NC3ADL Conference

I attended and presented at the NC3ADL conference in early November - that is NC Community College Distance Learning Conference - with the theme Emerging Collaboration, Compliance and Clouds:Professional Development for Emerging Initiatives. It's great to attend non-library focused conferences, especially related to distance learning for me, and hear from academic faculty and instructional designers are saying about online and distance learning.

Documenting Student Learning Outcomes in your LMS
by Amy Brown, GTCC

Due to SACs, they created a tool that works with their LMS as a way to document student performance on their student learning outcomes.

Created their own tool in 4 area, lives outside Moodle but linked so no separate login for users.

1. Create teacher tool which links assessments to SLOs. Includes tutorials for teachers on how to. Rubric allows easily see slo, activity link, green/red/yellow to indicate if they are on track, and min for passing (60 but will be raising to 70) all w a code
2. Create student view, clear transparent way to let them know how they are doing. Video to educate them on what SLOs are. 4 colors including grey (haven't done anything yet)
3. Teacher view of student view - see how students see it. See a list of students with colors next to each of them for each SLO listed.
4. Administrative view - reports, submit new SLOs, etc

Session- NCLOR 5.0
by Jonathan Sweetin, NCLOR System Admin
http://Explorrethelore.org

• NC learning object repository k- 20
• Access via LMS or main interface
• Search and add items via BB or Moodle courses
  
• Contribute your learning objects (w login) via main interface

Collections include:

• Duke u geriatric nursing collection
• Health info technology workforce training collection
• NC alliance of surgical tech educators collections
• Nobelprize.org
• Bionetwork
• Smithsonian educator
• History animated
• I3d
• Nroc national repository of online classes for grades 6-12
• Open courses from Harvard, Yale and MiT
• Vscoupe explored
  

Exemplary Courses in Blackboard
by Karen Lynden, Business Instructor, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College
Won 2011 BB Exemplary Course Award for her BUS253 Leadership Course

Check out her course and web tour of other exemplary courses :
http://kb.blackboard.com/display/EXEMPLARY/Exemplary+Course+Program

Best practices-

• Call a menu button "Start Here" - to guide students at the start of the course.
• Make sure its ADA accessible - Images must have tags & transcripts for videos
• Highlight your Class Expectations - create a matrix that easily shows what is required and worth on syllabus; include rubric w disc board posts laid out w 3 levels (not points), included your discussion board expectations written out for students.
  
• Have all assignment due exactly same date and time to be consistent
• Add mulitmedia - TED talks, other videos such as from explorethelor site!
  
• Open w a podcast montage of clips to welcome them as an overview of class OR video of instructor welcoming them and giving an overview of course topic.
  
• Create your course into Learning Units instead of folders, w/ the unit's SLOs and then divide into 2-3 subfolders in each, w/ disc board in each, videos embedded, interviews by various experts.
  

NCLIVE articles and beyond for distance learners
by online services librarian Heather Klein

Nclive.org
media.nclive.org

• About - 198 members, all colleges, funded through legislature and from each college, access to everyone in the state either through university I'd password or through public library card
• In January doubling full text content to 8000 journal moving to ebsco complete
• Database & articles links are permanent links
• Videos - You can put a bookmark in a video and then students can watch just at that part. also will stream video through nclive if you rights to video for you.
• Audio books will be Recorded Books coming soon! Will work w every platform from android to iPad.
• Some specifically good resources to share:
  
• Learning Express db for video tutorials like on Photoshop or Excel.
• Skill drills - like bio, chem, finance, public speaking, math, etc
• Career workplace improvement help like resume writing, goal setting,
• Job and career accelerator db

NBC Learn - VIDEO

http://www.nbclearn.com/portal/site/learn
by Bruce Wilson (bruce.wilson@nbcuni.com) - he use to be publisher at chronicle of higher ed

• Now in 3000 middle and high schools
• only in 75 higher Ed institutions , mainly Community Colleges
• Why? No brand recognition, but superior to anything else you have seen
• Lives in blackboard
• Content to engage and simulate discussion in online classroom
• NO buffering, quick and easy to play videos
• Cuecard- flip the item over (virtually) and have detailed metadata about the item
• Includes transcripts and closed captioning
• totally Ada compliant by start 2012
• Subscription total student fte about $1 a student

whats included? Clips of past news and events and current events each week. Basically areas of content:

• Archives
• Current events
• Decision 2012
• Partner content (pre date tv content, etc)
• Their original content (interviews, etc)