Vance Stevens, Nellie Deutsch, Sandy Wagner, and Snea Thinsan at TESOL New Orleans, March 2011

Nellie Deutsch earned her doctorate from the University of Phoenix from the School of Advanced Studies in 2010. Her dissertation research (available on ProQuest) focused on instructor experiences with integrating technology in blended learning contexts in higher education around the world. 

• Nellie is the founder of Integrating Technology for Active Lifelong Learning (IT4ALL), a non-profit organization that provides free professional development workshops for groups around the world, generally in conjunction with different projects and initiatives.
• Dr. Deutsch is also founder and current coordinator of the annual Connecting Online for Instruction and Learning andMoodlemoot free online conferences, hosted online by IT4ALL.org and supported by WizIQ online learning platform.
• Dr. Deutsch has provided consultation on how to integrate Moodle and Elluminate learning environments for distance education at Open University and worked as a consultant at WikiEducator.org, supported by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Otago Polytechnic (New Zealand), and Athabasca Open University (Canada) in developing online courses and facilitation.
• She is also an educational consultant, mentor, instructional course designer, and online facilitator on how to integrate technology into the face-to-face and online classroom using Moodle, WebQuests, Professional Electronic Portfolios(Mahara), web 2.0 tools, social networks, and wikis.
• In addition, she is an accredited PAIRS (Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills), conflict resolution, and Reiki practitioner, who practices and teaches Mindfulness Meditation and the Alexander Technique.
• Dr. Deutsch has written chapters on the use of technology and research (Sage) in textbooks and has peer reviewed articles and books.
• Dr. Deutsch also serves as chair for doctoral students.
• Finally, Dr. Deutsch has presented at conferences in the United States and in virtual classes around the world.
  

In her words:

It all started with the WebQuest: http://www.nelliemuller.com/WebQuestsbyNellieDeutsch.htm

I am preparing 2 online and 1 f2f/online events:

Math & Arts in Ithaca, NY. July 18-22 (Math Camp), 23/24 

Moodlemoot in August 17-21, 2011

London, International Leadership Association conference, Oct 26-29

Moodle for Teachers (M4T), Professional Electronic Portfolio (PEP) (Mahara, Moodle & Open), WebQuest (Moodle & Open) at Integrating Technology for Active Lifelong Learning (IT4ALL)

Moodle 2.0: http://www.integrating-technology.com

Connecting Online Ning

LEO4u.org

Book on Interviewing Online for a Qualitative Research (Blended Learning) Sage

Recording 

• http://tinyurl.com/l2g29may2011deutsch 
• https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2011-05-29.0608.M.7AE801FFB697DA460D4BF25AA8C21B.vcr&sid=75

Announcements

• http://taedtech.ning.com/events/learning2gether-discussion-1
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evonline2002_webheads/message/27716

Download: https://learning2getherdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/684465-2011-05-22webheads-learningtimes-v-10-001-64k.mp3

Yurii Vedrashko and Sean Dowling discuss with participants the role and construction of a PLE.  Sean is Educational Technology Coordinator at HCT, in Sharja; while Yuri is a Foundations teacher and CMS (Moodle and BbVista enthusiast) at Fujairah Women’s College.  They have differing views on how such spaces should be configured. Roughly speaking, Yurii favors consolidating spaces accessible through a single login on a CMS / LMS, while Sean takes the ‘many pieces loosely joined approach’ by incorporating learning objects from many spaces in learning environments he creates online.

About Sean:

• blogs at http://seandowling68.wordpress.com/.
  Links to his various online spaces are in the “My teaching blogs” widget.
• Sean’s paper has sparked this discussion:
  http://seandowling68.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/digital_learning_spaces_sdowling.pdf

About Yurii:

• Yuri’s Moodle website http://shc-itecweb-01.hct.ac.ae/projects/moodle_yv/
• Join the Ning and comment on a discussion started by Yurii at:
  http://taedtech.ning.com/forum/topics/moodle-lessons-lets-get

Recording:

• https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/playback.jnlp?psid=2011-05-22.0418.M.7AE801FFB697DA460D4BF25AA8C21B.vcr&sid=75
• http://tinyurl.com/2011may22ple

