Randolph Hollingsworth's List: Descriptions of Building An Open Course in Higher Ed

Tony Hirst describing his thoughts on building a course for the British Open University and relying on Wordpress (due to its ability to handle RSS feeds so robustly) blogs to build a cacophony of blog entries by his students to craft pathways for the creation of new knowledge.

Shows how to avoid bots harvesting email addresses in an open courseware project by encrypting them with CryptX

How-to for faculty to develop their own open courseware strategy, including benefits (global, institutional, personal/professional).

Richard Byrne shares free resources and lesson plans for teaching with technology - this blog entry includes Yarp, vorbeo, Urtak, Buzz Dash, Obsurvey, Fluid Surveys, Stellar Survey, Polldaddy, and Poll Everywhere (text messaging)

Free quiz generator for any not-for-profit use; Flash-based; 3 different quizzes (a) for whiteboard/projector use, (b) mini quiz with reading text, e.g., mini-webquest, (c) mini-quiz to be added to an existing page

$3 per month allows anyone to get a site for educational use (no ads) - can get score data and user attempt data as well as keeping quizzes public -

If free version, no user stats but quizzes are never deleted and you can continue to have unlimited quiz takers

Emphasizing lecture capture tool as a cheaper way to gather presentational materials for students to access anytime/anywhere; touches on issue of intellectual property but no analysis; mentions in passing that most of the open material comes from one or two profs from University of South Florida; reminds us that foundational grants are crucial to large initiatives' success

Great blog by Cable Green - working for statewide CTC system in Washington

1-gather resources
2-add interaction
3-build course

By David Wiley, Cable Green, Louis Soares | February 7, 2012

Open field notes for a book to be written for Johns Hopkins Univ Press on trends in education, inc. MOOCs. One post is entitled: "the real disruption isn't online courses, it's their business model" George Siemens, Bonnie Stewart, and Dave Cormier have been contracted to write for Johns Hopkins University Press, and they expect the book to be published in mid-2013. They started the first Massive Open Online Course (MOOCs), together with Stephen Downes, in 2008.

9 week free, open and online course designed for higher ed community but may also be of interest to secondary educators or home schoolers. Expecting people to dedicate 3-10 hrs a week starting January 10 and running through March 13, 2013.

2 guides to support UDL course redesign:
- faculty development workshop guide (2 hour)
- UDL Institute Guide (one or 2 day)
UDL-U supports postsecondary faculty and staff by providing resources and examples to improve postsecondary education for all students, including those with disabilities. UDL-U is designed to be useful for individual inquiries related to small UDL topics, issues, or problems, as well as scalable to larger faculty development efforts (e.g., Faculty Learning Communities). UDL-U frames course redesign as a three-tier professional development process:

1. Application of UDL principles to enhance teaching and learning
2. Utilization of accessible instructional media and practices
3. Awareness of assistive technology enablers and barriers

The MOOC Business Plan- With millions of students taking high-quality MOOCs for free, schools and course providers are searching for a viable business model.

Editorial: MOOC Shake- MOOCs will change higher education radically, but not in the way we expect right now.

Assessment Tools for MOOCs- As MOOCs are made available for credit, scalable assessment options are essential.

Building a Sense of Community in MOOCs- Massive class sizes can breed feelings of isolation, but they also enable more student interaction.

Blended MOOCs: The Best of Both Worlds?- Combining in-class instruction with high-quality MOOCs may resolve some of the hurdles facing xMOOCs, but questions about cost and the impact on faculty remain unanswered.

Watch video: Catheryn Cheal, AVP and senior academic technology officer at San Jose State, discusses how the school adapted a course for use in a blended MOOC.

The Rise of MOOCs… What does it mean for higher education?
Watch video: Cathy Sandeen, VP of education attainment and innovation at ACE, talks about the potential of MOOCs to increase the number of Americans gaining a post-secondary degree.

cMOOCs: Putting Collaboration First- Alternative MOOC models are fostering creativity and collaboration with peers.
How to Convert a Class Into a MOOC- The sheer size and diversity of the student body in a MOOC require a new approach to teaching.

C-Level- The role of MOOCs in learner-initiated learning.

MOOC News & Analysis- Georgia Tech's MOOC Degree