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Vicki Davis

Rebranding: "MOOC" to "CaS" | Inside Higher Ed - 3 views

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    Another alternative is to not use the term "MOOC" and call it a Cas". (another hat tip to Stephen Downes for this article). I'm not sure that changing the name really will change what is a movement to learn online. Yes, it needs to be verifiable and so many things need to happen, but sometimes I find it odd how higher ed flees from anything that sounds trendy. Why not just Make Moocs better. Anyway, realize that higher ed has woken up and realized something significant is happening, how they will respond is yet to be seen. Says the author: "The thing formerly known as a MOOC will now be called a CaS.   CaS:  Course at Scale."
Shaun Fletcher

CBC Radio | Quirks & Quarks - 0 views

    • Shaun Fletcher
       
      Podcasts are also playable in google reader.
  • Podcasting!Quirks & Quarks is part of CBC Radio’s podcasting project. For more information about podcasting and the CBC programs available, go to CBC.ca’s podcasting info page.To access the Quirks podcast, right click on one of the links below, copy the URL and paste it into your podcast software application. Quirks & Quarks Podcast - show in segments podcast or if you have iTunes installed Subscribe in iTunesQuirks & Quarks Podcast - show in one file or if you have iTunes installed Subscribe in iTunes(hint - iPod users might prefer the whole show in one file)
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    Join host Bob McDonald each week to find out the latest in science, technology, medicine and the environment. We cover every aspect of science, from the quirks of the expanding universe to the quarks within a single atom...and everything in between.
Dave Truss

www.media-awareness.ca www.cyberbullying.ca www.ctf-fce.ca - 0 views

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    The pdf brochure link: http://www.ctf-fce.ca/e/resources/cyberbullying/Cybertips_Brochure.pdf See page 2 "Forms of cyberbullying which are considered criminal acts:" (Second bullet, and following paragraph)
Ed Webb

The academy's neoliberal response to COVID-19: Why faculty should be wary and... - 1 views

