Posts from blogger

• In Spring thoughts turn to... on 2013-04-05

  In this issue: | In Spring, thoughts turn to...​ | Villanova Tech Expo| | New CA Webinar April 10​ | In Spring, thoughts turn to... Ah, spring. While the weather has continued to be chilly for this time of year, at least in CollegeAnywhere's neighborhood around Philadelphia, the signs of Spring are all around. The crocus emerged from the cold ground right on cue, other spring flowers are now waiving in the breeze, and trees are starting to bud. Everywhere, there's love in the air. And in the search, too. Finding Love - or at least connections and thoughts of love - in the CollegeAnywhere Collections is just a search away. A search on the term "love" returns 4,860 - yes, just shy of 5,000 - possibilities to find love in CollegeAnywhere's streaming media resources. Love is as close as the Governors State University series Love: What Everyone Needs to Know. According to psychologists, the single greatest predictor of happiness and success in life is a healthy love relationship. Yet, although we concede that knowledge is power, most of us have only a rudimentary understanding of what we're in for when we go off in search of true love. Love demystifies this all-important predictor of happiness, defining the nature of true love and outlining the commitment it takes to keep it alive. The course is taught by two distinguished doctors: Dr. Pat Love, a licensed marriage and family therapist and relationship consultant, and Dr. Jon Carlson, a university professor and psychologist. Both instructors are practicing clinicians, and have authored books and articles that have attracted national recognition. They challenge students to confront assumptions on the nature of love and to critically analyze the ideals perpetuated by popular culture in order to realize the wisdom it takes to find lasting love. The 23-episode series can be the foundation of a full semester course, useful for distance education or flip the classroom teaching and learning. After you've found Love: What Everyone Needs to Know, what more could you need? To put love in context, Annenberg Learner's Seasons of Life looks at love as part of the major developmental changes in the lives of people of diverse backgrounds as they move from infancy and childhood into adolescence, adulthood, and late adulthood, exploring the biological, psychological, and social "clocks" that are the essence of life-span education. Nearly 75 psychologists, sociologists, biologists, and anthropologists present theory, methods, and research. Other series that look at love through the lenses of psychology and sociology include Annenberg Learner's Discovering Psychology, Ethics in America, and World of Abnormal Psychology, and This Emotional Life from PBS. After exploring science, psychology, and sociology, you can't ignore the way love is seen through culture and the arts. Examples abound in the Collections. Art of the Western World from Annenberg Learner samples art through the ages, with images of love an important - and not surprising - part of that exploration. Love is expressed in writing, through stories from history, through William Shakespeare, through poetry, and through classic and modern literature. Annenberg Learner's Literary Visions has numerous examples and explorations of love expressed through words in short stories, long form fiction, poetry and more. PBS offers classic stories of love, life, loss and  triumph through acclaimed series including Wuthering Heights, the classic love story Anna Karenina, and, as explored by William Shakespeare and interpreted for today, in My Shakespeare. Perhaps cinema is the ultimate art form for telling stories of love. Sound and motion combine with amazing talent (and off-screen love stories every bit as fascinating as the ones shown on the screen) to bring viewers love in its many forms. American Cinema from Annenberg Learner shows the dimensions of love seen both on and off screen, from well known screen plays to the stars who brought them to life. For a multi-dimensional view of cinema, The Directors series from Chilmark Programs takes the viewer behind the scenes for the stories behind the stories, told by directors who created many of the major films of our time. Those directors include Arthur Hiller, who brought to the silver screen one of the most well-known films about love. That film, of course, is Hiller's Love Story, starring Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw. While spring may be the season that brings love to mind, love has a place in all seasons and many contexts, and you'll find numerous resources available to enhance your teaching and learning with the content found in the CollegeAnywhere Collections. Visit us at Villanova Technology Expo Registration is still open for Villanova University's Technology Expo, coming Thursday, April 11. Keynoters for the day are New York Times technology columnist and host of NOVA ScienceNow David Pogue, speaking on Disruptive Tech: What's New, What's Coming, and How It Will Change Everything, and Gartner Research Vice President Allen Weiner on E-Textbooks in Evolution: From Words and Pictures to Outcomes. About 2,500 academic technology users – faculty, staff and administrators – attend, and there is no charge for admission. The exhibition hall hosts a number of providers, and it’s an interesting mix - be sure to visit CollegeAnywhere at booth 104. This year’s expo will have a number of learning opportunities, with subject areas including The Flipped Classroom and Digital Resources/Media. For more information and to register, go to http://www.unit.villanova.edu/techexpo/index.html. Next CollegeAnywhere Webinar April 10 The next CollegeAnywhere free webinar, "MOOCs and Blended Learning: Trends in Teaching and Learning," is scheduled for Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at 3 pm EST. With technology and connectivity, the classroom can be anywhere, and not limited by physical space, or even by potential number of interested learners. MOOCs - Massive Open Online Courses - are very much in the news and conversation, but most of the stories talk about large schools with equally large budgets. MOOCs, however, can also be an interesting way to offer learning experiences regardless of the size or resources of a school. The hybrid course, on the other hand, is in some ways the opposite of the MOOC, using technology to build connections between the physical classroom and opportunities beyond the familiar confines of a formal, physical teaching space.  This webinar will look at the experience of teaching and learning in these emerging environments. Presenters include instructional designer and CollegeAnywhere Executive Director John Kahler, Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies and Director of Distance Learning at Holy Apostles College & Seminary Dr. Sebastian Mahfood, and MOOC facilitator and online instructor Nicole Iovine. To learn more about the presenters and sign up for the free webinar, go to the webinar's page on the CollegeAnywhere website. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Recordings and resources from our past webinars are available on the CollegeAnywhere website: collegeanywhere.org/who-we-are/webinars-from-collegeanywhere. A word from the Executive Director: Villanova's Technology Expo is a great event. I've been going to conferences and expos for a number of years, and Villanova's is one of the best - and it won't strain your budget. If you're going to attend, come and see us in the exhibition hall, booth 104. Let me know ahead of time you'll be there - we'd like to see you and look forward to talking with you about CollegeAnywhere's offerings, future plans, and how we can help you in your teaching and learning. Email me at john.kahler@collegeanywhere.org, or call me at 267-702-3962 ext. 702. We look forward to discussing your needs and our solutions.  - John Kahler  CollegeAnywhere provides online technology and tools of the highest quality to deliver institutional created media and licensed media content at the lowest possible cost to advance the educational missions of higher education institutions. CollegeAnywhere, Inc. info@collegeanywhere.org • www.CollegeAnywhere.org • 267-702-3962/855-227-8732 ​

