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Viewing 1 - 7 out of 7 Blogs.


Web Professor for President
Posted On 07/11/2008 16:45:13
This on is hard to believe!

Tags: Independent Candidate

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How-To-Design Course Work for Distance Learning
Posted On 06/07/2008 11:33:30
Outline:
Define objectives
Break it down into lesson segments
Define the measurement parameters
Define projects to enhance critical thinking skills
Research available resources
Estimate length of the course WOW does that sound pretty easy? Well it is a bit more complicated to put all of the pieces together and to create a course that can be easily adapted to “Distance Learning” either online or via software. The steps are the same, but the applications software and learning curve overhead make a somewhat daunting task by anyone’s standards. Many skilled educators (& trainers) shy away from distance learning for that very reason. Let’s look at what is involved:The outline is still relatively easy and most user friendly software like MS Word can be used to produce very readable outlines with full formatting.Defining the objectives is where the educator’s special skills come to play and that is not too intimidating for a professional educator.Lesson breakdown means putting the actual lesson plans into some kind of software/website package and does get into the problems of programming whether done by the educator or a third party consultant (Programmers need a lot of training to get together exactly what you want, so this isn’t a slam dunk!Measurement is always a monkey on the back of good educators who want to make sure that their designs accomplish the learning objectives they have defined. Building this element into software can be a bit of a challenge no matter who does the programming.As the learning progresses it is essential that critical thinking skills are addressed so it is important to give the student assignments that require them to do some independent thinking. This is always a challenge even when you have the opportunity to work with the student on a face to face basis. This is another one of those things that is exacerbated by that one word “distance”.Research is a double edged sword as well with the research the educator must put in to prepare a timely and significant course of study. It is also a real part of every good course to challenge the student to do research as a part of their learning so that at the end of the line they are prepared with the skills to carry on on their own examination of the subject matter in the future.Estimating the length of the course to meet your original objectives and decide whether to make it a single course or one of multiple parts means that you must take the course yourself and multiply the time you need to reach a satisfactory conclusion by a factor of maybe two or three for what will be required by to actual student who comes to the table without the kind of skills and knowledge that you already possess. OK, you say there are no surprises there so what is the deal? The deal is that there are some new (relatively inexpensive) tools available to educators that eliminate the software learning curve for both student and teacher. Two products have recently been released that integrate the writing (what educator doesn’t want to be published?) and the software to promote the independent research and critical thinking skills from the student. The measurement aspect can also be easily integrated and there is no need for a programmer! The names of the two products are “DeadEasy WOW eBook publisher and “WOWit! Software generator.You can read more detail about those products at this link and it is recommended that you do a little “Googleing” for even more information.  
Jim Davies is an educator who spent the las twenty plus years teaching computer applications and assisting in the course work design for early “distance learning” projects in California Community Colleges. He is now designing course work for his own enjoyment and the benefit of others online. http://dotcomwizards.com or http://the-web-professor.org

 

Tags: Distance Learning Online Education Training Software

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WOWit! - PlayIt2
Posted On 05/25/2008 19:10:59
The launch of WOWit/PlayIt2 is scheduled for Tuestday and you should all take a look to see just what is involved. This new software will give each of you and your many friends opportunities to develop truly unique software for your particular area of love an expertise!

Get a sneak perview of some of the features at my SoftShop web-site
http://wacky-rabbit.com
Click on More Software to review my special offerings. The How-To-PlayiIt2 is a user manual that I wrote using the software and will give you a really good Idea what is involved. The How-To_PlayIt2 software is complimetary, so download and enjoy it.

I am so excited that I am dreaming of setting up a special affiliate network to distribute software created with PlayIt2. I will take a very small commission from any contributions that you care to make and will pay a very nice commission to anyone who sells products that I produce. Fun and Profit is my new motto!

Jim Davies - The Web Professor

http://wacky-rabbit.com 

Tags: Software Maker

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Software to Make Educators More Effective
Posted On 05/21/2008 16:41:18
There are a lot of things that make life more challenging for educators in this high tech age than ever before. It has always been challenging for educators to hold the student's attention while possibly the class move in different directions. Now with all of the technology influences it has become even more of a trick. Today's teacher has to be a world class entertainer to compete with the IPODs, TV, DVD, and other surrounding entertaining activites that inundat our
children of the twenty-first century.

Innovation has always been a key element in the tool kit of the most successful and admired teachers. Now with higgh tech entertainment all around us they have
to be author, actor, comedian, magician, athlete, and much more to merely hold their own. The best teachers have always brought innovative ideas to their classroom to set themselves apart from the others and todays conditions require an even higher degree of innovation for ultimate success.

