iQity

I was recently contacted by Teresa Berry, contributor of iQity eLearning blog found on this website. She said she learned about our class blog through readers referring to our posts (Keep up the good work everybody!) and she wanted me to check out her blog. iQity was developed by Altair Learning Management, a company that kicked off online learning in our neighboring state, Ohio. I checked out their website and was immediately blown away by the beauty of it. My Bachelor degree in Art Studio has me conditioned to first see the aesthetics of a website, the contents second, but I was equally impressed with what they're doing. The company created a Learning Suite for schools that offers tools such as a virtual classroom, homeroom, lecture halls, gradebook and online assessments. The user interface is customizable allowing both teachers and individual students to create a look for their classroom that reflects their interests and school pride. I love the idea of this. We, as eLearning students, know what it is like to stare at a "dull" interface and understand the importance of the design
aspect as it relates to online learning. I also came across an interesting blog post about "The Great Worldwide Star Count," funded by the National Science Foundation. The idea is to get as many volunteers worldwide to check out a constellation in the evening sky and report how many stars they see. The reports are then used to map global light pollution (fellow amateur astronomy buffs know what a pain light pollution can be!) Teachers: There is still time to get involved in the count. Check out the activity guide. It looks like a really neat exercise that children would really enjoy. It teaches them a nice mixture of astronomy, global positioning using a Geocoder and reporting their findings with online technologies.
Be sure to check out the iQity website & blog and watch the iQity Learning Suite video to learn more about this amazing company.