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Ann Steckel

Integrating Digital Audio Composition into Humanities Courses - ProfHacker - The Chroni... - 0 views

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    "May 25, 2010, 02:00 PM ET Integrating Digital Audio Composition into Humanities Courses By Prof. Hacker Edison Phonograph[This guest post is by Jentery Sayers, who is a PhD candidate in English at the University of Washington, Seattle. In 2010-2011, he will be teaching media and communication studies courses in Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington, Bothell. He is also actively involved with HASTAC. You can follow Jentery on Twitter: @jenterysayers.] Back in October 2009, Billie Hara published a wonderfully detailed ProfHacker post titled, "Responding to Student Writing (audio style)". There, she provides a few reasons why instructors might compose digital audio in response to student writing. For instance, students are often keen on audio feedback, which seems more personal than handwritten notes or typed text. As an instructor of English and media studies, I have reached similar conclusions. Broadening the sensory modalities and types of media involved in feedback not only diversifies how learning happens; it also requires all participants to develop some basic-and handy-technical competencies (e.g., recording, storing, and accessing MP3s) all too rare in the humanities. In this post, I want to continue ProfHacker's inquiry into audio by unpacking two questions: How might students-and not just instructors-compose digital audio in their humanities courses? And what might they learn in so doing? Designing Courses with Audio Composition in Mind One of the easiest ways to integrate digital audio composition into a humanities course is to identify the kinds of compositions that might be possible and then find some examples. Below, I consider five kinds of digital audio compositions: * recorded talks * audio essays * playlists * mashups * interviews Each entails its own learning outcomes, technologies, and technical competencies. The recorded talk consists of students reading their own academic essays a
Ann Steckel

Active Learning For The College Classroom - 0 views

  • Visual Lists - Here students are asked to make a list--on paper or on the blackboard; by working in groups, students typically can generate more comprehensive lists than they might if working alone. This method is particularly effective when students are asked to compare views or to list pros and cons of a position. One technique which works well with such comparisons is to have students draw a "T" and to label the left- and right-hand sides of the cross bar with the opposing positions (or 'Pro' and 'Con'). They then list everything they can think of which supports these positions on the relevant side of the vertical line. Once they have generated as thorough a list as they can, ask them to analyze the lists with questions appropriate to the exercise. For example, when discussing Utilitarianism (a theory which claims that an action is morally right whenever it results in more benefits than harms) students can use the "T" method to list all of the (potential) benefits and harms of an action, and then discuss which side is more heavily "weighted". Often having the list before them helps to determine the ultimate utility of the action, and the requirement to fill in the "T" generally results in a more thorough accounting of the consequences of the action in question. In science classes this would work well with such topics as massive vaccination programs, nuclear power, eliminating chlorofluorocarbons, reducing carbon dioxide emissions, and so forth.
  • Note Comparison/Sharing - One reason that some students perform poorly in classes is that they often do not have good note-taking skills. That is, while they might listen attentively, students do not always know what to write down, or they may have gaps in their notes which will leave them bewildered when they go back to the notes to study or to write a paper. One way to avoid some of these pitfalls and to have students model good note-taking is to have them occasionally compare notes. The instructor might stop lecturing immediately after covering a crucial concept and have students read each others' notes, filling in the gaps in their own note-taking. This is especially useful in introductory courses or in courses designed for non-majors or special admissions students. Once students see the value of supplementing their own note-taking with others', they are likely to continue the practice outside of class time.
  •   Reading Quiz - Clearly, this is one way to coerce students to read assigned material! Active learning depends upon students coming to class prepared. The reading quiz can also be used as an effective measure of student comprehension of the readings (so that you may gauge their level of sophistication as readers). Further, by asking the same sorts of questions on several reading quizzes, you will give students guidance as to what to look for when reading assigned text. If you ask questions like "What color were Esmerelda's eyes?" (as my high school literature teacher liked to do), you are telling the student that it is the details that count, whereas questions like "What reason did Esmerelda give, for murdering Sebastian?" highlight issues of justification. If your goal is to instruct (and not merely to coerce), carefully choose questions which will both identify who has read the material (for your sake) and identify what is important in the reading (for their sake).
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  • Clarification Pauses - This is a simple technique aimed at fostering "active listening". Throughout a lecture, particularly after stating an important point or defining a key concept, stop, let it sink in, and then (after waiting a bit!) ask if anyone needs to have it clarified. You can also circulate around the room during these pauses to look at student notes, answer questions, etc. Students who would never ask a question in front of the whole class will ask questions during a clarification pause as you move about the room.
  • Muddiest (or Clearest) Point - This is a variation on the one-minute paper, though you may wish to give students a slightly longer time period to answer the question. Here you ask (at the end of a class period, or at a natural break in the presentation), "What was the "muddiest point" in today's lecture?" or, perhaps, you might be more specific, asking, for example: "What (if anything) do you find unclear about the concept of 'personal identity' ('inertia', 'natural selection', etc.)?".
  • Affective Response - Again, this is similar to the above exercises, but here you are asking students to report their reactions to some facet of the course material - i.e., to provide an emotional or valuative response to the material. Obviously, this approach is limited to those subject areas in which such questions are appropriate (one should not, for instance, inquire into students’ affective responses to vertebrate taxonomy). However, it can be quite a useful starting point for courses such as applied ethics, particularly as a precursor to theoretical analysis. For example, you might ask students what they think of Dr. Jack Kevorkian's activities, before presenting what various moral theorists would make of them. By having several views "on the table" before theory is presented, you can help students to see the material in context and to explore their own beliefs. It is also a good way to begin a discussion of evolutionary theory or any other scientific area where the general public often has views contrary to current scientific thinking, such as paper vs. plastic packaging or nuclear power generation.
Jim Aird

