Mind-Up for Life with FlipGrid

I just partook in an interesting FlipGrid Live Event called "Build Your Mental Fitness with Goldie Hawn and Dido Balla."  This was part of a FlipGrid Live Event series that I had not previously attended.  Great event. 

Dido Balla was the main presenter.  Goldie joined us through some pre-recorded videos but she was informative.  Dido shared the intricacies of the mind and how mindfulness can help you get the most out of our noggin. His website identifies him as a "brain trainer."  

My favorite parts were where Dido explained the intricacies of the mind using simple metaphors. He described the problem of test anxiety using his fist. The premise was that people can have problems with tests even though they know the material completely.  Unfortunately, the emotions in the brain cloud the cognitive function.  The knowledge was represented by the thumb and the emotions were the four fingers covering it.  The pathway toward success is to find a way to "open the fingers" so they can free the "thumb" to share the knowledge.  

Dr. Z and Dido Balla

His answer to this problem was to "Seize Today." Spend some time being mindful. Deep breathing and centering your consciousness can bring you to the present. He said that we have to ask ourselves, "Is my  mind where my body is?"  Ignoring the past and future can provide us with what we need to use to have success today. 

I reviewed Balla's blog and it is filled with videos and postings that discuss dealing with emotions, memories, happiness, optimism, and much more.  I know that I will be spending my evenings learning from this blog. 

An interesting benefit of this event was my discovering the MindUP Brain Break.  This is a 3-minute video where Dido Balla leads you in mindful breathing.  I plan to use this with my students to show them how they can engage in mindfulness.

Have you had an opportunity to explore Mind-Up or engage in mindful learning?  Please share your experiences in the comments below.

ISTE Webinar: Global Collaboration in Higher Education resources

Click here to access the recording of the hour-long webinar

The ISTE Global Collaboration PLN webinar that we presented tonight was a HUGE success.  After Anne Mirtshin introduced us, David Stoloff and I began the webinar at 7:00 pm CST with a single member of the audience.  The purpose of this webinar was to explore how Global Collaboration is and can be used in higher education.  I provided the introduction and shared some of the experiences I have had in teaching students from around the world and having them collaborate with learners on the other side of the globe.
Dr. Stoloff shared the many global collaboration projects that he has been doing over the years and provided an introduction to the Connecticut-Taiwan connection that he is presently doing with his undergraduate teacher education students.

David has been working with a professor in Taiwan, Julie Chen.  His intention was for them to to share their experiences as a team, but he has been unable to contact Julie for a couple of weeks and didn't plan on her joining him for the event.  HOOORAY!!!!  About half way through, Julie arrived in our ZoomRoom and they were able to share their experiences and discoveries.  As the evening progressed, our audience increased and it was a great experience for all.

Enjoy the recording of the presentation above and you can review the slideshows below. The website used for Dr. Chen's presentation is the dCCU-ECSU global connections website. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Slideshows Used in the Webinar

Created by Leigh Zeitz

ISTE Webinar: Global Collaboration in Higher Education from Leigh Zeitz

Created by Dr. Julie Chen 

Global Connections between First Year Undergraduates in Taiwan and Connecticut from Leigh Zeitz

Global Collaboration in Higher Education: An ISTE Webinar presented by Dr. Z and Friends - Wed @ 7 PM CST

Date: 12/9/2015

Time:
--Wed at 7 pm in Iowa (CST)
--Wed at 8 pm on the East Coast (EST)
--Thurs at 9 am in Taipei
Please, check your local time at: http://tinyurl.com/ISTEGCwebinarDec

Join:
Dr. David Stoloff (Eastern Connecticut State University)
Dr. Julie Chen (Chinese Culture University - Taiwan)
Dr. Leigh Zeitz (University of Northern Iowa)

Session Description:
Join our exploration into the wonderful world of Global Collaboration in Higher Education. as they explore the present and future of Global Collaboration in Higher Education.

Leigh Zeitz will serve as discussant to this project presentation. He will begin with an overview of global collaboration in higher education, explore the types of projects that might be completed as well as share some of his experiences with Global Collaboration across the globe.

Julie Chen and David Stoloff will then discuss their on-going transcontinental project where 1st semester undergraduates are collaborating between Chinese Culture University (Taiwan) and Eastern Connecticut State University.  They will share their successes and challenges as well as plans for the future.  This presentation will use these resources eCCU-ECSU Global Connections. It includes a short video and  a powerpoint presentation.  Undergraduates at these two institutions will be encouraged to share their experiences following the presentation.

Ample time will be reserved for an online discussion on expanding global collaboration for university classrooms.

Session plan:

0:00 - 0:15  Introduction to Collaborative Learning in Higher Education by Leigh Zeitz
0:16 - 0:45 Discussion of the Chinese Culture University - Eastern Connecticut State           University Global Collaboration experience.  
0:46 - 1:00  Questions about the Collaboration Experience and an opportunity for attendees to share their experiences.

