Distance Learning Resources

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Technologies used at ONU:

Moodle 2.0+:

This is a learning management system mostly used for asynchronous communication. Your instructor may or may not use the chat tool or include a link to Who's Online, which would require users to be logged in at the same time. You will need an ONU Luminis account in order to access Moodle. In order to obtain a Luminis account, if you haven't been given one yet, please contact Bob Beer in the Office of Information Technology at 419-772-2396 or call the help desk at 419-772-1111. Beer's e-mail address is r-beer@onu.edu. Once, you have your Luminis account information, login at https://northernonline.onu.edu. A list of courses that you are enrolled in will appear on your home page. 

You will need Microsoft Office in order to open documents posted online by your instructor in Office formats. Adobe Reader is free and will allow you to view PDF documents. Download from http://get.adobe.com/reader/

It is important to use a Web browser that is compatible:

• Firefox 3 or later
• Safari 3 or later
• Chrome 4 or later
• Internet Explorer 8 or later

Elluminate Live!

This is a hosted service ONU uses to hold live (synchronous) online classes conferences. To participate fully in an Elluminate session, it is best practice to have a headset with ear phones and a built-in microphone and/or a webcam to display your video image. Check with your instructor to find out if he or she will require you to transmit your video image. You will need a computer with an Internet connection and a sound card or built in sound. Depending on the method your instructor uses to hold class, you may be sent a URL to join an Elluminate session via e-mail, or if a student account has been set up for you in Elluminate for a regularly scheduled class, you may need to loginto Elluminate at www.elluminate.com and enter your Elluminate username and password given to you by your instructor.

Free training on Elluminate can be found online at http://www.elluminate.com/support/training/index.jsp

Take the participant training, or if you are a group leader who has been designated to host group meetings, you will need to take the moderator training also.

Articles

1. Quality on the Line: Benchmarks for Success in Internet-Based Distance Education
2. Virtual Classrooms, Real Education
3. Education in the Electronic Ether: On Being a Virtual Professor
4. On the Evils of Educational Technology in Academia
5. The Interactive Multimedia Project: A Planning and Development Guide
6. Distance Learning Goes the Distance: Education will never be the same

Other Web Links

1. http://onlineteachingtips.org
2. Carnegie-Mellon's Open Learning Initiative: Free online courses
3. MIT's open courseware
4. United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA)
5. DISTANCE EDUCATION AT A GLANCE
6. ADEC Distance Education Consortium: An international consortium of state universities and land-grant institutions providing high-quality distance-education programs and services
7. AECT: Association for Educational Communications and Technology provides international leadership by promoting scholarship and best practices in the creation, use and management of technologies for effective teaching and learning in a wide range of settings.
8. SLOAN-C free-download publications: Elements of Quality Online Education
9. Surveys to evaluate whether or not you would make a good distance-education student: http://www.csuohio.edu/coehs2006/programs/online_TOOLS.html

Tools of the Trade (Links to Download)

1. Bridgit video conferencing and desktop sharing software. See tutorial on how to join a Bridgit conference from the student perspective. For faculty and staff instructions on how to initiate a conference via ONU's Bridgit server, contact ed-tech@onu.edu. Smart Technologies quick-reference sheet. (PDF).
2. Microsoft Office: As of 2004, all students and faculty of ONU will have access to the latest full version of Microsoft Office available at the front desk of Hetrick Library Freeware: Open Office, GlobalOffice
3. An Internet browser: An Internet browser is a program that allows you to view the Internet. Choosing a popular browser will help ensure that you view pages as they were meant to be seen. Recommended (PC): Internet Explorer. Recommended (Mac): Mozilla Firefox.
4. A document reader: Many schools and businesses use Adobe Acrobat to format documents. In order to view these documents, you must download Adobe Reader. Recommended: Adobe Reader (formerly Acrobat Reader).
5. A Media Player: A media player will allow you to see and hear any multimedia elements that may be included in your curriculum. Several online schools include pictures, videos and audio clips that can only be accessed through a media player. Most basic media players are available as freeware. Recommended: Windows Media Player, Quicktime, RealPlayer, iTunes (for Pod catching) and VLC.
6. Free Image Editor: GIMP . This software will help you crop and resize images for the web, as well as perform other editing. It is a substitute for people who can't afford Adobe Photoshop.
7. Free PDF Creator: PrimoPDF. This software claims to work much like Adobe Acrobat to create portable document format (PDF) files. Create PDF output optmized for print, screen, e-book or prepress. Use the File > Print to PrimoPDF command from applications like Word, Excel and PowerPoint. PDFs retain your documents formatting and can prevent a viewer from editing or copying the content. Adobe Acrobat Reader is a free download/plug-in used to view PDFs.
8. Free sound recorder / editing software: Audacity. This is an open-source application for basic recording and editing of sound files. Some educators use this for creating MP3 files for podcasting.
9. Free audio visual screen capture software: Cam Studio. http://www.camstudio.org. This software is good for giving demos on how to use computer applications. It will record your mouse movements on screen and record your voice as an .avi file. The large .avi files can then be converted to smaller .swf format.