If anyone out there has been following the recent statewide dialogue in California about identifying strategies to improve the success of California community college students, you may be interested in reading the "Draft Recommendations Report" which was recently made public on the Chancellor's website.I've just begun trudging through it and have been a bit stunned to see that due to "time restraints," the task force did not directly address "distance education" in the report (p. 11).  I feel compelled to take a step back right now and point out that the continual lumping of online courses in with our face-to-face courses continues to hurt California community college students.  Online classes are unique and the strategies necessary for increasing the success of students in online programs as well as those who enroll in both online and face-to-face coursework needs to be addressed directly.  General communications from the Chancellor's office shared in articles throughout the year with the public typically report important data, like enrollment, in lump figures and the data for distance learning is traditionally reported in a separate report every two years.  This reporting process, in my opinion, makes the realities of the impact that online learning is having on the landscape of the CCC system murky, at best.  And, as a result, the significant role that online learning plays throughout California's 112 community colleges -- which support 2.6 million students, more than any other system of higher education in the nation -- is not positioned as a statewide priority and the unique needs that online learning brings to the system are often not realized. The 2011 distance education report can be found here and in it you will see some information that may surprise you.  It surprised me and I consider myself pretty well informed about online learning in California.  The graph below illustrates the past four years of enrollment changes -- distance education is represented in blue and traditional, face-to-face, classes are represented in red. As the data illustrated above makes clear, the future of California community colleges is a blended future.  Between academic years 2006-2010, traditional enrollments remained relatively stagnant year over year or declined, while online enrollments have soared, even in the face of severe budget cuts.  Lower Success Rates for Online CCC Students The report also provides evidence that online course success rates trail traditional success rates by 10-12% over the four year period measured in the report (course success defined as the % of enrolled students who end the term with an A, B, or C).  This isn't groundbreaking news but is certainly a significant point to consider.  These success rates can be improved significantly with the proper strategies but will not be improved if online classes are not understood and valued as unique.   Online students who learn in solitude with little to no human connection are at a greater risk of failing -- especially when they're academically challenged and/or their courses are designed with cold, text-based information and void of a sense of relatedness to one's instructor and peers.  One of the most important elements of supporting student success online is professional development and faculty training. An intriguing recent study at Cabrillo College has revealed that online success is even lower for Latino students.  The online success gap for Latino students is 44% greater than white students, according to the study.  This may be due to the strong role of human-to-human contact and relationships in the latino culture that are undercut by flat online course design.  Raymond Kaupp, director of workforce development at Cabrillo argues that the low success rates for online Latino students is likely rooted in Latino attitudes toward education. "Relationships are important to Latino student learning."  Community colleges need to foster online community, just as they foster face-to-face community -- within a class, within a department, across a program, and an entire campus.  In our mobile, interconnected world driven by video technologies that are now free to low cost, it's a failure to create cold, isolating online learning experiences. Online classes can be vibrant, dynamic and highly personalized if they're designed effective and integrate pedagogies that support active and constructivist learning through the application of emerging technologies, and faculty are supported to ensure content is accessible to all students.  One model that has been proven effective at increasing online student success is the Human Presence Learning Environment used at Santa Barbara Community College.    Warm, High-Touch, Community-Oriented Online LearningIn the teaching I've done over the years for @One's Online Teaching Certification Program, I've seen hundreds of faculty be inspired and amazed at what they can do for their students to create more social, community-oriented learning experiences for their students with a higher sense of social presence -- through the use of technology that would otherwise be absent from their teaching approaches.  When the framework embraced for evaluating student success does not view online as a unique entity, these essential pillars of online student success are rendered absent (and they aren't, by any means, the only pillars).  I look forward to watching the lively discussion about the report evolve and am hopeful there will be more advocacy from faculty, staff, students, and the community about the importance of stressing the uniqueness of online learning, the central role it will continue to play in the future of California community colleges and our students.

