Technology and education are pretty intertwined these days and nearly every teacher has a few favorite tech tools that make doing his or her job and connecting with students a little bit easier and more fun for all involved.
I hear complaints about the poor quality of student writing today as often as I read stories about the Internet causing the end of higher education as we know it (i.e., frequently). When those complaints come in the form of actual conversations with peers, instead of in print, I feel myself immediately put on the defensive.
Thanks for this post Heather. I liked that the instructor recognized that despite some challenges with using a new technique to promote his students' writing skills the energy that was expressed by his students far outweighed the "mess" that he dealt with the first time trying something new.
The lack of learning transfer is a common mantra in higher education. It's a good article for reflection. Although I've been a proponent of service learning, at the same time, I wasn't sure how students could or if they would transfer their experiences to the academic component. Now, I need to rethink my position on service learning and its impact on connected learning
Interesting read - I found the shift from taped lecture to a more interactive setting interesting... "Udacity, along with other MOOC designers, is moving rapidly away from the video lecture model of teaching toward an approach that is highly interactive and based on frequent quizzes and human "mentors" to provide active online support for students."
Whoo Hoo! I made it in. I feel like I belong to something!
All kidding aside, this list describes the characteristics we need to be successful online learners and what qualities our students need to remain successful in our classes.
Like the facilitator, the online student possesses unique qualities. The online students of today consist primarily of working people who are trying to better their opportunities. This however is changing, as more and more young and older people become aware of the online model.
Isra Garcia writes: In the past, I've written about how I use LinkedIn and also offered 13 fast tips to optimize your profile. But there's still so much more to learn about the platform. Below, you will find eight tips for making the most of your time on LinkedIn. Getting the most out of LinkedIn
Scroll down to see the virtual activity example posted here. I really appreciated this, as it is visual and interesting and goes well beyond a typical discussion board or written response.
This blog post outlines types of social media that can be used in the classroom. These include Twitter, blogs, Flickr, Skype, and Pinterest, and Tumbl.