Flip Your Classroom
2. Best Practices for Blended Learning
3. Blended Learning: Strategies for Engagement
4. Could This be the Solution for America's STEM Graduate Deficit? --
Notice how this article about the flipped classroom incorporates
blended aspects. With our media discussing flipped classrooms and
incorporating blended aspects, this will lead to greater awareness and
expectations on the part of our target markets.
5. Five Reasons I'm Not Flipping Over the Flipped Classroom
-- This article (and also number 6 below) present some challenges for
the flipped classroom. When reading these remember that some of the
negative critiques of the flipped classroom are for younger students,
not necessarily higher education. Still I think these voices are
important as part of the discussion.
6. The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Flipped Classroom
Saturday, February 8, 2014
BL1411: Module 2 Readings - Technologies You Can Use
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning --
This website provides many articles/reviews on the various technology
tools available for the remote portions of blended learning. Please
select an article on a technology tool of interest and read and
summarize.
Tools for Blended Learning -- This Prezi that discusses blended teaching tools was produced by Jason Rhode, a well-known technology expert who teaches for Illinois Online Network.
Emerging EdTech -- An applied technology tool.
Pearson Learning Solutions -- While not directly discussing technology, the publisher's website reminds us of the large economic investment that publishers and others are putting into online/blended learning. Textbooks that have online links and passkeys are examples of this.
Tools for Blended Learning -- This Prezi that discusses blended teaching tools was produced by Jason Rhode, a well-known technology expert who teaches for Illinois Online Network.
Emerging EdTech -- An applied technology tool.
Pearson Learning Solutions -- While not directly discussing technology, the publisher's website reminds us of the large economic investment that publishers and others are putting into online/blended learning. Textbooks that have online links and passkeys are examples of this.
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
BL1411: Math in the Movies
The Educational Technology and Mobile Learning website (http://www.educatorstechnology.com/)
is a site truly overflowing with links to technology tools and
resources. I headed to the Math Resources area and found an "article"
about an interesting site by Harvard professor, Oliver Knill. His site
is a collection of video clips demonstrating Math in the Movies (http://www.math.harvard.edu/~knill/mathmovies/index.html).
There are links to ~170 video clips of all varieties of mathematics
taking place in both current and older movies. The topics cover
everything from arithmetic to complex algorithms, and most everything in
between. These clips, many of which are relatively short, would be fun
ways to "hook" students in an intro to a lesson or an application of a
topic just learned.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
BL1411: Flipping videos with TedEd
Info from a classmate about flipping lessons using TED-Ed:
TED-Ed is a site that allows you to create a lesson around a TED-Ed Original, TED Talk or YouTube video. Just take a look at some of the lessons that have been created. http://ed.ted.com/lessons. Additional information about using this to “Flip this lesson!” is found in this TED blog post http://blog.ted.com/2012/04/25/flip-it-a-new-way-to-teach-with-video-from-ted-ed/ The purpose is also explained in the press release of its launch http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ted-ed-launches-groundbreaking-website-with-new-tools-for-customized-learning-148820655.html.
There is an article “Can TED Talks Really Work in a Classroom?, by Catlin Tucker that discusses how TED talks and the professionally animated TED-Ed videos that TED-Ed has produced can be used in class as an introduction to a topic and/or in a “flipped” model. The TED-Ed professionally produced offerings are far better than most teachers can produce. Add to this the “wrapper” for creating a lesson and you have a potentially winning combination. The customizations include multiple-choice and open-answer questions and links to additional information on a topic. http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/05/can-ted-talks-really-work-in-a-classroom/
I think this technology should be in a totally new category called “Remixing.” Remixing makes me think of what has been done in the music world for a long time. Now it is being associated with taking existing or personally created content and “mixing” it with other content or information types.
The purpose and function of this technology is to present content in a lesson format, taking a traditional video and embed questions, reflections, and additional resources. It could be used as an introduction to a topic or a lesson on a topic. Use would be based on the video the instructor wants to "flip." I found seeing how the “flipping” is done helpful for understand how this technology can be used. http://catlintucker.com/2012/11/ted-ed-creating-a-flipped-lesson/
The strengths of this technology is the ability to include additional content “packaged” with the video to increase the effectiveness of the presentation, its ease of use, and the ability for students to do these lessons at their own pace. “Lesson stats” are available for instructors to see what students have done.
