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Erin Fontaine

Critical Thinking Development: A Stage Theory - 0 views

www.criticalthinking.org/...483

shared by Erin Fontaine on 29 Jun 12 - No Cached
  • We must recognize the importance of challenging our students — in a supportive way — to recognize both that they are thinkers and that their thinking often goes awry. We must lead class discussions about thinking. We must explicitly model thinking (e.g., thinking aloud through a problem). We must design classroom activities that explicitly require students to think about their thinking. We must have students examine both poor and sound thinking, talking about the differences. We must introduce students to the parts of thinking and the intellectual standards necessary to assess thinking. We must introduce the idea of intellectual humility to students; that is, the idea of becoming aware of our own ignorance. Perhaps children can best understand the importance of this idea through their concept of the "know-it-all," which comes closest to their recognition of the need to be intellectually humble.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 29 Jun 12
       
      This is a great foundation for an icebreaker module.
  • recognize that they have basic problems in their thinking and make initial attempts to better understand how they can take charge of and improve it.
  • begin to modify some of their thinking, but have limited insight into deeper levels of the trouble inherent in their thinking. Most importantly, they lack a systematic plan for improving their thinking, hence their efforts are hit and miss.
  • ...40 more annotations...
  • appreciate a critique of their powers of thought.
  • we must teach in such a way as to help them to see that we all need to regularly practice good thinking to become good thinkers.
  • We must emphasize the importance of beginning to take charge of the parts of thinking and applying intellectual standards to thinking. We must teach students to begin to recognize their native egocentrism when it is operating in their thinking.
  • since practicing thinkers are only beginning to approach the improvement of their thinking in a systematic way, they still have limited insight into deeper levels of thought, and thus into deeper levels of the problems embedded in thinking.
  • need for systematic practice in thinking.
  • Practicing thinkers recognize the need for systematicity of critical thinking and deep internalization into habits. They clearly recognize the natural tendency of the human mind to engage in egocentric thinking and self-deception.
  • regularly monitor
  • articulate the strengths and weaknesses
  • often recognize their own egocentric thinking as well as egocentric thinking on the part of others. Furthermore practicing thinkers actively monitor their thinking to eliminate egocentric thinking, although they are often unsuccessful.
  • intellectual perseverance
  • have the intellectual humility required to realize that thinking in all the domains of their lives must be subject to scrutiny, as they begin to approach the improvement of their thinking in a systematic way.
  • We must teach in such a way that students come to understand the power in knowing that whenever humans reason, they have no choice but to use certain predictable structures of thought: that thinking is inevitably driven by the questions, that we seek answers to questions for some purpose, that to answer questions, we need information, that to use information we must interpret it (i.e., by making inferences), and that our inferences, in turn, are based on assumptions, and have implications, all of which involves ideas or concepts within some point of view. We must teach in such a way as to require students to regularly deal explicitly with these structures (more on these structure presently).
  • Recognizing the "moves" one makes in thinking well is an essential part of becoming a practicing thinker.
  • Students should be encouraged to routinely catch themselves thinking both egocentrically and sociocentrically.
  • advanced thinkers not only actively analyze their thinking in all the significant domains of their lives, but also have significant insight into problems at deeper levels of thought. While advanced thinkers are able to think well across the important dimensions of their lives, they are not yet able to think at a consistently high level across all of these dimensions. Advanced thinkers have good general command over their egocentric nature. They continually strive to be fair-minded. Of course, they sometimes lapse into egocentrism and reason in a one-sided way.
  • develop depth of understanding
  • nsight into deep levels of problems in thought: consistent recognition, for example, of egocentric and sociocentric thought in one’s thinking, ability to identify areas of significant ignorance and prejudice, and ability to actually develop new fundamental habits of thought based on deep values to which one has committed oneself.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 29 Jun 12
       
      What do YOU believe in? How and why do you believe it?
  • successfully engaged in systematically monitoring the role in their thinking of concepts, assumptions, inferences, implications, points of view, etc., and hence have excellent knowledge of that enterprise. Advanced thinkers are also knowledgeable of what it takes to regularly assess their thinking for clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, logicalness, etc.
  • critique their own plan for systematic practice, and improve it thereby.
  • articulate the strengths and weaknesses in their thinking.
  • reduce the power of their egocentric thoughts.
  • a) the intellectual insight and perseverance to actually develop new fundamental habits of thought based on deep values to which one has committed oneself, b) the intellectual integrity to recognize areas of inconsistency and contradiction in one’s life, c) the intellectual empathy necessary to put oneself in the place of others in order to genuinely understand them, d) the intellectual courage to face and fairly address ideas, beliefs, or viewpoints toward which one has strong negative emotions, e) the fair-mindedness necessary to approach all viewpoints without prejudice, without reference to one’s own feelings or vested interests. In the advanced thinker these traits are emerging, but may not be manifested at the highest level or in the deepest dimensions of thought.
  • our students will not become advanced thinkers — if at all — until college or beyond. Nevertheless, it is important that they learn what it would be to become an advanced thinker. It is important that they see it as an important goal. We can help students move in this direction by fostering their awareness of egocentrism and sociocentrism in their thinking, by leading discussions on intellectual perseverance, intellectual integrity, intellectual empathy, intellectual courage, and fair-mindedness. If we can graduate students who are practicing thinkers, we will have achieved a major break-through in schooling. However intelligent our graduates may be, most of them are largely unreflective as thinkers, and are unaware of the disciplined habits of thought they need to develop to grow intellectually as a thinker.
  • have systematically taken charge of their thinking, but are also continually monitoring, revising, and re-thinking strategies for continual improvement of their thinking. They have deeply internalized the basic skills of thought, so that critical thinking is, for them, both conscious and highly intuitive.
  • As Piaget would put it, they regularly raise their thinking to the level of conscious realization.
  • Accomplished thinkers are deeply committed to fair-minded thinking, and have a high level of, but not perfect, control over their egocentric nature.
  • To make the highest levels of critical thinking intuitive in every domain of one’s life. To internalize highly effective critical thinking in an interdisciplinary and practical way.
  • Accomplished thinkers are not only actively and successfully engaged in systematically monitoring the role in their thinking of concepts, assumptions, inferences, implications, points of view, etc., but are also regularly improving that practice. Accomplished thinkers have not only a high degree of knowledge of thinking, but a high degree of practical insight as well. Accomplished thinkers intuitively assess their thinking for clarity, accuracy, precision, relevance, logicalness, etc. Accomplished thinkers have deep insights into the systematic internalization of critical thinking into their habits. Accomplished thinkers deeply understand the role that egocentric and sociocentric thinking plays in the lives of human beings, as well as the complex relationship between thoughts, emotions, drives and behavior.
  • Naturally inherent in master thinkers are all the essential intellectual characteristics, deeply integrated. Accomplished thinkers have a high degree of intellectual humility, intellectual integrity, intellectual perseverance, intellectual courage, intellectual empathy, intellectual autonomy, intellectual responsibility and fair-mindedness. Egocentric and sociocentric thought is quite uncommon in the accomplished thinker, especially with respect to matters of importance. There is a high degree of integration of basic values, beliefs, desires, emotions, and action.
  • For the foreseeable future the vast majority of our students will never become accomplished thinkers 
  • important that they learn what it would be to become an accomplished thinker. It is important that they see it as a real possibility, if practicing skills of thinking becomes a characteristic of how they use their minds day to day.
  • Thus it is vital that an intellectual vocabulary for talking about the mind be established for teachers; and that teachers lead discussions in class designed to teach students, from the point of view of intellectual quality, how their minds work, including how they can improve as thinkers.
  • in elementary school an essential objective would be that students become "beginning" thinkers, that is, that they will be taught so that they discover that they are thinkers and that their thinking, like a house, can be well or poorly constructed. This "discovery" stage--the coming to awareness that all of us are thinkers--needs to be given the highest priority. Middle school and High School, on this model, would aim at helping all students become, at least, "practicing" thinkers. Of course, students discover thinking only by discovering that thinking has "parts." Like learning what "Legos" are, we learn as we come to discover that there are various parts to thinking and those parts can be put together in various ways. Unlike Legos, of course, thinking well requires that we learn to check how the parts of thinking are working together to make sure they are working properly: For example, have we checked the accuracy of information? Have we clarified the question?
  • We are not advocating here that teachers withdraw from academic content. Rather we are suggesting that critical thinking provides a way of deeply embracing content intellectually. Within this view students come to take intellectual command of how they think, act, and react while they are learning...history, biology, geography, literature, etc., how they think, act, and react as a reader, writer, speaker, and listener, how they think, act, and react as a student, brother, friend, child, shopper, consumer of the media, etc.
  • to effectively learn any subject in an intellectually meaningful way presupposes a certain level of command over one’s thinking, which in turn presupposes understanding of the mind’s processes.
  • Thinking is inevitably driven by the questions we seek to answer, and those questions we seek to answer for some purpose. To answer questions, we need information which is in fact meaningful to us only if we interpret it (i.e., by making inferences). Our inferences, in turn, are based on assumptions and require that we use ideas or concepts to organize the information in some way from some point of view. Last but not least, our thinking not only begins somewhere intellectually (in certain assumptions), it also goes somewhere---that is, has implications and consequences.
  • Thus whenever we reason through any problem, issue, or content we are well advised to take command of these intellectual structures: purpose, question, information, inferences, assumptions, concepts, point of view, and implications. By explicitly teaching students how to take command of the elements of reasoning we not only help them take command of their thinking in a general way; we also provide a vehicle which effectively enables them to critically think through the content of their classes, seeing connections between all of what they are learning.
  • if I am to develop my critical thinking ability I must both "discover" my thinking and must intellectually take charge of it. To do this I must make a deep commitment to this end.
  • the human mind, left to its own, pursues that which is immediately easy, that which is comfortable, and that which serves its selfish interests. At the same time, it naturally resists that which is difficult to understand, that which involves complexity, that which requires entering the thinking and predicaments of others.
  • When we learn together as developing thinkers, when we all of us seek to raise our thinking to the next level, and then to the next after that, everyone benefits, and schooling then becomes what it was meant to be, a place to discover the power of lifelong learning. This should be a central goal for all our students--irrespective of their favored mode of intelligence or learning style. It is in all of our interest to accept the challenge: to begin, to practice, to advance as thinkers.
alexandra m. pickett

My Reflections in ETAP 640 - 0 views

almcqu.edublogs.org

shared by alexandra m. pickett on 12 Jun 12 - No Cached
  • it would be interesting to see the numbers for 2012,
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 12 Jun 12
       
      I wish i had access to that data. When we decentralized in our move to ANGEL we lost access to system-wide data like this.
  • this study and this study support that the most gains in online classroom learning from F2F learning were in areas where these technologies were present,
  • this study and this study support that the most gains in online classroom learning from F2F learning were in areas where these technologies were present,
  • ...64 more annotations...
  • study and this study support that the most gains in online classroom learning from F2F learning were in areas where these technologies were present,
  • study and this study support that the most gains in online classroom learning from F2F learning were in areas where these technologies were present,
  • study and this study support that the most gains in online classroom learning from F2F learning were in areas where these technologies were present,
  • study and this study support that the most gains in online classroom learning from F2F learning were in areas where these technologies were present,
  • study and this study support that the most gains in online classroom learning from F2F learning were in areas where these technologies were present,
  • study and this study support that the most gains in online classroom learning from F2F learning were in areas where these technologies were presen
  • study and this study support that the most gains in online classroom learning from F2F learning were in areas where these technologies were presen
  • this study and this study support that the most gains in online classroom learning from F2F learning were in areas where these technologies were present,
  • this study and this study support that the most gains in online classroom learning from F2F learning were in areas where these technologies were present,
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 25 Jun 12
       
      I would have liked more detail and critical analysis of these reports.
  • this study and this study support that the most gains in online classroom learning from F2F learning were in areas where these technologies were present,
  • this study and this study support that the most gains in online classroom learning from F2F learning were in areas where these technologies were present,
  • I miss the ability and opportunity to chat casually with students in an online course the same way I would before or after a F2F course, even if it doesn’t directly relate to my learning. 
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 25 Jun 12
       
      are you not comfortable initiating that in the bulletin board created for that purpose?
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 25 Jun 12
       
      your blog looks great Amy! check the blog roll. you are missing my blog from the list and george is no longer in the course. someone else is missing too.
  • I am following the directions.
  • Are there things that Moodle (or even Angel, per the courses for observation) can do that don’t replicate this structure? 
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 09 Jul 12
       
      part of the problem is that the LMS imposes a pedagogy. They have embedded into their DNA a teacher-centric cultrure-specific pedagogy. just look at how they label things... you can't get any more teacher-centered that referring to things as "lessons!" Fortunately in ANGEL at least you can change that... not so in BB. i chaffe under that imposition. This imposed pedagogy is largely due, in my opinion, to the fact that it is application developers, not instructional designers, that developed the LMS. We are stuck having to use tools that are inadequate for the purposes to which we must apply them. They are NOT flexible, they do NOT allow for creativity and innovation. It is a constant fight/struggle to work around their limitations and constraints to get them to DO what you want need them to do. I hate all LMSs equally.
  • Reiss doesn’t believe that all children are or should be curious and that curiosity doesn’t always motivate student learning. 
  • Should every class be for every student?
  • developing the course isn’t enough, classroom management is required throughout the course, especially for students who drop in and out. 
  • I learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • I learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • I learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • I learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • I learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • I learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • I learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • I learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • earned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • learned that a lot of what I teach will be limited by the functionality of the LMS.  I learned that there is so much more.
  • I care.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 19 Aug 12
       
      the fact that you care about "her" and the fact that you understand that you are still learning mean it is highly unlikely that you will fail her  : ) 
Michael Lucatorto

Unshielded Colliders: Poverty and Education - 0 views

www.unshieldedcolliders.org/...poverty-and-education.html

education poverty

shared by Michael Lucatorto on 27 Jun 11 - No Cached
  • For example, Mel Riddile points out that when one conditions on various measures of poverty, instead of trailing other nations, the U.S. actually comes out on top! He concludes that "when it comes to school improvement, it's poverty not stupid." Poverty causes educational deficiency.
  • or example, Mel Riddile points out that when one conditions on various measures of poverty, instead of trailing other nations, the U.S. actually comes out on top! He concludes that "when it comes to school improvement, it's poverty not stupid." Poverty causes educational deficienc
  • Michael Lucatorto on 27 Jun 11
     
