RSS feeds by any other name would be less confusing

I’ve added a page to our IWU Wiki entitled “Options for Collecting RSS Feeds” as a means of collecting methods of finding, subscribing and readers news articles and blogs. Please take a few minutes to peruse the site and feel free to add your favorites tools, tips, or recommendations.

Instructional strategies for blogging

I came across an article in the e-journal Campus Technology that I thought I'd share. Instructional Strategies for Blogging describes Ruth Reynard's approach to integrating blogging into a course. Of course, Barbara Ganley added some great resources about blogging to our IWU Technology Wiki, but Reynard's article describes a methodology that may be useful.

Wiki in Plain English

Here's a great little video I first saw at the ASCUE conference earlier this month.
It does a great job of explaining Wikis in plain english.



If you enjoy this video, go back and read Stephanie's comment to Rick's post and view the video she includes there.

Kira's Gateway

With so many ideas to consider, I am trying to be reasonable! Podcasting might have to wait. If I could just stumble upon those secret extra hours in the day….

In my Gateway course, students are required to keep journals. They are required to write entries at least after each video but are encouraged to journal about course readings, discussions and current/life events related to course material. Students are asked to share subjective reactions, feelings, questions or insights. The task is not to “prove” that they were paying attention to the film. Previously, journals were to be kept either within one Word document or a spiral notebook. In the coming semester, I will require them to create a blog to capture their thoughts and require that they use RSS feeds to keep up with the blogs of other class members. The blogs will be worth 100 points (out of 800). Students will be graded on whether they created a blog and post after each video (at least 7 posts). Extra posts and commenting on classmates’ blogs will enhance participation grades.

In addition to the blogs, I want to pilot using Facebook as a discussion tool for class. I’ve joined and become addicted and already have had students “befriend” me. With the amount of time students report spending on Facebook, I think it would be great to harness some of that energy for the course. I propose creating a group that will be by permission only and will be accessible only to students in the class as a place to chat about course topics. I will encourage students to write on the wall of the group rather than writing wall-to-wall. However, the group interactions will most likely foster camaraderie among the students- a welcome byproduct.

Those are my thoughts. I am open to suggestions!

Spanish Composition Class

Frank and everybody,

Thanks for sharing all your ideas and for making the workshop continue through this blog and our Wiki.

I will start using Wikis for one for my classes next semester, and I am planning on start using them little by little in the Basic Spanish classes. Next semester I will be teaching a Composition Class. For this class we use a book called “Composition Through Literature”. In this book we read short stories, we answer questions related to them, we study some vocabulary and then we study some grammar. For this specific class I am going to use a Wiki for the vocabulary of each chapter, and we are going to have another one to do some creative writing.

1. Vocabulary

Idea
I am going to type some of the most relevant words for each short story (I already have them) on a Wiki. Then students and I are going to be giving definitions and examples of those words in context and in the short story. I am also thinking that it would be a good idea to have my students create some activities at the end of the Wiki.
How it’s going to work
I must also add that we read eight short storied in the semester which means we are going to have eight Wikis for vocabulary. Each Wiki will be a responsibility for two of the students (they are responsible for the “final product”) but everybody in class must participate in the Wiki (including myself).
How it was before
In the previous semesters, students have to do (in paper) some exercises from the book related to the vocabulary of each chapter and when we came to class we review some of those exercises. A problem I had was that only some of the would participate in the discussion.

2. Choose your own adventure

Idea
I went to a conference and in one presentation they talked how in a French class they are using Wikis for creative writing. What they do it’s divide the class in groups and each group it’s responsible for parts of the story. So I think it would be a good idea to have one creative writing paper along with the other papers my students write for this class.
How it’s going to work
I usually have fifteen students in this class so I was thinking to have three different stories for the class. The topics for each one of them could be: horror, love, sci-fi, or anything the students select. It is very important they chose their own topic. Then each student would write his/her part of the story. I have not decided how long it’s going to be but I am working on that.
The grade will be based in the final product, the process and the participation of each student from the group.
One final thing it’s that I will have a part in each one of the stories.
How it was before
I didn’t do anything like this before…so we’ll see how it goes…

I would like to add that since part of the grade comes from the final product, students will be responsible to highlight (no to correct) each other’s mistakes. I am also going to have due dates for each of the parts of the project so students will not wait until the last minute to do their parts.

Please let me know if you have any questions or more ideas.

Thanks,

Jaime.

Frank, it has been exciting to me to learn something new and different. Educating myself about the features of Luminis have been difficult enough for me. I am not a technology savey person and using Luminis was a stretch for me. However, now that I have my own Blog I feel the need to use it. I am going to include this blog on my Luminis course page and ask my students to refer to it before each class period. I may post pictures of anatomy or injuries, I may pose questions of interest, I may provide an assignment, or I may simply use it as a way to commuicate. Thank you for creating an atmosphere of learning that I could learn something new without hesitation or fear of failure. I hope my blog (Kauths Korner) will do the same. In the future I plan to put my picture and those of my students on the blog. We will see in the weeks ahead what it turns out to be.

Bill Kauth

IWU in Barbara Ganley's blog

Barbara has a great picture of the head above the McPherson Theatre entrance, plus she's posted her slides from her presentation in this post on her blog.

my other blog is a Porsche

It turns out that blogging, for the purpose of teaching or otherwise, is really a habit that has to be learned. The prolific characters of the "blogosphere" (don't get me started on the terminology thing!) are not the norm - most people don't take the time to publish their lengthy perspectives on the Universe multiple times a day. Most people have to think a bit rather than simply streaming their consciousness all over the 'Net.

I run or contribute to three or four blogs pretty regularly and I have to make a concerted effort to keep up that pace. In certain cases the habit can become something more, a regular idle-time activity. In others it can become therapeutic or even addictive. In still others the content is dry enough to make it clearly a task for work hours only. I just hope that a few teachers at Illinois Wesleyan give it that first bit of effort - set up feeds to consume the content (I'll help with that), then make it a habit to write a bit. Let's communicate!

Getting Started

All,

One final thanks to everyone for your participation in last week's workshop. Our ad hoc planning group from the Mellon Center, Ames, and IT have already met once to discuss how we can continue the conversation. We've got a plan for the summer, anyway.

In the short term, we plan to maintain the wiki as a repository of resources on instructional technology and pedagogy, including links to tools or articles that might be of interest. For those who need cyber-directions back to the wiki, here is the url:

http://iwu.wikispaces.com/

We have also created this blogspace as a venue to be used for comment and discussion. The IWU Teaching Blog will also be the place to post your plans for any new pedagogy or assignment that are incorporated in a course as a result of the workshop. You might remember that the Mellon Center will offer an additional $100 stipend for submitting a brief description of your curricular innovation. The blog posting need only be 250 words long.

To emphasize a conclusion we reached on the last day of the workshop, by "innovation" we mean one aspect of one course. For example, a single assignment or a structured component of the course's participation grade will be sufficient. Large-scale curricular revisions are great, to be sure, but certainly not expected or required for the nominal stipend.

One way to ensure that you get any new information from the workshop would be to subscribe to an RSS feed from our blog. You might remember that the RSS feeds can be delivered directly to your email client or web browser. If you have problems or questions on how to subscribe or on the options for subscription, please let us know.

Finally, some logistical details. The $250 stipend for participation in the workshop will appear in your July paycheck. Later in the summer, we will post an additional $100 for your blog posting that includes a description of your new pedagogical approach or assignment.

More later,
Frank