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An interesting look at a digital archive set up to capture media and memories surrounding the Boston Marathon bombings, and the connections between the digital humanities and public history work.

An amusing interview with Stephen King about his techniques for teaching writing when he was a high school teacher.

How do you get students to make connections between the facts they learn in a course? This article describes two courses which used Twitter to get students to contribute small connections to a class archive, in a similar way that an Orwell character does in his novel "A Clergyman's Daughter."

A collection of articles from Profhacker on teaching in the first week of classes.

A new iOS app designed by faculty at Bryn Mawr and Notre Dame integrates the text of The Tempest with critical commentary, different actors' interpretations of critical scenes, and class discussions. The "book app" seems to be diverging in important ways from the "e-book."

Teller (of the magic team Penn & Teller) offers thoughts about the performative side of teaching, informed both by his experience as an entertainer and as a high school Latin teacher.

According to the authors, much of what is widely claimed about learning styles - primarily that learners learn best when they learn in their preferred mode, be it visually, auditorily, or kinesthetically - is simply not backed up with research. They believe that the widespread belief in learning styles has real costs to teachers and students. Faculty neglect other, well-established learning theories and students neglect other modes of learning out of a misplaced belief that they can't learn well in those modes.

One administrative reaction to increasing computer use in the classroom is to try and lock down the computers tighter. There's something to this, in terms of protecting a group resource - but it can also create a distracting challenge for students who just want their school iPad to work like their home one does. Sometimes trust and active supervision work better than technical lockdowns!

"Students who didn't learn about the scientists' struggles were more likely to say that those scientists had innate talent and aptitude which separated them from everyone else." Do you draw attention to the processes of discovery and creativity in your course content, including setbacks?

This article came up at our recent lunch discussion on culturally responsive teaching. When we talk about students and resilience, are we fully informed about what things outside the classroom might be drawing on their abilities, and how they've been taught to act with "grit" in other situations?