Fuel Up For Summer with a Free VoiceThread Innovator Webinar!Tuesday, June 5th at 12pm PDT/ 3pm EDTRegister: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/566437106  We know that VoiceThread is hugely popular in K-12 classrooms. How does this relevance translate to teacher preparation? This webinar will look at alternate models for using VoiceThread in higher ed pre-service teacher preparation for collaboration, formative assessment, reflection, and building digital products. This webinar will showcase the teaching innovations of Kathleen Gradel, Professor at SUNY Fredonia (Fredonia, NY).  Kathleen will share concrete examples from her own pre-service teacher training courses that demonstrate how VoiceThread allows her to effectively model the role of a 21st century  teacher-facilitator while simultaneously fostering a student-centered learning environment. 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

Wow!  That's all I could think after last week's exhilarating webinar, Reframing Visual Arts Instruction with VoiceThread.  This was the second "Innovator" webinar I have hosted for VoiceThread (I present one sponsored webinar each month for VT).  I spent the months of October through February showcasing many of my own VoiceThread teaching practices in the webinar series and each month we received the same question, "I'd like to see more examples of how professors in [insert any discipline here] are using VoiceThread."  So, I ventured out in search of some innovators who were doing cool things with VoiceThread and who would be willing to share their practices with the educational community to inspire their peers and contribute to innovation in higher education.This month, I was joined by two fabulous educators, Heidi Upton and Tammy Lockett.  Check out the full archive of the webinar when you have 50-minutes of uninterrupted time to dedicate and are ready to be wowed! Watch it with a colleague or two for an added zing factor!  Oh, and don't miss the Goody Bag which is filled with loads of fabulous resources.Here's what is so fabulous about pairing Heidi and Tammy's use of VoiceThread in this webinar.  Each of them uses VoiceThread in an extremely different way yet each uses it to invent new pathways to teach students and create unique spaces for students to reflect and learn together.Heidi UptonSt. John's UniversityHeidi Upton is an Assistant Professor at St. John's University in Jamaica, New York where she teaches Discover New York, a core-curriculum freshman transition course.  Heidi is also affiliated with the Fine Arts department where she teaches other core curriculum courses including The Creative Process and Intro to Music.  Her talents in the area of performance shine through in the methodology she uses to teach Discover New York.  The class engages students in a process of inquiry to explore, understand, analyze, and interpret their city -- through walking tours that involve the fostering of critical visual analysis observations.  Heidi uses VoiceThread as a multisensory, online fabric in which students upload/share the photographs they've taken on their walks and, through voice comments, reflect and analyze their discoveries.  In the webinar, Heidi reflected with us about the details that emerge when the students are offered the opportunity to reflect in their own voice, which is so different from writing.  She also demonstrated how she thoughtfully scaffolds VoiceThread into her class through a process that involves modeling -- she takes her students on a walk, uploads her own photographs, leaves her own voice comments about her photographs, and invites students to give it a try.  This low-risk entry point demonstrates the instructional value of VoiceThread to students, allows them to naturally see why the technology is valuable to them in the class (no, it's not just busy work), and it also gives them an opportunity to try it and learn how to leave a comment without worrying about leaving the wrong answer -- bravo, Heidi!  Those are outstanding tips for any educator using emerging technologies to teach.Here is an example of an art walk created by three of Heidi's Discover New York students with VoiceThread.  Tammy LockettArt Institute of Pittsburgh's Online Division Tammy Lockett is one of the Lead Faculty members for the Foundations Department at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh's Online Division.  A self-proclaimed, former skeptic about the teaching studio art online, Tammy taught me a thing or two!  In the webinar, Tammy demonstrated for us how she uses VoiceThread to deliver a multimedia lecture to her drawing students to support each new module for the course.  She embeds the VoiceThread at the top of the unit each time.  Her students view the lecture and complete a specific oriented activity (for example, complete a still life drawing that demonstrates one's attempt to apply the skill learned in the lecture).  After the drawings are due, students scan them and submit the digital file to Tammy through eCollege, the course management system  used by her institution.  She then proceeds to the MyVoice area of her VoiceThread account and edits the VoiceThread lecture.  Then she uploads the submitted activities into the "lecture VoiceThread," dragging slides representing the student work to the front of the VoiceThread.  Then she records her feedback on each slide.  When students log in, the exact same VoiceThread is embedded in the unit but the first slide is now a student's work, signalling to them that the critique is available for them to access, listen to, and learn from.  Students may listen to the critiques Tammy has shared on any of the students work, just as they would in a group critique in a classroom. View a demonstration of how Tammy uses VoiceThread to records critiques of her students' work.And what you see embedded here is a recording of a brief lecture Tammy created using a Go Pro video camera (the type of action camera used in extreme sports that attaches to your head!) and VoiceThread.  This is fabulous! I received my undergraduate degree in studio art and when I watched this video, I found myself thinking back to my traditional drawing classes.  At first, I didn't know what Tammy's intent was when I saw the video -- honestly, I kept thinking to myself, "Why didn't she use a tripod?  The jerky movements of the camera are making me nauseous."  Then, about half way through, it dawned upon me that this was her instructional genius!  Tammy elected to use the Go Pro camera because it's affixed to her head and it tracks her eyes as they continuously and fluidly move between subject and paper.  This may not seem like a huge deal to someone who has never taken a drawing class -- but, trust me, it's an essential element to master.  And, honestly, I don't think the importance of this skill or the clarity of how it functions in the process of creating a drawing has ever been communicated to me so clearly by a teacher as it has through this video.  But wait!  There's more.  Watch the VoiceThread and notice that this is more than a video.  Tammy uses VoiceThread's unique ability to let a user play the video while recording a voice comment, pause the video while still recording, and annotate on the video while still recording.  This technique enables her to engage the moving image and interact with it -- like a ball of clay -- sculpting it into the perfect instructional message needed to teach her students.  In case you can't tell, I'm pretty impressed with this one!  Explore the full VoiceThread webinar library here!Register for the next webinar here!