• "Faculty Development for Online Teaching and Learning - an overview" Follow Up on 2013-03-01
  
  
  
  Faculty Development for Online Teaching and Learning - an overview, CollegeAnywhere's February 2013 webinar, included a collection of resources of interest to faculty, instructional designers, and others interested in teaching and learning online. A recording of the webinar, and links to resources discussed and other resources, can be found on the CollegeAnywhere website - just click here.
  
  
  
  CollegeAnywhere's free monthly webinars explore issues in teaching and learning, with an emphasis on succeeding in teaching and learning while integrating technology. Recordings of the webinars and resources are all on the CollegeAnywhere website. Feel free to share these resources with others.
  
  
  Sign up for CollegeAnywhere's periodic eNews to learn about upcoming webinars and other news. You can sign up for CollegeAnywhere's eNews here.
  
  
  We invite to use the comments area of this post to discuss the webinar and faculty development issues. Enjoy!
  
  
  
  
  John Kahler
  Instructional Designer
  Executive Director, CollegeAnywhere
  john.kahler@collegeanywhere.org

• And the award goes to… - the latest emessage from CollegeAnywhere on 2013-02-23

  Welcome to the latest CollegeAnywhere emessage!
  

  In this issue: 

  
  

  • And the award goes to…
  • Villanova Tech Expo
  • New CA Webinar February 27

  And the award goes to…

  We’re in the middle of the annual awards cycle – at least of the well-known awards – with arguably the most talked about awards, the Academy Awards, being presented this coming weekend. Awards and award ceremonies are popular conversation points, and the people, themes and topics discussed, proclaimed, celebrated and panned in awards discussions and reporting present opportunities to tie today’s conversations with teaching and learning activities.
  