TED-Ed is also producing high-quality content based on requests from teachers not limiting this to their own ideas. Teachers can submit ideas and when approved the team of professional animators at TED-Ed will help produce the video that will be shared worldwide. You can also use any YouTube video or your own production for “flipping.” This flexibility is another strength. As Catlin Tucker states in her blog post, “TED-Ed made it possible for me to set up an interesting online lesson quickly. It was also easy for my students to use. In a survey after our first TED-Ed lesson 96% said they really enjoyed the whole experience. It was an easy and effective way to engage student online to complement our work in class.”
The weakness of this technology is the same as with any video content, there is the potential for learners to just passively watch. It is important to have appropriate assessments to ensure learners are watching and interacting with additional content along with the “lesson stats.”
A few comments voiced in blog posts expressed a concern with corporate involvement in creating educational resources. Since the content is not limited to TED-Ed's production ideas, there may be little cause for concern.
There is no cost to using this technology. All one needs to do is create an account to access the content. The new TED-Ed website was built with a $1.25 million commitment from the Kohl’s Cares merchandise program putting financial support for its sustainability.
I can best summarize the sentiments about this technology using a quote from Catlin Tucker’s blog. “I love using TED videos in my classroom to get students thinking about issues related to what we are studying. When I heard that I could wrap video content in an online lesson with TED Ed, I decided to check it out. The process of setting up my first lesson was refreshingly easy!” Being able to customize existing content for you own class and creating an actual lesson has a huge benefit both in time savings and resource quality. Making it free and easy to use just adds to appeal.
Some interesting blog posts:
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/04/25/backed-by-1-25-million-ted-launches-revamped-education-platform-with-customized-learning-tools/#!t61Fk
http://adulted.about.com/od/classroommanagement/a/Customize-Lesson-Plans-With-Ted-Ed.htm
http://kenanfellows.org/news/kenan-fellow-captures-world-wide-audience-ted-ed/923
TED-Ed is a site that allows you to create a lesson around a TED-Ed Original, TED Talk or YouTube video. Just take a look at some of the lessons that have been created. http://ed.ted.com/lessons. Additional information about using this to “Flip this lesson!” is found in this TED blog post http://blog.ted.com/2012/04/25/flip-it-a-new-way-to-teach-with-video-from-ted-ed/ The purpose is also explained in the press release of its launch http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ted-ed-launches-groundbreaking-website-with-new-tools-for-customized-learning-148820655.html.
There is an article “Can TED Talks Really Work in a Classroom?, by Catlin Tucker that discusses how TED talks and the professionally animated TED-Ed videos that TED-Ed has produced can be used in class as an introduction to a topic and/or in a “flipped” model. The TED-Ed professionally produced offerings are far better than most teachers can produce. Add to this the “wrapper” for creating a lesson and you have a potentially winning combination. The customizations include multiple-choice and open-answer questions and links to additional information on a topic. http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/05/can-ted-talks-really-work-in-a-classroom/
I think this technology should be in a totally new category called “Remixing.” Remixing makes me think of what has been done in the music world for a long time. Now it is being associated with taking existing or personally created content and “mixing” it with other content or information types.
The purpose and function of this technology is to present content in a lesson format, taking a traditional video and embed questions, reflections, and additional resources. It could be used as an introduction to a topic or a lesson on a topic. Use would be based on the video the instructor wants to "flip." I found seeing how the “flipping” is done helpful for understand how this technology can be used. http://catlintucker.com/2012/11/ted-ed-creating-a-flipped-lesson/
The strengths of this technology is the ability to include additional content “packaged” with the video to increase the effectiveness of the presentation, its ease of use, and the ability for students to do these lessons at their own pace. “Lesson stats” are available for instructors to see what students have done.
