Saturday, February 28, 2015
How to Make Clipart From Your Own Drawings!
This is a question that people also put on the Technology Tuesday request form... so I knew it would be popular with the polls! Teachers always ask me how they can make their own clipart using their pictures... so here it is (finally, I know!)
Here was the poll:
Now, for the tutorial!
As for next weeks tutorial, Im going to add something that a few people have asked me for: how to open ZIP files. Be sure to vote!
Here was the poll:
I know it seems like a lot, but so many of the steps are optional and/or just for troubleshooting purposes! Its definitely not as hard as it looks!
You can download this tutorial as a PDF by clicking this picture!
Note: This tutorial is hosted on Google Drive. To save it from there, just open the file and click File > Download to save onto your computer!
As for next weeks tutorial, Im going to add something that a few people have asked me for: how to open ZIP files. Be sure to vote!
How to Layer Papers and Frames in PowerPoint
Honestly, this is something that some of us take for granted! If youre just starting out making your own items, this tutorial is sure to help make them a little cuter!
Heres the tutorial (with a little troubleshooting tip at the end!)
As for next week, Ill add another PowerPoint tutorial: how to make your PowerPoint load on another computer (same font, colors, etc.) This will be super helpful for the teachers who have to travel from class to class!
Heres the tutorial (with a little troubleshooting tip at the end!)
You can download this tutorial as a PDF by clicking this picture!
Note: This tutorial is hosted on Google Drive. To save it from there, just open the file and click File > Download to save onto your computer!
As for next week, Ill add another PowerPoint tutorial: how to make your PowerPoint load on another computer (same font, colors, etc.) This will be super helpful for the teachers who have to travel from class to class!
Social Media for Research at SNDT Webinar !
ONLINE TALK
The inspiring Prof. Vasudha Kamat (Vice Chancellor, SNDTWU) invited me recently to do a webinar (11 May) entitled Social Media for Research for the Online Course in Research methodology for PhD scholars at the Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Womens University (SNDTWU), India. How could I say no?
WEBINAR DETAILS
Title: Social Media for ResearchDate: 11 May (Saturday)
Time: 7:00 PM (SNDT time or 9:30 PM KL time...Check Timezone differences)
Platform: WizIQ
Description:
Today, more than a Billion people use Facebook, and more than 200 million use Twitter actively to connect, network, interact and share with one another. YouTube receives more than 4 Billion video views per day, millions of people blog, and there are more than 14 million articles on Wikipedia. Social Media today is impacting every aspect of our lives whether it is our social, working, education or family life. However, what about using social media for academic research and sharing scientific knowledge?
For example today, many doctors are using various Social Media tools to share and discuss their latest research with their fellow professionals and the public. By doing so, their work is sometimes being peer-reviewed and promoted by hundreds of experts around the world, empowering a more impactful learning and research experience. During this webinar, we will explore various social media tools we can use to discover new knowledge, collaborate with other researchers, and promote our research within and beyond the academic world.
PRESENTATION SLIDES
Social Media For Research at SNDT! from Zaid Alsagoff
RECORDING
CLICK HERE to view the recording.
Please skip the first 30 minutes, as there was a mix-up regarding the scheduled time. Still learning :)
Yes, we went on for more than 2 hours, so it was a long webinar session with a lot of discussions. Have fun discovering the hidden wisdom nuggets within all the noise and who-ha :)
DNA of a 21st Century Educator at Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Bahasa Melayu!
I am really looking forward to my DNA of a 21st Century Educator talk on the 4th October (2012) at Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Bahasa Melayu (Kuala Lumpur). Mimma Sayuti Mat Khalid, thanks for inviting me to give this talk! Insya-Allah, I will be able to engage the teachers attending, and inspire those who are not already inspired to explore a new brave and open world of learning and teaching.
Actually, it is never too late to embrace it, and when we do...WOW!
21ST CENTURY EDUCATOR?
During your lifetime you have probably experienced inspirational educators, or witnessed inspiring lectures. But, what about you? Are you such an educator? If not, why not? In this talk, I explored some of the ingredients top educators in the 21st century have, and how we can learn from them, and reinvent ourselves to reach our true potential as an educator.
SLIDES
DNA of a 21st Century Educator (v3) from IMU (International Medical University)
If you try, you can! Belum cuba, belum tahu! Trust me :)
Friday, February 27, 2015
Learning 2 0 Conference Future of Learning
URL: http://www.learning2.net.cn/
When, Where, What, Who, Why, How?
