Session 4-eBooks--CK12

In Session 3's 'Readings' in the syllabus, I had you read a little about CK-12. (Based upon a comment from one of you last session, you can get carried away exploring its resources.) They currently have mostly STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) subject material, but their plan is to expand soon and include the humanities, arts, and material for primary students.  

There are many of you taking this course who teach in the latter subject areas, but if CK-12's model holds true, then they will have textbooks and workbooks in your disciplines w/i the next year or two.

Now you won't be taking this course in a year or two, so I'd like you to spend some time this week poring through CK-12's resources and practicing with the interface, so when that day comes you'll be the first one in your school to be using this great tool.

Let's start by watching this brief intro video that my friend Neeru put together recently to introduce herself and CK-12.




Now, in case you didn't get a chance to do the readings from last week or need a refresher, give their, 'About Us' page a skim now.  When you've finished I'd like you to read the most recent news articles about them from 2012.

You should be pretty excited and inspired about the possibilities at this point.  I was when I first learned about them in 2008.  I reached out to Neeru to explore building a collaboration and she flew me out to Silicon Valley in November '08 to meet with her, and her co-founder, about their work. I was so enthralled that I decided to add their resources to this course to help share their vision, and also to help contribute to the movement myself.

Imagine if our school districts began to use open education resources (OER) to 'collectively' write our own textbooks and curriculum material, and then began sharing them with each other. Sounds beyond reach doesn't it? But some systems and State Dept.'s of Education are trying just that. Read about Virginia for example. There's more about their plan here as well.  And those are almost four years old!

Now CK-12 just really began taking off around August of '08, so as I mentioned above, they don't have every discipline yet. But, like I said, they plan to broaden to other areas soon. Here's a brief demonstration to watch.

Introducing CK-12 Foundation's Digital Learning Tools - #2 from CK-12 Foundation on Vimeo.

Now if this all scares you a little or you feel a little intimidated---that's justified. I'm sure that you have a lot of questions. The biggest concern I hear is about the quality of the information. We'll go into more detail about that in the next few sessions, but for now think about how many teachers stray from the textbooks in their class and instead use quality, credible information that they have screened using their professional judgment.

Now think about how much information teachers have in their heads. If they took the time to write it out, and share it freely with the world, we would have a tremendously powerful tool.  I'd like you to spend the rest of your time trying to play with CK-12's Flexbooks. See if you can find one to use in your educational setting, and as I mentioned before, don't write it off so quickly b/c they don't have anything in your discipline or grade level just yet.  The practice today, will pay off tomorrow.

Let's start by viewing this quick start guide.

Now (if you haven't already) register on the site.  Here's how:

Now watch this tutorial and pause it regularly to see if you can follow her step by step:

Here comes the good part.  "Browsing" and "Searching"  Pause it as she goes through directions and try to recreate:

     

To be perfectly honest, most people just access and use these Flexbooks, rather than make changes to them to personalize things for their educational setting, so we're going to skip the editing and creating from scratch directions.  You can always check them out some day in the future with the links above (but you can watch them now if

All of this practice isn't good for much if you can't put the finishing touches on, and assemble, an eBook for yourself or your peers, so let's go through that and finish with the printing options.

Lastly, and most importantly, we have "Printing and Sharing".  Pay particularly close attention to the options here, b/c each one is useful in a different circumstance.  The 'sharing' is also a great addition that they've just begun to include in the CK12 options, so play with all of these options now and then we'll call it a day.

Good luck and as always please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Dave Fontaine

DaveFontaine1@gmail.com

922-Session 3-The Open Educational Resources Movement

Welcome to Session 3--"The Open Educational Resources Movement (continued)"

"OER's are teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use or re-purposing by others. Open educational resources include full courses, course materials, modules, textbooks, streaming videos, tests, software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to knowledge."  William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

This week we'll stray from the usual format and work completely from this blog entry and the assignments/readings on the syllabus.

Start with this video.  I know that most of you have already gone through the OER Commons Tutorial, and that should have really given you a good overview, but watch this video.  The speaker gives you some additional 'quick' resources to gain more of a solid foundation on the concepts.  As he goes through resources, pause the video and try to recreate his steps.

