iTunes Store Opens a Special Portal for University Content

from: The Chronicle: Wired Campus Blog: iTunes Opens a Special Section for Free Collegiate Content

"Today the iTunes store unveiled its new iTunes U portal, a spot on the site that will collect college lectures, commencement speeches, tours, sports highlights, and promotional material, all available at no cost. ... The new portal should make it much easier for shoppers to happen upon collegiate content. The store’s home page now features a link to the special iTunes U section, and recordings offered through iTunes U now show up in search results."

Using Social Software in Online and Hybrid Classes

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This is the Audio and Powerpoint of the presentation that I gave today about my experience using social software (blogs, wikis, podcasts, and website creation) in an online class this last semester.

The audio is located on my Geography for Travelers podcast. The Powerpoint slides are hosted for viewing and downloading at: http://www.slideshare.net/alew/

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Note that this version of the Powerpoint presentation is slightly different from the audio file. There are a couple of slides at the start and at the end that were not in the presentation when the audio was recorded, and there is one slide at the end that I mention (very briefly) that is not in the slidecast. --- Long story....

Web 2.0 Ideas for Educators - eBook

TeachingHacks.com provides a free and very interesting eBook titled:

"Web 2.0 Ideas for Educators: A Guide to RSS and More"
by Quentin d'souza

Download the PDF book here

and go to the blog page that supports the book here

The guide is designed for K-12 educators, but with the current state of Web 2.0 in Higher Education (very limited in my view), I do not think there is really that much difference.

Here are two chapter from the Table of Contents:


IDEAS TO GET YOU STARTED

• SOCIAL BOOKMARKING AND RSS
• WHAT IS SOCIAL BOOKMARKING?
• HOW IT WORKS?
• BLOGGING AND RSS
• WHAT IS A BLOG?
• COMMENTS IN BLOGS
• WIKIS AND RSS
• WHAT IS A WIKI?
• SHARING RSS FEEDS
• PHOTO SHARING AND RSS
• WHAT IS PHOTO SHARING?
• HOW IT WORKS

MORE IDEAS

• SHARING LEARNING OBJECT’S
• K-12 Learning Objects Shared Through RSS
• CLASS AND SCHOOL INFORMATION
• TRACK DISCUSSIONS

EDUCATIONAL PODCAST DIRECTORIES

EDUCATIONAL PODCAST DIRECTORIES

Here is a list of directories to educational podcasts. Educational podcasts range from university classes, to elementary school news, and from pay-per-download ebooks to free DIY (do it yourself) tutorials. All of these are worth checking out.

Learn On The Go - Nice, clean interface; Nice organized list of university podcasts; Designed for general public interest

Learn Out Loud - Includes a lot of pay-per-download audio books mixed in with the free stuff -- made it somewhat confusing to me; Designed for general public interest

Podcast Directory for Educators, Schools and Colleges - More educator and school-oriented (all levels) than the those above, though also includes professional training and learning about podcasting.

The Education Podcast Network - Podcasts are listed by academic discipline so they can be used in classrooms and for home schooling. This one is the most school-oriented of these four directories.

Open Culture: University Podcast Collection - A listing of links to university websites where podcasts can be found, with xome comments on what is available. (I reviewed this site in more detail previously.)

Theory and Practice of Online Learning

Theory and Practice of Online Learning - Free eBook from Athabasca University.

Here is the TOC (table of contents), because practice really works best when supported by theory:

Part 1 • Role and Function of Theory in Online Education Development and Delivery

1 Foundations of Educational Theory for Online Learning - Mohamed Ally
2 Toward a Theory of Online Learning - Terry Anderson
3 Value Chain Analysis: A Strategic Approach to Online Learning - Fathi Elloumi

Part 2 • Infrastructure and Support for Content Development

4 Developing an Infrastructure for Online Learning - Alan Davis
5 Technologies of Online Learning (e-Learning) - Rory McGreal & Michael Elliott
6 Media Characteristics and Online Learning Technology - Patrick J. Fahy

Part 3 • Design and Development of Online Courses

7 The Development of Online Courses - Dean Caplan
8 Developing Team Skills and Accomplishing Team Projects Online - Deborah C. Hurst & Janice Thomas
9 Copyright Issues in Online Courses: A Moment in Time - Lori-Ann Claerhout
10 Value Added—The Editor in Design and Development of Online Courses - Jan Thiessen & Vince Ambrock

Part 4 • Delivery, Quality Control, and Student Support of Online Courses

11 Teaching in an Online Learning Context - Terry Anderson
12 Call Centers in Distance Education - Andrew Woudstra, Colleen Huber, & Kerri Michalczuk
13 Supporting Asynchronous Discussions among Online Learners - Joram Ngwenya, David Annand & Eric Wang
14 Library Support for Online Learners: e-Resources, e-Services, and the Human Factors - Kay Johnson, Houda Trabelsi, & Tony Tin
15 Supporting the Online Learner - Judith A. Hughes
16 The Quality Dilemma in Online Education - Nancy K. Parker

This book is released under the Creative Commons copyright (attribution, noncommercial, no derivatives).

FlatPlanet Wiki - International Collaborative Wiki Example

The FlatPlanet Wiki (on Wikispaces.com) is a collaboration between a secondary class in Canada and one in the UK. The students worked together to create a series or projects that deal with Environmental Issues.

The site includes a useful set of ground rule that would be helpful to anyone wanting to setup a similar wiki project.

Nice job, kids!

BTW - I used Wikispaces, myself, this past semester as part of a class on Sustainable Tourism. I think Wikispaces is the best out there for class use -- especially from a teacher's perspective.

Earth Observatory Reference: Global Warming

Earth Observatory Reference: Global Warming

Not really Web 2.0, but this is a Great New Resource from NASA on how scientists develop global climate models and predict the impacts of global warming.

(See if you can find the photo I took that they found on my Flickr account.)