An absolutely riveting online course: Nine principles for excellence in web-based teach... - 0 views

  • Simply taking material that was developed for classroom delivery and directly porting it into course management programs such as WebCT or Blackboard tends neither to be effective nor recommended (Ellis & Hafner, 2003)
  • The retooling and redesigning of course materials often takes significant time
  • The online world is a medium unto itself and if instruction is to be effective, material for online courses needs to be developed with the unique strengths and dynamics of the web in mind
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  • one of those changes is that the instructor role is moving from provider of content to designer of student learning experiences
  • As with teaching in a face-to-face environment, we need to constantly gauge our audience and discern what tools and strategies are going to be effective at the time.
  • Specific aspects of online teaching that are reported to contribute to enhanced learning and student satisfaction also include: quick turnaround time by instructor on email and assignments (Hopper and Harmon; 2000); frequent and engaged contact and individual feedback (Anderson, 2006); having goals and objectives that are clearly stated (Carr-Chellman & Duchastel, 2000; King, 1998; Orde, et al., 2001; Sieber, 2005) and detailed enough to clarify “what the student should be able to do, the conditions under which the student should produce the desired behaviour and how well the student must be able to perform it” (Ellis & Hafner, 2003, p. 643); great communication skills (Hopper and Harmon, 2000; White, 2000); regular use of student names (Aragon, 2003) and the capacity to be real and genuine (Aragon, 2003; Beaudin & Henry, 2007).
  • Regardless of how stellar the content or how wondrous the technology, if they are to be excellent, online courses must also involve excellent online teaching.
  • Social presence and a sense of community are influenced by many things, including collaborative learning activities (Aragon, 2003), enhanced communication (Steinweg, et al., 2006), use of humour (Aragon, 2003), small group activities (Rovai, 2002) and it is an essential part of online learning.
  • The expertise involved in developing excellent online courses is not optional; it is essential. And we either gain those areas of expertise ourselves or we look for help and support. Otherwise, significant aspects of the courses we develop will be weak, and possibly even mediocre.
  • in post-secondary education instructors tend to be subject matter experts and not necessarily experts in learning theory and educational processes (Ellis & Hafner, 2003; Oblinger & Hawkins, 2006). As such, a team approach is often encouraged.
  • Excellence in online education requires multiple areas of expertise. A content expert is necessary but not even close to sufficient.
  • It is not enough to simply inform students of these areas, the instructor must request that students respond once they have found the required information or activity in question.
  • There are a few things that some online instructors/developers provide that can go a long way with students. One is to provide exemplars of the course assignments.
  • Perhaps the most common of these provide direction on being effective self-guided learners. Unless the students in an online course can manage their time and provide some degree of self-motivation, they tend not to do well in a virtual course environment.
  • Brief personal email messages are also appreciated by students
  • Another little extra is the inclusion of brief audio clips
  • The integration of related video material also provides another little extra, especially for those students who tend to be auditory or visual in nature.
  • Knowledge and understanding of such principles can help us find success in the exciting world of online education, and can help us move from the mere uploading of content to creating absolutely riveting online courses.
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    Great article about online course design.
Marjorie Shepard

