12 Days of Learning: PLN

Atomic Learning has created the 12 Days of Learning, a series of articles designed to kick off resolutions to keep learning in the new year. We thought this was a great idea and have decided borrow (shamelessly steal) it and do our own. Our Day 7 post will look at creating a Personal Learning Network.

A Personal Learning Network, or PLN, is a group of people and resources that you use to continue learning, growing, and developing your knowledge and skills. You can ask questions, get advice, share knowledge and build community. You probably already have a group of friends and colleagues for this, but many people have expanded their PLN online. A PLN may include people you follow on Twitter, blogs you read, learning communities and social bookmarking sites such as Diigo.

Never heard of a PLN before? Not sure you have one or how to start building one? Watch the short video below for an introduction to PLN’s. Then review the handy Building Your PLN guide at Edublogs Teacher Challenges.


 

12 Days of Learning: Library Tips

Atomic Learning has created the 12 Days of Learning, a series of articles designed to kick off resolutions to keep learning in the new year. We thought this was a great idea and have decided borrow (shamelessly steal) it and do our own. Today we’ll look to our colleagues at the Lesley Library.

Keyword Searching in Library Databases
Learn how to use keywords, AND, OR and truncation to create successful and more powerful searches in the library databases.

 

Scholarly Sources and Evaluating Information
Learn more about how to determine if a source is scholarly and will it be a useful resource.

For more assistance with these topics, check with Ask a Librarian.

 

12 Days of Learning: Skype for Business

Atomic Learning has created the 12 Days of Learning, a series of articles designed to kick off resolutions to keep learning in the new year. We thought this was a great idea and have decided borrow (shamelessly steal) it and do our own. Today’s post (Day 5, if you’re counting) looks at Skype for Business.

Skype for Business is an online meeting tool where you can have class meetings, ad hoc conversations, advising or tutoring sessions or do group work. It includes  text-based instant messages, audio and video chat, the ability to share Powerpoint presentations or even your desktop to demo applications or processes. There’s also a whiteboard for quick collaboration and a polling tool for rapid feedback in larger groups.

skype meeting window

Tutorials:
Set up a Skype for Business Meeting in Outlook
Set up a Skype for Business Meeting in Office 365 (web email)
Explore the Skype for Business Meeting Window

 

12 Days of Learning: VoiceThread Doodler

Atomic Learning has created the 12 Days of Learning, a series of articles designed to kick off resolutions to keep learning in the new year. We thought this was a great idea and have decided borrow (shamelessly steal) it and do our own. For our Day 4 post, let’s look at VoiceThread and the Doodler tool.

The Doodler tool in VoiceThread allows you to annotate your image or slide in VoiceThread using your mouse (or finger if you’re using a mobile device) to draw on the presentation area. It’s as if you had a pointer to direct the viewer’s attention to a specific area of the slide. All doodles will play back in time to your recorded voice so you can describe the detail you’re highlighting. Use the Doodler to annotate charts and images, sketch out a diagram or show someone how to solve a tricky math problem just as if you were with them in person. However, they can play it back as often as they need to in VoiceThread.

View the short overview video about the Doodler tool in VoiceThread below and access VoiceThread’s documentation for more information.

12 Days of Learning: Assignments

Atomic Learning has created the 12 Days of Learning, a series of articles designed to kick off resolutions to keep learning in the new year. We thought this was a great idea and have decided borrow (shamelessly steal) it and do our own. For Day 3 of our series, learn how to collect, grade and return student assignments in myLesley.

Tired of searching through your email to find the assignments your students sent? Can’t find where you filed the graded version of their final paper? The Assignment tool in myLesley will allow your students to submit their coursework to a digital dropbox-style space. You can then view, provide feedback and return the graded assignment. myLesley will keep a record in the course of when the student submitted the file, your annotations and feedback, the grade and when you returned the graded assignment to them. Your students can access their feedback at any time by returning to the myLesley course site.

Learn more about how to use this powerful tool by viewing the tutorials below. assessments menu

Create an assignment 

Grade an assignment