TWT2011-The+Virtual+Classroom

**Session: 5. The Virtual Classroom: A Look at a Completely Online Upper School Class** **Presenter: Kate Marlow** **School: School of the Holy Child, Rye** **k.marlow@holychildrye.org**

**Description:** Offering online classes at the Upper School level is both exciting and daunting. It enables students to interact with the curriculum in new ways while teaching them to leverage their skills with technology to communicate effectively in the virtual world. In the Spring of 2010, Holy Child offered its first ever online class, an English elective for juniors entitled, “Finding a Room of One’s Own: Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway  and Michael Cunningham’s The Hours .” Using this class as a model, participants will look at how one example of a virtual classroom can work, while discussing the advantages, opportunities, and concerns that come with teaching a class solely online.

After taking this workshop, participants will understand what my experience was like teaching an online class at the upper-school level, as well as the challenges and opportunities that are involved in doing so.

**Resources I like: ** [|Animoto] - film-trailer-like movies and slideshows (great for creative projects) <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[|Dropbox] - free file sharing <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[|Evernote] - take notes from any of your devices (mobile, web, computer) - and they are completely searchable <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[|Google Docs] - file storage and sharing <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Haiku] - platform that can be used for online courses (paid) <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[|Jing] - allows users to record voiceovers and video of your computer screen (great for teaching new technology tools in an online classroom) <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; cursor: pointer; padding-right: 10px;">[|Moodle] - open-source platform I used for our online class <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Ning] - enables users to start their own social network around a specific topic <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">[|ooVoo] - video conferencing website <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">[|PodOmatic] - records and hosts podcasts <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Voicethread] - enables members to create audio and video files commenting on a particular project, slideshow, powerpoint, etc.

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