Educators are using more and more educational software to help bridge the gap, but software off the shelf lacks that personal touch that sets the master
educators apart from the pack. Some have resorted to commissioning developement of software to their personal specifications in order to stay ahead. Some have
ven ventured into the arena of writing their own programs. That approach is very challenging since it also requires that the teacher must learn programming skills that really can interfere with the creativity of the course work that they would like to design.

A new product has recently been designed that could very easily bridge the gap for the innovative educator by making it possible to program without knowing programming skills! PlayIt 2.0 developed by former NASA engineer Joe Clayton makes it possible for anyone to produce self-executing programs. He has tried
the technique with his young children and they have developed interesting and functional software on thier own. Now with this tool a teacher can concentrate
on the goals and objectives of the course of study while producing something that today's high tech oriented student can truly embrace.

This software can easily produce programs that incooperate databases, spreadsheets, encapsulated presentations, video, audio and graphics while still allowing the flexibility for the student to move beyond the confines of the"textbook" and exploree on their own with the creating teacher's guidance.
and all of this can be put into a CD Disc that the student can operate frm their own laptop computer (which many schools even in high poverty areas are now providing at low or no cost to students). Whats more the software that produces these great educational programs is a stand alone item that does not require a
whole shelf full of supporting software to operate at its peak.

An educator using this tool to produce course work can easily go back to the original program and improve and update as time changes the course requirements.
They do not have to start from scratch everytime something changes for example in a technology that they are teaching. There are many samples of the variety of
concepts available at the web site http://dotcomwizards.com. You should take a look and tell your favorite teacher that help is on the way for under $100.00.

Jim Davies - The Web Professor
http://wacky-rabbit.com

Tags: Educational Training Software Playit2

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Trainees Learn The Easy Way
Posted On 05/16/2008 17:43:40

Now you can get a handy learning tool that will help you tailor your study to a  nice reproducable pattern. As you study you can make study notes and plans for  extra study as you go along and easily come back to review. There are built in  databases and spreadsheets for things that require record keeping. When the  course is finished you can save it on CD a keep for review at a later date. This  will also come in handy if you ever tutor others with the same course work in  the future.

The program allows you to easily include video segments, audio note, and  garphics along with all of your text. Hot spots can be defined so that jumping  from one pint of interest back and forth will be easily expidited. If some of  the work is Internet based the links can be emmbedded so that no matter where  you are the data can be called up with a few clicks of your mouse. If you just  want to have some background tunes to listen to while you review it is easy to  include background audio in your program.

Put the course outline onto the program at the beginning and then add to the  content as study progresses. This makes a really well organized way to track  your progress and to keep the information organized without a lot of couse  notebooks. The nice thing about this software is that it is all inclusive  andeasy to load. You don't need a lot of other supporting software to make  complete course notebooks. One program for under $100.00 and you are off and  running.

You may want to have a simple graphics program to assist you and a screen  capture program to round out your tool kit, but they are all available as  freeware andeasy to find online. Look at some of the things that have been  developed using PlayIt at this site, http://dotcomwizards.com/PlayIt2.html 
Read more and you will quickly get the idea of  what a powerful tool this is for your study program. 

Tags: Education Training Software Non-programmers

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PlayIt2 a tool for all of us
Posted On 05/15/2008 09:00:28
Hi,

Every one out there I have been working on a new product which will be launched right after Memorial day. It is a great tool for anyone who uses a computer to communicate with friends or business associates. It is primarily a low cost, but very robust software generator that is perfect for developing teaching or training presentation that are fully interactive including an incude database, included spreadsheet and full access to the web. Embedded video and audio (that resides in memory while playing. no-one can rip of your included audio!).

I have put an example file up for anyone to preview. It is essentially an online user manul which covers all of the features of this new software. Anyone is welcome to a copy and to share it with friends. Here is the download link:
 http://viralurl.com/DotComWizards/PlayIt2Manual

Let me know what you think! The Web Professor is always looking for new ideas!@

Jim Davies - The Web Professor

Tags: Educational Software Development Training Tools

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The Web Professor's Ramblings
Posted On 04/26/2008 12:43:26
Hi everyone,

I am really new at this and look forward to learning how to make it work and keep it interesting at the same time. I am currently very involved in a new product that you will all want to know about because it makes it slam-dunk easy for trhe non-techie to produce very useful software without coding!

The product name is PlayIt and it is due for general release in two or three weeks. Watch this blog for continuing information and some articles about this great break-through product.

Happy bloggin' to all,

Tags: Educational Software Made Easy

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