GlobalClassroom

Lots of open educational resources

2009-10-28T17:12:00.003-04:00

One of the best things about having an online classroom is that you can link to all sorts of great resources on the web (as long as they are not filtered by your school network). We'll if you're looking for resources on the web here's a great place to start (Google is also a great place to kick off your search...): The GuidetoOnlineSchools.com has a great resource of online classrooms.

Subjects include anything from Architecture to Women's Studies and the content includes audio, video, and text. All of the resources are culled from the Open Course Ware Consortium, which collects and indexes OCW from MIT, Johns Hopkins, Berkley, Tufts and many more.

Check out the GuidetoOnlineSchools.com or the OCW Consortium and link to some great content today!

3 Ways to Link to Audio in the Classroom

2009-10-27T10:50:00.006-04:00

Did you know there are three ways to link to an audio file in your Moodle classroom? Each of the ways provides a filter that will automatically display controls to play your audio file in the classroom. It's very handy if you're creating podcasts, playing subject-related music or news broadcasts and want your students to have access to them online/outside of school.

Here's a quick run down. Hit the link below to see them in action on GlobalClassroom.us (or if you just want to listen to Vanilla Ice...):

1. upload it to your course files and then copy the link (the destination URL, which will end with .mp3). Create a hyperlink anywhere within your Moodle course and paste that URL. Moodle will automatically create a filter with audio controls for a file that ends in .mp3.

2. edit a web page or the description of an activity, click text you'd like to turn into a hyperlink, click browse, upload the file to the course files, once uploaded click the file. This will produce the same result as 1. (Below is what the audio player looks like.)
3. "add a resource", and choose "link to a file or website". Give the resource a title, and below the "Location" text box click "choose or upload a file..." Navigate again to site files by clicking browse and choose/upload the mp3 (this will show a mp3 icon on the main course page but will open the player as a new window). Instead of browsing you also can paste any mp3 URL copied from another website or from your course files to create a playable audio file (paste the URL into the "Location" text field).

Above is an image of editing a "link to a file or website" resource.

Check out this basic Moodle example which showcases each way.

You might also be interested in how this works for video, or the difference between linking to a file in your Moodle course by hyperlink vs. using the "link to a file or website" resource.

Is the site faster?

2009-10-22T11:25:00.001-04:00

We just upgraded our main server setup, so you might noticed some very nice speed improvements on the site. We want to know what you think, let us know in the form below!

Loading...

New Feature: get a course copy as an editing teacher

2009-10-20T12:04:00.004-04:00

I wanted to let everyone know about a new feature on GlobalClassroom that does two things:

Helps you protect your content by sharing content with non-editing teachers
provides non-editing teachers the complete means to get a copy of your shared course!

On most Moodle sites worldwide, sharing a course and all of it's content with a teacher requires some manual labor (backing up the course and sending it to them) or creates a security risk (giving editing rights to another teacher puts the course in their hands, on the GlobalClassroom site editing teachers can even delete your course!).

To eliminate some of the leg work but provide a great opportunity to share resources and even complete classrooms with other teachers we've changed the non-editing teacher role. We now allow non-editing teachers in your courses to have access to the Backup and Files interfaces within your course.

In order to be listed as a non-editing teacher, the editing teacher will first have to add you using Assign Roles (this is located in the course Administration block, as are Backup and Files, though the Admin block will appear differently to non-editing teachers. Note that editing teachers are the only role in a course that can add additional users through Assign Roles).

Once a teacher is added to the non-editing role, they'll have access to the course either on their profile home page or on their My Courses tab.

If you're a non-editing teacher and you want to get a copy of a course, read on.

To start, login to the platform and access the course where you're listed as a non-editing teacher.

Next, click Backup to initiate the course backup process (this will create a zip file that you can upload and restore on the GlobalClassroom site or any other Moodle). As a non-editing teacher your administration block options will be much reduced.

The Backup process is comprised of several screens where you can choose to backup student data, no data, the course files, etc. My best recommendation, for the cleanest version of the course is to choose to backup without any user data, no logs, and no users. This will ensure that you do not inadvertently add users to another Moodle site or enroll students into your course if restored to the GlobalClassroom site.

Click through the screens of check boxes until your backup is complete (depending on the size of the course it could take several seconds or as long as a few minutes). Once the Backup is completed you'll see a screen that looks like this:

Right click on the zip file in order to save it locally to your computer. Once the download is complete you're ready to restore it for your own use!

