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jimmiehomeschoolmom The library has 2 Kindles available for the college community to borrow. Each Kindle has 7 browsing books installed for your reading pleasure. The titles are:

Kindle 1

• The red queen.
• Fly away home.
• Private.
• Under the dome.
• The boy who came back from heaven.
• The Known World.
• Academically Adrift.

Kindle 2

• The Moses expedition : a novel.
• The thousand autumns of Jacob De Zoet : a novel.
• One day.
• Star island.
• This is where I leave you.
• The Known World.
• Academically Adrift.

You will notice that both the title for the College Reads, “the Known World” and “Academically Adrift” are included on both of these readers. If you’re curious about the technology or just want to curl up with a good eBook , we encourage you to stop by the Circulation desk and borrow one for two weeks. Operators are standing by…..and so are librarians. ]]> http://blogs.cofc.edu/vanarnhemj/2011/02/23/kindles-now-available-for-checkout-at-the-library/feed/ 0 http://blogs.cofc.edu/vanarnhemj/2011/02/22/college-of-charleston-libraries-on-you-tube/ http://blogs.cofc.edu/vanarnhemj/2011/02/22/college-of-charleston-libraries-on-you-tube/#comments Tue, 22 Feb 2011 19:30:01 +0000 Joey http://blogs.cofc.edu/vanarnhemj/?p=2229

• The Advising Advantage!
• Wednesday, February 23 at 6 pm
• Thursday, February 24 at 4 pm
• Robert Scott Small, rm 103
• Snacks served!

where they will meet the staff from the AAPC, take a virtual tour of the Center, explore the many ‘self-serve’ options- such as using the GPA calculators and degree worksheets,-and find out ways to make their advising appointments work for them! This is a great, informative session—I learn something new every semester!

Whether your students are first years or seasoned professionals, there is valuable information about academic success available to them at this Seminar!

I hope you will encourage your students to join us!

Lindy Coleman

Coordinator, Study Skills program

Center for Student Learning

colemanm@cofc.edu

The 30 day challenge includes weekly tasks to increase your skills while providing mentors who’ll support your learning.

Join in now to learn:

• The educational and curricular benefits of student blogging
• Choosing a blogging platform
• Setting up the accounts
• Managing and following student bloggers
• Teaching blogging skills and etiquette
• And much, much more!

Click here to go to the first activity and get started.

In the first activity you will:

1. Learn why a class blog is a good starting point for blogging with students
2. Create a brand new class blog if you don’t already have one!
3. Optimize your theme and appearance.
4. Visit the Discussion Question for activity one to reflect on your experiences with getting started with class blogging.
5. Complete the extension activity (if you have time).

If anyone decides to take the challenge let me know:)

Cheers,

Joey

• Take Your Best Test!
• Wednesday, February 16 at 6 pm
• Thursday, February 17 at 4 pm
• Robert Scott Small, rm 103
• Snacks served!

we will go beyond the “study harder” mantra, and examine ways to “study smarter”! Included will be strategies that encourage students to consider the radical notion that Every Day Is a Test Prep Day! We will look at study strategies for both Objective and Essay tests, beginning with Prep Before the Test, followed by Ways to Manage Time and Anxiety During the Test, and finally How to Use Returned Tests as a Springboard for Greater Success.

I hope to see your students this week!

Lindy Coleman

Coordinator, Study Skills program

Center for Student Learning

colemanm@cofc.edu

843.953.5635

• Create up to 5 course websites, free.
• Engage students in social learning.
• Weave multimedia into class content.
• Assess performance and manage grades.

Coursesites sign-up: http://www.coursesites.com
Frequently Asked Questions: https://www.coursesites.com/webapps/Bb-sites-course-creation-BBLEARN/pages/faq.html#whats-the-catch
Tutorials/Self-Paced Learning Center: http://ondemand.blackboard.com/

For more information, read the Press Release from Blackboard included below.

Hosting, Live Support Give Instructors a Comprehensive, Cloud-Based Option for Courses
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ –

Blackboard Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB) today announced the launch of CourseSites by Blackboard, a free, fully hosted and supported online course system featuring the Company’s latest teaching and learning technologies. The offering gives individual K-12 and higher education instructors an innovative, high quality cloud-based option to host online courses or add a Web-based component to traditional ones.

The simple, easy to use system gives educators greater choice and flexibility for online courses in a system with cutting edge features that encourage experimentation. CourseSites is designed to support instructors who may not have access to a learning management system at their institution or school, or who may have access to an older platform system from Blackboard or a competing course management provider. There is no license fee, no hosting fee and no additional setup required for instructors to get started.

“We want to reduce all barriers, whether technical, financial or administrative, to getting our best technologies into the hands of educators new to online learning products or unfamiliar with our latest offerings,” said Ray Henderson, President of Blackboard Learn. “We’re investing with a belief that CourseSites can become the most accessible option for introducing new educators to online instruction in the market.”

CourseSites presents an option for instructors looking to preview and test Blackboard’s teaching and learning software before their institution makes a purchasing decision. It can also serve as a production-quality teaching and learning pilot environment for instructors at institutions preparing to upgrade their implementation of Blackboard Learn(TM).