  • In the neoliberal economy, workers are seen as commodities and are expected to be trained and “work-ready” before they are hired. The cost and responsibility for job-training fall predominantly on individual workers rather than on employers. This is evident in the expectation that work experience should be a condition of hiring. This is true of the academic hiring process, which no longer involves hiring those who show promise in their field and can be apprenticed on the tenure track, but rather those with the means, privilege, and grit to assemble a tenurable CV on their own dime and arrive to the tenure track work-ready.
  • The assumption that faculty are pre-trained, or able to train themselves without additional time and support, underpins university directives that faculty move classes online without investing in training to support faculty in this shift. For context, at the University of Waterloo, the normal supports for developing an online course include one to two course releases, 12-18 months of preparation time, and the help of three staff members—one of whom is an online learning consultant, and each of whom supports only about two other courses. Instead, at universities across Canada, the move online under COVID-19 is not called “online teaching” but “remote teaching”, which universities seem to think absolves them of the responsibility to give faculty sufficient technological training, pedagogical consultation, and preparation time.
  • faculty are encouraged to strip away the transformative pedagogical work that has long been part of their profession and to merely administer a course or deliver course material
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  • remote teaching directives are rooted in the assumption that faculty are equally positioned to carry them out
  • The dual delivery model—in which some students in a course come to class and others work remotely using pre-recorded or other asynchronous course material—is already part of a number of university plans for the fall, even though it requires vastly more work than either in-person or remote courses alone. The failure to accommodate faculty who are not well positioned to transform their courses from in-person to remote teaching—or some combination of the two— will actively exacerbate existing inequalities, marking a step backward for equity.
  • Neoliberal democracy is characterized by competitive individualism and centres on the individual advocacy of ostensibly equal citizens through their vote with no common social or political goals. By extension, group identity and collective advocacy are delegitimized as undemocratic attempts to gain more of a say than those involved would otherwise have as individuals.
  • Portraying people as atomized individuals allows social problems to be framed as individual failures
  • faculty are increasingly encouraged to see themselves as competitors who must maintain a constant level of productivity and act as entrepreneurs to sell ideas to potential investors in the form of external funding agencies or private commercial interests. Rather than freedom of enquiry, faculty research is increasingly monitored through performance metrics. Academic governance is being replaced by corporate governance models while faculty and faculty associations are no longer being respected for the integral role they play in the governance process, but are instead considered to be a stakeholder akin to alumni associations or capital investors.
  • treats structural and pedagogical barriers as minor individual technical or administrative problems that the instructor can overcome simply by watching more Zoom webinars and practising better self-care.
  • In neoliberal thought, education is merely pursued by individuals who want to invest in skills and credentials that will increase their value in the labour market.
  • A guiding principle of neoliberal thought is that citizens should interact as formal equals, without regard for the substantive inequalities between us. This formal equality makes it difficult to articulate needs that arise from historical injustices, for instance, as marginalized groups are seen merely as stakeholders with views equally valuable to those of other stakeholders. In the neoliberal university, this notion of formal equality can be seen, among other things, in the use of standards and assessments, such as teaching evaluations, that have been shown to be biased against instructors from marginalized groups, and in the disproportionate amount of care and service work that falls to these faculty members.
  • Instead of discussing better Zoom learning techniques, we should collectively ask what teaching in the COVID-19 era would look like if universities valued education and research as essential public goods.
  • while there are still some advocates for the democratic potential of online teaching, there are strong criticisms that pedagogies rooted in well-established understandings of education as a collective, immersive, and empowering experience, through which students learn how to deliberate, collaborate, and interrogate established norms, cannot simply be transferred online
  • Humans learn through narrative, context, empathy, debate, and shared experiences. We are able to open ourselves up enough to ask difficult questions and allow ourselves to be challenged only when we are able to see the humanity in others and when our own humanity is recognized by others. This kind of active learning (as opposed to the passive reception of information) requires the trust, collectivity, and understanding of divergent experiences built through regular synchronous meetings in a shared physical space. This is hindered when classroom interaction is mediated through disembodied video images and temporally delayed chat functions.
  • When teaching is reduced to content delivery, faculty become interchangeable, which raises additional questions about academic freedom. Suggestions have already been made that the workload problem brought on by remote teaching would be mitigated if faculty simply taught existing online courses designed by others. It does not take complex modelling to imagine a new normal in which an undergraduate degree consists solely of downloading and memorizing cookie-cutter course material uploaded by people with no expertise in the area who are administering ten other courses simultaneously. 
  • when teaching is reduced to content delivery, intellectual property takes on additional importance. It is illegal to record and distribute lectures or other course material without the instructor’s permission, but universities seem reluctant to confirm that they will not have the right to use the content faculty post online. For instance, if a contract faculty member spends countless hours designing a remote course for the summer semester and then is laid off in the fall, can the university still use their recorded lectures and other material in the fall? Can the university use this recorded lecture material to continue teaching these courses if faculty are on strike (as happened in the UK in 2018)? What precedents are being set? 
  • Students’ exposure to a range of rigorous thought is also endangered, since it is much easier for students to record and distribute course content when faculty post it online. Some websites are already using the move to remote teaching as an opportunity to urge students to call out and shame faculty they deem to be “liberal” or “left” by reposting their course material. To avoid this, faculty are likely to self-censor, choosing material they feel is safer. Course material will become more generic, which will diminish the quality of students’ education.
  • In neoliberal thought, the public sphere is severely diminished, and the role of the university in the public sphere—and as a public sphere unto itself—is treated as unnecessary. The principle that enquiry and debate are public goods in and of themselves, regardless of their outcome or impact, is devalued, as is the notion that a society’s self-knowledge and self-criticism are crucial to democracy, societal improvement, and the pursuit of the good life. Expert opinion is devalued, and research is desirable only when it translates into gains for the private sector, essentially treating universities as vehicles to channel public funding into private research and development. 
  • The free and broad pursuit—and critique—of knowledge is arguably even more important in times of crisis and rapid social change.
  • Policies that advance neoliberal ideals have long been justified—and opposition to them discredited—using Margaret Thatcher’s famous line that “there is no alternative.” This notion is reproduced in universities framing their responses to COVID-19 as a fait accompli—the inevitable result of unfortunate circumstances. Yet the neoliberal assumptions that underpin these responses illustrate that choices are being made and force us to ask whether the emergency we face necessitates this exact response.
  • The notion that faculty can simply move their courses online—or teach them simultaneously online and in person—is rooted in the assumption that educating involves merely delivering information to students, which can be done just as easily online as it can be in person. There are many well-developed online courses, yet all but the most ardent enthusiasts concede that the format works better for some subjects and some students
  • Emergencies matter. Far from occasions that justify suspending our principles, the way that we handle the extra-ordinary, the unexpected, sends a message about what we truly value. While COVID-19 may seem exceptional, university responses to this crisis are hardly a departure from the neoliberal norm, and university administrations are already making plans to extend online teaching after it dissipates. We must be careful not to send the message that the neoliberal university and the worldview that underpins it are acceptable.
Jeff Richardson

PBS videos for educators hit iTunes U | ijohnpederson - 1 views

    • Jeff Richardson
       
      There's even stuff for those that teach ELL students! What a great resource for those who like to use ITunes.
  • once. 35 mins ago I become crippled when expected to rant more than 300 characters. Damn you Twitter. 36 mins ago @speters Good luck! 4 hrs ago I totally just figured out @teach42 and his secret plans to conquer the world. Nice touch. Looking forward to seeing this go public. 5 hrs ago Or "Thank you for not unsubscribing!" Whatever the case may be. 21 hrs ago More updates... Recent Comments Jen Dorman on Why We’re All Blogging Less Rick on Why We’re All Blogging Less Kate Olson on Must View Video Dan Meyer on Must View Video John Pederson on Resistance My Blogroll Alec Couros Andy Carvin Anne Davis Brian Crosby Bud Hunt Carolyn Foote Cathy Nelson Chris Betcher Chris Lehman Christian Long Christopher Craft Christopher Harris Christopher Sessums Clarance Fischer Clay Burell Connectivism Blog Dale Basler Dan Meyer Darren Draper Darren Kuropatwa David Jakes David Warlick Dean Shareski Diana Laufenberg Doug Johnson Ewan Mcintosh Gary Stager George Siemens Jeff Utecht Jennifer D. Jones Judy O'Connel Julie Lindsay Karl Fisch Kate Sheehan Kim Cofino Konrad Glogowski Kristin Hokanson Lea Hansen-George Lisa Durff Marcy Hull Naomi Harm Ryan Bretag Scott Anderson Scott McLeod Sharon Peters Sheryl Nussbaum Beech Stephen Downes Steve Dembo Steve Hargadon Sue Waters Tim Stahmer Tom Hoffman Vicki Davis Wes Fryer Will Richardson Zac Chase Read more...
Jocelyn Chappell

