Using Clickers in the College Classroom
Using clickers in the college classroom can foster discussion, make teaching more dynamic, and promote engagement. Explore several options for using this instructional tool, see some steps for getting started, and find out how some faculty have used clickers in their classrooms.
Created by the Center for Instructional Innovation and Assessment at Western Washington University: http://pandora.cii.wwu.edu/cii/
Duration : 0:5:51
Virtual Classroom Basics
Conventional classrooms
Think learning and the first picture that comes to mind is that of an organized classroom where students listen to the gems of wisdom from the teacher in rapt attention, sometimes out of curiosity and often out of fear of a chide from the stern teacher. But this set up has long been relegated to the days of yore by the leapfrogging technology. Such has been the impact of technology on learning that it has almost made traditional learning methods look obsolete.
The arrival of virtual classrooms
Even though e-learning has taken over conventional learning for better or worse, it had not been able to successfully and completely replace traditional learning methods, mainly because it provided self learning content for learners that was fed into a CD or a website. There has been much pondering over the causes and solutions to this blow to e-learning. And only when experts had started to concede that traditional classroom training has no substitute, virtual classrooms happened. And they changed the face of e-learning altogether. This, in no way, means that virtual classrooms are a worthy replacement to their traditional counterparts. But, they are definitely proving to be valuable conjuncts to live classrooms.
The arrival of virtual classrooms on the scene made way for real time broadcast of lectures given by an instructor or a subject matter expert. Also known as webcasts or webinars, the live online events are synchronous short programs that take anywhere between half an hour to two hours to get completed. Led by an instructor, the participants usually vary from 25 to 30 learners.
Virtual classroom vis a vis traditional classroom
A traditional classroom set up is essentially a learning platform, where learning happens through communication, dialogue, and other learning aids such as text, figures, charts and diagrams. All this is done in a closed room to incubate students in an environment free of external disturbances in order to aid concentration. In this set up, students and the teacher need to be present at the same physical location and in real time.
As opposed to this, in a virtual classroom, a learning platform is created in a virtual or web based environment. All other features for learning remaining unaltered, the virtual classroom liberates learning of all physical shackles, by aiding learners to learn from remote locations. The omnipresent internet has made remote learning a reality, making success stories out of concepts such as the virtual classroom. A web based classroom scores in its easy and familiar interface and liberty from geographical boundaries, with features such as discussion boards and chat rooms, but is ridden with maladies such as security concerns, copyright issues, et. al.
Features of a virtual classroom
The classroom activities inside a virtual classroom comprise of
Learning through gaming
Group discussions with peers, instructor, and guest trainers
Giving out of homework and assessment of solved exercises
Defining work modules for the complete course
Synchronous chatting and forum discussions
Quizzes and surveys
Individual and group learning activities
The virtual classroom utilizes the following tools to deliver learning material.
Power point slides
Electronic flip charts
Websites
Explanation tools like arrows or bullets
Live software applications like word or excel
Apart from this, the learner participation is aided by tools that allow learners to
Write on electronic flip charts
Derive useful notes from the content with the help of annotation tools
Practice software applications first hand
Question or discuss through voice over internet protocol (VOIP) or teleconferencing
Question or discuss with peers or instructors through public chat
Question or discuss exclusively with the instructor through private chat
Answer polls and multiple choice surveys
Visit useful websites
Play games to enhance certain skills
Other features of the virtual classroom include
Platform for posting information
Separate homepages for students
Grade books
Calendar and timetable
Equipment required for a virtual classroom
A regular computer connected to the internet is enough to join a virtual classroom session. Regardless of the speed of the internet connection, students can successfully participate in a virtual classroom, but instructors are recommended to have computers with faster processors and larger memories, if application sharing is essentially a part of the virtual classroom. In case the classroom makes use of VIOP based communication, the learner might require a sound card and a microphone, while if teleconferencing is the chosen means of communication the participant will need two telephone lines.
Wrap up
Though a virtual classroom has covered most of the benefits of a traditional one, it mainly lacks in making an optimal use of the features that its software offers. You don’t need to be no techno-wizard to pull the features together and juxtapose effective content seamlessly to deliver a rich learning experience. The key to achieving this is creativity in delivery.
Vishwanath Shankar
http://www.articlesbase.com/online-education-articles/virtual-classroom-basics-125328.html
What is a suitable classroom for someone in a wheelchair?
what special features would they need?
i have some examples:
lots of space between desks
things at a low level- bookshelves, door knobs, light switch (can you think of anything else???)
one desk has to be higher so the wheelchair can fit under it
what else?
the question i have for a project is "you are designing a layout for a classroom. design special features that would make the room and equipment suitable for someone in a wheelchair."
if you can find a website that would be great!