Backing up, restoring and importing courses (how to)

Strategies for Online Discussions - FacultyFocus

2009-10-19T13:03:00.003-04:00

FacultyFocus is a great email newsletter I receive daily. It's got great information about how to make the most out of your online classroom (whether fully online or blended). Today I got a great article about how to best engage your students in discussion forums (one of my favorite Moodle activities).

The online facilitator (Michelle Everson, PhD) listed 5 main ways:

Cheer students on and let them know when they are on the right track
Highlight important points made during discussion
Question students about their understanding or ask them to clarify remarks they have made or expand on certain ideas
Correct misconceptions/misunderstandings
Provide direct instruction if students appear to be struggling to understand material

Discussion forums are a great way to enhance on-topic classroom conversations and to extend your time with students (because it's available 24/7).

To read the whole article check out their site: http://www.facultyfocus.com/?p=8713 and consider joining the mailing list so you don't miss their great tips and tricks.

What is the GlobalClassroom?

2009-10-16T11:41:00.003-04:00

This business and the service we provide to teachers nation wide is near and dear to my heart. I love helping teachers do something novel with Moodle. I get great joy out of answering tech questions, finding and fixing bugs, and even changing a password so that a student can get going on their homework again. Without that interaction on a daily basis would be a lot less enjoyable.

That being said, I want to let you know what I (Joseph Thibault) think GlobalClassroom is, where we're going and what it represents in the world of online education/elearning.

In 25 words or less, I think that GlobalClassroom is a "Moodle Community: where schools can host their classrooms securely, teachers can find professional development, and schools, businesses and other organizations can sell and deliver courses."

Let's unpack that a little bit (in more than 25 words) to look at the various pieces that contribute to our site.

1. GlobalClassroom is a community. We run one set of code the supports all of our users at GlobalClassroom.us. So when you report a bug or make a feature request using the "feedback" button (which is connected to our Uservoice account) and we fix or add it: everyone wins! All of our users are stewards of the community because each of you can reach out, give us feedback or report a bug which will benefit us all.

2. Secure hosting for schools/teachers. We offer a basic, free level of service to all teachers world wide. Teachers anywhere can register at GlobalClassroom and create Moodle-based classrooms for free. This is the standard level of Moodle which includes various capabilities and modules (quizzes, assignment dropboxes, glossaries, discussion forums and wikis). Additionally you can upload and display documents, podcasts and even video if you so choose, all in a secure classroom (password protected through the Moodle enrollment key).

For schools that want added security and control we also offer branded eSchools (starting at 10 bucks a month). These provide a way to organize a school's courses and to control access to the eSchool in order to prevent unauthorized users from joining or creating courses. It also has some handy password features and a complete user management dashboard (where you can upload accounts in bulk, and change passwords and roles).

3. Find professional development. When GlobalClassroom was founded in the early 00's, the main focus of the business was providing technology-related professional development online. We've had a really good run in the business of low-cost, facilitated, completely online courses; some of the most popular have been Podcasting, Digital Photography and Video. Today though we offer over 80 titles in such subject areas as ESL, special education, technology and leadership. What I think is unique about GlobalClassroom.us is that teachers can learn about Moodle by taking a class, and then apply those skills directly to their blended or fully online (and free) classroom. It's a great resource and chance for teachers to see something in action, learn a skill and then create resources that benefit student right away. This is the main reason we've introduced #4.

4. A market place of courses. With the open nature of GlobalClassroom.us (allowing anyone to join and being creating resources), paired with the ability to conduct online transactions we're now very happy to offer businesses, schools, teachers and pretty much anyone else with valuable ideas or content that ability to sell courses online.

Whether or not you have an eSchool, users can create content in Moodle and list a price (click for a draft of our agreement with users that opt into selling a course through the GlobalClassroom site). The course will now be available in the community search to prospective users. They can find your course and instantly purchase it either online or by contacting our student services. GlobalClassroom does take a fee in order to support the hosting, support and programming costs of managing a 100,000+ user network (10% of the total course price listed), but we think that's fair for providing a turn key course marketplace (click here for more of the Draft terms).

In the next few months and years we'll be upgrading our site to the specifications that you want most, ensuring that we're using the most updated Moodle version available, adding the popular modules users want and creating more efficient and easy ways to get started building a classroom.

We're very happy that you're here. And we're grateful for the opportunity to serve educators.

Sincerely and on behalf of the staff,

Joseph Thibault

Support

jthibault@globalclassroom.us

National Cyber Security Awareness Month (some 'freesources')

2009-10-08T15:07:00.003-04:00

Did you know that October was National Cyber Security Awareness Month? It's part of a national campaign, supported by some high profile companies and government agencies and I think we should all take a minute to brush up on our awareness. To contribute we've pulled together a few free resources from around the web and hosted them here, in a Moodle classroom (Note that the resources are pulled from Simplemoodle.com, which is free to download SCORM on various topics, including cyber security and computer usage).

