Wordle: Something Fun for your Course

Have you heard about Wordle? It is a web tool that creates fun arrangements of words, which are also called word clouds. I think the program is pretty cool and it is a fun thing to ask students to do or see. Here are two ideas on how to use Wordle in the online classroom. Let me know if you have tried others that worked well.

• Ask students to use Wordle to describe themselves. They can post the link to their creation in the thread, as a way to introduce themselves to the class. They can also use their favorite poems, lyrics, names of people, or favorite foods.

• Summarize the main points of a concept. Here is one that has the characteristics of the Baroque style and post it in the “News” when you are announcing a Unit, or at the end of the Unit to gather all terms students have contributed to the Discussion.


The more times you repeat one word when you are setting up Wordle, the larger that world it will be in the final composition. I heard a schoolteacher say that kids in her class use it to look for redundant words.

Wordle allows you to choose colors, fonts, and directions of how the words will display. The tool is free to use but need to give credit to Wordle.net. Check it out if you haven’t done so yet.

The Biggest Misconception About Online Courses

I believe that the biggest misconception about online courses is the notion that students are there to receive instruction, but I have to admit that I am not done processing these ideas so please post your comments.

There is a concept that floats around but does not seem to stick, that in online environments there are no instructors and students, only facilitators and learners. This means that individuals do not receive instruction passively but need to actively engage in learning.

Most online courses are based on the inquiry method, which entails providing guidelines and tools to “go get the knowledge, process it, and apply it in some form,” so that peers may comment on the work, the facilitator may stir the learner towards more nuanced ideas making sure the learner does not go on a tangent, or miss the boat altogether. At the end of the term individuals may very well feel they learned it all on their own.

Despite this seemingly odd way to think about online courses, Learning Centered Instruction used in many online courses is a pedagogical method believed to be very effective. Its premises include inquiry-based activities in technologically rich environments that place the individual as the captain at the helm of his or her own education.

To most people this notion seems unfair and it is not unusual to think: “Why do we pay a ton of money if they are not ‘teaching us?’” Well, I am finding out that teaching, as the act of imparting knowledge by those who know to those who don’t know yet, is no longer such a terrific way to learn. This method was awesome when few people had the knowledge and the books and had to pass it on to other people so that knowledge may spread from one to many. That is no longer the state of affairs.

Technological advances with computers and the Internet make it possible for almost everyone to access good, reliable, useful, interesting information, so the game has changed. Instructors or facilitators still need to be content experts, but the students may have access to the same information or better information is they are Google savvy. The role of the facilitator then is to guide the learner so that the learner may achieve the course objectives using the tools, resources, and feedback from the content expert. This includes sharing knowledge and resources among other learners in the class.

Can we envision the facilitator as a sea expert of sorts, who being on shore cannot navigate the vessel but can only give asynchronous instructions to the learner at the helm on how to successfully maneuver the ship in the vast sea of information, while pointing at the desired port of destiny?

In this unique voyage, will learners discover and learn by personalizing the information, problem solving, and investigating what is particularly interesting to them, and in the end be satisfied with online courses? After all, and unlike “Washington Crossing the Delaware Sea.” Instructors in asynchronous communication and virtual environments cannot jump in the same boat with all hands and ask them to row synchronously to arrive at the same port together.

~ Carol

Death of a Classic? The Virtual "Frog Dissection" App for the iPad

The Horizon Report published by the New Media Consortium, the Educase Learning Initiative, and the Educase Program is a great source to see how technology is affecting teaching in higher education.

The 2010 report shows that mobile platforms such as smartphones and netbooks will see the most growth this year, but the examples of practical applications were not that clear to me. The report came out before Apple unveiled the iPad and before apps such as this Virtual Frog Dissection give us a better picture of things to come. Granted, this is not higher education, but it is not difficult to imagine how it could be applied to topics in that field.

Just a few months ago, I would have imagined that an popular hands-on lab project for middle school students would soon replaced by an app. In the process many frogs will be saved and stereotypical mental and cinematic images of disgust by girls and mischievous grins of boys will be nostalgic ephemera. This experience of dissecting the slimy frog is now safe; instead of a scalpel on needs only a finger; and the once stinky, creepy and slippery frog is now odorless, flat, and its body and organs have a comfortably cool glass-like texture.