Missing Act?
I am perplexed (puzzled) that Stephen Downes is not one of the presenters or participants. He is probably busy with some research or other conferences. Well, I suppose I am still learning!
When, Where, What, Who, Why, How?
Missing Act?
I am perplexed (puzzled) that Stephen Downes is not one of the presenters or participants. He is probably busy with some research or other conferences. Well, I suppose I am still learning!
Any Juice?
Check out the reflections by the Learning Gurus (Wesley Fryer, Jamie McKenzie, Will Richardson, etc.) on what learning 2.0 means to them and how they believe education will evolve in the coming years. Also, if you explore a bit deeper, you will probably discover a few podcasts (and presentation slides soon I suppose) on the homepage. Here is a bit of juice from Wesley Fryers reflections:
Check out the reflections by the Learning Gurus (Wesley Fryer, Jamie McKenzie, Will Richardson, etc.) on what learning 2.0 means to them and how they believe education will evolve in the coming years. Also, if you explore a bit deeper, you will probably discover a few podcasts (and presentation slides soon I suppose) on the homepage. Here is a bit of juice from Wesley Fryers reflections:
- "...While learning 1.0 was PASSIVE for the student, learning 2.0 is ACTIVE.
- While learning 1.0 was coercive and rigid, learning 2.0 is largely student-directed, optional, and filled with choices.
- While learning 1.0 was relatively monolithic and consistent in its form and roles for teachers and students, learning 2.0 is diverse and multi-faceted.
Our present conversation about “learning 2.0,” “school 2.0,” and “web 2.0″ is largely inspired by fundamental shifts in the way information is published and shared on our planet. In every previous era of human history, access to the means of publication for a national or international audience was sharply controlled by a limited number of wealthy elites. The “common person” rarely had the opportunity to publish ideas for a large audience without the assistance of those elites who controlled the means of publication. The invention of moveable type and the printing press in the mid-1400s ushered in dramatic changes in the access which everyday people had to texts and ideas, but it did not democratize the means of publication in the same way the read/write web or web 2.0 has done in the early 21st century...more" :)
Facebook for Learning Boleh!
Click here to view the Articulate version
DOWNLOAD
DOWNLOAD
- MP3 and Articulate Version (Unzip before viewing)
- Slideshare Version
LEARNING SESSION
This weeks learning session explored Facebook and how we can use it to facilitate learning. As expected, thanks to the juicy topic Facebook, we had a full house (e-learning lab, I mean!). Only 25 were allowed to register, but we ended up with 32 participants, which just illustrates that Facebook is an interesting topic.
For those of you who missed the learning session, here is the slidecast version from SlideShare:
This weeks learning session explored Facebook and how we can use it to facilitate learning. As expected, thanks to the juicy topic Facebook, we had a full house (e-learning lab, I mean!). Only 25 were allowed to register, but we ended up with 32 participants, which just illustrates that Facebook is an interesting topic.
For those of you who missed the learning session, here is the slidecast version from SlideShare:
Facebook For Learning? Boleh!
View more presentations from Zaid Alsagoff.
LETS DO IT!
Based on our recent poll the majority of both Academic staff (66.7) and students (67.8) that participated think that IMU should use Facebook for e-learning.
But, where to start?
To get your Facebook social learning space moving, why not for starters create a Facebook Group (especially if you want to have a closed group)?
STEP-BY-STEP
Here are two screencast tutorials exploring how to create a Facebook Group and how we could use it to facilitate learning:
Part 1 - Creating a Facebook Group
Part 2 - Exploring Facebook Group Features
But...
Why not combine Moodle (E-learning Portal) and Facebook to facilitate online learning environments that sizzles :)
REFLECTION
If you are wondering how long it took to record the narration (audio) for the Facebook for Learning? Boleh! presentation (41 min) and the two (2) screencast tutorials (5 x 2 min = 10 min), it took actually a whole day. I started 9.30 am in the morning, and completed all recordings by 7.30 pm in the evening. If we minus the lunch break and prayers, I probably spent 7.5 working hours to record the above.
The toughest part was recording the 2 screencasts, because I initially had no clue of what to record or say, and I didnt finish them before 4 pm. I used Screenr (a free tool) to develop the two screencasts, and it is a very user-friendly tool to record anything happening on your screen (other screencasting tools).