Click here to access the SCORM based "National Cyber Security Awareness Month Resources"

Also, you might wish to check out StaySafeOnline.org (home of the NCSA Month activities) where you can find out what you as educators can do to promote cyber security awareness in your students (from the site):

Incorporate cyber security into your computer curriculum and use the USA Today cyber security lesson plans (click here to access the USA Today resources).
Engage parents: discuss cyber security during open houses, PTA meetings, and parent teacher conferences.
Add cyber security tips to the school’s website.
Advocate for district-wide curriculum on cyber security, cyber safety, and cyber ethics that can be implemented district-wide.

Additionally, Google has set up a special Youtube channel to promote cyber security awareness by covering topics such as cyberbullying, internet safety, malware and good password creation. Here's another contribution by Google.

Finally, you might like this free course to download which I created as part of a grant in Vermont: Internet Safety, Acceptable Use, Research and Copyright. The course is available for download from Moodlecommons.org.

PS, if you like the SCORM resources included in the NCSAM Resources course listed above and would like to use them in your own classroom, check out our recent post about SCORM.

SCORM: what it is, where to find it, how to use it, and what it looks like

2009-10-07T14:38:00.010-04:00

SCORM. You might have see it listed as one of the possible formats your course can have (in the course settings under format) or you might have seen it listed in the possible activities you could add to your classroom when editing is turned on. This post will cover four important aspects of SCORM and how you can find, upload, implement and use it in your classroom. This isn't meant to be an exhaustive tutorial, more of a primer so that you can seek more information if you think it will be a benefit to your online classroom.

1. What is SCORM? SCORM is an international standard for learning objects. That is to say, it's a standardized, web-based format that many Learning Management Systems (such as Moodle) can integrate and display. It's an acronym which stands for Sharable Content Object Reference Model (no wonder they use the acronym, right?) According to SCORM.com (which is not the originator/creator of SCORM):

SCORM is a set of technical standards for e-learning software products. SCORM tells programmers how to write their code so that it can “play well” with other e-learning software. Specifically, SCORM governs how online learning content and Learning Management Systems (LMSs) communicate with each other. SCORM does not speak to instructional design or any other pedagogical concern, it is purely a technical standard.

What's important to know is that Moodle supports SCORM 1.2 and you can find quite a bit across the internet if you know where to look. SCORM also is a way to do much, much more with Moodle than what is available in a standard install.

2. Where can I find SCORM? There are two ways to find usable SCORM: a. by finding it pre-made and available on the web, or b. by creating it yourself using a program that exports to SCORM. The latter has obvious value for creating your own course materials, but you might be surprised what's available for free to download.

To create your own: I've played around with some SCORM creation programs. By far the best and easiest to use are Camtasia and Articulate (though there are lots if you have the time to learn a new program/application; I've played with both eXe and courselab, but they required more time than the little I had to evaluate). Here's a complete list of SCORM creators from Moodle.org. I will say that the benefit of using a program like Articulate is that you can easily start from a familiar foundation (Articulate uses PPT. I'm not endorsing it though because it's pretty pricey at $995).

Where you can find some SCORM: Moodle.org is the best place to start searching for SCORM. They have a repository set up where there are some good SCORM modules posted. Here are some other sites I know about:

Moodle SCORM repository
SimpleMoodle.com (SCORM is free to download after registering, all packages were created by InfoSource, Inc.)
SCORM.com (though these are just examples)
Selfproject.eu (a few random packages)

If you find another site with SCORM available for download please comment.

3. How to use SCORM: there really are two ways to put a SCORM package to work once it's created and you have it. You can either upload it as a single object in your course (it will display just like any other assignment or web page you create in the online classroom). Or you can make it the complete basis of your course by creating a SCORM format course.

Which ever you choose, the process for configuring the package is the same. Once you've either created your SCORM format course or added an activity --> SCORM/AICC you'll be prompted to configure the resource.

As shown in the screen shot below, you'll need to add a title to your SCORM package, a description, etc. The most important part is the "Package File". This is how we'll choose the file that initiates your SCORM package.

When you have your SCORM package (which should be a .zip file) get to this step and choose or upload a file. Create a folder in your file directory for the package, navigate to the folder and then choose the .zip file and upload it to your course. Note that some SCORM packages can be quite large (some of the packages from SimpleMoodle.com are ~50MB so it will take some time to upload).

Once uploaded, unzip the SCORM package and then locate and "choose" the imsmanifest.xml file included (this is the most important step).