After musing over these changes for just a few seconds my mind returns to the amazement I feel about such technology and —not to its potential to revolutionize education in general—because it is clear we are amid the dust raised by the many changes that are happening, and we don’t really see where we are headed, but to a more concrete vision of how our online courses could look very soon.

After seeing this app I cannot help but wonder if our online courses will be populated by a multitude of apps in an ecosystem composed of Absorb, Do, Connect activities to achieve course objectives. What do you think?

If you haven’t seen the Table of Elements for the iPad take a look at this amazing app. The video is long but take a look at a few seconds around the middle and don’t miss the great song in minute 9:15.

~Carol

Grief or Fib?

Dealing with Loss and Lying in the Classroom

More often that I want to remember I receive student's emails and phone calls communicating the death of a family member, a friend, or a child. My students have reported many accidents, suicides, and cases of spousal abuse over the years. I am terribly unsettled by those sad news every single time, particularly when the emails arrive with links to obituaries, newspaper articles, or even with memorial slide shows confirming the tragedy or loss they have suffered.

For these occasions I keep handy a couple of paragraphs I wrote expressing my deepest sympathy and hope for hearts and souls to heal with time and patience. These notes also includes a plan for the student to complete course work within a certain period of time. Depending on the circumstances, I offer the student an extra week to complete assignments. “Unfortunately,” I tell them, participation cannot be made up, but if this is the only time they will miss it, skipping one week of participation won’t impact their grade significantly, especially if all other work in turned in on time and is well done. These terms are usually well received and students are grateful for the arrangement.

However, a small percentage of students report deaths and illnesses without proof, those are the ones that usually weave complex stories and the excuses tend to arrive long after the due date for the assignment has passed. These are the stories that seem fabricated. Still, there isn’t a good way to check on the veracity of the reports, so I send them my heartfelt sympathy note with all due respect and give them the opportunity to make up the work. I figure; if they are willing to make up stories about dead grandmothers and friends, they deserve a sympathy note from me to see the reflection of their own words.

~Carol

Stumbling Upon the Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo, "The Creation of Adam."

Well, I have yet to visit the Vatican to see the famous frescos of Michelangelo painted in the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, but the virtual experience I stumbled upon while using the site stumbleupon.com was fascinating, particularly because one of my class discussions is based on this topic.

I don’t remember how I stumbled upon stumbleupon.com but I highly recommend it to other instructors to find images, videos, libraries, articles and more, about almost any given topic. Plus, the site is like a game of chance, once you choose a topic or topics it will return site upon site of things related to those preferences. Stumbling, as the act of clicking on box on the site is called, reminds me in a sense of the experience of cranking a slot machine; you never know if the next crank will be a winner, so you keep playing. There is no money involved, of course, but if you invest a few minutes you will find something that is interesting, amusing, new, or useful for your courses.

Take a look at the Sistine Chapel for example and zoom in to see the biblical scenes in great detail. You may even discover the prominent bear bottom that seem so out of place, not too far below “The Creation of Adam” in the center of the ceiling. Use your mouse to turn around 360 degrees to get a sense of the entire space or look at the detailed patterns of the tiled floor. Appreciate Michelangelo’s dark humor by finding his self portrait in the beheaded head of Holofernes, who is being carried out on a platter by his slayer, Judith, with the help of her maidservant; or check out the scenes of the Last Judgment behind the altar to find yet another self portrait of Michelangelo, this time as St. Bartholomew, the martyr who was flayed alive.>

I think this is an amazing way to study or simply enjoy the details of the Sistine Chapel’s frescos, and it is free to access from the comfort of your home. Then, try your luck and stumble!

~Carol

Using Prezi as Introduction to a Course Unit

Yesterday an article in Facuty Focus sparked my interest in the use of a Web 2.0 tool called Prezi. The article suggested this tool as a fun alternative to a PowerPoint presentation. My curiosity increased when I thought about the assignment I needed to complete for the course “Media Integration” I am taking at CU Denver. I needed to use some kind of media that would not be video, screencast, PowerPoint, or a podcast, so the article was an incentive to explore Prezi further.