    For example, Mel Riddile points out that when one conditions on various measures of poverty, instead of trailing other nations, the U.S. actually comes out on top! He concludes that "when it comes to school improvement, it's poverty not stupid." Poverty causes educational deficiency. Now, I like to actually have data to play around with, in part because people have been known to lie about politically charged issues and in part because I like to have nice graphs (which are not provided by Riddile). Anyway, it turns out that international poverty data is pretty hard to come by and fraught with interpretational difficulties. On the other hand, the National Assessment of Educational Progress provides test data for most of the states in the U.S., and the U.S. Census Bureau provides data on the percentage of people in poverty by state. I took the NAEP data for 8th grade science achievement and regressed on the percentage of people below the poverty line for the measured states. The two are negatively associated: as poverty increases, science achievement scores decrease according to the relationship in the plot below. (Alaska, Kansas, Nebraska, and Vermont did not meet NAEP reporting guidelines and are not included in the plot above.) The association is highly significant (p=9.98*10-6). I also took pilot NAEP data for 8th grade mathematics achievement and regressed on the percentage of people below the poverty line for the measured states. (Evidently, the NAEP has only just started testing for mathematics achievement, and only eleven states were included in their pilot.) Again, the two are negatively associated. The slope of the relation turns out to be almost exactly the same as for science achievement. The association is not as significant, but it is still significant (p=0.0186). (My guess is the association is less significant in this case because fewer states were measured.) Clearly there is an association between poverty and achievement in science and mathem
Jarrod McEntarfer

East Asia in World History: A Resource for Teachers - 0 views

www.columbia.edu/...index.html

shared by Jarrod McEntarfer on 20 Jul 08 - Cached
  • The climate of East Asia is both similar to and different from that of Europe and the United States
  • Rice, the primary cereal crop grown in East Asia,
  • Chinese civilization (written script, Confucian thought, and Buddhism that had come to China from India) spread northward to the Korean peninsula and then to the islands of Japan, and southward to what is today northern Vietnam
  • ...24 more annotations...
  • Chinese civilization first developed along the major river systems of the Yellow River (Huang He) and then the Yangzi (Chang Jiang) in eastern China.
  • Over the course of Chinese history, nomadic peoples from China's border regions have often intruded upon the settled, agricultural civilization of "core" China
  • Japan is an island country composed of four main islands and thousands of smaller ones
  • Japan has been able so consciously and deliberately to borrow and adapt innovations from other civilizations and to forge a strong cultural identity.
  • The Japanese islands lack most of the natural resources necessary to support an industrialized economy. These resources must be imported.
    • Jarrod McEntarfer
      Jarrod McEntarfer on 20 Jul 08
       
      In what other ways do you think Japan's geography affected its economy and culture?
  • Introduction • The Geography of East Asia
    • Jarrod McEntarfer
      Jarrod McEntarfer on 20 Jul 08
       
      This link has consise and standards based information on the geography of East Asia that will be valuable in the final project.
  • Chinese characters have no set pronunciation; the sound attached to each can vary depending on the dialect.) Therefore, all literate Chinese could communicate through writing.
  • An Introductory Guide to Pronouncing Chinese.
  • Several of these philosophic schools have had lasting impact on Chinese civilization and political order, among them, Confucianism, Legalism, and Daoism. Leading philosophers in the early history of each school, and the texts associated with them, include: Confucianism - Confucius (c. 551-479 BCE) Analects - Mencius (371-289 BCE) Mencius - Xun Zi (Hsun Tzu) (298-238) Xunzi Legalism - Han Fei Zi (Han Fei Tzu) (d. 233) Han Feizi - Li Si (Li Ssu) (d. 208) who became the Prime Minister of Qin Daoism (Taoism) - Lao Zi (Lao Tzu) "Old Master" (c. 500) Daodejing, also known as Laozi - Zhuang Zi (Chuang Tzu) (c. 369-286) Zhuangzi Other schools of thought mentioned from this period are those of Mozi (5th c. BCE), whose philosophy is often called that of "universal love," and the School of Yin and Yang and the Five Agents.
  • China at the Time of Confucius After the displacement of the Western Zhou (c.1100-771) and the movement of the Zhou capital eastward, China was divided into a number of small states competing for power (771-221 BCE). Many philosophic schools of thought emerged during this period of political and social turmoil, a period known as that of the "100 Schools of Thought." Several of these philosophic schools have had lasting impact on Chinese civilization and political order, among them, Confucianism, Legalism, and Daoism. Leading philosophers in the early history of each school, and the texts associated with them, include: Confucianism - Confucius (c. 551-479 BCE) Analects - Mencius (371-289 BCE) Mencius - Xun Zi (Hsun Tzu) (298-238) Xunzi Legalism - Han Fei Zi (Han Fei Tzu) (d. 233) Han Feizi - Li Si (Li Ssu) (d. 208) who became the Prime Minister of Qin Daoism (Taoism) - Lao Zi (Lao Tzu) "Old Master" (c. 500) Daodejing, also known as Laozi - Zhuang Zi (Chuang Tzu) (c. 369-286) Zhuangzi Other schools of thought mentioned from this period are those of Mozi (5th c. BCE), whose philosophy is often called that of "universal love," and the School of Yin and Yang and the Five Agents.
    • Jarrod McEntarfer
      Jarrod McEntarfer on 20 Jul 08
       
      For their final project students will need to address the category of belief systems by taking an indept look at their civilizations religions and philosophies. Since this is a regents based course this will be important as the exam often addresses this topic, especially in relation to the three major philosophies of China
  • Warring States Period (475-221 BCE). Confucius was alive at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and argued for a restoration of the social and political order of the earlier Western Zhou period. Essential components of Chinese civilization that are evident in the Zhou period include the Chinese notion of the ruler as the "Son of Heaven" who rules with the Mandate of Heaven.
    • Jarrod McEntarfer
      Jarrod McEntarfer on 20 Jul 08
       
      Important terms to know for the class about ancient China The Warring States Period The Mandate of Heaven
  • The climate of East Asia is both similar to and different from that of Europe and the United States.
  • Since rice produces a much higher yield per acre than does a crop such as wheat, it can support a much greater population per acre than does wheat. Climate, agriculture, and population size are closely related in East Asia where large population densities have existed throughout history.*
    • Jarrod McEntarfer
      Jarrod McEntarfer on 20 Jul 08
       
      Students should be able to identify how food supply is related to population growth.
  • Chinese civilization (written script, Confucian thought, and Buddhism that had come to China from India) spread northward to the Korean peninsula and then to the islands of Japan, and southward to what is today northern Vietnam -- engendering dialogue and exchange among the four countries of the East Asian cultural sphere
  • The west and north of what is China today are dominated by mountains, steppe lands, plateaus, and deserts.
  • China's writing system (referred to as Chinese "characters") first appears in the Shang dynasty on tortoise shells and cattle bones (called "oracle bones") used for divination. Written language is a central determinant of the development of civilization; the Chinese writing system was the first developed in East Asia. Although there are many mutually unintelligible dialects in China, there is only one system of writing — a major unifying factor in Chinese history. (Chinese characters have no set pronunciation; the sound attached to each can vary depending on the dialect.) Therefore, all literate Chinese could communicate through writing.
  • Qin Shi Huangdi (Ch'in Shih Huang-ti), or the First Emperor of Qin, rules for a very short time (221-206 BCE) but lays the foundation for China's imperial structure and begins construction of the Great Wall for defense to the north. At his death, an army of life-sized terra cotta warriors is buried near his tomb. (These terra cotta warriors were first discovered in 1974 and have been the subject of exhibitions, magazine articles, and books since that time.
  • The Qin follows the Legalist proposals for state order and establishes a centralized bureaucracy and a finely detailed law code with specified punishments for each crime.
    • Jarrod McEntarfer
      Jarrod McEntarfer on 20 Jul 08
       
      How do you think the establishment of a uniform law code improved Chinese civilization? Remember Hammurabi's Code.
  • The Chinese and Roman empires trade through intermediates on the overland route through Central Asia, the "Silk Road." Chinese silk was an especially prized commodity in Rome, as silk production (sericulture) was known only to the Chinese.
    • Jarrod McEntarfer
      Jarrod McEntarfer on 20 Jul 08
       
      Look up "Monopoly". How did China's silk trade represent this term?
  • It is during this period that Buddhism is introduced into China from India, following trade routes.
  • the civil service examination system,
  • Note the pattern of territorial pressure and incursions from China's north by nomadic groups, who are attracted by the wealth of the settled, agricultural civilization of China. The most illustrative examples are those of the Mongols, who conquer China and establish the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368 CE), and of the Manchus, who again conquer China and establish the last dynasty, the Qing, that rules for 300 years (1644-1911 CE). Each of these invaders rules through the Chinese bureaucracy, leading to the expression that China "sinicizes its conquerors."
    • Jarrod McEntarfer
      Jarrod McEntarfer on 20 Jul 08
       
      From what you gatherered from the reading can you put the expression: "China sinicizes its conquerors" in your own words?
  • "dynastic cycle."
  • Jarrod McEntarfer on 20 Jul 08
     
    This site is designed as a resource site for teachers of world history, world geography, and world cultures. It provides background information and curriculum materials, including primary source documents for students. The material is arranged in 14 topic sections. The topics and the historical periods into which they are divided follow the National Standards in World History and the Content Outline for the Advanced Placement Course in World History. Description by Merlot
Irene Watts-Politza

ScienceDirect.com - Computers & Education - Learning presence: Towards a theory of self... - 1 views

www.sciencedirect.com.libproxy.albany.edu/...S0360131510002095

CoI Shea 'learning presence

shared by Irene Watts-Politza on 18 Jul 12 - No Cached
  • This line of research indicated that the multivariate measure of learning represented by the cognitive presence factor could be predicted by the quality of teaching presence and social presence reported by learners in online courses. The relationship between these constructs is illustrated in Fig. 1 below.
  • Given the electronic, social, and “self-directed” nature of online learning, it seems imperative that we examine learner self- and co-regulation in online environments especially as they relate to desired outcomes such as higher levels of cognitive presence as described in the CoI framework.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 18 Jul 12
       
      Is this an aspect of assessment that is adequately addressed?
  • We suggest that this constellation of behaviors and traits may be seen as elements of a larger construct “learning presence” (Shea, 2010).
  • ...19 more annotations...
  • self-efficacy can be viewed as a subjective judgment of one’s level of competence in executing certain behaviors or achieving certain outcomes in the future. Self-efficacy has been identified as the best predictor of college GPA and among the best predictors of college persistence through meta-analytic research (Robbins et al., 2004). Further, commenting on the state of the art in self-regulated learning research Winne suggested that self-regulation is contingent on positive self-efficacy beliefs, arguing that “learners must subscribe to a system of epistemological and motivational beliefs that classifies failure as an occasion to be informed, a condition that is controllable, and a stimulus to spend effort to achieve better” (Winne, 2005). This contrast of failure attribution as trait (e.g., “I’m just not good at math”) versus failure as occasion to be informed (“I can control, adapt, and learn from this”) is a classic view of maladaptive and adaptive self-efficacy beliefs.
  • In the current study we therefore examine the relationship between CoI constructs and elements of self efficacy in order to begin to investigate the larger theme of collaborative online learner regulation and learning presence.
  • Thus, self-efficacy is “concerned not with what one has but with belief in what one can do with whatever resources one can muster” (Bandura, 2007, p. 6).
  • Bandura has noted that slightly elevated efficacy can have a bigger impact on subsequent performance. Overestimating one’s capabilities to produce a behavior and outcome may boost performance and give rise to motivation to persist in face of obstacles and seatback, while the opposite is true for underestimating one’s capabilities, which may suppress productive goals, persistence and effort (Bandura, 2007). Thus there is an important connection between self-efficacy, effort, and subsequent performance.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 19 Jul 12
       
      This has implications for course attrition rates.
  • Positive psychological and emotional states in the aftermath of successful execution of certain academic behaviors naturally lead to sense of competence and subsequently results in enhanced sense of efficacy.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 19 Jul 12
       
      This is the "feeling of satsfaction" Lisa Martin referred to in her Module 3 posts on social presence.
  • We suggest here that elements within the CoI framework may serve as mechanisms for supporting self-efficacy. Specifically we conjecture that effective teaching presence and positive social presence should serve as sources of social persuasion and positive affect supportive of self-efficacy.
  • (Bandura, 1997). These and other studies have suggested that self-efficacy has a substantial role in predicting student engagement, motivation and performance ( [Bong, 2004], [Caraway et al., 2003], [Chemers et al., 2001], [Choi, 2005], [Smith et al., 2001] and [Vrugt et al., 2002]).
  • The participants in the study were a random sample of 3165 students from 42 two- and four-year institutions in New York State.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 19 Jul 12
       
