Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness

"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."

"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."

"Copyright and creative commons are particularly important in the educational context where content is often copied, shared, reused and remixed by both teachers and students in the learning and teaching process."

"A self teaching tutorial on twitter. I tried to bring out the essence of educational micro-blogging."

"Self-determination lies at the heart of Aboriginal pedagogy. Aboriginal people do want to share their knowledges with other Australians. It is, however, critical to recognise that there is an expectation of reciprocity in such an activity. The sharing of knowledges should be to the mutual benefit of all concerned. Those knowledges that are secret and sacred must remain so."

This article, written by David Breneman in 1990, about the loss of liberal arts colleges is an interesting read, particularly for those who attended the Ken Steele talk.

An interesting article discussing the benefits of higher education to society (and how to measure them). This flips the current trend in the discussion of higher education and its benefits from an individual to a more global focus.

Faculty Focus manages this web resource on teaching strategies. Very useful and diverse spectrum of resources available!

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."

"The traditional model of the lecture and learning cycle has long been to deliver the lecture during class and to send students home to do homework and perhaps engage in a discussion or two afterwards. The flipped classroom flips this model on its head: through lecture capture software, lectures can be captured on video for students to watch home, freeing up class time for hands-on learning activities and discussion."

Interesting blog post by Tony Bates on the changing face of higher education, the role of distance education and educational technology. Worth a read.

"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."

NOTE: Any post-secondary instructor can access these questions by request using their institutional email address. "In June, BCcampus hosted its first ever textbook sprint that saw a geography open textbook written in just four days. The event was such a success that BCcampus decided to do it again. In July, BCcampus, the NOBA Project, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and Kwantlen psychology instructor Dr. Rajiv Jhangiani coordinated another sprint. However, instead of writing a book, the focus of this two-day sprint was on creating questions for psychology instructors to use in conjunction with open textbooks. The organizers called it the "Great Psychology Test Bank Sprint." Instructors from six post secondary institutions: Kwantlen, Thompson Rivers University, Camosun College, Northern Lights College, Capilano University, and the University of the Fraser Valley gathered to write questions for use in introductory psychology courses."

"With the large lecture format, said NMC Senior Communications Director Samantha Becker, "it's really hard to personalize the material so that a student can feel like they have ownership over their own learning process." And, she added, "It's hard to speak up. There's always the fear of being ostracized by other students or feeling like asking stupid questions." Maurice Matiz, executive director of Columbia University's (NY) Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning, agreed: "Sitting in one of these 180-student classrooms is a very passive situation," he said. "We've found that students aren't really learning very much." Matiz and his colleagues are out to change that - by finding ways to adopt the flipped classroom model to traditional large lecture courses. "

"The first multidisciplinary aggregator of Open Access journals and papers. Keep on top of recent discoveries and never hit a paywall. "

"In this course, we will examine the tools and practices associated with networked, open, and digital scholarship. In particular we will investigate the emergent practice of scholars' use of social media and online social networks for sharing, critiquing, improving, furthering, and reflecting upon their scholarship. Recent reports indicate that social media are at an early stage of adoption in academia, even though mindful participation in digital spaces is a significant skill for today's academic and knowledge worker. Participants will study scholarly presence online. They will examine how particular tools and practices may enhance the impact and reach of scholarship, and will explore the challenges and tensions associated with emerging forms of scholarship. By gaining an understanding of modern forms of scholarship, participants will be better equipped to use digital technologies and networked practices in their own work. This course will be of immediate relevance to doctoral students, academics, and knowledge workers. Faculty members who teach research methods courses and faculty development professionals may also find this course valuable."

"Whether you're a new Twitter user or a seasoned pro, there are probably some things you should know. From the key terms to the hashtags to how long your tweets should be. In an effort to help share some of the best bits of wisdom we've learned over the years, this 1-page printable Twitter guide should help you and your followers / friends learn a bit more about how to use Twitter. It's short, sweet, and offers some useful tips, tricks, and lingo."

"MOOCs, however, are a game-changer, for a lot of reasons. I won't hash out all the pros and cons here. (I'm on the pro side.) But whatever the potential faults or limitations of MOOCs, the fact that they are free and open to all makes them, at least, a good place for low-stakes experiments. And that quality makes them extremely valuable to people who otherwise can't easily get themselves into a student desk, including college teachers. In short, MOOCs give us access to a simulation of the college student experience. Let me explain how that worked for me recently."

"Flickr can be a good place to find Creative Commons licensed images to use in blog posts, slides, and other multimedia presentations. The Flickr CC Attribution Helper makes it easy to format proper attributions for the CC licensed images that you use. In the video below I demonstrate how to find images and how to use the Flickr CC Attribution Helper." Includes short video tutorial.