More SoftChalk workshops coming soon!

SoftChalk is offering some great options for training including "An Overview of SoftChalk Create" on May 6 at noon (PDT) and "TextPoppers, Images and Hyperlinks" on May 8 at noon (PDT).

View the complete schedule here!

What is SoftChalk, and what can instructors do with it?

SoftChalk allows instructors to develop interactive online lessons and practice activities for their students. These can be added to Moodle as SCORM packages that feed directly into the Moodle gradebook, albeit not 100% seamlessly.

Check out these online grammar modules to see one example of a SoftChalk lesson or the Math Placement Preparation site for another.

Welcome New DIG Co-Lab Participants!

Wow! Spring must be the time to dive into new projects with renewed energy. We have an incredible group of dynamic faculty members who have joined the DIG Co-Lab Faculty Fellowship this term!

Many are making blog posts left and right, sharing materials, and helping each other. Take a look at Alise Lamoreaux's Haiku Deck explaining, "What is a Course Syllabus?" linked to her blog, Amy Gaudia's Prezi on "Calm Confident Test Taking," or Stacey Zinniker's Prezi for her own course outline.

This term promises to be a fruitful one for DIG participants!

"group brainstorming" photo by lynn Dombrowski

Experimenting with badges

It's now possible to issue digital badges in Moodle, so I decided to experiment with an "English Grammar" badge in one of my writing courses in Winter. Students who demonstrated proficiency received a badge at the end of the term, and the badge became a part of their Moodle profile.

I had a good number of questions about digital badges... Did the badges motivate students? Were they more willing to complete course work? Did they care about badges? How many students would earn one?

At the end of the term, 20% of students in the course earned a badge, and I surveyed all students about their experience to learn more about their thoughts on badges. While the results were somewhat mixed, more students expressed a positive opinion about badges. Many were neutral; however, a few expressed strong opinions. Comments ranged from, "Yes -- it motivated me!" to "Honestly, I could care less about the badge system."

I will repeat the experiment this term, so stay tuned for more results.

Some results from Moodle digital badge survey