Though, Screenr has three (3) major minus points. One, is that you are limited to recording 5 minute sessions (perhaps positive in terms of instructional design and forcing you to be more precise and concise), and that can get annoying if you are recording and just cannot make the 5 minute time-line. If you listen carefully, you will notice this on both the screencasts I recorded. I had to also re-record twice, because I just missed the time line. I suppose I need to chunk it up more in the future, and perhaps use an audio script.
Now, that leads us to the 2nd minus point, which is that you cannot edit what you have recorded. Meaning basically that you have to perfect your recording, or keep on recording until you are satisfied. Post-editing, ability to zoom, adding annotations, and desktop version (offline) would be great, but I suspect Articulate is saving that for the commercial version in the near future. Lets hope I am wrong :)
Thirdly, you cannot record another screencast, while you are uploading and publishing the first one (please correct me if I am wrong!). And if you have a slow connection, now that gets annoying! There should be a feature allowing you to record another screencast, while waiting for the first one to be uploaded. Now that would be useful!
But, besides that Screenr is great. Alright, lets move on! As for recording audio for the presentation slides used during our Facebook workshop, I used Articulate. Since the slides were ready, and I had some idea what to say (no audio script though, which is obvious!), so I managed to record the narration for the presentation (including adding animations and annotations) in roughly three (3) hours. Meaning, it took roughly 4.4 times longer to record, compared to the presentations actual length (41 min). Not bad, but certainly I would love to do it faster. Practice, Reflect, Improve, Practice, Practice...
Besides publishing the Articulate version, I published the podcast version, and extracted the audio, which was uploaded and synchronized to the SlideShare version, to create a screencast. Finally, I uploaded both the MP3 and Articulate version (Zip format) to the Internet Archive enabling anyone to download both formats and explore them further offline.
A quicker approach would be to simply video record the workshop and dump the recording on the web. The approach I took was certainly more exhaustive than simply video recording the workshop, but in the long run this approach could perhaps add more value (learning) and spark more interest to whoever is exploring.
What do you think? :)
Based on our recent poll the majority of both Academic staff (66.7) and students (67.8) that participated think that IMU should use Facebook for e-learning.
But, where to start?
To get your Facebook social learning space moving, why not for starters create a Facebook Group (especially if you want to have a closed group)?
STEP-BY-STEP
Here are two screencast tutorials exploring how to create a Facebook Group and how we could use it to facilitate learning:
Part 1 - Creating a Facebook Group
Part 2 - Exploring Facebook Group Features
But...
Why not combine Moodle (E-learning Portal) and Facebook to facilitate online learning environments that sizzles :)
REFLECTION
If you are wondering how long it took to record the narration (audio) for the Facebook for Learning? Boleh! presentation (41 min) and the two (2) screencast tutorials (5 x 2 min = 10 min), it took actually a whole day. I started 9.30 am in the morning, and completed all recordings by 7.30 pm in the evening. If we minus the lunch break and prayers, I probably spent 7.5 working hours to record the above.
The toughest part was recording the 2 screencasts, because I initially had no clue of what to record or say, and I didnt finish them before 4 pm. I used Screenr (a free tool) to develop the two screencasts, and it is a very user-friendly tool to record anything happening on your screen (other screencasting tools).
Though, Screenr has three (3) major minus points. One, is that you are limited to recording 5 minute sessions (perhaps positive in terms of instructional design and forcing you to be more precise and concise), and that can get annoying if you are recording and just cannot make the 5 minute time-line. If you listen carefully, you will notice this on both the screencasts I recorded. I had to also re-record twice, because I just missed the time line. I suppose I need to chunk it up more in the future, and perhaps use an audio script.
Now, that leads us to the 2nd minus point, which is that you cannot edit what you have recorded. Meaning basically that you have to perfect your recording, or keep on recording until you are satisfied. Post-editing, ability to zoom, adding annotations, and desktop version (offline) would be great, but I suspect Articulate is saving that for the commercial version in the near future. Lets hope I am wrong :)
Thirdly, you cannot record another screencast, while you are uploading and publishing the first one (please correct me if I am wrong!). And if you have a slow connection, now that gets annoying! There should be a feature allowing you to record another screencast, while waiting for the first one to be uploaded. Now that would be useful!
