Number 50 May 1, 2006	A publication of Project Eagle, St. Petersburg College

Best Bets Archives

For a subscription to BEEP, contact the Project Manager: lechnerj@spcollege.edu

Going for the Gold:
The Very Best Bets from 50 BEEPs

"Best Educational E-Practices.
Everything you ever wanted to know about distance education"

Education Commission of the States, 2006

When the first BEEP was released in October 2000, St. Petersburg College's Project Eagle staff had no idea that they would someday see issue 50. Yet here it is, with subscribers on every continent except Antarctica and current monthly readership of thousands, still delivering its selections of best educational e-practices to educators worldwide.

To celebrate the event and enlighten those who may have discovered BEEP later rather than sooner, this issue contains some of the best sources found in more than five years of diligent searching. As sole researcher, writer and editor for every BEEP, I am pleased to offer some of the most useful, creative and in some cases enduring sources previously selected for inclusion.

Enjoy! (Joyce Burkhart, BEEP Editor)

The numbers in parentheses indicate the BEEP in which a source last appeared.

To see all 50 BEEPs, go to http://www.spcollege.edu/eagle/research/beep/beep_archive.htm

Administration

Educating the Net Generation. Free collection of essays by Educause, 2005, on the concept of "Net Gen" students and implications for their education. Downloadable chapter by chapter. (49)
"51 Competencies for Online Instructors." Article by Theodore C. Smith in The Journal of Educators Online (2:2), July 2005, that identifies 51 specific skill sets needed for e-faculty to succeed and outlines a training program that addresses those needs. (46)
Theory and Practice of Online Learning. Complete downloadable book, this one edited by Terry Anderson and Fathi Elloumi, Athabasca University (Canada), 2004. (38)
MIT Open Courseware. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Collection of course materials and other services created by MIT faculty and made available to the public. (26)

Assessment and Evaluation

Free Assessment Summary Tool (FAST). Simple online tools for instructors to assess students' impressions of their courses and their teaching. (26)
Teaching Goals Inventory. University of Iowa. Web tool that allows instructors to evaluate their own instructional goals. Originally developed by Patricia Cross and Thomas Angelo. (26)
Criteria for Evaluating Online Courses. List of suggested criteria for assessment posted on the Southern Regional Education Board's website. (25)

Assistive Technologies

AccessDL. Website of the National Center on Accessible Distance Learning, a DOE-funded organization that shares guidance and resources on making e-learning courses accessible to students and instructors with disabilities. (44)
Bookshare.org. Nonprofit digital book service that allows downloading of thousands of titles for blind and learning-disabled students for as little as $6 per text. (44)
Adaptive Technology Resource Centre. Website maintained at the University of Toronto that advances information technology accessible to all. Includes many links to outside sources. (37)
AbleData. Website maintained by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. Lists information on assistive technology products and rehabilitation equipment. (5)

Associations and Organizations

Merlot. Well-known and growing collection of peer-reviewed reusable learning objects and more. Official name: Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching. (26)
World Lecture Hall. University of Texas. Links to pages created by online faculty worldwide. (26)
International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE). Global, non-governmental organization responsible for open and distance learning, with members from 140 countries. (23)
Instructional Technology Council. Organization that provides leadership, information and resources to expand and enhance learning through the use of technology. (20)
League for Innovation in the Community College. Organization that offers innovative solutions and extensive information about e-learning, with a focus on community colleges. (20)
Educause. Nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. (15)

Free Information Sources

Distance Education Clearinghouse. Month-by-month lists of worldwide conferences, seminars, workshops and other events related to e-learning. (41)
Google and Beyond: Finding Information on the Web. BEEP 39, 7/1/04. BEEP's most-accessed issue since it was first released. It examines the Google phenomenon, as well as its alternatives and methods of conducting Web-based research. (39)

Innovative Technologies

Internet2. Official and comprehensive website of UCAID, the Internet2 leaders. (27)
LearntheNet. Premier, multi-lingual site offering instruction on all aspects of Internet use. (26)
CNET.com. Ongoing source of evaluation of new and existing technologies of all kinds. (18)

Instructional Resources

Seven Principles of Good Teaching Practice. Good practices for instructors in both online and face-to-face classes by Dr. James W. King, University of Nebraska. (38)
"Strategies to Succeed in Distance Education." Article by Farhad Saba, Distance-Educator.com CEO, with approaches to help students learn and their teachers teach. (37)
Developing and Teaching an Online Course: A Faculty Handbook, May 2000. Grant MacEwan College. Alberta, Canada. 88-page manual on e-course development. (26)

Laws and Legislation

Interactive Guide to Using Copyrighted Media in Your Courses. Free guide for faculty. (44)
Intellectual Property, Copyright and Distance Learning. University of North Carolina. Website with many links to outstanding resources on these subjects. (8)

Student Support Services

Cybercounseling and Cyberlearning: An Encore. Online book edited by John W. Bloom and Garry R. Walz, March 2004, about the counseling side of e-learning. (46)
New York Life Education Planner. Website offering extensive information on electing a career, applying to a school and paying for a postsecondary education. (43)
Math Tutorials. Examples are Cool Math Sites and the student-produced Math for Morons Like Us, both of which can be used by students at all levels. (26)
Writing Tutorials. Examples are Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) and Darling's Guide to Grammar and Writing. (26)

The contents of BEEP were developed under a grant from the U. S. Department of Education (DOE). However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the DOE, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.