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Monday, June 29, 2009

June 29, 2009

Good Morning Developers,

First of all, welcome back Amy! We are excited to have you back and lending us your development and curriculum expertise once again!

Today marks the 50% development completion date and I will be spending this week going into your courses to see how things are coming along. I will be in contact with you individually regarding your development(s) and will be including Amy on the email as she will be working with you on your course(s) for the second half of this development round.

As you continue to work on your course development(s), if you have a research component as a requirement of the syllabus or simply as part of your course development, please don't forget one of our best resources we have...Elaine Settergren, our Online Librarian! Elaine's expertise can help you to clearly articulate research assignments and effectively guide students through the research process. To help illustrate what specifically Elaine can assist you with, here is a research assignment example:

Assignment Example:

To complete this assignment, you'll need to use the library.
  1. Go into the Globe Education Network library through the library section of this course (click the red library link to the left, then click online library).
  2. Once on the library's website, hover your mouse over the resources tab, then click the Databases A-H link.
  3. Open ABI/Inform Complete (Proquest) database.
  4. Find an article related to Media Planning; select "full text" and "scholarly journals" tabs, then click search.
In the first 1-2 paragraphs, provide a summary of the article. In the next 1-2 paragraphs, explain how the information in this article relates to media planning. Support your answer with evidence. Incorporate concepts from our text. Do not look for an article on the Internet; using the Library is a requirement of the assignment. Articles from the Internet, especially Wikipedia.com, will not be accepted.

You must include a proper APA formatted reference with your assignment.

You will notice that this assignment is very detailed and effective in guiding students effectively through the research process. When working on developing research assignments, please be in contact with Elaine at: esettergren@globeuniversity.edu

Once again, I've really enjoyed working with you over the past few weeks! Thanks for all of your hard work.

Heather

Monday, June 22, 2009

June 22, 2009

Good Morning Developers,

I hope everyone had a nice weekend and an enjoyable Father's Day! We are quickly approaching the half-way course completion point for this round of developments with next Monday, June 29, marking the 50% completion deadline. At that point we will be going into your course(s) to see how things are coming along. If you are unable to meet this deadline, please let me know as soon as possible.

As you continue working on your course development(s), please be thinking of ways to enhance the learning experience for your students through the use of technology, interaction, and other course enhancements. On the right side of this blog you will find a listing and links to various learning enhancement resources, please take a moment to explore at least one of these resources and implement into your course(s).

Another resource that could be very beneficial to your students is the implementation of Skillsoft. You may have participated in a Skillsoft course as an employee so may be familiar with the resource already, but if Skillsoft is new to you, here is a brief explanation from the Skillsoft User's Guide of what it is and what it has to offer:

"SkillPort� is a web-based e-Learning portal where you can access a range of training resources at work, at home, and on the road ... whenever and wherever you have the need and time.
SkillPort allows you to:"
assign or implement various learning opportunities related to your coursework such as:
  • Specific topic training courses;
  • Skillbriefs, Job Aids, and Express Guides to further explore individual terms, concepts, or topics;
  • Simulations for interactive participation with a topic or concept;
  • TestPrep Exams;
  • Books 24x7 to offer free access to additional course readings that relate to the course content;
  • And other great resources.
To explore all Skillsoft has to offer, contact the GEN helpdesk at helpdesk@msbcollege.edu to verify your username and log-in and then click here to access the log-in page: Skillport Log-in. Once in Skillport, click on the Guided Tour tab on the left hand of the screen to learn more and to begin searching for resource and training opportunities to add to your course development(s). If you'd like some specific suggestions on ways to implement this resource into your course(s), please let me know and I'd be happy to work with you individually on this.

Amy Ode, the Online Curriculum Manager, will be returning from family medical leave next Monday, June 29. At that time you will begin working with her on your development project(s) once again, but please don't hesitate to contact me for any assistance also as we are both here to help in any way we can.

Have a great week and thank you for all of your hard work on these courses!

Heather

Monday, June 15, 2009

June 15, 2009

Good Afternoon Developers,

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! If you live in Minnesota, it is finally starting to feel like summer here. If you live in other states, I hope you are enjoying some summer weather too.

As you continue working on your course development(s), please be thinking of ways to incorporate writing into your course(s). Globe Education Network's Writing Across the Curriculum initiative serves to prepare our students to be effective communicators in their professions. Recognizing this at the development stage of a course helps to reinforce this in all programs.

When it comes to creating a writing assignment, in today's media world the options are endless. While the informality of online or social writing and its place in academia is highly debated,
The Chronicle of Higher Education
highlights an excellent study out of Stanford in terms of what students can gain from both formal and informal writing assignments. I encourage you to click here and read this article: Studies Explore Whether the Internet Makes Students Better Writers. The "Curricular Implications" segment in particular offers some great ideas on how informal writing as part of a course can strongly prepare students for the real life professional environment.

After reading the article, I encourage you to think of a writing assignment that you could implement into your course development(s) even if the course(s) is not a traditional writing course.

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thanks,
Heather

Monday, June 8, 2009

June 8, 2009

Good Morning Developers,

I hope everyone had a nice, relaxing weekend! Today marks the 25% completion date for this development round. Over the next couple of days I will be going into your course(s) and taking a look around to see how things are coming along and I will be in contact with you individually.

As you continue your development(s), Debut Video Recorder is another great resource you may want to consider incorporating into your course(s). Debut Video Recorder is free, easy to use video recording software that captures video from a webcam, a capture device, or a screen shot.

According to their web site, the following are typical applications that would be applicable to online courses:

  • Produce videos with captions and effects from your webcam or other video input device.
  • Create "how to" demonstration and training videos by recording screen movements (including audio) to video.
  • Capture streaming video presentations.
I encourage you to check this resource out and give it a try! Let me know what you think!

As always, if you have any questions as you are working on your development(s), please let me know. I'm here to help in any way I can! And I will be in contact individually regarding your development(s) up to this point.

Thanks and have a great week!
Heather