Each month, I write a sponsored blog post for Cisco's GETInsight blog, which is part of the GETideas.org network, a global community of educators with a shared interest in change and innovation through technology.This month's post explores the dual topic of the role a professor plays (or should play?) in motivating students and the opportunities social media and web 2.0 tools hold for boosting motivation in the online environment.  Included in the post are my perspectives on this topic and a specific sample of an Animoto video I created and shared in my online class to announce winners of student-nominated blogging awards (also embedded above -- shared with permission from my students). Click here to read the post.  Enjoy!

Thursday, July 19th12pm PDT/ 3pm EDTFREE!Register here: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/49774503How does learning change when students are given the reigns to curate and facilitate an entire learning unit?  Join me, Michelle Pacansky-Brock, on July 19th for a free webinar in which I will share an overview of a teaching experiment from my online History of Photography class.In this 2-week activity, students were delegated with the challenge to create a learning module about the work of mid 20th century photographers.  In week two, the students re-engaged with the module, learning from what each other had contributed and responding to the critical discussion prompts they planted throughout the presentation.   What did students learn from this activity?  How did this personalized approach to curating content present new challenges and new opportunities for relevant and personalized learning?  Were there unexpected challenges that presented new opportunities?  And what were my reflections, as the instructor, on the side line watching all of this play out? Will I do it again? Join me for an hour of candid sharing and discussing!I will also be available for open-ended discussion about teaching with VoiceThread during my July office hour on July 24 at 12pm PDT/ 3pm EDT.  Everyone is welcome and participation is free. Please register in advance here. Want to learn more about how to teach effectively with VoiceThread?  I recommend the VoiceThread webinar library for a rich collection of free professional development resources!  View them alone or coordinate a small group viewing with your peers for enhanced learning and inquiry.Are you a college instructor using VoiceThread to move learning beyond the traditional lecture?  Please share with me here: http://goo.gl/Z0l1o

When you integrate YouTube videos (that aren't yours) into your online course content, you may sometimes want to show your students just a particular part of the video, rather than the whole thing.  If you were teaching in a classroom, you could easily skip to the essential point and play from there but teaching online makes that tricky.  Today I learned that YouTube has created a very simple method for customizing the start time of a video you share with others.This 2-minute video illustrates how it works.  Unfortunately, it only works when sharing a link and not with embedding.