Next, I'd like you to watch this video on the impact of  'open' on teaching and learning:  

1. Now I'd like you to read a little more about "How Resources are Organized" w/i OERcommons, then pore through the rest of the instructions to help you more easily find useful and practical Digital Content.
2. Once you've finished with the dull stuff from # 1, you can then dive in and really get to use this resource.  The only realistic way to get familiar with Digital Content that is free to use is to jump right in, so for the next hour or so, I'd like you explore the OERcommons site. (Ideally to find material that is practical for your setting.)  Once you've had your fill, share out under the 'comments' link below the Session 3 posting.  Let us know what you found, what your impression is, and forecast what this trend will mean for your workplace setting.
3. When you are done with posting your comments,  I'd like you to begin exploring the link below.  Dozens, if not hundreds, of colleges and universities are now offering many of their courses for free. Through podcasts, videocasts, and free downloads of supplemental material a motivated person could acquire the equivalent of a degree, completely on their own and for FREE! Spend some time visiting the schools from this link and check out some of the free material available for your discipline. If you visit the MIT link you'll see that they have over 2000 courses freely accessible. It's mind-blowing and exciting, but be careful not to spend too much time there. Every time I visit this site, 2-3 hours disappear in the blink of an eye.
4. Now if this all scares you a little or you feel a little intimidated---that's justified. I'm sure that you have a lot of questions. The biggest concern I hear is about the quality of the information. We'll go into more detail about that in the next few sessions, but for now think about how many teachers stray from the textbooks in their class and instead use high-quality, credible information that they have screened using their professional judgment.

Now think about how much information teachers have in their heads. If they took the time to write it out, and share it freely with the world, we would have a tremendously powerful tool.

Well, that's probably more than enough information for this week. If your eyes aren't going buggy by now then spend the rest of your time trying to exploring the different colleges linked from #3. See if you can find one to use in your educational setting.

You'll notice in the syllabus I had you read a little snippet or two on CK-12.org.  I had hoped to cover some of them this week, but I was afraid that I'd overwhelm you.  You'll notice that I have been 'polling' you to see how much time your spending going through these resources each week.  I'm trying not to overwhelm, while at the same time, I'm challenged with giving you enough information for you to gain a solid foundation.  I'll take another poll this week about the workload and will adjust each week's load accordingly.  Please keep the suggestions coming.

Good luck and as always please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Dave Fontaine

DaveFontaine1@gmail.com

922-Session 2-The Ultimate Tool for Collaboration

Welcome to Session 2-Where we'll get an great overview of wikis and their connection to our course curriculum and get a small taste of Open Educational Resources.

Most of you are getting the hang of using this forum and are becoming more adept at posting and downloading. Remember to post your insights and comments in the 'comment' section and also remember to return regularly to read your peers comments.

In order to facilitate a truly collaborative setting (one in which we can begin to foster an environment where we can benefit from the 'Collective Knowledge' of all the participants here) I am asking that you make a special, concerted effort to try to respond or comment upon, at least, one other posting from w/i each session starting with Session 2. This may mean going back and revisiting the blog after you have posted, because you may be the first or second person to post your thoughts. This is not a requirement, but it is a request---one that will help benefit all of us and truly foster a collaborative network of learners and educators!  The most efficient method for this is to make sure that you have signed up for a Blogger account.  If you already have a Google account with any of G's other services like gmail or Google Docs, then you may use that.  After you post your comment to our blog and before you hit the publish button, you'll see an option to have future comments emailed to you.  Choose that.  There is a tremendous font of knowledge among this group.  Don't miss out on the insights and experiences of your peers.

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This session will find us broadening the scope of our view of wikis. This information is pertinent to our discussions on digital content because as the semester unfolds we'll see our definition of user-created content evolve.  The merging and integration of e-books with additional multimedia (screencasts, interactive simulations, podcasts, videos,...) is changing so rapidly that no one can predict what our students will be using in just a few short years.  Some surveys predict eBook penetration w/i school libraries to increase 14 fold by 2016.

We will begin this session by taking a look at the benefits of wikis, and other Web 2.0 tools, for students, teachers, and the entire educational community. We'll view some screencasts and videos that give us students' perspectives, as well as hear from teachers from across the K-12 spectrum.  Each and every one will be focused upon how Web 2.0 tools have changed the way they teach and learn. And also demonstrate how teachers are becoming the authors of Digital Content shared with the world freely under an "Open" philosophy.

And lastly, we'll end by discussing the fluid definition of the word, "literacy" and try to pin it down in a 21st century classroom---a classroom where the walls have come down and the world is flat. There are lots of different interpretations out there.  And as I stated above--prior definitions are changing quickly.  Under the subject heading of Wikis there are an increasing number of sub-headings.  Google Docs has evolved to be a very wiki-like tool.

Before you download this week's session:

• Please read this article from SLJ called, "Things are Changing Fast."  It reminds us that those of us that run into technology-roadblocks are not alone (unfortunately). When you are finished reading that article, also read, "Not Just the Lucky Ones."
• Then visit: http://www.edweb.net/ebooks  and join the community if you haven't already.

Lastly, you may access and read past participants' comments about the educational uses of wikis
Spring '12 comments
as well as here and here.


Also, please watch this video introducing you to Google Play (now has Google's digitized books initiative integrated).

Good luck and I look forward to reading your comments, insights, and reflections.

DF
PS--You may find a back-up copy of this week's presentation here. Just search for the term: "edc922" and then choose the appropriate session to view and listen to.

