The Lifestyle of Online Learning

                
 Next week, I am going to the Canvas conference in Utah for admins and other such people.  Which means, according to my email, that I am now part of a conference course that studies the conference itself. And on the twitter network, people are already chatting about it.  The eagerness and intense excitement from so many people both impress me and intimidates me a bit. This is definitely Not Your Mother’s Conference.

Online learning is continuous and non-stop. It is embracing and engaging. It is a river flowing with thoughts and information and every time I step in the water I discover a shiny new pebble, washed with the energy of the rushing water. I collect ideas that people have concerning education; teaching, learning, technology, resources, methodologies, and experiments.  I jog next to the river, trying to see where it is going; I sit next to it, and I wade in it. It exhausts me and inspires me. All the while, it flows.

None of us can see the other end, but we feel this river in all of our lives. It overflows into our personal space and blurs borders between people, work, play and learning. This river is a revolution that is touching every aspect of education, and those that explore the river are discovering new connections with each other, students, and learning. Let’s all plan to spend at least some time during the summer wading and collecting pebbles. We can all share our new collections in the fall. Happy collecting, everyone.                 Image: BBMaui/flickr.com

Canvas Connect - Recordings Available!

The 2014 recordings are available - this was an excellent conference, and each session I attended was really worthwhile. I can't wait to attend the rest virtually!
http://wacug.wordpress.com/recordings/recordings-from-2014/

Keynote Speaker Cable Green gave a very inspiring presentation on what's going on with OER, Open Educational Resources.  (The fight is on!)

We kicked off our Fantastic Faculty Forums with reporting on the Keynote speaker, Cable Green, from the recent Canvas Conference.  A list of OER resources can be found in our libguides  here. Here is the slideshare presentation he used:

 

Open Education: The Business & Policy Case for OER from IWMW

FFF: Fantastic Faculty Forums!

We have started a series of working lunches in C105 for faculty - the idea is to create a space for ongoing collaboration and professional learning development.  Click here to see the FFF Canvas site with recaps and updates.

Watch your email for times the topics...and please email coordinator Liz Falconer if you have feedack or suggestions!

Do you know about Canvas Conversations?

Go Mobile with Canvas!

Now you can check in to your Classroom, grade assignments, or make announcements from the Canvas mobile app!  Imagine: You can walk around your classroom and grade student skills on the spot.
Download the app to your Android or iPhone. Here's how to personalize it to RTC's account:
1. Log on to the app:

2. Use RTC Canvas address: rtc.instructure.com.

3. Click the blue, Get Started! button.

Then, take the tour!

Take Canvas wherever you go!

NEW! Certificate in eLearning Design & Development for Community College Educators!

 FIND OUT MORE HERE: 

eLearning for Educators

(Note: RTC Faculty can enroll with their employee ID number here.)

 

Fall 2013: CANVAS as a GRADEBOOK as well as ONLINE/HYBRID courses!

Online orientations for faculty and students can be found at the newly-created page at the RTC website, RTC.EDU/elearning.  We will be moving to Canvas for our campus-wide gradebook in Fall 2013. Find out how to use Canvas gradebook and many other useful features for both ground and online courses!