Whiteside's Blogosphere http://blog.lib.umn.edu/thomp245/blogosphere/ Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts en-us 2004-07-28T19:38:25-06:00 WebEx vs. Breeze http://blog.lib.umn.edu/thomp245/blogosphere/003601.html After going over the best feature of Breeze, I thought nothing could be better. However, after learning about WebEx, I think I stand corrected! WebEx just embodies community building. The very first icon is all about sharing--it's very learner-centered. You... Virtual & F2F Learning Communities thomp245 2004-07-28T19:38:25-06:00 Community Building Tools http://blog.lib.umn.edu/thomp245/blogosphere/003571.html My thought for today involves the five community building tools we will present on in the CI 5330: Learning Communities course. There are three genres of tools in the five tools: Course Management Tools (WebCT and Blackboard), Videoconferencing Tools (WebEx... Virtual & F2F Learning Communities thomp245 2004-07-28T00:23:28-06:00 Tone, Voice, Critical-Thinking Strategies, and Roadblocks to Effective Posts http://blog.lib.umn.edu/thomp245/blogosphere/003532.html Responding to debating students, complaining students, and dominating students can be especially difficult for an online facilitator. Online environments are precarious because it's one-way communication without the critical visual cues, e.g., body languages. I found the discussion about different tones,... Virtual & F2F Learning Communities thomp245 2004-07-27T00:42:01-06:00 Online Learning Strategies http://blog.lib.umn.edu/thomp245/blogosphere/003343.html I like the idea of using audio and video clips to help foster a sense of community with students in an online environment. One of the strategies that we use with the School Technology Leadership Initiative (STLI) is the use... Virtual & F2F Learning Communities thomp245 2004-07-21T22:40:17-06:00 CI 5330: Day 1 Reflections http://blog.lib.umn.edu/thomp245/blogosphere/003279.html This class, CI 5330--Distance Learning: Learning Communities, explores many of the ideas that excite the researcher in me. I often wonder about some of the same topics we read about regarding online learning communities. I was very intrigued by our... Virtual & F2F Learning Communities thomp245 2004-07-20T22:29:17-06:00