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Your
CDE/AEFL state staff and the Four Corners Professional
Development Resource Center
want to support you in your efforts to reach
students in a variety of ways, beyond face-to-face (f2f)
instruction. The skills you acquire will allow you to be
very creative in designing hybrid
(f2f/online/interactive video/phone) instruction for
adults in your area. Following are just some ways to
enhance your program offerings:
- One to one or
small group, interactive tutoring for students away
from your center.
- Direct,
interactive instruction to up to 25 students at a
time, using your state Elluminate license, with
subsequent podcasts of selected sessions.
- Locally developed
(and shared) interactive segments using easy
Flash-based presentations that students can complete
with little or no assistance while being tracked
online to show progress. (QArbon state license)
- Locally developed
interactive segments and resources using a variety
of free tools now available for educators.
- Online instruction
using your state Class Management System (CMS),
Moodle.
The catch?
Selected program will appoint one distance ed person to represent
the program. That person will acquire skills to deliver
instruction using the tools described and more. (No
technical expertise is required other than knowing how
to use a keyboard and mouse.) That person will return to
the program and commit with its staff to the following
activities during the summer of 2008 and/or the
following academic year:
- Work with other
instructors in the program to develop at least five
interactive segments to be shared among all programs
in the state, using QArbon development and tracking
tools.
- Assist the
program in offering hybrid instruction to at least
10 students and evaluate the process and
effectiveness of the approach (Elluminate or similar
platforms and tools, such as GotoMeeting).
- Assist the
program in offering one-to-one tutoring to at least
10 students in your program using the webcams and
head sets furnished to your program.
- Assist the
program in offering a short online segment of
interest using Moodle.
- Offer a joint
session at Rendezvous 2009 with other programs
participating in our Colorado Hybrid Initiative
(CHI)
Interested?
Follow the link below and fill out the PDF
Form/Application as soon as possible!
Application to be sponsored for
the Denver Distance Ed Retreat
Video Help - No reading required!
http://www.thoughtware.tv/
- For adults, without the porn. This
site has a long list of quality
videos with great sound on a number
of topics, including several science
clips. A friend sent me
http://www.thoughtware.tv/videos/show/1613
as a link. Watch a short but highly
engaging, quality video. We talk
about right and left-brain
activities. Here's someone who has
experienced the shift from the
inside. "Neuroanatomist
Jill Bolte Taylor had an opportunity
few brain scientists would wish for:
One morning, she realized she was
having a massive stroke. As it
happened -- as she felt her brain
functions slip away one by one,
speech, movement, understanding --
she studied and remembered every
moment. This is a powerful story
about how our brains define us and
connect us to the world and to one
another." Students are not the only
ones seeking community and
connection. We all are. I
would love to be a hidden fly on
your wall to hear the discussions
this clip inspires among your
students.
You
need to be a little more selective
with
http://video.google.com/ , but
there are some jewels there. For
example, check out
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4773590301316220374
, Thunderbolts of the Gods, and
related videos. Or watch some of the
latest and bravest scientists
discuss new theories about the
universe, starting with Richard
Dawkins in several clips. I suggest
that before you use streamed video
with students, first, let the clip
run to the end, and mute the sound.
When you are ready to play the clip,
simply start it again, and it will
play through faster. And remember to
stick to the 5-minute rule when
using clips in class. After five
minutes, you'll see the yawns and
glazed eyes. Five minutes of
watching is best followed by five
minutes of discussion or
application.
Smart Thinking!
Or
CDLE Partnership Offers Free Online
Tutoring Service
How
often have you asked or heard the
question, "How can I possibly manage
multi-level classes?" Here's one
suggestion!
The
Colorado Department of Labor and
Employment (CDLE) has made a limited
number of online tutoring hours
available to
Workforce
Center partners in
Colorado.
Smarthinking, an online tutoring
service, gives students an
opportunity to work with live
tutors on the Internet through
unscheduled or pre-scheduled
whiteboard chat sessions.
Students may also submit
papers or questions in a number of
academic subjects, and receive a
critique of their writing or written
answers to their questions within 24
hours.
Tutoring in math is available in
Spanish as well as English.
So
you have one or more students who
need extra help? Get them online
with a pro who can instruct them
individually while you go on with
your instruction to others. Smarthinking has over 800 teachers
all over the world, over 80% of whom
have PhD's in their topic of
instruction. Our students will need
an introduction to the system, and I
suggest that you walk them through a
short tutoring session. They will
need to know how to read and type,
of course, since the instruction is
text-based. However, the use of the
whiteboard allows a lot of variety
in how topics are presented and
discussed.