A Learner-Centered Syllabus Helps Set the Tone for Learning - 0 views

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    "When it comes to a learner-centered syllabus vs. a traditional syllabus, it's not really a difference so much in content as it is in tone," said Paff. "There's a shift in emphasis from 'What are we going to cover?' to 'How can the course promote learning and intellectual development in students?' So it's going to contain roughly the same information, but the language used to convey the policies, procedures, and content is different in order to foster a more engaging and shared learning environment."
Marjorie Shepard

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.474.318&rep=rep1&type=pdf - 0 views

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    The purpose of this experiment was to compare the effects of anonymous and identifiable electronic peer (e-peer) review on college student writing performance and the extent of critical peer feedback. Participants were 92 undergraduate freshmen in four English composition classes enrolled in the fall semesters of 2003 and 2004. The same instructor taught all four classes, and in each semester, one class was assigned to the anonymous e-peer review group and the other to the identifiable e-peer review group. All other elements-course content, assignments, demands, and classroom instruction- were held constant. The results from both semesters showed that students participating in anonymous e-peer review performed better on the writing performance task and provided more critical feedback to their peers than did students participating in the identifiable e-peer review. 
Ann Steckel

The Power of Real-World Gender Roles in Second Life - Pixels and Policy - 0 views

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    "The Power of Real-World Gender Roles in Second Life Pixels and Policy recently tackled the issue of how racial bias crept across the real-virtual divide and found a home in the virtual world. Dozens of our readers responded with their own stories of virtual prejudice as well as their critiques of our research. As we researched the role of race is Second Life, more and more female residents asked us to take a look at how female avatars reflect real-world gender expectations. The topic is too important to pass up. Over the course of three weeks, Pixels and Policy conducted interviews with over 40 residents of Second Life to see just what gender in the Metaverse meant to them."
Marjorie Shepard

10 Recommendations for Improving Group Work | Faculty Focus - 0 views

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    "efore the groups are formed and the task is set out, teachers should make clear why this particular assignment is being done in groups. Students are still regularly reporting in survey data that teachers use groups so they don't have to teach or have as much work to grade. Most of us are using groups because employers in many fields want employees who can work with others they don't know, may not like, who hold different views, and possess different skills and capabilities."
Marjorie Shepard

Education 3.0 - Around The Globe « WCET Frontiers - 0 views

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    Loved this quote, "...A GREAT lecture can be amazing and I try in my keynotes to deliver a great lecture. But in my classes it's a different story! I rarely lecture at all anymore. I have those students for 45 hours a term - I don't need to cram anything into an hour. And I know that nobody can create 45 amazing lectures per term. In fact, after polling about 20,000 teachers and professors, the average number of great lecturers on campus seems to be 3 and the total number of great lectures any one person delivers seems to be 3."
Ann Steckel

iPad in every TEACHER'S hand | Opening Doors and Turning On Lights - 0 views

  • 2) Mobile Assessment I have always found it difficult to circulate around my classroom and accurately record assessment of my students at work. Whether I scribbled stuff down in a duo tang, or on a prepared form, I never felt like it worked very well. The other day, as I was working in my Robotics/Technology option, I whipped up a quick Google Form with check boxes and specific criteria I was looking for. That, in addition to video of the students at work, made for easy assessment of their collaborative use of the technology provided to create a robot that could complete the assigned task
Ann Steckel

