Before we went into Blackboard I used a free LMS website called Engrade. It was extremely robust: I could message students, we had discussion boards, online test, embedded video, as well as modules I could set up and evaluate the students on!
At the moment I am using PollEverywhere, which is a free polling website for some of my larger classes, and I also have taken a liking to Google Docs.
Probably the best tool I have used is the plagiarism check site, it brings many different aspects into reality check for me. I feel strongly to the correction of this practice.
I have used Skype, Wiki, Second Life, and you tube as resources.
we are fortunate to have a learnig resource center and a "cyber galley" which all host a corporate sponsered "cy-brary." students can paruse case studys, artical and journal entries and excerpts and can use the materials cited in power point presentations often created for a project.
Dania,
Cool. I started my ancestry search just last week so this is really timely.
Renee Shaffer
Kristina,
Yes, I love smarthistory.org. I could look at it everyday, if I had the time!
Renee Shaffer
I'm a big fan of the 23andme.com videos because they are fun, short, informative and engaging!
One of my favorite is smarthistory.org and there are also the various Pearson learning labs.
Dori,
Wow! That is so great for the students.
Renee Shaffer
Nathan,
Yes, I think Jing is a gem! Using it to give student personalized feedback is a terrific best practice.
Renee Shaffer
The great thing about our online school is that all of the tools available for students are free and already embedded into our courses! That's right! All the student needs to do is click resources, Purdue Owl, technical support...anything/everything comes up!
Hi,
For instructors, free technology tools help to make our classes much more interactive and engaging for students. The university has terrific user friendly navigational areas within the classroom where students may receive help from tutors and advisors, etc. I enjoy using helpful links from websites for scaffolding as well as YouTube videos for motivation and for additional scaffolding. I certainly use my phone to do check ins with my students via text and voice call. Email of course, is essential in remaining connected with them, too.
Paula Bordenkecher
I use JING to help offer feedback on assignments in real time. They can hear my voice and see me mark up their work. This provides a personal touch and clear engagement. Jing has a Free option and a subscription option. Very helpful if you are teaching hands on tech classes.
Active learning tools include all social media website and I run a blog/website of my own which I share with all of the students. I think this all really depends on the content that the course is about, but all of them have niches to use.
As an online instructor I have used youtube with links for my medical classes I teach to show videos of topics we are discussing. I have also used screencast.com to share specific things to my students.
Owl Purdue is another good site for APA tutorials.
I currently use Skype, Web-Ex, Adobe Connect, and Jing. Most students are familiar with a at least one of these interactive technologies and I get good student participation.
Robert,
Citation Creation. Wish I had had that when I was in school.
Renee Shaffer
I also find the discussion board useful. It is useful for providing students with engaging questions, encouragement, and additional information on the discussion topic.
I recommend and review for students the value of using the university tutoring services, labs, and taking the library tour.
Also recommended are two URLs. The first is a site that allows the student to quickly format to an APA format. Check it out!
http://citationcreation.com/apa/book.html
Citation Creation
The second URL provides students with healthcare news, background articles for research, and a myriad of other valuable information associated with contemporary healthcare issues.
http://kff.org/
Kaiser Family Foundation
Both are free!!
