Blended learning is the process of incorporating digital technology and tools into traditional learning environments. It would be truly unusual for anyone to use anything other than digital for documents; the new position is to easily create digital documents with more than one author. Collaboration is an important skill for all to learn (check out previous post) but can be difficult to manage. The change tracking, the actual authors vs. those who simply comment, the editors… How can all of this sharing be done with ease? Luckily, there are many tools to aid with this.

MS Word does offer tracking solutions, but too often if more than one author is working on the document simultaneously a version is lost. Version control becomes a nightmare. A better solution is GoogleDocs (https://www.google.com/docs/about/) where authors can work on the same piece at the same time and changes are kept.

Another great tool is using a Wikispaces (https://www.wikispaces.com). Wikispaces allows students to collaborate with writing and has a nice social network feed. It also allows for easy student progress checks and a classroom tool for teachers.

The previously mentioned tools are great for documents but a blended learning classroom often allows for different media. Moxtra (http://www.moxtra.com) allows multiple binders to be kept on a project and neatly organizes who does what and when. Binders are shareable and searchable. Prezi (https://prezi.com) allows multiple users to work on a presentation. Group presentations become unified with one theme on one giant canvas. Simply zoom to your portion. Presentation can include links to other sites as well as video and audio clips too.

Search the net for free shareable projects. Thousands of solutions are out there waiting for your class to explore. Even make it an assignment for different groups to evaluate different products. What is more real world learning than that?

Blended learning, adding digital content to a traditional lecture type lesson is not new, but the types of digital content is always changing and the best lessons make use of the new tools. This article will cover using digital tools to have students collaborate and produce content. Collaboration, cooperation, group-think, shared learning – it goes by many names and has been taking place in the classroom for years. What has changed is the tools and the types of sharing.

It is important to have the learner write his or her own material, but an equally important work skill is working with others. And workers will collaborate on papers, presentations, and ideas. Learning to collaborate after being told to share can be difficult. It is a skill of dividing up the work, assuring all are equally present and each person is working on there own strengths while learning how to improve weaknesses.

Here are some tools and ideas to start with collaboration in a digitally friendly classroom and ultimately end with a digital product. First, let’s use some tools to brainstorm and share ideas. This can be done in groups within the class or across the digital divide using a tool such as Padlet or Tricider. Padlet (https://padlet.com) is simple- it is like sticky notes posted on a board. Anyone with an idea can post. And the ideas can be words, sounds, videos, or drawings. Once posted, simply take the most popular and build from there.

A tool to help narrow down ideas is Tricider (https://www.tricider.com). This allows users to comment on several ideas and add their own all while collecting up votes on which is best. It provides a beautiful and digital way to gather feedback on each specific idea.

So with these two simple apps you have allowed students to share ideas across platforms and vote on which they like best and why. And as the facilitator you can easily see who has contributed. There are many other free apps on the market (Simplemind, Mindomo) these are simply two I have used successfully. Simply search for free brainstorming apps and try one.

Once the ideas are narrowed down, it’s time to produce the product. There are so many free and accessible tools such as Wiki’s, Google docs, Prezi. I’ll cover more on these in my next post. Until then start sharing ideas!

If you aren’t using blended learning, why not?

Blended learning is the process of incorporating digital technology and tools into traditional learning environments. In most cases your students are already familiar with the digital tools and may even expect the course to be filled with them. Videos, audio-casts, notes and social media sharing allow students to interact with the lesson like never before. Here I’ll present some examples and some tools to easily incorporate audio and video into your current training program.

Adding audio and video to your lessons brings them to life. In addition to enlivening- it creates a standard. Rather than having the instructor repeat and possibly miss or change a lecture, a video or audio recording ensures all students receive the same material. But best of all, the students get the message on their time and on their own device. The lesson is not limited to the classroom, but the classroom is where the students choses to learn.

Aside from adding life to your lesson audio and video also make the material accessible to those with disabilities. Audio lectures can be replayed, the pace slowed or sped up, and with sub-titles can be a life saver for those with learning disability. Video functions in a similar fashion but also adds pictures to those hard to describe processes and procedures.

Audio Programs such as Audacity and Audiobook Cutter allow for creating or clipping small sections of audio. Adaptive Multimedia Information System (AMIS) is a software program that reads specially formatted books for the visually impaired. Other reader programs include Dspeech and Balabolka. And there are more options.

Consider using some of these features in your next training program. Make your learning interesting and accessible to all. In my next post I’ll cover more on the benefits of building collaboration and production into your training.