What We Learned at eLcc 2012

Recently, CCCOnline staff attended the eLearning Consortium of Colorado (eLcc) Conference. It was invigorating and inspirational, and in addition to collaborating with our peers from local and national institutions, we also were reminded about or learned about exciting cool tools such as:

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/ - A multimedia web-book about art and art history

http://freevideolectures.com/Subject/History - Video lectures from universities

http://bigthink.com/ - Big Think

http://www.jfklibrary.org/ - JFK Library

http://www.storycenter.org/ - Center for Digital Storytelling

http://projeqt.com/ - Storytelling software

http://www.toondoo.com/ - Cartoon building tool

https://bubbl.us/ - brainstorming and mind-mapping

http://thekidshouldseethis.com/

http://popplet.com/

http://www.livebinders.com – virtual binders

http://tinyvox.com/ - voice recorder

http://www.snappvis.org/ (SNAPP – Social Networks Adopting Pedagogical Practice)
http://science360.gov/

A few favorite take-away phrases:

Formative assessment isn’t just practice; it’s re-meaning

Class should end with a finale rather than a final

Phases of learning--Trigger Event, Exploration, Integration, Resolution

Change what you “know” about teaching and learning

One of the keynote speakers, Kevin King, talked about virtual teams and individuals’ personalities, giving us food for thought as we approach teaching within the online environment (e.g., with group projects and discussions). One memorable piece of advice he gave applies to those of us with straightforward and direct communication styles: when composing emails, remember to “add flowers” so the reader doesn’t misunderstand your tone.

--Karen Kaemmerling and Liz Dzabic