      SLN? See how many things you can learn with one really great data set?
  • Gaining knowledge about the reasons for learning and achievement of online students has attracted a great deal of attention among both researchers and practitioners. Understanding the factors that have an influence on the success of online education has significant implications for designing productive online communities.
  • Reviewing studies that investigated elements of online learner self-regulation
  • This ongoing project to document all instances of teaching, social, and cognitive presence in complete online courses also resulted in identification of learner discourse that did not fit within the model, i.e. could not be reliably coded as indicators of teaching, social, or cognitive presence ( [Shea, 2010] and [Shea et al., 2010]).
  • Additional work on the CoI model (Shea, Vickers, & Hayes, 2010) suggested that past research methods may have resulted in a systematic under representation of the instructional effort involved in online education.
  • These exceptions represent interesting data for refining and enhancing the model as they suggest that learners are attempting to accomplish goals that are not accounted for within the CoI framework.
  • In this paper we examine the Community of Inquiry framework (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000) suggesting that the model may be enhanced through a fuller articulation of the roles of online learners. We present the results of a study of 3165 students in online and hybrid courses from 42 two- and four-year institutions in which we examine the relationship between learner self-efficacy measures and their ratings of the quality of their learning in virtual environments. We conclude that a positive relationship exists between elements of the CoI framework and between elements of a nascent theoretical construct that we label “learning presence”. We suggest that learning presence represents elements such as self-efficacy as well as other cognitive, behavioral, and motivational constructs supportive of online learner self-regulation.
  • the CoI framework attempts to articulate the social, technological, and pedagogical processes that engender collaborative knowledge construction. It therefore represents an effort to resolve the greatest challenge to the quality of online education
  • Learner discussions also included efforts to divide up tasks, manage time, and set goals in order to successfully complete group projects. As such they appeared to be indicators of online learner self and co-regulation, which can be viewed as the degree to which students in collaborative online educational environments are metacognitively, motivationally, and behaviorally active participants in the learning process (Winters & Azevedo, 2005).
  • the authors concluded that all the studies converged on advantageous outcomes for providing support for “metacognitive” learning strategies including self-reflection, self-explanation, and self-monitoring.
  • successfully orchestrating a dialogue demands fairly sophisticated skills. Conversational contributions need to be simultaneously parsed according to their disciplinary value, their location within the chain of collective argumentation, their relevance to the instructional goals, and their role as indicators of the student’s ongoing understanding. The outcome of this complex appraisal is a sense of the amount and quality of the guidance that specific contributions and the conversation as a whole require to support learning.” (Larreamendy-Joerns & Leinhardt, p. 591)
  • Zhao et al. also concluded that studies in which instructor interaction with students was medium to high resulted in better learning outcomes for online students relative to classroom learners.
  • Catherine Strattner on 18 Jul 12
     
    This article also addresses the relationships between each of the presences and proposes an additional presence- Learner Presence.
Sue Rappazzo

Teaching at an Internet Distance-----MERLOT - 1 views

web.archive.org/...tid_report.html

merlot elearning virtual education teaching Module 4

shared by Sue Rappazzo on 10 Jul 10 - Cached
Kelly Hermann liked it
  • Several of our speakers were able to shed light on the cause of this rising tide of faculty opposition to computer mediated instruction. Andrew Feenberg of San Diego State University summarizes the situation in the opening paragraph of his "Distance Learning: Promise or Threat" (1999) article: "Once the stepchild of the academy, distance learning is finally taken seriously. But not in precisely the way early innovators like myself had hoped. It is not faculty who are in the forefront of the movement to network education. Instead politicians, university administrations and computer and telecommunications companies have decided there is money in it. But proposals for a radical "retooling" of the university emanating from these sources are guaranteed to provoke instant faculty hostility."
    • Kelly Hermann
      Kelly Hermann on 19 Jul 10
       
      As a red-head, I'm just glad they didn't use the phrase "red-headed stepchild." LOL
  • The implementation of online education shows both promise and peril. Computer mediated instruction may indeed introduce new and highly effective teaching paradigms, but high-quality teaching is not always assured. Administrative decisions made without due consideration to pedagogy, or worse, with policies or technology that hampers quality, may cause much wasted time, money and effort of both faculty and students.
  • In training, a particular package of knowledge is imparted to an individual so that he or she can assume work within a system, as the firefighters do for example. According to Noble, training and education are appropriately distinguished in terms of autonomy (Noble, 1999). In becoming trained, an individual relinquishes autonomy. The purpose of education, as compared to training, is to impart autonomy to the student. In teaching students to think critically, we say in effect "Student, know thyself." Education is not just the transmission of knowledge, important as that is, but also has to do with the transformation of persons (and the development of critical thinking skills).
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • Does good teaching in the classroom translate to good teaching online? If so, what elements can be translated and which ones can't or shouldn't?
  • "The shared mantra of the faculty and staff during the development of this document was that "good teaching is good teaching!" An Emerging Set of Guiding Principles... is less about distance education and more about what makes for an effective educational experience, regardless of where or when it is delivered."
  • Good practice encourages student-faculty contact. Good practice encourages cooperation among students. Good practice encourages active learning. Good practice gives prompt feedback. Good practice emphasizes time on task. Good practice communicates high expectations. Good practice respects diverse talents and ways of learning.
  • Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of class is the most important factor in student motivation and involvement. Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on working. Knowing a few faculty members well enhances students' intellectual commitment and encourages them to think about their own values and future plans.
  • At first glance, teaching a class without the ability to see and hear the students in person appears daunting. The enlightened, quizzical, or stony facial expressions, the sighs of distress or gasps of wonder, and even the less-than-subtle raised hands or interjected queries that constitute immediate feedback to a lecture, discussion, or clinical situation are absent. Yet the proponents of online instruction will argue that these obstacles can be overcome, and that the online format has its own advantages. In the online experiences documented in the "Net.Learning" (www.pbs.org/netlearning/home.html) videotape, which our seminar viewed early in the year, Peggy Lant of the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo presented a striking example that occurred in her class' online discussion of civil war. One student's comments were especially gripping as she had just survived a civil war in her home country. Shy students who have trouble participating in a classroom discussion are said to feel more comfortable in an online setting. The ability to sit and think as one composes a question or comment also can raise the quality of the discussion. Susan Montgomery at the University of Michigan has developed an interactive website that addresses diverse learning styles through the use of multimedia (Montgomery, 1998).
  • Teachers, trainers, and professors with years of experience in classrooms report that computer networking encourages the high-quality interaction and sharing that is at the heart of education. ...(The) characteristics of online classes... generally result in students' contributing material that is much better than something they would say off the top of their heads in a face-to-face class. There is a converse side, however. Just after the passage above, Harasim cautions (Harasim et al. 1995) On the other hand, unless the teacher facilitates the networking activities skillfully, serious problems may develop. A conference may turn into a monologue of lecture-type material to which very few responses are made. It may become a disorganized mountain of information that is confusing and overwhelming for the participants. It may even break down socially into name calling rather than building a sense of community.
  • At what cost is this high degree of interaction, the need for which we suspect is student motivation and the professor's (online) attentiveness, achieved? In the previous section it was noted that charismatic professors of large (several hundred student) classes might indeed reach and motivate the students in the back row by intangible displays of attentiveness. Online, attentiveness must be tangible, and may involve more effort than in a face-to-face setting. These considerations imply an inherent limitation of online class size; size is determined by the amount of effort required to form a "community of learners."
  • Small class sizes and the linear dependence of effort on student numbers are indicative of the high level of interaction needed for high quality online teaching
  • The best way to maintain the connection [between online education and the values of traditional education] is through ensuring that distance learning is 'delivered' not just by CD ROMs, but by living teachers, fully qualified and interested in doing so online ... [P]repackaged material will be seen to replace not the teacher as a mentor and guide but the lecture and the textbook. Interaction with the professor will continue to be the centerpiece of education, no matter what the medium.
  • and Ronald Owston, who points out (Owston, 1997) "...we cannot simply ask 'Do students learn better with the Web as compared to traditional classroom instruction?' We have to realize that no medium, in and of itself, will likely improve learning in a significant way when it is used to deliver instruction. Nor is it realistic to expect the Web, when used as a tool, to develop in students any unique skills."
  • Facilitating Online Courses: A Checklist for Action The key concept in network teaching is to facilitate collaborative learning, not to deliver a course in a fixed and rigid, one-way format. Do not lecture. Be clear about expectations of the participants. Be flexible and patient. Be responsive. Do not overload. Monitor and prompt for participation. For assignments, set up small groups and assign tasks to them. Be a process facilitator. Write weaving comments every week or two... Organize the interaction. Set rules and standards for good netiquette (network etiquette)... Establish clear norms for participation and procedures for grading... Assign individuals or small groups to play the role of teacher and of moderator for portions of the course. Close and purge moribund conferences in stages... Adopt a flexible approach toward curriculum integration on global networks.
  • Sue Rappazzo on 10 Jul 10
     
    Love the step child reference!
  • ...3 more comments...
  • Sue Rappazzo on 10 Jul 10
     
    Have I not struggled with this throughout this course?!
  • Sue Rappazzo on 10 Jul 10
     
    Joy and I talked about this in discussions. I am now struggling with making a project mgr. aware of this at work. The vendor training online was boring so lets deliver it all in person. Junk is Junk online or in person!
  • Sue Rappazzo on 10 Jul 10
     
    That body language we mentioned in discussions this week in ETAP687
  • Sue Rappazzo on 10 Jul 10
     
    MERLOT-Teaching at internet distance
  • Sue Rappazzo on 10 Jul 10
     
    module 4 merlot
sherrilattimer

2001 Beder - 0 views

www.adulterc.org/...2001beder.htm

shared by sherrilattimer on 09 Jun 14 - No Cached
  • Their most commonly expressed intention was to meet learners' needs.
    • sherrilattimer
      sherrilattimer on 09 Jun 14
       
      Meeting learner's needs rather than challenging them to rise to find out more.
  • In contrast, the data from our 40 observations portrayed a type of instruction that was the near antithesis of learner-centered instruction. In each and every case the organizing unit of instruction was a teacher-prepared and teacher-delivered lesson. There was virtually no evidence of substantive learner input into decisions about instruction. Communication was overwhelmingly teacher-to-learner, learner-to-teacher. Learner-to-learner communication rarely occurred unless the teacher directed it to occur through such things as peer coaching exercises.
  • They enabled the teacher to determine if learners had "learned" the lesson and they supplemented the content of the lesson by reinforcing learners' correct responses and demonstrating the correct answer to learners whose responses were incorrect.
  • ...21 more annotations...
  • Although adult literacy teachers intend to be learner-centered they, teach in teacher-directed ways. Why? Although it could be that teachers were induced to teach in teacher-directed ways by supervisors or other forces, we found no evidence of this. Rather, we conclude that there two reasons. The first pertains to the socialization process that all teachers and learners are products of. The roles of teacher and student are two of the most intensely socialized roles in our society. The great majority of the teachers we observed were certified in K-12 education. For them, socialization into the teacher role began in grade school and continued through their teacher training. For learners, socialization into the student role also began in grade school and continued until they dropped out of school.
    • sherrilattimer
      sherrilattimer on 09 Jun 14
       
      This is so true! If you ask a random person to teach a lesson, they think it's about standing in front of the room and talking to the group. They will ask questions, and ask for "students" to raise their hand to answer.
  • We infer that teachers taught in teacher-directed ways because that that way of teaching was a deeply ingrained product of their socialization.
  • teachers believed that their learners were primarily motivated toward obtaining their GEDs, and the perceived benefits of doing so, in the shortest possible time
  • the amount of time available for instruction was relatively short in comparison to elementary, secondary or higher education. Thus teachers wanted to maximize efficiency and believed that teacher-directed, basic skills-oriented instruction was the best way of doing so.
  • the amount of time available for instruction was relatively short in comparison to elementary, secondary or higher education. Thus teachers wanted to maximize efficiency and believed that teacher-directed, basic skills-oriented instruction was the best way of doing so.
  • the amount of time available for instruction was relatively short in comparison to elementary, secondary or higher education. Thus teachers wanted to maximize efficiency and believed that teacher-directed, basic skills-oriented instruction was the best way of doing so.
  • the amount of time available for instruction was relatively short in comparison to elementary, secondary or higher education. Thus teachers wanted to maximize efficiency and believed that teacher-directed, basic skills-oriented instruction was the best way of doing so.
  • the amount of time available for instruction was relatively short in comparison to elementary, secondary or higher education. Thus teachers wanted to maximize efficiency and believed that teacher-directed, basic skills-oriented instruction was the best way of doing so.
  • the amount of time available for instruction was relatively short in comparison to elementary, secondary or higher education. Thus teachers wanted to maximize efficiency and believed that teacher-directed, basic skills-oriented instruction was the best way of doing so.
  • the amount of time available for instruction was relatively short in comparison to elementary, secondary or higher education. Thus teachers wanted to maximize efficiency and believed that teacher-directed, basic skills-oriented instruction was the best way of doing so.
  • the amount of time available for instruction was relatively short in comparison to elementary, secondary or higher education. Thus teachers wanted to maximize efficiency and believed that teacher-directed, basic skills-oriented instruction was the best way of doing so.
  • the amount of time available for instruction was relatively short in comparison to elementary, secondary or higher education. Thus teachers wanted to maximize efficiency and believed that teacher-directed, basic skills-oriented instruction was the best way of doing so.
  • the amount of time available for instruction was relatively short in comparison to elementary, secondary or higher education. Thus teachers wanted to maximize efficiency and believed that teacher-directed, basic skills-oriented instruction was the best way of doing so.
  • the amount of time available for instruction was relatively short in comparison to elementary, secondary or higher education. Thus teachers wanted to maximize efficiency and believed that teacher-directed, basic skills-oriented instruction was the best way of doing so.
  • the amount of time available for instruction was relatively short in comparison to elementary, secondary or higher education. Thus teachers wanted to maximize efficiency and believed that teacher-directed, basic skills-oriented instruction was the best way of doing so.
  • Most teachers maintained a helping posture in class. Thus, there appears to be a duality to the meaning teachers of adult literacy education ascribe to their teaching. While their instruction is teacher directed, their learner-centered values and beliefs are manifest in their affective relations with learners. In this sense, for adult literacy teachers being learner-centered is not a teaching technology or methodology. Rather, it is a set of values that guide teacher-learner interactions.
    • sherrilattimer
      sherrilattimer on 09 Jun 14
       
      This is the key to all of it for me, personally. I think all of this is true for my co-workers and me.
  • Teachers liberally praised learners for correct answers and rarely sanctioned learners negatively for such things as being tardy or tuning out.
    • sherrilattimer
      sherrilattimer on 09 Jun 14
       
      I JUST finished writing this exact thing about myself!!! Who would have thought that I fit into the research-based mold of an adult literacy instructor.
  • If teacher-directed instruction is indeed a product of intense and protracted socialization and commonly held beliefs about learners' motivations, then changing teacher-directed behavior will be a very difficult task, perhaps requiring re-socialization. Such an effort may be beyond the means of the current professional development system in adult literacy education.
    • sherrilattimer
      sherrilattimer on 09 Jun 14
       
