Free Range Learning

View the recording of the Sept, 22, 2009 Tech Talk on using Google Docs.

This week's Tech Talk was Google Mail: conceptual shifts, tips and tricks for using Luther's E-mail service, etc.

While much of what we do here in Learning Design & Technology is focused around curricular learning, we're also very much interested in learning how to take care of ourselves; we want to pass that learning on!

It was fun to have our Seminary Parish Nurse, Karen Treat, pass on this fantastic video on how/how not to sneeze! It's really quite funny.

Tomorrow's Professor Blog has a great article listing the worst mistakes teachers can make in the classroom. It's an insightful (and research-driven) article. We talk often at Luther about some of the big-picture mistakes, like not having learning-objectives in mind in course design . Yet (from both a former student and a learning design point-of-view) I found some of the "smaller" listings here helpful as well, especially on a day-to-day teaching level.

"Mistake #10 . When you …

View the recording of the Tech Talk from august 7, 2009 on using Google Apps.

Links mentioned in Tech Talk:

• Inbox Zero
• Learning Design & Technology

We seem to talk a lot about PowerPoint on this blog, yet is seems that all of us have the experience of being bored to death by bad presentations. The presentation below is one of the most-watched on SlideShare.

It's a classic, because it's so well done.

I have recently become enamored with Flickr . There are dozens (if not hundreds) of photo-sharing websites out there, and I have previously used Snapfish to upload photos, e-mail them to friends, and have them printed at my local Target .  But I'm quickly becoming a Flickr nut.

I've known for a while about their Creative Commons search function, which has been wonderful (even for use in this blog). I have also often checked out Flickr's Interestingness page and, even though I wish they'd get rid …

I recently discovered a great new resource: the Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) team at Penn State . While their website and blogs are mostly aimed at Penn State-specific news and events, there are really great resources for people who are interested in education and educational technology.

I have added their news feed to my RSS Reader , which often gives me great links to their team's individual blog posts. It was from staff member Elizabeth Pyatt's blog that I learned that Google …

We in Learning Design & Technology (LDT) can often be implicitly accused of promoting technological innovation as a be-all, end-all solution to problems in education. And while none of us fully believe that myth, we do take technology seriously. Web technologies can open up possibilities that were not present in the past. Social media can bring a diversity of voices and experiences to the table that may not have been previously heard. These are beliefs we hold dear.

But what happens when we …