But, besides that Screenr is great. Alright, lets move on! As for recording audio for the presentation slides used during our Facebook workshop, I used Articulate. Since the slides were ready, and I had some idea what to say (no audio script though, which is obvious!), so I managed to record the narration for the presentation (including adding animations and annotations) in roughly three (3) hours. Meaning, it took roughly 4.4 times longer to record, compared to the presentations actual length (41 min). Not bad, but certainly I would love to do it faster. Practice, Reflect, Improve, Practice, Practice...
Besides publishing the Articulate version, I published the podcast version, and extracted the audio, which was uploaded and synchronized to the SlideShare version, to create a screencast. Finally, I uploaded both the MP3 and Articulate version (Zip format) to the Internet Archive enabling anyone to download both formats and explore them further offline.
A quicker approach would be to simply video record the workshop and dump the recording on the web. The approach I took was certainly more exhaustive than simply video recording the workshop, but in the long run this approach could perhaps add more value (learning) and spark more interest to whoever is exploring.
What do you think? :)
Winner for b and d Uno!
And the winners are...
Congratulations ladies! Be sure to check your email for your copy of b and d Uno!
For anyone else who is interested in the file, head over to my TPT store by clicking the picture below! It comes in two versions... one with a lot of color ink, and one that uses minimal color ink! And, its only $2!
Congratulations ladies! Be sure to check your email for your copy of b and d Uno!
For anyone else who is interested in the file, head over to my TPT store by clicking the picture below! It comes in two versions... one with a lot of color ink, and one that uses minimal color ink! And, its only $2!
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Creating Educational Games for Online Courses!
(Originally posted in ELC on the 5th May, 2004)
According to Dr. Dan Lim (Director of Instructional Technology Center, University of Minnesota), there are ?several notable web-based learning games initiatives like quia.com and thiagi.com are helping education and the training industry with some sustainable gaming delivery of online learning content. Quia.com has reached an impressive critical mass among educators and trainers that they are now charging subion for using their web-based gaming service. They still have a way to catch up with the "flashier" online games. Recently a new digital gaming community has been created at WebCT.com. He further highlights some of ?the criteria that will help learning games become sustainable and attractive to educators and trainers:
- Contains substantial amount of learning content
- Draws learners toward the learning content (not distracting)
- Engages learners to spend hours "playing" with the learning content
- Balances between easy and difficult learning content
- Maintains learners interest and motivation throughout the gaming experience
- Uses compelling visuals and motion graphics to enhance user experience
- Allows educators and trainers quick and easy design options to create games
- Integrates with other learning management systems to record and/or track learners progress
- Allows a variety of gaming objects to retrieve and deliver the same content from one source
- Delivers games in multiple platforms - web-based, PDA, standalone, etc?
Source: http://webhome.crk.umn.edu/~dlim/itc/flashgamesinfosite/
The most important point is NOT to think about creating games per se, but creating really fun, challenging structures for highly engaged, enjoyable learning?". - Prensky
The first Flash learning game was launched in July 2001. To date, there are more than 100 games created in multiple disciplines (Biology, Zoology, Hospitality Management, Business Management, Accounting, Systems Analysis, Natural Resources, Communications, etc). Additional disciplines using the learning games are Music, Research, Speech, Ornithology, Library Science, Computer Science, Aviation, and Grammar.
Participating colleges and universities include Nicholls State University, University of Georgia, University of Minnesota, Medical College of Wisconsin, University of North Dakota, Indiana University Kokomo, San Jose State University, University of Central Florida and Institute of Technical Education (Singapore).
There are also collaboration efforts underway in developing an enterprise system to deploy Flash learning games for a large university system as well as integrating with learning management systems. According to a web survey conducted in April 2002, almost 40% of students surveyed indicated that they have played the Flash learning games in at least one course during the school year. Out of the 40% who played the games, 92% indicated the Flash learning games were helpful and recommended them to be integrated into other classes too.
Source: http://webhome.crk.umn.edu/~dlim/itc/flashgamesinfosite/
The Game engine allows any educator can create a game account within the respective game manager edition. During the game account creation process, a session code will be emailed immediately and used to complete the registration process. A user id will be attached to the newly created account?s url for game content identification. The unique game url will retrieve the specific game content from the server-side database. The game content entered can be previewed in a flash game format. When all 80 questions are entered, the game may be enabled for public access.
In addition, they have another game creation manager enable batch upload (internal use only). It uses ColdFusion MX as the backend for uploading all 80 questions at one time. Questions can be pre-entered in a spreadsheet or database format for the batch upload.