  CollegeAnywhere’s collections contain a wealth of content elements – and entire programs – that can connect the latest topics of conversation with teaching and learning. A simple search of the collection on the word “Hollywood” returns 416 hits, while searching on “film” returns over 1,400, with 10 hits on “Academy Awards” (along with 3 for “Golden Globe” and 69 for “Oscar” – though only some are about the statue with that name). Certainly, some of these hits have little connection to content that would be of use when connecting course content to annual awards, but many will have a direct application to teaching and learning.
  
  When thinking “Academy Awards,” The Directors collection from Chilmark Programs immediately comes to mind. Highlighting in hour long episodes over 90 of Hollywood’s finest filmmakers, The Directors looks at its subjects through interviews with directors and their collaborators, including actors, screenwriters, and cinematographers, using a vast collection of film clips to illustrate each program. All told, The Directors tells the stories of 16 Academy Award winners and 17 nominees, and 13 Golden Globe winners along with 26 nominees, including 2013 nominee Steven Spielberg, nominated as best director of Lincoln for both awards (in a surprise, the Golden Globe was awarded to Ben Affleck for Argo, just his third film as director).
  
  Thanks to the involvement of the American Film Institute in its production, many of the clips will be seen, outside of the original films, only in The Directors.
  
  For a broader view of the world of filmmaking, Annenberg Learner’s American Cinema series explores film history and American culture through the eyes of over 150 Hollywood insiders, including Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, and Michael Eisner. In-depth treatments present film as a powerful economic force, potent art form, and viable career option. Taking a broad overview of the influence films have on culture, each half hour episode explores topic areas including The Classical Hollywood Style, The Studio System, The Star, The Western, Romantic Comedy, The Combat Film, Film Noir, Film in the Television Age, The Film School Generation, The Edge of Hollywood, Film Language, Writing and Thinking About Film, and Classical Hollywood Today. With winners, losers, and so many in between, the series offers content that could be used in courses from film and media studies to literature and language, psychology and sociology, and business and careers.
  
  Film awards aren’t the only awards found in the world of entertainment. The PBS series Latin Music USA explores this segment of Latino culture, which is becoming a growing part of the American experience. Where better to find award winners than in the series episode “Divas & Superstars,” which opens with multiple award winner Ricky Martin singing in English and Spanish live at the Grammys.
  
  The PBS collection includes many award winning programs and series, including those of filmmaker Ken Burns, who has been nominated for and awarded Academy Awards, Emmys, and Grammys, among others, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award recognizing his many programs for PBS. Burns’ series in the PBS collection include The Civil War (Emmy Award), Jazz (multiple award nominations), and National Parks: America's Best Idea (two Emmy Awards, best writing for episode two and outstanding non-fiction series). PBS series are often collaborations which bring together award winning producers, directors, writers and talented actors and actresses, combined with real life history, culture and settings.
  
  While not everything is award winning, it’s certainly advantageous to have award winning, well known stories and content produced by award winning producers, created by award winning writers and directors with award winning talent as part of the resources available to enhance your teaching and learning – like the content found in the CollegeAnywhere collections.
  
  
  

  Visit us at Villanova Technology Expo

  If you’re in or near the Philadelphia region, set aside April 11 for the all day Villanova Technology Expo, presented by Villanova University. About 2,500 academic technology users – faculty, staff and administrators – attend, and there is no charge for admission. The exhibition hall hosts a number of providers, and it’s an interesting mix. This year’s expo will have a number of learning opportunities, with subject areas including The Flipped Classroom and Digital Resources/Media. For more information and to register, go to http://www.unit.villanova.edu/techexpo/index.html. It’s a day well invested.
  
  
  

  Next CollegeAnywhere Webinar February 27

  The next CollegeAnywhere free webinar, "Faculty Development for Online Teaching and Learning - An Overview," is scheduled for Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 2 pm EST. Teaching and learning fully or partially online - including blended and "flip the classroom" teaching and learning - is a different experience for many faculty, making faculty development essential. This webinar will survey approaches and best practices for faculty development, and will welcome the involvement of participants sharing their experiences. To sign up for the free webinar:
  
  
  
  Go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6528132934981844224. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
  
  
  
  Recordings and resources from our past webinars are available on the CollegeAnywhere website: collegeanywhere.org/who-we-are/webinars-from-collegeanywhere.
  
