Welcome

Welcome to the 2008 Break out session blog on Innovative tools/techniques for all delivery modes.
I have been teaching in a variety of modes for a few years. I started teaching in the video conference world a few short years ago. In its infancy it was a bit clumsy and awkward, but I saw the potential. In the early days we used to have students turn in assignments at the regional sites. The assignments were routed to the instructor, graded and then returned; a cumbersome and frustrating process that often times limited the feedback to students; especially in the accelerated learning format.
With the integration of course Ereserves and Blackboard the tide changed. With Ereserves I was now able to get handouts to students, other than using internal mail or snail mail. Integrating blackboard into face-to-face and video conference courses allowed students to interact, check their grades and so much more. The significant amount of tools, software and hardware have exponentially changed the face of delivering a traditional "in person" classes via video conference, ITV, and over the internet forever.

The opportunity now exists to deliver a similar learning experience to the student whether they are sitting in front of you, at another site or on line. It is up to us as instructors to constantly challenge ourselves to be innovative by finding the resources or creating the resources ourselves necessary to engage the student and build a learning community. All while guiding students through mastering the course competencies.

We are only limited by our own initiative and drive to be on the cutting edge! I will close with a one of the quotes from Thomas Edison I use in the Workplace Innovation course.

"If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward!"