Ontario Extend mOOC – Module 2 Stretches

The #ExtendmOOC I’m currently participating in has ‘stretches’ built into it.  These stretches often pose a question, require some creative thinking, and are quick fun activities,  The stretches are made available throughout each module and are considered extras.  I’ve really enjoyed these activities – partially because a lot of them have involved memes, gifs, and images.  Here are my responses to the module 2 stretch challenges:

Think of animated GIFs as a way to demonstrate a process, how to assemble or build something, a means to slow down something too fast to see with the naked eye, or how to speed up a long process.  Try and find one that might work in the subject that you teach.
The gif I picked shows a hand opening a custom built archival enclosure for a rare book. I would use this to talk about conservation techniques used in archives and as a way to highlight some of the conservation efforts that are undertaken in archival spaces. I licked this gift in particular because it has both an acid-free box and acid free plastic enclosures.

Fun fact – the gif I picked was used in a blog that was talking about the most toxic material in archival collections, the piece goes on to talk about arsenic in wallpapers/the challenges that come with preserving that!

Gif of a hand opening a rare book enclosure

What are people’s favourite effective ways of taking care of their bodies while working at a computer? Show us in a photo or describe it.
A literal stretch – I love it. My go to way to encourage movement while at my desk is a short Yoga with Adriene video that is designed to be done at your desk. I Highly recommend it if you’re looking for something quick to get you moving. The image below is a screenshot of one of my favourite parts of the video, a gentle twist.

Woman in a chair gently twisting to one side

Let’s try out Answer Garden, a word cloud making thing that is pretty easy to use. This is a two-parter. First, pop in to this Answer Garden and answer the question just to try it out. Second, pop in to the discussion forum below and tell us how you might be able to use this in a course or workshop.
New tool! This was the first time I’ve used Answer Garden, and I like that it creates a world cloud based on user responses – it’s a neat way to visually see the responses of a whole group.  I like the idea of using the answer garden to have students respond with a single word or idea that they felt drawn to in class. I see this working similar to a popcorn style discussion that allows participation to throw out ideas about a topic, encouraging a multiplicity of answers and responses.

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