Tutorials

I have found the tutorials to be helpful -- I appreciate getting different perspectives on the various tools for online teaching and learning.  Regarding Facebook and Twitter, I am particularly interested in Facebook as a teaching tool, as it is so readily accessible and frequently used by students.  Twitter is also, but Facebook seems to offer more functions and potential for use.  I thought the video from Dr. Bonk offered an overview of what we have been learning about best practices for building communty in online classes, though he never actually answered his own question about the need for doing so.  The tutorial I feel has been most useful to me thus far is Wikis in Plain English, for two reasons.  First, because it is a great introduction to using wikis, one that I think would be useful for showing to students (and faculty) when introducing the idea.  It is short, clear, and concise -- just as the name implies.  Secondly, this video made me think about creating tutorials -- video or print -- for other technology tools and skills.  Rather that explain the same thing over and over, why not take the time to create a short tutorial that can be used numerous times?  This is one of those things I always intend to do, but never actually do. The tutorial on Engaging Students with Multimedia was challenging and thought-provoking.  I completely agree that multimedia gets students' attention and can be a very engaging way to teach, but from a librarian's perspective, I see such differences in the technology available in different settings, and in the instructors' comfort level with using the various tools and equipment.  We are certainly moving forward in integrating technology, but in many places there is still a long road ahead.