Rubrics appeal to teachers and students for many reasons. First, they are powerful tools for both teaching and assessment. Rubrics can improve student performance, as well as monitor it, by making teachers' expectations clear and by showing students how to meet these expectations. The result is often marked improvements in the quality of student work and in learning. Thus, the most common argument for using rubrics is they help define "quality." One student actually didn't like rubrics for this very reason: "If you get something wrong," she said, "your teacher can prove you knew what you were supposed to do!"

"The Value of Rubrics Rubrics are useful for assessing work in any classroom setting, but they are especially helpful in online courses, where all information must be clearly stated in course documents. In some courses, instructors use rubrics for each assignment. "

Rubrics play a vital role in helping students identify their own strengths and weaknesses. If a students understand their weakness then the they can use rubric feedback to improve future performance.

Students attracted to online learning tend to fall into the "non-traditional" categories, particularly adult learners who are balancing work and other responsibilities -How does the student manage his or her time? -How does the student respond when clarification is needed and no one is there to ask? -What are the student's organizational skills? -How does the student feel about the limited social interaction? -How much time does the student need to read and process written information?

Screen Reading software for students who may be blind.

create a Dear Abby discussion forum in your online course that allows students to post problems they may be having with a particular concept or assignment assign a few new students to the role of Abby each week and have them respond directly to any peer questions encourage other students in class to confirm "Abby's" suggestions or provide alternative suggestions

Dewey sought to supply that unifying pattern by applying the principles and practices of democracy, as he interpreted them, consistently throughout the educational system. First, the schools would be freely available to all from kindergarten to college. Second, the children would themselves carry on the educational process, aided and guided by the teacher. Third, they would be trained to behave cooperatively, sharing with and caring for one another. Then these creative, well-adjusted equalitarians would make over American society in their own image.

Knowles himself concedes that four of andragogy's five key assumptions apply equally to adults and children. The sole difference is that children have fewer experiences and pre-established beliefs than adults and thus have less to relate.

The ADDIE model is a systematic instructional design model consisting of five phases: (1) Analysis, (2) Design, (3) Development, (4) Implementation, and (5) Evaluation. Various flavors and versions of the ADDIE model exist.

The debate started with Malcolm Knowles, who fueled the conversation, stating that children and adults learn differently according to four assumptions: 1. As a person matures the self-concept moved from dependency toward self-direction 2. Maturity brings an accumulating reservoir of experience that becomes an increasing resource for learning 3. As the person matures, readiness to learn is increasingly oriented towards the person's social roles 4. As the person matures the orientation towards learning becomes less subject-centered and increasingly problem-centered

" Children and adults learn for different reasons. Adults are not impressed or motivated by gold stars and good report cards. Instead, they want a learning outcome which can be put to use immediately, in concrete, practical, and self-benefiting terms." "Adults learn best when they use what they already know and integrate new knowledge and skills into this bank of knowledge." "Adult learners in a college classroom can frequently be given more flexibility in determining their assignments, with the understanding that the basic criteria for the assignment must be met" "Few of us consider our college students to be merely an extension of the K-12 group. In addition, those institutional staff and faculty working with training and faculty development need to keep in mind that their patrons or clients are adults and need to be treated as such when they take part in training activities (Thomas)."

This page is all about astronomy, different explorations of the planets, stars, and our galaxy. Great for students who need information on astronomy and a great tool for instructors.

Breaking down online learning by the numbers

Graph of where students in higher education are taking their courses and how this will change by 2014

A lot of great speakers and information from this years SOL Summit held in New York City

Creator of the site www.projectnoah.org

Project Noah is a tool that nature lovers can use to explore and document local wildlife and a common technology platform that research groups can use to harness the power of citizen scientists everywhere.