Multimedia and Graphics to Facilitate Deeper Learning

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Task Navigation 

Week 1: Introductions

Welcome to Multimedia and Graphics for Deeper Learning. I am excited to share what I have learned about making multimedia and graphics more effective for student learning. I am also eager to learn from your experiences and knowledge of multimedia for learning.

Much of what I will present here is based upon the research of Richard E. Mayer, Ruth Colvin Clark, and collaborators. While I tend to agree with most of their findings, you may have different opinions. Feel free to courteously disagree with any ideas in a constructive manner.

P2PU Philosophy

 

  • Peer Learning Community - While I will provide learning resources, participants should feel free to share resources they have found valuable in their practice. Participants are encouraged to learn from each other and I hope to learn from you as well.  
  • Open Sharing - Content in this course and on P2PU is openly licensed with a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY). That means whatever you contribute on the site can be shared with others as long as they attribute the source.
  • Customized Learning - You own your learning, so steer your learning to meet your needs. If you have questions or needs - post them on the Activity Wall or whereever appropriate in the class.

 

P2PU Tips

 

  • Activity Wall - This is a good place to post general questions.
  • You will get notifications by email indicating activity in the course such as posting comments, new materials, etc. You may find you are getting too much email. You can control which messages are sent to you by going to: My P2PU --> Edit Profile --> Notifications and toggle some categories of messages off.
  • Some tasks in this course can be edited by participants. If you have corrections or something important to add, click the Edit button and make your contributions. Anything you do can be undone.
  • We will use tools on the P2PU site, as well as others. Some links will bring you off the site to other online resources. If you have a useful resource, feel free to add it by editing the task, or adding it via comments.

 

Course Conventions

 

The following icon will indicate a task to be completed:

 

This icon represents multimedia content:

 

This icon represents additional relevant  materials:

Introductions

 

  • Update your profile - (My P2PU --> Edit Profile) include relevant information about yourself, including your particular interests and areas of expertise. Include an image of yourself.
  • Post a comment (Post Comment--upper right hand side) on this task to introduce yourself with information about what you teach and where, along with any interests or broad goals for the course.
  • Click on the icons of other participants to get to know your peers in the course. Consider collaboration opportunities.

Task Discussion


  • Jessica Powell   Oct. 21, 2011, 11:59 a.m.

    Hello everyone!

    Like Patty, I am an online teacher with Bridgewater Academy. I am going into my fourth year of teaching, having subbed for over 2 1/2 years at a brick and mortar school prior to starting with BWA.

    I have gotten the chance to travel around the world (as my older sister lives overseas). This has developed my interest to see what types of things are out there in terms of different multimedia/graphics available as engaging material for students - anyone really - to draw upon to gain knowledge.

    I look forward to learning more through this class!

    ~  Jessica

  • Steve O'Connor   Oct. 21, 2011, 6:47 p.m.
    In Reply To:   Jessica Powell   Oct. 21, 2011, 11:59 a.m.

    The Bridgewater Academy certainly has a presence here! I'm sure you'll find a lot of helpful resources here! 

  • Patricia Mosset   Oct. 17, 2011, 4:01 p.m.

    I am in my 2nd year of teaching on-line classes at Bridgewater Academy.  I teach 7-12 science.  I enjoy having students from all over the country.

     

    I am hoping to gain some educational ideas and tools to create better content for my students.

     

  • Steve O'Connor   Oct. 17, 2011, 4:09 p.m.
    In Reply To:   Patricia Mosset   Oct. 17, 2011, 4:01 p.m.

    I see you use Jing. Are you using it for screencasts? Do you share them online through YouTube or something similar?

  • Patricia Mosset   Oct. 17, 2011, 4:23 p.m.
    In Reply To:   Steve O'Connor   Oct. 17, 2011, 4:09 p.m.

    Yes, I am using it for short screencasts.  I have not been posting them to YouTube.  They are uploaded through our Student Resource Center at Bridgewater Academy or if time is critical I send them directly to the student.

     

    FYI:

    When I post a comment, I only see the box that allows me to cancel my post.  I can vaguely make out the image of another box, I clicked on the ghostly image hoping it was upload or post.  After I clicked I noticed that the word "Post" appeared.  I noticed another box next to it which "preview" appeared after I clicked on it. 

