TWW: Life Beyond the Lecture Blog and a New Professional Connection

As always during the school breaks I sign up for different webinars to learn new things about teaching with technology. This winter break I signed up for a seminar about Voicethread, a wonderful program that allows you creating interactive learning teaching events and staying connected with the learners. I have been using Voicethread for a long time for my online and F2F classes and for my global projects at IT4ALL, International Writing Exchange or Moodle for Teachers. I enjoy using it because it combines the innovative pedagogy and the tools of the 21st century learners through audio, video, and written responses.

I signed up for a webinar Integrating VoiceThread into Your Campus-Wide Teaching ToolKit on January 12th at 3:00PM EST. My computer crashed right at the moment I was about to join the webinar. I missed it. When I got back in, I immediately contacted the website in regards of the recordings. That's how I met Michelle Pacansky-Brock. We were e-mailing each other back and forth. Michelle recommended to visit the VT website and view the previous webinars and also share the link to her Blog, Teaching Without Walls: Life Beyond the Lecture (Resources, tips, best practices and more for innovations in college teaching and learning.). I viewed a couple of webinars and was amazed at how similar our views are about pedagogy and the use of technology in teaching. Michelle was s a full-time art history professor at Sierra College (she taught a Art Appreciation course!) from 2002 to 2009 and now she is a doctorate student specializing in teaching instructors how to build community online with social media; and she is a learning consultant for VoiceThread.

Here is one of my VT lessons. I created it for my Methods class on Collaborative Learning.

I also used VoiceThread for running a global CT Netcity Project with Israel, China and Russia in 2009. I am excited to learn more about the tips and tricks of using VT in teaching and may be inspire my colleagues at MSMC to add it to our Teaching ToolKits college-wide.