Group items tagged

Slick mapping visualization from our friends at the VCU Libraries. The Internet is going to be big some day...

Interesting overview of the physics of a bicycle, discussion about history, research and conclusion that we really don't understand how a bicycle works.

Beautiful, informative, multimodal composition.

"In case you can't tell, I'm incredibly proud of all of my students.  They were permitted to choose their own subjects and conduct their own research, and they really enjoyed writing for a wider public beyond their professor. "

"Why wipe the slate clean? Why erase such knowledge? Why not use it as a foundation to build upon?"

"More than a technique, PCR is a concept, that enables molecular biologists to think in new ways of their object of study, DNA, to ask genes new questions. Opening the way to new experiments, it literally frees the imagination. Some even use PCR machines as fridges. After all a thermocycler is nothing but an intelligent heating and cooling block. It can be set on 4ºC for 48 hours, to conserve the result of an experiment over the week-end. "

I really enjoyed Karl Miller's talk and his course is well worth exploring.

"Students who enroll in Bryan Carter's courses on the Harlem Renaissance don't just get a survey of the period's rich culture. They immerse themselves in it."

"Giving a syllabus a profound inside-out reorganization is more than just window dressing. It involves deep thought about your course content and how a student encounters it. Marshall McLuhan said, "the medium is the message" and while the traditional medium for a syllabus is a portrait-oriented 8.5×11 text document printed on paper and handed out the first day of class… it needn't be the only possibility.

One of those impressive student blogs that inspires. h/t Amy Nelson

One professor's description of her learning to teach in a connected course.

Very good: "Web Design: The First 100 years" http://t.co/wu8jzT6Pq6 (although "the web" is not the right frame, but, details.)

Quoting Mr. Russell from the introduction to his book,

"These studies tell me that there is nothing inherent in the technologies that elicits improvements in learning. Having said that, let me reassure you that difference in outcomes can be made more positive by adapting the content to the technology. That is, in going through the process of redesigning a course to adapt the content to the technology, it can be improved."

This idea is reflected in the history of the No Significant Difference literature. Over the last 50 years, the question for media comparison studies (MCS) has evolved from, "Can students learn at a distance?" to "What is the effect of distance delivery on student outcomes?" Over the years, especially since the internet revolution, the conviction that distance delivery is necessarily inferior to face to face instruction has faded a bit. As we accept that it is not the technology itself, but the application of technology, that has the potential to affect learning, it is our hope that future research will strive to identify the instructional methods that best utilize technology attributes to improve student outcomes.

vcuole

Site has its problems but the simple frame is interesting: imagine, design, create, deliver, evaluate.

I like the concept- maybe inspiration, creation, evaluation.

A broad spectrum of media that is available under CC licenses.

Here's a brief exploration of the Flickr Commons that details some of the interesting things you can find on Flickr. These photos are all Creative Commons licensed.