Group items tagged

"We already know what the college of the future will look like, because the non-traditional students are creating it now. It's a hybrid of online and in-person classes, centered on the student and not the institution, with credits accruing from multiple schools, and adding up to a degree in alternating periods of attendance and absence."

"But this was his first use of an ARLE for professional development. "In gaming, you fail 80 percent of the time, and you enjoy the experience and come back for more," he said. "This lets you put students in situations where they fail, and learn from their failure, safely. At the same time, the authenticity of the learning experience is off the charts.""

"The bulk of scholarship on teaching and learning continues to be embedded in our disciplines. It ends up there because that's where it counts (if it does) and because there's a long-standing and still fairly widely held belief that the teaching needed for a particular kind of content is unique. Unless you know the content, you can't know how to teach it."

slick tag based sorting features which open up some interesting options

I can't tell if this is what I've been looking for or if I hate it. Changing organizational structures is a bigger challenge than it seems. I may have to give this a try for a week and see where I stand.

"Obfuscation: A User's Guide for Privacy and Protest is an important and straight to the point book that reminds us that, ultimately, we're up against intimidating asymmetries of power and knowledge. Stronger actors -whether they are corporations, governmental bodies or influential people- have better tools at their disposal if they want to hide something. What we have is obfuscation. It might require time, money, efforts, attention but it gives us some leverage as well as some measures of resistance and dignity. "

"I had been invited out by a group of students to climb buildings-a risky endeavor in which you have to dodge campus security while doing a series of parkour moves up fire escapes, railings, ladders, and ledges to make your way to the top of campus buildings. I was amazed at how passionate and intensively these students were pursuing this goal. And I realized that if we could somehow nurture that same kind of passion in the classroom, grades would be irrelevant. The students were, in fact, testing themselves. They were testing their courage, their skill, and their determination. And they will continue to test themselves-over and over again. If we could somehow create learning outcomes worth pursuing, we might get the same kind of engagement."

Via Stephen Downes's recent post; a nice accessible summary discussion for non-techies about how technology is changing teaching. Good teaching resource, I think.

"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.

h/t Stan

This was a nice post. I can see why this is an important platform you are requesting us to use. I just need a tweet tutorial for the uninitiated. :) Much more play time I suppose. Play. Play. Play.

Laura Goglia wrote up a pretty decent intro twitter document but play if always my preferred path. https://www.academia.edu/11977668/A_Little_Bird_Told_Me_Maximizing_Your_Learning_On_Twitter

link to ECAR findings

Embrace imperfection. Makers are more interested in learning and experimenting rather than perfection and that's OK. They try (and fail) often to perfect their projects and to make lots of small bets which eventually lead them to THE BIG IDEA. Makers do it for the fun first and iterate and refine as they go.

Love the process. A focus on trusting the process rather than outcome is essential to the Maker mentality. Creativity and making is an ongoing rhythm, a lifestyle which is more a way of being than a hobby or isolated event.

Other thoughts on this interesting link. Writing a grant focused on the iterative process of improving health care this is exactly what the funders are looking for. How to set up teams (with the 'right' mix of individuals) that are working in an environment where they can fail (without hurting anybody) and improve processes both for the team and the rest of the organization. The later is much harder - how to disseminate good processes that others can then improve upon in complex organizations. But yes the goal is to always work on the process improvement (the makers mentality as it is called in this piece).

What an insightful assignment- I will keep this one in mind for teaching cultural awareness and empathy

I wish I could automate some things like this in rampages . . . like if you do a bare URL that doesn't link . . . I'd like to auto comment with some directions on how to make a link. Seems doable in terms of programming.