Course description from the PSU Course Catalog: The evolution of the World Wide Web from what is being called Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 has brought about a new way of teaching and learning in this digital age. The use of Web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, podcasting, videocasting, and a host of other free tools are allowing educators to connect to knowledge and each other like never before. Learners will gain hands-on experiences with Web 2.0 tools and explore the learning theory that supports their use a networked classroom environment. - post by edventures
“The most shocking part of going back to school at this point in my life (in her 30s) is looking around and realizing that nobody is in the room. The professor is just another open browser window, 1 of 10.”
Part of my role as Coordinator for Learning Technologies at Plymouth State University is to work with our faculty in adapting to the new technologies that permeate our campus. While this quote from a recent CNet News article is nothing new, it is a reminder that just as technology is changing the way we communicate, it is also affecting the way that we teach. As evidenced by the quote above from Sharyl Grant, a non-trad student at UNC, technology is changing the way we interact even in the physical realm. When the “professor is just another open browser window,” is that a function of technology or rather a dysfunction of our teaching practice? K-12 teachers have grown up In an age of multiple intelligences and learning styles, differentiated instruction and Bloom’s Taxonomy. Yet in higher ed where we often still practice the lecture to learn, drill and kill, one-sided conversation/passive consumption methodology of information dissemination, can we really blame technology for a lack of student engagement or is it just another outlet (like doodling and note passing) for those stifled minds who reject passive learning and are seeking an opportunity for engagement?
There are typically three schools of thought that seem to be prevalent. The first is the desire for an outright ban on laptop and mobile use in the classroom. Those faculty in this camp feel that their students should be focused entirely on what is being lectured and that technology serves only as a distraction to their learning. The second perspective is to simply ignore the technology use and pretend that it isn’t there, to teach around it. The last perspective is to embrace technology use and leverage it to make the class more engaging - integrating technology into their learning experience.
Now, integrating technology into the classroom experience at the higher ed level can be challenging and often means more preparatory work, and yet it has the potential to be far more engaging than the relatively static experience of lectures, overheads and PowerPoint presentations. Consider the opportunities for learning we could create if we tap our students’ affinity for technology by challenging them in class to find and share appropriate and timely references, news briefs, videos or lectures on our subject matter. Imagine if we showed our students how technology can serve them, rather than the other way around.
The 21-st century treats knowledge and information as currency and those who can effectively acquire, process and synthesize that knowledge into actionable projects and tangible results will be far better prepared for the world they will enter.
The image above is a screenshot of the resources I was utilizing to create this blog post. I tossed out a call for image resources to my Twitter network. I was searching for Creative Commons licensed images on Flickr. I was composing my post in my Flock (web browser) editor with my Google ReaderRSS feeds in the background. My feeds are what turned me on to this article and got me thinking about writing this post. Imagine the power of harnessing these resources to improve our classroom experience. What would a higher ed classroom look like if our students were actually engaged in the learning process, rather than sitting in their lecture seats as passive vessels? As web browsing becomes resource hunting, as personal Instant Messaging gave way to consulting one’s personal learning network, as students become partners instead of problems.
If the professor is simply browser window 1 of 10, the question then becomes this:
“Is the professor allowing this to occur because they have not created and drawn their students into an actively engaged learning community?”
Neither ignoring nor banning technology use will engage your students as effectively as embracing it and harnessing it for productive means. And embracing technology does not require that professors be tech experts, the students have that down. Professors just need to do what they’ve always done: share, guide, challenge and refine. They’re just doing it with more support and far greater resources than they’ve had in the past.
Interesting read from the standpoint of employers receiving our college and university graduates. They like project based learning such as capstone projects, internships, etc. They like electronic portfolios, which is the first real evidence I’ve seen of a demand for e-portfolios outside of the walls of academia.They dislike multiple choice tests as they don’t feel that they are accurate assessments of student learning (wow, go figure!). - post by edventures
The EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative’s (ELI’s) 7 Things You Should Know
About… series provides concise information on emerging learning
technologies and related practices. Each brief focuses on a single technology or
practice and describes:
“Standards for
the 21st-Century Learner” offer vision for teaching and learning to both guide
and beckon our profession as education leaders. They will both shape the library
program and serve as a tool for library media specialists to use to shape the
learning of students in the school.
Now that I have your attention, I will shamelessly admit that the title was just a hook. Yes, you should read this book. If not for yourself, for your children or for your neighborhood’s children. My thanks to Christian Long over at think:lab for his post which brought The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hal Iggulden to my attention.
I just happened to be online in a Borders bookstore after an off-campus meeting when his post came in to my reader. Checked out the author’s site, watched their video, and immediately bought the book for my own motley crew. My seven year old is already hard at work on his knots, having mastered the reef knot and clove hitch, working on developing his own mnemonic for the figure-8 and trying to figure out the bowline.
What I love about this book is that it encourages kids (and those of us refusing to grow up) to get out and play like we used to. As has been pointed out in the blogosphere, learning is messy. So is life. Yes there will be bumps, bruises and tears along the way, but they make the laughter, joy and happiness (dare I say learning?) all the sweeter. This book is just one more reminder.
April 2, 2007 at 8:30 am · Filed under Diigo Links
Suffering with dial-up as I do, I find it frustrating when I try to do any sort of development online from home. Even worse when you throw in that I am still learning what PHP is and does and I’m learning through the mod-ding of existing templates and such. Came across this neat tool from the drupal.org site, gave it a whirl and so far I am LOVING it!
Great tool for local development and testing of apps. It includes
WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, MediaWiki and phpBB as part of the installer
(30MB) - post by edventures
Thanks to Jennifer Maddrell for pointing out this great video which discusses the process of learning and the applicability of learning theory as viewed through the context of learning a new skill, in this case, golf. What is unique about this video is it’s explicit identification of the significant milestone events along the learning continuum. This video is a great companion to any learning theory course.
The Free Geek Project - Here is a program worthy of note and emulation. Not only does it address the issue of the technology graveyard in a manner both unique and socially conscious, it’s underlying tenets challenge the paradigmatic approach to learning that our educational institutions have come to embrace. Watch the video, observe who is teaching us and think about how you could create a similar environment in your own teaching and learning world!
“Standards for
- post by edventures