Group items tagged

"There are a variety of ways to learn from someone else's experience.  Start by reading and researching.  Libraries and the internet are great sources for exploration.  When using the internet, look for recognized and reliable sources.  There's lots of erroneous information on the web, so be discriminating. Attend classes.  You have many choices for live or online classes on virtually any subject that interests you.  If you're so inclined, you can work full or part time on a degree.  Adding academic credentials to your resume is always beneficial. Find a mentor who is an expert in the area you are interested in.  Offer to volunteer, apprentice, or intern.  Working with an authority in a particular field is a great way to acquire lots of experience quickly. Observe people who are already where you want to be.  You don't have to know them personally.  You can read about them, read books and articles they write, or follow media accounts of their exploits.  Join associations or professional groups in your area of interest.  They are an excellent opportunity to meet and connect with experienced people.  You will have many opportunities to ask questions and attend a variety of educational forums."

I found myself almost getting on board this article until I got to the end: "Don't waste time learning from your own experiences. Acquire an edge by learning from what others have already been through. Whatever your goals may be, there are those who have a lot to teach you because they have already traveled your path." I believe there is great benefit to being reflective on one's own actions and experiences. At the end of the day, we certainly can learn and make connections through other's experiences, but frankly we go to bed, and wake up, as ourselves every day. The more we understand and know ourselves the better we can be accurate guides.

"What PLNs can I use to connect with other educators like me? One of the coolest things about PLNs, Connectivism, and learning online is that there are always tons of opportunities for informal, collective learning experiences drawn from a variety of experiences and vantage points. Put simply, we have the opportunity to tap into fountains of learning and information when we chose, or when our interests and time permit."

FWIW, I think Mike Caulfield is one of the brightest and most thoughtful people in higher ed. I like this post very much.

"The findings also show faculty members are creating new opportunities with technology. Through experimentation with online education, for example, faculty members say they are able to serve a more diverse set of students and think more critically about how to engage students with course content, and with free and open course materials, they say they are increasing access to education."

"We can do better by our students. The number one thing would be to inculcate the idea of the university *as* a workplace, and all of us as professionals in it. And of course, many professors (me!) need a lot more training in the mechanics of the workplace than we ever get. The next, and much easier thing, would be to offer opportunities to acquire basic workplace technical skills: using software, running meetings, emailing like a grownup, navigating the org chart."

I wonder how often this opportunity is there but the person isn't . . . seems like the very definition of computational thinking. "In the end, the tool was very crude but accomplished something very useful: It had a flow that ensured all the reports required by people on the ground, and above, were sent in a timely and orderly manner. Each step of that flow was almost entirely automated. Each button filled a template and put the text in the clipboard for copy-pasting in the chat. Events were timed automatically. Distances and time of travel were computed automatically. A dropdown menu facilitated entering common values. Big warning signs were visible when a time critical step was ongoing, or some important data was missing."

This could be a checklist for ALL professional development across education and, I suspect, other fields as well. Personalized, customized, sustained.

""We do not face a choice between tradition and change, between the familiar and the new. We face an opportunity and an imperative both to embrace thoughtful change and to affirm our core values in ways that fulfill this extraordinary university's enduring promise to its students and to the world.""

1. For complex written assignments that require synthesis of material from the entire semester, divide the assignment into phases and have students submit interim deliverables for feedback. 2. Use rubrics to guide student activity on the discussion board as well as in written assignments. 3. For courses that teach dense, technical material, self-check quizzes can be very effective to oblige students to complete the required reading and help them (and instructors) gauge their understanding of the material. 4. Make use of synchronous technologies, where appropriate. Many of the challenges instructors face when teaching online are the result of the distant, asynchronous nature of most online learning. Web conferencing and telephone conferencing can help "close the gap" that asynchronous communication introduces. 5. Explore the use of peer-assessment strategies to foster community development and give students chances to learn through analyzing and critiquing the work of others. Rubrics are a must for this kind of activity. 6. Look for appropriate opportunities to address the entire class so as to reduce the time spent giving the same feedback to multiple students. After a big assignment, post an announcement summarizing some of the trends in the submissions, along with recommendations for next steps. Maintain a "Q&A" discussion board to which students can post questions for everyone to see. Monitor the board regularly, but also urge students to assist one another when appropriate.

