Take the CONNECT Challenge and Win a $500 VISA Gift Card

Submit your SoftChalk Learning Activities to CONNECT between now and August 31, 2010 for a chance to win a variety of prizes from T-shirts to the Grand Prize - a $500 VISA gift card.

Prizes will be awarded based on how the CONNECT community rates and uses your CONNECT learning objects! So invite your colleagues and friends to join CONNECT where they can review the learning objects you've shared and assign a 5-star rating! Who knows, maybe you will be our highest-rated CONNECT “Chalkie!”

How to Enter?

All activities uploaded publicly on the CONNECT LOR will automatically be entered into the CONNECT Challenge.

Click here for more information on the Challenge and detailed instructions on uploading your activities.

Y I LOVE SoftChalk Contest

Share your story and success with the world. Create a video telling us why you love SoftChalk for a chance to win exciting prizes!

It's easy to enter:

1. Just upload your YILOVESC video to YouTube on our group page:
http://www.youtube.com/group/yilovesc

2. Complete the contest entry form and be sure to include the URL for your YouTube video!

Visit the contest website for complete contest guidelines and rules and check out some of the videos that have already been posted for a little inspiration to help get you started.

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Check out our monthly series, which highlights guest speakers who are using SoftChalk in innovative ways.

Telling Stories to Teach Well: How SoftChalk Can Help

Lyn Hawks, Coordinator of Independent Learning, Duke University Talent Identification Program

How does storytelling make academics better? Using narrative, characters, and case studies, Duke University Talent Identification program creates lessons for gifted K-12 students using images, audio, slide shows, hyperlinked handouts, quizzes, and various other resources. Learn how critical thinking challenges students when they are immersed in story and asked to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize. See mathematics, language arts, and science lessons that engage students in academically rigorous scenarios. Learn how SoftChalk aids instructors in developing creative and artful lessons that don’t feel like instruction.

Innovator Vignette Recording- Accommodating Other Students with Disabilities: Beyond the Need for Screen Readers

Take a quick 5 minute look at our popular Innovators in Online Learning Presentations. These short recordings might inspire you to check out the full archived sessions on our site.

Each month we will highlight one of these short presentations. Last month, Jane Jarrow, Principal of DCCOL (Disability Compliance in Career and Online Learning) discussed how, when we speak of accommodating students with disabilities in online classes, our first thoughts always turn to the highly text-based nature of online learning. We make sure that students who are blind/visually impaired, or those who are dyslexic, have an alternative means of accessing material that other students will read on their screen, but there are other online learners with disabilities who can also benefit from careful prior planning and innovative implementation by instructors. This session will discuss the needs of - and solutions for - students who are deaf/hard of hearing, those with significant physical disabilities, and students with attention problems.

Click on the YouTube image below to view the vignette:

SoftChalk Meeting the Needs of the Digital Age

The article “Changing Styles, Meeting Needs, “ by William Wade, dean of online learning at West Kentucky Community and Technical College, cites SoftChalk as a “software program [that has] revolutionized teaching.” Wade’s article, published as a League for Innovation Learning Abstract, explores the challenges that colleges with online courses face when changing student needs collide with static online course content. He discusses the ways in which colleges can make their content more interactive and engaging, highlighting SoftChalk as one tool that can be used to create meaningful learning experiences for students of the Digital Age.

Read the full article in the July issue of Learning Abstracts.

Straight From a Chalkie: Veronica Speaks Out

“I’ve found that my students enjoy the interactivity that SoftChalk offers and I love that it helps to promote self-learning. We’ve implemented Bloom’s Taxonomy into all of our learning modules/unit plans here at Torrington. SoftChalk made the process incredibility easy as each page within the learning module corresponds with one of Bloom’s levels. I also love that SoftChalk has built-in features for checking understanding. This helps both me and my students know if there are topics that we need to take a second look at."

Veronica Gelormino
Torrington Middle School
Torrington, CT

Introductory Webinars
These 45 minute presentations introduce the key features of SoftChalk. We will view example lessons, then demonstrate how the lesson content was created using SoftChalk. The session ends with a question and answer period. For more information or to register, go to http://www.softchalk.com/webinar/.

Short Courses
SoftChalk is now offering online training sessions to everyone for FREE! Each Short Course is a live 1-hour training session conducted by a SoftChalk instructor using web conferencing. The course includes a presentation and examples, as well as an opportunity to ask questions and receive assistance from the instructor. For more information or to register go to http://www.softchalk.com/training/.

Innovator Vignettes
Our Innovators in Online Learning presentations are so popular that we decided to give you quick look at what all the excitement is about. These brief vignettes might encourage you to check out the full presentations. For more information or to view the vignettes go to http://www.softchalk.com/lb_vignettes.html.

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www.softchalkconnect.com