Power wheelchairs should not be charged when the person is sitting in them, so needing an outlet for that is unnecessary. The charger is either quite heavy or very loud.
Having the accessible desk near the door is ideal, the wheelie can come and go with the least disruption to the class.But not so close to the door as to not feel included. If there is an outside entrance–some schools are built this way, with a door to the hall, and one to the outside in case of fire–it should have a ramp. A ramp should have a run of 12 inches for every one inch of height. Doors should be a If there is a sink in the room, where students wash their hands before lunch, it should be open underneath so the wheelie can pull up and do the same. The faucet handles should be of the lever type, and so should the door knobs. Doors should not be heavy and hard to push, unless they are the accessible type that you push a button and they open themselves. Doors should be at least 36 inches wide, and walkways in the classroom should be 3 feet wide, minimum,
with 4 feet of available turnaround space in corners. At least one computer station should be accessible–higher table if necessary. You can "google" guidelines for accessible classrooms.
People in wheelchairs have a variety of different needs, depending on why they are in the wheel chair. Spinal cord injury, Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy and Birth Defects come to mind quickly, although there are other reasons as well.
Virtual Classroom Implementation
Introduction
The decision to use virtual classroom as one of the tools in your learning process triggers a series of steps needed to implement the virtual classroom. In this article, we take into account, the planning, designing, implementing and maintaining of a virtual classroom, for the success of your learning initiative.
Planning
Fail to plan, plan to fail. Without proper planning of the implantation process, the virtual classroom project might bite the dust. Planning the implementation of the virtual classroom comprises of the following.
Listing the pedagogical goals of the classroom.
Listing the means to achieve them.
Zeroing upon the best method to achieve a goal, among various means to achieve them.
Limitations to achieve particular objects and finding ways around them.
Find out which aspect of learning will you focus upon. Will it be learning through interaction, practical simulations, feedback or the course content? Depending you’re your choice, decide upon a learning strategy and ways to meet it through the virtual classroom.
Constructing and circulating content
The creation and distribution of content is the backbone of a learning initiative. Hence, this step needs to be dealt with utmost care. Pick and choose from an array of authoring tools depending upon the type of audience, and nature of the course. Use a combination of various media to deliver the varied content. Choosing the best authoring tool can be done only by gaining thorough knowledge of different authoring tools and comparing their features to each other. Including images, videos, audio, animation and graphics can be done through specialized softwares for each. Also, all the web pages of the virtual classroom should ideally be hosted upon a sophisticated and fast machine, which has a high bandwidth net connection. If you are planning to use video in your content, you should set aside large hard disks to save the compressed and digitized video clips.
Interaction concerns
The success of a virtual classroom is based upon the interaction among instructor-learner, and peers. Address the issue with proper care, and you have already won half the battle. Choose the appropriate form of communication, by blending synchronous and asynchronous tools. Synchronous tools like audio and video conferencing, text based chat and whiteboards aid in conducting online lectures, while asynchronous tools can be efficiently used for the delivery of the course material. Allowing the students the liberty of posting queries and comments does not mean pandemonium should rein in the classroom. Try making it possible for the instructor to answer queries on a first come first serve basis.
Designing
Designing the virtual classroom is basically looking into the aspects of the course delivery. The designing part comprises of issues such as structuring the HTML pages, listing necessary elements of a web page, or the incorporation of fancy elements in them. The structuring of HTML pages should be done so that the navigation and maintenance of these pages is made easy. Though many regard the look and feel of the web pages as aesthetic vanities that can be done without, they are necessary to keep the flow of the course intact. It is highly advisable to develop a small number of pages with pilot content to get an idea of the look, feel and theme of the site, before converting the whole content into HTML format. If these pages look satisfactory, they can be used as templates for the whole course. The structure of each page needs to have a balance of ease of use and appeal. Like, the navigation must allow learners to know where they are, and how to go forward, backward, up, down or to the home page of the course. Fancy elements can be incorporated in the pages, but not at the cost of data transfer rate, requirement of special plug-ins, and the like.
Managing the virtual classroom
Managing a class encompasses a lot more than teaching in a classroom. The administrative work of the classroom needs to be performed for an efficient and smooth running of the class. In a virtual classroom, these tasks are made simpler with the help of tools that perform class management. In generic terms, class management includes scheduling and fixing the time table, checking learner progress, managing the personal and academic data of the students, counseling to help students, managing the assignments and grades, managing the archives of class related information and records.
