Kamehameha Schools Distance Learning (KSDL) Owau

Florida Virtual Schools (FLVS) had their virtual open house from August 25-26, which was free . The environment of this virtual open house was like Second Life, but what was interesting was the content shared and how it was shared. Here is a recap of the sessions I attended. New Innovations This was an excellent session and very informative. Gaming is a big asset for FLVS for delivering curriculum. At a recent Games Learning Society Conference, a presentation made by individuals all over creating games specifically for education. Whether handheld or mobile devices, game developers are creating interactive instruction for learners rather than one or just 2-dimensional. Brian Collins and Jeramy Gatza, Curriculum Innovation Specialist for FLVS presented two videos that I found very resourceful that we could share with our instructors and participants. Click here to watch video video platform video management video solutions video player Some of the resources offered were thin...

This Webinar started with going over some of the data we've seen in the SpeakUp surveys. How ubiquitous mobile technology will become in the next 5 years. One interesting graph was that more than 80% of grade 9-12 students have an iPod. After the initial introduction, the Mobile Evangilist (love this title) came on to showcase the iPad application. You could tell that the team that developed this is definitely part of the generation. It functions so differently than the Blackboard LMS. If the student was on an iPad, I could see them never accessing Blackboard through a personal computer once they have that experience. The ability to open multiple tools (blog, announcements) and content on the screen, move it around as you wish, just makes it easier for students to engage in the content. It's very exciting to see where things are headed. Blackboard is committed to looking at Blackboard Mobile Central (engaging commuity) and Blackboard Mobile Learn (enrich teaching and learnin...

I attended a webinar today on Blackboard Mobile Learning. It was interesting and exciting to see how it's become more refined. Students today have access to a variety of electronic mobile devices. Bb Mobile learn has developed apps that are compatible with most popular phones. You can view various demos here: http://www.blackboard.com/Mobile/Mobile-Learn/Device-Demos.aspx One of my favorites is the iPad demonstration. It's a neat way of displaying course and delivery with seamless movement from course to course. Bb also mentioned keeping the student user in mind while trying to develop these apps. I downloaded the Bb app for mobile learning and viewed some of the demos. The screen shot is the "landing page". I see using this with the parents in A`o Makua. They say they don't have time, but the content in the course can be something they access while waiting for things such as in line at the supermarket, Dr.'s appt., kid's games, ect... Maybe this wi...

Yesterday, I attended the Instant Learning Impacts Performance: Creating One-Idea/One-Action Learning Events webinar by Ray Jimenez. He stressed the use of short, micro-lessons in learning saying that the longer it is the less they learn. Each lesson should be short, quick, provide instant learning, have application, and provide results. He also noted that in his research he studied how the brain works stating that the mind indexes information by stories and that there is a need to make use of existing knowledge when creating new learning experiences. In creating activities you should always ask questions because they accelerate connections within the brain. While I would say that this webinar was mostly review and just okay, I did receive some resources that may provide useful in development. 3 minute learning activities http://www.my3mg.com/reusables/?pageNumber=2 It is a pay feature but, they’re doing beta testing which will allow for discounted rates & some free subscript...

I was really excited to listen to this Webinar, so much so that I forgot to do my blog while listening (which I usually do). Since Dorothy sent us the link to Tom Kuhlman's blog I've spent a lot of time perusing it as well as other people's sites ( Garr Reynolds - Presentation Zen , TED Presentations ) and borrowing design books. I think the ideas are great and I'm getting inspired but I have to self-edit before I drive myself crazy with too many ideas :). So this morning's Webinar complimented his blog. The main takeaways for me: Think blank canvas - move away from thinking of PowerPoint in terms of bullets and images, you can be totally creative with a blank canvas Create your own images - breakdown images into simple shapes that can be reconstructed in PowerPoint Seek out inspiration - from other people, blogs, gurus. Tom pulls down the TED presentations and watches one every now and then to see what ideas he can pull There are a lot of communities that discuss t...

Aloha, Here's a follow-up to Cassie's latest post. I shared with some of you that Greg Mortenson was the key note speaker at Bb World this year. I thought I'd share a little more about his talk and what it left me thinking about and reflecting on. Like Cassie said, Greg Mortenson is on a mission very similar to Princess Pauahi . His goal (that's not the right word), his passion is to empower people through education and specifically to empower the oppressed people of Afghanistan. First of all, before the keynote, I had read about who the speaker was and what book he wrote so I was fully expecting him to focus on the use of technology, specifically Blackboard, to spread education throughout the world. I was very pleasantly surprised that his talk focused solely on people and education. He started off by saying that the medium, whether it's a chalkboard or Blackboard or a piece stone, doesn't matter because at the very essence of education is the person you are...

I was fortunate to receive this book and spent some time to read it. After reading the first few chapters I had to encouraged myself to push forward to engross myself in the story. However, I am very glad that I did. Greg Mortenson took an idea of passion and went forward. In his book Three Cups of Tea, he shares the adversity and challenges he encountered such as being kidnapped by the Taliban or receiving tons of hate mail from Americans, but Mortenson still went forward. His philanthropic vision to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan over the past decade is inspirational for what one person can do. Also, his humanitarian spirit has resulted in 55 schools, especially for girls, to attend school in forbidden terrain, which was previously occupied by the Taliban. Although the book focuses on his journey of creating these educational facilities, he has impacted the larger educational community to do more for their communities. Mortenson said, "There is a saying on my mirror i...

When we recently did a training for our A'o Makau instructors and thought of them when I was testing out this tool. However, I will say that Engrade.com has been an excellent resource for classroom teachers. You can manage your class in a real-time environment and students, parents, as well as administrators can all look at what is happening. As a teacher you can create your class website, assignment calendar, online messaging that is secure, attendance and grades. Last but not least - IT'S FREE!

The Design, Topography and Graphics free monthly newsletter is chock full of tips and articles on...design, topography and graphics. It's editor says they keep articles forevah, so they will be there when you need them down the line. This month there was a set of posts and links regarding social media, including SN in 2012 and things you need in your organization's policies to use social media. Not deep, but useful. http://www.graphic-design.com/web-design/resources/social-media-tracks If you're interested, here is the host company's link and a link to sign up for the newsletter. I've found lots of interesting articles on all kinds of things. http://www.graphic-design.com/ Newsletter signup: http://dtgnews.com/mailman/listinfo/dtgnews_dtgnews.com