School’s out for summer – which means more time to catch up on that foot-tall stack of books on your nightstand!  Or better yet, that long list of downloads on your favorite reading device! Just in case you’ve been too busy to begin a summer reading list of your own, we’ve gone ahead and gotten you started with a few book & blog suggestions to kick your summer off right. Social Media for Educators – Tanya Joosten Understandably, the majority of the conversation on the functionality and utility of social media in education has been online. If you haven’t read what author Tanya Joosten has to say about online learning – definitely check out her blog and you’ll instantly recognize why this book is a must-read examination of the best strategies for integrating social media and technology into your lesson plans. This detailed, thorough, yet totally approachable book will get you excited to strategize for next fall. The Muses Go To School – Herbert Kohl and Tom Oppenheim Encouraging creative approaches to conveying information is a huge part of tailoring your classroom to active learners, but without that inspirational artistic spark many students will remain unengaged. In The Muses Go To School, Herbert Kohl and Tom Oppenheim have curated an elegant mixture of interviews with artists and commentary by educational scholars that examines the merits of placing a dynamic arts based philosophy at the center of your curriculum. This energetic read is sure to get you thinking about innovative ways to incorporate the arts into a social learning atmosphere in your classroom.

Hi, I’m Jarl Jonas, the new Sr. Program Manager for CourseSites, Blackboard’s online course creation service for individual K-12, Higher Education, and “beyond campus” educators.

Early in my career as a faculty development coordinator and distance learning educator at New York University, I avidly used CourseSites to centrally organize and delivery course material, monitor student performance, and enable frequent communication and collaboration. Eventually, the University caught up and licensed a course management system of it’s own and I no longer needed the service, but I was very grateful such a tool existed to help me get started.