      I think it is beyond the means of the current professional development system in adult literacy education because there is a high rate of turnover. I think once someone has a certain degree of skill or education, they are seeking out another position. I think this report should have been followed up/accompanied by a survey of the teachers.
  • Equipped for the Future (Stein 1999) advocates a form of adult literacy based on what learners need to do in their roles of worker, parent and citizen.
  • Gillespie (1989) advocates an instructional model for adult literacy that emphasizes critical thinking.
  • the amount of time available for instruction was relatively short in comparison to elementary, secondary or higher education
Amy M

Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0 (EDUCAUSE Review) | EDUC... - 0 views

www.educause.edu/...162420

shared by Amy M on 28 May 09 - Cached
  • 30 million people today qualified to enter a university who have no place to go. During the next decade, this 30 million will grow to 100 million. To meet this staggering demand, a major university needs to be created each week.
  • Open Educational Resources (OER) movement, which has provided free access to a wide range of courses and other educational materials to anyone who wants to use them.
  • Web 2.0,
    • jessica mascle
      jessica mascle on 28 May 09
       
      ?
    • Amy M
      Amy M on 04 Jun 12
       
      Web 1.0 was individuals accessing information.  Web 2.0 is the "social web."  Users focusing on social interaction rather than just getting conent.
  • ...26 more annotations...
  • from access to information toward access to other people.
  • What do we mean by “social learning”?
  • e that our understanding of content is socially constructed through conversations about that content and through grounded interactions, especially with others, around problems or actions. The focus is not so much on what we are learning but on how we are learning.5
  • Students in these groups can ask questions to clarify areas of uncertainty or confusion, can improve their grasp of the material by hearing the answers to questions from fellow students, and perhaps most powerfully, can take on the role of teacher to help other group members benefit from their understanding (one of the best ways to learn something is, after all, to teach it to others).
    • Shoubang Jian
      Shoubang Jian on 03 Jun 10
       
      The dichotomy between Cartesian and Social Learning is problematic, and this is one of the reasons why. If Social Learning still comes down to group learning from each other, it remains unclear what would be the "alternative" model of learning/teaching between group users, if not substance/pedagogy.
  • But viewing learning as the process of joining a community of practice reverses this pattern and allows new students to engage in “learning to be” even as they are mastering the content of a field.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 02 Jun 12
       
      Schools of Ed/teacher prep programs are being charged with providing "clinically rich" programs that engage candidates more actively, earlier, and more frequently in their program of study. This is proving to be difficult to actualize in the current wave of APPR uncertainty.
  • apprenticeship
  • open source movement
    • Shoubang Jian
      Shoubang Jian on 03 Jun 10
       
      Open Source Project may be a model for building up knowledge base among devoted users who are willing to follow the "path" set by predecessors. It is quite another issue whether it is a model for education.
  • Digital StudyHall (DSH)
    • Shoubang Jian
      Shoubang Jian on 03 Jun 10
       
      It's not clear in what sense this DSH method is an example of social learning.
  • We now need a new approach to learning—one characterized by a demand-pull rather than the traditional supply-push mode of building up an inventory of knowledge in students’ heads. Demand-pull learning shifts the focus to enabling participation in flows of action, where the focus is both on “learning to be” through enculturation into a practice as well as on collateral learning.
  • open participatory learning ecosystems
    • b malczyk
      b malczyk on 30 May 12
       
      Not only is it a matter of "if" such campuses are a possibility, but "should" such campuses be a priority. If online and distance education can yield at least comparable results to traditional academic settings, then their ease of accessibility and lower overhead costs warrant further exploration as a viable possibility.
  • “I think, therefore I am,” and from the assumption that knowledge is something that is transferred to the student via various pedagogical strategies, the social view of learning says, “We participate, therefore we are
  • provided students with opportunities to observe and then to emulate how experts function
    • b malczyk
      b malczyk on 30 May 12
       
      How does the open source idea fit with fields like medicine or chemistry where knowledge is less "socially constricted"? 
    • Amy M
      Amy M on 04 Jun 12
       
      Open Source/Access research.  One of the problems right now is that the NIH or fed government will pay for research, but the public then had to pay for the results of that research.  We are paying for the same research twice.  Open Access Journals (see Harvard Memo) hopes to change this.
  • seeking the knowledge when it is needed in order to carry out a particular situated task.
    • b malczyk
      b malczyk on 30 May 12
       
      Knowledge that is obtained when "needed" then answers the famous question many high school students ask their teachers, "When will I ever use this?" 
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 02 Jun 12
       
      I grew to see high school as a time for exposure to all disciplines in order to find what best suited one in preparation for college or the workplace. Now I am wondering if the multiplicity of disciplines will be "tailored" to fit the personal interests of the learner. Will differentiating for all eradicate the question Ben mentions?
  • all student writing was done on public blogs
    • b malczyk
      b malczyk on 31 May 12
       
      This form of education was also based on what could be called an industrial style of education. They education system became an extension of industry--students were passed along on the assembly line from one course to the next, year after year and came out a finished produce with similar skills and altitudes as their peers. Now education has and can become more narrow and niche based and less industrial.
  • This involves acquiring the practices and the norms of established practitioners in that field or acculturating into a community of practice.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 02 Jun 12
       
      This is the model embraced by most teacher ed programs.
    • Amy M
      Amy M on 04 Jun 12
       
      Which has its advantages and disadvantages. 
  • In this open environment, both the content and the process by which it is created are equally visible, thereby enabling a new kind of critical reading—almost a new form of literacy—that invites the reader to join in the consideration of what information is reliable and/or important.
  • And at the third level, any participant in Second Life could review the lectures and other course materials online at no cost. This experiment suggests one way that the social life of Internet-based virtual education can coexist with and extend traditional education.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 02 Jun 12
       
      Will the professions embrace as colleague one who excels in a non-credit course of study or will opportunities continue to be closed to those who don't present the "right" credentials?
  • Through these continuing connections, the University of Michigan students can extend the discussions, debates, bull sessions, and study groups that naturally arise on campus to include their broader networks. Even though these extended connections were not developed to serve educational purposes, they amplify the impact that the university is having while also benefiting students on campus.14 If King is right, it makes sense for colleges and universities to consider how they can leverage these new connections through the variety of social software platforms that are being established for other reasons.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 02 Jun 12
       
      I am wondering if "leveraging" these networks will become a basis for funding in the case of state colleges and universities.
  • he site’s developers note: “We fundamentally believe that the new electronic environment and its tools enable us to revive the humanistic spirit of communal and collaboratively ‘playful’ learning of which the Decameron itself is the utmost expression.”
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 02 Jun 12
       
      The notion of 'playful' learning is my ideal; this seems to be at odds with the test drill environment I am currently observing in grades 3 - 6. Currently, it seems as though there are two tracks developing in "Learning 2.0": assessment-driven and learner-driven.
  • As more of learning becomes Internet-based, a similar pattern seems to be occurring. Whereas traditional schools offer a finite number of courses of study, the “catalog” of subjects that can be learned online is almost unlimited. There are already several thousand sets of course materials and modules online, and more are being added regularly. Furthermore, for any topic that a student is passionate about, there is likely to be an online niche community of practice of others who share that passion.
  • that will support active, passion-based learning: Learning 2.0. This new form of learning begins with the knowledge and practices acquired in school but is equally suited for continuous, lifelong learning that extends beyond formal schooling.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 02 Jun 12
       
      Surely the content and skills currently being taught and assessed Pk-12 must give way to a new set of literacies.
  • In addition to supporting lecture-style teaching, Terra Incognita includes the capability for small groups of students who want to work together to easily “break off” from the central classroom before rejoining the entire class. Instructors can “visit” or send messages to any of the breakout groups and can summon them to rejoin the larger group.
  • CyberOne Classroom in Second Life
  • Jeanne Cousineau on 28 May 09
     
    Social View of Learning
Nicole Arduini-Van Hoose

Bringing Life to Online Instruction with Humor - 1 views

radicalpedagogy.icaap.org/...shatz.html

shared by Nicole Arduini-Van Hoose on 29 Jun 10 - Cached
  • Based on our experience using humor as an instructional strategy in traditional and online courses, we explain how instructors can incorporate humor into online courses
  • Of the personal dimensions of teaching, humor is the most human of them all. T
  • Humor is not a pedagogical panacea, and the mere inclusion of humor will not assure that learning will occur. I
  • ...26 more annotations...
  • The challenge for instructors teaching online courses is to learn to use humor to create interesting and inviting virtual learning environments while minimizing any potential pitfalls of humor as an instructional device
  • e, the educational purpose of the humor is the most important consideration. As a pedagogical device, humor can promote various objectives, such as to increase student interest and attention, facilitate the student-teacher relationship, provide students with a “mental break,” or promote the understanding and retention of a concept. In contrast to humorists, who gauge success by laughter, educators measure the effectiveness of humor by how it promotes learning. Although humor can be used to increase students’ overall enjoyment of the online experience, most of the humor incorporated into an online course should serve an instructional purpos
  • simpler forms of humor that would “bomb” in a comedy venue, such as word-play (e.g., puns, oxymorons) and clever or witty observations, can be used successfully in online course
  • nstructors recognize that potentially offensive humor, such as sexist or racist jokes, is not appropriate (Perlman & McCann, 1998). The safest target is the instructor, because self-deprecating humor avoids offending or alienating others, and allows students to view the teacher as more “human.
  • several ways that instructors can enhance visual humor for the online environment
  • journals devoted to humorous research (e.g., Journal of Polymorphous Perversity, Annals of Improbable Research).
  • Visual humor is especially effective in online courses, and cartoons, illustrations, and photographs, can easily be integrated throughout the course
  • e, we strongly encourage instructors to consider the guidelines for pedagogical humor mentioned in the previous section. First, does the humor promote an educational objective? Second, will the students understand and appreciate the humor? Third, is the target of the humor appropriate for the course?
  • For this type of humor to be effective, the visual punch line needs to be hidden behind a hyperlink.
  • We strongly believe that integrating personal photographs or “home movies” into online instruction adds a more personalized and intimate feel to the often sterile nature of online courses
  • use an extra-credit activity called the “Contributing Editor” that requires students to locate potential sources of humor on any course topic.
  • For instructors who are comfortable using humor in course examinations, there are several approaches for adding humor to multiple-choice tests. First, an additional distracter (e.g., choice “e”), such as a joke at the expense of the instructor, can be added to select items. Second, names that appear in items can be reformatted by inserting the instructor's name or creating fictitious names. Third, a “final” item can be added with the setup “The test is over and you...” with funny distracters targeted to the students, instructor, or course. (See Berk, 2000 for additional strategies for infusing humor into multiple-choice examinations.)
  • the most suitable joke formulas for the online course are word-play and exaggeration. A word-play joke involves the modification of a word, clichés, definition, common phrase, or concept. Examples of word-play pedagogical humor include silly names, funny unit subtitles, oxymorons, and factitious definitions. Word-play is a relatively simple form of humor, and instructors should expect smirks (or moans) rather than big laughs. Also, word-play jokes will only be successful when instructors follow the principle of “knowing your audience” (i.e., students must recognize the word, concept, or phrase that is being reformatted or embellished).
  • The final step of humor writing is to edit the joke by following the four principles of “aggressive editing” (Sankey, 1998)
  • The placement and duration of humor used in online lecture modules are critical to the flow of instruction.
  • Humor can allow students a brief “mental break” from an online lecture, and instructors can use transitions to illustrate a concept with topic-related tangents or self-deprecating stories.
  • ules as an opportunity to use humorous personal examples and commentary to expand on previously discussed lecture topics. By clearly identifying the tangent, students recognize that the rant is separate from the lecture
  • For a more detailed explanation of the techniques and principles of humor writing, instructors can refer to various comedy writing books (e.g., Carter, 2001; Helitzer & Shatz, 2005).
  • course, we strongly encourage instru
  • course, we strongly encourage instru
  • luding funny quotes, jokes, and cartoons, and in this section, we identify resources for locating pedagogical humor. When deciding which material to use for the online course, we strongly encourage instructors to c
  • we strongly encourage instructors to consider the guidelines for pedagogical humor mentioned in the previous section. First, does the humor promote an educational objective? Second, will the students understand and appreciate the humor? Third, is the target of the humor appropriate for the course? The Internet is the best resource for pedagogical humor, and although any search using a discipline and “humor” as descriptors will yield numerous web sites, we recommend more narrowly focused searches (i.e., “humor” and a specific discipline topic). Additional resources for pedagogical humor include supplemental instructional materials provided by book publishers and journals devoted to humorous research (e.g., Journal of Polymorphous Perversity, Annals of Improbable Research). When using humor from other sources, instructors need to adhere to copyright considerations. Visual humor is especially effective in online courses, and cartoons, illustrations, and photographs, can easily be integrated throughout the course. Although visual humor is usually self-contained (i.e., a caption or the illustration delivers the punch line), there are several ways that instructors can enhance visual humor for the online environment. Visuals, such as photographs or illustrations, can be used as a punch line for a joke. For example, when discussing the difficulty of course examinations, the setup would be “And this is how students often feel after an exam…” with a photograph or cartoon of frighten individuals delivering the punch line. For this type of humor to be effective,
  • we strongly encourage instructors to consider the guidelines for pedagogical humor mentioned in the previous section. First, does the humor promote an educational objective? Second, will the students understand and appreciate the humor? Third, is the target of the humor appropriate for the course? The Internet is the best resource for pedagogical humor, and although any search using a discipline and “humor” as descriptors will yield numerous web sites, we recommend more narrowly focused searches (i.e., “humor” and a specific discipline topic). Additional resources for pedagogical humor include supplemental instructional materials provided by book publishers and journals devoted to humorous research (e.g., Journal of Polymorphous Perversity, Annals of Improbable Research). When using humor from other sources, instructors need to adhere to copyright considerations. Visual humor is especially effective in online courses, and cartoons, illustrations, and photographs, can easily be integrated throughout the course. Although visual humor is usually self-contained (i.e., a caption or the illustration delivers the punch line), there are several ways that instructors can enhance visual humor for the online environment. Visuals, such as photographs or illustrations, can be used as a punch line for a joke. For example, when discussing the difficulty of course examinations, the setup would be “And this is how students often feel after an exam…” with a photograph or cartoon of frighten individuals delivering the punch line. For this type of humor to be effective,
  • we strongly encourage instructors to consider the guidelines for pedagogical humor mentioned in the previous section. First, does the humor promote an educational objective? Second, will the students understand and appreciate the humor? Third, is the target of the humor appropriate for the course? The Internet is the best resource for pedagogical humor, and although any search using a discipline and “humor” as descriptors will yield numerous web sites, we recommend more narrowly focused searches (i.e., “humor” and a specific discipline topic). Additional resources for pedagogical humor include supplemental instructional materials provided by book publishers and journals devoted to humorous research (e.g., Journal of Polymorphous Perversity, Annals of Improbable Research). When using humor from other sources, instructors need to adhere to copyright considerations. Visual humor is especially effective in online courses, and cartoons, illustrations, and photographs, can easily be integrated throughout the course. Although visual humor is usually self-contained (i.e., a caption or the illustration delivers the punch line), there are several ways that instructors can enhance visual humor for the online environment. Visuals, such as photographs or illustrations, can be used as a punch line for a joke. For example, when discussing the difficulty of course examinations, the setup would be “And this is how students often feel after an exam…” with a photograph or cartoon of frighten individuals delivering the punch line. For this type of humor to be effective,
  • ll the students unders
  • A wide range of hum
  • Sue Rappazzo on 29 Jun 10
     
