Last week I was invited to attend the OLC Accelerate Conference in Orlando, and talk about how we are using Shindig at ASU. Our presentation was called "Making Connections with Shindig", and we focused on the vital need for faculty and students to make connections through engagement during a clas s, whether it is online or face-to-face. Shindig is a web conference tool that allows students and faculty to "flow" through the virtual room easily, and have side conversations, just like a regular classroom.  We have used it for our online courses to create debate teams and online presentations. We've also used it for allowing off-campus participants to participate in an on-campus event that includes asking questions, and working in small discussion groups. We've set up a "mobile unit" that allows us to roll a cart into a classroom, and immediately start the streaming, without burdening the professor with extra technology to control. Our next testi...

The average faculty member spends 75% of class time talking to students.  Maybe it's time to turn the tables, and let the students do the talking! We've learned through research that students learn by "collaborating through dialogue", and the benefits include a deeper understanding of the content as they explain information and integrate different perspectives. (Chi, 2009) We've also learned that there are a number of challenges to running discussions. From classroom furniture that doesn't allow small group discussions, to class size and student engagement, faculty have to have some strategies for successfully implementing this teaching strategy. In Tuesday's webinar we showed how to do discussions better with some tips that included: Setting the Appropriate Environment "Peeling the Onion" with the 4 Stages of a Discussion Honoring Silence And many other ideas!  For more information, check out the links below, or cont...