Online Course (With Apologies to Poe)

I took a bit of artistic license with this, but this is based on a true story shared by Jeff Goldman at the excellent MinuteBio blog.  Several weeks ago, I put out a call for e-learning horror stories. Jeff’s was by far the best (or worst!) story, and I’m grateful that he inspired me to [...]

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Do you have what it takes?

During September we have looked at Online Teaching and Learning, hopefully, from potential students’ and teachers’ perspective. Beginning with misconceptions and determining what it takes to learn OR teach online. Do you have the skills to be successful?
April made us think about the message we are conveying when we use humor. She gave us concrete [...]

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Keeping it Professional – How To

With all the discussion about Social Networking, specifically Facebook and Twitter, how do you keep your interactions and information sharing professional?
The stories about new college graduates’ Facebook pages coming back to haunt them in their job search, is a topic that we as professionals also need to pay attention to. How much sharing is too [...]

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What’s Next?

As you can tell, the Online Course Development team has been busy and we want to share our excitement with you!
During the Sakai implementation, we continued our efforts to improve our existing courses while developing additional course offerings. After all, that is our goal for PLS! Over the past two weeks, you’ve heard about Classroom Management (CM) and Merging [...]

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April Wrap Up

“Auntie Em! Auntie Em! I’m home!”
Yes, Dorothy, you are. While one of the main themes of “The Wizard of Oz” is self-sufficiency, we could not complete our courses without the help and support of some very special people outside of our department.

Carla Minks – Marketing Director, is making magnificent efforts to promote PLS Online courses.
Beth [...]

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Technicolor Courses?

From Michele Gill:
A previous post mentioned the movie The Wizard of Oz, and it got me thinking about when I was a little girl and my parents would let me and my little sister stay up late to watch “specials” on TV…but the movies would run far past our bedtime. It wasn’t until fifth grade [...]

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Copyright Department Supports Online too!

 
My name is Beth Eck and I am the copyright administrator for PLS. Since I started with PLS in 2006, I have strived to become the resident copyright “expert” surrounding copyright legality and the use of third party material in PLS Courses. While the majority of my job occurs within the PLS face-to-face realm, I [...]

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Supporting Cast

 

Ruby Slippers

One of my favorite movies growing up was ”The Wizard of Oz.” The visual transition from black and white film to color was a clue even for a small child that “we’re not in Kansas anymore!” The Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion may have taken the role of supporting cast, but it didn’t take Dorothy long to [...]

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It takes a Village

Years ago I taught math for my local high school. The math teachers on my wing would gather in the hall between classes to discuss what worked and, more often, what didn’t. This was especially helpful when we had new textbooks or were implementing new strategies. We learned from each other.
I missed the opportunity to collaborate, [...]

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21st Century Reading and Writing

Historically, we humans have experienced an impulse to write; we have found the materials to write; we have endured the labor of composition; we have understood that writing offers new possibility and a unique agency…It’s time for us to join the future and support all forms of 21st century literacies, inside school and outside school. —Kathleen [...]

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