    "The challenge for instructors teaching online courses is to learn to use humor to create interesting and inviting virtual learning environments while minimizing any potential pitfalls of humor as an instructional device. In a commentary noting the need for humor in online courses, James (2004) observed that "Because humor is one of the major traits of the best, most effective teachers, it is a characteristic that all teachers should want to hone, practice, and nurture, regardless of medium" "
  • Diane Gusa on 09 Jul 11
     
    Thinking back to our conversation on humor. (I was only a lurker in that conversation, but maybe now I have time to revisit this idea). Hope this adds to your thoughts.
  • Nicole Arduini-Van Hoose on 12 Jul 11
     
    explain how instructors can incorporate humor in an online course, the enhancement humor can bring, guidelines for locating, selecting, developing, and integrating humor into an online courses, and examples of humor in various online components.
Joan McCabe

Assessment Design and Cheating Risk in Online Instruction - 0 views

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assessment cheating proctored exams

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  • It would be a mistake to minimize the problem of cheating in f2f classes. Four stylized facts emerge from a survey of the literature on cheating in f2f undergraduate courses. First, cheating by college students is considered widespread (McCabe and Drinan 1999). For example, estimates from five studies of college students reporting having cheated at least once during their college career range from 65% to 100% (Stearns 2001), and Whitley (1998) reports an average of 70% from a review of forty-six studies.   Second, cheating by college students is becoming more rather than less of a problem. Estimates from five studies of the percentage of college students cheating at least once in their college career have been steadily rising over the period 1940 to 2000 (Jensen, Arnett et al. 2002). A study administered in 1964 and replicated in 1994 focused on the incidence of serious cheating behaviors (McCabe, Trevion et al. 2001). This study reported that the incidence of serious cheating on written assignments was unchanged at 65-66%, but the incidence of serious cheating on exams increased from 39% to 64%.  Third, the format of assessment is correlated with cheating. Whitley (1998) reviewed 107 studies of cheating by students over the span of their college courses (published since 1970), and reported that from 10 studies a mean estimate of 47% for cheating by plagiarism, from 37 studies a mean estimate of 43% for cheating on exams, and from 13 studies a mean estimate of 41% for cheating on homework. Fourth, student characteristics of age and GPA are negatively correlated with cheating.  Whitley (1998) reviewed 107 studies on college cheating (published since 1970), and found 16 studies reporting a small negative correlation between GPA and cheating and 10 studies reporting a negative correlation between age and cheating.
  • In the growing literature about online instruction there are two opposing views on the integrity of assessments. One view is that cheating is as equally likely to occur in the f2f format as in the online format of instruction.
  • The alternative view is that proctored exams are the only way to protect the integrity of grades by guaranteeing both that a substitute is not taking the exam and that students are not working together on an exam.
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  • Summary and Conclusions This study reports three principle findings.  First, from a survey of student opinion it is reported that 59% believe that the frequency of cheating is the same in both the online and the f2f instructional format. The proportion is significantly greater than 50% at the .05 level. It is also reported that the responses to the question of cheating and instructional format are significantly different depending on whether the student came from an online class or a f2f class, but only at a p-value of .1060.  Recalling the literature review in Table 1, which reported mixed findings by previous empirical studies, an interesting implication for future research is whether student experience with each instructional format influences student perceptions of differences in the frequency of cheating. Second, on proctoring and the frequency of cheating on essay exams and multiple choice exams, it is reported that roughly half of the respondents perceive unproctored assessments as having greater cheating risk than the same assessment in a proctored format, and half think they have equal cheating risk. These findings are consistent with the conventional perception that in a side by side comparison of two courses with comparable content and predominately multiple choice exam assessments, the course with unproctored exams is viewed as having greater cheating risk. Third, in our analysis of assessment design in 20 online courses it is reported that 70% base roughly half the course grade on unproctored multiple choice exams.     These findings imply that online courses, which have unproctored multiple choice exams, can reduce perceived cheating risk by proctoring some of their multiple choice exams without significantly altering the original mix of assessment types. Gresham’s Law suggests that online courses debased by assessment designs with high cheating risk will displace courses with relatively lower cheating risk. Institutions of higher education tone deaf to the issue of proctoring online multiple choice assessments may understandably find other institutions reluctant to accept these courses for transfer credit.  The benefit of proctoring is not without cost.  A proctored exam limits the spatial and the asynchronous dimensions of online instruction, which may have been the core reason the student enrolled in the online. These costs can be mitigated to some extent by early announcement of the time and date of the exam, by allowing for some flexibility of time of exam, and by permitting use of alternate certified proctoring centers. The costs to individual instructors are formidable but there are potentially significant economies of scale to be realized by integration of online courses with an existing system that administers proctoring of exams for f2f classes.  Proctoring of some multiple choice exam assessments will reduce cheating risk. The elephant in the room, however, is the cheating risk on non-exam unproctored assessments (for example term papers, essays, discussion, and group projects). These are widely used in f2f instruction and, as online instruction evolves, will likely become equally widely used in online courses. These assessments are valuable because they encourage learning by student-to-student and student-to-faculty interactions, and because they measure Bloom’s higher levels of learning. These assessments have higher cheating risk than proctored multiple choice exams. These assessments, more so than multiple choice exams, challenge the ability of faculty and administration to inspire students to behave ethically and to refrain from academic misconduct.
  • Joan McCabe on 21 Jun 12
     
    Two views on online assessment. Student and teacher opinions on online assessment. How to reduce cheating.
Irene Watts-Politza

E Pedagogy - 2 views

www.scribd.com/...E-Pedagogy

online learning pedagogy androgogy heutagogy

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  •   E-Pedagogy: Does e-learning require a new pedagogy?  5 The emergence of e-learning  As part of the technological revolution, the use of e-learning, or blended learning, isincreasing. This is particularly true of Higher Education, which offers most programmespartly or wholly online. In the future, e-learning is likely to be more widely used in thetertiary and school sectors. Another driver for e-learning is life-long learning, whichrequires on-going training and re-training of the adult workforce.In many cases, e-learning is delivered through a virtual learning environment (VLE),which is a custom built environment designed for online learning. VLEs, such as  Blackboard and Moodle , typically provide all of the software tools required for onlinelearning such as communication and file sharing facilities. These environments are oftenmodelled around the traditional campus, providing ‘virtual staff rooms’ and ‘onlinecommon rooms’. E-portfolios provide the digital equivalent to the traditional paperportfolio; these typically provide online storage for a range of media types (such asdrawings, photos and videos). Dedicated e-assessment systems, such as Questionmark ,facilitate large-scale online testing, providing many of the question types that arefamiliar to teachers.Some academics have pointed out the potential of e-learning to improve current practice.Garrison and Anderson (2003) write:“E-learning has significantpotential to alter the nature of theteaching and learning transaction.In fact, it has caused us to face upto some of the current deficienciesof higher education, such as largelecturers, while providing somepossible solutions or ways tomitigate these shortcomings. Seenas part of pedagogical solution, e-learning becomes an opportunity toexamine and live up to the ideals of the educational transactiondescribed previously.” New learning opportunities The changing environment facilitates new kinds of learning. Teachers have traditionallyfocussed on content; indeed, many consider the identification and delivery of learningmaterial to be their prime role. But it has been argued that the traditional skill of contentcreation is redundant in the information-rich learning environment. Some of this contentis very high quality, even world class, and certainly superior to a hurriedly producedhandout of the type often used by busy teachers.It has been suggested that the contemporary teacher should be more “guide on the side”than “sage on the stage”. The ready availability of information makes  facilitation moreimportant than direction . The pedagogic issue is not too little information but too much:the contempora
  • changing learning landscape poses fundamental epistemological questions about thenature of knowledge and how it is acquired. Dede (2008) writes: “In the Classicalperspective, knowledge consists of accurate interrelationships among facts, based onunbiased research that produces compelling evidence about systematic causes […]Epistemologically, a single right answer is believed to underlie each phenomenon […]The epistemology that leads to validity of knowledge in Web 2.0 media such as Wikipedia  is peer review from people seen, by the community of contributors, as having unbiasedperspectives. Expertise involves understanding disputes in detail and proposingsyntheses that are widely accepted by the community
  • hatever new theory of learning emerges in thenext decade, it will likelybuild upon thesepedagogie
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • George Siemens introduced this theory in his paper Connectivism: Learning as networkcreation (2004) to address “the shortcomings of behaviourist, cognivitist andconstructivist ideologies”.Connectivism conceptualises knowledge and learning as a network, consisting of nodesand connections. Knowledge, at any point in time, is a particular (probably temporary)configuration of nodes and connections (a sub-network). Learning creates newconnections between existing nodes (changes to existing knowledge) and/or creates newnodes (entirely new knowledge). Learning, therefore, is about network (node andconnection) creation.His theory differentiates between data, information, knowledge and meaning: •   Data : raw elements •   Information : data with intelligence applied •   Knowledge : information in context and internalised •   Meaning : comprehension of the nuances, value and implications of knowledge.“Learning is the process that occurs when knowledge is transformed into something of meaning.”Connectivism embraces eight principles:1.   Learning and knowledge rest in diversity of opinion.2.   Learning is a process of connecting specialised nodes or information sources.3.   Learning may reside in non-human applicances.4.   Capacity to know is more important that what is currently known.5.   Maintaining connections is needed for continual learning. (function() { var pageParams = {"origHeight": 1276, "origWidth": 902, "fonts": [3, 1, 2, 4, 0], "pageNum": 9}; pageParams.containerElem = document.getElementById("outer_page_9"); pageParams.contentUrl = "http://html2.scribdassets.com/4o2mjijnuo850n3/pages/9-7fefce237b.jsonp"; var page = docManager.addPage(pageParams); })(); Scribd.Ads.addBetweenPageUnit(9);   E-Pedagogy: Does e-learning require a new pedagogy? left: 3830px; top: 276px; color
  • Rote learning of factual information, which typifies behaviourism, isvalueless when students are one click away from Google and Wikipedia. The “teacher-knows-best” idiom of cognivitism is questionable in a time of “the wisdom of the crowd”.The constructivist approach (and, particularly, social constructivism) appears to be abetter fit for 21st century learning – but needs to be updated to embrace the modernlearning environment that includes virtual worlds such as Second Life. ‘Connectivism’,‘E-moderating’, ‘E-Learning 2.0’ and ‘Assessment 2.0’ may not provide the answer – butdo highlight the problems with the status quo and emphasise the need for a newapproach to teaching, learning and assessment
  • Maria Guadron on 01 Jun 12
     
    "Does e-learning require a new approach to teaching and learning?" This is an interesting paper about pedagogical approaches to e-learning and e-teaching. Do you believe we need a new approach for online learning? What is your pedagogical approach to e-learning and e-teaching?
  • Maria Guadron on 01 Jun 12
     
    What is your pedagogical approach to e-learning and e-teaching?
Irene Watts-Politza

Teachers' Invisible Presence in Net-based Distance Education | Hult | The International... - 0 views

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distance education teachers university research teacher presence

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  • The stance taken in this paper, then, is constructivist – that conversation is learning in the making.
  • Any conversation, that is, draws on heteroglossia (Bakhtin’s neologism) – pools of different ideas whose elements, when exchanged, foster learning. According to Bakhtin, every utterance has a double significance. It is an expression of a 'unitary [common] language' used to conduct the conversation and, at the same time, it builds on the 'social and historical' differences embedded in the heteroglossia (1981, p. 272).
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 07 Jun 12
       