Access the Video Conference through   http://tinyurl.com/z-zoomroom

• You will be asked to download a small program to run Zoom.  After you have downloaded it, DON’T run Zoom.  Return to your browser and go to http://tinyurl.com/z-zoomroom again.  It will take you directly to our meeting room.

• Please use your first and last name followed by your province/state and Country

Looking for a Career? Join Us for the UNI Connect-A-Tech Webinar Series: Instructional Designers

This marks the beginning of a series of UNI Connect-A-Tech Webinars where we will be talking with Instructional Technology alumni who are working as professionals in their fields of choice.

You will have the opportunity to interact with them through a video conferencing system.  Read the information below to see how you can be involved through a video conference, on your phone, or come to our classroom at UNI (Schindler Education Center 405).

If you have questions:  Contact Nikki Lyons or use the comments below.

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UNI Connect-A-Tech Webinar Series: Instructional Designers

Wondering what it takes to be an Instructional Designer?  Here is your opportunity to meet with successful instructional designers and ask them the questions you want to know about the profession.
You can connect with UNI Instructional Technology alumni who work in fields that you plan to pursue after graduation. Through talking with the professionals, you can develop an understanding of the skills and perspectives necessary for pursuing your career. This webinar will feature:

• Nelson Rokke, Instructional Designer with WebFilings, LLC, http://www.nelsonrokke.com/
• Isandra Martinez-Marrero, Lead Instructional Designer, Division of Continuing Education, University of Iowa

When:  Thursday, April 17  from noon - 1:00 (Central Daylight Time) Where:  You will be able to experience this online, on the phone or in a  UNI classroom (SEC 403) Online:      Please click this URL to start or join.  https://uni.zoom.us/j/647853488       Or, go to https://uni.zoom.us/join and enter meeting ID: 647 853 488 Dial-in Phone:   Dial: +1 (415) 762-9988 or +1 (646) 568-7788      Meeting ID: 647 853 488      Participant ID: Shown after joining the meeting International numbers available:   https://uni.zoom.us/zoomconference UNI Classroom:  Schindler Education Center 403

Follow Us on Twitter:  #UNIConTech

Yugma - a FREE solution for Webinars and Courses

Looking for a free way to broadcast those webinars or provide course connections where you can share your computer screen while you discuss ideas with your students? Then Yugma might be your answer.

This online solution will provides an interface that is relatively easy to sign onto and very easy to use.

In all fairness, only the introductory package of Yugma is free. It is limited to 10 attendees, desktop sharing, free teleconferencing, whiteboard, public/private chat, and MS Outlook/Skype compatibility. THAT'S ALL. But that's ALOT!

My colleague, Robin Galloway, did a great review of Yugma after we played around with it last week. You should check it out.

I searched YouTube for some video support and found 3 videos about Yugma (also found a cute young boy named Yugma whose parents like video record and post them on YouTube as well.) This video shows how Yugma can be integrated with Skype.




If you want to enjoy other YouTube videos about Yugma you can go here.

Subscribe to "Dr. Z Reflects"

Wiki Webinar from Open Campus

Today I participated (along with 5 other UNI faculty) in a Wiki and Web 2.0 Webinar that was provided by Open Campus and sponsored by the SocialText wiki company. Here are the PowerPoint slides from the Webinar in .pdf format.

It was a semi-interactive webinar where we had to enroll into webinar previously and then we received a URL for connecting. Upon linking to the site at showtime, the screen provided some buttons for downloading the slides for the day. I downloaded the .pdf file and we proceeded through them as the speakers spoke. (I only wish that they had beeped or something when they progressed from page to page so that we could stay in synch.)

The three speakers were:
Gerald C. Kane, Asst Prof at Boston College
Howard Rheingold, Prof at Stanford and UC Berkeley
Jeff Brainard, Director of Marketing at Socialtext (the sponsor)

(These are some really interesting websites and I can't wait to have the time to review their class syllabi to see how they are using the Web 2.0 tools for learning.)

All three presenter provided useful information. I think that the most exciting one was Gerald Kane. He brought about a number of interesting concepts about using a wiki to provide the tools that can make student activities more interactive and student centered.

My favorite part about his presentation was his statement that he used his wiki to create a “mashup” of Web 2.0 tools. I like this word, mashup. I have heard it used to describe combining audio files and video files, but never with Web 2.0 tools. This made me think about Mashup curriculum. This is a curriculum that is the product of combining a variety of Web 2.0 tools and environments to create a global interactive world of learning.

Dr. Reingold showed the syllabus for Participatory Media Literacy.
It is filled with Web 2.0 tools that he is using to engage his students. HOW EXCITING!!!!

I need to find a way to integrate this into my Emerging Instructional Technologies course that I am teaching this semester. Look out students!!!!! Here it comes!!!!!

Online Audio Track of the Webinar
I have just received a link to the audio broadcast of the Webinar.
This audio broadcast extends to the whole 1 hour and 9 minutes. If you want to see the slides with the audio track, you need to download the slides and then progress through them as the presenters give their presentations.