Teaching Highlights
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Research and experience suggest that these practices contribute to an effective, efficient and satisfying teaching and learning experience for both faculty and students. Using these practices can help develop confidence, comfort, and experience in teaching online.
As highlighted by J.V. Boettcher, PhD in Designing for Learning, the ten best practices for teaching online are:
- Be Present at the Course Site
- Create a supportive online course community
- Share a set of very clear expectations for your students and for yourself as to (1) how you will communicate and (2) how much time students should be working on the course each week
- Use a variety of large group, small group, and individual work experiences
- Use both synchronous and asynchronous activities …
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If we want to communicate with our students, we have to wait for them to come to class, check their email or login to the online classroom... but, let's face it, there are times that we don't want to wait. Times that we want to tell our students something RIGHT NOW! Whether a current event, a change in an assignment, or a reminder about class... remind101.com gives us a tool to quickly, easily, efficiently text our students without ever having to exchange cell phone numbers.
Remind101.com is a website that allows teachers to text message or email students without ever exchanging personal contact information.
How does remind101 work?
First, a teacher adds his/her class, which generates a unique code. The teacher then shares that code with his/her students. At that point, any student who sends a text message with the code will be "subscribed" to the teacher's class. Any time a teacher sends a message from remind101, all the students subscribed will receive it.
How…
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New York Times Schools for Tomorrow
Sept. 22, 2011
http://www.nytschoolsfortomorrow.com/agenda.html
The New York Times is sponsoring a symposium on September 22nd on the subject of "Bringing technology into the Classroom," and a live stream of the event is supposed to be available on that date at the website noted below. The keynote speaker is Dr. Lawrence Summers, and many notables in education, journalism, government, technology, industry, etc. will be involved.
Please note that there are two streams, a K-12 and a College stream. The website describes the event as…
… we're bringing…
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Is it a classroom or a coffee shop? It may not look anything like the classrooms we are used to, but faculty and students at Texas Wesleyan University have designed an award-winning classroom space designed to maximize learning in our modern era.
As highlighted by a recent article in Campus Technology, classroom design may have a profound impact on the quality, nature and function of student learning. Faculty at Texas Wesleyan University have transformed a traditional, boring, teacher-focused classroom into "one that's 'radically flexible,' with an emphasis on four themes: flexibility, sensory stimulation, technology support, and decenteredness."
For a peek and this new classroom design and an overview of the key features, see Texas…
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If you want to be hip and cool, just tell your students that they can follow you on Twitter... but, does Twitter really do anything beyond boost your "cool factor"?
Over the last couple of years, Twitter has become all the rage. You can tweek to your heart's content and waste away hours a day "following" a cadre of selected Twitter-devotees. But, beyond staying up to date on all the latest social happenings, does Twitter have any value in the classroom? The answer to this question may just surprise you! Take a peek at the recent article in Academic Impressions:
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With a new school year underway, its time to think about the ideas, perspectives and experiences of entering freshman. To assist in this process... Beloit College has released its annual Mindset List. The Mindset List, originally created in 1998, provides a timely, entertaining means of reflecting on the world view of first year students entering college. So, what is the world like for the Class of 2015????
The Mindset List for the Class of 2015
Andre the Giant, River Phoenix, Frank Zappa, Arthur Ashe and the Commodore 64 have always been dead.
Their classmates could include Taylor Momsen, Angus Jones, Howard Stern's daughter Ashley, and the Dilley Sextuplets.
- There has always been an Internet ramp onto the information highway.
- Ferris Bueller and Sloane Peterson could be their parents.
- States and Velcro parents have always been requiring that they wear their bike helmets.
- The only…
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Confession time... I cheat. Yep, I said it, I cheat. I do not come up with all the innovative ideas that I use in my classrooms... I cheat and steal these instructional gems from other great teachers. Whew... with that off my chest, I am now willing to share my hidden treasure: The Teaching Professor newsletter.
The Teaching Professor newsletter is one of the best finds of my career in higher education. It meets all the requirements of the frazzled, over-worked college professor: convenient, concise, applied and relevant. As highlighted on its website, The Teaching Professor is:
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An acclaimed newsletter devoted to the art and science of better teaching
The source of cutting-edge information - and inspiration - for more than 10,000 educators!
The Teaching Professor…
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Looking for a little something to spice up your lectures? Clips from popular movies are a great way to catch students' attention and engage learners in the topic... but the key is locating a movie clip that is relevant (and appropriate) for the topic of the class. The website MOVIECLIPS provides just the tool that you need!
MOVIECLIPS is an archive of classic movie scenes and quotes. But, the best thing about MOVIECLIPS is that the entire archive is searchable and is organized by topic, theme, title, actor or quotation! So, just enter the topic, concept, theory or focus of your class, and MOVIECLIPS will search for the perfect supplement to your class. Its fast, free and oh-so-easy... and the length of the clips (just a couple of minutes) is perfect for educational use!
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iPads are fun... really fun! But, does their value extend beyond entertainment to impact teaching and learning in the college classroom?
Teaching with the iPad
Several faculty at Marian University (Indianapolis, IN) share their experiences with the iPad tablet in the classroom, and offer a list of links to apps with potential for educational use. More...
Piloting the iPad Effectively
This archived Academic Impressions: Higher Ed Impact article presents lessons learned from a pilot project at Pepperdine University. Of especial interest: recommendations for the support faculty will need when integrating the iPad into the…
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http://www.indiana.edu/~istd/
Do your students struggle with plagiarism (accidental or intentional)? Indiana University offers a comprehensive website resource devoted to the topic of plagiarism at How to Recognize Plagiarism. This site provides definitions, examples, guidelines and - the best part - a comprehensive exam that tests students' understanding of key plagiarism issues. You can require students to review the site, take the exam and email you the certificate of completion.
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