use Google Docs offline.

How is this course taught?

Instruction includes the use of illustrated webpages and video. Additionally Dennis O’Connor will be facilitating this class. (Dennis is a highly trained online teacher.) There are discussion forums where participants can share ideas. The instructor will also be monitoring the class for questions and be available for trouble shooting help.

What about teaching resources?

You will find many resources with ideas for teachers and librarians interested in using Google Docs in the classroom.

How long will I have access to this course?

The course remains open to you for at least three months so you can continue study and have access to the resources.

How do I register?

• First establish an account on http://21cif.mrooms.net. Note the graphic on the course home page. (Each person taking the class should create their own account.)
• Next login using your established username and password.
• Click into the Gdocs online classroom.(Found in the Information Fluency Category.)
• When you first enter you’ll be presented with a PayPal registration page.
• Click through to pay for the class by credit card.
• You do not need a Pay Pal account to use this secure system. (We do not store your credit card information.)
• Once you have paid you’ll be returned to the Gdocs class.
• The full course will open on December 1, 2008.

We hope to see you online!

http://web2virtualclassroom.wikispaces.com/

I’d like to share a wiki I created as part of a presentation I gave for D2L at NECC in San Antonio last week.  Bottom line: The Virtual Classroom is a Web 2.0 Tool.

•  National Archives: Educators and Students
  Find a treasure trove of reproducible primary sources, lesson plans correlated to national standards, and cross-curricular connections.
  (tags: research)
• National Archives Offers Training to Use Primary Sources | 21st Century Connections
  For the cost of the call, groups of up to 30 students in grades 5-12 can schedule a one-hour session. Current offerings include a course on the Constitution and an introduction to the National Archives
  (tags: research)

Create Fake Magazine Covers with your own picture at MagMyPic.com
Subscribe to PC Gamer Magazine at a 84% discount!

• For Webdesigners – 465 helpful links for webdesigners

  good nerd tools

  (tags: webdesign webtools design)

• CSS Cheat Sheet

  on one page

  (tags: css webdesign)

TheVirtual Schools Symposium produced many fine references. If you’re interested in online learning, visit this archive of webinars and podcasts that capture the best thinking of this cutting edge conference.

Here are just a few of the webinars to consider:

• What Does the Future of Learning Look Like? Welcome & Introduction (Susan Patrick)
• Why Online Learning is Important to States (Gene Wilhoit)
• Online Education’s Role in the Schools of Tomorrow (Liz Pape)
• Tools of the Trade: Free Online Tools to Enhance Interactivity in Your Online Course (Allison Powell)
• Blending Virtual Learning with Face-to-Face Teaching (Lisa Watkins)
• Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning: A Policy and Practice Review (John Watson)
• Plenary Panel – Virtual Schools and 21st Century Skills

I’m at the Wisconsin Educational Media Association conference. It is inspiring to be with folks who have the vision. The energy born of optimism is sometimes a rare thing to see at an educators conference. The hard working library media folks from all over Wisconsin clearly understand what’s going on. The trainers I’ve met from CESA are true believers too. During a standing room only presentation by John Pederson on lesser known Google tools, John asked how many Library Media specialists there were in the room. All those hands went up. It made the need for what we do real for me. (Remember, as wiredinstructor, I spend a lot of time up in the little room researching and writing. I don’t get out enough… that’s clear.

Power Searcher &…?

I’m here to present the Power Searcher Workshop with my IMSA partner Carl Heine. We’ll then follow up with a hybrid presentation of a new course for the CESA trainers from around the state.

The new online class is presented in Moodle and weaves the skills of Information Fluency in a Web 2.0 environment into a 6 week facilitated fully online course. I’m pleased with the beta design. I’ve woven in many of Carl’s games as interactive hands-on practice of the concepts. The learning games and the collaborative tools available in Moodle make for a dynamic experience. This is a chance for me to work live with a very sharp group that will be teaching the course in Wisconsin. I’m looking forward to just watching how folks interact with the content. It’s rare opportunity for an online guy to see interactions with a new class.

Carl and I are toying with a name for the course: Power Searching says it, but we’d like something that catches the critical thinking aspect. Digital Investigator, WSI-Google (WebSite Investigator-Google), Internet Forensics? For now it’s just called the Survey Course… ah well, we’ll find something.

Dennis@Madison