      This is what happens in a discussion thread.
  • Yuri Lotman,
  • ...28 more annotations...
  • described conversations as multi-authored texts rather than as multi-voiced heteroglossia (see Bakhtin, 1994,
  • texts “fulfill at least two basic functions:
  • fulfilled best when the codes of the speaker and the listener most completely coincide and, consequently, when the text has the maximum degree of univocality” (1988, p. 34). The generation of new meanings occurs when there are differences between the speaker and the listener. Texts used in educational exchanges cease:
  • online adult education is not the delivery of texts but, rather, the creation and insertion of ‘thinking devices’ into conversation.
  • For this article we have concentrated on teacher and student views of teachers’ role orientations in online courses.
  • our intention has been to identify and clarify teaching ‘saliences’ that have emerged in online adult education in Sweden. In a wider sense, however, our analysis is also a response to the question: ‘Whatever happened to teaching in the learning society?’
  • the posting data support the claim that the teachers adopted an initiating role.
  • Greater activity:
  • Greater influence on topic:
  • Faster response times:
  • When asked about their views, all students felt that teachers played a central role in supporting Net-based learning. Indeed, some of them suggested that moderation in online settings of adult education is more important than in face-to-face settings.
  • Orientations to Teaching
  • Activity Orientation
  • In this perspective, teachers gave students tasks that activated them and, thereby, fostered their understanding of subject matter.
  • offered students tips about articles, books and Internet sites
  • Some students spoke about being activated by stimulating tasks that led them to engage with the Web and libraries, with one of them adding ‘seeking by your self is a pre-condition for learning.’ Active searching also meant that students came into contact with information which extended their learning beyond the task itself.
  • None of the teachers, however, was entirely satisfied with their dialogic or conference practice. Levels of engagement, dialogue, and initiative-taking were not as high as they had hoped. In response, they tried to promote conversation by encouraging students to react to each other’s postings, by organising tasks where cooperation and interaction was needed, or by introducing new aspects and questions when discussion faltered.
  • Further, teachers reported that they also tried to act as models of good behaviour by giving swift replies to student postings and by making their own postings appropriate yet concise.
  • In contrast to the teachers most of the student group were satisfied with the course conversations.
  • A few
  • felt that sharing different aspects of the subject matter with the teacher and fellow students raised fresh questions. It made them reach beyond the book, evoking learning and thinking along new pathways. Even if they thought that well-chosen tasks were the most effective way of fostering dialogue, they also expected the course leader to participate fully, developing new themes if student postings declined, and remaining alert to student proposals that might enhance the interchange of ideas and knowledge.
  • Many students emphasised the importance of teaching that corroborated or validated their learning.
  • None of the teachers, however, spontaneously offered this view as their primary role or orientation. Nevertheless, when asked whether they had any correspondence with students through private mailboxes rather than ‘conferences’ and ‘cafes,’ some of them said that they occasionally responded privately to correct misinterpretations.
  • This task raises many questions about teaching, highlighting the difference, for example, between instructionist and constructionist paradigms for learning (Wilensky, 1991). Would a too well-planned course be instructionist, thus constraining student influence and the pursuit of democracy? In their postings, teachers in this study felt that there was no necessary contradiction – that well-planned courses could, indeed, strengthen student influence. Nevertheless, busy distance education students, according to the teachers, often appreciate instructionist courses with clearly stated activities and tasks, even if the students are left with limited opportunities to ‘construct their own relationships with the objects of knowledge’ (Wilensky, 1991, p. 202).
  • Teacher’s invisible presence is exemplified in taking a stand-by role and/ or being reluctant to intervene. ‘The [teachers’] silence should be deafening,’ one teacher recommended. Although most of the teachers agreed that well-planned courses do not inhibit course dialogue, the fact that in their own online course deliberations they set aside time to discuss this issue may reflect ambivalence in their stance. The question of when and how teachers should intervene remains impossible to resolve, except in practice.
  • three different aspects of teaching,
  • a second conclusion – that the promotion of learning in an open environment requires an animating or steering presence. Such teaching, however, is not a process of instruction. And for this reason the word teacher may no longer be appropriate. In English, the word tutor is commonly used in adult education, because it has connotations of ‘supervision’ and ‘guardianship’ as well as ‘instruction’ (see Oxford English Dictionary). More recently, Salmon has suggested ‘e-moderating,’ but even moderation carries instructionist connotations – to exercise a controlling influence over; to regulate, restrain, control, rule (OED) – that may not be appropriate to all forms of liberal education. In the context of mainland Europe, the word pedagogue may be appropriate since, etymologically, pedagogue denotes someone engaged in 'drawing out.'
  • Intellectual development, however, can be an intra- as well as an inter-personal phenomenon. That is, learning may not come directly from teachers but rather from their absent or invisible presence. Online pedagogues, therefore, can be present in different ways. They may be present in person, participating in learning conversations. They may constitute an absent presence that, nonetheless, is embodied in the learning resources directed towards students (e.g., the selected readings or activities). Or pedagogues may exist merely as inner voices, inherited from the language of others, that (invisibly) steer the desires, self-regulation, and self-direction of learners. Indeed, this last pedagogic position ‘auto-didacticism,’ has always been central to the post-Enlightenment ideals of liberal adult education.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 07 Jun 12
       
      Here's the money.
  • Irene Watts-Politza on 07 Jun 12
     
    Swedish study of university student and professor attitudes toward satisfaction with and definition of teacher presence in online adult learning. Implications for course design with respect to knowing one's audience.
Irene Watts-Politza

Online Teaching Effectiveness: A Tale of Two Instructors | Gorsky | The International R... - 0 views

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  • We propose, as have others (i.e., Shea, Pickett, & Pelz, 2003), that the community of inquiry model (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000) reflects the principles of good practice in undergraduate education and can accurately quantify them.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 07 Jun 12
       
      Go, Dr. Pickett!
  • issues of pedagogy, dialogue, and interaction
  • guide the coding of transcripts.
  • ...22 more annotations...
  • Social presence is the perceived presence of others in mediated communication (Rourke, Garrison, & Archer, 1999), which Garrison et al. (2000) contend supports both cognitive and teaching presence through its ability to instigate, to sustain, and to support interaction. It had its genesis in the work of John Dewey and is consistent with all theoretical approaches to learning in higher education.
  • Teaching presence is defined as “the design, facilitation and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing [students’] personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile outcomes” (Anderson et al., 2001, p.5). Vygotsky’s (1978) scaffolding analogies illustrate an assistive role for teachers in providing instructional support to students from their position of greater content knowledge. Although many authors recommend a “guide on the side” approach to moderating student discussions, a key feature of this social cognition model is the adult, the expert, or the more skilled peer who scaffolds a novice’s learning
  • Shea, Pickett, & Pelz , 2004
  • Each category of a tutor’s presence is vital to learning and to the establishment of the learning community; tutors' behavior must be such that they are seen to be “posting regularly, responding in a timely manner and modeling good online communication and interaction” (Palloff & Pratt, 2003, p.118). Without an instructor’s explicit guidance and “teaching presence,” students were found to engage primarily in “serial monologues” (Pawan et al., 2003). Baker (2004) discovered that “instructor immediacy, i.e., teaching presence (Rourke et al., 1999), was a more reliable predictor of effective cognitive learning than whether students felt close to each other. Studies have demonstrated that instructor participation in threaded discussion is critical to the development of social presence (Shea, Li, Swan, & Pickett, 2005; Swan & Shih, 2005) and sometimes not fully appreciated by online faculty (Liu, Bonk, Magjuka, Lee, & Su, 2005). Shea, Li, and Pickett (2006) proposed that teaching presence – viewed as the core role of the online instructor – is a promising mechanism for developing learning community in online environments.
  • students ranked instructor modeling as the most important element in building online community, while instructors ranked it fourth.
  • Shea (2006), who completed an extensive study of teaching presence and online learning, concluded that two categories (“design” and “directed facilitation”) sufficed to define the construct.
  • Kalman, Ravid, Raban, and Rafaeli (2006) argued that interactivity is an essential characteristic of effective online communication and plays an important role in keeping message threads and their authors together. Interactive communication (online as well as in traditional settings) is engaging, and loss of interactivity results in a breakdown of the communicative process.
  • Research indicates the existence of a relationship between learners’ perceptions of social presence and their motivation for participation in online discussions (Weaver & Albion, 2005).
  • Northrup (2002) found that online learners felt it was important for instructors to promote collaboration and conversation. When interactive activities are carefully planned, they lead not only to greater learning but also to enhanced motivation (Berge 1999; Northrup, 2002).
  • Researchers have suggested that timing of messages can serve as a proxy for a sense of social presence (Blanchard, 2004), as an indication of attentiveness (Walther & Bunz, 2005) or respect (Bargh & McKenna, 2004), and as a clue to the sociability of a community (Maloney-Krichmar & Preece, 2005). As such, the frequency of messages may serve as a signal for how engaged participants are with the community.
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 07 Jun 12
       
      Agreed.
  • Eom found that the most significant factors for increasing student satisfaction with online classes are paying attention to students and responding to their concerns.
  • The highly esteemed instructor was especially active from semester midpoint to semester end; she more than doubled her active participation in both teaching presence (especially discourse and instruction) and social presence (all three categories).
  • the lack of specific, progressively structured inquiry tasks and/or the lack of facilitation skills (teaching presence/facilitating discourse) may have contributed to the relatively limited occurrences of cognitive presence.
  • something else accounted for the extreme satisfaction and dissatisfaction experienced by students in the two forums. The something else may be the two exceptional events that occurred during the third month: The instructor held in low esteem became nearly dysfunctional, while the highly esteemed instructor exhibited very high teacher presence and social presence (see Table 3 and 4).
  • Shea, Pickett, and Pelt (2003) found that students’ perceived teacher presence also correlates with perceived learning as well as with students’ satisfaction with the forum. This correlation points to the tentative conclusion that teaching presence affords learning by setting a convenient climate.
  • we suggest that students’ perceived learning in course forums has a significant impact on their participation
  • the table is suggestive of the eventual possibility of having an “objective” tool for evaluating the quality of a given forum.
  • (Anderson et al., 2001).
  • Teaching effectiveness may be defined as how an instructor can best direct, facilitate, and support students toward certain academic ends, such as achievement and satisfaction. Teaching effectiveness has been investigated extensively in traditional classrooms for more than seven decades (for a meta-analysis of empirical studies from 1995-2004, see Seidel & Shavelson, 2007). Over the past five years, research has become directed toward teaching effectiveness in online or virtual classes. As a preface to our study, we discuss findings and conclusions concerning teaching effectiveness in traditional classrooms.
  • Journal Help ISSN: 1492-3831 Journal Content Search All Authors Title Abstract Index terms Full Text Browse By Issue By Author By Title User Username Password Remember me Article Tools Abstract Print this article Indexing metadata How to cite item Review policy Email this article (Login required) Email the author (Login required) Post a Comment (Login required) Font Size Make font size smaller Make font size default Make font size larger SUBSCRIBE TO MAILING LIST 5,591  subscribers Select Language​▼ function googleTranslateElementInit() { new google.translate.TranslateElement({ pageLanguage: 'en', autoDisplay: false, layout: google.translate.TranslateElement.InlineLayout.SIMPLE }, 'google_translate_element'); } Home About Register Archives Announcements Resources Submissions http://www.irrodl.org/
  • One of the most widely cited sources for teacher effectiveness in traditional classrooms is Chickering and Gamson (1987), who suggested seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education.
  • encourages student-faculty contact, encourages cooperation among students, encourages active learning, gives prompt feedback, emphasizes time on task, communicates high expectations, respects diverse talents and ways of learning.
Diane Gusa

Relational Context of Teaching - 3 views

relationalcontextofteaching.edublogs.org

shared by Diane Gusa on 07 Jun 11 - No Cached
Kristen Della liked it
  • He continues that we can face the future with confidence if we know how to teach ourselves, read between the subjective lines of media, process the vast amount of information that will be available, work collaboratively, and reaching for resources that will expand our capacities – for example a resource like this course!!
  • I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do, provided he keeps doing them until he gets a record of successful experience behind him.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 07 Jun 11
       
      You can do this!!! You are doing this diane!!! Thank you for being brave and persisting. you just made my day!! : )
  • However, to be part of the social network and be actively involve citizens, each must become life-long learners. 
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 07 Jun 11
       
      ... and like it or not life is now technology mediated. No matter who you end up being "when you grow up" if you are not comfortable with technology, can't assess/evaluate information, can't find information when you need it, you will be at a disadvantage.
    • Diane Gusa
      Diane Gusa on 17 Jun 11
       
      I agree. I am concern for the students who are not exposed to this technology. In our district, the computer teacher was laid off, yet we kept all the coaches/sports. Adults, who are not on board with the technological needs of their students, are the ones making these decisions.
  • ...25 more annotations...
  • Eleanor Roosevelt
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 07 Jun 11
       
      don't forget to self-assess!
  • I am going to give this blog a 3.
  • Teacher presence
  • June 21st,
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 22 Jun 11
       
      diane: the blogging assignment for module 2 was due on june 19th.
  • What I would like is to have the option of posting and assessing it as NG (no grade)
    • Donna Angley
      Donna Angley on 23 Jun 11
       
      I too feel that the blog area should be a little more relaxed. I like your idea of a NG post. I'm wondering if you could create a separate "page" just for social commentary. Just a thought.
  • Finally, I carefully considers there are no place where Alex might say “can you tell me more”
    • Donna Angley
      Donna Angley on 23 Jun 11
       
      It's okay if Alex asks you to elaborate a little more, that's the role of the instructor if the students aren't providing enough feedback.
  • Since our blogs are shared work-spaces, we are suppose to engage in collaborative reflective discourses,  creating a shared understanding, leading to collaborative knowledge
    • Donna Angley
      Donna Angley on 23 Jun 11
       
      Yes, it has taken me a while to figure all this out as well. I never take the straight path from point A to point B. I always take the detour, but I do get there eventually :-)
  • Dewey states: “I assume that amid all uncertainties there is one permanent frame of reference: namely the organic connection between education and personal experience. (Dewey 1939:25).
    • Donna Angley
      Donna Angley on 23 Jun 11
       
      Dewey was a great believer in the connection between the educational system and the social community. "It was forgotten that to become integral parts of the child's conduct and chracter they must be assimilated; not as mere items of information, but as organic parts of his present needs and aims -- which in turn are social" (Dewey). In his book, The School and Society, he talks about the deep connection between home and school, between home and work, and the importance of the school as the connector.
  • pay attention
    • Donna Angley
      Donna Angley on 02 Jul 11
       
      I had a doctor describe ADD very aptly to me. He said think about your child's surroundings as radio waves. Your child is picking up every radio wave that is out there and he does not have the ability to ignore any of it. When my son was 11 he described his inability to understand things in school like this: it's like I'm looking through a window that is foggy. I can see, but it's not clear enough to make sense.
    • Diane Gusa
      Diane Gusa on 09 Jul 11
       
      This was a good explanation of ADD. Do you know that there is a college that is set up for ADD students? It is called Landmark College and it is a remarkable place!
  • then I go on an adventure and troll through the internet and my books to satisfy my desire to learn. I continue, immerse in my hyper-focus state of mind, until I feel that I have a deep understanding of whatever I am exploring.
    • Donna Angley
      Donna Angley on 02 Jul 11
       
      This is a good thing; it's what online learning is all about. I realize it's probably frustrating to you because you focus so intensely on what you're doing, but I definitely see your presence in this course, so I wouldn't worry that you're not interacting enough. Just for the record, 12 posts is difficult for me as well when you consider how much research goes into each one.
  • I will investigate and use group Wikis
    • Donna Angley
      Donna Angley on 02 Jul 11
       
