As I referenced in a recent blog post, self-determined learners with the motivation, drive, and resources can teach themselves amazing things online. (See the blog here about two boys who taught themselves skills such as driving a car and speaking English.) What does this mean for the future of learning and the future of the
As instructors, we know that our students consult Wikipedia when they want to learn the basics of a topic. And while this practice can sometimes be concerning, especially if the students solely rely on Wikipedia rather than using it as a springboard for deeper learning, there are many ways to engage the students with Wikipedia
This blog was inspired by two young boys. The first, an 8 year old, really wanted a cheeseburger, so he went to YouTube and taught himself to drive. He drove past four intersections and some train tracks with complete control of the vehicle–perhaps even more rule-abiding than the average driver. He was caught at the
WordPress offers many possibilities for faculty who wish for their students to be completing writing or multimedia assignments in an open online platform. However, there are many varieties of WordPress available to faculty, and some decisions need to be made to help faculty select the best-possible variant of WordPress for their learning objectives, and to
Prior to the Information Age, teachers were expected to stand at a podium and expound upon topics that were otherwise out of reach to the students. Since the last part of the 20th century, instructors have felt a shift from being the information hub to being the architects who must gather the various informational materials
One of the greatest challenges of giving online writing assignments to students is insuring that it’s clear how they will be evaluated for these types of assignments. My colleague Mark Marino from USC recently shared his blog assignment rubric and I am going to use this as a springboard for my own blog assignments in
TPACK, meaning Technology, Pedagogy, and Content Knowledge, is an acronym brought to us by Mishra and Koehler’s (2006; 2009) studies on instructors’ abilities to combine their content knowledge with adequate knowledge of best pedagogies for teaching and best technologies to support learning. Most instructors in higher education have not had the benefit of formal pedagogy and technology
Perhaps you’ve heard of midterm evaluations, but you’re not sure if they’re effective and you don’t know how to implement them. Here are some points and tips to help you understand the reasons for gathering feedback by the middle of your course and the ways it can be done. Why should I get
Last week I taught my students about the Buck v Bell Supreme Court case during a history lesson about the eugenics movement. I was surprised to learn that not one student in the room had heard of eugenicist Harry Laughlin or of Carrie Buck or of the involuntary sterilization of tens of thousands
In a few weeks I’ll be speaking at Chapman Town Hall, “Data Analytics and Big Data at Chapman: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue” Date: Oct 7, 2016 Time: 12-2pm Place: Pralle Lecture Hall, Beckman Hall 104 Description: Analytics and big data are hot topics today, impacting all aspects of life, work, and society. In higher education