PLP Goal No. 2 Complete

I participated in an asynchronous webinar hosted by Cengage Learning entitled Lessons Learned from Teaching in a Flipped Classroom.  I chose this webinar because it relates to my dissertation topic and I thought I would kill two birds with one stone, so to say.  However, the webinar didn't provide me any new information related to the flipped classroom method.  I'm okay with that though.  Hopefully it means I may finally have a good grasp on the concept, which I need if I am going to do research on this topic.

However, I did learn about three new web-based services that I find very exciting.  The first one is called Present.me.  This website offers a “free” service that can create video presentations.  The steps include uploading your presentation, choosing whether you want to include video of you speaking or just audio of you speaking, and hitting record.  Video is recorded using your webcam.  It was extremely easy to use.  However, there was very little editing capabilities which can be frustrating if you messed up your audio.  Also, the free version only allows you to upload to social media sites.  The paid version is $16/month.  This site may be good to use for student presentations because they can use the free version.

Another site I learned about is called Thinglink.com (check out my EKG example).  This site could be used by instructors to create engaging content or by students for alternative format presentations.  The premise is that you upload an image and place hotspots on the image.  You interact with the picture by clicking on icons placed on the image to learn things.  Content placed on the images can include url links, videos, documents, or text.

The last site I learned about is called Padlet.com.  I find this one has the most potential for increasing engagement and collaboration in a class and is pretty darn fun to use.  This site could be used for group discussions, group collaboration, post a “question of the day”, etc.  You create a “wall”, post a comment on the wall, and share the site so that others can contribute to the conversation.  You’ve got to check this one out.  What else do you think you could do with this site?  Share your ideas!

PLP Goal No. 1 Complete

Started off with a simple goal - become a member of an online education organization.


I chose to join The Sloan Consortium   One of the reasons I chose this online organization is the fact that they offer a student membership rate which was significantly lower than the individual membership rate.  Membership gives you access to free webinars ($99 charged for nonmembers), a $150 discount off online workshops ($300 charged for nonmembers), and access to their online journal and research data base.  They also have a certification program in online teaching.

More importantly though, as their website states, The Sloan Consortium is recognized as a "leading professional online learning society devoted to advancing quality e-Education learning into the mainstream of education through its community."  The Sloan Consortium was originally started by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 1992.  The Sloan Consortium of Colleges and Universities (Sloan-C) spear headed the transition of traditional classes to a blended learning classroom using the online environment along with the traditional classroom environment.  Sloan-C is now a non-profit 501(c)(3), member-sustained organization.

I believe having access to the Sloan Consortium website, at the membership level,  will provide me with valuable resources and learning opportunities to promote my grow as an distance education professional.  I would highly encourage you to check it out.  I think the $45 is well worth it!

Let the Journey Begin!

Here I am again - at the beginning of another semester working towards my doctoral degree in nursing education.  This blog will be used to complete an assignment in my course entitled "The Distance Education Professional".  The purpose of the blog is to document my journey as I complete seven personal goals that will help me grow as an online educator.  In the meantime, enjoy the picture my husband took of Tabyana Beach, Roatan, Honduras.  We visited there recently during Christmas break on our western Caribbean cruise.