New Online Teacher

Introduction

Welcome to Week one of the New Online Teacher Course. We are very pleased to be working with you.
I believe this session is about choice. Your choice is to explore those aspects of the online environment that are of particular interest to you, and to make new discoveries. In so doing, I hope you have the opportunity to:

• broaden your e-learning skill- set


• share your discoveries and reflections with your colleagues who are also new to teaching online


• have some fun along the way

This site will be used for posting course information and activities. Be sure to check here often.
To begin, view this short video with Terry Anderson, the Canada Research Chair for Distance Learning at Athabaska University. I hope you share his approach to learning in this environment.

A Key Theme for Week 1 is the changing nature of both learners , technology and the intersection between technology and learning. These ideas will be explored further in our Elluminate sessions next week. Since collaborative learning appears as a recurring thread throughout these discussions, some of this week’s learning tasks are directed at providing online collaborative learning opportunities for you. They are also designed to foster a beginning sense of connection and community within this course.

They include the following:

1. 1. Blog
   Current learners are often described as users of social media tools.. Create a Blog and send me the link – This blog will be used in week 2 for writing reflections related to your experiences in the course. A common blogging site is: http://www.blogger.com/


2. Introductions in Wiki
   Wikis are sites that enable collaborative learning. Everyone can post to the site, and even edit another's work. Go the course Wiki ( http://newonlineteacher.wikispaces.com/ and do the following:
   Introduce yourself in the Discussion Group by telling us something about yourself that you feel comfortable sharing with the group. Tell us how you think this course might be useful for you in your work with students. Describe one teaching competency that you think is especially important when teachng online
   You will receive an e-mail invitation to join this site. This will enable you to post to this area.


3. Discovery Learning
   Find a resource such as a free online tool, video, article etc related to trends in e-learning and share it with the group. Post the link or description in your Introduction.
   In relation to tools, you may want to draw from the top 100 e-learning tools as identified by Jane Hart at:http://www.c4lpt.co.uk/recommended/top100-2010.html


4. Elluminate Live Conferencing
   Meet with the group in Elluminate at one of the scheduled sessions this week.
   Session times are:
   Monday, Feb 7/11 from 5-6PM
   Thursday, Feb/11 11AM-12Noon
   Instructions for accessing the session were provided in a previous e-mail to you.


5. Google Docs
   Google docs is a site that again enables joint collaboration on a document. In this instance, the task is to jointly create a PowerPoint. Create a slide in Google Docs that illustrates your response to the question, “Who are the Learners?” You will receive an e-mail invitation to join the Google Docs site to enable you to participate. Include any media you would like to use. Have fun with this activity.