Learner assessment
This can be done through quizzes, online assignments, and implementation of online tests. While quizzes provide instant feedback both for the learner and the instructor, online assignments help the instructor gauge the actual depth of the knowledge that the learner has acquired. It allows the instructor to check if the learner has a thorough understanding of the concept taught, or is simply acquainted with only the brass tacks of the subject. Online tests are specially designed quizzes that have limitations in the regard of number of attempts, time of completion, cheating and authentication of learner identity. Assessment of learners can also be based on evaluation by self, peers, and the extent of participation in classroom discussions.
Maintaining the virtual classroom
Although the creation of a virtual classroom involves a lot of spade work, it is only the tip of the iceberg in comparison with maintaining the classroom. Keeping scope for software and hardware updates is necessary in the wake of leapfrogs in technology. The most important aspect of maintenance is the provision of back ups. A fixed routine should be followed for the back up of the virtual classroom, which includes answering questions like – which content to get a back up for, their regularity, the place of storage of the back up, the date of performing back ups, the media to be used for the procedure, and who would overlook the procedure. There is also no escape for content maintenance. Fresh content with a regular revival of related links keeps learners coming back to it.
Happy learning!
Vishwanath Shankar
http://www.articlesbase.com/e-learning-articles/virtual-classroom-implementation-125325.html
The Magical Classroom™
A short film by SMART Technologies showcasing the magic of their touch screen interactive whiteboards. Visit http://www.smartloveoflearning.com/
Duration : 0:2:52
Ppc Classroom 2.0 Review With Bonuses Worth $1400+
When it comes to Pay Per Click or PPC Marketing using Google AdWords, perhaps most has heard about PPC Classroom 2.0 by a renown PPC marketer Amit Mehta. He’s a self-made millionaire in PPC marketing and he’s also well known as a “no-holding-back” teacher. When we attented his class, he delivered a lot more than what was promised without holding back anything. That’s the style many students appreciate.
If you are using PPC advertising (especially Google AdWords) to promote affiliate products online, I’m sure you’ve experienced some pain and frustration of launching one campaign after another, day after day, with ZERO profit and a BIG hole in your wallet.
The main objective of PPC Classroom 2.0 is to teach you how to avoid the PPC pitfalls that many of us fall into when we first get started. It also aim to cut short your PPC learning curve so that you can see profit almost immediately without having to fall into the pitfalls or going through a constant trial and error.
In PPC Classroom 2.0, Amit has created an easy-to-follow model where anyone can duplicate his success in PPC marketing without having to spend too much time and money testing non-profitable campaigns. All the methods he teaches are well tested and proven to work if implemented as taught.
What exactly will you learn and does PPC Classromm 2.0 really work?
It’s an online course teaching you the ins and outs of PPC marketing using Google AdWords. Although it only covers Google AdWords, I find most of the principles and methods taught can also be applied in other PPC systems like Yahoo Search Marketing and Microsoft adCenter.
The entire course is designed in such a way that you can work through them at your own pace.
Here is a sneak peek of what you’ll learn in PPC Classroom 2.0:
- Market Research ~ how to find profitable market and products that are worth promoting.
- Keyword Reserach ~ how to find keywords that will guarantee you to spend less on ad cost and earn more in profit.
- How to set up and launch profitable AdWords campaigns ~ how to quickly find out whether you have a dud or a winner.
- When to use direct linking, landing or pre-sell pages or your own sites.
- How to design high-converting landing pages and revel in the Google Quality Score.
- Advanced keyword research and bid optimization strategies.
- Killer copywriting secrets
- and many tried and tested PPC tricks that I haven’t seen before.
What I like about PPC classroom 2.0? (the pros)
- It’s a very specialized course. It focuses everything on how to build profitable affiliate marketing business using Google AdWords. The format of the course is very well organized and easy to follow. You can easily move between modules at your own pace.
- It packs with so many new PPC tricks that I’m sure even experienced PPC marketers will learn a few. It also comes with some great productivity tool such as the ROI calculator and many other bonus materials.
- This course can shorten years of learning curve or effort. You only learn strategies and methods that are tested and proven to work.
- It has great after sale support. The PPC Classroom community is an invaluable resource where people at all level can learn and share their experiences.
What I don’t like about PPC Classroom 2.0? (the cons)
You may have heard many stories on how some of the students earn millions of dollars a year. Please take all these stories with a grain of salt. It’s their success (not yours) and it doesn’t mean that you can also be successful like them. You do need to have a plan and work hard initially. This course doesn’t provide you the magic pill. It just lays out the road map for you. You will need to take effort and follow it.
Also, for experienced PPC users, you may already know some of the materials taught inside the course. For the beginners, however, it’s important to go through the course module by module. Do not skip them!
