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"The benefits to a Wikipedia assignment are extensive. Asking students to interact with the largest reference work in the world creates a unique educational experience: namely, a Wikipedia assignment provides a real-life application of the skills and knowledge students develop in the classroom. Asking students to participate in a Wikipedia project challenges them to examine and refine the ways in which they interact with digital resources. Students must develop their media literacy as they assess the reliability of online sources, their online etiquette as they interact with editors around the globe, and their critical thinking skills as they identify articles that need improvement. When students edit articles, they must produce material that is relavant to Wikipedia and consumed by actual readers beyond their classroom. They are confronted with immediate feedback to their work and must learn how to collaborate with writers around the globe. "

This article explores a few good ways to make your lectures more interactive.

"Fun, interactive, research-based simulations of physical phenomena from the PhET™ project at the University of Colorado." These are great simulations to use in class or to have students use at home.

"Students are not only intellectual but also social and emotional beings, and all these dimensions interact to impact learning and performance. To plan an effective course, it is important to consider who our students are, taking into account their: Prior knowledge Intellectual development Cultural background Generational experiences and expectations "

"Discussions are an important component of many forms of online student interaction. For students to benefit from an online discussion, it is important for teachers to generate relevant topics, effectively moderate student activity and participate regularly. This episode will highlight several strategies to help you manage online discussions more effectively, and make them more beneficial for your students."

"Instructional Strategies Decision making regarding instructional strategies requires teachers to focus on curriculum, the prior experiences and knowledge of students, learner interests, student learning styles, and the developmental levels of the learner. Such decision making relies on ongoing student assessment that is linked to learning objectives and processes. Although instructional strategies can be categorized, the distinctions are not always clear cut. For example, a teacher may provide information through the lecture method (from the direct instruction strategy) while using an interpretive method to ask students to determine the significance of information that was presented (from the indirect instruction strategy). The five categories of instructional strategies are Direct Instruction, Indirect Instruction, Interactive Instruction, Experiential Learning, and Independent Study."

"Twitter is a tool that can enable ad hoc conversations and interactions among your students, in ways that you can track and foster. Your students may not all be familiar with Twitter, but its simplicity and availability, much like text messages on a phone, has a broad appeal."

"The flipped classroom is a pedagogical model in which the typical lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed. The notion of a flipped classroom draws on such concepts as active learning, student engagement, hybrid course design, and course podcasting. The value of a flipped class is in the repurposing of class time into a workshop where students can inquire about lecture content, test their skills in applying knowledge, and interact with one another in hands-on activities. Although implementing a flipped classroom places different demands on faculty and forces students to adjust their expectations, the model has the potential to bring about a distinctive shift in priorities-from merely covering material to working toward mastery of it."

"Flipping the classroom changes the place in which content is delivered. If the teacher assigns lecture-type instruction-in the form of video, simulations, slidecasts, readings, podcasts-as homework, then class time can be used interactively. The class becomes conversation space, creation space, space where teachers actively facilitate learning.  The home becomes the lecture space. The hundred+ year-old frontal teaching model flips."

Ever wanted to try active learning, but felt that it might take too much time away from your lecture? A bookended lecture is one in which short segments of active learning are interspersed or bookended at the beginning and/or ends of the lecture. This resource provides summaries of 36 different ways to include some interactivity in your lectures.

A series of Plymouth University brief case study videos created by educators describing various personal good practices in teaching and learning inclusively. Additionally are provided a series of written case studies, to further explore inclusivity in teaching.

"While classroom teaching and management strategies are well documented, the online learning environment presents different challenges and benefits. Teaching in an online environment requires a special set of teaching skills since many of the strategies and tactics associated with best teaching practices are somewhat constrained by the primarily text-based environment. The VOCAL approach summarizes the key characteristics that a master instructor utilizes to be effective in an online environment. VOCAL is an acronym for Visible, Organized, Compassionate, Analytical and Leader-by-example. The ability of the teacher to effectively infuse these characteristics into their instructional practice - to BE VOCAL - will promote a supportive, challenging, constructive, rigorous and effective instructional environment. Instructors who practice a VOCAL approach will have more productive learning environments, fewer management problems and more positive learning experiences with their students."

Video of a keynote by Erik Mazur - a physicist from Harvard. "...how he came to develop Peer Instruction, a teaching method that enhances interactive engagement among students, particularly in large lecture style settings or classrooms."

Interesting article that describes the student data being collected at some universities. The data is be used to "eAdvise" students into the proper programming and courses, which leads to higher retention rates. The data may be used to go as far as even monitoring card swipes and analyze student social interactions.