Conference: Social e-Learning @ the University of Pennsylvania

Mark your Calendar! The Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware Distance Learning Association (PADLA) invites you for a look inside the University of Pennsylvania and see how they implemented a social strategy to enhance their online learning environment. Whether your experience ranges from a seasoned veteran, to someone just beginning to explore the dynamic world of Distance/e-Learning, you will be guaranteed to learn, share, and have ample opportunities to build your professional network.

WHERE:

The University of Pennsylvania

Houston Hall 3417 Spruce St Philadelphia, PA 19104

WHEN:

Tues., March 16, 2010

8:30am to 11:45am.

REGISTRATION:

PADLA Members: Free

Non-Members:$25

Join PADLA Now Only: $100

Continental breakfast provided 

Presentations include:

Designing a New Online Learning Environment Centered on Social Interaction

In this session, presenters describe the development and implementation of the Penn LPS Commons, a custom-built online learning environment designed to center participants on the social interactions that drive learning communities. Built with Drupal and Moodle, the LPS Commons includes social networking, learning management and collaborative web 2.0 tools as well as robust permissions models which allow select elements of online learning communities to be shared with public audiences as institutional Open Educational Resources (OERs). Presenters will review use-case scenarios from their suite of online courses and current OER projects funded by the National Science Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Integrating Social Strategy into Online Course Design

In this session, presenters turn their attention to the instructional design issues related to integrating social networking tools into effective online course design. The presentation describes a non-credit course in Positive Psychology which drew a global audience of over 1000 participants from 62 countries. Designed to engage both self-access and social learners, the course centered on 36 hours of broadcast quality video and allowed participants to drive course conversations through a variety of activities using social tools (eg. blogs, discussion forums, user profiles). Presenters will share user evaluation data and open up discussion about implications for applying social networking tools in other learning contexts.

REGISTER NOW!