Google My Maps and Twitter

Interesting blog entry about how KPBS, an affiliate NPR station in San Diego, used Google Maps and Twitter to update citizens about hazardous fire areas in California.

"Putting the Pedagogy into the Tools" K-12 Online Conference

I attended the "Putting the Pedagogy in the Tools" session by Anne Davis at the K-12 Online 2007 Conference. The session was engaging and demonstrated the exemplary uses of using technology in instruction. Anne provided a narrated presentation to begin her session and then encouraged the participants to view her blog, which included examples and resources of different instructional technology tools.

Overall, I found her session to be very informative. I especially enjoyed her introduction (the narrated presentation) which included all images and no text. The images she used definitely reflected her narration. Not many people use PowerPoint or other presentation tools in this manner. Recently, a JMU faculty member mentioned that just including bullet points doesn't necessarily engage the student or provide for further contemplation. Providing an image on the other hand encourages the student to really think about what the image is saying in conjunction with the instructor's voice. I think this is an interesting point, which makes me contemplate textual PowerPoint presentations. Perhaps, by including questions on the slides for participants rather than statements we could provide more engagement and deeper learning.

Whew- The Digital Imagination

I was very pleased with the Teaching and Learning with Technology conference that we hosted last week. Gardner Campbell the keynote speaker gave a superb and thought provoking keynote speech. He spoke about keeping our imaginations open when it comes to instructional technology. You can hear a podcast of his speech on our conference website or on his blog. All of the presentations were engaging and I hope satisfying to the conference participants.

Another highlight of the conference, was making connections with instructional technology folks from other universities. There could be great collaborating potential with VCU, University of Mary Washington, Virginia Tech, EMU, Blue Ridge Community College, just to name a few. Perhaps, we could use the new and emerging social technologies to collaborate with the different schools. I think it would be interesting to keep in touch and bounce ideas off of each other as we support faculty in the every emerging world of technology!