Wednesday, December 04, 2013

Game-based Learning Opportunity



Dear Colleagues,

As part of the Immersive and Game Based Learning Faculty Grant challenge,  the CCCS Hackathon Project will be involved with the Minecraft and More UnSymposium on December 6 and 7, 2013.
The Minecraft and More UnSymposium is an online synchronous tour and discussion of learning using this hugely popular video game. Minecraft that has sold over 12 million downloads worldwide and in the last 24 hours over 7,000 people have bought the game. Minecraft looks very similar to Legos and allows players to build and play with cubes in a 3D digital sandbox. It can be played on a PC, Mac, tablet or Xbox. This sandbox game has two basic modes, creative and survival.

The educational use of Minecraft has received recent coverage in the popular press, articles on Minecraft and education have included:

If you are intrigued or if you would like to learn more about this game and how it may fit into online and blended education, then please join us. The Minecraft and More UnSymposium is a two day free online event on Friday, Dec. 6th  from 4 pm – 8 pm and on Saturday, Dec. 7th  from noon – 6 pm. It will include tours in Minecraft and an ongoing discussion of how it can be used in online and hybrid education. This discussion will also include the CCCS Hackathon project. These online sessions will run the gamut from demonstration of game play to serious curriculum discussions. All sessions will be livestreamed over Google Hangout on Air on the Games MOOC channel. http://www.youtube.com/gamesmooc
If you have a paid Minecraft account you will be able to login for the Minecraft tours. For schedule and more information please to http://gamesmooc.shivtr.com/pages/minecraftandmoremission

To register and receive updates please go to http://bit.ly/minecraftandmore

If you have any questions or need specific information, please contact me using the information provided below.

Thank you,
- Chris Luchs
Associate Dean, Career & Technical Education
CCCOnline
720-858-2838

Tuesday, December 03, 2013

Upcoming Professional Development Opportunities

Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a nice holiday last week. Over the next couple of months we will have more webinar versions of our popular sessions from this year's CONNECT conference. If you weren't able to make it to the conference this year, this is a great opportunity to catch some of what you may have missed! In addition, our workshops for new CCCOnline instructors will take place in early January. Due to the upcoming holiday break this month, registration for those workshops will close on December 13th. Be sure to sign up or have any new or prospective instructors sign up before that date.

CCCOnline Webinars

Registration for webinars closes the day prior to the session. You can register for these webinars on the Training and Professional Development Database, find registration details and instructions on the Registration Process page, and find out more information about these and other opportunities on CCCOnline's Professional Development web page.

Thursday, December 5, 1:00 - 2:00 PM MT - CCCOnline CONNECT Session: Let’s Bring The Library To The Students!
Students seem to rely on Google when they’re doing research, and often the sources they end up using can leave much to be desired. In online courses, it’s often difficult to persuade students to visit their local library. Our solution? We’re bringing the library and the librarian to the students via discussions in D2L. Come learn more about what’s going on with the embedded librarian project in HIS 101 & 102, ENG 121 & 122 and other courses. (Facilitated by Mary Cash: Online Librarian, CCCOnline)

Friday, December 6, 1:00 - 2:00 PM MT - CCCOnline CONNECT Session: Strategies For Successful Discussion Performance
Managing discussions in the online classroom is an important performance requirement for all CCCOnline instructors, yet common issues with student participation tend to crop up across the disciplines. With this reality in mind, CCCOnline’s Quality Assurance Team will present some practical tips on how instructors may connect to students in a more meaningful way. We will discuss the CCCOnline QA Threaded Discussion Rubric in light of various challenges, as well as tips and tricks that might be appropriate to your own online discussion situations. (Facilitated by: Liz Dzabic, CCCOnline Quality Assurance Coordinator, John Ragan: CCCOnline Quality Assurance Auditor)

Thursday, December 12, 1:00 - 2:00 PM MT - CCCOnline CONNECT Session: "T" is for Transmedia
Transmedia is storytelling across multiple media formats, with each element making distinct contributions to a learner’s understanding.  Come explore your transmedia skills by taking this Instructional Design challenge! Join us for this tongue-in -cheek approach to Top Chef and information and technology fluency. Are you up for the challenge or will you have to pack up your knives and go home? (Facilitated by Kae Novak - Instructional Designer, FRCC and John Heisel - Faculty Development Coordinator, FRCC)

Thursday, January 9, 1:00 - 2:00 PM MT - CCCOnline CONNECT Session: Badges And Alternative Assessments

You may have heard a bit about badges, awards and pointification. These alternative forms of assessment are coming from the open course movements and also from the gaming industry.  Come learn about this form of assessment and learn to set up your own Mozilla Backpack from the Open Badge Project. (Facilitated by Kae Novak - Instructional Designer, FRCC and Stephanie Wikman – Educational Technology Coordinator for Online Learning, FRCC)

Friday, January 17, 1:00 - 2:00 PM MT - CCCOnline CONNECT Session: Locating, Adapting, and Reusing Open Educational Resources
This presentation will provide a broad overview of Open Educational Resources (OER) and their use in higher education today. Highlighting some of the major aggregators and content repositories on the Web, we will examine the various types of OER available. A brief discussion of the Open Access Movement and Creative Commons licenses, as well as common misconceptions around copyright and fair use in the educational context, will also be presented. (Facilitated by: Amanda Burch – Instructional Designer, CCCOnline)

CCCOnline Workshops

Registration for these workshops closes on December 13th. You can register for these webinars on the Training and Professional Development Database, find registration details and instructions on the Registration Process page, and find out more information about these and other opportunities on CCCOnline's Professional Development web page.

Monday, January 6 - Friday, January 10 - Getting Started
Getting Started is a one-week, fully online facilitated orientation workshop for potential CCCOnline instructors. Getting Started introduces instructors to the culture of CCCOnline, support resources and support processes for teaching with CCCOnline.

Monday, January 6 - Friday, January 17 - D2L Essentials
D2L Essentials is a two-week, fully online workshop designed to introduce new and potential CCCOnline instructors to the Desire to Learn (D2L) course system. Its primary goal is to prepare instructors to teach with D2L at a basic level during their first term. Activities are completed in a practice D2L course.

Innovative Educators Webinars

The Colorado Community College System is a subscriber to Innovative Educators, an organization that supports academic and professional growth in higher education. With our subscription to this organization comes the opportunity for any staff or faculty in the Colorado Community College System to attend their live webinar sessions for free by entering the code "ColoradoCC".  Innovative Educators has a wide variety of opportunities available on their website, which you can explore here: Innovative Educators Webinar Calendar. You can choose to attend any of their webinars, but here are a few sessions in particular that you all might find valuable:


Effective Classroom Observations: An Alternative Approach That Supports Faculty & Improves Student Success
Wednesday, December 4, 3:00-4:30pm EST 


Effective Online Advising: Best Practices For Improved Communication & Connection
Thursday, December 5, 3:00-4:30 EST

The Online Classroom: Innovative Teaching Practices That Increase Retention, Satisfaction & Performance
Thursday, December 5, 1:00-2:30pm EST