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The Impact of SoftChalk – From Migrating LMS to Energizing Faculty
Gregory Priebe & Richard W. Smith Instructional Designers and Adjunct Faculty, Harford Community College
What is SoftChalk?• Desktop Authoring software:• Allows you to create engaging, interactive lessons for your course.
• Lessons can be packaged in a .zip file for presentation via LMS,
standard website or even for distribution via CD Rom.
• Even the novice can create professional-looking content:• If you have used Microsoft Word, you have mastered a far more
confusing program!
Benefits• Quick & Easy content creation or conversion
• Styles and design can be changed at the click of the mouse
Case Study #1: HIST 101• Greg’s Fall 2010 History 101 course• Last minute textbook change• Publisher materials
• Had potential• Very poorly presented and organized• Some of the best material thrown into a folder, not linked
• SoftChalk• Used to stitch the salvageable content from previous course iteration
together with the new publisher content• Consistent look, design and navigation
Case Study #2: GEOG 101/103• Richard’s Geography 101 & 103 courses
• Wanted to make sure I did not have textbook issues in future.
• Do not use much textbook material.
• Constant re-designs
• SoftChalk
• Used for only certain parts of course material
• Consistent look, design and navigation
Case Study #3: The Great Blackboard Debacle of 2011• January 2011• Harford Community College migrates from Blackboard CE 8 to 9.0• Blackboard handled all content migration
• Things looked okay at first• Big problems discovered later
• Realization: The need for LMS-independent content!• SoftChalk utilized to reconstitute the most heavily damaged
courses from scratch• Good deal of faculty buy-in• Site license purchased• New, less tech-savvy instructors are steered towards using
SoftChalk from the start• Veteran faculty adopting it for sheer speed and ease of use
Encourage Best Practices from the Start!• Eliminate poor design in online and blended courses• No more broken images from improperly uploaded HTML
content• Enhance formerly text-based content• Add more interactivity to content delivery• Migrate away from Power Point and all the support problems
it can cause
SOFTCHALK & QUALITY MATTERS
Navigation• Navigation and table of contents auto-generate based on the
Headings of the content
• Quality Matters• Standards where SoftChalk may help
• 1.1 – “Instructions make clear how to get started and where to find various course components.”
• 6.2 – “Course tools and media support student engagement and guide the student to become an active learner.”
• 6.3 – “Navigation throughout the online components of the course is logical, consistent, and efficient.”
Embed Your Media• Make sure that all required materials are present in the lesson
so the student does not have to waste time searching:• Using the “Insert” function, all of the following formats can be
easily placed within the lesson• Images• Animated pictures• Movies• Sound clips• Hyperlinks
• As long as you can get an embed code for a online resource, you can have it appear right in your lesson• Widgets, Iframes, etc
Embed Your Media
• Quality Matters• Standards where SoftChalk may help• 6.2 – “Course tools and media support student engagement and guide the
student to become an active learner.”• 8.2 – “The course contains equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual
content.”
Vocabulary• Text-poppers can be used to reinforce key terms by providing
additional:• Text• Media• Hyperlinks• Pictures
• Quality Matters• Standards where SoftChalk may help• 4.1 – “The instructional materials contribute to the achievement of the stated
course and module/unit learning objectives.”• 4.4 – “The instructional materials are current.”• 6.2 – “Course tools and media support student engagement and guide the
student to become an active learner.”
Assessment Options• The “quiz-poppers” can deliver a variety of question formats:• T/F• Multiple Choice• Multiple Answer• Short Answer• Ordering• Matching• Essay
• Items can be used for student review purposes or points can be reported directly to the LMS grade book for assigned work
• Can also use Soft Chalk Cloud?
Assessment Options• Quality Matters
• Standards where SoftChalk may help• 3.1 – “The types of assessments selected measure the stated learning
objectives and are consistent with course activities and resources.”• 3.4 – “The assessment instruments selected are sequenced, varied, and
appropriate to the student work being assessed.”• 5.2 – “Learning activities provide opportunities for interaction that support
active learning.”
Self-Assessment & Study Tools• By simply filling out a form, SoftChalk can generate a variety of
interactive activities within the lesson:
Chart Hot Spot Seek a Word
Crossword Jigsaw puzzle Slide show
Did you know Labeling Sorting
Drag and Drop Ordering Tabbed Info
Flash Card Photo album Timeline
Self-Assessment & Study Tools• Quality Matters
• Standards where SoftChalk may help• 3.5 – “Students have multiple opportunities to measure their own learning
progress.”