  

  A word from the Executive Director: Villanova's Technology Expo is a great event. I've been going to conferences and expos for a number of years, and Villanova's is one of the best - and it won't strain your budget. If you're going to attend, come and see us in the exhibition hall. Let me know ahead of time you'll be there- we'd like to see you and look forward to talking with you about CollegeAnywhere's offerings, future plans, and how we can help you in your teaching and learning. Email me at john.kahler@collegeanywhere.org, or call me at 267-702-3962 ext. 702. I look forward to discussing your needs and our solutions.  - John Kahler

• Blackboard Building Block with integrated uploads released on 2013-01-21

  The CollegeAnywhere Blackboard Building Block has been updated to integrate CollegeAnywhere's Video and Content Upload tools right into the Blackboard interface. Instructors and instructional designers at Blackboard institutions using CollegeAnywhere's upload tools can now add their own content - video files and content created in applications including Microsoft PowerPoint and Word - without leaving Blackboard.
  
  

  CollegeAnywhere Building Block interface

  The update enhances CollegeAnywhere's collection of tools and media delivered through our cloud-based streaming service. Content is converted to streaming format, stored on CollegeAnywhere's servers, and delivered right in the Blackboard interface. Since all files are converted to stream rather than download, users do not need any special application to view the content - it plays/displays right in their browser. And since it is stored and managed as part of CollegeAnywhere's password-protected servers, your intellectual property is protected, delivered only to those authorized to use it - and without adding to the load on your Blackboard storage.
  
  Compared to Blackboard's hosting service storage costs, you can significantly save on your Blackboard file storage - and deliver your content in a more user-friendly way. No more downloading videos, no more needing a certain version of PowerPoint or Word in order to view content. Even if you do your own hosting, CollegeAnywhere's tools can save in server and storage costs and deliver a better, streaming media experience to students.
  
  Since the Building Block is connecting to CollegeAnywhere's resources, your content is also accessible through the Web. Changing your LMS? Your content remains fully accessible. Don't use Blackboard? No problem, your content is fully accessible. Interface integration with other learning management systems is in development.
  
  

  Click to upload your video or content

  Integrate the video into your course. It's that easy!

  
  To learn more about CollegeAnywhere's tools and resources, email info@CollegeAnywhere.org or call (855) 227-8732. Schedule a demonstration or request a test drive today,

• CollegeAnywhere eNews: CA for Business Learning on 2013-01-07

  Topics this month: Business Teaching and Learning | Growing Importance of Video in Learning | Blackboard Building Block: New Features | New CA Webinar January 29
  

  
  
  Happy New Year from CollegeAnywhere's staff, board and producer partners. We wish you great and continuing success in your teaching and learning efforts in 2013.
  

  Business Teaching and Learning: CollegeAnywhere Library Resources

  CollegeAnywhere has a number of high quality resources in the CollegeAnywhere Libraries that can be used as entire curricula as well as for creating teachable moments in your business courses. A simple search of the libraries on the term "business" returns over 4000 hits, pointing to many opportunities to use CollegeAnywhere content. Here's an overview of the resources for business courses through CollegeAnywhere:
  
  
  
  The Business Library:
  
  
  
  The Business Library is a collection of six series, with 12 programs each, that can be the core of a number of buiness courses, both online and blended. The titles are particularly appropriate in the current economic environment, with an emphasis on small business and entrepreneurship, both for greater understanding of the worlds of business and economics, and for a background in real world skills necessary to be successful in business. The library includes:
  
  
  
  Introduction to Business Communication: Tools for Leadership explores the basic foundation and principles of effective communication in business and the professions, teaching students the fundaments needed to achieve individual and organizational success.
  
  
  
  Programs in the series include Communication is Power, Planned Communication, The Five Senses, Speeches & Presentations - Parts I & II, Group Dynamics, Teamwork, Meetings, Diversity, Business Writing, Winning Negotiation, and Managing Your Career Lesson.
  
  
  
  Introduction to Entrepreneurship: Building the Dream examines the elements of successful entrepreneurship to help students determine if and how to launch a business.
  
  
  
  Programs in the series include Do You Have What It Takes?, Myth of the Entrepreneur, Finding Your Ideas, Entry Strategies Getting Started, Feasibility Will It Work?, Marketing Your Idea, Researching Your Customer, How Much Money Do Your Really Need?, The Money Hunt, The Business Plan and Beyond, Corporate Entrepreneurship, and Franchises Making Their Dream Your Dream.
  
