On the DL continued

The DL committee had a rip roaring meeting yesterday. We were presented with a report summarizing findings from a Student Technology Survey adminstered last semester. Though I have not quite absorbed and digested the over 258 student comments generated on technology, two of the comments have me thinking about one of the benefits of DL courses and that is a reduction of the use of resources. One student commented that the college should consider reducing their "green footprint" while another suggested converting to flatscreen computers as they have lower chemical emissions.

As I move forward today researching DL, I want to include some consideration of going green at MCNY.

Here's an article from the UK that states that DL learning courses use considerably less energy than their in-class counterparts. Yet another possible reason to "Go DL! Go Green!": http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Distance-learning-courses-consume-nearly-90--less-energy-and-produced-85--fewer-CO2-emissions/374094/

This article mentioned this site which provides FREE VIRTUAL Classrooms: http://www.wiziq.com/Virtual_Classroom.aspx

AND here's the REPORT on which that article was based: http://www3.open.ac.uk/events/3/2005331_47403_o1.pdf

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I also reviewed the following suggested to me by the Chair, Clyde Griffin, as an "elegant" resource for designing online courses: http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquest.html.

Though this may have little to do with DL development per se, I saw this assignment when searching through the database of WebQuests. It asks students to create a "dinner party" in the past: http://www.mcvts.org/ettc/mentoring/GuessWho.htm

If you want to find more interesting lessons, the Webquest database can be found here: http://webquest.org/search/index.php

Research uncovered this dissertation: "WebQuest design strategies: A case study measuring the effect of the jigsaw method on students' personal agency beliefs, engagement, and learning," Frazee, James Phillip, Ed.D., University of San Diego and San Diego State University, 2004, 186 pages. What is jigsaw you ask? Well, that was my question too! Here's what I found out at http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats/jigsaw/:

"Jigsaw is a cooperative learning strategy that enables each student of a “home” group to specialize in one aspect of a learning unit. Students meet with members from other groups who are assigned the same aspect, and after mastering the material, return to the “home” group and teach the material to their group members. Jigsaw learning allows students to be introduced to material and yet maintain a high level of personal responsibility. The purpose of Jigsaw is to develop teamwork and cooperative learning skills within all students. In addition it helps develop a depth of knowledge not possible if the students were to try and learn all of the material on their own. Finally, because students are required to present their findings to the home group, Jigsaw learning will often disclose a student’s own understanding of a concept as well as reveal any misunderstandings."