Time for Introductions!!! (finally)

Welcome (again) to EDC922 - eBooks and Digital Content

This is our class blog. It will serve as our discussion forum, connection to each other, and the main webpage you will be accessing. If this is your first visit, then please first read the entry below (titled, 'Practice Session') and follow the instructions there--- then return to this one.

 The content here should keep you pretty busy--for now you only need to know a few things.

This blog can be viewed by anyone, but will only allow the participants of EDC922 to interact with it. When you would like to respond to someone or comment upon a session, just click on the 'comment' link below each of my postings (you should sign up for a Blogger account ASAP and choose a 'User Name' that is easily identifiable) until then choose the 'anonymous' button under 'choose an identity'; I'm sure some of you have already begun to practice a little.

In the left-hand margin you will see links to individual lessons (accessible every Tuesday).



If you need to contact me then please email me at DaveFontaine1@gmail.com.

This blog, in addition to its use as an interactive communication tool, will also be where you can access and download your weekly sessions. The presentation links to the left will be accessible on a week-to-week basis (Tues.  afternoons). I've said it before, but it bears repeating---When attempting to download always choose 'save' rather than 'open.'

The syllabus is also linked to the left. Google has a free service that allows you to just upload any Word document and with one additional click it gets published online with its own URL. The course syllabus is an example of how easy it is to use, and we'll practice with this tool before next week.

One more aspect that will be unique about this course is that I support a completely collaborative teaching philosophy. Following that mindset, I will keep your assignments, comments, and reflections viewable and accessible to future participants of this course. The 'goal' of that is:

1. For future participants to gain from the collective knowledge of your experiences;
2. Use what you have done; and
3. Incorporate new ideas into their classroom.

The bonus for you, of course, is that this information will also always be accessible for you. This way, in the future (many semesters from now) you may revisit this site and benefit from the ideas of all participants. In this way---YOU will gain from all the 'learning speedbumps' of those that have come after you--even though they are not currently enrolled in this course.
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Some of the content for our sessions is also covered in my "Blogs and Wikis" course. Where that is the case I'll also give you a link to the 'comments' of past participants about that topic.

Before we go any further I would like each of you to practice using this forum and introduce yourself. We will be spending the semester together, so it is important to learn as much about each other as possible. Click on the 'comment' link below this posting, then you may click the 'anonymous' button and write a few paragraphs about yourself. (If you are feeling bold you may sign up for a Blogger account now and use the 'user name' that you create when you 'comment' rather than choosing 'anonymous.')

Please include:
-your name
-email address (so that you may contact each other directly if needed),
-your educational background,
-teaching history,
-current teaching position with location, and lastly
-what you hope to come away with when this semester is over, along with any additional information about you that you wish to share, like your motivation for choosing this course...

After you have finished posting this profile, come back to this page and read the '922-Session 1' posting (below this one), then find the 'Session 1' link (along the left-hand margin), download it, and view it. When you are finished with the session please click on the 'comment' link again and add any comments, insights, or reflections you have for Session 1, under the Session 1 posting.

Sometimes it takes a little while to get the hang of using this forum. I have taken this into consideration by reducing the workload of the first session. (Of course, if you get distracted easily, then you could spend hours exploring.)
Week 1's primary goal is to make sure everyone is on the same page and skill level before we sink our teeth into the meat of this course. However, if you run into any 'techno-speedbumps' then please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Everything here is licensed by Creative Commons. This means that you have complete authority to download, save, share, and use all of the lessons in your classroom, but are prohibited from any commercial uses.

You will notice that each slide of the PowerPoint presentation has the narration transcribed in the 'notes section' of each slide. This is because each semester we have teachers from around the world taking this course. We've had teachers from Canada, China, Alaska, California, Phillipines, Sudan, Singapore...taking my courses (And they may need help understanding my "Ro-diland" accent) but more importantly, the transcribed narration allows you to take these slides and use them in your own classroom. (or, if you find my voice putting you to sleep, you can just read the slides instead)

Good luck this semester! I look forward to working and collaborating with you.

Dave Fontaine
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STOP--DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER UNTIL YOU HAVE FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE.

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922-Session 1 "eBooks-What They Are and What Do They Look Like!!!"

This semester will take us onto a new path!

A path that leads to more collaboration--

more cooperative learning---

and more opportunities to create differentiated instruction and visual learning---all with the goal of helping foster literacy, and learning, for our students.

 Here is a taste of the excitement that awaits you when you download our first session.

Good luck and take plenty of notes because I don't want to miss any of your ideas, excitement, and insights when you post your comments!

Here is a copy of Session 1 if you want to view it online w/o the download

922-1

More PowerPoint presentations from DaveFontaine

You may also read past participants' comments here and here. Some people find reading them before the session helps with their perspective.

Have fun!

Dave

PS-If you have any trouble downloading any of these sessions from the link on the left, then I've got backups on Authorstream.com. Just visit the link and type in edc922 in the search box, then view the most recent session, or click here to go to Session 1 directly.