There's a great little article by Nick DeSantis today over at the Wired Campus blog that showcases how Donnelyn Curtis, director of research collections and services at at University of Nevada at Reno, is using Facebook to portray the life of two historical figures.Using archives and permission from family members, she generated a Facebook profile for Joe McDonnel and Leola Lewis, two former college students who graduated in 1913 and were married not long after.  The profiles include photographs of the two attending college events together, like the "sophonore hop," and status updates reflecting their favorite activities and the realities of early 20th century college life.   This historical "role playing" with Facebook is a creative way to melt history into our students' contemporary technological landscape.  And I think this is a terrific idea to keep in mind for learning activities too.Blogging About Dead PeopleIn my History of Photography class, my students each have their own blog in our private class Ning network.  Most weeks they write a blog post in response to one of two prompts I assign them.  I like to give options, as students respond more favorably to assignments when they have a choice and I really like to contrast the prompts too.  While they both will align with the weekly learning objectives, I like offering one creative writing option and one that is more objective.In an early unit focused on The Popularization and Socialization of the Daguerreotype (1840s), students are pointed to the Daguerreobase website which provides them with a collection of digitized daguerreotypes.  They are expected to select one from the database that is either a traditional portrait of one or more people or a death portrait, representing the popular genre of post-mortem portraiture.  In their blog post they role play either one of the people sitting for the portrait or the family of the deceased person, usually a child, represented in the post-mortem portrait.  Clearly, not all students get intrigued about the idea of writing about a photograph of a dead child but some students are really intrigued about how this phenomenon was considered "normal" in the 19th century; which, of course, is a big part of the "point" of the assignment -- to get students to grasp that the way we value and respond to particular types of phtotographic images is socially constructed.  Both posts require students to include factual information about the daguerreotype process, including the studio experience, the exposure time, how it felt wearing mechanical devices that were used to hold a person still during the long exposure time, and the magical feeling of seeing the photographic image unveiled before them.In our 1880s-90s: Birth of Kodak and the Rise of Snapshots unit, students are given the option to locate two early Kodak ads and analyze them or to locate a historical 'snapshot' and write a blog post that fictitiously  role plays the experiences of the person who took to photograph.  Both posts require students to include important contextual details, from our learning unit, but each allows students to draw upon their particular styles.  Some students l-o-v-e the creative writing options and others feel more comfortable moving into the analytical writing assignment.  By sharing their work on their blogs, they have the opportunity to reach out and read what each other has written, increasing their exposure to unique ideas.  It's fun to see them comment with encouraging insights the next week.I have shared both of these blog post activities with Creative Commons licenses and you may view them on the History of Photography page of my blog.I love engaging students in history through role playing and hope these examples inspire you think about a unique way to use social media to make history come alive for your own students.

I recently posted about a creative use of Facebook by a librarian at the University of Nevada, Reno that embraced social media to make history come alive.  Today, the Chronicle reported that Facebook has deleted the accounts representing each of the historical figures due to a violation of its terms of use.  As much as I loved the idea, I completely understand why Facebook enforced its rule that users may not "provide any false personal information on Facebook, or create an account for anyone other than yourself without permission."  There is a common trend among young users of Facebook to create false profiles of real people and post erroneous, inflammatory comments about them.  Maintaining integrity in social media is important. The Chronicle article reports that the pages received thousands of friend requests after the project hit the blogosphere and Twitterverse.  So, the good news is that people are interested in learning about historical figures through creative applications of emerging tools.  And the article also suggests that creating a Facebook Page about each of the historical figures may fall within the Facebook rules.  We'll see.Experimentation is good.  This is how we learn to define the boundaries of our of new digital landscape and understand how we can apply it to learning.

This is the first week of my online History of Photography class.  I am gently guiding my students into our class which is peppered with emerging technologies including Google Apps, Ning, and VoiceThread.  To get them started this week, I have a fun, simple activity that they engage in.The activity is titled My Favorite Photograph and the objectives are:To help students get to know their peers on a personal level and start to form the early threads of community.To examine the subjective and personal nature of the meaning of a photographic image.I created a presentation using Google Docs (click Create and select Presentation, create the presentation, change the share settings to "Anyone with a link" and "Can edit.").  A copy of the presentation is embedded below so you can take a close look at the precise instructions and sample I have provided them with.  I used this activity last semester and had zero questions -- so I'm pretty excited about it! Click here for a larger view. Here's how it works.  Week 1: Students click on the link that takes them out to the Google Presentation (exactly like the one you see below but the one they see includes dozens of blank pages, each titled with a student's name).They read the instructions on slide two and, if necessary, view the video embedded on slide three (which shows the steps for editing the presentation that are explained in text on slide two).They view the sample slide I created for them.Then they locate the slide with their name on it and upload their photograph and text (explaining why it's their favorite photograph).Week 2: I embed the completed Google Presentation in our Ning network (which is private and open only to my students).The students are instructed to review the entire presentation, reflect on the images and the justifications the students wrote for why they selected the image.  This is really more empowering than it sounds, as students share some very compelling images including loved ones who are away at war, deceased family members, picturesque scenes of nature, artistic masterpieces, and beloved family pets.  All in all, they're learning how diverse "photography" can be.Then before the week is over, they write their first blog post which is an analysis of what they learned from participating in and viewing the collaborative presentation.  They are asked to reflect on what they learned about the nature of photographic meaning, as well as to select one photograph from the presentation that stands out in their mind and explain why.As the blog posts come in, students read each others' posts.  Many see their contributions referenced and can read what their image means to their peer, some find a peer who references the same photo they selected, or see an entirely new perspective that they hadn't considered.