  • Steve O'Connor   Oct. 17, 2011, 4:32 p.m.
    In Reply To:   Patricia Mosset   Oct. 17, 2011, 4:23 p.m.

    Tools like Jing are great for on the fly fast creation of multimedia. A great tool except the 5 minute limit.

    Regarding the site—Here is what I see:

    What platform and browser are you using? I've been told Internet Explorer has issues with this site. They recommend trying Firefox. All appears to work fine on Safari Mac.

  • Drkwood   Oct. 17, 2011, 7:24 p.m.
    In Reply To:   Patricia Mosset   Oct. 17, 2011, 4:01 p.m.

    Patricia

    I use Talk Fusion.  I have clients all over the country that I can keep in contact with via teleconferences, webcasts, video emails, and video newsletters.  You can see the products at www.ISeeYouToday.com

     

    Kirsten

  • Bryan   Oct. 17, 2011, 7:30 p.m.
    In Reply To:   Drkwood   Oct. 17, 2011, 7:24 p.m.

    Kirsten,

    I just checked out the Talk Fusion demo. Pretty cool stuff, however, I would only use one or two of the options, and from what I can tell, there is no À la carte option.

    Bryan

  • Drkwood   Oct. 17, 2011, 7:46 p.m.
    In Reply To:   Bryan   Oct. 17, 2011, 7:30 p.m.

    You can just get the video email.  

  • Patricia Mosset   Oct. 18, 2011, 4:13 p.m.
    In Reply To:   Drkwood   Oct. 17, 2011, 7:24 p.m.

    Thanks, I'll check into it.

    Patricia

  • karen   Oct. 19, 2011, 2:55 p.m.
    In Reply To:   Patricia Mosset   Oct. 17, 2011, 4:23 p.m.

    Patricia, what browser are you using? If it is Internet Explorer (especially 7), you might try Firefox, as iE is not well supported by P2PU.

    If you aren't  using IE, send me an email of what you're seeing, I'll look it more.

    Thanks for letting us know. (And if anyone else has bugs or suggestions for p2pu, please send them to me. We're a new platform and are constantly adjusting and improving.)

  • Patricia Mosset   Oct. 20, 2011, 11:54 a.m.
    In Reply To:   Steve O'Connor   Oct. 17, 2011, 4:32 p.m.

    I used Firefox this time and I had no problems.  I could see the post and preview tabs.  Apparently this is an IE issue.


    Thanks!

  • karen   Oct. 21, 2011, 10:25 a.m.
    In Reply To:   Patricia Mosset   Oct. 20, 2011, 11:54 a.m.

    Glad it's worked out! (The developers are working on better IE support for the future.)

  • karen   Oct. 15, 2011, 5:10 p.m.

    [Introduce yourself with information about what you teach and where, along with any interests or broad goals for the course.]

    Greetings, everyone! I'm Karen.

    I work with K-12 teachers at various schools in the U.S. doing coaching, curriculum and content development, and online and blended learning.

    I am facilitating two other ed courses at P2PU and am happy to be a participant in this course.

    I use a lot of multimedia and graphics in the work I do, but was not familiar with the research on what is really effective. When Steve mentioned this to me, I was eager for him to share it with others. I'm anxious to learn with and from all of you and to make my own instructional materials use of multimedia and graphics more effective for learners, both children and adults!

    As a personal intro, I live on the AZ/NM border in a very beautiful and remote area. It is 50 miles to the nearest grocery and off the grid, but fortunately we have good Internet and lots of technology in our little house here. :)

  • Steve O'Connor   Oct. 15, 2011, 3:40 p.m.

    Hi--

    I'm Steve O'Connor, the facilitator for the course. When I started shifting to the use of multimedia in the classroom, I began to explore research about making multimedia more effective in the learning process. I am heavily influenced by the research of Richard Mayer, author of Multimedia Learning, Applying the Science of Learning, and other works. In the area of graphics, I have drawn upon the works of Ruth Colvin Clark, co-author of Graphics for Learning.

     

    I look forward to getting to know you and learning from everyone in the course. We have a rich variety of participants with expertise in many different areas.