GEN Update September 14, 2003

[GEN Coordinator Sylvia Currie <scurrie@sfu.ca>]

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GEN Update 
September 14, 2003 
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<http://globaleducators.net>

In This Update 
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1. Begins Tomorrow! Bringing Online Guest Discussants to Your Classes
2. Upcoming Seminars
3. Professional Reading Group Series
4. Invitation to Moderate
5. Support GEN!
6. Global Educators Community Connection
7. Manage Your Membership
8. About the global-educators-network Mailing List


1. Begins Tomorrow! Bringing Online Guest Discussants to Your Classes
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Dates: September 15 - 24, 2003
Moderators:  Ben Varner and Alice Bedard-Voorhees

* How do your prepare students for a successful online discussion with a
guest?
* What is involved in establishing a speaker bureau?

Bringing a guest speaker into online discussions with students allows
additional expertise and real-world perspective for the class or can be a
way to extend a visit with an external campus speaker. In this seminar we
will visit the benefits and logistics of bringing guest speakers to the
online classroom. Learn how Colorado Community Colleges Online has
established its own Virtual Speaker Bureau.

About our Facilitators...

Ben Varner is a Professor of English at University of Northern Colorado.
Alice Bedard-Voorhees is Chair for the Arts and Humanities at Colorado
Community College Online. Ben and Alice have utilized internal and external
guest speakers online, and have been visiting discussants as well.

GEN members may access the seminar directly:
<http://vu.cs.sfu.ca/vu/tlnce/cgi-bin/VG/VF_dspcnf.cgi?ci=272>


2. Upcoming Seminars
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Browse current and upcoming activities at:
<http://calendar.globaleducators.net>

The following seminars are planned for Fall, 2003
 
Math on the Web with Learning Objects
Moderators: TBA 
This seminar is sponsored by the EduSourceCanada project

Human Resources & eLearning
Moderator: Angela Hildyard
This seminar is sponsored by University of Toronto

Virtual High Schools Part II
Moderator: Michael Barbour

Learning Management System Series
Towards a Pattern Language for Learning Management Systems
Moderator: Paris Avgeriou

Learning Management System Series
Online Learning and Web-Based Course Authoring Tools: Concepts, Strategies,
and Application
Moderator: Nada Dabbagh

We need sponsors for our free seminars: <http://support.globaleducators.net>


3. Professional Reading Group Series
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The book selected for the launch of the GEN Professional Reading Group
Series was "The Virtual Student: A Profile and Guide to Working with Online
Learners" by Rena M. Palloff, Keith Pratt. Moderator Alice Bedard-Voorhees
skillfully advanced our discussion despite the fact that we didn't all have
the book in hand! Also, we were fortunate to have the authors join us for a
question and answer session.

We hope the success of our inaugural Reading Group seminar will motivate you
to select a book or article and volunteer to share it with GEN members! Send
your proposals and questions to Sylvia Currie <sylvia@globaleducators.net>.

Access the Reading Group seminar archive:
<http://archives.globaleducators.net>

Purchase books for our Reading Groups Series through GEN and you'll help to
support our community:
<http://support.globaleducators.net>


4. Invitation to Moderate
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We have managed to sustain GEN since 1999 as a community that offers free
seminars and relies on volunteer moderators. Many of our seminars have been
moderated by GEN members who are regular participants and are interested in
giving back to the community. Other seminars are moderated by invited
experts in the field, or new members who wish to establish contacts with
like-minded online educators.

Over the years we have accumulated quite a list of topics proposed by our
members. We invite you to moderate a GEN seminar on one of these topics.
<http://globaleducators.net/eModerate/topics.html>


5. Support GEN!
.......................................................
How can you help to support GEN?

* Garner support from your respective institutional affiliations.
* Spread the word about GEN by forwarding this GEN Update to colleagues.
* Volunteer to moderate a GEN seminar or organize a Special Interest Group.
* Sponsor or co-sponsor a GEN seminar. See the list of proposed topics at:
<http://globaleducators.net/eModerate/topics.html>
* Purchase your books by clicking through the GEN website to Amazon.
<http://support.globaleducators.net>
* Consider an individual donation. Secure online payment through Paypal is
now available at the GEN website <http://globaleducators.net>.

Through your involvement we can continue to offer free seminars and enhance
our community together.


6. Global Educators Community Connection
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This section features events and publications that are of interest to online
educators. 

@ Academic Exchange Quarterly
Ben Varner, moderator of this month's GEN seminar and Feature Editor of
Academic Exchange Quarterly invites you to submit papers to an upcoming
issue. More details at:
<http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/ontline.htm>

@ Adaptech
A new report coauthored by GEN moderator Catherine Fichten, is available for
download: "Students with disabilities at Dawson College: Success and
outcomes" by Shirley Jorgensen, Catherine S. Fichten, Alice Havel, Daniel
Lamb, Crystal James, and Maria Barile. 2003.
<http://www.adaptech.org>

@ Knowplace
In addition to 2-week modules leading to certificate programs in eCourse
Design, eTeaching, eModerating and Mixed Mode Delivery, Knowplace offers
"SkillBuilder" individualized tutorials on a variety of topics. GEN members
Bruno Vernier and Frances Long are lead facilitators for the SkillBuilder
program. Opportunities to challenge courses by helping to teach are also
available.
<http://knowplace.ca>

@ Concord Consortium
The next session of online courses begins on October 8th. There are several
to choose from:
<http://www.concord.org/>

@ International Forum of Educational Technology & Society
<http://ifets.ieee.org/>
Discussion Topic: Should Online Course Design Meet Accessibility Standards?
Moderator: Peter Paolucci, York University and Learn Canada
October 6-15, 2003


7. Manage Your Membership
.......................................................
Have you misplaced your password? Send a quick note to
<sylvia@globaleducators.net>.

Become a GEN member at:
<http://register.globaleducators.net>
Select the box beside "Become a GEN Member, click the "register" button, and
complete the form. 

To subscribe or unsubscribe from this list, send mail without a subject
heading or signature to
        majordomo@sfu.ca
with the appropriate command in the body of your email message:
        subscribe global-educators-network
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8. About the global-educators-network mailing list
.......................................................
This mailing list is for GEN Updates and occasional announcements.

Read GEN Update on the Web:
<http://update.globaleducators.net>

GEN Update is prepared by:

Sylvia Currie, Coordinator
Global Educators' Network
sylvia@globaleducators.net
<http://globaleducators.net>

Free seminars...by online educators for online educators.