SJ Lee's Blog on eLearning and Tools

Gapminder

lsj0312 — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:25:04 +0000

I found a quite interesting presentation which Dr. Hans Rosling gave four years ago:

The tool he used during the presentation was Gapminder World (http://www.gapminder.org/) and you may find some graphs interesting.

Live streaming tool

lsj0312 — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:40:16 +0000

If you have a webcam on your computer or iPhone, you can broadcast your classrooms for online students using USTREAM. During the live session, you can share your desktop and chat with your students. There is also a recording function, and so you can watch your session later. Most importantly, it’s free!

Teaching with Technology?

lsj0312 — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:54:59 +0000

I’ve just watched a video about teaching with technology. I don’t watch “The Office” but it says that the video was a parody of “The Office.” It’s fun to watch…

Google Buzz

lsj0312 — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:06:48 +0000

This morning when I opened up my Gmail account, the new menu appeared in my left-side menu bar. It’s called “Buzz.” It seems similar to Twitter, but it can do more. The good thing about it is that you don’t need to go to a different site like Google Wave. You can easily access the service in you Gmail account.

Here is the link.

PBS FRONTLINE: Digital Nation

lsj0312 — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:01:51 +0000

Here is a good documentary from PBS.

Click here to view!

iPad

lsj0312 — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:29:15 +0000

There had been a hype about Apple tablet computer. Finally, last Wednesday Apple introduced its new tablet computer called iPad. It has a really nice 9.7-inch screen and looks like a bigger iPhone…nothing special except the bigger screen. For some, it was a disappointment except the price tag. Considering that the Apple products are usually expensive than others, the price for iPad is cheaper than what I expected.

I don’t have iPhone or an Apple product and haven’t had much expectation of the new tablet. However, as always, the Apple product looks great to me and makes me want to buy one.

There is discussion of the new iPad…how the new tablet impacts everyday life…how it will impact teaching and learning in the classroom (If you want to read and have time, read an article).

E-Textbook

lsj0312 — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:25:37 +0000

As eReaders like Kindle and Nook become available to more people, you will see lots of people buy/download books online. Let’s look at the increase in sales of eTextbook. The leading company reported a 400 percent increase in sales for 2009 (Link). Students can access their eTextbooks anywhere without brining heavy hard-copy textbooks. Personally, I am not a big fan of online readings. I usually print them out and read them, but I’d like to know how I feel about eReader and eTextbook.

Web 2.0 and anti-social machine

lsj0312 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:45:35 +0000

There have been growing interests in Web 2.0 social networking sites such as facebook, twitter, myspace, and linkedin, but there is also a tool called Web 2.0 Suicide Machine which will delete everything on these social networking sites including id, password, friends, and contacts. It sounds like removing online identities.

I got the news about this tool from my friend and heard about it while driving to work this morning. Facebook, according to the news, has blocked the machine. Are you tired of social networking? You can decide not to do social networking by yourself, instead of using the removing tool. I’m not comfortable with the tool…

Academic dishonesty in online learning

lsj0312 — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:04:12 +0000

The issue of online cheating has been growing and many faculty members have concerns/problems about academic dishonesty. I read a recent article (click to read) reporting students’ perceptions of academic honesty. I think it is a very timely and relevant study. The study showed that there was no significant difference in students’ perceptions of cheating between f2f and online courses.

Tools for introduction and poster session for online class

lsj0312 — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:06:36 +0000

I found two fun tools for online courses. The fist one is Blabberize (http://blabberize.com/) which can be used for student introduction at the beginning of the course. Instead of discussion board, students can use the site and create a fun intro movie with their pics and voices. The other one is Glogster (http://edu.glogster.com/) with which student can create a poster with information and ideas. When you think of poster session in online courses, you may want to check this out.