In my GETInsight blog post this month, I share some very candid reflections about teaching online within the parameters of web accessibility policies.  As you read the post, I encourage you to reflect on how the enforcement of policy, at all costs, can cultivate a culture of fear which can, in turn, create a chilling effect that prevents experimentation, risk-taking and innovation.  How can we navigate policy effectively and foster a culture of innovation that encourages faculty to experiment with new approaches in teaching and learning?  I am hopeful you have a story to share, a comment to make, or a reflection to leave in response to my thoughts.  Click here to read the post and feel free to leave a comment in the VoiceThread at the top of the page. 

Like each student, VoiceThread is unique.  Unlike a traditional learning environment, VoiceThread provides a student with the option to express oneself in voice, video, or text from a computer, tablet, or smartphone. In this webinar we will engage in a thoughtful discussion about why VoiceThread matters to 21st century educators and students. Topics will include designing VoiceThreads with a priority on accessibility, supporting the needs of students who rely on screen readers, empowering students with cognitive disorders, strategies for accommodating deaf students, and a glimpse into new dimensions of learning made possible through the VoiceThread mobile app.Please join me on Thursday, February 16th at 3pmEST/12pmPST for a free webinar. Click here to register.

We had a fabulous turn out of more than 200 people at last week's Supporting All Learners with VoiceThread webinar!  For those of you who missed it, you may view the archive here.  If you'd like to peruse the archives of my previous VoiceThread webinars, you'll find the links on the VoiceThread page of my blog.If you have questions about VoiceThread or would like to share your own applications of it in your teaching, join me for my live office hour next Tuesday, 2/28 at 12pm PST/3pm EST.  Register here!Stay tuned for news about next month's webinar, Saving Time with VoiceThread's Moodle Modules!

Faculty in all disciplines are warmly invited to contact me to participate in my VoiceThread webinar series.   I have a few webinar topics planned already and am actively seeking experts and innovative instructors as guest speakers: April 2012: Language-Learning Instruction with VoiceThread May 2012: Visual-Arts Instruction with VoiceThread June 2012: Creative uses of Video with VoiceThread If you are using VoiceThread in your class and would like to share your experiences with the educational community, please complete this form: goo.gl/Z0l1o.  Please share this link with your networks! Thank you.