  
  
  Introduction to Marketing: Competing in the 21st Century introduces principles of marketing goods and services. Topics include promotion, placement, and pricing strategies for products. Upon completion, students should be able to apply marketing principles in organizational decision-making. 

  
  
  

  Programs in the series include The Marketing Process, The Marketing Environment, Consumer & Organizational, Developing a Focus, Product Strategy, Brand Management, Strategies for Services, Distribution, Marketing Communications, A Closer Look at Advertising, Pricing Strategy, and International Marketing.

  
  
  

  Legal Environment of Business: Making Decisions, Managing Roles provides a sound legal foundation that students can use to understand the laws and regulations affecting today's businesses. This course features expert commentary from leading legal authorities and dramatic case studies of landmark judicial decisions that affect social policy as well as the environment in which all businesses operate. 

  
  
  

  Programs in the series include The Legal System: Social, Ethical & Judicial Foundations; Trials & Tribulations: Resolving Disputes In & Out of Court; Willful & Inexcusable: The Nature of Intentional Torts; Fault Lines: Negligence & Strict Liability  105 - Breaking the Rules: Business Torts & Employer Liability; Illegal, Immoral & Ill-Advised: Business Crimes & Corporate; Coming to Terms: An Introduction to Contracts; The Bottom Line: Contract Performance & The Uniform Commercial Code; Contracts without Consequences: Voidable, Unenforceable & Void; Protecting the Public: Consumer Law; Buying Trouble: Product Liability; and Workplace Woes: Employment Law.

  
  
  

  The Business Library also offers introductions - with an emphasis on a business perspective - to both micro- and macroeconomics:

  
  
  

  Introduction to Microeconomics: Analytical Building Blocks for Business familiarizes students with the basic concepts of microeconomics with particular emphasis on applicability to business problems.

  
  
  

  Programs in the series include Introduction, Scarcity and Resource Allocation, Market Analysis and Demand, Market Analysis and Supply, Equilibrium Analysis, Analyzing Household Choices, Analyzing Business Choices, Firm Profit Maximization and the Market, Long-Run Analysis of Firm and Market, Analyzing Monopoly, Analyzing Market Failure, and International Economic Analysis.

  
  
  

  Introduction to Macroeconomics teaches the essentials of macroeconomic theory and practice, developing the concepts, strategies, and models required for analyzing key issues. 

  
  
  

  Programs in the series include The Macro View, Long Run: Production & Growth; Long Run: Savings; Investment & Finance; Long Run: Employment; Long Run: Money & Prices; Long Run: Inflation; Fundamentals of the Open Economy; Modeling the Open Economy; Short Run: Aggregate Supply & Demand; Short Run: Monetary & Fiscal Policy; Short Run: Inflation & Unemployment; and Short Run: The Policy Wars.
  
  
  
  Annenberg Learner Collection:
  
  
  
  
  Economics U$A (21st Century Edition) is a revised and updated, 28 program version of the Learner classic Economics USA. Designed as the foundation of a full two-semester basic economics curriculum, Economics U$A (21st Century Edition) is appropriate for full online and blended learning, and ideal for flip the classroom course design. Explore economic history, theory, and practice through case studies and interviews with Nobel-prize winning and major economists. The series covering macro, micro, and international economics features Milton Friedman, Paul Samuelson, John Kenneth Galbraith, Alice Rivlin, and Ben Bernanke, among others. Major economic events, including the 2008 banking crisis and technology's influence on the economy, connect economic theory to the headlines.
  
  
  
  
  Several of the programs in the series address economics and how the field applies specifically to business: Markets; The Firm; Supply and Demand; Perfect Competition / Inelastic Demand; Labor and Management; and Profits and Interest.
  
  
  
  Inside the Global Economy examines the prominent forces and core concepts of international economics, and the relationships of nations and economic policy. Includes an international perspective on major economic issues and introduces the audience to the institutions of global trade, business and finance. 
  
  
  
  Programs in the 13 episode series include An Introduction; Protectionism; Trade Policy; Trade Liberalization and Regional Trade Blocs; Labor and Capital Mobility; Multinational Corporations; Fixed Versus Floating Exchange Rates; Managing Currencies and Policy Coordination; Exchange Rates, Capital Flight, and Hyperinflation; Developing Countries; Economies in Transition; The Environment; and The Evolving World Economy.
  
