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This article raises some great questions - how much "instruction" do we still need to give to students on using things such as the "play" feature etc.? Can we assume they have the skills - or do we need to do a little research to find out what types of instructions that seem obvious to us might not be obvious to them, and vice versa. Food for thought! Connie

"March 21, 2012 Thinking Developmentally: Designing Courses with a Progression of Learning Experiences By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching Professor Blog Add Comment Thinking developmentally is one of those instructional design issues that we don't do often enough. We understand that different learning experiences are appropriate for students at different levels. We expect a higher caliber of work from seniors than from those just starting college. But how often do we purposefully design a progression of learning experiences?"

Thinking developmentally is one of those instructional design issues that we don't do often enough. We understand that different learning experiences are appropriate for students at different levels. We expect a higher caliber of work from seniors than from those just starting college. But how often do we purposefully design a progression of learning experiences?

"The author of the best-selling What the Best College Teachers Do is back with more humane, doable, and inspiring help, this time for students who want to get the most out of college-and every other educational enterprise, too. The first thing they should do? Think beyond the transcript. The creative, successful people profiled in this book-college graduates who went on to change the world we live in-aimed higher than straight A's. They used their four years to cultivate habits of thought that would enable them to grow and adapt throughout their lives. Combining academic research on learning and motivation with insights drawn from interviews with people who have won Nobel Prizes, Emmys, fame, or the admiration of people in their field, Ken Bain identifies the key attitudes that distinguished the best college students from their peers. These individuals started out with the belief that intelligence and ability are expandable, not fixed. This led them to make connections across disciplines, to develop a "meta-cognitive" understanding of their own ways of thinking, and to find ways to negotiate ill-structured problems rather than simply looking for right answers. Intrinsically motivated by their own sense of purpose, they were not demoralized by failure nor overly impressed with conventional notions of success. These movers and shakers didn't achieve success by making success their goal. For them, it was a byproduct of following their intellectual curiosity, solving useful problems, and taking risks in order to learn and grow."

"Thinking developmentally is one of those instructional design issues that we don't do often enough. We understand that different learning experiences are appropriate for students at different levels. We expect a higher caliber of work from seniors than from those just starting college. But how often do we purposefully design a progression of learning experiences? "

"Social networking tools aren't going away any time soon, they appear to be here for the long term. But do these kinds of applications really belong in the classroom? I think they do, and here's a few reasons why:"

Teaches you how to replace the calendar in Angel with a google calendar.  When you update your google calendar it updates in Angel.  You can't make updates to the calendar in Angel, it has to be done through Google.  Great if you have multiple sections of the same class--only update once!

Nice find. I used this tool for all my classes and it works great. Now, though, I use that embed code and put the code into a section header in a lessons page. That way it's in the students view the moment the get into the course. Then I hide the calendar tab.

Love this idea! Jeff - do you have a separate google calendar for each course, or do you have one for all your courses? Also, I'm interested in using google blogs (blogger) for journals and would like to embed the codes, just as done for google calendar. Have you heard of anyone doing so? I tried changing a tab to a link for a blog, but am not sure if this is the best way. I did see an article in which the instructor had students create their own blog, then submit the link. The links were then put into a chart put into the course. Any other ideas?

Academics have long talked of the "academic conversation." Now, Web 2.0 has called our bluff. We live in the midst of a non-stop world conversation. But, are conversational skills (in writing) important and, if so, how do we teach them?

"the reality is that we now have choices for how we in higher education do final evaluations in courses. The tool is at hand to support an evaluation process that provides evidence behind the grade: the electronic portfolio (for more on electronic portfolios, see http://www.aaeebl.org). It is now possible to have a transcript with links from each grade to the work evidence behind the grade. Now, in response to the question, "but what does that grade mean?" there can be an answer."

"This is the 6th annual conference on blended learning sponsored by COHERE (Collaboration for Online Higher Education & Research) and CSSHE (Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education). It will feature Dr. Tony Bates, the well known scholar and commentator on the use of technology in higher education. His latest book is Managing Technology in Higher Education: Strategies for Transforming Teaching and Learning (Jossey-Bass, 2011). In addition to taking an active part in the entire conference and doing the conference wrap-up, Tony will deliver the following keynotes: Meeting the challenge of technology: are we failing as managers? Designing university teaching to meet the needs of 21st century students The conference will also feature a number of concurrent sessions, for which we invite proposals related to one of the following streams: 1. Taking stock of blended learning in higher education: Management, policy, and research issues 2. Case studies of teaching and learning issues related to blended learning"

Why attend Flip the Switch? I love to teach, just like others at Cornell, but the bad news is that while we all are teaching, 64% of our students are texting!! Out of my frustration, I've been experimenting successfully with using mobile devices and to turn my students away from distraction and towards interaction. At a deeper level, I am now connecting better with ALL students, not just the ones that always raise their hands. In the process I started to wonder if I could somehow help other faculty members do this. The Workshop My team has put together an intimate, hands-on workshop specifically focused on creating an action plan for each participant's courses/teaching needs, on how to make use of cellphones and other devices to intrigue and engage students, deploy digital video to renew attention spans and implement innovative "apps" to engage the YouTube generation in order to improve the learning environment.

ANother idea for May PD:

Very cool announcement. It will be interesting to see if textbook prices will drop? I have been super impressed with some books on the iPad and others are super lame. With the new authoring tool it will be interesting to see what we can do with our own content!

I think this post puts the iBook announcement (and Apple's role in education) into perspective: http://www.hackeducation.com/2012/01/19/apple-and-the-textbook-counter-revolution/

I was working with some instructors on including a widget in their Angel courses that would update a list of the articles they are bookmarking.  Found a way to do this using Diigo through this informational slide show.  Lots of different tidbits on how to use all the tools Diigo can offer.

Again, another great idea. I'd love to try this out in my classes. So, please let me know asap so I can give it a try. Thanks! Connie

Ever wonder how much work you actually do in a day? There can be a lot of distractions between meetings, your manager's questions, impromptu pot-lucks and gab fests. Some days it can feel like it's impossible to get anything done. That's because according to Jason Fried it IS. Jason is the co-founder of 37 Signals, a company that builds web-based collaboration tools. He's also the co-author of the bestseller Rework - a book all about how to make work work better. Although he himself is a manager, Jason has no problem blaming workplace inefficiencies on meetings and managers. (Runs 22:49)

I have always wanted to have my own blog.  I even tried a book blog once, but I couldn't read fast enough to blog often enough.  There's nothing worse than a blog that is only updated once a month!  Bill Carozza has inspired me to try again, but this time on something I do everyday and professionally.  Check out this article for a few good reasons educators should blog.

This article discusses research on students' ability to read text presented online. It provides some good food for thought in designing our courses, especially the content-heavy courses. Should we be encouraging more page breaks? What do you think?

Interesting perspective - especially relevant since so many IDs are in the process of getting a Masters!

Introduction: "Across North America and increasingly the world, there is a move within education to adopt a constructivist view of learning and teaching. In part, the argument for this move is a reaction against teacher-centred instruction that has dominated much of education, particularly adult and higher education, for the past forty years or more. While I do not argue with the basic tenets of constructivism, I do resist the rush to adopt any single, dominant view of learning or teaching. Unless we are cautious, I fear we are about to replace one orthodoxy with yet another and promote a 'one size fits all' notion of good teaching."

"Have you ever said to yourself, "I really should do something about this course, but..."?? This web site is designed to provide practical and effective help for faculty members interested in designing or redesigning a course."