 Becoming a more effective online instructor can be a daunting objective, especially for faculty who feel dazed and confused about today's technological landscape.  How does one take the first step and where does one begin?  I have one strategy to share that I think is manageable and certainly would work for any instructor teaching any discipline.Two Key Characteristics for Effective Online TeachingA critical characteristic of an effective online instructor is communicating clear expectations.  Another key objective is fostering a strong social presence in the online environment, which increases the important student-instructor relationship in the distance learning environment.  Audio and video technologies are the golden ticket for delivering rich social presence but they can also involve steep learning curves to learn new technologies.  The practical tip shared here will assist you with both of these objectives.The Transition to OnlineEffective communication can start to erode in the online environment because when faculty teach online is they are not typically empowered with a toolkit that allows them to transfer their full spectrum of face-to-face communications to the online environment.  For example, when you are in a class in front of students on the first day of class you likely spend time reviewing the major points of your course syllabus with them -- chances are you don't say, "Download the syllabus from the course site tonight.  OK, let's get started with our first lecture."  You know how critical that syllabus is.  You know your students' success largely hinges upon the criteria and requirements you have outlined in that syllabus, right?  So you take the time, not to read it to them, but to summarize important points on each page.  In fact, you probably do this with every major document you share with your students in class -- the assignment document that explains the criteria for the course research project, the exam details, the group project, etc.When you teach the same class online, chances are you probably summarize these main overview points in text in your course management system near the link students click to download the document.  What your students are missing in this approach is YOU -- your vocal intonations that stress the importance of key points and a sense of who you are, your interest in your topic, your passion for teaching, or whatever unique quality is that you bring to your class.  VoiceThread: Simple, Personalized Voice or Video Overviews of Your DocumentsSo, I am proposing a simple application of a web-based tool called VoiceThread that empowers you, as an online instructor, to simply upload your existing documents (.doc or .PDF ... but VoiceThread also supports image files like .png and .jpg, .ppt files, and video files too!) and record voice or webcam comments on each slide (simply by clicking "comment").  VoiceThread even provides the option to narrate or "Doodle" on any slide with your mouse, allowing you to circle and point out important areas of a page to your students.  The VoiceThread can be embedded directly in your course management system after it has been created so it will appear to your students alongside the link to download the document.  Click here to view a video demonstrating how to embed a VoiceThread in Blackboard.The sample VoiceThread embedded at the top of this post shows one that I made by uploading a PDF of my course syllabus into my VoiceThread account (log in and click on the Create tab at the top of the page to get started).  For added help, you are invited to download my guide, "How to Create a VoiceThread," which walks you through the creation process and explains how to select from VoiceThread's privacy options: secure, semi-private, and public.  If you listen to my comments at the start, you'll see that I use this in my online class not only to introduce my syllabus to my students but also to introduce VoiceThread to my students. I use VoiceThread nearly every week for a variety of activities and this first exposure to VoiceThread is merely an opportunity for students to be introduced to the interface in a non-threatening way.  They do not need to leave a comment; however, VoiceThread opens the door for students to comment (if I choose to enable the "comment" feature).  And this is another benefit of this strategy.  Not only are your students able to listen to your personalized overview of your syllabus but they can also leave a comment (in voice, video or text) on any slide.  This is the equivalent of an asynchronous or time-shifted raising of a hand in a classroom.By the way, if you are new to VoiceThread, you can create an account for free and that free account will allow you to create up to three VoiceThreads which is enough to learn how to use the tool and assess its effectiveness for your class.  This application of VoiceThread is just a taste of its full potential; however. VoiceThread full range of possibilities are not explored until you begin crafting participatory learning experiences with your students and consider having your students create their own VoiceThreads to demonstrate key course proficiencies. Meeting Diverse Student NeedsFinally, students would have the option to access any VoiceThread you create through any web browser or they could access/comment on it with the free VoiceThread mobile app (currently supports iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch...Android coming soon). Students who are blind and rely upon full screen readers would access the VoiceThread through VoiceThread Universal (an html version of VoiceThread).  The one important accommodation I have built into the development of this VoiceThread is the transcriptioning of my voice comments so they are accessible to students who are hearing impaired.  I have done this by using VoiceThread's text comment feature.  I have also set up an alternative VoiceThread identity which I toggle to before posting the transcript of my audio comment.  This creates a visual marker to students who may need or prefer the text option.  Keep Learning...If you'd like to learn more about teaching with VoiceThread, join me for my free monthly VoiceThread webinar series.  Click here to read about the next webinar and view archives of past events.

