This week Diigo Discussion Forum begins and you will begin working through your text book, Brain Rules.  You are also going to be meeting  with your client and further hashing out what you will be doing the final 12 weeks of class.  

• Week 3 Materials - this page 
• Chapter 4, We Don't Pay Attention to Boring Things in Brain Rules. As you read through the chapter, reflect on how you can use this information as you are developing instruction.  

We will not have online meeting this week. 

The actions you need to complete this week as well as directions for each activity follow.

Join Zondle and play Brain Rule #4 Attention.

To help you "hone in" on key points for Chapter 4: Attention, join Zondle and play Brain Rule#4 game.  To do this, go to Zondle and create an account.  Please choose a name that will allow me to know who you are.  First initial and last name works well.  Remember, if I can't figure out who you are, then I can't give you credit.  You will have to enter a class code to get to the topic. The class code is used by learners to link up with EDTC 6329 class when you add yourself to zondle. You can either enter it when you sign up or when you click on "topics my teacher has set me" from your home page.   When you enter this code, you will immediately be linked up with your class and can begin playing a variety of Zondle games to reinforce concepts that are introduced in Chapter 4.  For EDTC 6329, the class code is:  21810-38750. 

Please note:  If you happen to be less than an expert at playing games, share this activity with your kid(s).  You can supply the answers and watch while they rack up the points for each correct answer.  Won't they be surprised with how hard you have to work in graduate school!

Discussion Question/Diigo Hosting

This week, you will begin the Diigo discussion questions. Please note: If you did not ask for permission to join the Diigo group the first week, you will need to do so ASAP. Below, you will find an explanation of what you need to do as host and what your expectations are on the weeks you are NOT the host.

Role of the Host

We are going to be something a bit different for the discussion questions this semester.  Discussion questions are still considered an important interactive component of most online courses and asynchronous training. Because many of you will be designing instruction for others, and yourself, in the future, it is important that you know what it is like to be the host of discussion questions. Thus, each of you will be expected to hold the role of "host" of the discussion question for one week. While in a typical discussion format a question is posited, students respond substantively and they respond to at least two other comments, in this format, you will focus the discussion on a link that you have found pertinent to share. Each week, a different student (or students) will share a site or sites with comments and annotations on the significance of that site to you as a teacher or student. 

The shared links need to include some annotation, in the form of highlighted notes within the sites that others will be expected to view and comment upon. These discussion questions will be  on the Diigo Group site that can be found here: https://groups.diigo.com/group/6329-brain_based-learning

To highlight and annotate, it is recommended that you add Diigo to your toolbar to your browser so you can easily use the power of Diigo groups to share and interact with others.  In order to install the Diigo toolbar in Firefox, see the tutorial below.

You may use Diigo Toolbar on Internet Explorer and on FireFox, but if you use another browser, you will have to use Diigolet instead of the full-blown Diigo Toolbar. Although not as robust, it will nevertheless allow you to complete the requirements for this assignment.  Once you select Tools on the Diigo home page, you will find a link to Diigolet.  Just click on it to find information on how to install Diigolet in your browser.

Host Requirements

On the weeks that you are the host, you will be expected to decide on the topic, provide a resource or information that you find important, annotate the page and provide a video if you can find one that is relevant. You will also be expected to moderate - that is, to make some follow-up comments to others who have posted responses to your posts.  The more you practice this skill in Diigo, the more comfortable you will be in using the vast Diigo resources.  In addition to moderating, you will be expected to "grade" responses in the discussion. Thus, it is important that everyone add their content to the Diigo discussion group within the week so that the host is able to provide grades for the responses.  

On the week you are moderating as the host, your posting will be in response to what is written.

As host, you will be expected to do the following:

• Provide at least one bookmarked URL
• Highlight 3 areas and provide sticky notes indicating significance of highlighted area - may include question to which others can respond
• Ask a probing question or comment that will warrant response
• Moderate discussion as needed - make follow-up comments or post answers, additional links, etc. if necessary. While you are certainly welcome to respond to every comment, you do not have to do so.  You should choose where you think it is important to insert your appropriate comments and feedback.
• Provide checklist "grades" for those who respond to your post(s)

The video below will show you how to bookmark a site, add it to the 6343 Group, add a sticky note, and highlight part of the text. When you post, make sure that your highlights and sticky notes are attached to the EDTC 6329 group so we can all see them and comment.

The video below will show you how to moderate your post through the Diigo group page.

Non-host Weekly Requirements

On the weeks you are not hosting, you will be expected to respond to the posts by the host(s).  Because of the large group of students, more than one person might be hosting per week.  You may select to respond to one or more posts with your substantive comments. Responses can be on the Diigo Group page or can be within the sticky notes on the site.  These comments should be more than "I agree."

Each host must post their response by Sunday midnight, beginning in week 3.  You must respond by the next Sunday midnight. So, for the week 4 posts, you must respond by Sunday midnight of the following week.  However, if you wait until midnight to post, you will not be able to re-post in response to other comments.  So, while your final post could be at midnight Sunday, you must post earlier in the week to fulfill the requirement of interacting with others.

If you do not respond within the time period required, you will not receive credit for that week.

Please consider the below criteria (adapted from Rubistar) for a substantive post:

• Relevant, telling, quality details give the reader important information that goes beyond the obvious or predictable.
• Adding voice: The writer seems to be writing from knowledge or experience. The author has taken the ideas and made them "his own."
• Writer makes no errors in capitalization or punctuation, so the response is exceptionally easy to read.
• In addition to an original response, interacts with at least two others by responding or re-responding to other comments
• Bonus:  Adds at least one significant and additional link related to the post with supporting evidence of the importance of the link

In the last few days , I have made three posts: a link to an interesting or useful source of information, a video and a discussion article. I have also highlighted certain statements (in pink) and made comments on the page. Be sure to read those so that you can better understand what I think is important about the article.

The previous videos show you how to post a comment to a bookmark, add a sticky note and comment to a sticky note, as well as highlight text in your role as Non-host contributor. 

As the host, you may choose your topic any topic related to education and technology that you want to discuss. 

Develop your timeline

By the end of this week, you should have a pretty good timeline roughed out and be ready to begin the work you are going to do this semester.  From this point forward, you will be pretty well the captains of your own course - determining what you need to do and how you are going to accomplish the tasks you have established for yourself. I will mainly be going into your 6329 page and monitoring your work as well as making comments to you on your wiki.