Hacking it and other ideas…
Happy Tuesday to all!
I wanted to post a quick blog entry about a few new instructional resources I found. I hope that one or some of these resources will have value to you as well. Feel free to reply to this post with questions about these resources or with any of your own resources to share.
First off, ProfHacker.
ProfHacker is a blog written for higher education professionals, mostly targeting professors. You’ll find that they talk a lot about productivity and GTD (Getting Things Done), but you will also find helpful teaching tips, classroom ideas, new technologies, and advice. I am particularly fond of Natalie Houston’s Syllabus: Extreme Makeover post and Julie Meloni’s Getting Started With Google Docs in the Classroom post. By the way, did you know that the CETL has a Lunch & Learn on Google Docs? Check it out.
Anyway, I highly recommend that you check out the ProfHacker blog.
Next up, Prezi…
Do you ever get sick of trying to use PowerPoint to convey information? Do you think your students ever get sick of PowerPoint? Prezi is a web-based presentation tool that can help you to re-think your presentations. Prezi lets you map out the key ideas of your presentation and present them in a logical and conceptual way, rather than a hierarchical manner. Check out some examples (Amy’s tip: stick to the Educational examples) and then check out Ethan Watrall’s blog post on ProfHacker about Prezi.
Finally, let’s move on to another tool I like and…surprise, surprise…it’s a wiki tool. As you probably know by now, I am a wiki fanatic. I think that wikis are fantastic instructional tools when used correctly (of course).
One of the keys to using wikis correctly is finding the right wiki for what you want to accomplish. Well, I thought I had found the perfect wiki tool in Wetpaint. In fact, I’ve been teaching Texas Wesleyan folks about Wetpaint for close to a year now. And it’s still a great tool…but Wetpaint recently took away the free no-ad wikis for educational institutions. Now, instructors either have to arm-wrestle intrusive ads or pay $19.95 a month to remove the ads. So, I say “boo” to Wetpaint and I have been looking at other solutions.
Lucky for all of us, there is a great tool called WikiMatrix that allows users to compare wiki services. Just click on their Wiki Choice Wizard, tell WikiMatrix what you want in a wiki, and they will show you wikis that meet your needs. Win!
Oh, and when you’re ready to start your wiki, give me a call and I can provide any guidance you want.
So I hope that you find one or all of these tools useful. I will have more to post soon.
Make this a great week,
Amy (Dr. C)