"If organizations can sense and respond to emerging opportunities, there is a good chance they will endure. If they can sense and respond to each new opportunity with greater ingenuity and speed—that is, if they can get better at getting better—there is a good chance they will bloom." (Conner and Clawson, 2002)Today, I read once again of the horrific budget cuts looming for California's community colleges which is the largest system of higher education in the nation serving roughly 2.6 million students (down from 2.9 million a few years ago, as a result of the budget losses).  The situation is dire and I, for one, am saddened and dismayed to see the great Golden State lose sight of its commitment to providing free and low cost college education to its citizens.  This commitment is what laid the foundation for the state's Master Plan for Higher Education and is what provided access to education for the Baby Boomer generation (including my father who emerged from poverty to a PhD thanks to Porterville Community College) which, in turn, provided for a highly skilled workforce in California to cultivate the world famous Silicon Valley.As a California community college educator since 1999 and a parent, I find myself wondering what the future of California will look like.  And I find myself searching for the vision that will carry the legacy of the CCC system forward.  I believe it's critical that we must turn our eyes from the budget mess and realize that without a vision, there are a world of opportunities that are passing us by.Fellow California Community College educators, we are amidst the greatest information revolution ever.  47% of US adults have a smartphone in their pocket right now that connects them to a world of content, the opportunity to foster relationships with like-minded individuals anywhere in the world, and even shape our own digital profile into becoming a subject mater expert, author, and creator of rich media content.  Learning is wide open.  For decades it has been our mission to deliver open access learning -- well, that mission is changing and buried within this change are opportunities for us to redefine our future.  But we will continue to miss these opportunities if we do not look for them.Students come to community college for all kinds of reasons but, arguably, the number one reason is because they're affordable.  This is a result of our committment to providing open educational access to all.  Well, today learning is free at the Khan Academy and even at Stanford and MIT.  This isn't news.  What is news is the fact that these open learning approaches are now beginning to dabble with new forms of certification in the form of digital badges.  This is a future pathway that will replace community colleges for some students, but not for others.I know, the ivory tower will scoff at the concept for years to come but, yes, digital badges will change the future course of community colleges.  I believe buried in the depths of digital badges and open education lie the early whispers of a paradigm change.  You see, there are skills that one may demonstrate her proficiency of very effectively in an online environment with a digital badge coupled with an ePortfolio and recommendations from clients (on LinkedIn or a simple blog created with WordPress or Blogger, for example) -- and this type of digital credentialing process will shift the sands of college enrollment.  We won't get there tomorrow but we will get there. Remember, smartphones were non-existent five years ago.  Five years ago! Today, half of all US adults own one. Change happens quickly today.Moreover, there are "different flavors of learning for different types of learners" (taken from a tweet sent by @Bio_prof).  Many learners who come to community colleges for a low cost education would do just fine in an open course provided by many of the open courseware providers.  And once those courses are paired with a credentialing process that is socially valued those students will make a different choice in where they will go for their learning experiences -- and that is terrific.  Because what's important is that people -- all people -- have access to education. But what's also critical to understand is that many learners will not succeed in a Stanford or MIT-type open courseware class.  The students who will continue to come to community colleges well into the future are the students who are the first in their families to go to college, the students who speak english as a second or third language, the students who have struggled since birth with cognitive learning differences (many of whom are not diagnosed).  These students will rely heavily upon community colleges because it's within the community colleges that great, committed teachers work.  It is in community colleges where students are empowered to see that they too are capable of learning.  It's in community colleges where stunning teaching innovations are occuring not because faculty have institutional support and funding for new technologies but because there are professors who see the value, the critical role of using emerging technologies in a student's learning experience to make an online class more human, more connected, more collaborative, more inspirational.  Innovations in teaching and learning -- in the classroom and online and in between -- is the future of community colleges.  And I hope our system leaders can see that the future of California Community Colleges hinges not just upon funding but also upon re-imagining what the mission of the community college is in the context of a global, digital, open learning society.  For if we can create a vision, we will create opportunities and we will bloom, rather than wilt.

Each month, I hold one VoiceThread-sponsored webinar and one online office hour in support of effective teaching and learning with VoiceThread throughout the higher education community.  This blog post shares details of my next webinar, as well as an exciting change I'm making to my online office hours.  Starting this month, I'll be using Google+ Hangouts!Higher Ed WebinarWatch Learning Bloom: Understanding, Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating with VoiceThreadRegister here (free!):  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/662817034This webinar will feature the teaching innovations of Vicki Phillips, General Education Coordinator and English faculty at Rasmussen College.  Vicki will share her own holistic VoiceThread teaching integration plan that scaffolds the use of VoiceThread to support all levels of Bloom's taxonomy of the cognitive learning domain.   Specifically, Vicki will demonstrate how she uses VoiceThread in her literature and developmental English classes to:Transform students from information consumers into content creators. Vicki’s students create a research-based VoiceThread with a written script in lieu of writing a paper. Develop concise, just-in-time grammar modules to support her own developmental English learners. Links to these resources are shared to support all students across the region. Foster online discussions that lead to strengthened relationships between students in F2F classes and provide opportunities for enhanced reflection.Hangout with Me in Google+ and Learn to Teach with VoiceThreadAugust "Teaching with VoiceThread Hangout" will be held on Tuesday, August 14th at 3pm PDT/ 6pm EDT.This month, in the spirit of innovation and experimentation, I am shifting my online office hour concept to Google+ Hangouts.  If you are unfamiliar with Hangouts, you can learn more about what they are here and it is my hope that you will consider this an opportunity to try something new and learn about about VoiceThread -- two great objectives!  Essentially, each month I will schedule a one-hour "Teaching with VoiceThread" Hangout.  The day/time of the Hangout will be announced here on my blog, on Google+, and on Twitter (follow me @brocansky) and on the VoiceThread webinars page.  To receive an invitation to this Hangout when it begins, all you need to do is go to my Google+ profile page and add me to your Circles. You can do this right now by clicking this link and then clicking on the "Add to Circles" button at the top of the page.  This process does require you to have a Google account (which you already have if you have a gmail and/or YouTube account). When I initiate the Hangout at the scheduled time, you will receive an invitation in your Google+ feed.  Just click on the "Join Hangout" link and you should get in just fine. If you are using a browser other than Chrome, you will likely need to install a plug-in your first time.  Users without a webcam are able to participate with text chat while still being able to view the video presentations/demos on their screen.I will be using the "Hangouts on Air" feature which means the Hangout itself will be limited to ten actively participating contributors (first come first serve so get there early!).  After the first ten seats are filled, you will take an "audience" seat which means you will be able to view the live stream. If this all seems complicated, give it a try.  I promise, it's really not so bad.  And, trust me, I'm learning too! You just might like it and see lots of dazzling opportunities for teaching and learning!Have a question?  Leave a comment here and I'd be happy to answer it.

