Research
CDE is performing research and experimentation in various areas relating to distance education, including:
Understanding by Design
Implementing the UBD framework for course and curriculum creation and leveraging the framework as a way to identify allocation of resources.
Synopsis and Overview of Understanding by Design
Social Software
Using Social Software (blogs, podcasting, wikis, social bookmark tools, social resource sharing, social attention aggregators) to facilitate a Community of Learners in the classroom and connect that classroom with existing Communities of Practice.
We are also interested and working on how to create a functioning Community of Practice whose participants are geographically distributed, technology-diverse, and already overloaded in their day-to-day work responsibilities.
Synchronous and Near Synchronous Classroom Delivery
Currently, CDE operates and supports the Elluminate Live! learning platform for UAF. We are constantly working to identify best practices for orienting students and creating a constructivist learning environment using Elluminate in conjunction with the Blackboard Learning Management System and other Social Software tools.
Second Life
We are exploring the affordances of 3D virtual worlds as platforms for learning, and maintain a space in the virtual world of Second Life. We welcome inquiries from faculty and staff interested in learning more about using virtual worlds for their classes. If you already have a Second Life account you can visit Rhetorica, our virtual space in-world.Email Christen Bouffard for more information.