Online Community Resources

::LEARNING ECOLOGY, COMMUNITIES AND NETWORKS: EXTENDING THE CLASSROOM::

Learner-centered, lifelong learning has been the cry of knowledge society visionaries for the last decade. Yet learning continues to be delivered with teacher-centric tools in a twelve week format. Society is changing. Learners needs are changing.

The course, as a model for learning, is being challenged by communities and networks, which are better able to attend to the varied characteristics of the learning process by using multiple approaches, orchestrated within a learning ecology.


Technorati Tags: education+technology education instructional+design online+learning learning+communities elearning

IM Technologies

ParaChat: "ParaChat to enables real-time communication on your web site for a host of applications, including corporate interaction, moderated events, distance education, visitor retention, customer service, dating and romance, entertainment, and family fun. ParaChat easily embeds into a page on your own web site, and requires no additional software, downloads or plug-ins to use. Customer and technical support is free."

Nice Net: "NiceNet-allows you to add NewsGroup and Chat capabilities to your online class."

A Really Simple Chat (ARSC): "A free and easy to handle web based online chat."



Technorati Tags: education+technology education instructional+design online+learning learning+communities elearning IM instant+messaging

Professional Development: Online Degrees and Certificate Programs

WESTERN GOVERNORS UNIVERSITY: Created through a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the WGU Teachers College provides accredited, online, competency-based degrees and licensure programs for current and aspiring K-12 teachers in the areas of elementary education, secondary math, secondary science, and learning technology.

WIDE WORLD: Online professional development for teachers from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Virtual Learning Environments:: Resources

TAPPED IN: "Tapped In brings educators together both locally and worldwide to cultivate a community that supports each teacher as a professional. Allows teachers to support one another through peer networks supported by the Tapped In community. Utilizing Tapped In educators can:

• Plan and conduct learning projects with colleagues and students.
• Participate in or lead topical discussion and groups.
• Manage and attend online courses offered by TPD providers.
• Mentor other educators.
• Try out new ideas in a safe, supportive environment."

THERE: A 3-D online chat room that allows users to pick an avatar and interact with other users from around the world. These avatars can express "emotions" from anger to love, from boredom to sarcasm all in an online virtual world.

CENTER FOR TECHNOLOGY IN LEARNING: CTL’s mission is to improve learning and teaching through innovation and inquiry in computing and communications. CTL research and development seeks to advance theory and research on effective learning and teaching, and to embody these insights in the innovative design, use, and assessment of interactive learning environments.

Education Technology: Resources and Articles

::ERIC CLEARINGHOUSE OF INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY::

An online resource center sponsored by the US Department of Education. Contains articles, list of professional conferences and database search feature. http://ericit.org/index.shtml

::THE TECHNOLOGY SOURCE::

The purpose of The Technology Source (ISSN 1532-0030), a peer-reviewed bimonthly periodical published by the Michigan Virtual University, is to provide thoughtful, illuminating articles that will assist educators as they face the challenge of integrating information technology tools into teaching and into managing educational organizations. http://ts.mivu.org/

Online Pedagogy, Learning and Teaching

Elements of Effective e-Learning and e-Teaching:

Prepared and hosted by the Project Eagle at St. Petersburg College, this site is focused on e-learning and how to assure success for both the instructors and the students involved. The sources that follow lead to some of the best ideas of the moment.


NYU Center for Online Learning and Pedagogy:

Part of the New York University School of Professional and Continuing Education, this site contains digital resources along with case studies, articles and suggested reading on both blended and online learning.


Online Facilitation, Moderation, and e-Learning:

This site contains information on online facilitation, links to other resources, articles, books to read, advice on e-facilitation, and information on the growing trend to online learning programs.


Content Village:

Sponsored by the European Union, this site contains an e-learning resource centre, portals, articles, and blended learning reports.


Online Course References:

This site, sponsored by Raritan Valley College in North Branch, New Jersey, holds an invaluable cache of resources for the online instructor, student, and instructional course designer. Also contains information on how to foster community in the online classroom.


Teachers College at Columbia University:

This site contains numerous resources compiled by the Teachers College at Columbia University. Of particular interest is the section on "Technology in the Classroom." The site is free, but does require registration.


Teaching for Understanding:

Sponsored by Harvard University School of Education. Teaching and curriculum resources for the online and traditional classroom.

Online Community: Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies

The Resource Center for Cyberculture Studies: "An online, not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to research, teach, support, and create diverse and dynamic elements of cyberculture.

Collaborative in nature, the RCCS seeks to establish and support ongoing coversations about this emerging field, to foster a community of students, scholars, teachers, explorers, and builders of cyberculture, and to showcase various models, works-in-progress, and on-line projects."

Professional Development :: Technology Leadership Resources

:: LEADERSHIP AND THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES ::
The Leadership and the New Technology library contains a selected and annotated set of resources found to be most useful by members of the LNT community. The following index contains links to currently posted resource lists, organized by topic.
http://www2.edc.org/urltrack/library.asp

:: NORTH CENTRAL REGIONAL TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION LABORATORY ::

NCRTEC is a grant-funded, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to improve teaching and learning through the appropriate use of technology. These resources, from the Learning With Technology Participant's Manual and Facilitator's Guide, are integral parts of the LWT course. A number of these may be useful when incorporated strategically in the design of professional development programs that focus on student learning. The documents are available as downloadable PDF files. These materials may be reproduced without alteration for non-commercial, educational purposes. http://www.ncrtec.org/pd/lwtres/resource.htm

Essential Readings

"The Art of Possibility" Benjamin and Rosamund Zander

Discover the Zanders' practices that will lead you into Possibility and give you a new way of being, a new way of seeing, and a new way of contributing to the world around you.


"Blog On: Building Online Communities Web Logs" Todd Stauffer

"Weblogs -- or blogs -- are taking the Internet by storm! Now you can expand your site using message boards, mailing lists, and numerous other features to maintain and promote community with help from this easy-to-understand guide. Includes practical tips for making tweaks and improvements with HTML, Flash, Web images, and much more."


"Blogging: Genius Strategies for Instant Web Content" Biz Stone

"Simply put, web logging, known as blogging, is an easy way of updating a web page via a browser without the hassle of launching an FTP client or HTML editor. The blog brings the voice of its creator to the surface, builds it into the design, and keeps the content fresh and meaningful. This book features hands-on tutorials for building a blog, adding a user based commenting system, adding team members, syndicating with JavaScript, adding searches to a site, and much more. This is the book for creative web-enthusiasts looking for the "next thing" and it's the first book of new ideas and advanced tutorials for bloggers already numbering in the hundreds of thousands."

"Designing Courses and Teaching on the Web: A "How To" Guide to Proven, Innovative Strategies" Dr. Mercedes Fisher

"Here is a practical, "how to" book written for new online web instructors. It will also be helpful to course designers, trainers, administrators, or anyone interested in the potential of online learning and training by providing an excellent introduction to the online education arena. With direct and clear content, this book emphasizes that web-based learning should be active and engaging for students while supporting them in their learning journey."