  
  
  Business ethics is an important part or the business curriculum, and several programs in the Annenberg Learner 10 program series Ethics in America and the 6 program series Ethics in America II address ethical issues in business.
  
  
  
  Anatomy of a Hostile Takeover from the series Ethics in America looks at the growth of an old business phenomenon - the merger of two corporations or the buyout of one corporation by another raises serious ethical questions about the corporations' responsibility to the diverse groups involved: shareholders, directors, investors, employees, consumers, and the public, which depends on the corporation as an institution within society. How much is too much? Is there a sense of fairness in the corporate world and its relationship to society? Debating these questions are key players in the corporate arena: Sir James Goldsmith; T. Boone Pickens; economist Lester Thurow; James Bere, CEO of Borg-Warner; Robert Mercer, CEO of Goodyear; Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway; attorneys Joseph Flom and Arthur Liman, and Senator Tim Wirth.
  
  
  
  The Learner series Ethics In America II presents new, and yet familiar, hypothetical cases are debated and agonized over by eminent leaders from government, business, science and academia. Ethics in America II follows its predecessor by exploring gripping ethical dilemmas using the time-honored Socratic Dialogue format. The programs can be used with a discussion guide to help teachers engage their students in the process of ethical reasoning and acquaint them with its traditions through historical essays and other writings. A Web site with background on the programs and issues is coordinated with the series. Risk, Reward, Responsibility: Ethics in Business, one of the programs in the series, looks specifically at business ethics issues.
  
  
  
  PBS Video Collection:
  
  
  
  Since 1983, FRONTLINE has served as American public television's flagship public affairs series. Hailed upon its debut on PBS as "the last best hope for broadcast documentaries," FRONTLINE's stature over 25 seasons is reaffirmed each week through incisive documentaries covering the scope and complexity of the human experience. Programs from FRONTLINE in the PBS Video Collection that provide cases for business study include:
  
  
  
  Heat: For years, big business has resisted environmental policy and stifled the debate over climate change. Now, facing pressure from governments, green groups and investors alike, big business is promising to reshape its approach to the environment, fundamentally transforming the politics of the debate. FRONTLINE producer Martin Smith travels the globe to test what big business is really doing to solve one of the most urgent issues of our time.
  
  
  
  Inside the Meltdown: FRONTLINE investigates the causes of the worst economic crisis in 70 years and how the government responded. The film chronicles the inside stories of the Bear Stearns deal, Lehman Brothers collapse, the propping up of insurance giant AIG and the $700 billion bailout. Inside the Meltdown examines what Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke didn't see, couldn't stop and weren't been able to fix.
  
  
  
  Black Money: FRONTLINE examines the shadowy world of international bribery, revealing how multi-national companies create slush funds, set up front companies, and make secret payments, all to get billions in business. These practices are facing a new international crackdown. At the center of this is a controversial, ongoing investigation into the British-based multi-national BAE Systems and allegations about billion dollar bribes.
  
  
  
  The Affair: FRONTLINE producers Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria unravel the story behind the world's first truly global Ponzi scheme - a deception that lasted longer, reached wider, and cut deeper than any other business scandal in history.
  
  
  
  Breaking the Bank: The bets were huge and risky, billions of dollars on the housing market. Superbanks reaped billions of dollars, and gobbled up competitors. Then the bottom dropped out, massive losses on Wall Street nearly broke the banks and many are on the brink of failure. As the federal government contemplates what could become a massive nationalization of the industry, watch as FRONTLINE tells the inside story.
  
  
  
  The Card Game: As credit card companies face rising public anger, new regulation from Washington and staggering new rates of default and bankruptcy, FRONTLINE correspondent Lowell Bergman investigates the future of the massive consumer loan industry and its impact on a fragile national economy. In The Card Game, a follow-up to the Secret History of the Credit Card and a joint project with The New York Times, Bergman and the Times talk to industry insiders, lobbyists, politicians and consumer advocates as they square off over attempts to reform the way the industry has done business for decades. 
  
  
  
  Obama's Deal - Inside the Battle for Health Care Reform: Health care reform was the first big policy deal taken on by the Obama administration. Many say the young president has bet the mid-term elections, possibly his presidency, on the outcome. In a new investigation FRONTLINE goes behind closed doors at the White House, in Congress and the boardrooms of the giant health-care lobby to examine the political battles and costly compromises that defined Barack Obama's endeavor.
  
