Link to try out computer conference Elluminate

I would like to hold the next evening meeting on Thursday 6 March 730 - 830 pm (not 13 March as agreed with Tuesdays group) - I will be away on leave on 13 March and I am not going to be able to get a successful link up as the house where I will be staying has no Internet.

This will be an opportunity for people to try out computer conferencing and to have a chat and ask questions . Results so far from the blog poll indicate that the majority of people (n=8) have a preference for computer conferencing. To access Elluminate for computer conferencing you will need to make sure you have Java downloaded on your computer first - then elluminate should work from home but possibly not from your organisation.

I have set up a meeting link for you to try out. At: http://tinyurl.com/2apkug
this will stay open until 14 march and I will use it for the 6 March meeting as well. The meeting link is called: Evaluation best practice march meeting. You only need to enter your name NO password needed.

Please let me know how you get on - remember a microphone is needed if you are going to be able to speak.

The teleconference on Thursday 6 March at 1215 - 1pm is still a goer as well for people who are not free in the evening so you can say hello to me and others in the class. Contact details will be posted in Blackboard soon.
Bronwyn

second instalment about the teleconference and some tips

One person had a great tip she shared in the teleconference, and lots of you will already do this - block out time in your week to devote to the course. If you follow the weekly schedule this will help keep you on track, but do not restrict yourself if something captures your interest. AND remember to share what you find by posting to your blog, and you can alert people on the Wiki discussion or add material to the Resources page on WikiEd. It is best to add material to a place where it is recorded and can be found easily.

This brings me to a great question one person asked - how will we communicate using the blogs or are we going to stay isolated? There are a couple of things you can do to help you get the feeling you are part of this class community. Post regularly on your blog as indicated in the assessment section, and take time to read others' postings and leave comments - you can use it like a discussion board.
Blog etiquette - ensure you request email alerts for all blog comments you make, and then follow them up with people by going back to respond to comments. You'll get what I mean once it gets going. You can quickly find participant's blogs from the quick links in the course blog.Time went fast in the teleconference by the time we did a round of introductions and people asked questions about the wiki Discussion area and getting set up with a blog. One person managed to set one up as we chatted - good multi-tasking and a good chance to get some tips.

Tips on blogging: Keep it simple to start with - http://blogger.com - is a good place to start out and there are step by step instructions and some good, clean templates. You can get complicated later using the layout features and different templates. When you click view blog once you have posted for the first time, this is the web address you need to copy and post on the WikiEd discussion area at the top of the Evaluation of eLearning for Best practice course page. As you do this, I will be posting your blogs links to the Course blog under Participant blogs. Hold off on the RSS feed link in your blog if you like until I have found out how to set one up in the course blog.

Regular, synchronous meetings
The group made a decision to meet regularly, synchronously, every fortnight on a Thursday evening and we will try for 730 pm - 830 pm - next meeting Thursday 13 March. (I may have to login on my computer from dialup in New Plymouth.) Please keep one eye on the calendar here on the blog for the details.

I suggest we use Elluminate with Skype as backup - failing that teleconference again. It should not be a problem accessing either from home though Elluminate is more efficient (less breaking up) on dial-up than Skype. So next thing is to download Skype - I will be in touch by email with my Skype name and as soon as you have one, please respond with yours.

In next week's class meeting (Thursday 1215 to 1pm) we can discuss if people prefer a daytime meeting on the opposite week - we can also discuss this online.

Teleconference how did it go?

It was great to have a good sized group join the teleconference today. It is always good to hear voices and put names to the voices. Only one person managed to connect via computer conference and quickly joined us on the phone.

It looks like we have a group of varied experience - some are experienced with online learning, others are just starting out and some are experienced in some tools and technologies but not wikis and blogs. Something for everyone!

It was good to hear that everyone was keen to experience eLearning as a student, and find out more about formal evaluation and put it into action where they work. It certainly saves time to combine work and study activities. The consensus is that the course could take 6-10 hrs per week depending on how fast people read and work...this is taken from others' experience in other courses in the Graduate Certificate in Applied eLearning. It is an individual thing.

The first week is gentle and then we will be cranking up the volume - helpfully of course and it is good if everyone looks out for everyone else and steps into help....if you ask of course they will know. I get a strong feeling this will be the mantra of this class - looking out for each other. ...more on the next instalment.....

Class meeting today

Well two people have voted to meet today 4-5pm and I will be there to meet you. Teleconference details will be emailed to the class and posted on Blackboard. I will also have the Elluminate meeting link open as well (this is in the course calendar on this blog), but it looks like people have been having trouble accessing the meeting site from within their organisations.

Congratulations to the three people who are up and running with their blogs, and the three people who have found the Discussion area in the wiki and introduced themselves. I am looking forward to seeing more blogs and discussion pop up this week. I am adding links under participant blogs. You might like to add this course blog link to your blog - blogger's new layout features make this easy peasy to do and I am sure WordPress is as user friendly.

I have to find out how to add your blogs as an RSS feed and will do that later this week.
Bronwyn

First class meeting access

It would be great if people could try out the link to Elluminate - this will help decide if we can meet via computer conference for the first time. The link is open now until after the session on Tuesday. There may be a teleconference instead or as backup if people cannot get access.

Please let the facilitator know whether you can get in when you email to say you have joined the course. No password is needed and it is preferable if you have a headset with microphone - make sure you do the audio set up to check it all works. (http://tinyurl.com/2v63ch meeting link is also in the calendar)

Welcome to evaluation of eLearning for best practice

It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the course. Evaluation is a key part of any design and development process as you can see in the diagram of the ADDIE model.












This course blog will be used for announcements, and the course calendar will be used to remind you about the weekly schedule. Please fill in the poll on the right so we know how many will be attending the first class meetings.

Course content: this is on the Evaluation of eLearning for Best Practice wiki (WikiEducator). All you need to know to get started is there.

Discussions: these will take place on the wiki - click the Discussion tab there to start a new forum or reply to others' posts.

Dates to notice: these will also be marked on the course calendar.

• Week 4 - 17 to 30 March - runs over Easter.
• Holiday break - 21 April to 92 May - after week 7.
• Course ends 4 July.
• Due date for final submission of assessments - 7 July.