May 2012
17 posts
Game Over for GameStop and Video Game Retailers? →
One of the themes of the early Internet was “disintermediation” where users could do things on their own, without having to deal with an intermediary. Today I read an article describing the plight of GameStop and other video game retailers, even though the video game market continues to expand. People are buying online rather than going to a store. When I buy from Amazon.com, which I...
“Understanding what Matters”
– http://goo.gl/X2zEh
Seth Godin: We succeed by “perfecting the things that matter and ignoring the rest.”
What matters to you?
Teachers Use Twitter As Their Preferred CPD Tool →
http://goo.gl/biQ6k
Reading from new sources exposes me to new information. This article on how teachers use Twitter for Professional development is a good example.
CDP = Collaborative(?) Professional Development
PLN = Personal Learning Network
http://piktochart.com = Infographic creation tool
“As designers we have to understand that the interface we create dictates the...”
– http://goo.gl/jwkjh
Teachers are designers. We design learning experiences for our students. Do you feel that not enough students come to office hours and review sessions? Could we create a better interface to collect their questions so that they can get the help they need? Do you feel that...
“We’re going to see classrooms moving away from lectures to a more...”
– http://goo.gl/05Vmh
Nice article, as the beginning of a series on technology in higher ed. Comments on Blackboard’s containment of content into silos, Instructure Canvas’ view of content as open, the role of learning spaces, the changes being brought by instant access to information,...
“TheCN.com is a new LMS that provides a social network that enables global...”
– http://goo.gl/sI15R
How many learning management systems (LMS) do we need? Here is a new one that focuses on creating global communities around subject and courses.
New social network launched for classrooms and lifelong learners
“Some clumsy attempts at blended learning are to put PowerPoint slides online...”
– http://goo.gl/Xj1H5
Blended learning blends on-line and face-to-face learning activities. Research seems to support that it can improve student learning, when implemented correctly. The recent Sloan-C Blended Learning Conference in Milwaukee seems to have had a number of valuable sessions on how...
April 2012
18 posts
Guy Kawasaki on enchantment for achieving... →
Guy Kawasaki was the Macintosh Evangelist. He continues to share his many passions. In this case he talked about Hiw to enchant people. The blog is by someone who attended, not Guy.
“Remind me, why are we using an LMS again??.”
– http://goo.gl/e3a2K This provides an interesting chart of usage of various components of the Blackboard system at a University and asks the question, if no one is using the special services, and the services that are being used are available for free, why do we pay hundreds of thousands of dollars a...
“Among the problems on college campuses today are that students study for exams...”
– http://goo.gl/V3xoZ
Nice assay from the Chronicle on learning versus testing.
“The 5 minutes where the real learning happens”
– http://goo.gl/d3dGw
Here is a simple exercise to get your audience/students engaged. Worth at least trying and, if you like it, adding to your teaching toll kit.
“Flipped classroom: a checklist shift or a pedagogical shift?”
– http://goo.gl/ShcDF
The real meaning of the Flipped Classroom is a profound pedagogical change, not simply having everyone watch the same video as homework.
Flipped Classroom and Remember Madeline Hunter
Recorded sessions from the Educause Lerning... →
Want ideas about technology enhanced learning? Take some time from your busy schedule to look at these videos from one of the premier conferences on this subject. These sessions were recorded in February, 2012. Sessions from earlier conferences are online, too.
“Elusively Obvious”
– http://goo.gl/eQL77 - Steve Gilbert got an iPad. He is learning to use it, and its “elusively obvious” techniques and features. Isn’t all of education a process of taking the elusive and helping to make it obvious? How should that be accomplished? What do we do to help our students...
“Every teacher has to make a choice: you can cover, or you can uncover.”
– http://goo.gl/xEEbn
A Future Full of Badges →
Badges could have a profound effect of higher education as we know it. http://goo.gl/ZZN7W
Street Skin Apple iPad 2 Case by Hard Candy →
Great case for protection. Soft rubber all the way around. A rubber cover snaps over the screen. Very nice. Saw two of them in the last week.
New IBM App Presents Nearly 1,000 Years of Math... →
http://goo.gl/pb8p0
What does it mean to study mathematics in college? Is math a skill course or a concept course? Are students learning techniques to solve symbolic problems, or learning about the various things that mathematicians study?
This iPad app focuses on the concepts. I think it would be a wonderful thing to include in a Univeristy education. But I doubt that math teachers would be...
Smart Dot -Laser for iPhone by Tangram Design Lab... →
I cannot figure this item out. It plugs into the headset port on an iPhone and becomes a laser pointer. Why not just carry a laser point with you? which would you rather wave around and possibly drop, a cheap laser pointer or your iPhone?