Today, texting is the preferred communication method for most young people. It is used to get immediate answers to questions, find out what friends are up to, send grocery lists to oneself, reply to voicemails, and even end relationships.  I've seen many educators express concerns about how texting is fragmenting writing, grammar, and spelling skills but I have another question that I'm probing.  Are online classes allowing our students to hide behind text?Despite the prevalence of free to low cost, easy-to-use, web-based multimedia tools (which are commonly associated with the web 2.0 era), most online college classes only require students to participate with text based communications -- discussion forums and blogs.  The 2011 Sloan-C report, Going the Distance, reminds us all how quickly online learning is becoming part of the mainstream college experience. In 2011, 31% of all college students in the United States were enrolled in at least one online class.  After nearly a decade of solid growth, we now have populations of adults who earned their entire undergraduate and even graduate degrees online.  What I'd like to know is how many of those students were expected to consistently demonstrate the ability to present, inquire, analyze, summarize, and argue in the spoken word?  I realize there are undergraduate requirements for speech that integrate these outcomes but my point here is that speaking should be a skill that is integrated across the curriculum, much like writing is.For more than four years, I've used VoiceThread as a required part of my online classes.  I treasure VoiceThread because it enhances the tools included in the two course management systems I teach with.  It provides a visual, participatory conversation space and invites my students to leave comments in text, voice or video.  Each semester, until now, I have always allowed my students the freedom to choose which commenting method they want to use.  And each semester, I sit back and watch as most of them elect to use text.I  regularly have a small group of students who step up and embrace the voice comments and a few who use video.  I have relished giving students the option to use voice or video because I have seen it yield success for students with cognitive disorders who are challenged with writing everything.  I also frequently have some students who genuinely love to share in voice -- but the point here is that most students don't.  When I've surveyed students in the past about why they didn't use voice or video, I commonly receive comments about "feeling intimidated," or concerns that they would "sound stupid." I realize my job is to ameliorate these hesitations and create a safe, trustworthy environment for students -- and that is precisely part of my revised approach this semester.My question to you, as an educator, is "Should all online students consistently be expected to participate using voice or video?"  And if not, why?  What have we to lose?  Sharing ideas, engaging in large and small group discussions, and doing presentations are all regular components of face-to-face learning and I'd imagine the thought of removing all of these verbal activities from offline college classes would rile up some concerns.  So, why is it that we aren't focusing more on the integration of voice into a students' online learning experience?So, in response to these questions, this semester I have embarked on a little experiment.  I don't have all the results to share because we're only in week six of the semester but I've seem some really significant changes in my students' use of voice commenting.  Most noteworthy is the percentage of students who are voluntarily leaving voice or video comments.  Last semester, in the class's third VoiceThread activity 25% of my students used voice or video to leave their comments.  This semester, in the third VoiceThread activity, 75% of them voluntarily commented in voice or video.  How did that happen?Here are the changes I made this semester to increase the percentage of students who voluntarily comment in voice or video:  ONE:  In my syllabus, I clearly indicated that voice or video comments would be required in some of the VoiceThreads.  I also explained what VoiceThread is and how it has improved the learning of past students.  Finally, I made it clear that the way we would be using VoiceThread was fully secure and only students enrolled in our class would have access to the students' contributions.  This was stressed to ensure students felt safe and didn't perceive VoiceThread to be a public tool, like many of the popular web-based tools students use today.TWO: I surveyed students in week one (using Google Docs's Form option).  I had them identify which of the following methods they would use to leave their voice or video comments.  Below, I am sharing the percentage of students that responded to each method.I will use a microphone with my computer to leave voice comments.  36%I will use a webcam on my computer to leave video comments. 29%I have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch and will use the free VoiceThread mobile app to leave voice or video comments.  29%I will use my phone to leave voice comments (if you check here, I will contact you and set you up with free phone commenting minutes).  7% You'll notice that the questions above do not provide the option to say, "I don't have the necessary technology."  Also, in Fall 2011, VoiceThread's release of their free mobile app, tremendously expanded access to voice and video commenting for college students -- a population with a soaring rate of smartphone adoption.  Next fall 2012 when they release their Android version, this will increase further.Additionally, VoiceThread accounts above PRO have the option to include a bucket of phone commenting minutes that can be distributed to users who need them.  This allowed me to feel confident in my efforts to require voice comments, as nobody is excluded. I was able to easily reach out to the two students who required this option and get them set up quickly with free phone commenting minutes.THREE:  I used a non-threatening, fun activity for our first use of VoiceThread.  Click here to view the activity (this is a sample copy without student comments).  Last semester, the first use of VoiceThread was a formative assessment of a long, rather complex essay students read.  And while mistakes were ok (again, it was a formative assessment), it was more nerve racking for students to hear their voice and be unsure of what they were saying.   I wanted them to proceed with confidence and embrace the sound of each others' voices, as well as their own.FOUR: I required students to comment in voice or video in the first VoiceThread.  This was my attempt at 1) demonstrating to them that they could do it so they'd have confidence in their ability and 2) putting everyone on equal footing so they would all be expected to challenge themselves which, I realized, was going to make some students feel vulnerable.FIVE:  After the third week of VoiceThread, I surveyed students to give them a chance to share with me how it was going and to understand their experiences using VoiceThread.  From this survey, I learned that:91% of students described their experience with VoiceThread as "Awesome" or "Good."95% of students agreed that, so far,  VoiceThread had added value to their online learning experience.71% said they prefer to comment in voice or video rather than text.Most students also described their experience creating their VoiceThread account and joining their class group as easy.Again, the qualitative analysis of their experiences commenting in voice and video will be conducted later.  From my perspective, I feel strongly that the use of student audio commenting in online classes is important for college students because it fosters verbal communication skills that the proliferation of mobile technologies is changing.  I don't want this to sound like a skeptical rant on mobile technologies though, as I would argue they hold an array of possibilities for making college learning more collaborative and participatory -- in the classroom, online, and via location-based learning treks.I know that my students relish the opportunity to hear and see me in my comments and many remark to me that they rarely get such personalized feedback in their face-to-face classes.  And I relish hearing and seeing them.  Hearing their voices allows me to sense their confusion, their confidence, their passion, their concern, their frustration, and their joy -- which, to me, allows me to respond appropriately and be a much more effective online instructor.What are the major obstacles that you identify for integrating voice-based participation into online classes?  And what suggestions do you have for improving these roadblocks?

By Mike Licht, CC-BY-$In my March blog post over at the GETInsight blog, I tackle some thoughts about gender and technology in a 21st century context.  One of them is unpacking the question about why, within a female dominated career, are there so few female ed tech leaders?  And even fewer who land primo speaking gigs? As technology continues to become more and more critical in education, what's at stake here?  I know, I know...nobody likes to talk about topics that may in some way suggest there are salient biases informing the way we live and work but, guess what?  There are.  And being able to see a problem is the first step in making a change.  Being able to talk about it is even more important.The post also examines the relationship between gender and mobile devices which, more an more, are being placed in the hands of toddlers to play games and stay entertained. What opportunities does this hold for unhinging the gendering of technology as a male-dominated space and how can we, as adults, play an effective role in ensuring girls use those devices to unleash curiosities and be active contributors in, rather than consumers of products that will quickly turn them into passive, adorning objects.Click here to read the blog post and please feel free to leave a reflection, comment, question in the VoiceThread at the top. P.S.  Isn't this image by Mike Licht awesome?