TED-Ed is also producing high-quality content based on requests from teachers not limiting this to their own ideas. Teachers can submit ideas and when approved the team of professional animators at TED-Ed will help produce the video that will be shared worldwide. You can also use any YouTube video or your own production for “flipping.” This flexibility is another strength. As Catlin Tucker states in her blog post, “TED-Ed made it possible for me to set up an interesting online lesson quickly. It was also easy for my students to use. In a survey after our first TED-Ed lesson 96% said they really enjoyed the whole experience. It was an easy and effective way to engage student online to complement our work in class.”
The weakness of this technology is the same as with any video content, there is the potential for learners to just passively watch. It is important to have appropriate assessments to ensure learners are watching and interacting with additional content along with the “lesson stats.”
A few comments voiced in blog posts expressed a concern with corporate involvement in creating educational resources. Since the content is not limited to TED-Ed's production ideas, there may be little cause for concern.
There is no cost to using this technology. All one needs to do is create an account to access the content. The new TED-Ed website was built with a $1.25 million commitment from the Kohl’s Cares merchandise program putting financial support for its sustainability.
I can best summarize the sentiments about this technology using a quote from Catlin Tucker’s blog. “I love using TED videos in my classroom to get students thinking about issues related to what we are studying. When I heard that I could wrap video content in an online lesson with TED Ed, I decided to check it out. The process of setting up my first lesson was refreshingly easy!” Being able to customize existing content for you own class and creating an actual lesson has a huge benefit both in time savings and resource quality. Making it free and easy to use just adds to appeal.
Some interesting blog posts:
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/04/25/backed-by-1-25-million-ted-launches-revamped-education-platform-with-customized-learning-tools/#!t61Fk
http://adulted.about.com/od/classroommanagement/a/Customize-Lesson-Plans-With-Ted-Ed.htm
http://kenanfellows.org/news/kenan-fellow-captures-world-wide-audience-ted-ed/923
BL1411: Review of Doodle
1. State the technology and provide a link to a website or article
that discusses the technology and its educational applications.
Doodle (www.doodle.com) is an online scheduling site that can help multiple people to coordinate meeting times as well as basic polling.
This article outlines some of the different ways that Doodle could be used both in education and in other arenas: http://elearnmag.acm.org/archive.cfm?aid=2003350
2. Concisely affirm or challenge the category of technology you found it in below.
Doodle is categorized in the “Cloud Collaboration and Interaction "space"” category which seems appropriate, as this is a way for students and instructors to interact with one another for the purpose of polling or scheduling.
3. Describe the primary purposes or functions of the technology and how it is used.
Doodle can be used for polling for the purposes of scheduling (“schedule an event”) or to answer a question (“make a choice”). Here is a sample of each type of poll that I created:
http://doodle.com/44qbntcwz9fnqgy7 (sample poll for students to vote on dates/times)
http://doodle.com/8gwt6r2egiim7xe9 (sample poll for students to vote on a preferred choice)
4. Identify strengths and/or benefits of using this technology in a blended course.
One of the strengths of this site is that students can vote in the poll without having to go through any type of registration process, so it is quick and easy. Users can also connect to Doodle to their calendar to make scheduling even easier. For blended courses, using a Doodle poll could make it easier to schedule online or on campus meeting times, set-up group project meetings, or schedule office hours.
5. Identify weaknesses and/or liabilities of using this technology in a blended course.
One weakness of Doodle is the limitations on the types of polling that can be done. For example, in the “make a choice” poll, you can only have students answer one question. And like many of the online survey tools, it is a voluntary response system so you are dependent on students clicking on the link and giving feedback. Though having students give their name gives some accountability.
6. Is it no cost, commercial, subscription, shareware, or something else? Is it open source or proprietary?
The basic functions of Doodle are free for the creator and the users. There is a premium service available to eliminate ads and add features starting at $39 per year.
7. Why is this technology significant?
This technology is significant in that it can streamline the scheduling process for any type of collaboration or meeting. If you have ever sent out an email asking people to let you know when they are free, you know the headache that can be created as you get a list of times to try and coordinate. This technology helps people to select from a predetermined list of times, see which times work for the most people, and also lets users see when others are available.