  
  
  - - -
  
  
  
  This exploration is just one illustration of how the CollegeAnywhere Library collections can enhance the teaching and learning experience with rich media. The ability to create an unlimited number of teachable moments, as well as presenting entire episodes, to provide relevant and interesting content can help engage and excite students. Contact us to learn how you can try out the CollegeAnywhere libraries in your teaching and learning environment.

  Video in Learning

  A recent posting from long time distance learning guru Elliott Masie, who heads the Masie Center, reminded me of a conversation I had with a higher education colleague just about 15 years ago. "Video is dead," she observed, at least when it came to education. It was just her sense that the days of video as a content source were limited, and that technology would find something new that would take over. Masie sees it quite differently: 
  
  
  

  "Video for Learning is a rapidly changing field. The technology is becoming faster, cheaper and more widely used at home. $12,000 cameras are being replaced with iPhone video. Plasma screens are dropping to $400. And, people are increasingly wanting short, expertise filled, video (live or on-demand) that will support their learning on a topic. Yet, corporate legal and IT folks are raising some key issues."

  
  CollegeAnywhere's tools and collections help educators take advantage of video in many ways. The collections from our producer-partners contain tested, high quality content - with production values that viewers are used to in much of the media they consume. The bookmark tool lets faculty and instructional designers create teachable moments that are short, expertese filled and, just as important, appropriate for learning objectives. The upload tools let faculty and instructional designers create their own content, manage that content, and easily place it in their courses. For those legal and IT folks with key issues, CollegeAnywhere provides licensed content, and our atreaming tools keep content private when needed, managing permissions and insuring the content remains under the control of the nstructor, the institution, and the copyright holder.
  

  LMS Integration: Blackboard Building Block update in final beta, release scheduled for January 19

  We've noted that, while CollegeAnywhere's tools and resources are learning management system agnostic, there are advantages to having CollegeAnywhere's resources integrated in an LMS. Hence our development path toward integration, beginning with the CollegeAnywhere Blackboard Building Block. When the Building Block was released in July 2012, we already had additional features planned - especially integrating CollegeAnywhere's Content and Video upload tools into the Blackboard interface.
  
  
  
  The new update to the Building Block is scheduled to be released to CollegeAnywhere Blackboard institutions on January 19, and will complete the integration of CollegeAnywhere's Upload Tools into the Blackboard interface. Instructors and instructional designers at instutions using the Upload Tool resources will be able to upload their own videos, documents, PowerPoint files and other resources directly to the user's CollegeAnwyhere account on CollegeAnywhere's servers, and integrate them right in Blackboard without leaving the Blackboard instructor interface.
  
  
  
  The Building Block is provided to any Blackboard institution using CollegeAnywhere tools and resources at no additional cost. Other interfaces are in the development plan, and open APIs are available for integration.
  
  
  
  If you're a Blackboard institution, we'd be glad to arrange a demonstration and test drive. If you'd like to know about our reasonably priced upload tools wiht cloud storage and streaming, contact us.

  Next CollegeAnywhere Webinar January 29

  The next CollegeAnywhere free webinar, "Assessment in Online/Blended Learning: Designing to Objectives," is scheduled for Tuesday, January 29, 2013 at 3 pm EST. Good instructional design calls for designing learning assessment based on the objectives of the session and course. Online and blended learning with online components open a rich variety of possibilities for assessing learning based on objectives, and this webinar will look at some best practices and interesting approaches. To sign up for the free webinar:
  
  
  
  Go to https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2899592829804929536. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
  
  
  
  Recordings and resources from our past webinars are available on the CollegeAnywhere website: collegeanywhere.org/who-we-are/webinars-from-collegeanywhere.
  
  
  

  A word from the Executive Director: CollegeAnywhere Resources help meet your objectives As CollegeAnywhere continues to grow in our offerings, our focus is on offering the best resources and technology for teaching and learning, including helping you with webinars and other supports. We are here to help you succeed in your teaching and learning. Email me at john.kahler@collegeanywhere.org, or call me at 267-702-3962 ext. 702. I look forward to discussing your needs and our solutions.  - John Kahler