First of all I have to give Mark Jarvis credit for finding this cool tool!
I have wanted to share this since I first heard about it. Even though I haven't had a chance to use it with my class (and Art Appreciation would be a really good opportunity), I encourage you to go out and check it out for yourself.
As the name implies, Fakebook is a 'fake' Facebook. Users (students and instructors alike) can go in and create profiles of people, events and organizations, along with images, posts, links, profiles, friends and other Facebook-type tools. The website includes a 90-second or so tutorial, and an archive so that you can browse.
It's not as superficial as it might sound. Any profile would take some research, demanding both critical and creative thinking skills.
As a new and free site (except, of course, for the Premium option) Fakebook is a little rough and the examples in the archive are not well developed, but I think it holds great promise as an engaging tool for higher ed students. With the possible exception of math, most subject areas could integrate a project using Fakebook, with significant engagement with course objectives.
If you do take a look, let us know what you think!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Doodling!
Do your students doodle during class? Visit The Doodle Revolution Website and find out why doodling actually helps us to think better and retain more information.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Social Media Study
Faculty Focus recently published a study about how higher education faculty are using social media in their classrooms. If you use Facebook or Twitter, this study will surprise you. You can sign up for the Faculty Focus newsletter for free, and then download the document for free.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Notes in the Cloud
Do you lecture and encourage your students to take notes? Penzu might be the tool for your class! It's promoted as a secure, cloud-based, online journaling tool but since many of our students are toting around a laptop/netbook anyway, I think it'd be great for students to use for taking class notes too! The basic version is free, it date stamps each entry, and you can organize and delete your notes at will. Suggest this the next time your student says that the notes she took in your class are on her (lost) flash drive! Check it out at www.penzu.com and let us know what you think!
Friday, September 16, 2011
Bill Cosby
Isn't it sometimes hard to build rapport with your face to face students? Isn't it even harder to build rapport with online students?
I can still remember one of my favorite professors in grad school (I'm not too old but old enough to start forgetting!). He knew all of our names and he always told stories from his past positions. This was a business class, so his stories were relevant to the material and we could see how the concepts we were studying were actually being used in the real world. I was working at IBM at the time, and his stories about an outdated, ineffective culture mesmerized me, as I could relate.
Are you building rapport with your students? Are you using your instructor notes to relate stories about your own experiences with the subject matter? Garr Reynolds asserts that storytelling is one of the best ways to relate to an audience, and he says that Bill Cosby (a.k.a. Cliff Huxtable) is one of the best at this.
Watch Bill Cosby in action and see if you agree. You may not be as funny as Mr. Cosby, but even a short story, maybe presented in a podcast, would make your instructor notes more interesting!
I can still remember one of my favorite professors in grad school (I'm not too old but old enough to start forgetting!). He knew all of our names and he always told stories from his past positions. This was a business class, so his stories were relevant to the material and we could see how the concepts we were studying were actually being used in the real world. I was working at IBM at the time, and his stories about an outdated, ineffective culture mesmerized me, as I could relate.
Are you building rapport with your students? Are you using your instructor notes to relate stories about your own experiences with the subject matter? Garr Reynolds asserts that storytelling is one of the best ways to relate to an audience, and he says that Bill Cosby (a.k.a. Cliff Huxtable) is one of the best at this.
Watch Bill Cosby in action and see if you agree. You may not be as funny as Mr. Cosby, but even a short story, maybe presented in a podcast, would make your instructor notes more interesting!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Xtranormal Update
This past summer I posted information about Xtranormal, a too cool tool for creating your own movies.
I have wanted to do more with Xtranormal, but to get more characters and sets I would have to buy them--which I really don't want to do! Recently however, Xtranormal has started offering 5000 points to educators who want to use Xtranormal in their classrooms. I applied for this, and they approved my application yesterday, so I am now the proud owner of 5000 additional points.
I conducted some research at the Xtranormal site, and found that for 287 points, I can purchase two new characters and one set from The Suitz Collection. As you can see, there is so much I can now do with Xtranormal.
To apply for your educational status and bonus points click here.
I have wanted to do more with Xtranormal, but to get more characters and sets I would have to buy them--which I really don't want to do! Recently however, Xtranormal has started offering 5000 points to educators who want to use Xtranormal in their classrooms. I applied for this, and they approved my application yesterday, so I am now the proud owner of 5000 additional points.
I conducted some research at the Xtranormal site, and found that for 287 points, I can purchase two new characters and one set from The Suitz Collection. As you can see, there is so much I can now do with Xtranormal.
To apply for your educational status and bonus points click here.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Trying to show a little creativity and connect with your students? Using your webcam (or come into our office to borrow one of ours!), 
take a picture of yourself and check out these fun digital effects. Your face can be a piece of art being moved upstairs (great for explaining that your class site is still "under construction"), on the cover of a magazine, or even in a mug shot! There are also cool filters you can apply to your photo like charcoal drawing or oil painting. Here are a couple I tried!
There are over 200 choices, so have fun @ http://www.photo505.com/ - Thanks Linda for the great site!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Timing discussion posts
Do you have your students wait 24 hours between discussion posts? Do they know if it has been 24 hours?
You the instructor can mouse over the date of a post and see the time, and yes, a student can do the same thing, (actually not just their own, but anyone else as well)
I checked this out in student view and I don't know why it wouldn't work, as long as Java is installed. Thanks to Tiffany Welk, for asking.
You the instructor can mouse over the date of a post and see the time, and yes, a student can do the same thing, (actually not just their own, but anyone else as well)
I checked this out in student view and I don't know why it wouldn't work, as long as Java is installed. Thanks to Tiffany Welk, for asking.
Friday, September 2, 2011
More Fun with Signs
So I was reading the blog (as I do every morning) and watched the video about Banishing Boring PowerPoints. I checked out the suggested links...and found even more fun stuff! I especially liked the images with the iPad, iPod and phone as seen below. It was great fun! Try adding some of your own personality to your announcements with something like this! But be careful, the hours might fly by!
YouTube Time Machine
Did you know that YouTube has a feature called YouTube Time Machine. YouTube Time Machine allows you to search for videos from a given year. You can also narrow your search by genre. This might help you locate useful videos for your class like the one below.
You can click to go directly to the video on YouTube where the embed code can be accessed.
You can click to go directly to the video on YouTube where the embed code can be accessed.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Livebinders Update
I hope you attended Summer EDventures and enjoyed learning about Livebinders. Since then we have discovered some new tools available on Livebinders. These include the ability to embed objects and use html code to make the pages in your binders appear just the way you wish. Check out this Livebinders tutorial to learn how to use these additional tools.
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