Closing Comments:
I have no doubt that the PPC marketing strategies and the methods taught in the PPC Classroom 2.0 work. However, it does require you to play your part as well. The course gives you the formula and you need to work the formula. Don’t expect overnight success. Learn at your own pace and follow through the plan. Stay focused on on your goals.
For more information, go to the official site: www.ppcclassroom.com
P.S. To receive Exclusive Bonuses (worth over $1,400) for FREE! Click here to order PPC Classroom 2.0.
Leon
http://www.articlesbase.com/ppc-advertising-articles/ppc-classroom-20-review-with-bonuses-worth-1400-787419.html
How to keep the fish cool in the classroom?
My mom has a 10 gallon tank with a couple of gold fish, in her classroom . On the weekends they cut the a/c off. So when she has come back to school on Monday a couple of the fish have died. Does anyone have a suggestion of how to keep the fish cool on the weekends?
She’s doing summer school, so she’s hoping to keep the fish for summer session.
i have to agree with whoever said they are dying of starvation. Ive kept fish for many years in homes with no A/C…
If you really think that is the problem then try using a desk fan on low setting? Keep the tank in the shade or pull the blinds shut. Use a bubbling stone too.
What are the 5 most essential classroom expectations for elementary school students?
I am creating a classroom management brochure and need to include these.
I am a student and it is not my responsibility to tell people how to manage students. This is a project that is a compilation of my learning and I can think of a lot, but want help narrowing them down.
1. Be respectful- To yourself, classmates, teachers and school staff, simply put, treat others the way you want to be treated. (Sign that hangs right out my classroom door 
2. Be responsible- students need to taught at an early age that they are just as responsible for their learning as the teacher is. This also applies to taking care of their own personal and school belongings.
3. Be Kind to others and caring towards others.
4. Be a worker! Students are encouraged to apply themselves to the best of their abilities in their school work.
5. Be cooperative- students are willing to help others when needed and to work productively with others.
Building Brand Awareness: 7 Ways to Educate Customers in the Classroom & Simultaneously Build Brand Awareness
The business world has long recognized the value of creating a recognizable and clearly defined brand. From top business executives to entrepreneurs striving everyday in their communities, and from traditional corporations to the Internet, building brand awareness is the most significant marketing practice today. I it always will be as consumers continue to seek out their favorite brands.
Your customers are navigating a bewildering range of channels and feverishly marketed products before making a purchase decision. We are so bombarded by product brands that we are barely conscious of them much of the time.
In order to compete in today’s cluttered marketing environment, businesses need access to America’s future customers. They need to start building brand awareness in the classroom before buying and brand loyalty patterns are set.
Here Are My Top 7 Ways To Educate Customers In The Classroom & Simultaneously Build Brand Awareness
1. Distribute product literature and/or give free product samples to learning institutions. Learning institutions are usually open to learn about business products that would enhance and add value to what is being taught in the classroom.
2. Establish information/demonstration booths in the classroom. The classroom information/demonstration booth will allow students to interact with your company’s product and provide ongoing information to potential customers as they develop their own buying power. Your conversion rates will be much higher due to the education that is available to the students.
3. Give free training on the use and benefits of the product. This is a perfect opportunity to give students hands on training, and teach them about your product’s value.
4. Encourage educators to include information about your product or services in a curriculum guide. This one tip has the potential to multiply your market base nation-wide.
5. Offer a contest that empowers students to buy and use your product. Sponsor a writing contest or a Future Business Leader of American competition and make one of the rewards a gift certificate. It’s a proven fact that most consumers spend more than the value of the gift card.
6. Distribute logos to learning institutions. Instructors can use logos in the classroom to help students learn about branding and how companies use this concept to communicate their identity and market their products.
7. Offer information on production of the goods and how profit is made. Students who are inclined to develop their own products or become business managers will find this of great value.
Benefits of Building Brand Awareness in the Classroom
Customers who are familiar with a certain brand are more likely to remain loyal regardless of inflation. By demonstrating your corporate social responsibility and promoting worthwhile educational programs that bring the needs of educators together with your business needs, you can easily distinguish your product from other brands.
Education marketing helps empower customers to become long-term buyers. Using products in the classroom allows potential customers to interact with (and become conditioned to) your goods and services. By educating customers in the classroom, you will increase your brand awareness, build loyalty, influence spending patterns, and engage in viral word of mouth marketing all at the same time.
Annmarie Edwards
http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/building-brand-awareness-7-ways-to-educate-customers-in-the-classroom-simultaneously-build-brand-awareness-91912.html
Whitest kids you know –