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Here's our new program page on Facebook.  I am updating this page regularly with information for anyone interested in e-learning and online teaching best practices.  You don't have to be a current or former student to take advantage of the information and connections found here.  I do ask you to 'Like' this page if you find it useful.   (Try it! You'll Like It!)

The posting below looks at a new approach to evaluating teaching. It is by Carl Wieman a professor of physics and of the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. He is the founder of the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative (CWSEI) at the University of British Columbia and the Science Education Initiative at the University of Colorado. He is a Nobel Laureate in Physics and served as the Associate Director for Science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Cwieman@stanford.edu, 650 - 497-3491. The posting is a condensed version of a substantially longer article that appeared in the January, 2015 issue of Change Magazine. http://www.changemag.org Regards, Rick Reis

"The new information landscape is a product of algorithmic data collection used by social media platforms, like Facebook and YouTube, news sites, and even our cellphones. Companies use invisible computer codes to track users' interactions in order to personalize their web experiences and influence their buying and viewing behavior, leading to concerns about privacy, accuracy of information, the preservation of shared norms, and authenticity. Data is collected everywhere. Even schools, from elementary schools to higher education institutions, collect data on students through learning management systems (LMS), thrusting schools directly into debates that consider how these companies, like Canvas, protect or use data. While the ethics and impact of algorithmic-driven content on platforms like Facebook or an LMS are murky and just emerging, the Project Information Literacy study raises immediate flags."

"People of all ages struggle to evaluate the integrity of the digital information that rains down with every web search and social media scroll. When the Stanford History Education Group released findings showing that most students couldn't tell sponsored ads from real articles, among other miscues, it intensified the scramble for tools and strategies to help students discern better. But a more recent study by Stanford's Sam Wineburg and Sarah McGrew suggests that many of the techniques that students and teachers employ - which include checklists and other practices most recommended for digital literacy - are often misleading. A better solution for navigating our cluttered online environment, they say, can be found in the practices of professional fact-checkers. Their approach, which harnesses the power of the web to determine trustworthiness, is more likely to expose dubious information. The following guidelines for interrogating online information, inspired by the fact-checkers' techniques, will increase students' odds of determining unreliable sources (and consuming reliable ones)."