Online Learning News - April 7, 2021

Learn How to Manage Technology to Support Mental Health and Well-Being  

Wednesday, April 14, 2021
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. (ET)

Register Now!

Dr. Aga Palalas, an expert in the field of digital wellness with years of experience teaching online, draws on her research and shares practical insights to help educators establish healthy digital habits.

In this engaging and interactive webinar, you’ll gain a better understanding of how to:

• Manage the use of technology in a way that supports the health and well-being of faculty and students
• Optimize digital wellness to maintain mental health
• Use mindfulness practices to support well-being

Our Host:

Dr. Agnieszka (Aga) Palalas Associate Professor, Athabasca University

Using OER to Construct a Course 

A Durham College Innovation

Read how Professor Carson at Durham College in Ontario found, assessed and structured open educational resources (OER) into an online course on HTML, the language used to represent webpages. The experience underlines the importance of providing clear, detailed information on the purpose and benefits of OER for students and everyone involved in the development process.

Brandon Carson
Learning Technologies Specialist & Professor
Durham College

Spots Still Available!

Learn How to Use OBS Studio with Zoom
to Transform Your Presentations

Friday, April 9, 2021
10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. (ET)

Register Now!

When students login, only to turn off their microphones and video, you don’t know if they’re tuned in or tuned out. You want them to be actively learning, focused and engaged, which is why you need to make your Zoom class a learning experience they’ll never forget.

In this engaging and interactive webinar, you’ll gain an understanding of how you can use OBS Studio and Zoom to significantly improve student engagement and learning outcomes. You’ll explore how to:

• Integrate OBS Studio into Zoom in learner-effective ways
• Stream video from OBS Studio to Zoom
• Connect your webcam to OBS Studio
• Create rich media presentations and experiences, linking video, sound, PowerPoint and other media

Before taking part in this webinar, we encourage you download OBS Studio.

Our Host:

Dr. Ron Owston
Contact North | Contact Nord Research Associate

Searchable Directory of 95+ EdTech Start-Ups

Contact North I Contact Nord’s searchable directory of 95+ EdTech start-ups includes companies developing communication/collaborative tools, learning management systems, and online tutoring, student assessment, and presentation/delivery tools.

Explore the Directory

Discover Five Things Administrators and Policy-Makers Did Right in Their Response to COVID-19 

1. A focus on ensuring students had continuous access to learning
2. Support for technology-enabled learning at all levels
3. A recognition of equity, diversity and inclusion as challenges for students and faculty
4. Making investments in future skills and workforce development
5. Building a hybrid future

Get the full story

Read Dr. Tony Bates’ Blog Post

In this blog post, Dr. Bates shares a newly released open resource for K-12 teachers to help them teach in online and blended environments.

Read Contact North I Contact Nord Research Associate Dr. Tony Bates’ blog post:

A self-paced online course for school (k-12) teachers about teaching online

This Week's Must-Read Book on Online Learning

Sustainable Development and Education in the
Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)

Edited by Mohamed Ally & Norine Wark (2020)

This short work (41 pages) captures the challenges associated with the future of work, sustainable development and the potential impacts of technology on teaching and learning. A solid literature review prefaces the sharing of the results from a series of interviews the Commonwealth of Learning  did with a small group of thought leaders and experts from Canada, UK, India, Malaysia and South Africa. While the findings will come as no surprise — less talk, more action, more investment in helping teachers, students and instructional designers make full use of available technologies, more equitable access to technology — the report is a helpful summary of the current state of education. Download it for free.

Browse all Must-Read Books

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