7 Tools for Creating a “Killer” Online Presentation

Think about the last presentation you observed online.  We often learn that to create a good presentation we need to use powerpoint and to come up with 5-6 bullet-points per slide. While the clearly-marked points may have helped guide the presenter, they may not have engaged the listeners, who can easily “zone out” and forget material if it is presented in a monotonous way.  Perhaps you suffered from the “Death by bullet points” syndrome: bullets made the presentation boring and did not capture the attention of the audience. So how do you create a  “Wow!” factor for your online presentations?

Photo by Kiril Popov

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Lessons from the Eye Movement Research: Using Pictures To Guide Learners’ Attention Online

Today’s “Hot Topics Wednesday’s” episode is a special one! I am honoring all holidays that you choose to celebrate this season and for that I prepared a surprise for you at the end of this video!

CLICK ME!

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Surviving The Cyber Jungle One Breath at a Time…

Many of us dream about getting an online job. It promises a lot of flexibility, convenience, and freedom. However, when we actually start teaching online we often become overwhelmed and stressed out with the amount of work that needs to be done. Technical glitches do not enhance our overall experience.Slowly, we find ourselves “glued” to the computer 24/7, without any rest… we feel like our lives are passing by and can start to feel overworked and underpaid… Continue reading

A Winning Structure for Collaborative Activities Online

Today’s “Hot Topics Wednesdays” episode is devoted to a very common problem. Often online teachers and trainers understand the need for collaboration online. However, when they design their forums and wikis their students do not participate or do not produce high quality posts. To solve this problem, I developed a 5-step formula for an effective collaborative online activity. I hope this post will help you improve collaboration in your web-based classroom. Please watch this 4 minute video to find out how. You are also welcome to download the cheatsheet for this winning structure. Continue reading

Literacy Crisis: What Can Technology Do to Help?

From http://www.blingcheese.com/image/code/28/literacy.htm

Many teachers and parents are aware of the literacy crisis that exists in the United States these days. Numerous literacy programs are opening every year, however the problem seems to persist. What can technology do to help solve this issue? Continue reading

“All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy” or How Gamification Improves Your Online Classroom

gamificationToday’s Hot Topic Wednesdays’ question comes from Fiona and Carl from Australia. They ask: “How to engage highschool students online?”

I will share the wisdom of my brother, who is 13 and  is the most ingenious man on Earth… He taught me how to use my cell phone and my iPad. He also tried to teach me how to play his video games, but every time I failed miserably.

What he REALLY taught me is that there is a huge generation gap between us, despite our actual age (I am just a few years older than he is  ;-) … He represents a generation where games are an integral part of  reality. However, when I look at our school curriculum, I am amazed at how rarely gamification is used for teaching.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t try to say that we only need to play in our classes. I believe there is room for serious matters and even some struggles. I just want you to look at games differently. They are actually not just “a cute distraction” or “time fillers” when we don’t feel like teaching. Games contain a lot of useful features that help engage and support our students online.

Watch this 5 minute long video and find out some amazing features of gamification that can improve your distance teaching. Continue reading

How to Find a Job Teaching Online? Special Announcement

Thank you so much for reading my blog!

I am very excited to share my “Teach Online” guide on how to find a job in distance education. Please watch this 3-minute video that provides details on this guide. Please pass along this information to anyone who is looking to get into the distance education industry. I really hope it will help them find the job of their dreams and help them to combine their passion for teaching with the lifestyle that they deserve!

-Marina Kostina, PhD

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How to Create Connection Online? Part 2

We continue our conversation with David Richardson on how to create connection online. In today’s “Expert Talk” episode David provides valuable tips for online teachers and trainers that deal with transferring our personality online,  in a synchronous classroom.  He suggests:

- not reading from notes

- creating personal connection at the beginning of each class…..

Watch this 4 min video to learn more!

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How to Avoid Plagiarism Online?

Today’s Hot Topic Question comes from George, who asks:

How to avoid plagiarism online?  

How to check for plagiarism when the students submit their work?

Research shows that around 75 percent of students are engaged in some form of plagiarism online. So what are the ways to prevent this situation? Here are some strategies that will show online teachers and trainers how to avoid plagiarism online.

Watch this 4 minute video to learn how:

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How to Create Connection in Distance Education?

                                                                                    Today’s “Expert Talk” guest is David Richardson, a professor of English at Linnaeus University located in Sweden (based in Kalmar and Växjö).

He has been using instructional technology since 1980s and is a true guru in Second Life and Adobe Captivate.

David will share his insights on how to build connection online.

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