Join in on the Learning 2.0 Conference, August 20-24, 2012 -- a free, international, virtual conference that is being organized with leadership from Steve Hargadon and many other fabulous educators associated with Classroom 2.0. I am honored and excited to be included in the awesome line-up of keynote speakers: Julie Evans, Heidi Hayes Jacobs, Sugata Mitra, Marc Prensky, Audrey Watters, Yong Zhao.This event is entirely free and open.  All sessions will be presented in Blackboard Collaborate and will engage an international audience of educators who are passionate about exploring the ever shifting nature of education into a new, learning 2.0 culture. The call for proposals is now open!  Share your great ideas!Learn more about the Learning 2.0 Conference here.

Why is it that the cognitive domain of learning plays such a visible, central role in mainstream conversations about learning theory and practice in higher education while the affective domain frequently takes a back seat?  Sprinkled throughout the web, we find visuals of Bloom's taxonomy of the cognitive domain (nowadays usually the revised version) in a myriad of formats.  Here are the results of a Google Image Search using the terms "Blooms taxonomy." Take a peek.  How many results illustrate the affective domain?The cognitive domain is, of course, critical to learning and I do not intend to belittle its importance in any way here.  But I think it's important to unveil the lack of critical discourse that has developed around the affective domain as our learning landscape has gradually moved into the online environment in recent years.  The affective domain contributes to the development of a student's motivation, confidence, how relevant they perceive the content to be, and how meaningful their learning experience is to them (Polhemus, Shih, Richardson and Swan, 2000).  The affective domain shapes learning into a meaningful, relevant, life changing experience.  All of these factors are critical contributors to powerful, inspirational online classes (Zvacek, 1991).The affective domain, according to Donald Clark, "includes the manner in which we deal with things emotionally, such as feelings, values, appreciation, enthusiasms, motivations, and attitudes." As an online teacher, these are critical skills that contribute to my students' effectiveness to participate as a member of our learning community.  Fostering these skills is a gradual process that begins in week one and progresses throughout each week and is practiced and improved upon in each of our activities.  For this reason, the activities (or most of them), need to be designed with tools that foster a participatory environment and empower students to develop a shared sense of purpose in the community.As online educators, we must be consciously aware of how we are fostering our students emotional and social learning in online environments and explore how hybrid environments can expand and heighten these skills in a class.  Doing so will ensure that pedagogies that leave out socialization, which were so eloquently refuted by Cathy Davidson here, will not become mainstream delivery methods within higher education in the future.  We must cultivate the emotional intelligence of our students and understand what that means to do so within a 21st century context.At the top of this post is a graphic I created to illustrate how I use VoiceThread, a web-based participatory tool that fosters conversations around media, to foster the affective domain.  I welcome your comments and questions, as I consider this a working draft.  What tools do you use that scaffold the development of the skills in the affective domain in an online class?  And how do you employ them?___________ReferencesPolhemus, L., Shih, L-F., Richardson, J.C. and Swan, K. (2000). Building an affective learningcommunity: Social presence and learning engagement. Paper presented at the World Conference onthe WWW and the Internet (WebNet); San Antonio, TX. Zvacek, S. M. Effective affective design for distance education. Tech Trends. 1991; 36: 40-43. 

Hangout with Michelle and the VoiceThread TeamTuesday, August 14th 3pm PDT/ 6pm EDTTopic:  Strategies for Increasing Student Voice and Video CommentsParticipation options explained below!Each month, I hold two events for the higher ed VoiceThread community: a webinar showcasing different ways that college professors are using VoiceThread, and an online office hour that is an opportunity to engage in a less formal conversation about teaching with VoiceThread.  Office hours are your chance to ask logistical "how to" questions which I respond to visually using the screenshare feature and engage with other educators about topics related to teaching with VoiceThread. Beginning tomorrow, I am making a change and using Google+ Hangouts on Air as the platform for my monthly VoiceThread office hour.  I'm excited about this change and hope you will be too!  Please join in.  You will have two options for participating.Options for Participating in the Google+ Hangout On AirOption 1: Participate -- Up to 10 people (including me and the VoiceThread team member) will be able to join in on the live, online discussion.  The live participants will have the opportunity to participate in video chat (you can choose to disable your video camera and participate through voice only) to ask questions and share ideas.  First come first serve!To join as a participant, you must add Michelle to your Circles in Google+.Then at the scheduled time of the Hangout, you will see a notification in your Google+ feed that the Hangout has begun. Click "Join Hangout."Option 2: View Only -- While the Hangout is in progress, a live stream of it will be embedded in the "Hangout" page of my blog.   An unlimited number of viewers may watch the live Hangout by visiting that page.

