As course developers, it is important that we generate varied activities and assessments in our lessons to ensure we reach as many students as possible.
Simply copy/pasting and posting of text-only materials does not work in and by itself. Some students learn by reading, some by seeing annotated examples, some by watching a video or powerpoint, some by printing a hardcopy and marking it up, some by listening to an audio read-back.
It is imperative that each lesson we create maximizes the options for student success, and selecting the appropriate tools is a good way to start. So, please take a few moments to become familiar with the following collection of tools we have available to help assist in creating great online lessons.
Demo 1: Vocabulary "Pop-Up" definitions (click hyperlink)
- You may have noticed the propensity, the proclivity to procrastinate doing homework on the part of some high school students. Now that may not be you, but your old habit may very well be to try to put off your assignments until the last minute ....
Demo 2: Vocabulary "Pop-Up Definitions (mouse-over, no click)
- Hello Radio folk. Welcome back to our continuing long night of acrimonious argument, pusillanimous parrying, and terse tormenting of other listeners on Late Night Talk radio.
Demo 3: Use of color for clarification/understanding
- Write a sentence describing your favorite food. Highlight this sentence in purple.
- Write another sentence describing your least favorite food, and highlight it in green.
- Caution: most color blind folks cannot see Red.
Demo 4: Linking to a Adobe PDF file
- There are many advantages to provide an equivalent Adobe PDF link of your webpages. They include providing the learner the option to: 1) enlarge the font size; 2) print a hardcopy; or 3) use Acrobat 6 (in the Tools tab) to have the text read aloud. Notice, in the above Acrobat PDF example, that some of the features are not supported (like the mouseover Java scripts for the definitions).
- Adobe Reader is a free download.
Demo 5: Using RTF format for exchanging word-processed documents (cross-platform).
- RTF (Rich Text Format) is an industry standard file-saving format for word processed documents. When students and staff need to exchange a word processed document, be sure to 'file', 'save as' and select type: RTF.
- The instructions to Save As an RTF are very short and simple.
- The following example should open up in your word processor (regardless of PC or Mac, or type of word processor (Works, old MS Word, Word Perfect, etc.). There is also an embedded MP3 audio file in the document, and your computer should be able to play it.
Demo 6: Recording and playing MP3 audio files to provide audio instruction and clarification.
- The MP3 format is rapidly becoming the industry standard for recording audio due to their very small filesize. The first demo will pop up in it's own window that can be moved and resized so you can listen and read the words simultaneously. The second MP3 demo will open using your local systems audio player (in the the first one does not work). It is recommended to place both links on your web pages to meet accessibility standards.
Audio (Microsoft MediaPlayer)
Audio (local player)
Demo 7: Creating steaming video (live demonstration of a process)
- We have a Tegrity recording system that provides us the opportunity to record a live demonstration. In this live streaming video one of our science Mr Shaffer will be demonstrating a very unique little device, and your task is to figure out what makes it work.
- Another creative video is a 2 or 3 minute live introduction of yourself at the beginning of a course.
Demo 8: Creating Annotated Screen shots
- A picture is worth a thousand words. So why not create annotated images to help those students who learn by seeing?
Demo 9: Using Powerpoint (but convert it to a web page).
- Powerpoint is a simple, powerful tool for creating slides to demonstrate a process, or to introduce the key concepts in a lecture; or to provide an outline to speak or write from.
- But, many clients may not have Powerpoint on their computer, so be sure to save the file as a 'web page', which most (but not all) browsers can view. It's simple, and here is a demo of how to copy and paste text from the internet into a word processor.
Demo 10: Great orientation lesson for any course (build community)
- This activitiy, called About Me, has been used by many instructors in many curriculum areas as an initial activity. It can be easily modified to include the required technologies in a given course. It is also a nice demonstration of many of the above techniques (demos).
Demo 11: Plagarism. What more can we say?
- To put it bluntly, plagiarism is theft and fraud. You may want to provide this document on plagiarism to your students very early in the course to prevent any complications later ...
- If you want more information on how to have student work automatically checked for plagiarism, go to http://turnitin.com
Demo 12: Sample FLASH tutorial on "How students do lessons and submit in Educator"
- How do students learn how your lessons are designed, what they are expected to do, how to turn in their projects or assessments? Why not build a little Flash tutorial to demonstrate the process?