What is the rblinteractive.com website? A web-based, reader-response approach to the teaching of writing that uses novels, blogs and forums. Goal of the site RBLi is primarily a student-centred learning tool. Our first goal in creating the website is to build an eclectic collection of texts from various media sources and give readers a forum to share their responses. Whether responding to current events media coverage, online videos, or imaginative literary texts, our main question is not ‘What does this text mean?’ but rather ‘What does this text mean to you?’ Eventually, our goal is to make RBLi an interactive platform where visitors to the site contribute their own texts for audience response. The Response-Based Approach A description of the philosophy behind our approach to creating and using the site. Using Forums and Blogs to Go Beyond the Classroom How forums and blogs were used in our approach. What difference did using the RBLInteractive website make? A description of the results we obtained using the site in 103 and 101 classes in the 2007 winter semester. Where Next? What type of growth and evolution we’d like for the website.
This workshop will illustrate one possible way that Camtasia Studio 4 can replace traditional lecturing models of teaching. Rather, I will present the following activity developed for the chemistry classroom which uses Camtasia Studio 4 as a vehicle for discovery based learning. Participants will then be shown how to use Camtasia Studio 4 in order to both create and facilitate a lesson plan. Although this specific example is for the chemistry classroom, it could be adapted to different course subjects and/or disciplines. The lesson plan consists of several components: Teacher Preparation: The teacher develops a rubric, determining what skills the students will learn in the context of this lesson and how they will be weighted. The teacher then films his/herself conducting the experiment and divides it into a series of separate video clips. He/she also films some steps which are unnecessary and/or erroneous. He/she then imports the clips to Camtasia Studio 4 in a random order and gives it to his/her students. Student Exploration of Information: Students are given documentation to discuss in groups about the properties of particular chemicals and are then given a problem to solve using the materials (i.e. how is nylon created?). The teacher gives the students the Camtasia Studio 4 software (1 laptop per group), and the video clips (as described above). Students are given the rubrics, so as to help them take responsibility for their learning and the development of the final production. Student Simulated Experimentation and Discovery Learning: The students will then have to create the video by determining the sequence of the video clips, in order to solve the problem. Using Camtasia Studio 4 as a medium, students then present their group work to the class and discuss why they chose the sequencing and video clips that they did. The class weighs the pros and cons of their experimental process and votes on whether or not it is accurate. They determine as a class where the experiment went wrong and why. Students Video document and Produce their Process: This is where students reflect on their process as a whole. They document where they went wrong (and why they made the choices that they did) and the actual process they should have followed. They state what would have happened in a live scenario had they followed their original path. This is where the students can get creative and import video clips, photos and sound effects from the internet to make their Camtasia Studio 4 production exciting. The key to this part of the lesson is to reflect on their new knowledge of the properties of the chemical, how they interact, the scientific process as a whole, and what they learned through watching their peers’ presentations, etc. This section both consolidates new knowledge, and helps them develop their proficiency with Camtasia Studio 4. Assessment of Student Learning: The teacher will then grade the finalized productions based on the pre-existing rubric. After providing teachers with an overview of this lesson plan and situating it within the context of discovery learning and the development of transferable skills and competencies, this workshop will give teachers a step-by-step guide on how to use Camtasia Studio 4 to prepare the lesson, as well as a list of online resources for a more detailed tutorial. Finally, I will explore how this lesson plan and the use of Camtasia Studio 4 could be modified for use in other disciplines.
College teachers are expected, more and more, to make IT a part of their educational practice. In fact, all of the programs revised in the push to reform college teaching must meet precise goals with regard to the integration of IT. But why integrate IT in teaching and learning activities? How should it be incorporated? How does one avoid increasing the burden of teaching duties while still taking into account prescribed ministerial guidelines? This workshop provides a look at alternatives to conventional teaching, towards a constructive, efficient and motivating educational integration of IT.
Participants will be introduced to ways in which e-learning extends the learning experience. After participants have introduced themselves, we will undertake to explore a variety of examples of how increased access to information, interactivity, tailored learning materials and learning tools can take your teaching to a higher level. We will close with a reflective activity in which participants relate what we have learned to their own experiences.
Since January of 2007, Bois-de-Boulogne College has operated a virtual help center on the DECclic learning platform for English Second Language (ESL) students. In the virtual centre, students have access to: A series of automatically-corrected online exercises created with Exam Studio, DECclic’s online evaluation editor Formative reading and writing exercises in .pdf format (with answer keys) Discussion groups on English grammar and other ESL topics Databases with relevant Web resources and ESL FAQs Web content publicizing available onsite college resources (ESL monitors, peer tutors, etc.) Messaging and other communication tools extending student supervision beyond the traditional 8-to-6 college day The virtual center, a complement to the onsite center, provides several administrative advantages: Little-to-no cost (for DECclic member colleges) Permanent and secured document storage Access to immediate and representative student feedback Improved communication with the entire ESL student body While the workshop is geared at ESL college teachers, teachers of any discipline who are involved in help centres can benefit from attending the workshop and participating in an open discussion on how learning platforms can be used to assist student supervision and ensure student success.
This work by La Vitrine Technologie-Éducation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.