The Top 50 Educators to Follow on Twitter in 2010!

DistanceEducation.org just published a list of the top 50 educators to follow on twitter. This list would be helpful for anyone who is seeking to improve their knowledge of K-12 and higher education in the field of distance learning. Check it out!

The Top 50 Educators on Twitter to Follow in 2010

Millennial Professor/Jennifer T. Edwards

Try This Website! - ASCD Launches Teacher Social Network (K-12 Teachers)

ASCD Launches Teacher Social Network

Calling all K-12 teachers! If you enjoy social networking websites, here is the social network for you! The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development just launched their new social networking website for teachers. I imagine that this website will foster idea sharing and informal support groups that span across the United States!

What do you think about this new website?

Millennial Professor/Jennifer T. Edwards

E-Textbooks in College Courses: Good Idea or Bad Idea?

Article from the Chronicle of Higher Education's Wired Campus: Leading E-Textbook Seller Reports 400 Percent Sales Increase in 2009 - http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Leading-E-Textbook-Seller/20566/

I really like the e-textbook concept in undergraduate courses. This technology was not present when I was an undergraduate, but I think that today's undergraduate student would really benefit from the technology. I promote the e-textbooks because they would save the students money (compared to an actual tangible textbook) and the students would not have to carry all of their textbooks across campus. E-textbooks also provide the students with interactive features that may help their learning process. I teach at a rural, 4-year, public university and my students seem to be resistant to e-textbooks, because many of them do not have a laptop computer to view the e-textbook. In addition, most undergraduate students look forward to selling their books back to the bookstores at the end of the semester and e-textbooks do not give them this option.

What is your opinion of e-textbooks? 

Millennial Professor/Jennifer T. Edwards

Communication Tech. (Use This Tool!): Screencast-O-Matic

Use Screencast-O-Matic.com to create "how to" videos and power point presentations for online classes. This website has the EASIEST online screencast software that I have ever used for my syllabus overview for online classes. It provides an easy upload to youtube.com (10 min. or less) and the site even provides its users with a place to host their 15 minute presentations. The volume is great and I uploaded the video to my youtube account. This provided me with a seamless integration into my blackboard course.

Here's one of the videos from the site (another professor):



This browser-based tool would be great for professors who teach online classes and librarians who need to teach others how to conduct research using the databases. Just an idea!

Have a great week!

Millennial Professor/Jennifer T. Edwards