I just wrapped up my first Hangout On Air which was the new environment I'm using for my monthly online VoiceThread office hour.  The archive of the Hangout is embedded below if you'd like to view it and learn!  It was fun!The Event in ReviewI was joined by 4-9 colleagues (the number varied throughout the hour) which was a great number for the group.  The flow of the video could certainly have been smoother and I hit some very rocky experiences with the screenshare function which was too bad but the conversation was great.  I am reflecting now on how great it felt to be joined by so many educators who have successfully completed my Building Online Community with Social Media class (offered through @One).  In that class, college professors are introduced to the key tenets of online community and learn how elements like social presence, collaboration, and personalized learning contribute to breaking down a learner's isolation in online classes.  In the class, students learn to effectively scaffold and support a student's affective learning with VoiceThread, and other social media-related tools, by participating in our own learning activities. Then then they create their own VoiceThread activity at the end of the class which fosters their social presence and demonstrates their ability to develop a collaborative learning activity.  It warms my heart to reconnect with so many of you -- sorry, I'm getting mushy here but it really is a nice feeling -- and see so many of you continue to be tirelessly dedicated to exploring new ways to meet the needs of your students, in the face of our crummy budget mess and the lack of support you find around you.  Pedagogically, our conversations flowed from how to have students share student-generated VoiceThreads with an instructor and then with an entire class to comparing VoiceThread to a discussion forum, and reflecting on how to use VoiceThread in conjunction with other assessment tools (like blogs, traditional assessments, papers, etc.) to scaffold learning up through the highest levels of critical thinking.   Next MonthI'll be making a separate blog post in the coming weeks about the day/time of my September Hangout on Air but if you'd like to plan to join us, I urge you to click here and add me to your Circles on Google+.  This is the only way you'll have the option to join and participate in the Hangout (see option one below).I am taking suggestions about what the topic should be for the September Hangout On Air -- please share your idea in the form of a comment on my blog or reach me on Twitter @brocansky. Thanks!Also, I am interested in being crystal clear about the fact that you have ways to access each Hangout on Air.  I know this is new to most of us so feel free to leave a comment here if you have a question and I'll do my best to answer it.  Option 1: Join and participate in the the Hangout on Air from Google+.  If you join this way, the system's default is to display your presence via your webcam.  After you have joined, you will have the option to turn off your webcam and participate via audio only or you may also participate via text chat if that's your preference.  Of course, I encourage video participate when it's possible and meets your needs.  There are seats for up to 10 participants (including me).Option 2: View the live stream on the Hangout page of my blog.  Each time I launch a Hangout on Air, I will embed the video stream here for live viewers to access it. The archive of the video will remain there until the new Hangout on Air occurs. Moving forward, I'll be establishing a method of storing all the links too. Unfortunately, I am unable to provide live or delayed captioning the Hangouts nor the archives.

Next week I will be presenting at the Learning 2.0 Conference, organized by Steve Hargadon and the great leaders at Classroom 2.0 in support of Connected Educator Month.  I hope you'll join me!Learning 2.0 is a free, online, open conference that begins on Monday, 8/20/12 and runs through Friday, 8/24/12.  Learn more about the conference and view the schedule of events here.  All sessions will be presented in Blackboard Collaborate, a web-based e-conferencing system. All sessions will also be archived.Join me for:Can't You Just Lecture to Me?Strategies for Supporting Reluctant Students when Teaching with Emerging TechnologiesTuesday, August 21st1pm PDT/ 4pm EDTKeynote SessionHow Content and Learning ChangesWhen Students Become the Online TeachersFriday, August 24th12:00 PDT/ 3:00 EDTGeneral SessionLearn more about the conference here:  http://www.learning20.com Twitter hashtag is #learning20Looking forward to learning with you!

Since 2007, I have openly shared my experiences, my work, my ideas, questions, and my frustrations here on my blog.  I know there are many who read but don't comment -- and that's quite ok.  I can't put into words how amazing it feels to me to attend a conference and have complete strangers introduce themselves to me, sharing their gratitude for all that they've learned from my blog.This week my son started middle school and it has been a rather difficult transition for him.  So, as any mom would, I'm doing everything I can to try to help him.  He has been given the task to sell magazines.  Typically, our family buys one or two to support the school and we leave it at that but this year, I thought I'd try something different.  I thought I'd weave this into my blog as an opportunity for my readers to "pay it forward" and send a silent note of thanks or a thumbs up to me if you have learned something from my blog over the years.  I regularly turn down advertisement offers and guest blog post offers for my blog in an effort to maintain integrity on my site.  I feel confident I've maintained a consistent experience here for educators to share and learn together and today, I ask you to give back for my son, Jack, who is truly the bravest young person I know. The proceeds go to Springview Middle School. I hope you'll consider purchasing a magazine subscription or two for yourself or as gifts for the upcoming holiday season.  Thank you!