      I've decided to have my students use Wiki as well for a group project. I think it will be a good learning activity and will give them the opportunity to collaborate outside of the forum. They will be writing their own short stories in small groups.
  • detailed rubric
    • Donna Angley
      Donna Angley on 02 Jul 11
       
      I need to create a rubric for my "Book Club" forum. Any suggestions for where to start? Do I reinvent the wheel, or are there sites that have pre-fabricated rubrics that can be tweaked to fit my needs?
    • Diane Gusa
      Diane Gusa on 04 Jul 11
       
      Hi Donna, Whenever youi can do not reinvent the wheel. I am going to post either today or tomorrow a post on building a rubric. First I need to see what Alex wants us to do
  • plan on using Alex’s rubric for my instructional design,
    • Donna Angley
      Donna Angley on 02 Jul 11
       
      Can we do this, just borrow a rubric from somebody else? That would be awesome, but I don't want to plagarize anything.
    • Diane Gusa
      Diane Gusa on 04 Jul 11
       
      I prefer to think I synthesize....I always search the internet for "ideas" for my rubrics and course syllabi.
    • ian august
      ian august on 17 Jul 11
       
      Hey diane, sometimes I never know when I am ready to write. I thought I had the pattern down. Read the material, take notes, reflect and research on what interests or inspres me, but this module I was not ready to blog and i started writing something, and some crazy stuff just came out. It might have been the two best blog posts of the semester. 
    • ian august
      ian august on 17 Jul 11
       
      Give this women a thousand points for quoting me :)!!
    • Diane Gusa
      Diane Gusa on 30 Jul 11
       
      Yes Ian I have learned much from you all. I also could use the 1,000 points! :)
    • ian august
      ian august on 17 Jul 11
       
      While i agree with you I think I would not push myself sometimes if I wasnt forced. I might have chosen to slack instead of worked when I was tired or busy with life.  Do you think you can use different models of teaching with different students in the same class?
    • Kimberly Barss
      Kimberly Barss on 29 Jul 11
       
      I agree with Ian...it reminds me of doing sports in high school. If my coach didn't push us harder and harder we wouldn't ever have been successful! Alex is our coach and we can either choose to step up to the plate and work our butts off or we can sit on the bench and let the game, or in this case the learning, pass us by!
    • Kimberly Barss
      Kimberly Barss on 29 Jul 11
       
      On a side note, I loved kung fu panda!!
  • I am saddened and concern for the positivist, behaviorist methods she employs and models. I
    • Donna Angley
      Donna Angley on 19 Jul 11
       
      I don't understand this comment.
    • Diane Gusa
      Diane Gusa on 17 Aug 11
       
      This was base on reading only half of the rubric...
  • poor grade.
    • Donna Angley
      Donna Angley on 19 Jul 11
       
      This is the second time you've brought up this issue. The way I see, Alex is the instructor, and she has designed a course with rubrics. I really don't see that the rubrics are that difficult to understand. I understand you wanting to get an "A" but if you want the "A" you have to work hard for it. If your life circumstances prevent you from doing what she considers the fair amount of work, that's not her problem. I don't feel an instructor should change the syllabus or rubrics for every student that complains about the work load, unless the instructor has received numerous complaints. I think that perhaps you have a lot on your plate right now, atleast that's the feeling I get from reading some of your posts. I can understand that, I've been through a lot myself this semester. However, it's unfair to expect Alex to change the point system just for you. May I suggest something: Clearly you are a hard working student, but circumstances are obviously preventing you from putting in the amount of work needed to earn an "A." Just accept that and work toward a "B" which is a perfectly acceptable grade. Take the pressure off of yourself. It's just a grade. A year or two from now it won't matter. All that will matter is that you learned about online teaching and came away with a robust course that you can teach. I think that's a good deal.
    • Diane Gusa
      Diane Gusa on 30 Jul 11
       
      Donna My comment is a pedagogical one and not an attack on Alex. The point I may not be making clearly, why the number 12? I am not the only student who has stated that a post takes several hours. Does Alex require this? No. Why I take this time is because of the quality I expect to bring to the discussion forum. I was not posting prior knowlege, but new understandings. Learning takes time and the #12 does not seem to recognize this time. I again do not see "choice" in this rubric. I agree the knowlege is the goal, and I have no problem with what I have learned and will continue to learn. However, with the exception of the last grading I have not gotten a "B" but failed every discussion forum except the last. Yes I was teaching a summer online course. I also have home responisblilites. These were stresses, but not obstacles. According to the expectations we were expected to do ~ 45 hours in class work and 100+ hours building our course. I don't know about you but the class work I have done over 150 hours just in class work. Finally, why do I bring this argument up for a second time. It is not for Alex to change; but for you all in this class to not simply copy and use Alex's rubric in your own courses. That is why I speak out.
    • Diane Gusa
      Diane Gusa on 17 Aug 11
       
      Again if I had scrolled down I would have seen that 12 posts were not required.
  • In the future I will build my course off line,
    • Donna Angley
      Donna Angley on 30 Jul 11
       
      Good idea!
  • when a student finally understands that their discussions need to encompass teaching, cognitive engagement, and social presence, then the discussion forum truly becomes a awesome learning tool!!!!!!  
    • Donna Angley
      Donna Angley on 30 Jul 11
       
      I guess that's what it's all about in the end. I'm not sure all online students understand this concept when they first delve into it. I've actually added a resource that explains the generalities of social learning theory and the students part in it.
  • Alex, my  Shifu, has diligently pushed me down the road of online pedagogy. There were many times when I landed hard and bounced a few times. However, just like the panda, I too will become capable in my bumbling ways. I too realize there is no secret ingredients in 21st century teaching….it still is best practices in education with technology embedded in it.
    • alexandra m. pickett
      alexandra m. pickett on 05 Aug 11
       
      i TOTALLY LOVE this image : ) thank you! : )
  • I have changed in many ways as a result of this class. I am now and will continue to be a blogger, and use blogs  as one way to facilitate learning for my students. I understand the Community of inquiry approach, and have now created a rubric for my discussion forums that reflect the elements of teacher, cognitive, and social presence. I was fortunate to be teaching online as I took this class, and I observed my discussion forums going from conversations to dialogue that exhibit depth of learning. I have observed the pedagogy of my professor and will incorporate similar ways of interacting with my students, using the tools that web 2.0 affords me. I have moved from having little enthusiasm for online learning to embracing it as an essential medium for learning.  
  • I will do this because I care about their learning.
  • I knew I needed this course to become the better online teacher, what I didn’t know was the transformative change  that I would experience this summer.
  • ulnerability, especially with the knowledge that their efforts will be evaluated by their instructor.
lkryder

Minding the Knowledge Gap - 0 views

www.aft.org/...christodoulou.cfm

facts knowlege short term memory long term memory schema thinking learning

shared by lkryder on 16 Jun 14 - No Cached
  • In the meantime, I've written a book, from which this article is drawn, about all that I've learned from my research. In my book, I focus on what I identify as seven myths, or widely held beliefs, that dominate our educational practice. I start with the myth that teaching facts prevents understanding, because this (along with my second myth, that teacher-led instruction is passive) is the foundation of all the other myths I discuss. These myths have a long pedigree and provide the theoretical justification for so much of what goes on in schools. Taken together, all seven myths actually damage the education of our pupils. But here, let's focus on facts and the role knowledge has in our understanding.
  • Why Is It a Myth? My aim here is not to criticize true conceptual understanding, genuine appreciation of significance, or higher-order skill development. All of these things are indeed the true aim of education. My argument is that facts and subject content are not opposed to such aims; instead, they are part of it. Rousseau, Dewey, and Freire were wrong to see facts as the enemy of understanding. All the scientific research of the last half-century proves them wrong. The modern bureaucrats and education experts who base policy and practice on their thinking are wrong too, and with less excuse, as they have been alive when evidence that refutes these ideas has been discovered. Rousseau was writing in the 18th century; Dewey at the turn of the 20th; Freire in the 1970s. Research from the second half of the 20th century tells us that their analyses of factual learning are based on fundamentally faulty premises.
  • If we want pupils to develop the skills of analysis and evaluation, they need to know things. Willingham puts it this way:23 Data from the last thirty years lead to a conclusion that is not scientifically challengeable: thinking well requires knowing facts, and that's true not just because you need something to think about. The very processes that teachers care about most—critical thinking processes such as reasoning and problem solving—are intimately intertwined with factual knowledge that is stored in long-term memory (not just found in the environment).
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • The main reason they do not work is because of a misguided, outdated, and pseudoscientific stigma against the teaching of knowledge. The evidence for the importance of knowledge is clear. We have a strong theoretical model that explains why knowledge is at the heart of cognition. We have strong empirical evidence about the success of curricula that teach knowledge. And we have strong empirical evidence about the success of pedagogy that promotes the effective transmission of knowledge. If we fail to teach knowledge, pupils fail to learn.
  • By neglecting to focus on knowledge accumulation, therefore, and assuming that you can just focus on developing conceptual understanding, today's common yet misguided educational practice ensures not only that pupils' knowledge will remain limited, but also that their conceptual understanding, notwithstanding all the apparent focus on it, will not develop either. By assuming that pupils can develop chronological awareness, write creatively, or think like a scientist without learning any facts, we are guaranteeing that they will not develop any of those skills. As Willingham and others have pointed out, knowledge builds to allow sophisticated higher-order responses. When the knowledge base is not in place, pupils struggle to develop understanding of a topic.
  • In a lot of the training material I read, these knowledge gaps were given very little attention. Generally, the word "knowledge" was used in a very pejorative way. The idea was that you were supposed to focus on skills like analysis, evaluation, synthesis, and so forth. Knowledge was the poor relation of these skills. Of course, I wanted my pupils to be able to analyze and evaluate, but it seemed to me that a pupil needed to know something to be able to analyze it. If a pupil doesn't know that the House of Lords isn't elected, how can you get him to have a debate or write an essay analyzing proposals for its reform? Likewise, if a pupil doesn't know what the three branches of government are in the United States, how can she understand debates in the papers about the Supreme Court striking down one of Congress's laws?
  • lkryder on 16 Jun 14
     
    From American Educator, AFT - A Union of Professionals Teaching facts is critical to developing higher order thinking skills. An excellent case is made and the origins of our disdain for teaching facts in the works of Rousseau, Dewey, Freire and others is examined.
  • lkryder on 16 Jun 14
     
    I think this article compliments some earlier discussions I saw on Bloom's Taxonomy in our class and also some of the discussions I saw on Common Core. I would be interested in what the K-12 folks think about this article.
Irene Watts-Politza

Social media - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 0 views

en.wikipedia.org/...Social_media

socialmedia social bookmarking

shared by Irene Watts-Politza on 21 Jun 12 - Cached
  • The honeycomb framework defines how social media services focus on some or all of seven functional building blocks (identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, and groups).
  • By applying a set of theories in the field of media research (social presence, media richness) and social processes (self-presentation, self-disclosure) Kaplan and Haenlein created a classification scheme for different social media types in their Business Horizons article published in 2010. According to Kaplan and Haenlein there are six different types of social media: collaborative projects (e.g., Wikipedia), blogs and microblogs (e.g., Twitter), content communities (e.g., YouTube), social networking sites (e.g., Facebook), virtual game worlds (e.g., World of Warcraft), and virtual social worlds (e.g. Second Life). Technologies include: blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall-postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing, crowdsourcing and voice over IP, to name a few. Many of these social media services can be integrated via social network aggregation platforms. Social media network websites include sites like Facebook, Twitter, Bebo and MySpace.
  • he authors explain that each of the seven functional building blocks has important implications for how firms should engage with social media. By analyzing identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, and groups, firms can monitor and understand how social media activities vary in terms of their function and impact, so as to develop a congruent social media strategy based on the appropriate balance of building blocks for their community.[2]
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • one of the foundational concepts in social media has become that you cannot completely control your message through social media but rather you can simply begin to participate in the "conversation" expecting that you can achieve a significant influence in that conversation.[7]
  • Several colleges have even introduced classes on best social media practices, preparing students for potential careers as digital strategists.[
  • Out of this anarchy, it suddenly became clear that what was governing the infinite monkeys now inputting away on the Internet was the law of digital Darwinism, the survival of the loudest and most opinionated. Under these rules, the only way to intellectually prevail is by infinite filibustering."[34]
  • social media in the form of public diplomacy creates a patina of inclusiveness that covers traditional economic interests that are structured to ensure that wealth is pumped up to the top of the economic pyramid, perpetuating the digital divide and post Marxian class conflict.
  • He also speculates on the emergence of "anti-social media" used as "instruments of pure control".[36]
  • Social networking now accounts for 22% of all time spent online in the US.[15] A total of 234 million people age 13 and older in the U.S. used mobile devices in December 2009.[16] Twitter processed more than one billion tweets in December 2009 and averages almost 40 million tweets per day.[16] Over 25% of U.S. internet page views occurred at one of the top social networking sites in December 2009, up from 13.8% a year before.[16] Australia has some of the highest social media usage in the world. In usage of Facebook, Australia ranks highest, with over 9 million users spending almost 9 hours per month on the site.[17][18] The number of social media users age 65 and older grew 100 percent throughout 2010, so that one in four people in that age group are now part of a social networking site.[19] As of June 2011[update] Facebook has 750 Million users.[20] Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the U.S.[21] Social Media has overtaken pornography as the No. 1 activity on the web.[21] iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months, and Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months.[21] If Facebook were a country it would be the world's 3rd largest in terms of population, that's above the US. U.S. Department of Education study revealed that online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction.[21] YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world.[21] In four minutes and 26 seconds 100+ hours of video will be uploaded to YouTube.[21] 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media.[21] 1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum.[21]
    • Irene Watts-Politza
      Irene Watts-Politza on 23 Jun 12
       