8. What are people saying about it?
The overall reviews of Doodle seem to be positive since the site is so quick and easy to use, but also commenting that the site is not unique. Other sites such as Jiffle (https://www.jifflenow.com/) offer similar free services. It has, however, outlasted some of its competitors with similar services such as Tungle.
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2011/06/doodle-easy-group-scheduling-tool.html
http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/scheduling-101-using-doodle-for-student-appointments/22783
http://blogs.cofc.edu/tlt/2011/12/15/using-doodles-calendar-connection-to-solve-your-student-scheduling-problems/
http://www.emergingedtech.com/2009/08/doodle-a-quick-easy-and-free-resource-for-creating-polls/
Doodle (www.doodle.com) is an online scheduling site that can help multiple people to coordinate meeting times as well as basic polling.
This article outlines some of the different ways that Doodle could be used both in education and in other arenas: http://elearnmag.acm.org/archive.cfm?aid=2003350
2. Concisely affirm or challenge the category of technology you found it in below.
Doodle is categorized in the “Cloud Collaboration and Interaction "space"” category which seems appropriate, as this is a way for students and instructors to interact with one another for the purpose of polling or scheduling.
3. Describe the primary purposes or functions of the technology and how it is used.
Doodle can be used for polling for the purposes of scheduling (“schedule an event”) or to answer a question (“make a choice”). Here is a sample of each type of poll that I created:
http://doodle.com/44qbntcwz9fnqgy7 (sample poll for students to vote on dates/times)
http://doodle.com/8gwt6r2egiim7xe9 (sample poll for students to vote on a preferred choice)
4. Identify strengths and/or benefits of using this technology in a blended course.
One of the strengths of this site is that students can vote in the poll without having to go through any type of registration process, so it is quick and easy. Users can also connect to Doodle to their calendar to make scheduling even easier. For blended courses, using a Doodle poll could make it easier to schedule online or on campus meeting times, set-up group project meetings, or schedule office hours.
5. Identify weaknesses and/or liabilities of using this technology in a blended course.
One weakness of Doodle is the limitations on the types of polling that can be done. For example, in the “make a choice” poll, you can only have students answer one question. And like many of the online survey tools, it is a voluntary response system so you are dependent on students clicking on the link and giving feedback. Though having students give their name gives some accountability.
6. Is it no cost, commercial, subscription, shareware, or something else? Is it open source or proprietary?
The basic functions of Doodle are free for the creator and the users. There is a premium service available to eliminate ads and add features starting at $39 per year.
7. Why is this technology significant?
This technology is significant in that it can streamline the scheduling process for any type of collaboration or meeting. If you have ever sent out an email asking people to let you know when they are free, you know the headache that can be created as you get a list of times to try and coordinate. This technology helps people to select from a predetermined list of times, see which times work for the most people, and also lets users see when others are available.
8. What are people saying about it?
The overall reviews of Doodle seem to be positive since the site is so quick and easy to use, but also commenting that the site is not unique. Other sites such as Jiffle (https://www.jifflenow.com/) offer similar free services. It has, however, outlasted some of its competitors with similar services such as Tungle.
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2011/06/doodle-easy-group-scheduling-tool.html
http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/scheduling-101-using-doodle-for-student-appointments/22783
http://blogs.cofc.edu/tlt/2011/12/15/using-doodles-calendar-connection-to-solve-your-student-scheduling-problems/
http://www.emergingedtech.com/2009/08/doodle-a-quick-easy-and-free-resource-for-creating-polls/
BL1411: Review of Jing
1. State the technology and provide a link to a website or article
that discusses the technology and its educational applications.
Jing (http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html) is “a computer service that lets you capture basic video, animation, and still images, and share them on the web.”
This article suggests a number of ways that Jing could be used in the classroom:
http://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/2011/04/26/free-tools-challenge-18-the-powers-of-jing/
2. Concisely affirm or challenge the category of technology you found it in below.
This technology is categorized under “Podcasting and Web-Based Video Sharing”. This is definitely a tool that can make web-based video sharing possible, and that is how I have used it, but the videos can also be saved to your computer.
