Ted Curran.net

Tips, Tricks, and Lifehacks for Online Educators

In recent years, the mainstream has largely gotten the message that learning to code is an essential 21st Century skill. The many great free online courses that teach you to code make it easier than ever to build marketable skills in the computer language of your choice. However, there are man...

Xbox Kids
Is this what school will look like? (Photo credit: phatfreemiguel)

2011 brought us the buzzword craze of “gamification” in education, or the quest to make learning online more like a video game. Inspired by FourSquare’s achievement badges as a way of motivating users to check in to l...

Lightning cloud to cloud (aka)
Image via Wikipedia

A colleague recently asked me if I could explain the distinction between open source and proprietary learning management systems, especially as it might affect a K‑12 school looking at the best kind of LMS to implement today.  She wanted to know how schools assess...

Blackboard Jungle
Image via Wikipedia

You may have heard Blackboard’s announcement that it’s being acquired by Providence Equity Partners. If you are in the midst of an LMS Evaluation (like we are), you may be wondering what this news does to the level of service that Bb will be able to provide in t...

(This post is part of a series called “The Connected Class Community”).

Shelf Life (Kallisti)
Image by Topsy at Waygood via Flickr

The Golden Apple is the most cryptic and strange of all of these ingredients. Not surprisingly, it’s also difficult to explain. I think the idea will make sense after a couple...

Kyle crowdsurfing @ The Wiltern Image via Wikipedia

Did you know you can save time and effort by starting a Frequently Asked Questions Discussion Board in your course? Do you get tired of answering the same student questions over and over? Save time and effort by starting a Frequent Asked Questions forum in your course! It i...