"The site provides science students and educators, at levels from kindergarten to college, with a free online space to create, collaborate and share their own digital drawings, Wang says. It initially was inspired by Frankel's Picturing to Learn project, where MIT and Harvard undergraduates majoring in science created drawings to explain scientific phenomena to high school students, according to Wang. Excited about the potential for drawing as a tool for students and science enthusiasts in and out of the classroom, Wang saw an opportunity in that space to infuse new energy and greater creativity into science education, he said."

"Here is my grand vision. Imagine with me. What if your syllabi were beautiful? What if they were a pleasure for students to engage with? What if they provided opportunities to not only understand and access policies, expectations, schedules and such, but for our students to meet us?  What if the syllabus became a site where former students could share voices (stories, feedback, words of encouragement) with future students? Isn't THIS what our goal should be as we move into this amazing landscape of mobile, digital media?"

The Kress Foundation funded research to help clarify perceptions on digital scholarship and art history! I can only imagine the creative community being equally aghast and confused about earth art, conceptual art and performance art (among others). Wild to think about. We keep marching forward. "The findings reveal disagreements in the art history community about the value of digital research, teaching, and scholarship. Those who believe in the potential of digital art history feel it will open up new avenues of inquiry and scholarship, allow greater access to art historical information, provide broader dissemination of scholarly research, and enhance undergraduate and graduate teaching. Those who are skeptical doubt that new forms of art historical scholarship will emerge from the digital environment. They remain unconvinced that digital art history will offer new research opportunities or that it will allow them to conduct their research in new and different ways."

"Today's students are more tech-savvy than students of just a few years ago, White notes. They grow up using tablets and not only are prepared to use VR but also are already able to think in 3D, White says. "Educational opportunities will literally only be limited by our own imaginations." "

trends in education related to online learning opportunities

The following pages give you suggestions for when and how to use music during your teaching or training. With these techniques, you, the teacher, can orchestrate a classroom environment that is rich and resonant-- and provide learners with a symphony of learning opportunities and a sound education!

"We are a 501c3 charitable organization that was formed in 2010 to fill a void with initial refugee resettlement.  We collaborate with resettlement agencies, residential property owners, educators, faith communities and other organizations to ensure that every refugee resettled in Richmond has the opportunity to establish roots and build community."

"Hi, my name is Nikolaj Cyon and I am an artist from Sweden who has worked with precolonial Africa as a theme in my art for over a year. I have, as a mind experiment, made a map of what Africa could have looked like in the mid 19th century if Europe had never  become a colonizing world power. In order to do this I have tried to construct an alternative historical time-line in which Europe was much harder struck by the plague in the 1350's and never recovered. Therefore  African nations would have gotten the opportunity to flourish unhindered. "

A wave of change aims to produce young doctors who are better prepared to meet the demands of the nation's changing health-care system - using team based learning, more interactive and hands-on learning opportunities, etc. Great quote from the article: "We've replaced 'the sage on the stage' with 'the guide on the side,' "

"Some may consider online learning to be the anti-classroom.  A rebellion against the chalkboard and the Blackboard in favor of virtual classrooms, avatars in sweater vests lecturing in a Charlie Brown monotone…  I simply look at it as a different kind of team approach to learning.  More opportunities for inputs.  If anything, it makes the scholarship more rigorous.  As both teachers and students, it is becoming increasingly difficult to hide behind airs of academia when the scholarship can be researched, published, evaluated and revised in a nano-second.  It makes educational leadership even more important when the skills necessary to synthesize information both in person and on line are changing, and changing quickly."

"Biology was once largely a descriptive science, largely limited to agriculture and medicine. This is no longer true. Biology is Technology. From programmable microbes to human-machine symbiosis, biological technologies are expanding our definition of technology and redefining how we interact with and use biology. We now have the opportunity for a radically new approach to developing game-changing applications and solutions to intractable problems. "