Technology I Loved in 2012 – #30in30
Photo by me using my Nexus 7 tablet
2012 was not a very big technology year for me, at least not for new technology. This is probably good since a really good year would certainly mean I spent way too much money. I’ll share what little I did use in this post and then follow up later with more substantive posts on each technology then. Look in the Tech I Love category for these new posts. I’ve broken technology into two categories: web tools/software and hardware. Let’s start with the web tools/software. This list could be longer, but I only want to focus on the tools I actually used in my classes with students.
The most significant tool I used, and one that everyone in Maricopa will be using next fall is our new LMS – Canvas. I’m an early adopter, so I started teaching in the free version of Canvas last spring (2012). And this fall I taught in the official Maricopa version. I’m really surprised I haven’t blogged more about it, but I really like this LMS, and Instructure sure knows how to throw a party; I mean conference. Next up is Google+. We don’t have G+ turned on for our students yet in MCCCD, but a few faculty have been using it with students via personal Gmail accounts. We had our learning community students use it for blogging and sharing content for the past two semesters, and it’s worked really well. We created a circle for the class and had students posting twice weekly. Students on their own turned it into a way to communicate with each other as well. Read more
Diigo Links for the Week 02/27/2012
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Generate Favicon | Free scripts, tools and generators for making favicons
If you have a website and you don’t have an icon, then Generate Favicon is exactly what you are looking for. They make it quick and easy to generate an icon for your website.
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COVERITLIVE.COM – Gaming – Help
“Live Gaming provides a unique way for online brands, publishers and bloggers to keep their readers actively engaged and entertained. Build audience duration and social interaction; allow Readers to make predictions, win points for answering questions, and bet those points on real-time outcomes. Live Gaming creates a second interactive event within the main one, and makes the overall event experience even more relevant and rewarding. To set up a new Game simply publish a new Trivia or Bet from the Polls & Interactive tab in your Console. “
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
ENG102 Screencast: Getting Started with Delicious
Getting Started with Delicious
This screencast covers the basics of signing up for a delicious account, installing the delicious toolbar/buttons, saving a website, and updating your personal profile.
To learn more about delicious and social bookmarking, check out the Common Craft video below, Social Bookmarking in Plain English.
ENG102 Screencast: Summaries & Bedford Bibliographer
Assn. #1: Summaries & Bedford Bibliographer
The screencast will walk you through completing assignment #1: writing your summaries and inputting them and the article bibliographies into Bedford Bibliographer.
http://alisacooper.com/screencasts/102A1/102A1.html
ENG102 Screencast: Formatting Assignments
Formatting Assignments
This screencast will show you how to correctly format and save your assignments before you submit them for grading.
http://www.freshmancomp.com/screencasts/PaperFormat/PaperFormat.html
LEARNtech #3: Notifications & Messages in Ning
This lesson covers the Ning Social Network: Turning Off Notifications & Checking Messages.
Are Online Classes Right for You?
If you have registered for ENG101 or ENG102 Online, you have come to the correct place. These sections of ENG101 and ENG102 are taught completely online, and we will be using Blackboard as the course management system. To participate in this class, you will need to successfully log-in to Blackboard and learn to use the system.
If you already know your Blackboard Username (MEID) and Password, log in to Bb and complete the course orientation in the START HERE tab. If you don’t know your MEID, visit https://eims.maricopa.edu/MAW/SPAT.html and choose the option: Forgot Your MEID? If it’s not your first visit, and you know your MEID but you’ve simply forgotten your password, you can look up your password if you have forgotten it, by choosing: Forgot Your Password?
Class begins January 19th for the Spring 2010 Semester. The Blackboad site will be available by the 11th. You must enter Blackboard and begin the class by Wednesday, January 20th or you will be dropped for no show.
When you enter Blackboard, read the current Announcements and complete all the orientation activities. (If you need help navigating around Blackboard, watch any of the first six orientation video clips: http://www.maricopa.edu/blackboard/help.html
If you have any questions, call or email Dr. Cooper at 
or 602-325-3259
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Distance Learning Facts
1. Distance Learning students sometimes can end up neglecting their course work because of personal or professional circumstances, unless they have compelling reasons for taking the course.
2. Some students prefer the independence of Distance Learning; others find it uncomfortable.
3. Distance Learning gives students greater freedom of scheduling, but it can require more self-discipline than on-campus classes.
4. Some people learn best by interacting with other students and instructors, but Distance Learning may not provide much opportunity for this interaction.
5. Distance Learning requires you to work from written directions without face-to-face instructions.
6. It may take as long as two or three days to get comments back by e-mail from your instructor (such as over a weekend or holiday).
7. Distance Learning requires at least as much time as on-campus courses and in many instances up to three times as much.
8. Distance Learning uses computers and other technology for teaching and communication.
9. Printed and/or online materials are the primary source of directions and information in Distance Learning.
10. Distance Learning classes often require written assignments and projects.
11. Students who have dropped a college class often don’t have the self-discipline or motivation to work independently and complete an online course.
Based on IS ELI FOR ME? by Bob Loser, Joan Trabandit, Barbara Hatheway, and Teresa Donell.
©1989, 1998, Extended Learning Institute, Northern Virginia Community College.
LEARNtech #2: Signing Up for Ning Social Network
http://www.freshmancomp.com/screencasts/Learntech2ning/Learntech2ning.html
Hi. This is Professor Cooper and this is a screencast for the ENG102 course. This screencast is one in a series called “LearnTech in 5 minutes or less with Dr. Cooper.” This lesson will cover signing up for Ning, our class social network. It’s kind of like Facebook, but better and private – just for students in my classes.
LEARNtech #1: Using Bedford Bibliographer
http://www.freshmancomp.com/screencasts/learntech1bedford/learntech1bedford.html
Hi. This is Professor Cooper and this is a screencast for the ENG102 course. This screencast is one in a series called “LearnTech in 5 minutes or less with Dr. Cooper.” This lesson will cover registering and using the Bedford Bibliographer, an easy-to-use Web-based application from the author of The Bedford Researcher that assists students with the process of collecting sources, and generates bibliographies in MLA, APA, CSE, and Chicago Styles.
