Today, bring your topic! Whatever it is, we’ll be happy to check it out with you!
Mark
Archives for Episodes
More on MOOCS, webinars on your Mobile, and a bit of Audacity,
MOOCS – E-learning and Digital Cultures
Today Steve and I will continue into the content for week two if this MOOC. We’ll take a tour around the Coursera course site and see what the faculty conducting this MOOC are doing.
How are MOOCS doing, you might ask? From Slate this week, an article reported the following story about a MOOC meltdown. SMORES anyone?
“In the span of a week, an online course on how to teach online courses turned into a master class in how not to. A class called “Fundamentals of Online Learning: Planning and Application,” taught by Fatima Wirth of Georgia Tech, launched on the online higher-education platform Coursera on Jan. 28 with some 40,000 students signed up. Within days, many of those students—including some who are educators themselves—were taking to Twitter and blogs to complain that the class was unraveling. On Feb. 2, Wirth wrote students to notify them that she was suspending the class “in order to make improvements.” 1
We will talk a little about MOOCs and their usefulness where they may be headed.
Webinars on your Mobile!!!
Did you know you may attend our Webinars using your mobile device? Android and Apple tablets can now install Adobe Connect Mobile directly from their respective app stores. Search either the Apple App Store or Google Play and download the Adobe Connect Mobile app for your tablet.
You can join in our Adobe Connect webinars from your mobile device one you have installed the app. Enter the URL of our webinar (usually http://oregonstate.adobeconnect.com/tac ) and log in as a Guest. Please enter your Name in the field so we know who you are :-)
You can view our available Webinars and Workshops using the TAC-CTL Calendar link above, or the small calendar in the right column on this page.
We hope you can attend one of our webinar events soon.
A Bit of Audacity
We had a question this week about how to ‘speed up’ an audio file. Today we’ll tale a very brief look at one way to do this with Audacity which may be downloaded from the Sourceforge site. We’ll show how to get it installed and demonstrate an example.
Today on TAC.FM
This week Steve and I are diving into a MOOC, E-Learning and Digital Cultures. We’ll report on our discoveries as we move through the course material. The course is hosted on Coursera, where courses from many institutions are being offered online.
We’ll also chat today about Ed.Ted.com and the rather interesting tool set evolving there.
What would you like to chat about. Leave us a comment or shoot us an email.
This Week: Media Transfers from your Mobile Device
This Friday, January 18, on TAC.FM, Steve and Mark will take a look at how to transfer media from mobile devices. We will demonstrate how to use Dropbox, a free application with clients for both your computer and smart phones or tablets, as one way to move images and videos to your desktop or laptop. Once the media is on your desktop, you can upload your videos to OSU’s MediaSpace, or use your media directly in your PowerPoint presentations. We’ll look at some of the common pitfalls and remedies as well.
You may replay the session by clicking this link.
The Case for Gamification – TAC.FM
In this recorded episode of TAC.FM, Stevon Roberts and Mark Dinsmore talk about ways in which educators are applying game mechanics and game theory in educational contexts. The discussion begins with Valve software’s physics-based puzzle game “Portal.” The newest release from Valve, “Portal 2,” has a special distribution for educators, with map editors and access to community test chambers. If you want to try it out, be sure to visit teachwithportals.com, a clearing house that includes and allows submission of real lesson plans that can be used or shared among educators.
Minecraft is a sandbox construction game that goes way beyond what its basic geometries would suggest. Minecraft lends itself to incredibly sophisticated learning outcomes, particularly in the realm of computer science. From basic understanding of transistors to extremely complex models of graphing calculators, the game is well-suited for these tasks.
The discussion concludes with overviews of modeling behavior in Second Life, and augmented reality applications that leverage the GPS function in mobile devices to achieve real-world outcomes in fun, fitness, exploration, and public safety.
Watch this episode now (74 minutes, Adobe Connect webinar. Feel free to use the playhead to skip past the first 5-10 minutes or so, which are mostly announcements)
Pardon the Dust
We are finishing up on a redesign of this blog at the moment. We’ll be making it live shortly.
Mark & Steve
TAC Workshops and Webinars- TAC Webinar: Blackboard BasicsTuesday, May 28, 2013 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM This session covers the most frequently-used features in Blackboard. We’ll review Announcements; working with courses; adding and managing course content (assignments, syllabus, etc.), grade center; testing; communicating with students. It’s a great place to start if you’re new to Blackboard, or would like a refreshe […]
- TAC Webinar: Blackboard Grade CenterThursday, May 30, 2013 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM This session covers the Blackboard grade center in depth for instructors who want to make use of Blackboard features to refine their grading strategies. We’ll work with organizing the grade center; smart views; uploading and downloading grades; reports; grading schemas and grade weighting. We’ll also show you options […]
- TAC Workshop - Getting to Know Hitachi StarBoardsFriday, May 31, 2013 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM Learn the basics of how the Hitachi Starboard electronic whiteboard system works. This hands-on workshop will introduce you to the functionality of the board and introduce ideas of how it might be effectively utilized in the classroom. Register Here: http://is.gd/RssEZB Workshop Location: Waldo 320B […]
- TAC Webinar – Rethink PowerPoint!Monday, June 3, 2013 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM Rethink and improve your PowerPoint presentations with researched techniques. Focus is on PowerPoint pedagogy in the classroom, though information is applicable for most presentations. Specific topics include: directing attention, less is more, outcomes as guidance for creation, displaying qualitative and quantitat […]
- TAC Webinar – Rethink PowerPoint!Monday, June 3, 2013 12:00 PM - 12:50 PM Rethink and improve your PowerPoint presentations with researched techniques. Focus is on PowerPoint pedagogy in the classroom, though information is applicable for most presentations. Specific topics include: directing attention, less is more, outcomes as guidance for creation, displaying qualitative and quantitat […]
- TAC Webinar: Blackboard Basics