At last, my book, Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies, has published! The paperback and hardcopy versions are now available directly from Routledge and Amazon.A Kindle version will be available on Amazon and an eBook option will also be available via Routledge shortly, although I have no exact date about either.This has been a huge project and I am very grateful for all the instructors who shared their practices, ideas, resources, advice and willingness to review the book.  Thank you so much to you all! I wrote this book so it would be relevant to both 2- and 4-year instructors who are both experienced and completely new to the idea of weaving web-based technologies into their classes.  It is packed with practical advice and ideas, always keeping students and learning as the central focus.  Rather than an explosive list of new technologies to check out, you will find relevant tips and showcases from college classrooms, infused with my own personal journey about how social media and web 2.0 technologies revolutionized my vision of teaching and learning.  The book is accompanied with an online resource site, as well, which is intended to augment your learning as you read and encourage you to expand your horizons and use of new tools in your own professional development.I will continue to share related events and discussions about the book on my blog, Twitter, and Google+! Cheers!

Each month, I host two events for VoiceThread's higher education community: a webinar and an online office hour.  The events are geared towards showcasing effective practices of VoiceThread in college learning and providing assistance to educators who are teaching with VoiceThread (or want to learn how).  Recently, we moved the office hour event to Google+ Hangouts!September 2012 Higher Ed VoiceThread Events: Diversifying Instruction in Large Lecture Classes with VoiceThreadFriday, September 14th, 201212:00 PDT/ 3:00 EDTClick here to register for free!  This webinar will feature the teaching innovations of Ginger Shultz, Lecturer of Chemistryat the University of MichiganMany instructors struggle to understand how to use collaborative technologies to support large, lecture-based classes. In this webinar, you will learn how Ginger Shultz employs VoiceThread in an organic chemistry laboratory course that enrolls 350-850 students. Ginger will discuss how her use of VoiceThread has enabled her to foster greater community in her face-to-face classroom, as well as unveil the unique learner perspectives that often get lost in large classes. These outcomes allow Ginger to understand the flow of her students learning and make shifts in her instruction, as needed. Hangout with Michelle and the VoiceThread TeamTuesday, September 18th, 20123:00 PDT/ 6:00 EDTI use Google+ Hangouts on Air to engage in live online learning sessions with college educators who have questions about how to teach with VoiceThread. Bring your questions and topics for discussion!  Up to 10 participants (including me!) can participate in a live Hangout but an unlimited number may view the streaming video on my blog here. To learn how to participate, click here.

Last week, I was a featured keynote presenter for the inaugural Learning 2.0 Conference.  It was a great experience.  My favorite part was just the excitement and magical sensation of knowing I was sitting here in my home office presenting to a group of educators who were tuning in from around the world.  It was a truly global audience -- so very cool. If you missed my presentation, here is the title, description, and link to the archive which will launch Blackboard Collaborate.  Enjoy!  And check out the recordings of the other keynotes here."Can't You Just Lecture to Me?" Strategies for Transforming Reluctant Learners when Teaching with Emerging Technologies Have you heard that line before? Teaching with emerging technologies requires not only a new technical toolkit but also a new set of skills for transforming reluctant students from passive into participatory learners.  In this presentation, I will share stories and strategies from my own classes, showcased in my new book Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies, to assist college instructors with supporting students who are reluctant to embrace new forms of learning, use social media for learning activities, and play an active role in a learning community.  Links to handy PDF guides will be shared to assist you with building a foundation for student success in your Learning 2.0 classroom. Click here to access the Blackboard Collaborate Recording, when prompted selected "Allow" or "Run" to initiate the session: http://tiny.cc/bfjvjw

Back in 2010, I wrote a post titled "10 Uses of Wordle for Learning" in which I included the idea to use the fun, creative word analysis tool to analyze a transcript of a politician's speech and evaluate what the word patterns reveal about his/her message.  After I wrote that, I thought to myself, "I really need to try that." So, last night after President Obama delivered his nomination acceptance speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, I did a quick search and located the transcripts for his prepared remarks and those for the speech Romney gave the week before at the Republication National Convention.  I plugged the transcripts into Wordle verbatim and the created two separate word clouds, using the same colors and font.  Keep in mind, Wordle automatically eliminates articles from the word cloud.If you'd like to use these word clouds for discussion with your students, you might find this handy Google Doc convenient.  It is shared with a CC-BY (Michelle Pacansky-Brock) license. What do these reveal to you?Obama's 2012 Acceptance SpeechRomney's 2012 Acceptance Speech

You are invited to participate in a special Author Book Chat I have prepared in celebration of the launch of my new book, Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies.  I will be responding to comments throughout the month of September.The book chat has been designed with VoiceThread and is available for you to view/comment in below below and may also be accessed and/or forwarded through this link.  The book chat includes several slides intended to engage college educators in a thoughtful conversation about the question, "Why teach with emerging technologies?"  If you are new to VoiceThread, you'll want to listen to my introductory comments on slide one.  If you are an experienced user, click to Slide 2 to get started.  Please feel free to forward this book chat to your educational networks.Book Chatwith Michelle Pacansky-BrockAuthor of Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies "Why Teach with Emerging Technologies?"On an iPhone or iPad?  Click here.