When you've returned to the SCORM configuration page you can play with any of the other fields (putting points on your SCORM, allowing X attempts, opening it as a new window, etc.). These will largely be affected by your individual preferences and needs. The default setup, minus the grading will enable your SCORM to open without a problem though if you just want to Save. Once you've saved it, your SCORM will be operational!

4. So what's SCORM look like? Packages will vary, but for the most part SCORM can be a pretty flashy, it can include assessment items and audio/video. Here's a screenshot of the completed, uploaded and correctly configured SCORM package I downloaded from Simplemoodle.com (I choose to open the package in a new window and to leave it as a learning object...so I'll know when students have completed it but it is given only 1 point per section in the grade book). Each of the sections will display for you (and for students each of the sections they complete will be marked automatically for them (resuming them at the point where they left off when they re-access later.

Clicking on either of the sections will open it in a new window, showing the SCORM in all of it's glory.

If you'd like to check out a sample (free) course with a few SCORM packages already set up, please check out our contribution to National Cyber Security Awareness Month (each of the modules is from the SimpleMoodle.com repository).

And if you read this far, thanks!

Our courses rock!

2009-10-07T13:55:00.004-04:00

We just closed out another quarter (July through September) of offering professional development courses to teachers throughout the country. From each student we collect some great quantitative and qualitative information through an online evaluation form at the end of their course and the information always amazes me.

First, it reaffirms to me that not only is Moodle a great place to host and deliver online courses but out facilitators and course authors are top-notch. Students love our teachers (and so do we).

Here are some highlights from the evaluations:

Overall, on a scale of 1-5 our courses (127 taken this quarter) averaged 4.21 (1 = "poor"; 5 = "excellent")
The subject area that scored the highest was ESL (4.42).
95% of students said they would take another course through GlobalClassroom.us

The qualitative comments about individual courses are great:

About the Moodle course with Laurie Korte - "Moodle has great potential. Anyone interested in learning aspects of Moodle would benefit from the course."
Digital Photography with Rusti Gregory - "I truly loved this class. I've never known so much about my digital camera before taking this class. I truly enjoyed being "forced" to read my manual! =0) And taking online courses has been a wonderful experience. With the completion of this class, I've completed my Master's Equivalency Degree!"
Dr. Carmen Burds' new Methods and Materials for Students with LD and ADHD - "I really enjoyed this course. It is real life information that can have a positive impact on my students immediately."
Dr. Barbara McKenzie's Infusing Technology Integration (Fundamentals) - "Dr. McKenzie provided helpful feedback to me during the course. Each assignment was returned with thoughtful, positive comments. The course also had many helpful strategies, examples and suggestions to help us along in our efforts."
Carolyn McCarthy and the popular Podcasts for Teaching and Learning course - "I thought the course was very helpful in creating exciting podcast and blogs for educational purposes. It was nice to create things you can actually use in the class room and use right away."

How about a round of applause for our great facilitators? :D

Taking an online course can certainly be tough, but the facilitators really make the difference. So if you're interested in ever taking an online course, GlobalClassroom is definitely a good place to start.

Additionally if you want to capture feedback from your own students or want to improve your online course quality let us know. We've been at this for a long time so our experience and expertise can be a great resource: jthibault@globalclassroom.us or 802-735-2066 to reach me directly.

What's YOUR Moodle skill level?

2009-09-29T18:11:00.003-04:00

I found a neat Moodle Skill Template on Scribd.com today which outlined various need-to-know Moodle skills (like navigation, creating content, updating content, adding pictures and HTML , etc.) and thought that it was an interesting idea.

It also could be a great resource for school-based technology integration specialists or eSchool administrators to better target professional development and Moodle training. I modified the scale to include/exclude a few details and to make it more applicable to learning Moodle on GlobalClassroom or another standard Moodle install (the template included some modules we do not provide or support). Basically, it's a form that you could copy and take (let me know and I'll share a copy with you through Google Docs - joseph.thibault@gmail.com).

I'm interested to know though, regardless of your role or previous usage, how our GlobalClassroom and blog audience population looks. This will help me target my future posts and build the training that we need. Additionally I'll answer any specific questions asked in a future post or directly by email if you let me know in the easy to fill out form.

Click here if you receive this via email: Moodle Skills Matrix

Welcome 100,000th User!

2009-09-24T18:36:00.003-04:00

On behalf of Global Classroom, Inc. I'd like to welcome our 100,000th registered user who joined us earlier today (9/24/09)!

We're proud to have made so much headway in the last year, providing the web's leading Moodle community/platform. We've given over 3200 courses to teachers, helped to facilitate courses in nearly every state (and a growing number of countries) and have doubled our daily visitors since the end of school last year.

