While I think this is extremely valuable to the learner, I wonder if it is removing their own experience of finding what works for them. This can be a criticial life-long learning experience and very empowering--to become engaged in your own educational experience.

Since this system excites learners, why not incorporate it into traditional classroom settings. Using games in teaching motivates students and can be especially helpful for those students who are competitive. I don't think we need badges to see the usefulness of that.

With the tools that we currently have and the role of instructors changing, how much of a subject expert does one need to be to be a facilitator of learning? I would argue that in the current educational system, a teacher does not need to be as much a subject expert as a mentor, facilitator, and guide.

I find it tricky when learners start to question why they are expected to learn certain information. In some fields, there have been decades of development for certain curricula, so shouldn't the learner value that the experts in that field find that information important? As an educator, I hear from students all the time that they don't know why they have to learn a certain chunk of material because they feel it doesn't relate to what they are doing. But in the future, they may finally make the connection and realize that it is important.

This description really emphasizes the importance of committee meetings, professional development workshops, and the like. We must have networks within our organizations so that knowledge can be shared. I have been fascinated at committee meetings how a representative from one area can drastically improve the understanding of the rest of the committee of some aspect of the problem. Committee work can be time-consuming, however, so moving it to a online environment can be more efficient.

I have found this to be very true. While all educators should try to learn and improve, there are some personality characteristics that can't be learned if you are going to stand in front of a group and try to get them to care about something!

I ran into this while exploring blogs for this week's lesson. It fits in well with what we were discussing a couple of weeks ago for our learning philosophies. I have to teach some memorization because my students need to learn bone and muscle names if they can work in the health sciences. Personally, I don't need to wait while my nurse looks up where the blood vessel is she needs to draw blood. There needs to be some core knowledge, even if some smaller details can be looked up if needed.

This part really hit home for me as I teach at a community college with some students who are first generation college students. I want to be encouraging and help them with their career and life goals. So, while they may not be children, I still need to respect their efforts and work with them in whatever way I can.

To me this would be so helpful as opposed to having to wait for a meeting or conference to share ideas with my colleagues, we can share with each other (and those who are far way) much faster. Sometimes I have an idea I'd love to share and think that I should tell when of my colleagues. But in the business of the day, I often forget (yes, I'm getting old!). Blogging, especially in the evenings, would allow me to reflect and share these ideas at a more convenient time (and before they are forgotten).

While I would love to let my students play and be creative, there also needs to be some time to explain some basic concepts before they can go out on their own and be creative. I think in a college environment, in higher level courses, you can allow the students to be more self-directed, but in more introductory courses, you need to work within a tighter set of rules until the students are aware of the basic concepts. Or, at the very least, some of the more self-directed learning may come towards the end of a semester, after the basic rules are understood. I know this is an issue in my online courses because I want to add more student-student interaction, but since they are newcomers in the area, it is hard to let them do that without a lot of instructor moderation. In later courses, they are much better at working through the concepts with each other instead of with the instructor.

I have been thinking about the idea of play and how it relates to college aged students. For many, games provide the same type of learning experience. In lab environments, we often play games such as simulating an epidemic or watching evolution in action by making and flying paper airplanes (these are some cool labs that I won't bore you with the details). But, I have found that my students love online games that can be found on some websites. For instance, no one cares about the science of blood typing until they have to pretend to be the medical professional and decide what kind of blood to give a patient (nobelprize.org offers this game and many others). I think about how much time I used to spend playing video games and how cool it would have been to incorporate that into my learning. So, my point is that play is important to children, but it is also an effective strategy for adult students.

This idea that you need to care about something, find meaning in it, has a definite basis in memory. Students remember something better if they can find some personal significance to the information. I also find that can remember something better if you tell a joke about it, but that is a different idea entirely. But I really try to point out "why do I care" moments in my teaching as these are the concepts that the students will remember. No one cares about all of the steps of blood clotting, but if you explain how those steps relate to a blood disorder like hemophilia, the students can find a reason to care about all of those steps.

The course that I teach, anatomy and physiology, can be very difficult for some students. I encourage using the vidoes and dissection simulations that come with the textbook, youtube videos, online games flashcards, etc. I had an instructor in another discipline ask me why I didn't just use an online tool to make flashcards for the students for distribution. But this comment in the article really emphasized why I don't. Each student needs to find the study technique that works best for them. And in finding the appropriate video or website or whatever that helps them to learn the information, that process is part of the learning as well and teaches them important study tools for future classes.

I was especially struck with this idea of a shift in pedagogical strategies since in laboratory science teaching there is always a participatory element. The lecture setting does still work to present and transfer knowledge, but the lab setting allows for social interaction in student groups to apply the content. However, in online classes, I have not found a similar way to form lab groups in the laboratory simulation environment.

Although some of my colleagues have created Facebook course sites, I have been worried about requiring my students to use this as a tool. However, this semester, several of my students created their own study group on Facebook and used it to share helpful videos, websites, and tips with each other. I suppose I should take the giant leap if they are already doing it for themselves!

This was a discussion today at work as we were deciding on a textbook for a course for the next academic year. Some instructors really like some of the tools used by a particular textbook and I was noting that sometimes certain tools might not help some types of learners so I don't like to require them to complete those tasks. I know some instructors utilize different assessments that a student can chose based on their own learning style--making a portfolio for instance instead of taking a traditional test.