Flash Learning Game Objects developed:
The first Flash learning game was launched in July 2001. To date, there are more than 100 games created in multiple disciplines (Biology, Zoology, Hospitality Management, Business Management, Accounting, Systems Analysis, Natural Resources, Communications, etc). Additional disciplines using the learning games are Music, Research, Speech, Ornithology, Library Science, Computer Science, Aviation, and Grammar.
Participating colleges and universities include Nicholls State University, University of Georgia, University of Minnesota, Medical College of Wisconsin, University of North Dakota, Indiana University Kokomo, San Jose State University, University of Central Florida and Institute of Technical Education (Singapore).
There are also collaboration efforts underway in developing an enterprise system to deploy Flash learning games for a large university system as well as integrating with learning management systems. According to a web survey conducted in April 2002, almost 40% of students surveyed indicated that they have played the Flash learning games in at least one course during the school year. Out of the 40% who played the games, 92% indicated the Flash learning games were helpful and recommended them to be integrated into other classes too.
Source: http://webhome.crk.umn.edu/~dlim/itc/flashgamesinfosite/
The Game engine allows any educator can create a game account within the respective game manager edition. During the game account creation process, a session code will be emailed immediately and used to complete the registration process. A user id will be attached to the newly created account?s url for game content identification. The unique game url will retrieve the specific game content from the server-side database. The game content entered can be previewed in a flash game format. When all 80 questions are entered, the game may be enabled for public access.
In addition, they have another game creation manager enable batch upload (internal use only). It uses ColdFusion MX as the backend for uploading all 80 questions at one time. Questions can be pre-entered in a spreadsheet or database format for the batch upload.
Flash Learning Game Objects developed:
- The Flash Challenge Game
- The Flash Category Game
- The Flash Clue Game
- The Flash Action Game (Still under development for importing external images).
Future developments for Flash learning games include:
- Enterprise Development
- PDA Versions for Category and Clue Games
- Core Education and Basic Skills in various Flash game formats (Online & CD-ROM delivery)
- 10 Most Popular Gaming Formats - Interchangeable for gaming contents
- Multi-player Flash Learning Games
Here are a few other online resources that can enable you to create simple quiz games, without needing to have programming or graphic design skills (remember to read the instructions carefully):
- Quia Web
Quia Web is one of the worlds most popular educational technology Web sites. It pioneered the "create-your-own" concept, giving instructors the ability to create customized educational software online, built around their own course materials and made available to students over the Web. The idea proved so popular that more than 300,000 educators have registered to use the service. Today, Quia Web offers much more, including assessment and analysis tools and classroom management features, like class pages, calendars, and grade books. All features are intuitive and learn-as-you-go?no special training is ever required. - Thiagi
Thiagi updates this web site every week to provide you with free training games, instructional activities, puzzles, online learning activities, web-based games, and creative training techniques. He also adds a new issue of the free monthly newsletter, Play for Performance, every month. - Quiz Game Master
Create your own Interactive Web-Based Quiz Games such as Dragon? lair, Cryptomania, Memory meter, TicTacToe, etc. You can save them to your computer. - WebCT Game Community - Highlighted resources
They provide discussion areas and resources that can be categorized into three general areas:
- Designing and developing games that can be easily modified for use in online courses- Finding, modifying and deploying customizable games in online courses, and;
- Researching the effectiveness of games in online learning.
- Web Author
Links provided below can be used to make online forms to be used for Web Assisted Learning and Teaching of Languages (WALT). All you need is enter your data in the fields given, and the requested form is generated on the fly. You can simply copy the source code and keep it in your web space, or even leave them in our server and use our web address. - Hot Potatoes
The Hot Potatoes suite includes six applications, enabling you to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises for the World Wide Web. Hot Potatoes is not freeware, but it is free of charge for those working for publicly-funded non-profit-making educational institutions, who make their pages available on the web. Other users must pay for a licence. - E.L. Easton
Create your own, quizzes, exercises, tests, etc. - Jan Mulders Free Javas
Crossword, Hangman, Slider Puzzle, Word Search, and Memory Squares.
- Interactive Exercise Maker Pages
Interactive exercises created through a simple web interface. The makers were developed by Dan Beeby at Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Swarthmore Colleges as part of the Tri-College Mellon Language Project. Feel free to use the makers, but be sure to read the documentation and follow it closely.