Thanks for using GlobalClassroom as the foundation of your online classrooms. Great stuff soon to come!

Image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/tmab2003/

1st Week of Teaching and Learning Online (With MrsDurff) is Free!

2009-09-22T17:00:00.005-04:00

Lisa Durff, also known on the web as MrsDuff, recently revised Teaching and Learning Online (the 1st installment of a 3 course series in online course development) and it's waiting for you to check it out.

The entire first week of the course is available as a free trial for you to checkout. If you like what you see, you can easily purchase the course and continue with the content. The next course starts officially on 10/1/09 and the course is offered with Act 48 Credits (certified in PA, course number 20040780).

The first week of the course includes the teacher introduction, a review of online resources, discussions and a week ending reflection assignment. All are available to you in the free trial. Additionally, this course is built to become increasingly collaborative as the weeks progress, urging you to team up with other students to complete assignments and to work as a group to create a database of great resources.

Check out the free trial here, as long as you're registered at GlobalClassroom.us you can click course checkout and enroll at no cost.

Here's a taste of the course, MrsDurff's course introduction video:

Or click here for the link if you're receiving this via email.

If you don't know Lisa Durff, she's one of my favorite web personalities. Lisa co-hosts It's Elementary at EdTechTalk.com, she blogs at http://durffsblog.blogspot.com/, she's presented at the K12 Online Conference (here's her presentation from '07) and she's personally invited me (on several occasions) to chat with educators and online learners world wide).

She's going to rock as an online facilitator.

Don't be Daunted: 8 Steps to Grow your Moodle

2009-09-17T17:07:00.006-04:00

A political science professor once said this about Democracy to me: "It's the worst type of government, except for all of the others." One might say the same about Moodle. It gets a lot of guff for being a behemoth of code (over 500,000 lines) and for being a little extra complex (even though the standard install is pretty "bare bones" compared to the customized Moodles around the web).

For all of the criticisms, no other Learning Management System (LMS) or eLearning platform has enjoyed the rapid growth and press that Moodle has, thanks to it's huge user base, great online support forums and community at Moodle .org and it's widespread adoption by hosting companies and enterprise solution providers working to provide is freely to the world (including GlobalClassroom.us).

We're happy to offer it freely to teachers and students worldwide, and we're doing our best to support the community at large (and small). And if you're one of the critical or skeptics, or if you're a teacher just starting out and want to create your course then keep reading...

I ran across a great blog post that talks about the complexity of Moodle and how the author suggested teachers can get past the "Whoa". Check out the Changing Face of Education in Iowa blog (by Evan Abbey) for more information. The original post is a must read, here's a quote:

Moodle is not for the faint of heart. After showing it to teachers, I often hear something along the lines of "Whoa, that is a lot more complicated than a wiki!"

Yes, that's true.

But, you can also do much more with it. Not just in terms of individual tasks, like a discussion board and a database, but also big-picture outlook. You have several different starting points. And best of all, you can start and just get your feet wet, or when you are ready, you can always progress in your use. There are many acceptable levels of use that improve your classroom instruction... you don't have to become fully immersed in it to use it well. (from "Degrees of Moodle Use in the Classroom" by Evan Abbey)

Evan goes onto suggest several (8) steps that a teacher might use Moodle and not be overwhelmed with the advanced features or complex forms and fields required to create all at once. Wade into the Moodle pool by advancing through these steps (note that after each step the basic assignment/resource that might correspond to each is in parenthesis after; I've also linked to past blog posts where you might learn more, if applicable):

Repository of documents (link to a file or website/display a directory)
Links to all the websites you use in class (link to a file or website/create hyperlinks)
a Classroom calendar (utilize the classroom calendar and add events)
Digital Assignment Dropbox (upload a single file/advanced uploading of files/online text assignments)
Classroom discussion board (forums)
Enrichment (differentiate instruction using groups and groupings)
Supplement (quizzes/wikis/lessons)
Full online course (all of the above and more!)

Click here for the full post at Evan's blog. And discuss and comment on his great contribution there.

Image Attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hiddedevries/ / CC BY 2.0

Did you Know? 4.0

2009-09-16T14:44:00.005-04:00

These are internet-famous videos about the rapidly changing information landscape. The newest installment just arrived (fall 09) and is embedded below:

Other versions of Did you Know? are available through the Xplane Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/xplanevisualthinking

Enjoy the thought provoking video!

