Group items tagged

Here are some rather simple guidelines for developing online videos for your courses, pushing these to your students, and maximizing their pedagogical impact.

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."

A professor of learning technology discusses some of the questions faculty should ask themselves about effectively grading digital assignments.

Interesting ideas here about the connective power of a recording of your voice for answering frequently asked questions or providing review copies of some of your short lectures.

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!

Interested in tools that make course content more accessible to students with visual and cognitive challenges? Two free Microsoft products features their Immersive Reader tool, which reads aloud text for users.

A new online hub for promoting diversity in STEM education with relevant articles, personal stories, and profiles of advocates in higher education.

The student who isn't pulling their weight (and even the fear of that student) can be a major obstacle for group work. This article has some concrete tips for reducing the ability of a group member to coast. I particularly like the options which encourage you to prioritize and teach group process.

Interesting failure to replicate the 2014 study suggesting that longhand notetaking may be more effective than typing on a laptop. Perhaps we should expect our efficacy at using different writing tools to shift over time!

Some tips on using new technologies to give meaningful feedback on writing assignments while completing the work in a reasonable time frame.

We have some students using LiveScribe pens, so they can have the experience of taking notes by hand and the benefits of digitized notes and synchronized audio recordings.

From a refreshing series on "teaching fails", a composition instructor describes the difficulty in scaffolding a research assignment that both provides clarity about expectations and allows for fruitful exploration. Here, the use of pedagogical and technological innovations (rubrics and screencasting) did not succeed in getting students to engage with the process--but I do think that they gave the instructor some evidence to better understand what went wrong.

Very interesting podcast episode. Turnitin inspires some strong reactions. Some professors are intentional and creative in the way they integrate it with their writing pedagogy. Others raise a number of important ethical questions about they way the tool makes assumptions about your classroom environment.

The author outlines modeling, collaboration, and reflection strategies for integrating a new technology resource into an existing course.

Good models from James Lang for ways to talk about productive and distracting uses of computers and cell phones in the classroom.

Some interesting examples here. Perhaps the most important point is that computer use should be purposeful and engaging, not casting about for serendipitous learning.

It seems odd to consider meeting your Kenyon students through an online video chat - until you consider winter weather, cold and flu season, or the various other reasons you might not be able to meet in person. This article suggests some benefits and hurdles to videoconferencing with students.

Martin Weller's 25 Years of Ed Tech is a valuable reminder that there is a history to the use of computers in the classroom (and it goes beyond March 2020). It's an open access book, available in print and electronically, but I'm enjoying this audio version, released one chapter at a time, read by a terrific selection of experts in the field.

Nice demonstration of the new whiteboard feature (called "Jamboard") in Google Meet.