Lets play and learn :)
Easy Way to Make a Grab My Blog Button Code
Sarah over at Miss As Kindergarten asked me if I had a blog button code and I actually didnt! I played around with HTML to make my own, but I was messing up somewhere along the line. Then, I found this awesome website:
It does all of the HTML work for you... and you can even pick custom colors for your code box and text! All you have to do is copy and paste the completed code to your blog! Check mine out in the sidebar to see how it looks!
Thanks to Sarah for inspiring me to do this! Everyone, please stop by her blog to show her some love... she also has Technology Tutorials (with videos!) so I know youll love her!
It does all of the HTML work for you... and you can even pick custom colors for your code box and text! All you have to do is copy and paste the completed code to your blog! Check mine out in the sidebar to see how it looks!
Thanks to Sarah for inspiring me to do this! Everyone, please stop by her blog to show her some love... she also has Technology Tutorials (with videos!) so I know youll love her!
Help Your Students Remember Everything!
Do your students ever forget that theres a spelling test tomorrow, or do they forget to bring in their homework? For some reason... mine always seems to forget that they need to bring their snack from home! Well... Ive been thinking about doing this for a while but I finally did it... I came up with a set of "reminder" bracelets to help them remember all the important things they need to do at night!
You can grab the spelling test labels for free below! Click the pictures below to load higher quality versions of the pictures, then save and print them!
I originally got the idea of using bracelets from KindergartenWorks. I absolutely love the set of freebie behavior bracelets that Leslie offers... and I knew my kids would love them! As the school year started and my class was forgetting simple things (like reading every night), I just knew that adapting her idea would be the perfect solution!
(source)
Be sure to check out her freebie and and follow her blog while youre there!
Flash Giveaway Winners!
I added a flash giveaway to the bottom of my post from yesterday!
Thanks to everyone who entered! The book(s) Im currently reading is the Hunger Games Trilogy! I finished the first one in two days and Im on the second one now. I was so nervous that theyd be gory but theyre not at all!
Congrats to Tanya at First Grade is Fantabulous! and Deneise McGowan for being the first two people to guess correctly! Ill be sending you the file soon!
Salman Khan Uses Microsoft Paint to Inspire Learning
- The Khan Academy
- Khan Academy YouTube Channel
- Via Helge Scherlund
THE KHAN ACADEMY
Salman Khan (Sal) founded the Khan Academy with the hope of using technology to foster new learning models. The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit organization with the mission of providing a high quality education to anyone, anywhere. They currently have 1600+ videos (growing fast!) on YouTube covering everything from basic arithmetic and algebra to differential equations, physics, and finance which have been recorded by Salman Khan.
SALMAN KHAN
SIMPLIFY
Sal knows his stuff (pretty well!), and has a great ability to simplify what he teaches using story telling with a laid-back approach (conversational style). As far as I know, his formula to create learning content is quite unique:
Alright, he is not going to get A+ for graphics, but I would give A+ for creativity, pedagogy, passion, knowledge sharing, and efficient development. How many educators have produced 1600+ videos (x10 = 16000 minutes/60 = 266.7 Hours), or more than 266 hours of e-learning content in a few years?
Yes, I also love the way he has chunked most of his videos into digestible 8-12 minute lessons, which are perfect for learning-on-the-fly.
INSPIRE
- Microsoft Paint is his blackboard (Who needs PowerPoint?), which he uses to draw and illustrate step-by-step what he is explaining.
- He records the narrated lessons using a screen recording software (Here are a few free ones!).
- When recorded (and edited), he uploads his recordings to YouTube (YouTube Channel).
- Then he links his recordings or lessons to The Khan Academy website, which indexes the hundreds of videos as he likes.
Alright, he is not going to get A+ for graphics, but I would give A+ for creativity, pedagogy, passion, knowledge sharing, and efficient development. How many educators have produced 1600+ videos (x10 = 16000 minutes/60 = 266.7 Hours), or more than 266 hours of e-learning content in a few years?
Yes, I also love the way he has chunked most of his videos into digestible 8-12 minute lessons, which are perfect for learning-on-the-fly.
