My Online Course is Ready – Now What?
Sorry, this presentation is sold out After faculty design an online course they often face the challenge of teaching content and managing students "from a distance." The Assessing Online Facilitation (AOF) instrument recognizes the different roles of an online facilitator and provides a framework addressing these challenges and promoting online student success. We'll present effective online teaching performance indicators, relate teaching performance expectations to online facilitators and provide a companion document to guide peer reviews of online facilitator performance effectiveness.

Date and Time:
Tuesday September 9, 2008 at 3pm EDT / 8pm BST / 12pm PDT

Presented by:
Carole S. Robinson, Distance Education Specialist, Pasadena City College and Joan D. Van Duzer, Instructional Technologist, Humboldt State University

The Next Step in your Blackboard Installation: Spotlight on Wimba's Blackboard Building Blocks
When you think of web conferencing, do you debate the value of a "talking head"? Do you worry that web conferencing isn't interactive or engaging? Do you feel that it does not meet the needs of today's students and teachers? Come learn how the Wimba Collaboration Suite brings Web Conferencing into the 21st Century. This demonstration explains how the Wimba Collaboration Suite integrates with Blackboard to help Blackboard users add a personal, collaborative touch to their existing online courses.

Date and Time:
Wednesday September 10, 2008 at 11am EDT / 8am PDT / 4pm BST

Presented by:
Matt Wasowski, Wimba

Communicating in a New Language
Digital immigrant instructors, who speak a language of the pre-digital age, are struggling to teach a population that speaks an entirely new language. In order to successfully educate this new generation, we must learn to speak their language using tools that foster interaction and communication. This session will explore the characteristics of the Net Generation, discuss implications for the online classroom and offer practical solutions for meeting these needs.

Date and Time:
Thursday September 11, 2008 at 2pm EDT / 11am PDT / 7pm BST

Presented by:
Dena Faust, Coordinator of Distance Education, Alvin Community College

Best Practices for Enhancing Learning and Creating Community Using Wimba Classroom

Sorry, this presentation is sold out

Among the fundamental challenges faced by distance education instructors and administrators is keeping learners satisfied and engaged despite the asynchronous and independent nature of online learning. This presentation will explore best practices for reducing learner anxiety, improving comfort levels with the platform, decreasing Transactional Distance, and creating community, by examining the working strategies of the Lookstein Center online professional development program.

Date and Time:
Tuesday September 16, 2008 at 2pm EDT / 7pm BST / 11am PDT

Presented by:
Chana Honig, The Lookstein Center

Web 2.0: Learn. Connect. Share
Web 2.0 technologies are quickly becoming a phenomenon in K-20 education. Our presentation will give a fresh insight on how to incorporate Web 2.0 in the classroom while acknowledging the pedagogical shift from teacher instruction to peer sharing and learning. We will compare wikis, portfolio, chat and blogs available in the Blackboard Academic Suite with similar external online applications and discuss challenges and opportunities within the new frameworks.

Date and Time:
Tuesday September 23, 2008 at 3pm EDT / 12pm PDT / 8pm BST

Presented by:
Mandy N. Eppley and Parker Owens, Eastern Kentucky University

Developing The E-flective Practitioner: Using blogs to enhance Reflective Practice at Postgraduate level
Blogs form a vital part of the collaborative space in which postgraduates interact with each other and with tutors and industry professionals; operating as the core of the learning circle, connecting and interlinking its stages and transforming practical assignments into an Schonian repertoire of experience that prepares the student for professional practice. Their real time nature and the seamless mashing up of ideas, reflections, images, links and emotions of the blogging format create the foundations for a future generation of E-flective Practitioners. This presentation discusses how the School of Media at the London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, uses blogs alongside synchronous interactions using the Wimba classroom to map the participants learning journey on the course in both full time face-to-face and fully online part time modes, and to build a collaborative community of practice on the course.

