Group items tagged

The readings this week have begun to make me think about the role of the teacher as a curator and collector of resources and "teachable moments" for inclusion into the blended classroom. I thought that I might post this as a resource for others. I have personally used a number of these, but Storify is a personal favorite for putting together resources for a lesson plan.

Lengthy, substantive piece on blogging for educators, starting from "what is a blog," continuing through Web2.0 tools, and ending with Personal Learning Networks. Something for everyone here.

An alternative schema to the "digital native" vs. "digital immigrant" dichotomy. Emphasis is placed upon one's own adaptation to technology-rich culture using the axes of "access" and "participation" to form a classification quadrant. Some observations are particularly relevant for participation in informal learning via Personal Learning Networks and open, online courses as well as in technology-mediated academic courses.

I like this schema! (I tend to like anything that moves away from rigid, binary-type either/or dichotomies, where we are either include/excluded, with few options for growth and movement.) I am really enjoying BlendKit2012 and only wish I had more time to explore.

I recently remembered this article published in The Chronicle of Higher Ed a few years ago. It speaks volumes about some pros and cons (mostly pros) of using technologies like Twitter, online office hours, video chat, etc. to connect to super-sized classes. Though I do not have personal experience in teaching courses with this many students, I still think this teacher has found a way to utilize modern technologies to connect to students in new and important ways. He has taken what many of us would consider a nightmare classroom situation (teaching over 2000 students!) and made it into a classroom experience like no other. If you read through the comments, you'll see that his former students say he has changed their lives and that his was the best class they've ever taken. It's amazing to me that he is/was able to create personal connections with so many students using technology. Basically, if this guy can do it with 2,000+ students, then many of us should strongly consider how we might benefit from these technologies in our own hybrid courses.

Despite the widespread popularity of online social networking services such as Facebook and Twitter, many students exhibit a reluctance to include faculty in their social networks. Given these personal preferences, how do social networks and education intersect? A pilot using Twitter to communicate important information about lab hours and support services yielded minimal student response.

"How Sedaris Writes Great First Sentences I don't know David personally, so the following tricks are pure speculation. But I have no doubt he would agree-or at least say I was close. 1. Find the hook. What draws people? Sex. Violence. Strange circumstances. Bizarre people. Surprising statements. Controversial positions. Of course you won't know the hook until you've written the first draft, which brings me to the next point. 2. Get rid of the first paragraph. Or two. Often, just to get started, we will throw everything on the table in the first couple of sentences. This is a tendency from school to explain what you are about to tell the reader. Break this habit if you want to seduce a reader with a first sentence. 3. Read lots of Sedaris. Or Truman Capote. Hemingway. Any great writer of fiction or non-fiction. 4. Type out a list of great first lines. Make this a long list. This will get you to concentrate and absorb the elements of the sentence. But it will do something else. See next point. 5. Review your list every time you write a first sentence. Need I say more? Your Turn"

There are some marked differences between K12 models for blended learning and those found in higher education. Nevertheless, there are some similarities in the K12 and higher ed contexts that bear examination. At the very least, the diversity of K12 approaches in this report underscores the many variables that can affect one's "personal blend" when conceptualizing blended learning.

EDUCAUSE Review Online - Tales from the Canary | EDUCAUSE.edu - The Future of Course Materials and Content Delivery

EDUCAUSE Review Online 6 Challenges and 6 New Learning Models: Flipped Courses, Open Learning Initiative (OLI), Science Classes, Math Emporiums and Other NCAT Redesigns, Blended Courses, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Chapter 42. The Math Emporium Barbara L. Robinson and Anne H. Moore Virginia Tech's Math Emporium is an open, 60,000-square-foot laboratory with 550 Macintosh computers serving more than 8,000 math students each semester. The facility occupies renovated, leased space in an off-campus shopping mall. (See Figure 1.)

EDUCAUSE Review Online Developed in response to the crisis in remedial and general-education math courses, this innovative model pairs an existing parent course with a one-unit supplemental hybrid course to provide a variety of interventions and practices to support students at California State University, Northridge. The model divides instruction among faculty, teaching assistants, and tutors, who coordinate content to create a "flow of learning" that actively moves students from classroom work, to group work, to homework, to exams. First fully implemented in 2008, the model's results have been dramatic - essentially reversing the downward trend in student success and vastly improving students' average scores and the distribution of the grades.

In redesigning introductory mathematics courses, NCAT's partner institutions have found that the Emporium Model has consistently produced spectacular gains in student learning and impressive reductions in instructional costs. Two different versions of the Emporium Model have been successful.

Use this application to develop instructional objectives for your courses and instructional programs.

Thanks so much for this reference. A great resource that I can put to use immediately.

Wow! A wonderful tool! Useful for all persons designing courses. Thank you!

A new infographic, released by DreamBox Learning, "Blended Learning: 10 Trends," gives a snapshot on how right now, making student learning is more personalized, more engaging, and more collaborative is what's driving innovation. DreamBox Learning is a Getting Smart Advocacy Partner. This infographic complements the white paper, " Blended Learning Innovations: 10 Major Trends" released March 20.

I created this website to share free/low-cost apps/sites that offer helpful tech for instructors to create/embed content in their blended/online courses. 200+ resources...and counting! Please suggest additional resources.

Wow! So many choices... I personally like Springpad because I can easily relate to the notebook format. I also appreciate the ability to place a link/note in more than one notebook. https://springpad.com/blog/2014/01/clip-articles-to-springpad-that-you-want-to-read-later/

For those interested in blended teaching practices from the K-12 space > BetterLesson has chosen 11 of the highest-performing blended teachers in the country to capture and share their effective practices. All of the Blended Master Teachers have one thing in common: they use technology in strategic and innovative ways to personalize the experience of their students.