Prezi is a web-based tool, it is free for limited use, free with a larger limit for educators, and it also has a paying option. The main difference with PowerPoint is that Prezi does not use slides. Instead, it offers a blank but customizable canvas in which one can type text and insert images. Then there is a feature to thread these images and text in any order just by clicking on the various items you have created and assigning numbers that create a sequence for their display. In short, it is a more visual and less linear way of organizing thoughts and ideas to share with a large audience be it face to face or online.

The “magic” of Prezi is in the zoom feature that it provides. This allows you to see a presentation as if it were an aerial view and then “fly” down to see the details at close range. I think it is really neat. But please take a look at my Prezi so you can appreciate the results.




I have to confess that it took me five hours to complete the Prezi I am posting here. Yes, that is a great deal of time! But most of that time was spent deciding what images and text I wanted to use. Fortunately I can also use the Prezi as an introduction for a Unit in my art history course at CCCO, and hopefully, using Prezi will be a cinch from now on.

If you want to try Prezi go to Prezi.com. There are three short tutorials that will show you the gist of the tool in a few minutes. I like the fact that Prezi is easy to embed in the course. I posted it in my course news “News” as a way to introduce my students to the chapter in Modern Art.

~Carol

P.S. I see that the screen of the embeded Prezi has been cut off on the right side to fit the blog width. I am not sure how to adjust that yet.

Take a Short Vacation While Teaching Online

I am spending a week in Northern Minnesota, where the towns a small, the lakes beautiful and WiFi scarce. I write this from the back of the room at the local bar in Brooks, MN— a town of 141 residents— while the locals gather at the counter for their morning coffee and the aroma of fried eggs and ham lingers in the air. My bill after 3 hours is $6,45 for lunch (meatballs, mashed potatoes, gravy, vegetables, a roll, and a rhubarb bar for desert, plus unlimited coffee brought to my table throughout my stay). Isn’t it great to be able to travel and work ?

But things never go smoothly while you are away, working on a borrowed computer, using a USB modem on your own laptop, or trying to find WiFi in a small town or remote place can present some challenges. Here are some tips that may be helpful to those planning a trip while working.

Plan ahead. Make sure you are aware of all deadlines and that the threads are open and schedules are accurate. Warn your students that grading may take a bit longer than usual and your responses may be slightly delayed. If you are not taking your laptop with you, bring a Flash Drive with the files you may need; write your passwords and necessary URLs down on a piece of paper or on your phone’s note taking app. We rely on our computer’s ability to remember these data. If you are using a USB modem, remember that these devices tend to be slower than the services you have at home. If you will be using WiFi connections in public places think about the distractions that abound as well as the noise level to which you will be exposed.

Plan way ahead. If possible, it is nice to get away each term for a short period of time. I try to incorporate a break in each term. I time these breaks for Thanksgiving in the fall, spring break in the spring and the Fourth of July in the summer. One week each term I have a slight variation in my course to make one week a little easier to manage than others. You can do this by reducing the amount of participation required for that week, or reducing the amount of questions in the assignment. I announce these breaks in my course as mini-breaks and often get grateful emails from my students, many of whom, are trying to catch up with school, work, and family responsibilities.

Work in short segments of time. Dividing your work into short chucks of time will not call too much attention from the rest of your family or friends who won’t enjoy seeing you worried about work all the time. Allow an hour here and an hour there during the day or night while there is some down time from parties or outings. You can also combine some meals with, work ans some socializing, as I did at the Cozy Bar. Check course email frequently to see if things are running smoothly but let all other routine wait until your return.







Happy summer!

Technology, Education, and Art

Hello CCCO World!! I am happy to join the Faculty Voices this summer. I live in Thornton and have been teaching art history and art appreciation courses since WebCT days, about three and a half years.

I am also half way through an online masters program at CU Denver’s School of Education called eLearning Design and Implementation. This is a field of education that compliments and enhances what I do as online instructor so I want to blog about some of the exciting things I learn about technology and education as well as what I learn and do everyday while in contact with my students at CCCO.

Comments and questions are welcome.