Distance EDU On Demand: Dr. Crystal Sands on the Excelsior College Online Writing Lab (OWL)

Dr. Crystal Sands, online writing lab project director at Excelsior College, joins the podcast to discuss the development of the new Excelsior OWL, a highly-interactive, media-rich, first-of-its-kind writing lab designed to serve the needs of struggling writers as they make the transition to college-level writing and the writing disciplines.
1:01 What is the OWL and what makes it different from other Online Writing Labs?
2:44 Meeting a critical employer demand.
4:06 Kresge Foundation and the development process.
 5:38 Open-source and opening the OWL up to the world for free.
6:44 Using the OWL to lower employee training costs.
7:06 Breaking down individual sections of the OWL.
8:33 Incorporating the award-winning ESL-WOW into the OWL.
9:21 Digital writing.
10:39 Introducing gaming into the curriculum with “Paper Capers”.
12:21 A writing teacher’s favorite section.
13:58 Pilot program studying the impact of the OWL on writing outcomes.
15:04 The OWL and the Common Core.
16:41 Building an OWL community on social media.  
Show Notes