INSPIRE
It is inspiring to see Sal share his amazing knowledge to the world in such a creative and efficient way. I suppose he deserves an Oscar for knowledge sharing :)
Here in Malaysia and Singapore, parents spend millions (if not billions of) dollars on tuition for their kids to score great grades. What if we could inspire geniuses here who have a knack of simplifying content to do similar kind of initiatives. By doing so, we can level the field a bit more and enable perhaps some of those who couldnt afford tuition to have a chance to compete and do better. Well, you still need a computer device and Internet (unless the content is downloaded), but it would still be a great start.
In other words, we dont actually need to spend millions to produce quality e-learning content and learning experiences. With todays free web 2.0 technology, we could do it practically with no significant initial cost (except for our time).
For example, we could use Google Sites to develop our website, free screen-recording (casting) software to capture our lessons, and use YouTube to upload our content (or perhaps Google Video, if our videos are longer than 10 minutes). If we are developing PowerPoint presentations, we could use SlideShare (and link uploaded audio, which can be synchronized with the slides. Audio upload alternative: Internet Archive). Another PowerPoint (convert-to-Flash) upload alternative would be SlideBoom, which also captures the PowerPoint animations.
These are just a few possibilities of many we can use to share our knowledge and skills to the world. I suppose the biggest struggle today would be to find the time to do it (and the appropriate tool(s) to use) :(
On a positive note, Sal has found the time and his work is inspiring. He fits well with my new learning motto (and adventure):
Simplify Ideas, Inspire People! :)
LATEST UPDATE
Since this article was posted in 2008, Salman Khan has evolved his unique teaching approach to use the following learning tools:
"I use Camtasia Recorder ($200) + SmoothDraw3 (Free) + a Wacom Bamboo Tablet ($80) on a PC. I used to use ScreenVideoRecorder($20) and Microsoft Paint (Free)... (Source)"
In other words, we dont actually need to spend millions to produce quality e-learning content and learning experiences. With todays free web 2.0 technology, we could do it practically with no significant initial cost (except for our time).
For example, we could use Google Sites to develop our website, free screen-recording (casting) software to capture our lessons, and use YouTube to upload our content (or perhaps Google Video, if our videos are longer than 10 minutes). If we are developing PowerPoint presentations, we could use SlideShare (and link uploaded audio, which can be synchronized with the slides. Audio upload alternative: Internet Archive). Another PowerPoint (convert-to-Flash) upload alternative would be SlideBoom, which also captures the PowerPoint animations.
These are just a few possibilities of many we can use to share our knowledge and skills to the world. I suppose the biggest struggle today would be to find the time to do it (and the appropriate tool(s) to use) :(
On a positive note, Sal has found the time and his work is inspiring. He fits well with my new learning motto (and adventure):
Simplify Ideas, Inspire People! :)
LATEST UPDATE
Since this article was posted in 2008, Salman Khan has evolved his unique teaching approach to use the following learning tools:
"I use Camtasia Recorder ($200) + SmoothDraw3 (Free) + a Wacom Bamboo Tablet ($80) on a PC. I used to use ScreenVideoRecorder($20) and Microsoft Paint (Free)... (Source)"
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
More Spring Smartboard Games a Quick Giveaway!
In my classroom, I teach the core part of phonics in the morning, then review our new topic (and previous topics) at the end of the day after snack. Its nice to have Smartboard games that the students can manage independently... and of course, it helps if theyre cute!
Ive been hard at work making phonics and phonemic awareness games for my students and I have SIX new games to share with you!
I also added these games to my Spring Smartboard/Promethean bundle if you want to save 40% on all 12 Spring themed games I currently have up for sale.
Now of course, for a quick giveaway. Im making my grandmas famous spinach ravioli again this Easter. Yesterday, I made the stuffing and dough, and today Ill start making a million tiny ravioli (okay, not a million, but last year we made 723 ravioli... yikes!)
Anyway... how long did it take me to make the spinach stuffing? I rounded the time to the nearest 15 minutes. Whoever guesses correctly first will win all FOURTEEN games!
Ive been hard at work making phonics and phonemic awareness games for my students and I have SIX new games to share with you!
Now of course, for a quick giveaway. Im making my grandmas famous spinach ravioli again this Easter. Yesterday, I made the stuffing and dough, and today Ill start making a million tiny ravioli (okay, not a million, but last year we made 723 ravioli... yikes!)
Anyway... how long did it take me to make the spinach stuffing? I rounded the time to the nearest 15 minutes. Whoever guesses correctly first will win all FOURTEEN games!
How to Make an Outline of Any Font!
