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Awesome Excel Chart Quick Tips for Web Display
Last week, my colleagues and I created 3 Excel spreadsheets in an effort to highlight some of VCU participants’ responses to the EDUCAUSE ECAR Undergraduate Student and Faculty Technology Research Studies Surveys. This division of labor resulted in an unfortunate consequence. Different machines, different data, and different perspectives resulted in different data presentation styles. To standardize the look of the charts, I offered to be the general editor. One set of eyes working on one machine is likely the best way to make the look and language of the charts…
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Olé, Olé, Olé
According to Wikipedia (Oops! The mention of this word might start a friendly argument!), the word “olé” might refer to several things, including a football chant, with the star footballer’s name added to the end. In my case, I refer to both a rah-rah cheer (Go! VCU OLE!) and a program the ALT Lab is running.Today was Day 1 of the Institute and has been a pretty intense time with lots of ideas presented to participants. We are all going to spend some time tonight doing HW, yup, Home Work!…
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Online Icebreaker: Songs My Mother Taught Me
[Note: This post began as a draft in June 2014 after I heard this tune on a plane. Video description: Antonin Dvorak’s musical composition, Songs My Mother Taught Me, performed by Itzhak Perlman]Different metaphors have been used to describe the learning process; learning is like a game, a conversation, combustion system, an ecosystem … What if learning is like music-making or an inspiration of song? This idea came about when I heard Joshua Bell and Yo-Yo Ma play Dvorak’s “Songs My Mother Taught Me.” How about using this as an online icebreaker…
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Mythbusting Instructional Design
Yo, I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want, So tell me what you want, what you really really want I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want, So tell me what you want, what you really really want, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really really really wanna bust out something dat been buggin’ me.- Adapted from Wannabe, Spice Girls Yo, would love to write a rap song but IMA just a wannabe. I don’t claim to be a rap artist. As my…
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Online Icebreaker: A Life Story Album Cover
As an online introduction, Tina Seelig invited us — participants in her MOOC — to design an album cover of our lives to construct a narrative of who we are. Add to that the creation of a 10-song playlist, fictional or actual songs, and we’ll get some bonus points. I created two album covers. Which one do you think I submitted? A or B? I think these ideas are excellent as icebreakers in online teaching. They afford students multiple means to participate in course conversations. It helped me to reflect,…
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Desiring to Learn is Not Enough by Itself
I’ve enrolled in numerous MOOCs and finished just one — so far. I think I may have found another that I will complete: UQx: Think 101x The Science of Everyday Thinking. Up to 80,000 people are taking part in this MOOC run by the University of Queensland.It’s Week 2 — the instructors organize the units into Episodes — and I’ve completed all assignments (except one) in Episode 2, on the very day it was made available. I’m astounded by my effort. What is it about this MOOC that has me…
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What makes a strong narrative for design?
A great story is based on a profound yet simple question. Can I sum up the story in a short question? I’m a movie buff and what moves me is usually a story based on a very simple premise. Midnight in Paris is a case in point. Long after the movie was over, I was still relishing the scenes and characters that Woody Allen put together so ingenuously. Gil, Inez, Gabrielle. Why? Because Woody Allen — who claims to write for the Everyday Man — captured an idea that rings…
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Emotional Connection
Affective development, affect-sensitive learning environments, affective experiences. These are huge research areas, but specifically for now, I’m interested in emotional engagement because knowledge (and/or cognitive potential) alone is inadequate at producing change in behaviors or attitudes. In conceptualizing my dissertation, now and before, emotional engagement has always been one of the areas I am interested in exploring. I stumbled upon Chris Koch’s posting on building emotional engagement for B2B marketing. It added a layer to my thinking about my dissertation. My earlier posts had indicated that I’m conceptualizing the use…
