May 26th, 2010 by Robin Green

Is homeschooling right for you and your child? There are many benefits to homeschooling, which I’ve previously written about (most recently in my May 7 post). However, it’s nothing to rush into. Here are three important considerations, three critical thoughts, before you take the homeschooling route–which can prove an exciting journey.

First, are you willing to make the personal sacrifice you’ll be accepting? In general, homeschool parents have very little personal time. Each day, you’ll need to make an effort create even a small amount of alone time. While your child is working on learning management system work, for example, you might find a moment for yourself. Or perhaps a tutor comes a couple of hours a week to teach math or aide with an online courseware subject. Just remember that your personal time–however miniscule–is important for your mental health, so be sure to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself.

Second, is everyone in the family on board with the decision to homeschool? This is an essential precondition of homeschooling: that both parents (if applicable) are in agreement about the decision. It will prove very difficult for everyone involved if one parent is against it. If this is the case for you, try talking to more people and doing more research on homeschooling. Read up on learning management systems and other learning materials before bringing up the topic with your spouse again.

Third, are you a generally organized person? (And if not, are you ready to change your ways?) Organization is essential in a homeschool environment, not only to combat the clutter that naturally accumulates with experiments and projects, but also to track your child’s progress. If your child is homeschooled, you may want to consider using a learning management system to meet both your child’s and your needs. A learning management system is a great way to both integrate technology into your lesson plans as well as organize and keep on top of your child’s educational journey.

Coggno is now offering a free trial for home educators on its learning management system. Create online courses for home use, or for syndication.

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Coggno.com offers a wide-range of high-quality e-learning courses.

May 19th, 2010 by Robin Green

What kind of content should you include in your LMS language course podcast? Choosing interesting material is a subjective task, since everyone has a different concept of what’s actually interesting. However, it’s the way in which you present the information that makes or breaks your podcast. Here are four texture-lending tips.

First, keep in mind that interesting audio information–especially for language podcasts–is that which varies in texture and tone. Speak slowly, and keep the tone light and fun.

Second, intersperse music, pieces of interviews, sound bites, etc. throughout your podcast. This is a great way to lend it texture and continuity.

Third, use conversational dialogue. Your listener should feel like the podcaster is speaking directly to him or her rather than reading from a script.

Fourth, you can also record interviews and discussions, or include clips of these kinds of dialogues.

Podcasts are easy to create, produce, and share, and listeners don’t need any special hardware to listen to them. Since normally podcasts are in the form of mp3 files, they are accessible to all learners.

Ready to try creating your own podcast? Creating a podcast is simple using Apple’s Podcast Producer, a simple and automatic audio editing program. Coggno is one LMS which includes the Apple Podcast Producer as part of its pack of user-friendly tools.

Besides listening to podcasts, language students can watch videos, simulations and screen recordings through Coggno’s LMS. They can complete comprehensive tests and assessments interacting with a simple interface.

Coggno is now offering a free trial for online course creators on its learning management system. Create an online course for free, either for internal use, Coggno’s E-learning Marketplace, or for outside syndication on hundreds of websites.

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Coggno.com provides premier online education.

May 13th, 2010 by Robin Green

If you’re creating an online language course, remember that the same rule of thumb goes for both adults and students: make it fun. If language isn’t learned in an interactive way, about 85% of the time it isn’t learned at all. A dry, pdf- or textbook-based course just doesn’t provide the oft-needed push to improve a language skill.

Language is alive–it needs to come off the paper. So how can you create a dynamic language course for hosting on a learning management system or other online learning platform? How do you get language to come off the proverbial paper?

Podcasts are a great way to do make language fun in an online course. They are the newest rage in language learning tools, and are simple to create and integrate into your online course.

Three good uses of podcasts an online course are as reinforcements to learning activities, reminders, and listening and comprehension exercises.

First, you can create a podcast to supplement and reinforce course learning material, or review an activity. Podcasts are convenient and portable, and perfect for language students with busy schedules. Completing homework just by listening to an ipod is a great way to pass the time on the car or train commute home!

Second, you can include reminders in your podcast to tell your learners what to expect in the next activity or lesson. Students will then be able to anticipate the content and be better prepared to learn and practice a new concept.

Third, create podcasts with interesting content to serve as listening and comprehension exercises. Providing intriguing material that piques learners’ interest is essential to any learning management system podcast. Otherwise your learner’s attention will begin to slip. Make it fun!

Right now, Coggno is offering a free trial on its learning management system, which includes the Apple Podcast Producer. Create a language course for free, either for internal use, Coggno’s E-learning Marketplace, or for outside syndication on hundreds of websites.

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Coggno.com offers high-quality online education.

May 7th, 2010 by Robin Green

Deciding whether or not to homeschool your child isn’t easy. But once you’ve made the decision to take the plunge, there are numerous benefits you can expect to see. Five reasons to homeschool your child are quality, creativity, support, flexibility, and technological advantages.

First, you have quality. Home education is much more than sitting down with some books for a few hours each day, or simply aiding your child in the completion of his or her learning management system or other online coursework.  The quality is in your own ability, as a parent, to rise to the challenge of homeschooling and develop a strong system that works for you and your child that expands beyond the regular 8-3 school day. Learning can happen anytime, anywhere.

Second, homeschooling allows for creativity. You’ll be developing school projects and designing experiments, preparing and dictating lessons, grading papers, going on field trips and park days, giving art and music lessons, and much more. Online courses or learning management systems can enrich your child’s learning experience. Coggno is now offering a free trial for home educators on its learning management system. Create online courses for home use, or for syndication.

Third, as a home educator, you’ll find great flexibility in your daytime activities. You’ll have control over your day and your child’s social activities, arranging get-togethers, taking educational day trips, and engaging in other fun activities.

Fourth, home educators have available to them a great support system, both at home and outside the home. If you are stuck on a subject you’re not sure how to teach, finding online tutors tutors for these subjects. Additionally, with the wealth of curriculum and  learning materials, learning management system courses and other internet resources, you’ll find plenty of support.

Which leads to our fifth benefit: home educators have access to and control over the best educational web 2.0 tools for crafting a robust learning experience. Homeschoolers understand that one critical part of a child’s education is ICT skill development. Online work serves to complement lessons, activities and assignments. Learning management systems are a convenient and easy way to improve students’ ICT skills and familiarize them with new technology.

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Coggno.com is a leading provider of high-quality LMS platforms.