H1N1 and eLearning: Be Prepared with a Safe Online Alternative

2009-09-15T16:48:00.005-04:00

I just recently flew home to California and the next day woke congested and with flu-like symptoms. I'm not saying it's Swine Flu, but it does make me thankful to a) be married to a nurse and b) be able to work remotely (so I don't have to miss school/work in order to quarantine myself).

Students and teachers don't always have the same opportunities to miss school/work without missing school/work. When H1N1 appears at a school, it can have dire consequences to the health of the student body and staff, but it also disrupts school schedules and keeps students from accessing critical homework, lessons and instruction when they're forced home from school. Recently an Edweek.org article pointed out that the federal government and leading elearning companies are partnering to provide no-gap solutions for schools struck by the H1N1 virus.

The solution is to provide alternative online instructional tools to teachers so that they can rapidly create and deploy activities and resources to replace lost classroom time. For many teachers it will be as easy as posting digital PDFs or website addresses and prompting students to submit reviews/reflections or essays online in a digital drop box (maintaining classroom progress without necessitating physical attendance).

"Federal officials urged school leaders to look into digital resources, webinar support..., online courses, and virtual classrooms as possible ways of delivering education." ("Swine-Flu Plans Put E-Learning in the Spotlight", Edweek)

GlobalClassroom is in full support of this effort and we will continue to provide free digital classrooms to any teachers world wide who wish to be prepared for the H1N1 virus by creating an online classroom with resources and activities. The efforts teachers take today to secure and organize online content will ensure that schools and classrooms can keep running in the case of a school closure.

Additional Swine Flue coverage by Edweek.org is available here.
Federal recommendations for school continuity are available from the Ed.gov website.

In an effort to contribute to school preparedness GlobalClassroom has created the Flu Preparedness eSchool which is freely available to teachers and administrators seeking to learn more about being prepared and equipped to meet the demands of a global flu pandemic. In partnership with the University of Vermont and Dr. Jan Carney (of UVM) GC has created several resources specifically designed to impart this important information, including updates, videos, frequently asked questions and school preparedness plans. More information is available here:

Below is just a taste of what's available through this resource.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_l7wix2vc4

For more information please see our 9/15 Press Release or contact rwillis@globalclassroom.us.

Free Course - Presidential Address (Pre and Post Activities/Resources)

2009-09-09T19:01:00.003-04:00

Yesterday President Obama addressed the nation's students from Arlington, Virginia. The 18 minute speech touched on various themes, including Obama's childhood and school days, his perseverance and his hope that students today will work their hardest so that the US is prepared for the world's future challenges.

I realize that the address was met with some criticism (what in politics is not?); but this momentous occasion (when a president addresses students directly) is a great opportunity to show how activities and resources can easily be worked into online classrooms as eLearning.

The speech (transcript here, video here) is available digitally as OER and all of the activities and resources created by the Department of Education and White House are also available. With the proposed activities and resources available, the live streaming of the address, and it's availability after through Youtube I thought it would constitute a great example of formatting digital content for the classroom: which is why I created a course to showcase how a teacher might have created a pre/post classroom to view, discuss, and reflect upon the Presidential Address to students nationwide.

The course is free and available as long as you've registered at GlobalClassroom.us (registration is free). Sign up, login and check it out. You can even utilize this course with your students (I'm happy to set up groups) so that we have one post-address destination on GC.

Or, download the backup file and restore it as your own.

For more information or to access the course click here.

Find Free Content for your Classroom (via WikiEducator.org)

2009-09-09T16:28:00.003-04:00

Found a great clearing house of OER (open education resource) repositories at WikiEducator.org (found by browsing at the Open eLearning Content Observatory Services site, the premier OER site in Europe, Open Educational Resources @ Cathy Anderson's blog and Open Education News).

The page is aptly named as the "Exemplary Collection of Open eLearning Content Repositories" and you can find it here. Check out that page for such resources as the OERCommons, MIT OCW, Math World (which is a Wolfram Research site) and many more.

All told there are 60+ resources that will lead you to content you may freely integrate into your eLearning, digital classrooms or Moodles.

Let us know your favorite finds in the comments.

Free Course to Download and Restore - Intro to Spreadsheets

2009-08-31T13:34:00.004-04:00

I built an Introduction to Spreadsheets about 12 months ago and just rediscovered it. If anyone is looking for a short course made to give students a primer in using spreadsheet applications (Excel, Open Office Calc or Google Docs Spreadsheet) then this might be a place to start.

The course is available here, at no cost and the download is located in a displayed directory. Just download the backup and restore it to a course on GlobalClassroom.us or any other Moodle. If you make changes to the course, please consider letting me know and sending me a copy so we can continue to offer the freshest version online. I would be happy to share the attribution.