Research: Topics ~ Stephen's Web ~ by Stephen Downes - 0 views

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    an atoz of online learning and things (http://www.downes.ca/about_this_website.htm)
Bill Montana

Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Lately, Coding - NYTimes.com - 4 views

  • Since December, 20,000 teachers from kindergarten through 12th grade have introduced coding lessons, according to Code.org, a group backed by the tech industry that offers free curriculums. In addition, some 30 school districts, including New York City and Chicago, have agreed to add coding classes in the fall, mainly in high schools but in lower grades, too. And policy makers in nine states have begun awarding the same credits for computer science classes that they do for basic math and science courses, rather than treating them as electives.
  • coding looks less like an extracurricular activity and more like a basic life skill, one that might someday lead to a great job or even instant riches.
  • But the momentum for early coding comes with caveats, too. It is not clear that teaching basic computer science in grade school will beget future jobs or foster broader creativity and logical thinking, as some champions of the movement are projecting. And particularly for younger children, Dr. Soloway said, the activity is more like a video game — better than simulated gunplay, but not likely to impart actual programming skills.
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  • “There’s a big demand for these skills in both the tech sector and across all sectors,” said Britt Neuhaus, the director of special projects at the office of innovation for New York City schools.
  • Then, in 2013, came Code.org, which borrowed basic Scratch ideas and aimed to spread the concept among schools and policy makers. Computer programming should be taught in every school, said Hadi Partovi, the founder of Code.org and a former executive at Microsoft. He called it as essential as “learning about gravity or molecules, electricity or photosynthesis.”
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    NYT article on coding movement, focusing on Mill Valley, CA. Coding should be taught in all schools.
Ruth Howard

Free Learning ~ Stephen's Web - 12 views

  • We support free learning and have posted the Free Learning badge.
  • If you support free learning, use the code in the box above to post the badge on your website and then send me an email to let me know, and I'll post your website link on this page.
Dave Truss

cuebc.ca - Have your ipod and listen to it too! Sonya Woloshen - 0 views

  • Many of my students have ipods. These mini music makers are captivating them…truth be told, my ipod touch captivates me!  I feel as though we could use these ipods to, not only increase the interest factor of lessons, but also to encourage students to become involved in their learning process.
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    Many of my students have ipods. These mini music makers are captivating them…truth be told, my ipod touch captivates me! I feel as though we could use these ipods to, not only increase the interest factor of lessons, but also to encourage students to become involved in their learning process.
Dean Mantz

http://universe-review.ca/R13-01-periodictable2.htm - 0 views

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    Peridoic Table with images for each element.
Dave Truss

WarMuseum.ca - Remembrance Day Toolkit - 0 views

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    The Canadian War Museum created the Remembrance Kit as part of its mission to promote public understanding of Canada's military history in its personal, national and international dimensions.
Shaun Fletcher

Smart notebook lessons! !District 16 Media Manager - 0 views

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    Our district's new media server with notebook lessons, images, videos and podcasts.
Dave Truss

CTV.ca | Kielburgers join forces with Oprah on new campaign - 0 views

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    Some "O Ambassador" projects include: * Building a package of school supplies for a classroom in need * Planting a tree on school grounds * Creating "AIDS Awareness" posters * Organizing "Read-A-Thons" * Collecting old blankets and sleeping bags for local homeless shelters
adina sullivan

http://rea.ccdmd.qc.ca/ri/Expressions/debutEN.asp?sw=1024&sh=768 - 0 views

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    English language Idiomatic expresessions explained and illistrated. Check the cartoons in the "activities" section. French and Spanish expressions also. Thx to Larry Ferlazzo for link
Henry Thiele

Games in Education - 0 views

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    Games in Education video created by Mark Wagner and Michael Guerena of the Orange County (CA) Department of Education's Educational Technology group. Nice overview of the issues and has the proper experts involved in the discussion.
Dave Truss

Student Olympic Reporters - CBC.ca Video - 3 views

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    Two dozen B.C. online student reporters with full access to the Olympics are popular with athletes and schools, http://www.netvibes.com/studentslive
Dave Truss

Mathtrain.TV - 3 views

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    Mathtrain.TV is a free educational "kids teaching kids" project from Mr. Marcos & his students at Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica, CA. Here is a version of our BLC 09 presentation. STUDENT-CREATED Videos TEACHER-CREATED Videos
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