Do you teach with Moodle?Join me for this free webinar! Teaching with VoiceThread empowers instructors and students to communicate and learn together in a multisensory environment.  In short, it is the perfect enhancement to a course management system.  Now VoiceThread has built cutting-edge Moodle integration that will help you save valuable time!  During this one-hour webinar Michelle Pacansky-Brock will demonstrate components designed by VoiceThread for Moodle:Just one username and password with the Moodle Authentication module. Embed a VoiceThread in your Moodle class with a single click.Assign commenting or VoiceThread creation.Score each VoiceThread assignment without ever leaving the Moodle gradebookWebinar details: Friday, March 23rd - 12pm PST, 3pm ESTSeats are limited.  Register for the webinar now!Please note:  This webinar is not intended for begining VoiceThread users.  LearnVoiceThread basics in the support center. View example VoiceThreads in the Digital Library.  

Tomorrow I will be arriving in Palm Springs for the Annual CUE Conference. This will be my third year attending and this year I am honored to be an invited showcase presenter.  I find such amazing energy at CUE and am thrilled to be included in this fabulous group of dedicated educators who are committed to using technology to improve student learning!I will be presenting three sessions and I've created a Google Site that I will share with the participants.  I'm including the links below in case you find them useful.How and Why I Flipped my Classroom:  All kinds of goodies related to my 2009 art history community college flipped classroom experiment. Creating Participatory Learning Activities with VoiceThread:  A general support resource for anyone interested in learning more about VoiceThread's potential for supporting student learning.The Human Touch:  Increasing Your Online Presence with Video:  It's an old story that online success rates trail their face-to-face counterparts.  But when are we going to realize the connection between social presence and success!? Wake up folks --  you are the missing link.  I hope you find this useful.  If you'll be at CUE, please say hello!

There are now a total of six 1-hour webinar archives in the VoiceThread training library.  Keep this resource in mind for spring, summer, and fall faculty development planning.Topics to date include:How to Save Time with VoiceThread for MoodleHow and Why to Flip Your Classroom with VoiceThreadSupporting All Learners with VoiceThreadSupporting Student Success with VoiceThreadMaking Sense of Assessment with VoiceThreadIntegrating VoiceThread into the Campus-Wide Teaching Toolkit You may view each video here with an interactive transcript.Follow my blog or on Twitter @brocansky to receive invitations to future webinars -- they're all free!Loading playlist ...

VoiceThread’s College Innovator Spotlight Webinar Serieshosted by Michelle Pacansky-BrockHave you been curious about how to use VoiceThread in your foreign language or ESL classes?  Or are you looking for some new ideas?  Get together with your colleagues and join us for an hour of sharing on April 20th! This webinar will feature the teaching innovations of: David ThompsonAssociate Professor of Spanish, Luther College  David will show you how he uses VoiceThread for a digital storytelling exercise in which students narrate a photo story with the imperfect and preterit tenses in Spanish.Vicki CurtisAssociate Professor of ESL, Ohlone CollegeVicki will demonstrate how she uses VoiceThread to conducta virtual writing conference with her beginning writing ESL studentsand explain how VoiceThread has played a key role in thedevelopment of her online reading and writingupper intermediate ESL class-- a feat that many said was "impossible!" Friday, April 20th12pm PST/3pm ESTFREE!Registration will be available in early April.  To be notified via email that registration is available, please add your name to this list:  http://bit.ly/ow0NWp

For generations, community colleges have served as the gateway to higher education for millions of Americans.  Their commitment to open access coupled with financial support from local funds have stimulated local economies and made dreams come true for people who would have otherwise never imagined college to be a reality.  The same holds true today -- but for fewer students each year.  Budget cuts across the nation are resulting in a rationing of enrollments and who will be admitted to community colleges in the future is a hot topic today.A report released yesterday from the Center for the Future of Higher Education, Closing the Door, Increasing the Gap, stresses the importance of critically examining who could be left out if access to higher education is rationed and what encourages us to ponder the effects that the rationing process would have on society longterm.  The report states, "We are living in a time of growing gaps between the rich and the rest - gaps that have not been seen since the Great Depression. Since the largest growth in traditional age students is among lower-income, first-generation, students of color, and immigrants, they will be impacted the most. Rationing college by social class and ethnicity results in a higher education system that will increase the gap between the 1% and the rest in ever more extreme ways."I invite you to share your story about how your life has been affected by a community college.  If you're new to VoiceThread, it's easy.  Just follow the instructions typed at the bottom of the slide or listen to them by playing the first comment.Please share this VoiceThread using this link: http://voicethread.com/share/2927210/

