Inspire Blog

Exploring Podcasting For Online Courses

One of the common ideas instructors have to bolster student-content engagement in a course is to add media. Podcasts are a type of media element that can support learning in a number of ways. It is relatively easy to link to an established podcast. Planning and producing your own podcast is more involved. This post explores the idea of producing a podcast for your online course. Is it something you should consider? Prior to diving into the value and purpose of podcasts it is useful to understand what a podcast is…and what it isn’t. The term podcast is a portmanteau of “iPod” and “broadcast”. This blended word says a lot because a podcast is a digital recording that is produced … Exploring Podcasting For Online Courses
by · August 3, 2018

Game Design as Pedagogy (Project-Based Learning)

Many educators have contemplated the use of games as way to engage learners, or maybe thought about using some elements found in games to engage learners. A big hurdle for integrating games into a course is the amount of work it takes to build them to use in a course, even if you have the skill-set. Of course, you could always take the easier route and try to integrate an existing game into a course. The hurdles there involve cost and finding a game that supports the content specific to your course. There is another approach to bring game concepts into the learning environment that does not necessitate a huge investment of time, combining game design with problem-based learning. Create … Game Design as Pedagogy (Project-Based Learning)
by · July 30, 2018

Boldly Go Where No Discussion Has Gone Before

Discussion forums are commonly used to generate interaction among students, and research shows that higher-level thinking is possible. But all too often discussion prompts can be stale and unimaginative. Learning by Reflection Several Ecampus math classes are using discussion prompts in a creative way to help students develop meta-cognitive skills related to their learning. The first is a reflection activity. After the assignment is graded, the instructor releases an answer key so students can look back at their work. “Learning from our mistakes, we start to understand what we are doing properly and what we are doing improperly,” explains the instructor in the purpose statement for the reflection forum. This is an effective activity and, from the instructor’s perspective, easy … Boldly Go Where No Discussion Has Gone Before
by · July 16, 2018

Apps Educators Use for Work and for Life

I recently attended one of Bryan Alexander’s Future Trend’s Forum webinar session (recording on youtube) on apps educators use in their work and in their life and learned about some very interesting apps. Anti-app App: ?Forest: an app to monitor time off phone (for personal use or group use, family use, etc.). ? Flora: (free app) helps you and your friends stay focused on the task together (recommended by my wonderful co-worker Dorothy Loftin) Apps for teaching and learning: ? Desmos: Graph functions, plot data, evaluate equations, explore transformations, and much more – for free! ➗Algebrabyhand: The most advanced drag and drop algebra tool for the web. ?‍♂️Fabulous is a science-based app, incubated in Duke’s Behavioral Economics Lab, that will help you build healthy rituals into … Apps Educators Use for Work and for Life
by · July 10, 2018

Use a Mix Map for Blended Learning

Along with the vast growth of fully online education, a corresponding trend is the growing popularity of hybrid (or blended) courses and programs. OSU defines a hybrid course as one that includes both regularly scheduled on-site classroom meetings and significant online out-of-classroom components that replace regularly scheduled class meeting time. The blended learning mix map is a widely used tool to visualize a hybrid course under design or redesign. This simple template of two overlapping circles provides space to list online learning activities, face-to-face learning activities and possibly activities that occur in both learning environments. For example, discussions may be a regular course activity online, in class, or in both environments. Much of the real value of developing a mix … Use a Mix Map for Blended Learning
by · June 19, 2018