Its Tuesday again... which means its time for another technology tutorial! The winner for this week was how to make an outline of any text!
This option won the poll its first week!
So you know, the tutorial has three parts:
For next weeks poll, Im going to add how to make any picture into a coloring image. I really hope this comes up before the holidays! I think it would be so cute to make a coloring book with pictures of the students and give each student a copy as part of their holiday gift!
This definitely works better with pictures of people rather than little furry dogs... but thats just an example!
This option won the poll its first week!
So you know, the tutorial has three parts:
- Outline of Any Font in Microsoft Word (Mac or PC)
- Outline of Any Font in Microsoft PowerPoint (PC)
- Outline of Any Font in Microsoft PowerPoint (Mac)
You can download this tutorial as a PDF by clicking this picture!
Note: This tutorial is hosted on Google Docs. To save it from there, just open the file and click File > Download to save onto your computer!
For next weeks poll, Im going to add how to make any picture into a coloring image. I really hope this comes up before the holidays! I think it would be so cute to make a coloring book with pictures of the students and give each student a copy as part of their holiday gift!
This definitely works better with pictures of people rather than little furry dogs... but thats just an example!
101 Free Learning Tools
- SlideShare Presentation
- SlideBoom version
- Scribd Version
- 140+ Learning Tools
TOP 3 POSTS
Lets get right to the point! The three posts below, have been found and viewed more than any other posts on ZaidLearn:
- A Free Learning Tool for Every Learning Problem?
- University Learning = OCW + OER = FREE!
- 75 Free EduGames to Spice Up Your Course!
On a positive note, my new eBook is catching up very fast with the Three Musketeers above. Interestingly, the Three Musketeers have one major thing in common, and that is that they all contain long lists of juicy learning resources (tools, content and games). Yeah, we all like juicy lists of learning resources! Especially, the learning tools list (No. 1) has been very popular, and has been quoted by several blogs and sites. Actually, it has even been translated into Spanish. The OER/OCW list (No. 2) has also turned out to be quite popular, and thanks to Tony Hirsts great idea, we can all search the 250+ sites (havent counted, but that is what others have said) from one entry field. WOW, it feels great!
101 FREE LEARNING TOOLS
Actually, not! I revisited my Learning tools list yesterday, and was not impressed one bit! To deal with this stressful situation, I have revised the list to focus more on learning tools (and less on resource sites). Also, this time around I have made the learning tools list more visual, and you can explore it right here:
If you would like me to give a talk on this 101 Free Learning Tools crash course, please give me a buzz. 101 learning tools should take approximately 101 minutes, if no questions asked. Anyway, you have the Slideshare (and PDF) version to play around with. If you ask me, I prefer to learn on my own rather than being taught. It is really fun to mess up and learn the hard way. It sticks longer, too!
I will create the text version of this 101 crash course soon, when I get back from another non-blogging vacation. No, I am not going on vacation, just taking a vacation from blogging so that I can learn and work in peace (Blogging is addictive, and can distract you from your work! What a discovery!). At least there is a new eBook and a revised learning tools list to enjoy while I learn how to think again. Finally, if you are really hungry to figure out what I will be discovering in the coming weeks, you can always explore my delicious learning adventure. Yes, I will be updating this one during my non-blogging holiday. Peace :)
101 FREE LEARNING TOOLS
Actually, not! I revisited my Learning tools list yesterday, and was not impressed one bit! To deal with this stressful situation, I have revised the list to focus more on learning tools (and less on resource sites). Also, this time around I have made the learning tools list more visual, and you can explore it right here:
View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: tools learning)
If you would like me to give a talk on this 101 Free Learning Tools crash course, please give me a buzz. 101 learning tools should take approximately 101 minutes, if no questions asked. Anyway, you have the Slideshare (and PDF) version to play around with. If you ask me, I prefer to learn on my own rather than being taught. It is really fun to mess up and learn the hard way. It sticks longer, too!
I will create the text version of this 101 crash course soon, when I get back from another non-blogging vacation. No, I am not going on vacation, just taking a vacation from blogging so that I can learn and work in peace (Blogging is addictive, and can distract you from your work! What a discovery!). At least there is a new eBook and a revised learning tools list to enjoy while I learn how to think again. Finally, if you are really hungry to figure out what I will be discovering in the coming weeks, you can always explore my delicious learning adventure. Yes, I will be updating this one during my non-blogging holiday. Peace :)
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