Learning Activities in Lesson Builder

Learning Activities in  Sakai Tool: Lesson Builder

Significant attention has been focused on defining the Learning Outcomes for out students. We then make sure that the assessments we are using will accurately measure those outcomes.  Learning Activities are the links that bridge those two areas and are usually left up to the professor. More and more professors are moving from being the deliverer of content in a course to being the architect of learning experiences. This is even more important as we explore the hybrid or blended classroom.  Designing online learning experiences goes beyond putting resources in the hands of students and hoping for the best. It involves taking what we know about how people learn and applying it to capture attention and sequence an experience that enhances learning.

Fortunately we do have tools in Sakai that can help this process but not everyone is aware of the potential. Our newest tool in Sakai is called Lessons Builder. Just like the WebContent tool you can add as many tabs as you like, on the left in Sakai and rename them to fit your content.

The real magic is in the sequencing of content within the Module. You can add all of the following to a page or multiple pages.

Text Multimedia  Resources Questions Assignments

Quiz Forums Websites Comments and even Student Pages

• You can make continuing contingent upon completion of an activity.
• By requiring action from the students you are helping them to be engaged with the content in an interactive environment.
• By inserting prompts for questions or comments you can see which students are progressing or having difficulty.
• The directions are built right into the Tool.

Learn more about using the tool...

How about you? Have you tried the Lesson Builder Tool in your Sakai course? What do you think?

Mind Mapping

Here are some ideas on Mind Mapping

Do you ever get a simple idea for your course on your way to the office and by the time you get to your desk it is becoming more a jumble of related ideas? A mind map is a great way to walk your way through all of the ideas and track all of the pieces exactly the way your mind works, jumping from one aspect to another. You may have already tried this or seen someone else doing it on paper. There are now a number of online tools that help you not only create mind maps but also allows others to join in a collaborative process. Here is a comparison of available options.

Here are some options:

Paper and pencil

• Start in the middle of any piece of paper
• Draw lines and write anywhere your brain wants to go
• You can even draw pictures

This option is a completely free, simple to use mind mapping tool that's easy to get started with. Sign in with a Google account of your choice and you're off and running.  One option not available is being able to hide branches.	This is a downloaded application that resides on your computer but the results can be shared on the web. It is a popular application and has powerful tools to cover lots of options.	This is a popular online resource. Basic is Free. Up to 3 mind maps. Share. Collaborate. Import. Upgrade is needed for advanced features.Sign up	This is a  free service for education. One of the tools is a mind mapping tool. You can send others a link or embed the map in a page in Sakai.

If you are looking for a mind mapping tool
for the iPad try TheBrain app for a thought
organizer on the go. You can find and install
this app through the App Store.

What can you do with mind mapping? This can be a personal way of organizing your thoughts, managing a project, brainstorming with others or plan your vacation. You can also use it in your Sakai course as a collaborative tool for your students.

Let's talk about it. What ways have you used mind maps? What is your favorite technology tool for doing mind maps and why. Click on Comment below to leave a comment.