Mr McLaughlin Web Blog

In 2008 “Randy” Pausch died.  You may have heard of the last lecture series, Pausch delivered his “Last Lecture”, titled ‘Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams’, at Carnegie Mellon on September 18, 2007. This lecture was modeled after an ongoing series of lectures where top academics are asked to think deeply about what matters to them, and then give a…

This week in my online courses we have been discussing delivery and assessment of content and how that is different in the online environment.  In my last JOT post we discussed the modes of learning online and how that affects engagement.  Engagement is an education code word for student motivation.  How do you motivate students in your…

First of all I am taking advantage of my blog by saying “Thank You” to my wonderful wife for all that she does.  Today is our wedding anniversery.  I love you “Mo Bhean Chéile Álainn” In honor of the Hour of Code coming up (December 9th – 15th) I thought I would devote the next few Techformation…

I started a second online course on online teaching.  This is offered through PLS 3rd Learning The focus of this class is more of writing a specific course to be presented online. This week in that class we were looking at the modes of online learning.  I have experienced the asynchronous/synchronous and the Self-paced format. I have never…

The Hour of Code is Coming! 8:45AM was session zero in the fall VirtCon presented by James Gwertzman from Code.org. A full hour before the conference started! So you may have missed this diamond in the rough. Not to worry as it can be found in the archive. However, you should not let another min go by…

Google Web Designer BETA is a full featured FREE website development environment.  It was created in a way that designs sites that work on every device.  The designer handles the HTML5 and CSS3 so if you don’t know how to do all the technical stuff you can still create. If you want to you can still…

Piazza is a free online Course Communication system.  It  is an online platform that facilitates interaction among students and instructors in an efficient and intuitive manor.  It was started as a way to help students who were stuck on homework problems get unstuck with the help of their classmates, TAs and professors. The list of what you can…

This week my focus has been developing a virtual presence in the online course environment.  In my face to face classroom on a Monday morning I can look across the tired faces and know I had better ramp up my excitement if I expect my students to get excited about what we are learning.  In…

Next week is the Annual Conference for the PCTM.  I plan to be there on Thursday November 7th.  This is a great chance to see what is going on in the area of Mathematics.  The program includes keynote address from Dr. Johnna Bolyard, West Virginia University and Dr. Fran Arbaugh, Penn State University.  Dr. Bolyard will be presenting on “The…

Last week I wrote a post Online Teaching Strategies Suggestion? After more consideration I have decided this would make a good blog series “Journey To Online Teaching” (JOT).  I plan to write about my journey to becoming an online teacher in the fall of 2014.   I have started my journey by taking the first of two…