Each month, I write a sponsored blog post for Cisco's GETInsight blog, which is part of the GETideas community.  Each post delves into a topical conversation about transforming education, particularly through the use of technology.  This month's post isn't focused on technology but it is one that will shape both the future of the United States and affect the lives of millions of people for generations to come.  And you or someone you care about may very likely be one of those people. The topic is the historic commitment that community colleges have made to open access to higher education.  That commitment is being threatened as colleges across the nation, particularly in extremely deprived economic states like California, struggle to imagine how to serve students with pennies instead of dollars. Community colleges are always there for us. We have come to rely upon them to serve an array of functions in our lives.  As a result, the array of ways that community colleges have supported students' academic and personal success and contributed to local and regional economies is immeasurable.  I hope you'll take a moment, first, to read the post, and two, to share your story in the VoiceThread about how your life has been touched, helped, transformed, or improved by a community college.  The VoiceThread is embedded below and also appears on the GETInsight blog.  You are warmly invited to leave a comment by following the instructions at the bottom of the slide.Please share this VoiceThread and encourage your friends, family, colleagues to share their story. Thank you!  Use this link to share: http://voicethread.com/share/2927210/Click here to read "Community Colleges’ Commitment to Open Access: Sharing Your Story at a Defining Moment." 

The VoiceThread College Innovator Webinar Series, hosted by Michelle Pacansky-BrockAre you curious about how to use VoiceThread in your foreign language or ESL classes?  Or are you looking for some new ideas?  Get together with your colleagues and join us for an hour of sharing on April 20th!This webinar will feature the teaching innovations of:David ThompsonAssociate Professor of Spanish, Luther CollegeDavid will show you how he uses VoiceThread for a digital storytelling exercise in which students narrate a photo story with the imperfect and preterit tenses in Spanish.Vicki CurtisAssociate Professor of ESL, Ohlone CollegeVicki will demonstrate how she uses VoiceThread to conduct a virtual writing conference with her beginning writing ESL students and explain how VoiceThread has played a key role in the development of her online reading and writing upper intermediate ESL class -- a feat that many said was "impossible!"Date/Time:  Friday, April 20th at 12pm PDT/ 3pm EDTRegister here! Michelle's April VoiceThread Office Hour -For one hour a month, Michelle and a VoiceThread team member are "in the office" and available for live questions and discussion about using VoiceThread in education.  Bring all of your questions and comments!Date/time: Thursday, April 26th at 12pm PDT/ 3pm EDTRegister for the office hour

One of the most powerful but least used features of VoiceThread is its ability to play video, uploaded as central media (compared to a video comment recorded with a webcam).  I'd love to see a collection of "teaching ideas" that explore the variety of ways videos can be used to support student learning with VoiceThread.  I find that most instructors immediately want to link to YouTube videos (not created by them) but this isn't an option, as the videos in a VoiceThread must be either uploaded from your computer or you must identify a url that points directly to the hosted video file (this means the url must end in the video file extension type and YouTube videos are not direct links to the hosted files).I like to encourage faculty to think about ways to use screencasting to create their own instructional videos and upload them into a VoiceThread.  Below, you will see two examples of how this approach could be applied (of course, there are many more!).Idea #1: Instructional ActivityShare link: http://voicethread.com/share/2915637/ Students complete this VoiceThread activity after reading a chapter in their book and viewing a small collection of YouTube videos that augment the topics from the textbook.  Within this VoiceThread, there are three types of slides:Directions: how to, grading information, criteria, etc. Video: A 7-minute instructional video (Slide 5) which I recorded using Screenflow (a Mac-only   screencasting software).Interactive Slides:  these slides contain prompts to which students respond. Idea #2: Asynchronous Office Hours or Group Tutor SpacesShare link: http://voicethread.com/share/2953545/ This VoiceThread was made using three web-based tools (all of which can be used for free, by the way).  First, the online whiteboard demo'd in the video is Scribblar.com and the video that I recorded and uploaded into the VoiceThread was made using Screencast-o-matic.  As I explain in the video, I preset the screen recording size in Screencast-o-matic to 600x450, as that is the precise aspect ratio of the VoiceThread player.  While it condenses my whiteboard space, the end result is a small file size which allows me to create a longer video!  (Keep in mind, if you have a free VoiceThread account, each individual file you upload into your VoiceThread will be limited to 25 MB.  If you have a PRO account (which is provided with most premium accounts including site wide and department licenses), that file size increases to 100 MB.)Take a peek and feel free to leave a comment in the VoiceThread.  I encourage you to leave a voice or video comment and play the video as you're commenting.  Few people realize that you can actually capture your playback of the video as you record a comment in a VoiceThread --- and that includes using the Doodle tool!  Give it a try! Do you have another idea for how you could use screencasting in a VoiceThread to support teaching and learning? Let's hear it ... or better yet, please share a link to an example!