3. Describe the primary purposes or functions of the technology and how it is used.
Jing is a free software program that you can download on your Mac or PC. It can create screen capture videos with voiceover as well as screen shots. The screen shots allow for basic editing such as textboxes, arrows, highlighting, etc. It can be used to share images or videos of the users computer screen that can be shared on the web, downloaded to a computer, or emailed.
4. Identify strengths and/or benefits of using this technology in a blended course.
Jing is a great tool in a blended course for making website tour videos, answering student email questions, creating tutorials for difficult problems, feedback on papers or projects, voiceover PowerPoint presentations, or even having students create video projects. The five-minute time length keeps the videos focused and hosting them on Screencast makes them easy to play in any browser.
In my subject area of mathematics, trying to type out the answer to a student’s question can be difficult and sometimes nearly impossible when referring to graphs. Being able to write out the process step-by-step or circling the key parts of a graph is much more helpful to a student than a text only response.
5. Identify weaknesses and/or liabilities of using this technology in a blended course.
There are times when the five-minute limitation is a hindrance when explaining more complicated problems. The editing options for videos are also pretty much non-existent, so if there is an interruption or a mistake, you have to start over in creating your video. Also, if students are going to be creating and sharing their own videos, they will need to have a microphone.
6. Is it no cost, commercial, subscription, shareware, or something else? Is it open source or proprietary?
Jing is free and allows you to create videos up to five minutes in length. You can host your videos at Screencast which gives you 2GB of storage free and 2GB monthly bandwidth. For $9.95 a month you can increase your storage and bandwidth. To be able to make videos longer in length or to have more editing options, TechSmith has two other programs: SnagIt (Educational price $29.95) or Camtasia (Educational price $75-179).
7. Why is this technology significant?
This technology provides a free and easy way for a variety of communication: instructor-to-student, student-to-content, and student-to-student. It is easy to learn with very basic controls and provides a way to interact with students in a way that text does not. I can make short videos such as this one (http://screencast.com/t/bVhaSCE8m) very quickly and easily.
8. What are people saying about it?
The feedback in articles and blogs about Jing is overwhelmingly positive. It is a great tool with a lot of functionality without a big price tag. I can say personally it is one of the tools I use most frequently in my blended and online courses.
http://catl.typepad.com/blog/2010/03/using-jing-in-your-teaching.html
http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/CUOnline/FacultyResources/additionalResources/Handbook/cuonlinehandbook2011/Documents/chapter9.pdf
http://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/ital/article/viewFile/3232/2845
http://blogs.techsmith.com/for-educators/screen-capture-helps-online-students/#.Uu1dTvYaG9k
Jing (http://www.techsmith.com/jing.html) is “a computer service that lets you capture basic video, animation, and still images, and share them on the web.”
This article suggests a number of ways that Jing could be used in the classroom:
http://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/2011/04/26/free-tools-challenge-18-the-powers-of-jing/
2. Concisely affirm or challenge the category of technology you found it in below.
This technology is categorized under “Podcasting and Web-Based Video Sharing”. This is definitely a tool that can make web-based video sharing possible, and that is how I have used it, but the videos can also be saved to your computer.
3. Describe the primary purposes or functions of the technology and how it is used.
Jing is a free software program that you can download on your Mac or PC. It can create screen capture videos with voiceover as well as screen shots. The screen shots allow for basic editing such as textboxes, arrows, highlighting, etc. It can be used to share images or videos of the users computer screen that can be shared on the web, downloaded to a computer, or emailed.
4. Identify strengths and/or benefits of using this technology in a blended course.
Jing is a great tool in a blended course for making website tour videos, answering student email questions, creating tutorials for difficult problems, feedback on papers or projects, voiceover PowerPoint presentations, or even having students create video projects. The five-minute time length keeps the videos focused and hosting them on Screencast makes them easy to play in any browser.
In my subject area of mathematics, trying to type out the answer to a student’s question can be difficult and sometimes nearly impossible when referring to graphs. Being able to write out the process step-by-step or circling the key parts of a graph is much more helpful to a student than a text only response.
