The problem of why good classes fail has become a bit of an obsession for me lately. I visit several colleges and universities every semester to talk to faculty about teaching and learning, and everywhere I go I try to sneak away for just a bit and slip into the back of an unsuspecting class just to see how things are going.

while my colleagues challenge me, we tend to agree on most levels.  We discuss tech integration, education reform, homework, student motivation and we share Web 2.0 tools and projects amongst ourselves, but these conversations rarely leave our small circle. We often say that we are stuck in an echo chamber.

So how do we open the chamber up?

Find a colleague who seems open to new things:

The first comment made by a student was that students don't like, and will become unmotivated to do work, when a teacher doesn't have a plan, is unprepared, and "wings it" each day for lessons.

they like it when a teacher posts the homework ahead of time so that they can start it early if need be.

they absolutely hate when teachers don't get work or tests graded and back to the students in a timely fashion.

1. The tendency to integrate technology for the sake of creating a Smart classroom, rather than targeting pedagogy and meeting specific instructor teaching requirements.

Ideas for using Wallwisher

Seton Hill University plans to give every first year undergraduate student a 13" MacBook and an iPad. Just last month, George Fox University in Oregon also announced that it plans to give its new students a choice between a MacBook or an iPad.