March 7th 2011 Introduction

We will spend this week orientating ourselves to the course, becoming familiar with the online technology and introducing ourselves to the rest of the course participants. All the information about the course can be found on the course wiki, but for those of you who would like a hard copy, here is the link to the course outline.

For those of you who are new to this way of learning, the first few weeks may seem quite daunting. However, stick with it, network with others for support and help, and the rest of the course will flow on nicely.

Setting up your blog
During the course you will be expected to keep a reflective blog for your personal learning and to meet the requirements of each assignment. There are a number of free blogging platforms available - this course recommends Blogger because it is very easy to use if you have never blogged before. However, there are other choices such as Wordpress, Typepad or Edublogs.

• Here is some detailed information about how to set up a blog.
• Here is information about how to leave a comment on a blog.
• More details about how to subscribe to a blog.
• Here is more information about how to write a blog post.
  

Joining Wikieducator
As part of the orientation to the course, we would like you to add your contact details including your blog address to the Course Wiki 'Participants' page.

• Here are some instructions on how to do this.
  

Course meetings
We will have regular 'live' meetings (otherwise referred to as web conferencing or webinars) that will help us get to know each other better, build a learning network and/or community, and become more familiar with web conferencing tools. The days and times will vary from week to week to give everyone the opportunity to attend as many meetings as they can. We will also try to accommodate as many of our international colleagues as possible with regard to dates and times. We will record all meetings so if you miss one, you will be able to catch up with content.

• NB: Facilitated and formal students will be strongly encouraged to take it in turns to facilitate the live meetings. This will give you the opportunity to practice online facilitation and become familiar with the communication tools before the mini conference.
• Our first few meetings will using Elluminate, which is a propitiatory web conferencing tool. This virtual classroom is open now so that you can go in, set up your computer and meet others to practice online communication. To access the Elluminate virtual classroom, please click on this link.
• For further information about how to set up Elluminate and what to do when you get into the virtual classroom, please click here.
  

Webconference

Join the first course meeting in the Elluminate virtual meeting room on Thursday March 10th 20.00 hours New Zealand (World Clock), or Friday March 11th 12.00 hours NZ (World Clock)

• During this first class meeting we will introduce ourselves, discuss the course, and discuss any issues that have cropped up so far.
• We will be joined by participants of the 2010 course who will pass on tips on how to 'survive' 'Facilitating Online'.

Activities
Please try to complete the following tasks before the first course meeting.
1. Set up a blog for your weekly work and reflection in this course. If you already have a blog, you are welcome to use that so long as you can clearly indicate what posts are for this course.
2. Post to your blog a little bit about you and why you are joining in with the course.
3. Introduce yourself to the course by adding your blog's web address to Participants page.
4. Go to the blogs of some of the other participants, leave a comment to introduce yourself.
5. 'Follow' or 'subscribe to' the blogs of the other participants so you are kept updated every time they write a blog post.
6. Prepare your computer so you can attend the first of our regular meetings.


Image: 'Footprints'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51194339@N00/241620406