I'm in the middle of reading a chapter from Senge's Schools that Learn and felt compelled to share a few thoughts on my mind. It probably isn't earth shattering to any reader of this blog to realize the striking similarities between the educational system in the United States and the assembly line of the industrial age -- which is, after all, the inspiration for how we educate our children.  Assembly lines are valued for being efficient and efficiency is measured by how much the products they produce are alike.  In fact, when we see great degrees of variety in the products of assembly lines, this signals a problem. I could go on and on about this but here's one specific point that Senge makes that I think is invaluable to educators, parents, and students (who bear the internalized pain of being labeled stupid, slow, or failure through our mechanized approach to learning):"What we call 'disability' is in truth a description of mismatch between educational process and person. Why not label the educational process as 'disabled,' instead of the person? Moreover, what does it mean to an individual to be labeled as having 'a disability?' How does that label shape an individual’s sense of self through his or her lifetime? Are we losing our ability to distinguish between appreciating our differences versus seeing ourselves, mad each other, as disabled?" (Senge, p. 40)The human brain has not changed much in a very, very, very long time (insert a large number here followed by many zeroes).  Humans have always learned in a variety of ways.  Industrial age learning systems, built upon assembly line values, embrace skills, logic, teaching, and assessment that can be measured quickly and objectively.  This favors books, lectures, and specific cognitive functioning -- like reading and writing -- while denying the importance of other diverse learning activities like playing or listening to music, making or looking at art, playing dodgeball or soccer, building a castle out of Legos, designing a blueprint, etc.  Mastery of some skills is easier to measure than others.  But all contribute to making us human beings and support our personal fulfillment, our curiosity about life, our wander about the world, and our endless journey to understand what it is that we have to offer this world that sets us apart from others.   A disability is only a disability to us because it rubs against the grain of how we have organized and prioritized learning.  A learning disability is really nothing more than one of the many rich colors in the diverse rainbow that represents how we learn.  I am making a conscious effort to use the term "learning difference" instead, although it won't make sense in most educational contexts, I realize. Assembly line learning prevents us from being human.  I see this in my children who ache mentally and physically every morning as they leave the house for school carrying their backpacks that are filled with big, heavy books -- ironic, as I sit here looking at my paper free desk on which I work full-time and am a doctoral student.  They're immersed in the most active, creative, dynamic, interconnected, society ever and, still, they are organized into groups of 30 kids all of similar age, situated in rows at small desks, expected to sit still and quiet for hours at a time, do what their teacher says, and demonstrate the skills listed on that unit's checklist before it's time for the conveyor belt to move on to the next unit.  And then come home and do an hour of homework.Today's young people are reflecting on how they learn more than any generation before.  They are observing when things work and when things don't.  The things that had been undiscussable about education for generations are now becoming part of conversations.  "Mom, why can't we learn on iPads instead of carry five books?" "Mom, why do we need to use paper and pencil for everything at school when we never use them outside of school?"  "Mom, why can't I move around at school?"  "Mom, why do my teachers think recess is a privilege? Don't they know we're kids and we have to run around a little bit?"  I believe our technological society -- the infusion of videos, audio books, phones that provide access to taking photos and videos, and the ease of sharing content online -- is creating a generation of students who, without realizing it, are more engaged in metacognition.  They are thinking about how they learn -- and it's the significant gap between how they learn outside of school and how they learn in the classroom that triggers this reflection.In a century when divergent thinking is needed more than ever, we continue to strip away creativity as a core skill, in favor of producing sameness. How different would education be if this value were flipped?  How different would classrooms look?  How differently would online learning be valued -- and different would an online class look?  How much more would gaming be valued in education (including college, by the way)? And how differently would kids feel about their contributions if they were valued for their uniqueness, rather than their conformity?  Who would rise to the top and succeed?  And how would this change the future of our society?  And who is going to show us the way?