Announcements

• http://taedtech.ning.com/events/learning2gether-with-yuri
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evonline2002_webheads/message/27695

• listening to recording http://tinyurl.com/2011may22ple Sean Dowling &Yuri Vedrashko debate role of LMS/CMS in PLE #learning2gether #taedtech

  — Vance Stevens (@VanceS) May 22, 2011

Bessy (Yumei Wei) is an English teacher in China who likes to put her students in touch with native speakers online.  On this day she intended to hold one of her classes as a Learning2gether event.  Participants are welcome to join in and observe what she does, or offer suggestions in conducting her classes and setting up collaborations between her and her Chinese students. 

Bessy teaches students on a Registered Nursing course who need to learn English in hopes of getting placement in Singapore and Saudi Arabia.  In order to matriculate they need to pass exams in nursing and in English, but Bessy’s online courses are not directed only at the exam.  She uses a wide range of activities that develop the students’ proficiency and motivate them to engage  in the language.

She also considers herself more a learner than a teacher, and hopes to meet other friends around the world who will engage with her students.  One of these might be Ayat, who teaches in Egypt, and is promising to put on a Learning2gether session with Maria in Argentina, on how their classes have been collaborating online.  Perhaps tonight’s session will result in a triangle including Egypt, China, and Argentina.

Announcements:

• http://taedtech.ning.com/events/learning2gether-with-yumei-wei
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evonline2002_webheads/message/27666

• Listening to Bessy (Yumei) explain her approach to teaching nursing English in China http://tinyurl.com/l2g2011may15bessy #learning2gether

  — Vance Stevens (@VanceS) May 15, 2011

Recording:

• https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2011-05-15.0628.M.7AE801FFB697DA460D4BF25AA8C21B.vcr&sid=75
• or: http://tinyurl.com/l2g2011may15bessy 

Abstract: This presentation explores how the latest technology and worldwide web can be used to support teachers and students particularly focusing on the presenter’s exploration of using the web in a social constructivist approach to knowledge building and language learning.

     The presentation explores the four interlinking and overlapping stages that learners experience whilst building their knowledge: knowledge-seeker, knowledge-discusser, knowledge-user and knowledge-provider and how these form an ever-growing knowledge cycle. As their knowledge develops, learners become more aware of other gaps in their knowledge and begin the cycle again. This cycle is driven by the continuous theorising of practical knowledge and practicalising of theoretical knowledge (Tsui 2003).
The paper uses practical examples of the presenter’s experience with a variety of web and video-conferencing medium and concludes with some practical advice that will hopefully help you make the most effective use of the web-based tools available to us all.

Announcements:

• http://taedtech.ning.com/events/learning2gether-weekly-webinar
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evonline2002_webheads/message/27663

Recording:

• https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2011-05-08.0556.M.7AE801FFB697DA460D4BF25AA8C21B.vcr&sid=75
• http://tinyurl.com/l2g2011may8quirke

Learning2gether Episode 41

Sunday, May 1, 2011 –

(No MP3 recording available, but you can play FLV files at the links below)

Vance Stevens conducted round 2 of the BigMarker shakeout. Round 1 was where we tried out the service in meeting mode.  In this round, Vance will try to give an actual presentation in presentation mode on Connecting the Dots: Technogogy and the Aha! Moment:

http://www.slideshare.net/vances/connecting-the-dots-technogogy-and-the-aha-moment

Where:

• noon GMT, start gathering at http://tappedin.org for distance coordination and setup
• 13:00 GMT: http://www.bigmarker.com/vances/presentations

Announcements:

• http://taedtech.ning.com/events/learning2gether-connecting-the
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/evonline2002_webheads/message/27651

Recordings (Vance made two recordings in uTIPu, each at the 20 min max for the free version – the recordings recorded only the screencast and the mic, did not record what was said by others in BigMarker 😦

• 2011may01l2g-1.FLV
• 2011may01l2g-2.FLV

Connecting the dots: Technogogy and the AHA! moment. Fantastic! by @vances http://ow.ly/4KO60

— Carla Arena (@carlaarena) May 1, 2011