Wednesday, March 3, 2010  11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ET

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Have you ever handled a document over 150 years old? The American Civil War left behind a vast paper trail of soldiers’ letters and diaries, as well as newspapers and periodicals; all of these documents provide accounts of crucial events of the era, enabling historians to piece together the events that shaped America’s past during this defining time.

Learn more about this special webcast.

Dr. Steven E. Woodworth, Professor of History at American Public University, and Tom Daccord, Educational Technology Specialist at Best of History Web Sites, will discuss researching and handling original Civil War documents through the Internet and how they apply it to their own projects.

About our Guest Speakers: 

• Steven E. Woodworth, Professor, American Public University, School of Arts and HumanitiesDr. Woodworth (Ph.D., Rice University, 1987) is professor of history at American Public University and author, co-author, or editor of twenty-seven books. Some of the courses he teaches include: Historical Research Methods, The Civil War: Seminal Event in American History, and Civil War Command & Leadership. Read More…

• Tom Daccord, Educational Technology Specialist, Best of History Web SitesBest of History Web Sites was created in 2001 by Tom Daccord, 15-year history teacher and co-director of EdTechTeacher, Inc. Tom is an educational technology specialist and author of Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology: A Practical Guide for Teachers by Teachers and The Best of History Web Sites.A veteran “laptop teacher” who instructed in a wireless laptop environment for seven years, Tom has been featured in the Boston Globe (Making Tech Connect, December 29, 2003) for his contributions to teaching and technology. Read More…

It’s crucial to have the right equipment and technology for your online education class. At the very least, you should have reliable access to an up-to-date computer and a high-speed Internet connection. Depending on the course or degree program, you may need other specific software too – some of which may be available to students through the school’s Web site or server.

Before you enroll, check the university’s technical requirements and make sure you’re able to meet them. You don’t want any surprises once the semester begins. In fact, before each course start, you should perform a technical check – testing your connections and all equipment you’ll be using throughout the semester. From time to time your computer will suggest you update the software on your computer. Some of these may include windows updates, adobe updates, driver updates, wireless or wired device driver updates. These can be essential to the smooth functioning of your computer, and academic year.

 - Online Learing Tips Staff

While you are not participating in a traditional lecture, effective note taking is still important to your online learning success. Writing helps you retain knowledge – don’t rely on memory alone. Note taking gives your mind a chance to absorb the material it needs to learn. Not only can this help you to do better on tests, it’s also a great confidence booster when you’re studying and find yourself easily retaining the information.

There are many ways to take good notes – what works for one person may not work for another. Experiment with a few methods to find what’s best for you. Here are some tips to get you started:

1. Organize your notes along the order of chapter objectives.
2. Your notes should contain:
   - definitions of new vocabulary words
   -new concepts discussed in a chapter
   - questions you have about the material
3. Review your notes within 24 hours of first studying the material. If you don’t review for 10-15 minutes within 24 hours, you will only retain 20% of what you initially learn.
4. Keeping good notes for each unit or topic will give you a tool you can use to prepare for exams without feeling like you’re “cramming” everything in at the last minute.
5. Don’t forget to review, review, and review some more. A semester’s worth of notes does you no good if you never look at the information again.

 - Online Learning Tips Staff

The Kindle and book readers in early 2010

The Kindle, Nook, and a slew of electronic book readers are rapidly emerging on the scene. They offer great features–easy reading screens, ability to hold hundreds of books, limited Web access, and automated searching.

While useful, they also are not quite ready for online education. The Kindle, for example, currently lacks pagination for use in the formal citations that your professors love. It is also not ADA 508 compliant–doesn’t provide sufficient access for blind and handicapped as required for universities by Federal law. Most importantly for our undergraduates, APUS doesn’t have mechanisms to purchase licenses for student use or to provide direct links from the classroom. You will need to buy such volumes on your own–like students at other schools.

We expect this situation to change. One reader coming on the market offers dual screens, which could in theory be used to ingest a classroom and provides other application benefits for those in the sciences. We will continue to monitor and invite student comments to help in the quest.

Unfortunately, we’re still in the early stages of the Web revolution. It took a full fifty years after Guttenberg before Aldus Manutius invented the pocket book and the portable reading delights, which we hope the Kindle can ultimately match.

By Fred Stielow, Dean of Libraries & Educational Materials
American Public University System