Group items tagged

"Canada's Tri-Agency of federal research funders is set to implement a harmonized, mandatory open access (OA) policy requiring that all federally funded, peer-reviewed journal publications be made freely accessible within 12 months of publication. Research funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada is subject to the policy, which takes effect on May 1st. Federally-funded researchers have three options to comply with the policy:"

"More than a decade after Prensky's influential articulation of digital natives and immigrants, great disagreement exists around these characterizations of students and the impact of such notions within higher education. Perceptions of today's undergraduate learners as tech-savvy "digital natives" (Prensky, 2001a), who both want and need the latest emerging technologies in all learning situations, continue to dominate the discourse in education technology research and practice. Popular yet largely unsubstantiated conceptions of digital natives are often embedded within the assumptions of contemporary research on student perceptions of emerging technologies, seemingly without regard for a growing body of evidence questioning such notions. In order to promote critical discussion in the higher education community considering potential directions for further research of these issues, especially within the Canadian context, the purpose of this review of recent literature is to analyze key themes emerging from contemporary research on the Net generation as digital natives. "

An interesting article exploring the teaching-research nexus in higher education - ie. the interplay (or not) of teaching and research roles.

"Making sense of methodologies: A paradigm framework for the novice researcher" - Article introducing different methodologies for research on teaching and learning (and other social sciences)

A guide regarding recruiting undergraduate students for research including for SoTL

"Whether you're a faculty member interested in using digital tools, a graduate student looking for innovative ways to communicate your research, or an undergraduate student who just wants to learn more, you're welcome to stop in to the DRC anytime. The DRC offers industry standard hardware and software, rooms for you, your class, or your research assistants, support for your project or grant application, and information about new media classes available at the U of S. One of the core principles of the digital humanities is collaboration, so come find out how we can work together to meet your goals. "

Brand new article that just came out in the Higher Education Research and Development journal. It features researchers from La Trobe University in Australia, but may be of interest to people at the U of S.

"Mendeley is a free reference manager and academic social network that can help you organize your research, collaborate with others online, and discover the latest research."

This is a very interesting article from the University of Montreal about open access journals, the cost journals, profits of major journal publishers and what the impact of all this is on post-secondary institutions.

"The expectation for researchers to have a presence beyond academia coincides with another shift that is making social impact now possible, for many researchers, and this is the rise of social media. These new, virtual environments are not just characterized by popular, personalized platforms like Facebook and Twitter, although I will come to these. Rather, social media encompasses the entire architecture of the scholarly Web today, best known as Web 2.0, which is a new way of organizing digital media content. While computing transformed scholarship in many ways before the rise of social media platforms, the average end-user experience, even for a novice, has altered considerably within just the last five years."

"Open-source textbooks have been developed primarily in response to the rising costs of commercial materials. Concerns over quality and effects on learning have prompted numerous studies in this area. Based on the meta-analytic findings here, there are no meaningful differences in learning efficacy between students using open textbooks and students using commercial textbooks. However, students in courses with open textbooks appear to be less likely to withdraw. There are several limitations in research on open textbooks that indicate future research should consider K-12 students, the needs of students outside of the United States and Canada, and the potential moderating factors of student characteristics."

"Moving from a disposable research essay to a Wikipedia essay carries several benefits: Students gain a sense of confidence in their knowledge by contributing to a source that they know and use. Students trade the audience of one instructor for a broad readership (one of the students this semester revised an article on Japan's military Unit 731 that got more than 70,000 views in just December) Students improve their digital literacy through a better understanding of Wikis a medium. Students learn about source authority, especially the increasingly common semi-anonymous and anonymous web sources which so often fill their bibliographies. Instructors trade a stack of homogenous research papers for a variety of formatted essays. Essays are subject to open-review on the web."

Produced by the Open Education Group for the Open Textbook Network. Good guide for those interested in getting started on research related to OER.

The Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning, based in London, "investigates the benefits that learning brings to the individual and to society as a whole."

"Exasperated by rising subscription costs charged by academic publishers, Harvard University has encouraged its faculty members to make their research freely available through open access journals and to resign from publications that keep articles behind paywalls."

Journal devoted to Community Service-Learning Research. PDFs of articles can be downloaded for free and full journals can be purchased from this site

The research studies noted in the article include a mix of K-12 and higher education. "There have been many interesting studies done about iPads in the classroom and the effects on both students and teachers. I've pulled together a list of various study results regarding iPads in the classroom below. Check out just how much of an influence studies show iPads in the classroom are having on education."

"In any discipline or field, a key goal as well as challenge is supporting the learning of all students despite their many differences. Through programs, consultations, and resources, CRLT supports teachers in creating learning environments where students of all identities and backgrounds can flourish." This website provides an endless supply of fresh resources regarding inclusivity, with one page of invaluable articles or links, leading on to more and more. Spending a little or a lot of time on this site will vastly increase your understanding of inclusive teaching, provide you with tools and ideas to implement, and provide you with some of the research that substantiates all that has been included on the site.

"Generation is often used to explain and rationalize the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in higher education. However, a comprehensive review of the research and popular literature on the topic and an empirical study at one postsecondary institution in Canada suggest there are no meaningful generational differences in how learners say they use ICTs or their perceived behavioural characteristics."