Nov 20 2009
Planning for a New Semester
A semester is ending and a new semester is beginning. I am not trying to rush the semester that is ending but I am beginning to think about strategies, methods, and technology tools that will make my courses next semester even better than this semester.
In each of my classes, whether it is an educational theory class or an instructional technology class I integrate technology tools throughout, especially Web 2.0 tools. I find the tools themselves to be conducive to collaboration and community as well as provide opportunities for each of my students to begin publishing and thinking about a global audience.
The idea for my adult students to begin thinking about self regulated learning is a key component to my courses. I attempt to help students build knowledge and self awareness in order for them to monitor their understanding and overall cognitive processes. This I find is very important in both my online and face to face courses.
Twitter is a tool that I find to be interesting. I have implemented this into some of my classes attempting to get students to share thoughts and ideas…I see that others are looking into this tool as well
Dan Cohen creative problem solving with Twitter
Monica Rankin Tweeting about topics as they are being discussed
I also like Diigo a tool that allows students to annotate, write notes, and share with a collaborative group. Here is a group on information literacy that is in its infancy but may give you a good idea of its possibilities.
Another is YouTube groups, where students can share videos on course topics. Here is the UMW’s Instructional Design group
My investigations on improvements will continue …. The possibilities are endless…
