Survey monkey

I created this mid semester evaluation survey and posted it on my course Blackboard site. It was my first Survey Monkey creation, but I have seen so much success with the use of SM in IEQ 8 and other grant work that I was excited to try it. I will be adapting this for use in other courses and for the end of the semester evaluations. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F9YJQ8B

Survey Monkey was easy to use,especially for creating a mid semester evaluation. There are some samples available and questions to actually upload and use. I used 8 of the questions already provided, as they were what I wanted and why reinvent the wheel? I created two course specific questions asking about specific assignments and for suggestions for the last half of the course.

I can see using this in all of my courses. It provides anonymity that usually results in more honest feedback. It can be used asynochronously to be more convenient. Survey Monkey is definitely one thing I will use from this course.

Synochronous communication

Several synchronous communication tools exist, including Skype, Elluminate, and text chats through such tools as Facebook or Skype. I have used text chatting and Skype in the past, and tried Elluminate for the first time this month. I see great possibilities for using Elluminate in on-line classes and in conjunction with the ITV courses I currently teach. With ITV, there is lag time when communicating with other sites and it is difficult for students to complete group assignments or even ask questions. The hand raising feature and the place to type questions and comments could be very helpful in this area. I am uncertain how to link Elluminate to this blog entry, but here goes:
http://www.mvcr.org/mod/elluminate/view.php?id=35844

Podcast

http://www.teachercreatedmaterials.com/curriculum_files/podcasts/building_vocabulary_podcast.mp3

It took me about 10 minutes to find this podcast about the importance of teaching vocabulary. It is an excellent companion piece to the content we cover in two of my teacher education courses, both graduate and undergraduate. I can easily see using this just prior to our vocabulary module to introduce the importance of teaching students how to teach and learn vocabulary. I t could be used as a pre-reading presentation to encourage discussion and provide some prior knowledge. I would then post a link to it on our class Blackboard site. I could also see using this as a professional development tool for teachers or a presentation to parents.

The speakers include Nancy Paduk, one of the seminal researchers in the area of vocabulary instruction. Both speakers are university professors at Kent State University, a leading institution in literacy education. Their explanations are easy to understand and they use real life examples.