http://online.umwblogs.org Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities in Distance and Blended Learning Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:17:02 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Now you may be wondering about the connection between children's literature and teaching and learning online. With apologies to Malcom Knowles, it is my belief that we can benefit greatly by investigating how successful teaching and learning occurs with any population. Here Kelly Andrus of the University of Mary Washington ... http://online.umwblogs.org/2008/11/17/office-chat-importance-of-quality-childrens-literature/ Sometimes we find ourselves in odd places with idle time on our hands. This isn't one of those times but they surely do happen. I was wondering how easily it would be to write a blog entry during one of those times. Well, as it turns out the process is ... http://online.umwblogs.org/2008/11/17/test-post-from-ipod-touch/ I had the pleasure of talking with Dr. Kavatus Newell today about Culturally Responsive Teaching. In this interview Dr. Newell explains that culturally responsive teaching is a method for differentiating our instruction to facilitate learning for students of differing cultural backgrounds.  Just as we can enhance learning by incorporating visuals ... http://online.umwblogs.org/2008/11/11/office-chat-culturally-responsive-teaching/ I am fascinated every time I visit the office of one of the professors here at the University of Mary Washington College of Graduate and Professional Studies. The topics have been important and the discussions absorbing. Here Patricia Reynolds brings to the venue her many years of research, experience, and ... http://online.umwblogs.org/2008/10/29/office-chat-english-as-a-second-language/ Today, I continue my conversations with University of Mary Washington (UMW) faculty by talking with Dr. Rebecca Hayes about the Parallel Curriculum Model (PCM). My purpose is to stimulate my own thinking (and hopefully the reader's thinking as well) about new ways to support learning in online classes. I am very ... http://online.umwblogs.org/2008/10/21/office-chat-parallel-curriculum-model/ In this office chat, Dr. Norah Hooper describes two systems of visual organizers in use in her field of special education. Again, as I have mentioned before, the topics covered in these office chats have application to online instruction as well. If we listen with our minds open, Dr. Hooper ... http://online.umwblogs.org/2008/09/30/office-chat-strategy-instruction/ We have a tremendously talented faculty here at the University of Mary Washington. Dr. Beverly Epps teaches in our College of Graduate and Professional Studies in the area of education. I sat down with Dr. Epps the other day so she could share her insights into "Understanding by Design." What strikes ... http://online.umwblogs.org/2008/09/30/office-chat-understanding-by-design/ It is often beneficial to step back from our current processes and look at what we do through the lens of others - from a different perspective. Just as inventions developed for space exploration have been adapted for use in our daily lives we in distance learning can benefit by ... http://online.umwblogs.org/2008/09/11/office-chat-differentiated-instruction/ The phrase “distance and blended learning” is sometimes used as a synonym for “online instruction” or classes delivered over the Internet. While it is true that the web is the predominant delivery medium, we must not let the medium be the message. Sure, as McLuhan postulated, the medium (the ... http://online.umwblogs.org/2008/09/09/distance-learning-its-not-about-the-technology/ This is a clip from a talk I gave in November '07 at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Tennessee. The topic is personality types and generational learning styles and has been addressed much more fully in other venues. The intent of this short clip is to give an illustration using ... http://online.umwblogs.org/2008/09/08/video-short-personality-types/