      These are stats in "Did You Know?"
  • Irene Watts-Politza on 21 Jun 12
     
    An impressive listing of social media sites with links
alexandra m. pickett

Factors Influencing Faculty Satisfaction with Asynchronous Teaching and Learning in the... - 0 views

www.alnresearch.org/...fs-fredericksen.htm

faculty satisfaction at suny suny

shared by alexandra m. pickett on 22 Apr 08 - Cached
  • alexandra m. pickett on 22 Apr 08
     
    Eric Fredericksen, Alexandra Pickett, Peter Shea State University of New York William Pelz Herkimer County Community College Karen Swan University of Albany Abstract "…100% of faculty reported that they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the SUNY Learning Network." Spring 1999 SLN Faculty Satisfaction Survey The State University of New York (SUNY) Learning Network (SLN) is the on-line instructional program created for the 64 colleges and nearly 400,000 students of SUNY. The foundation of the program is freedom from schedule and location constraints for our faculty and students. The primary goals of the SLN are to bring SUNY's diverse and high-quality instructional programs within the reach of learners everywhere, and to be the best provider of asynchronous instruction for learners in New York State and beyond. We believe that these goals cannot be achieved unless faculty receives appropriate support. This paper will examine factors that have contributed to the high level of faculty satisfaction we have achieved in the SLN. The analysis will be done on several levels. This first section will look at the SLN at a program-wide level and will provide information regarding the systemic implementation of our asynchronous learning environment. The second section examines issues that contribute to on-line teaching satisfaction from a faculty- development and course-design perspective. This section will present the evolution of the four-stage faculty development process and a seven-step course design process that was developed by SLN and comment on lessons learned. The third section presents results from the SLN Faculty Satisfaction Survey conducted in spring 1999. This section examines factors from a quantitative analysis that significantly contributes to faculty satisfaction with on-line teaching and offers recommendations for course and program design based on these factors. The fourth section e
Diane Gusa

The Application of Learning Style Theory in Higher Education Teaching - 0 views

www2.glos.ac.uk/...kolb2.htm

education Intelligence Multiple learningTheory Learning Styles

shared by Diane Gusa on 29 Jun 11 - Cached
  • A learning style is: "A complexus of related characteristics in which the whole is greater than its parts. Learning style is a gestalt combining internal and external operations derived from the individual's neurobiology, personality and development, and reflected in learner behaviour" (Keefe & Ferrell 1990, p. 16).
  • general tendency towards a particular learning approach displayed by an individual.
  • Riding & Cheema (1991), from an extensive review of the literature, conclude there are only two principal styles "families", the holist-analytic, and the verbaliser-imager. These two broad groupings relate to the type of cognitive activities normally ascribed to the two hemispheres of the brain. Curry (1983) suggests there are three different perspectives on styles: those relating to a preference for a particular instructional approach, those relating to the individual's intellectual approach to assimilating information independently of the environment, and those relating to the individual's intellectual approach to assimilating information with the environment.
  • ...26 more annotations...
  • Dunn, Deckinger, Withers & Katzenstein (1990), who found that teaching students based on their diagnosed learning style did significantly increase their achievement level (see also Napolitano 1986).
  • Research indicates learning style is not a stable construct, so one may alter instructional style to meet a learning style that will itself change, requiring a further change in instructional strategy.
  • Researchers have failed to address the question of how it is possible to achieve a tailoring of instructional approaches on anything other than an individual level.
  • What may be possible is to promote an educational environment developed for flexibility at the individual student level.
  • What is required is a stimulus-stimulus approach, where the student and the lecturer are actively involved in both learning and the mechanics of the learning process, the aim being to facilitate learner empowerment by developing in students a critical awareness of material studied and the delivery and structure of the material. Learners can then tailor flexible education strategies to their requirements to optimise the quality of the learning experience.
  • his ability of an individual to actively select from a personal style or skills portfolio, is part of what can be termed self-directed learning
  • In an educational setting, a self-directed learner no longer operates as a passive receiver of information, but takes responsibility for the achievement, and ultimately setting, of learning outcomes. In essence, the traditional lecturer-student divide becomes increasingly blurred, as the learner begins to pro-actively structure the programme to match their own learning attributes.
  • facilitator, and finally to that of a resource to be tapped
  • lecturer's role
  • Under such an approach, higher education ceases to be simply something that is done to people, and becomes a platform from which individuals can go on to, in effect, educate themselves
  • "causer of learning".
  • This approach will tend to create learned helplessness in people
  • Higher education should be concerned with not only enhancing learning in a specific situation, but should also constitute a catalyst for further self-initiated development of the individual, above and beyond the contents and aims of a particular course. T
  • The lecturer must avoid removing traditional barriers to self-direction, such as a rigid programme structure, only to erect new barriers through the use of prescriptive self-direction strategies imposed on the student.
  • allow the individual the freedom to define and devise learning strategies, and to make mistakes. T
  • The role of the lecturer must be essentially non-interventionist, unless the student seeks guidance
  • as people may still not choose to direct their own learning due to: a lack of belief in their own ability, a failure by them to recognise that self-direction is needed or preferable, the setting of an inappropriate learning goal(s) that fails to act as a motivator, and previous learning and education experiences.
  • That educational system primarily tends to concentrate on didactic approaches that often view learning as being of secondary importance to memory, where information acquisition and subsequent information regurgitation predominate.
  • This will require that the lecturer breaks down barriers to learning and self-direction that may be present. This covers: those barriers created by the student during the course (wrong choice of learning approach, poor motivation, lack of confidence), those barriers that the course itself may indirectly create (lack of flexibility, lack of direction and guidance, poor structure), and those barriers that the student brings to the course (reason for attending the course, poor learning skills, previous bad learning experiences).
  • In the initial stages of a programme, the lecturer will need to ensure the existence of an appropriate control structure, as students undergo the transition from being other-directed in their learning by external influences, to being self-directed.
  • caffold structure
  • clearly communicated and understood aims and objectives for the students at regular intervals.
  • allows students to progressively take control of their learning,
  • but that also offers sufficient guidance and direction in the early stages to prevent individuals from becoming lost.
  • The application of learning style theory in higher education teaching
    • Diane Gusa
      Diane Gusa on 29 Jun 11
       
      This would take a very brave instructor to do this. However, I know of colleges (Goddard for one) that does exactly this in their graduate program.
Alicia Fernandez

Early Attrition among First Time eLearners: A Review of Factors that Contribute to Drop... - 1 views

jolt.merlot.org/Vol2_No2_TylerSmith.htm

attrition cognitive load first time online learners

shared by Alicia Fernandez on 03 Jun 12 - Cached
  • Some have reported attrition from eLearning as high as 70 - 80% (Flood 2002, Forrester 2000, in Dagger & Wade, 2004). Parker (1999) argues that “With the growth of distance education has come the problem of exceedingly high attrition rates”. Citing Carter (1996), she suggests that eLearning student attrition in some institutions is exceeds 40%, while others (Frankola, 2001). Diaz (2002), put it at between 20 - 50%,  and Carr (2000), estimate it to be 10% - 20% higher than for traditional on-campus education.
  • learners in employment bring a different set of needs, strategies and motivations to the learning process.
  • frequently geographically removed from the learning resources, information sources, learner peers and Tutors compared to their on-campus peers
  • ...27 more annotations...
  • Employed adults tend to complete eLearning in their personal time due to workload pressures in the workplace and/or Internet access issues at work
  • Cognitive Load Theory
  • states that learning is initially processed in working memory
  • Learning complex or technically demanding material requires building mental models or cognitive schemas about the subject being studied or the skill being developed over time
  • Learning new material or a skill, for which a schema in long term memory is undeveloped or non-existent, can cause working memory to quickly overload its limited capacity. This overloading can result in a learner becoming highly anxious and losing confidence, which in turn can lead to the learning process, in effect, freezing and the learner being unable to continue.  
  •  “Digital literacy involves more than the ability to use software or operate a digital device; it includes a large variety of complex cognitive, motor, sociological and emotional skills, which users need in order to function effectively in digital environments.”
  • It is this author’s experience in designing, developing and delivering several eLearning programmes to public sector employees in New Zealand, that a face to face workshop prior the start of the online distance course can make a significant difference to a first time eLearner’s perception and experience of eLearning. 
  • This type of pre-course face-to-face induction workshop can also be used to foster the group’s sense of itself, and to identify the individual participants and their backgrounds, along with their expectations and concerns. It is also helpful to have the course design, structure and philosophy explained and to discuss anxieties associated with beginning an online course.
  • The multi
  • al learning tasks of the first time eLearner
  • dimension
  • (1) negotiating the technology; (2) negotiating the course website; (3) negotiating the course content (4) becoming an eLearner (5) negotiating CMC interaction.
  • come to terms with the computing technologies involved.
  • develop a mental model of the content structure and navigation system in order to find his/her way around
  • engage with the learning materials, readings, activities and assessments that make up a programme of study
  • Confronting the actual content and of becoming a learner again.
  • anxiety
  • abandon his/her existing mental model of what it is to be a learner in a formal learning situation
  • embrace a model based on a self-directed and motivated learner
  • undertake the learning tasks involved in interacting with peers via synchronous and asynchronous Computer Mediated Communication
  • Successfully negotiating this early experience depends very much on the relevant skills, circumstances, motivations and personal attributes of the learner. It follows then, that paying particular attention to how an eLearning course is structured and introduced and the manner in which the learner is inducted can make a very important difference in a learner deciding whether or not to engage and persist or to drop out. 
  • actually apprising learners of the issues of cognitive overload and how it is commonly experienced would go some way towards inoculating learners against its more pernicious effects.
  • Supporting learners till they are over the initial “eLearning learning-curve hump”, may involve a seemingly high level of resource and effort on the part of the course facilitator and associated programme administration staff, but the payoff is that fewer learners will drop out at the early stage.
  • Actively supporting, encouraging, gently cajoling and following up on learners who seem to be struggling will help to keep wavering learners in the course.
  • In terms of the actual course design and the structure of the materials and learning activities, then it is a useful practice to aim to start slowly and build the course tempo over time.
  • The one area where something may be done to reduce attrition is in the early stages of an online course.
  • Cognitive overload is a likely contributor to high drop out rates, particularly where those withdrawing do so within the first few weeks of the start of a course.  Greater levels of persistence and completions may be achieved if learners are supported to anticipate, prepare for, recognise and recover from the cognitive burden they may experience as first time eLearners.   
  • b malczyk on 22 Jun 12
     
    Looks at why some students don't make it through online courses- many first time online students are unsure what to expect and are just overwhelmed by the whole experience.
  • Irene Watts-Politza on 07 Jul 12
     
    The experience of the first-time online learner is qualified. Suggestions for decreasing early attrition are suggested.
  • Alicia Fernandez on 12 Aug 14
     
    Attrition among mature adult online learners is affected by sociological, psychological, technical and cognitive factors, critical features of which are the notions of cognitive load and locus of control.
Alicia Fernandez

Online Instructional Effort Measured through the Lens of Teaching Presence in the Commu... - 1 views

www.irrodl.org/...1648

Community of Inquiry higher education teaching presence content analysis

shared by Alicia Fernandez on 17 Jun 13 - No Cached
  • The focus of this paper is teaching presence, which has been defined as “the design, facilitation and direction of cognitive and social processes for the purpose of realizing personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile outcomes” (Garrison et al., 2000).
  • Instructor teaching presence is hypothesized to be an indicator of online instructional quality.  Empirical research has supported this view with evidence indicating strong correlations between the quality of teaching presence and student satisfaction and learning (Bangert, 2008; Picciano, 2002; Shea, Pickett, & Pelz, 2003)
  • First, there is a need to revisit two of the original three teaching presence elements.
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • The second limitation relates to design and organization (DE).
  • The third limitation relates to the locus of research investigating teaching presence which has been limited largely to threaded discussions.
  • Lastly, a careful review of the original teaching presence indicators developed by Anderson et al. (2001) reveals that they are largely reliant upon the threaded discussion activities of the instructor and thus fall short in identifying and articulating the full range of online collaborative tasks and effort demonstrated by both instructors and students.
  • If students’ perceptions indicate that they place a premium on instructor interaction (Anderson, 2003; Shea et al., 2006) instructors must actively manage students’ expectations about the nature of online learning and the role of the instructor in this process. Online instructors can accomplish this by taking the time to communicate that online courses are not teacher-centered models of learning and by explaining the rationale behind student-to-student interaction in negotiating shared meaning through discourse.
  • These results suggest that students’ teaching presence may have a “floor” threshold level and when the instructor's participation within the threaded discussion drops to zero students attempt to recreate “instructional equilibrium.”
  • When accounting for instructor teaching presence in all areas of a course, we see that there is a certain ebb and flow to teaching presence.
  • restricting analysis of teaching presence to discussion areas may present too narrow a view of individual instructor’s effort. Some instructors may take a strategic approach by participating in early discussions to model how to formulate probing questions and by providing direct feedback with the goal of withdrawing once this scaffolding is completed
  • These results also document a significant correlation between instructional effort reflected in frequency of teaching presence behaviors and learning outcomes evidence through instructor-assigned grades on closely related assignments. 
  • Where does teaching presence occur in online courses? 2. How do instructors employ communicative functionality within the course to   demonstrate teaching presence? 3. In what ways do students demonstrate teaching presence? 4. Does teaching presence shift over time? 5. Does teaching presence correlate with learning outcomes reflected in instructor-assigned grades?
  • In this study we found that the effectiveness of the instructor did not depend on participation within the threaded discussion per se, but that responsiveness and effective interaction with students was carried out through a variety of forums, including the ask-a-question area, email, and other modes of communication.  We suggest that benchmarks for effective interaction be communicated to instructors and that institutions provide training and support for online faculty around teaching presence. 
  • Alicia Fernandez on 15 Jun 14
     
    With more than 4 million students enrolled in online courses in the US alone (Allen & Seaman, 2010), it is now time to inquire into the nature of instructional effort in online environments. Reflecting the community of inquiry (CoI) framework (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000) this paper addresses the following questions: How has instructor teaching presence (Anderson, Rourke, Garrison, & Archer, 2001) traditionally been viewed by researchers? What does productive instructor effort look like in an entire course, not just the main threaded discussion? Results suggest that conventional research approaches, based on quantitative content analysis, fail to account for the majority of teaching presence behaviors and thus may significantly under represent productive online instructional effort.
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