Group items tagged

If the point of online discussion boards and collaborative projects is to get students discussing course ideas with each other, does it make sense to move those discussions to the social media venues they're already using?

This article deserves attention for opening up a professor's iterative process in figuring out the best structure for her class's online presence. I'm intrigued by the idea of using Facebook instead of or in addition to a professor-run website or Moodle page.

This is the second of two MOOC-related stories in the Chronicle yesterday. I am "taking" a MOOC at the moment, which is taught by a professor at Duke University. I do get the feeling that he is treating me (and all the students in the MOOC) with respect, but I can imagine a situation in which this may not be the case. The conveners of the meeting that drafted this "Bill of Rights" clearly want to send the message that online educators should have the best interests of their students FIRST and foremost in their minds. I stress FIRST here because the drafters of the document want to avoid having MOOC students become a commodity that can be sold such as with social media participants (e.g., Facebook).

Some interesting thoughts here on the differences between debates in course discussion boards and the "toxic" level of discussion in other social media.

The author's review of the readership statistics for his own papers has some implications for both open access and information literacy instruction.

This is described as "a work in progress" and "current status: brain dump" (6/24 3PM), and as such there are a couple head-scratchers on this reading list. At the same time, it's a fascinating example of digital collaboration as teachers work toward classroom discussions of current events.

Proponents of OER (open educational resources) and open pedagogy respond to some common concerns.

This article presents some ideas for improving the social media experience of academics.

The specific rules presented here are most applicable to K-12 institutions. Still, it's an interesting example of the kind of thinking involved for anyone's social media presence.

Have you considered running a blog, and how that blog might be part of your professional presence? This set of articles (blog posts, really) look at the choices professors make when they choose to write an academic blog.

Interesting report on social media use by professors for teaching (and research / professional development). Faculty members use social media personally, including among their professional colleagues, much like the general population does. Classroom use is still slowed by privacy concerns, relating to both the student-teacher relationship and the classroom's privacy from the rest of the world. How would you answer their questions? Issued in 2013 by Pearson Learning Solutions.

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 TED talk from Kenyon alum John Green about the ways online learning communities support lifelong curiosity.

When your colleagues and students Google you, do they find what you want them to find? This article points out that "If you don't manage your online presence, you are allowing search engines to create it for you." The laundry list of recommendations may seem daunting; remember that you could probably make good progress just by adopting a few of them.

An "author platform" is "an ability to sell books because of who you are and who you can reach." In other words, it's part of considering your audience when you write - including considering how your ideal audience will find you.

HASTAC's Pedagogy Project is a website collecting syllabi and course projects which use digital tools or highly collaborative approaches. If you're wondering how to use new forms of communication in assignments, or if you've got a great example to share, this will be a great resource!

Our colleagues at Otterbein are crowdsourcing a list of good books for "teaching about social justice in troubled times". Please comment or add your own suggestions!

Many faculty members struggle with how (and whether) to address current events in the classroom. Chad Williams used social media to build a categorized reading list related to the Charleston shootings. It also makes some interesting points about faculty members' potential role as public intellectuals.

Would emojis, bitmojis, or memes be useful ways for you to deliver quick bursts of (positive) feedback?