 Have you pondered the possibilities of using VoiceThread to demonstrate art techniques in video, explain complex studio projects, and create secure group critiques?  Have you wondered what new curricular opportunities exist when you teach with a technology that empowers students to visually document, share, and discuss their reflections from anywhere?Then join me for this free webinar!Reinventing Visual Arts Instruction with VoiceThread Friday, May 18th12:00 PDT/ 3:00 EDTRegister Here: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/944411626I will be joined in this webinar by: Heidi UptonAssistant Professor, Core Studies, Discover New YorkSt. John’s UniversityHeidi will share how she uses Voicethread with students in Discover New York, a freshman transition course that uses New York City as a text for the building of aesthetic literacy skills and social awareness.Tammy LockettLead Faculty, FoundationsThe Art Institute of Pittsburgh's Online DivisionTammy will share how she incorporates VoiceThread into eCollege assignment threads for fundamental art courses to provide group critiques, asynchronous, lectures and video demonstrations.Excerpts from class VoiceThreads will be shown, links to sample VoiceThreads will be shared, and your questions will be answered.Are you a college instructor using VoiceThread to move learning beyond the traditional lecture?  Please share with me here: http://goo.gl/Z0l1o

Back in January I shared a post titled "Breaking the Ice with a Collaborative Google Prez," in which I explained how I've been using a Google Presentation, shared with anyone who has the link to have edit access, as the foundation for a social "ice breaker" and reflection activity in my online class.  That original post with provide you with more context about the activity, including a sample of the template I provide to students (i.e. what the presentation looks like before they edit it).This week I took some time to create a guide to explain the steps involved with creating this type of activity.  The guide, however, is written with an in-class activity in mind but if you're interested in understanding the nuts' n bolts of how to set up a Google Presentation with the most effective sharing settings for this type of activity, I think you'll find it helpful.Click here to open the guide in a new page (then click "download" to save it as a PDF) or view it below.  This document is shared with a BY-NC Creative Commons license to promote sharing, learning, and innovation in teaching and learning.

I find that many college instructors shy away from using VoiceThread because of security concerns.  I wanted to share a simple tip that I think some may find helpful.  VoiceThread has a Group feature available to all users with a PRO account and above that allows for you create a secure environment for class interactions.Once you create a Group, VoiceThread provides you with a join link that you can email to the people you'd like to join or simply include in your course management system, behind the authentication ensuring that only your enrolled students will have access to it.  I make joining our VoiceThread group a required activity the first week of our class.  When a student clicks on the link, s/he is taken to a page that asks them to Sign In or Register for VoiceThread.  If they already have a VT account, they can access their existing account and they're automatically made a member.  If they're new to VoiceThread, they just click on "Register," complete the form and in a single swoop, their account is created and they become a group member. I can easily check to see who has joined the group by accessing the group list from within my VoiceThread account too.  Each week, as I prepare my content for the next unit I simply share our VoiceThread activity with the class group and embed it in my course management system.  Students click on square button included in the embedded VoiceThread that says "Sign in or Register" which allows them to authenticate into their own VT account without leaving the CMS.  Doing so makes the embedded VT visible and lifts the message, "You do not have permission to view this VoiceThread," which is what a non-authenticated user sees."  Using the group feature is an easy way to ensure the content remains secure and prevents students from sharing content with non-enrolled students.  Now, I am fully aware that there is a very good argument for requring our students to participate in the open web -- and I do support that argument.  But if we have the interest in supporting student privacy, for institutional reasons or due to the nature of the content being discussed in the class, understanding how to manage it effectively is an important part of teaching with emerging technologies.Learn more about VoiceThread groups here. Below is a brief video that illustrates how and why to create a VoiceThread group:

This month in my GETInsight blog post* explores the value of unlearning in changing education.  Like fish swimming fluidly through water, we become so accustomed to the patterns that inform our educational processes that we are unable to see them.  Without the ability to see them, we are paralyzed and unable to change them. This post examines connections -- difficult to accept at times -- between the assembly line thinking that inspired the United States' educational system in the industrial age and the same schools, classrooms, assignments, and tests our students engage with each day. I hope the post stirs you enough to see and maybe even ask a question, make a comment, send it to a colleague, or reflect on it in solitude. Go to the Learning to Unlearn post on GETIdeas.org.*Each month I write one GETInsight blog post which is sponsored by GETIdeas.org.

I authored an article for the Spring issue of OnCUE magazine, which is available only to members of CUE.  But the great folks at CUE (thanks, Sara Armstrong!) have provided me with a PDF of the article to make it more accessible to my educational network.  I hope you enjoy it.  It's written from the heart and I welcome your comments. :)I hope this article will engage a broad audience, K12 and higher ed, in a conversation about some of the ways emerging technologies -- web 2.0, social media, and mobile learning -- are flattening the learning landscape and empowering more learners to see that they too can learn, despite what their formalized educational experiences may teach them.  Enjoy.Click here to access the document on a separate page (then click the "download" button to save the PDF).