5. Identify weaknesses and/or liabilities of using this technology in a blended course.
There are times when the five-minute limitation is a hindrance when explaining more complicated problems. The editing options for videos are also pretty much non-existent, so if there is an interruption or a mistake, you have to start over in creating your video. Also, if students are going to be creating and sharing their own videos, they will need to have a microphone.
6. Is it no cost, commercial, subscription, shareware, or something else? Is it open source or proprietary?
Jing is free and allows you to create videos up to five minutes in length. You can host your videos at Screencast which gives you 2GB of storage free and 2GB monthly bandwidth. For $9.95 a month you can increase your storage and bandwidth. To be able to make videos longer in length or to have more editing options, TechSmith has two other programs: SnagIt (Educational price $29.95) or Camtasia (Educational price $75-179).
7. Why is this technology significant?
This technology provides a free and easy way for a variety of communication: instructor-to-student, student-to-content, and student-to-student. It is easy to learn with very basic controls and provides a way to interact with students in a way that text does not. I can make short videos such as this one (http://screencast.com/t/bVhaSCE8m) very quickly and easily.
8. What are people saying about it?
The feedback in articles and blogs about Jing is overwhelmingly positive. It is a great tool with a lot of functionality without a big price tag. I can say personally it is one of the tools I use most frequently in my blended and online courses.
http://catl.typepad.com/blog/2010/03/using-jing-in-your-teaching.html
http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/CUOnline/FacultyResources/additionalResources/Handbook/cuonlinehandbook2011/Documents/chapter9.pdf
http://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/ital/article/viewFile/3232/2845
http://blogs.techsmith.com/for-educators/screen-capture-helps-online-students/#.Uu1dTvYaG9k
BL1411: Review of Bb Collaborate
1.
State the technology and provide a link to a website or article that
discusses the technology and its educational applications.
Blackboard Collaborate (formerly known as Elluminate Live!) is a web conferencing system that allows for collaboration in real time. The Blackboard name can be a bit misleading as it can also be integrated with other course management systems such as Moodle, Sakai, and D2L.
Designing for Participant Engagement with Blackboard Collaborate: A good practice guide to using Blackboard Collaborate to support teaching, learning & assessment, co-operative working and conferences (May 2012). (http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/collaborateguidance.aspx)
-> The guide has a lot of information from an overview of the technology, to technical considerations, to instructional design ideas. I found p. 30-50 most relevant for ideas of different ways to use Blackboard Collaborate (with specific mention of blended learning) as well as links to additional articles and resources including case studies.
2. Concisely affirm or challenge the category of technology you found it in below.
This technology is listed in the synchronous/web conferencing category which is definitely accurate for its main purpose.
3. Describe the primary purposes or functions of the technology and how it is used.
Features of Blackboard Collaborate (as listed in the above guide) include: audio-conferencing, video-conferencing (allowing up to 6 simultaneous web-cams to be viewed), real-time polling and quizzes (including multiple choice questions), application sharing (allowing applications on one computer to be seen by all participants), text chatting (instant messaging), playing of audio and video files, file transfer, whiteboard (a shared space that everyone can see, allowing attendees to e.g. draw/write on and import graphics, photos and PowerPoint files), shared web browsing – called “web tour” (allowing attendees to follow one person as they browse the web), break-out rooms (for small-group discussions and collaboration), recording of sessions (allowing playback at a later time) and capturing of content generated in a session e.g. text-chat and whiteboard.
4. Identify strengths and/or benefits of using this technology in a blended course.
This type of technology could be used in a blended course to replace some of the time together in a traditional course format. This time collaborating online could be used for group project collaboration, student presentations, guest speakers or community experts, and virtual office hours. Another advantage is that all of these interactions can be recorded so that students can re-watch or watch at a different time.
5. Identify weaknesses and/or liabilities of using this technology in a blended course.
With a technology such as this, one of the biggest liabilities is always technical issues either for the moderator or the participants. Also, depending on how students will be participating, this can require students to purchase additional equipment such as a microphone and web camera. Other weaknesses with this particular technology can be managing a large amount of text in the chat window if you have a lot of students participating at once.
