Last time we examined legal requirements and policies. Today, we will look at technologies to support distance education.

There are a wide variety of easy to use technologies to support teaching and learning. Don't feel overwhelmed! Pick a few that support what you need to do to teach and your students need to use to learn.

Think about: recording video, presenting content, polling, collaborating, sharing research, social media and testing.

Have a look at these resources:

Distance Education technologies.pdf

And this page on Social Media:

https://docs.google.com/a/su.edu/document/d/16BtkmDQ6qiBvmTIPq3wbDQCOpgRpsZYRcxWkNhwC3_U/edit?usp=sharing

If you haven't used Socrative before, try this Socrative poll as a student: https://b.socrative.com/login/student/ (room # is 47462, then click Join Room)

or view this video for a preview:tutorial.

Tools you may want to master depending on your course needs:

1) Use Panopto or Zoom to record presentations or podcasts. (iMovie is another option and will produce very high quality results, but takes more training for you and your students to master.) Zoom now has a "breakout room" feature.
2) iBooks Author or Apple Course Manager to create your own electronic textbook, lab manual, or reader. Better still, have students create their own e-books! (Use your SU email address to create your Apple ID to affiliate with SU.)
3) ExamSoft for online testing (if you do a lot of objective tests in your class.)

4) Prezi is great for having students create collaborative presentations.

5) Omeka, WordPress, Google Sites for collaborative websites. Sample Omeka project. Sample WordPress project.

For help files on these and other technologies, see: http://www.su.edu/academics/center-for-teaching-and-learning/resource-repository/ or email CTLT@su.edu to request training on a specific technology.

Now explore on your own to find content or tools that may support your classes:

-VSTE (Links to an external site.)

-http://appsineducation.blogspot.com/

-MOOCs (e.g. Coursera, EdX, Khan Academy), YouTube, and TED talks can be sources of high quality content. Search for some in your discipline.

-iTunesU and Amazon.com are sources for many high quality texts, many of which are free. (On a Mac, open the iBooks app and choose Store Home from the Store menu).

Learning Activity:

Write a technology plan.

Thoughts or Questions?

Feel free to post them here.

Coming up Next:

Next time, we'll explore ways to stay current in distance education.

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