“We heard from many individual instructors whose schools had not yet purchased a learning management system that they felt their only choice was to download an open source product,” said Lara Oerter, Vice President of Blackboard Strategy. “But the challenges of learning how to technically install and manage an open source product on your own server are significant. With CourseSites we are removing those technical barriers since the set up and hosting are all provided by Blackboard for free.”

Based on Blackboard Learn, Release 9.1 – the Company’s newest platform for teaching and learning – CourseSites features a range of social learning tools and Web 2.0 functionality. The system also features integrated technologies from Blackboard partners and platform offerings that will be expanded over time, including Blackboard Collaborate(TM) instant messaging, live collaboration, conferencing and voice tools; assessment, self-assessment and locked browser tools from Respondus, Inc.; and content authoring tools from SoftChalk LLC.

CourseSites also features a range of innovative, instructor-focused features including dedicated homepages and URLs for instructors, templates to guide course development, themes to allow instructors to customize the look and feel of their courses and the ability to login using credentials from popular Web sites like Facebook and Twitter. In addition to being fully hosted and offering live support for users, CourseSites comes with a complement of training resources and course development resources and tools.

“CourseSites opens up so many possibilities with a host of new educational tools and communication vehicles,” saidLou Tharp, an instructor at Long Beach City College that has been using an early release version of the system. “I taught in the traditional classroom for over 30 years and truly believe that my online course enables me to teach even more effectively. I am more available than I was before, since students can contact me at any hour in any part of the world.”

For more information about CourseSites, please visit: http://www.coursesites.com.

Facebook Finally Offers Users The Encryption They Deserve by Tim Brookes

February 9, 2011

Defining Active Learning

By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching Professor Blog

There’s a definitional “looseness” about many of the terms commonly used in higher education. I know, I’ve written about this in previous blogs, but when terms are bandied about assuming everybody defines them similarly, that’s a recipe for misunderstanding. Equally important, we can be using terms without having done the intellectual homework necessary to precisely understand their referents.

Case in point: active learning. Not so long ago in a workshop discussion, I asked for definitions. I gave participants a couple of minutes to think or jot notes. Here’s some of what I got, “students doing” “activities that engage students” “passive learning is an oxymoron” “teaching that gets student involved with the content” “when students participate or do group work.” Although similar, I would say that all those descriptors are different. None of them are bad or wrong; most of them are pretty superficial when compared to a definition like the one for active learning that appears in The Greenwood Dictionary of Education.

Greenwood defines active learning as “The process of having students engage in some activity that forces them to reflect upon ideas and how they are using those ideas. Requiring students to regularly assess their own degree of understanding and skill at handling concepts or problems in a particular discipline. The attainment of knowledge by participating or contributing. The process of keeping students mentally, and often physically, active in their learning through activities that involve them in gathering information, thinking and problem solving.”

I’m not proposing this as the “right” “best” or “only” definition for active learning, but I am proposing that it’s a good deal more specific than most of us would offer. Now, if we sat down and thought about active learning, if we talked about it with colleagues, I’m pretty sure that the definitions we’d develop would rival this one. But my point is we can regularly use terms like this without having done that careful thinking.

Carefully crafted learning experiences
There are some things about this definition that I do like. Sometimes we think active learning is “activity for the sake of activity” without being mindful that it’s equally about what students are doing. According to this definition they are engaged in activities designed to encourage reflection, designed to confront them with their knowledge and skill levels and designed to get them interacting with information. That’s not just any old activity—that’s a carefully crafted learning experience.

Most faculty know that active learning is important even though many still lecture pretty much exclusively. Most will even go so far as to admit that students learn better when they are active, not passive. And almost all faculty report that they use active learning. But I’m hoping this discussion is making clear that there is active learning and then there is active learning.

Student engagement exists along a continuum. I think the Greenwood definition is active learning at a highly engaged and highly effective level. The nice thing about a continuum is that things can be moved along it. So, if you don’t have time at the moment to create one of those carefully crafted learning experiences, you can take an active learning strategy you currently use, say participation, and make it more active. You can do that by asking a good, thought provoking question, following it with 30 seconds of silence and follow that with two minutes during which students share their thoughts with each other before discussing the answer with the whole class. Or, you could pause after presenting a chunk of content and tell students you don’t intend to proceed until they’ve asked at least two questions about the material. You might jot those questions on the board, type them into the computer and then let the class take a crack at answering. Write down the essence of their answers and then discuss the merits of their various replies.

• Tuesday, March 15, 2011
• 9 am – 4 pm
• Columbia Conference Center
• 169 Laurelhurst Avenue
• Columbia, SC 29210

Don’t miss the chance to see and try cutting-edge products and services for people with all types of disabilities and age-related limitations! Some workshop topics include: home and vehicle modifications, augmentative communication for people who have trouble speaking, iPad and iPod applications for students and for communication challenges, literacy and study supports for students, making electronic information accessible, and tools that help people with brain injuries.

This year’s Expo features another unique opportunity, free of charge. The Disability Action Center and Walton Options for Independent Living are providing a disinfecting, cleaning service through a system known as the “Hubscrub.” Bring your non-electronic equipment like wheelchairs, walkers, commode chairs and bath chairs. For more information about this event call the Disability Action Center at 1-800-681-6805 or 779-512.

Sponsored by South Carolina Assistive Technology Program, USC School of Medicine Center for Disability Resources, SC Assistive Technology Advisory Committee