-Padlet: This was a new tool for me to try and I liked it a lot. It seems to be very practical and easy to use. It also reminds me of my home. My wife and I always write on post-cards or sticky notes things we are tacking throughout the week. And if there are things to change or update , we easily do this.
Padlet is definetely under my consideration to be used with my students at Dordt.
-LMS/CMS: I have use a few CMS's and LMS's, including Blackboard, Noodle, and a few other corporate training plaforms. They all have their great features and challenges. As for me, I try to use the most basics navigation for myself and my students. Simple and versatile can be powerful, if technology is to meet the purpose of learning.
-Students success: If the CMS/LMS is well managed and properly set up, the other part is up to us, the instructors to create that welcoming environment for students to stick around and do well. I find always harder to help students that have some resistance to using technology for learning. In this days is usually a small group, but this also presents an opportunity to help those students that may struggle, to overcome any preconceived ideas or barriers toward online learning.
-Conquering the content: Content map was very, very useful. I was afraid to use this idea on all my courses, but having seen the model recommended by the author, it makes sense to adopt this method as one to best orient and guide the students toward the process of completion of course work and assignments. I was able to produce a draft content map and soon realized I could do better, so I went back to the drawing board and re-engineering my design. I feel pretty good about this last design. I am sharing this below in case some of you may have some comments or questions about it.