The course includes several resources to free texts and sites online to help students learn, a short quiz on spreadsheet terminology and five assignments, each requiring a higher level of spreadsheet know-how.

It's not a definitive training course by any means. But I do think it could be the basis for a more in depth course or a hybrid course where an instructor is meeting with students regularly in a computer lab.

Show your colleagues what Moodle is all about (presentation)

2009-08-28T17:18:00.003-04:00

Here's a great presentation I found on AuthorStream (another great presentation hosting resource we've covered). The author is lehane and I thought the presentation was a great overview of what Moodle is, what it includes in each install and best of all, what you can expect to find on GlobalClassroom.us. Share it with a skeptical colleague or newbie.

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by lehane

Want a PPT with Audio in your classroom?

Take the First week of Digital Photography for FREE!

2009-08-27T18:17:00.005-04:00

FREE TRIAL: TEACHING, LEARNING AND HAVING FUN WITH DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

I love the look and feel of a freshly created course. Especially when I know that the facilitator is invested in providing his/her students a top-notch experience in learning a particular skill or technology.

Rusti Gregory, who teaches both Dreamweaver for Teachers and Teaching, Learning and Having Fun with Digital Photography, recently revamped both titles and I want to make sure as many interested teachers as possible experience the high quality.

Digital Photography is the original GlobalClassroom course (which launched our 80+ title course catalog, our free Moodle platform and most recently our eSchool services and hosting). It's a great course that covers the basics, gives students real field experience and lets them interact with a "pro". Not to mention that Rusti gives is a really personal touch and is very attentive in the classroom via discussion forums, email correspondence and the great presentations he's created to guide students through the materials.

That being said, any interested individuals can sign up and take the first week of Teaching, Learning and Having Fun with Digital Photography for free. Meander through the first week, review the resources and participate in the activities before deciding if it's for you. If you then find yourself eager to complete the online course (and to receive graduate level credit for doing so) just click the link to the course purchase page and check out for one of the upcoming dates. The next course starts at the beginning of October 09.

So if you want to dip a toe into the world of online education but want to try it before you buy it, check out the first week of Digital Photography for free. Whether you buy it or not I think you'll see that online courses can be enjoyable, straight forward and easy to master.

Below is a screen shot of the course interior:

OER Galore

2009-08-27T17:56:00.005-04:00

If you're interested in Open Education and Open Education Resources (OER) then a good resource for news and information is http://openeducationnews.org. The site has a great pulse of all that is Open Education and open source and I've happily referred to their site and posts for such finds as Linux-for-education.org (which is a great resource of open educational resources all based in Moodle).

Recently they posted a quick post about OER and a repository pulled together by BonEducation. The BonEducation site is a great primer for OER sites and destinations across the web. Each resources gets a "summary" and then some information directly from the website. So whether you're looking for lesson plans, college level curriculum, information about copyright or just some ideas about what is available, check it out.

The page is broken down by grade level and the relevant resources available from each. Not an exhaustive list by any means, but like Open Education said: "good reference for people who want a general sense of what is available without being overwhelmed."

Here's the original Open Education post: http://openeducationnews.org/2009/08/26/bon-education-posts-a-list-of-oer/
And a direct link to the BonEducation resource page: http://boneducation.com/edtech-resources/open-education-resources

On another, slightly celebratory note, we just passed 200 subscribers! So thank you everyone that catches up with GlobalClassroom.us through this blog. Personally I'm always happy to share the good online finds, tips and tricks and GlobalClassroom-happenings. It's interesting to note that we're also running up on 200 posts (which is almost a 1 to 1 growth rate in audience).

Don't forget to leave us some comments!

10+ ways to use Moodle - from Miguel Guhlin (mguhlin.org)

2009-08-24T14:19:00.004-04:00

Miguel Guhlin, blogger at Around the Corner (http://www.mguhlin.org/) recently re-posted a collection of 10 "Moodle instructional use scenarios" which is basically 10 ways that you might successfully use Moodle in a typical or atypical classroom environment. If you've ever wondered what you might do with Moodle beyond posting assignments and facilitating instruction, this is a great guide of some possibilities.