A great How-to Tutorial on Creating Student Portfolios on iPad Using Google Drive App ~... - 0 views

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    Watching the video tutorial you will get to learn how students can easily create a complete portfolio using Google Drive app for iPad. You will also learn how to create and collaborate in real time on a document or spreadsheet and everything in between from editing to sharing finished work.
Ann Steckel

How NOT to Teach Online: A Story in Two Parts | Online Learning | HYBRID PEDAGOGY - 1 views

  • The funny thing about teaching with technologies, online or even in a face-to-face context, is that if you focus primarily on the technologies themselves the important things can fade from view too easily.
  • they focus on the technology and the how first and foremost, to the point where the purpose for the learning gets lost.  
  • a key role of any facilitator is to make those norms and expectations explicit, so learners can begin to take ownership of their own participation on shared, sanctioned terms
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  • Online is different, in the sense that bringing people fully into an experience requires some explicit scaffolding that face-to-face tends not to
  • And yet online is no different at all, in the sense that it is teaching and learning for all the same reasons as any other teaching and learning experience, and we need to approach it with our whole selves, not just as mediators of technology
Marjorie Shepard

7 Assessment Challenges of Moving Your Course Online (Plus Solutions) - 2 views

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    Representative submissions. Using a multimedia tool such as Jing or VoiceThread to dissect, just as you would in the classroom, a few representative submissions (such as a research paper containing an ineffective conclusion and one that cites sources incorrectly) lets you address the most common problems efficiently, saving your remaining grading time for more personalized, in-depth student-to-student communications.
Peter DiFalco

Collection of Google Earth resources on one page - 0 views

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    150,000 place marks in 80 kml/kmz files in 20 categories
Ann Steckel

WeCanTakeYouThere-Virtual Tours Portal - 0 views

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    WeCanTakeYouThere is a customizable portal from where you can create stunning, professional Virtual Tours combining panoramas, pictures, video, audio, floorplans and objects in 3D. Your tours will be uploaded and placed on a map instantly. Once the tour has been created, you can easily embed it into any website in seconds. It works just like YouTube. Create and share instantly. You can also have your own version of the WeCanTakeYouThere portal and customize it to your liking. Forget about coding and hassles with servers and databases. WeCanTakeYouThere takes care of it all for you. Feel free to use for either personal or commercial use. Your portal and the content uploaded on it can be viewed from any computer and several mobile devices, making it a very powerful marketing tool.
Ann Steckel

Second Life Fashion: Dressing Professionally for Not Too Many Lindens - 0 views

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    When I rezzed in Second Life, the first thing I wanted to do was shop. But like many newbies, I had no idea where to buy clothes, had pretty low standards for outfits and no lindens, so I haunted freebie warehouses and collected everything I could get my virtual hands on. I've finally deleted most newb finds, but my quest for free or inexpensive, yet stylish, fashion remains. Among the many fashion choices in SL, like many librarians, I like classic, professional looking styles that I would feel comfortable wearing anywhere - Second Life or real life.
csharrio

Videos Find Their Place In and Out of the Classroom - 0 views

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    Among today's students, videos as an educational tool are as expected as textbooks. A new study has found that 68 percent of students watch videos in class, and 79 percent watch them on their own time, outside of class, to assist in their learning.
Marjorie Shepard

Hit the Mark with Digital Media Exit Cards - 0 views

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    Fun formative assessment ideas... - A six-second Vine video to capture the most critical six seconds of class - A 16-second video to post to MixBit, YouTube's new video sharing tool - A tweet that boils down the essence of the class to 140 characters - A photo illustrating the key learning moment that can then be posted on a class Instagram account - A question posted to a class Edmodo account inviting a continuation of the learning outside of class The key 21st century skill in all of these approaches is synthesis, the ability to cut to the essence of an idea or concept and communicate in an effective, succinct, compelling manner.
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