A better(?) iPad keyboard case →
Lots of people seem to want an iPad to be a laptop/notebook computer. Here is an interesting solution. The iPad snaps into the lid of what looks l Ike a notebook computer. The keyboard connects via Bluetooth. A battery helps charge the iPad, and probably helps weight down the keyboard so the whole thing doesn’t flip backwards.
I like the iPad as an iPad, either a magazine or a tabletop...
Is Reverse Instruction Education Technology’s... →
We hear about blended learning, where some of the learning activity takes place on the web. Then we have flipped classrooms (reversed instruction) where the content is presented outside of class. In Next-Generation classes at UNT there is a mix of lecture, experiential learning, and online learning. Finally, we have our classes that we design and teach. How do these things all overlap? Can we come...
Social Pedagogies « Randy Bass →
If the student experience drives the course, how do you define the learning outcomes when you aren’t even sure what content will be share during class? This post has a nice table of student outcomes that needs to be referenced by people using social communication to drive the learning in their courses.
“Who is working harder in the classroom, the teacher or the students? It should...”
– Attended a luncheon that about Next-Generation classes at the University of North Texas and experiential learning. This was one of the quotes. I really like it! Learn more about “Flipped Classrooms” on YouTube.
“Ms. Sankar said her biggest challenge is convincing professors that they can use...”
– http://chronicle.com/article/Students-Endlessly-E-Mail/131390
Interesting start-up creating fancy Q&A systems for classes.
“We didn’t start out planning to transform teaching at the university....”
– It looks to be an EXCELLENT luncheon on Wednesday in the Bank United Center, Hurricane 100 room, at the University of Miami. I expect Dr. Turner to have some fascinating things to say about redesigning courses to enhance student learning. Before this valuable session you might want to take a look at...
March 2012
2 posts
simple tools that powerfully enhance leadership
From http: //bit.ly/GPnkXO
- Getting unstuck requires two things: a goal and the next step.
- Perfection kills progress.
- Leverage strengths more – fix weaknesses less.
- Believe in others more than they believe in themselves.
- “What’s next?” is the most powerful question leaders ask.
9 Habits of Highly Productive People →
This is really about leaders, not productive people. All of us should strive to be leaders in our fields. This seemed like some good things to think about as we lead more.
February 2012
2 posts
One Of The Best Leadership Lessons Ever…..In Just... →
Found this on a blog. What a great set of rules, and easy to remember.
“It doesn’t matter what method you use if you do not first focus on one...”
– A Tech-Happy Professor Reboots After Hearing His Teaching Advice Isn’t Working - Technology - The Chronicle of Higher Education
January 2012
12 posts
“In the social learning space there is the potential for magic.”
– #canvascon Allison Weiss, talk “20 Tips for Collaborating in Canvas”
5 Colleges to Test Bulk-Purchasing of e-Textbooks →
We are on the cusp of a change in education: the move from printed to electronic textbooks. Today iris simply too difficult to locate electronic copies of the books being chosen by faculty. It isn’t worth the effort, given the slight saving in price. I speak from the perspective of a parent, buying textbooks for my son. I can’t find them all in electronic form. I don’t. Need...
“At this year’s meeting of GE’s top executives, presentation material...”
– “Some executives are scrambling to learn now to turn one on. It’s irresponsible not to use the tools of the day.”
Fast Company - February 2012 - Page 68
“The Brody rule: You can’t make decisions based on initial assumptions or...”
– Be willing to change paths without being hung up by an earlier decision or the time and effort expended on the current path. The Adrien Brody Rule
“Real learning, especially at the start of something new, often involves feeling...”
– Just because I say it doesn’t mean they learn it. - Crazy Teaching
It's Friday the 13th
Is your computer backed up?
“Change happens quickly; transitions happen gradually.”
– Our Information Technology department is in transition. At a recent meeting on vision, mission, goals and expectations, the issue of ambiguity came up. We don’t know what is going to happen if/when certain other things happen. What jobs will be redefined? Who will be reassigned? Will new...
Stop asking questions if you know the answer →
One way to quickly reduce plagiarism is to ask students to relate material to their personal experience. They cannot copy that from the Internet. Similarly, asking students questions in class that don’t have a “correct” answer gets them thinking at higher orders and learning material at a higher level. Want to get ideas of how to do this? Check out the article below.
Stop...
Reflexive Responses
Have you ever been asking for help and been interrupted part way through your question? Often the person interrupts you and gives you “the answer.” What triggers the answer that was given? I believe it is often a “reflexive response” to a word or phrase in you request. That word triggers a specific response, regardless of everything else in the request.
You may walk up...