Here succinctly without descriptions, please click here to read the full post and to visit Miguel's sources (note that the original thrust of the post comes from Ken Task who maintains the Coloodle site we've posted about before: there are some great CC courses hosted there).

use Moodle to facilitate student blogs (note that blogs are disabled for privacy/security reasons on GlobalClassroom.us)
allow monitoring of forums through RSS
use Moodle to host podcasts for students
Moodle use for peer review/evaluation of student writing
use Moodle's chat feature to facilitate online office hours outside of school hours - also can be used for parent inquiries/communication
collaborate with a classroom in another school, state, country using a shared classroom space
differentiate role assignments to give students more access to managing aspects of the course (such as rating forum posts, viewing submitted work--but not grading, editing certain resources and assignments)
have access to student records and activity logs online
interactive writing feedback directly from teachers (not necessarily peer evaluation)
students can maintain a learning diary using the journal or online text assignment type
online book discussions using forums

Follow the link for the full post: http://www.mguhlin.org/2009/08/10-moodle-instructional-use-scenarios.html

If you're interested in setting up any of the above scenarios for your classroom please contact us today: support@globalclassroom.us

Online Education Beats the Classroom

2009-08-20T14:50:00.005-04:00

...Well, kinda. The NYTimes recently reported on a SRI study that concluded that supplemental digital or online educational opportunities and resources increased student testing performance by a slight margin.

It's not that face to face instruction is falling behind, it's that when technology--especially computers connected to the internet--was used in tandem with regular classroom instruction students did a little bit better.

According to the post, written by Steve Lohr:

A recent 93-page report on online education, conducted by SRI International for the Department of Education, has a starchy academic title, but a most intriguing conclusion: “On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.”

The recent innovations in elearning and it's nearly ubiquitous availability through sites like GlobalClassroom .us has done a lot to promote these supplemental resources and opportunities:

Until fairly recently, online education amounted to little more than electronic versions of the old-line correspondence courses. That has really changed with arrival of Web-based video, instant messaging and collaboration tools.

We fully support all teachers and schools that are trying to bring collaboration tools, embed videos or provide communication and discussion opportunities directly in the classroom. Our eSchools provide a quick, easy and affordable way for schools to take advantage of the Learning Management System (LMS).

Not to mention that free classrooms through GlobalClassroom provide over 3000 (3000!) classrooms to teachers worldwide to use with their students (where they can access anything from chats, discussion forums, embedded video, assignment dropboxes and so much more).

If you've been contemplating adding some online component to your classroom-based instruction and activities: there's never been a better time. Contact us today to find out how you do this for free, or how your school can do it at very low cost (2 dollars per teacher).

Introducing Masterpiece Online Academy

2009-08-14T11:05:00.003-04:00

Our new eSchool program on GlobalClassroom is really taking off. We're happy to be hosting teachers from around the world for free, but even more excited to be partnering with so many eSchools that plan to offer online content through our marketplace and community. It's simply awesome to help make that happen.

One of the newest eSchools is Masterpiece Online Academy which specializes in inexpensive online tutorials highlighting various mediums in art and design. Courses start at just $9.99.

eSchools are branded collections of digital classrooms (made in Moodle) where you can sell and facilitate courses, host content and provide instruction. You provide the content, we'll worry about the rest. I highly recommend checking out Masterpiece Online Academy to see what a branded eSchool can look like.

That being said, if you're interested in starting your own eSchool, check out our inexpensive options online (or by downloading the pdf through the link below).

Save File: GlobalClassroom eSchool Pricing information (pdf)

NOTE: eSchools are hosted by GlobalClassroom but are independent course catalogs managed by individuals not employed by GlobalClassroom. We actively monitor eSchools but do not offer any guaranteed level of service, accessibility, or refund policy (however we are implementing a standard basic terms of agreement that all eSchools must agree to in order to sell courses through our Moodle community/marketplace).

Just like our basic AUP, individuals eSchools may have their own policies and terms associated with their course catalogs that go beyond our standard rider, so please inquire to the eSchool administrator if you have any questions about individual courses. Or, contact support@globalclassroom.us and we'll try to track down answers for you.

Holy Moly More Free Books! (Google Books)

2009-08-14T10:06:00.005-04:00

Great news recently from Google Books (which already had one of the largest book archives on the Internet): they now allow books with Creative Commons licenses to be uploaded by the right-holders.

This means that any organization, group or author that's created a book/manuscript under one of the CC licenses can freely submit the book to Google Books and it will be indexed and available for download/viewing.

According to the Google Books blog they also will soon make changes to book search to pull only from CC listed results:

As authors and publishers tell us which works they want to share on Google Books under CC licenses, we'll be turning on the option to restrict your search to books you can share.

There doesn't seem to be a huge list of books right now, but they did start a list of pretty good titles including Lawrence Lessig's book, Code v2.0 (I'm reading Free Culture through DailyLit.com and really like it--he's a wealth of information about copyright law and the evolution of it's effects on the Internet and media).

Additionally, it's important to note that Google recently settled the class action case brought against it by major publishers and authors so there will certainly be many more books scanned and indexed online through this great, free service.