Just another free resource out there
waiting to be used... The license
expires at the end of the year, so
start now! If you are an AEFLA
program, step one is to contact your
Workforce Center and tell them that
you are sending a student over.
Center staff will register the
student through our e-Colorado
learning portal. After that, you and
the student may access tutoring from
any computer with Internet
connectivity. In fact, register
yourself as well, and check out the
resources so that you can select the
right student for the tool.
For
more information or clarification,
contact
Sue Klebold at
(303) 318-8824 or
sue.klebold@state.co.us.
Contributions or Questions from the Field
If you have an activity that you
would like to share, please send it
to me so that your colleagues might
extend your success! Thanks, Tom, for
this month's contribution! (I hope,
hope, hope that some of you who
shared your activities in the
conference computer lab will send in
a description of the wonderful work
you are doing.)
The Use of
Technology in the Family Literacy
Classroom: a sample activity
- by Tom Dietvorst
INTRODUCTION:
I teach in a Toyota Family
Literacy Program in a Denver
Public School. My students are
all Hispanic. They range in
Student Performance Level (SPL)
from level 2 to level 6. There
is also a wide range in their
level of computer skill. This
topic was the result of a survey
of interests. This activity took
place during a
two-and-a-half-hour "Parent
Time" segment. One of the goals
I have in lesson planning is
integration, to the extent
possible, combining Family
Literacy components in different
ways [appropriate education for
the child, education for the
parent, Parent Time and Parent
and Child Together (PACT)].
READ MORE
More Web Stuff for Students to Love
http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/
- Love this site. It has clear
recordings (podcasts) on a number of
helpful issues. Just click on the site
link and peek. I bet you will get
hooked. This is the kind of site to
which you can send students to work
independently or in groups. Activities
following their experience extend to the
limits of your creativity. Use the
podcasts for auditory learners and
download text for those who like to read
the words.
"Quick and Dirty Tips creates
and distributes digital content
that offers short, actionable
advice from friendly and
informed authorities that will
help you succeed at work and in
life. Whether you want to manage
your time and money more
efficiently, communicate more
effectively, observe the correct
rules of etiquette, or improve
your performance in other home
and workplace endeavors, Quick
and Dirty Tips are here to show
you that education and
entertainment can go hand in
hand, and that learning can
still occur no matter what stage
of life you’re in if you’ll just
invest five minutes of your time
Quick and Dirty Tips content is
available in the following
formats:
-
Podcasts read by a host
-
Transcripts from the
podcasts which are available
on QuickAndDirtyTips.com
-
Audiobooks
-
Books – look for the
Grammar Girl book
coming in 2008"
http://healthliteracy.worlded.org/docs/culture/
- Culture, Health, Literacy: A Guide to
Education Materials for Adults with
Limited English Literacy Skills.
http://www.jumpstart.org/
-
"First convened in December, 1995, the
Jump$tart Coalition for Personal
Financial Literacy determined that
the average student who graduates from
high school lacks basic skills in the
management of personal financial
affairs. Many are unable to balance a
checkbook and most simply have no
insight into the basic survival
principles involved with earning,
spending, saving and investing." I
downloaded (Go to downloads) the
Money Math: Lessons for Life. It is 100
PDF pages of content with varying
content. Skip all of the initial parts
that correlate lessons to K-12 standards
and enjoy the plans with your math and
English learners (ESL students need the
language of math, too!). The Financial
Fridays link takes you to archives with
links to agencies that can support your
efforts in teaching financial
responsibilities. Browse through other
tabs and you'll find other pearls.
Rendezvous 2008: Thanks for Joining
the Celebration!
Thank
you, one and all, for sharing so
many fantastic practices for
reaching students with different
interests and intelligences
(Gardner) with creative technology.
Your wikis, blogs, and other
interactive pages showed how very
far a little creativity and
curiosity can go. I bow humbly to
your success and can't wait to see
and hear more about your use of
technology to engage students and
bring them into warm and supportive
online communities. Even beginninng-level
ESL students are thriving in blogs.
You have now proved how well it can
be done. Hats off!
Loud
applause and flowers are also due to
Shirley Penn, Margie Warner, and all
of the other CAEPA supporters who
gave us the space, the connectivity,
and the laptops for use during the
conference!!!
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