Date and Time:
Wednesday September 24, 2008 at 11am EDT / 8am PDT / 4pm BST

Presented by:
Paul Lowe, Course Director, MA Photojournalism and Documentary Photography, London College of Communication

Overview of Wimba Create (formerly Course Genie)
Now that you've downloaded Wimba Create (formerly Course Genie), let us show you how to use it effectively! Besides showing you how to convert your Word documents into CMS-ready content, we'll demonstrate how to create quizzes, Flashcards, embed HTML (in Wimba Voice), and create tables for easier editing.

Date and Time:
Thursday September 25, 2008 at 9:30am EDT / 2:30pm BST / 6:30am PDT

Presented by:
Matt Wasowski, Wimba

Podasting with Wimba
Podcasting has arrived in Wimba! Now faculty have the easiest means of creating their own podcasts! Wimba Voice features the Wimba Podcaster - the easiest tool available that enables faculty and staff to record their own podcasts. This presentation shows you how the Wimba Podcaster allows your instructors to combine Wimba, RSS Feeds, and iPods to bring their voices to the students!

Date and Time:
Tuesday September 30, 2008 at 10am EDT / 3pm BST / 7am PDT

Presented by:
Matt Wasowski, Wimba

Instant Messaging with Wimba Pronto
The educational experience does not end when a student leaves a classroom; it carries over into hallways, the library, computer lab and common areas. Come learn about how the newest version of Wimba Pronto replicates these informal learning settings in the online environment that are imperative to student retention, engagement, and successful learning outcomes.

Date and Time:
Tuesday October 7, 2008 at 10am EDT / 7am PDT / 3pm BST

Presented by:
Matt Wasowski

Creative Uses of Online Technologies for Campus Communication & Disaster Recovery
A fire broke out in the main campus building of Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, TX on May 6th at 7:30 p.m. and burned into the early morning hours of May 7. No one was injured at this small, close-knit college. More than 100 firefighters fought the flames, which were started accidentally by something electrical in the attic. Rebuilding will take three years or longer. This presentation will explain how OLLU used technologies such as Wimba Pronto to communicate among faculty and staff, thereby facilitating a successful end to the Spring 2008 semester. Moncado will explain how the school creatively used technology to cope with the damage to its classrooms, computer labs, faculty and administrative offices, conference rooms and more.

Date and Time:
Tuesday October 7, 2008 at 2pm EDT / 1pm CDT / 7pm BST

Presented by:
Raquel Moncado, Instructional Technology Specialist / CMS Administrator, Our Lady of the Lake University

An Experimental Inquiry Into The Effectiveness of Virtual Classroom Software In The College Classroom (i.e. This Stuff Really Works)
In 2004 Saint Francis University, a small university in Central Pennsylvania, began a multiple year study designed to identify and evaluate available virtual classroom software (VCS). By conducting a comprehensive review of VCS technology, the team hoped to select the best tool for its own synchronous distance learning program and develop a framework that could be used by other distance educators to evaluate future entries into the VCS marketplace. This presentation provides a ranking of currently available VCS tools, offers guidelines for selecting a VCS tool, and provides evidence that VCS tools work in the classroom.

Date and Time:
Thursday October 16, 2008 at 3pm EDT / 12pm PDT / 8pm BST

Presented by:
Robert Griffin, Director of Distance Education, Saint Francis University / CERMUSA

How Using Wimba Supports Cognitive Processes Resulting in Higher Retention Rates
One of the world's leading experts when it comes to online instruction, Lisa Frazier of rural Nevada's Great Basin College has found that visual and audible elements in online courses significantly improve school retention rates and student performance. Learn from Lisa's research and how it can be applied to your own distance learning programs.

Date and Time:
Thursday November 13, 2008 at 3pm EST / 12pm PST / 8pm GMT

Presented by:
Lisa Frazier, MED, Curriculum Development Specialist/ Instructional Technologist, Great Basin College