VT Mobile. Bridge image by Glam.I'm currently teaching my Building Online Social Media class and I'm seeing a big increase in the number of faculty using iPads.  In the class, faculty are introduced to a number of tools, one of them being VoiceThread.  VoiceThread provides users with the option to access content created with the tool via a regular web browser or through a free mobile app (to accommodate the flash "gap" experienced by iPhone and iPad users -- although an Android app is in development too).  For users who are blind or have cognitive disorders that are supported by a more linear flow of content, VoiceThread Universal provides yet another alternative to the content (note: a VoiceThread must first be "Shared" with a user directly before it is available to him/her through VoiceThread Universal but that's the only necessary step).For those of you who read my blog, you are familiar with the fact that I am a passionate advocate for emerging technologies that support non-traditional learners.  I get very excited when I envision a future of inclusive learning environments in which all of our students can learn together in community and feel good about what they bring to the table, rather than feeling poorly for about how they don't measure up to the status quo.  You can read more about my views on this topic in my new book, Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies.  I believe mobile learning and emerging technologies in general are pathways to mainstreaming the adoption of Universal Design for Learning.In my current class, I have a few students who had some hiccups understanding how to locate the Doodle function in the VoiceThread mobile app.  Rather than sharing those instructions just with them, I thought I'd post them here so everyone could learn from them. Why is Doodling on a Mobile Device important to educators?  Using the raw gesture of the human hand to control the actions on a mobile device is proving to open a world of new dazzling cognitive leaps for individuals with particular learning differences.  Beyond that, however, giving students the option to Doodle on slide while they are responding to a discussion prompt or having them demonstrate how to work through the rest of a problem set are ways to engage the psychomotor cognitive domain in an online learning environment that nearly always left dormant.   What is the Doodle feature?The Doodle feature gives users the ability to draw on a slide while leaving a voice or video comment on an iPhone or iPad (if you are using VoiceThread on a full web browser, the Doodle feature also works with text commenting). Step 1: Click the "Plus Sign" to comment.Step 2: Select the microphone or webcam icon to leave a voice or video comment.  The Doodle feature is not included with text commenting on VoiceThread mobile.Step 3: The red flashing light indicates that you are now recording!  Click on the white dot to the right to activate the Doodle feature.Step 4: A vertical palette of colors will expand.  Tap a color in the palette to select it.Step 5: Doodle away with your finger! The marks will begin to fade after a few seconds. Step 5: Click Save.For More Help For more help with VoiceThread mobile, please explore the great resources in the VoiceThread Mobile Support Site.How Are You Using It?Are you using VoiceThread mobile with your students?  If so, drop us a comment here and let us know how!

CSU Channel Islands faculty met today for their first session of the Fall 2012 Blended Learning Preparation Program.  As you can see, they were thrilled to receive their copy of my new book, Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies.  The book will serve as a friendly, accessible guide through the process of integrating web 2.0 and social media tools into their students' face-to-face learning to make it more participatory, collaborative, and relevant.Join me in a special online book chat!

In my featured GETInsight blog post this month,* I share a very special story with you that I have titled "Learning from Life." I often get asked by other educators, how did you get started using social media and web 2.0 tools?  Well, this post illuminates the answer for you.  You may be surprised to know that it was a traumatic life event filled with a deep need to connect with other humans that empassioned me to engage with emerging technologies and, in turn, opened my eyes to the dazzling learning possibilities they held for my own classes.As I share this post with you, I also view it as a celebration of the publication of my new book, Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies; for my book is, in many ways, a documentation of my journey.  Writing my book was an opportunity for me to share many of the valuable lessons I've learned along the way and capture exciting examples of how other faculty are transforming their own teaching approaches through emerging technologies.I hope you enjoy the post.  And, as always, I welcome your comments.  Thank you for reading. :)Link to the GETInsight post, Learning From Life (includes my Author Book Chat at the top):http://getideas.org/getinsight/author-book-chat-and-learning-from-life/*Each month, I write a sponsored blog post for Cisco's GETinsight blog, which is part of the GETideas.org network, a global community of educators with a shared interest in discovering ways to change and innovate education through technology.

I delighted to share that my book is now available in Kindle version! Please share the good news. :)Read Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies on your Kindle today!Are you an iPad user? Get the free Kindle app.

This month, in my featured GETInsight blog post, I reflect on the ways in which video has been transformed as a medium and has transformed many aspects of our lives and I lay these significant shifts on top of the minimal changes in how video is applied in higher education today as a teaching and learning tool.  I invite you to read the post and view the related video, Online Learning in the Social Era: Human, Connected, and Inclusive, and leave a comment here or on the GETInsight blog in response to how you feel about whether or not video is engaged as effectively as it could or should be in online teaching and and learning today.  Be sure to consider video as a tool for both instructor *and* student use.  I would love to hear your thoughts!  Enjoy the post and the video and please share!Click here to go straight to the GETInsight post, "Video: Our Most Misunderstood Teaching and Learning Asset"*Each month, I write a sponsored blog post for Cisco's GETinsight blog, which is part of the GETideas.org network, a global community of educators with a shared interest in discovering ways to change and innovate education through technology.