Wednesday, December 5, 2007

11:00 am CST - 12:00 pm CST: Join York University’s Diane Zorn and Sonic Foundry’s Sean Brown as they explore how online, rich-media teaching can be easy and effective. The presentation aims to empower participants to create viable online learning environments that facilitate learning, community, and self-sufficiency for students and instructors with minimal time and energy and maximum results. This presentation concludes with a Q & A period.

Topics include:

• The needs of today’s learners;
• Key technology and distance education trends;
• The top six reasons faculty are choosing to teach online; and
• Pedagogical goals versus technology for its own sake.

Common excuses for not taking advantage of online, rich-media teaching are debunked, including:

• Threats to standards, jobs and quality of faculty;
• The notion that some skills can’t be taught online;
• Overestimates of the time, support and training needed to make online teaching work.

Answers to the following questions will be provided:

• why teach online?
• why embrace rich media?
• can students learn better online?
• is rich media a tool that can drive students to higher-order skills learning?