6. Is it no cost, commercial, subscription, shareware, or something else? Is it open source or proprietary?
There is a cost for Blackboard Collaborate (and I believe it is pretty high) but they do not publish pricing information. But perhaps if this technology allows an institution to change some of their traditional courses into blended or online courses, the savings in facilities costs might offset the cost of the technology.
7. Why is this technology significant?
This technology is significant in that it allows for some creative ways to get students involved and engaged outside of the four walls of the classroom.
8. What are people saying about it?
The feedback seems to be very positive about Blackboard Collaborate, with some interesting case studies of how instructors are using this technology in their classes. While there are a number of synchronous meeting technologies available, this one was designed specifically for educational use.
http://elearning.missouri.edu/blackboard-collaborate-vs-wimba-classroom/
http://collaborate.tlc.aston.ac.uk/
Blackboard Collaborate (formerly known as Elluminate Live!) is a web conferencing system that allows for collaboration in real time. The Blackboard name can be a bit misleading as it can also be integrated with other course management systems such as Moodle, Sakai, and D2L.
Designing for Participant Engagement with Blackboard Collaborate: A good practice guide to using Blackboard Collaborate to support teaching, learning & assessment, co-operative working and conferences (May 2012). (http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearning/collaborateguidance.aspx)
-> The guide has a lot of information from an overview of the technology, to technical considerations, to instructional design ideas. I found p. 30-50 most relevant for ideas of different ways to use Blackboard Collaborate (with specific mention of blended learning) as well as links to additional articles and resources including case studies.
2. Concisely affirm or challenge the category of technology you found it in below.
This technology is listed in the synchronous/web conferencing category which is definitely accurate for its main purpose.
3. Describe the primary purposes or functions of the technology and how it is used.
Features of Blackboard Collaborate (as listed in the above guide) include: audio-conferencing, video-conferencing (allowing up to 6 simultaneous web-cams to be viewed), real-time polling and quizzes (including multiple choice questions), application sharing (allowing applications on one computer to be seen by all participants), text chatting (instant messaging), playing of audio and video files, file transfer, whiteboard (a shared space that everyone can see, allowing attendees to e.g. draw/write on and import graphics, photos and PowerPoint files), shared web browsing – called “web tour” (allowing attendees to follow one person as they browse the web), break-out rooms (for small-group discussions and collaboration), recording of sessions (allowing playback at a later time) and capturing of content generated in a session e.g. text-chat and whiteboard.
4. Identify strengths and/or benefits of using this technology in a blended course.
This type of technology could be used in a blended course to replace some of the time together in a traditional course format. This time collaborating online could be used for group project collaboration, student presentations, guest speakers or community experts, and virtual office hours. Another advantage is that all of these interactions can be recorded so that students can re-watch or watch at a different time.
5. Identify weaknesses and/or liabilities of using this technology in a blended course.
With a technology such as this, one of the biggest liabilities is always technical issues either for the moderator or the participants. Also, depending on how students will be participating, this can require students to purchase additional equipment such as a microphone and web camera. Other weaknesses with this particular technology can be managing a large amount of text in the chat window if you have a lot of students participating at once.
6. Is it no cost, commercial, subscription, shareware, or something else? Is it open source or proprietary?
There is a cost for Blackboard Collaborate (and I believe it is pretty high) but they do not publish pricing information. But perhaps if this technology allows an institution to change some of their traditional courses into blended or online courses, the savings in facilities costs might offset the cost of the technology.
7. Why is this technology significant?
This technology is significant in that it allows for some creative ways to get students involved and engaged outside of the four walls of the classroom.
8. What are people saying about it?
The feedback seems to be very positive about Blackboard Collaborate, with some interesting case studies of how instructors are using this technology in their classes. While there are a number of synchronous meeting technologies available, this one was designed specifically for educational use.
http://elearning.missouri.edu/blackboard-collaborate-vs-wimba-classroom/
http://collaborate.tlc.aston.ac.uk/
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