IcarusPad is a Networked Learning Space (NLS) dedicated to collecting the best writing tools on the web in a clean and consistent design. We want to empower young writers by allowing them to practice aspects of Style, Voice, and Mechanics independently. Explore our terms and exercises, then, when you’re ready, post to our Submissions page.
We’re excited to see what you can do!
Many teachers are content experts. They are instructed on content and the main focus (particularly in higher level degrees) is demonstrating their content knowledge (i.e. a thesis, dissertation, etc). But there are limits to the utility of content. How do you teach skills if you are a content expert? How do you teach content for that matter in a way that ensures your students retain it? Teachers need the skills to teach content AND skills.
Content cannot be modeled. It’s why we are more likely to read a recipe from a cookbook rather than youtubing it. However, if I’m trying to learn how to do a handstand, or add layers in photoshop, or learn to juggle, I’m going to youtube it. To learn a skill, we need someone to model it for us, which is what video provides.
How does this fit with the future of synchronous learning? I’m really interested in the “Daylight” concept of audience participation and a fluid and changing game environment. I think that synchronous learning is heading away from video chats towards cooperative learning through gamefication (sorry if this is too much of a buzz word). Multiplayer and connectivity have emerged as the prevailing winds - both the Xbox One and PS4 are crafted specifically to remain online and interconnected at all times - but the cultural shift necessary for education to embrace games and online cooperation is considerably slower moving. Why? I believe it ties back to Desiree’s (extremely popular) assertion. Americans view true educational knowledge as experts in ivory towers, not gamers with headsets.
Have you checked out the Prelinger Archives? It contains hundreds of films that are free to use, edit, and reproduce in any form you wish for any reason you wish.
The majority of the films are from the 50’s and are in glorious technicolor. It was a simpler time, and now we all get to profit from it. Literally! Make a video and post it to our blog. The winner will receive absolutely nothing!
Check out the first CapeApe Industries Film!
The film aims to answer a simple question: “How can you make a film about William J. Rapaport’s famous grammatically corrrect, although extremely redundant, sentence: ’Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.’”
Community Question: Horton uses the metaphor of parts of speech (Noun, Verb, Conjunction) to explain differences between Absorb, Do, and Connect activities. However, Many Webinars rely almost exclusively on “Absorb.” Is this a problem? What opportunities might be missed in neglecting Do and Connect activities?
Shouldn’t webinars be structured in terms of: Connect, Absorb, Do, Connect? As a teacher, it significantly increases student investment and retention when I start the lesson by framing it in a way that allows students to draw on their own background knowledge so that they are making connections before we reach the “absorb” phase.
I think most people would agree that learners (webinar or not) need to be active participants, but it seems like (careful, this soapbox is slippery) that there is a certain element of “prestige” reserved for lecture style lessons. Hence why so many experts feel most comfortable with strictly “absorb” based webinars. - James
We recently reviewed Appear.in as a synchronous tool that could play a big part in webinars and instructional design. Check out our review below:
Appear.in - A Videoconferencing Tool with a Sense of Humor
Appear.in is cool. It’s website is sleek and extremely user friendly. No downloads or widgets or updates or money is necessary. Your immediately invited to create your own room, which you can name yourself, or choose one of the randomly generated room names that all seem to involve adjective/animal combinations (my first was “Superb Aardvark” my second was “Capricious-Dugong”). I already appreciate the site’s sense of humor. The room was created quickly and I had audio and video with my friend in seconds. Inviting people is a snap, you just send them the link (based on the room name) and they’re ready to go. Supposedly, the rooms can handle unlimited participants, the only restriction being your bandwidth. Unfortunately, I could only get one friend to join me in the room so I wasn’t able to test the limits. Additionally, the owner can lock the room so that only people with the room’s password are allowed in.
There is no sign-up to speak of, but by giving the site an email and password you can become the “owner” of the room, which also gives you a nifty crown icon in the corner of your camera. You can also customize the background with any picture you like. I uploaded a picture of a cloudy day on a riverboat and was impressed with the quality of the image when it was automatically converted into the room’s background.
Any user can mute their microphone or video at anytime, and the owner can kick out any user they wish. There is a “Screen Share” feature, but you have to navigate to a page to enter this: chrome://flags/#enable-usermedia-screen-capture - a line of code that I wasn’t excited about inputting into chrome’s settings.
There is an interesting chat feature, a translucent box appears that uses a live snapshot of the person who typed the text. In other words, each time you hit enter, you may have a different facial expression. Another cool, although possibly useless, feature.
Appeal.in is undeniably cool, but it doesn’t seem to have a great deal of functionality for instructional purposes, and its limited screen sharing abilities don’t give it any additional possibilities for A,D,C instruction then any other videoconferencing tool.
The biggest pain is that you have to use some other form of communication (email, facebook, IRC, etc.) to let people know that you have a room that you want them to join. There is no instant messaging feature or anything that allows you to invite people from the site, only the cut and paste link.
It seems instead best suited for posting the room link on a social media site and then letting a huge number of random people join you in a, hopefully more refined, chat roulette type of venture.
Finally, when you logout of the room you’re greeted with a black screen that offers only one link: “I’ve made a horrible mistake, take me back!” Love it.
