2010 Horizon Report

January 26, 2010

Each year, the New Media Consortium brings together a team of experts to discuss trends in technology, especially as related to educational contexts.
From the NMC release:
On January 19, 2010, the New Media Consortium (NMC) and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) released the 2010 Horizon Report at the ELI Annual Meeting in Austin, Texas. The [...]

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IRRODL Special Issue on Open Education

November 9, 2009

The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning just released a special issue, focusing on open education and open access. There are several articles in the issue that are well worth reading, giving a strong background into the history of open education, and the possibilities for engagement.
From the issue’s table of contents:
Editorial

Openness and [...]

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Using Classroom Clickers

October 9, 2009

Have you ever asked a question in class to only to receive no response but blank stares? Or very similarly, have you ever tried to read students’ minds? If you want to understand a little more what your students are thinking, you might find the classroom clicker of interest. Clickers are small hand-held devices that [...]

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Creating an ePortfolio

October 2, 2009

There are many applications that are billed as “ePortfolio management” systems – but most are really complicated, or reduce the process of building an ePortfolio to an exercise in paint-by-numbers and fill-in-the-blanks. What is really needed is a flexible, dynamic, highly personalized presentation, crafted by an individual or a small group over time.
The simplest incarnation [...]

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Peer mentoring: Strengthening student learning

July 28, 2009

Bryanne Young has written a tip sheet on curricular peer mentoring, a program that “enables students to work together to delve deeper and more analytically into course content”. Peer mentors are not TAs, but students who can help guide their peers through the learning process. Some of the benefits of peer mentoring are:

Deeper student learning
Facilitating [...]

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Blogging the way to student self-assessment

June 8, 2009

I read an interesting article recently about including students in assessment. Hart (1999) explains that giving students more responsibility when it comes to evaluating their own work it could influence and motivate them to take the depth of the activity to a higher level. Hopefully, students become more aware and take more control of their [...]

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Some guidelines for implementing active learning strategies

May 19, 2009

After sitting through a couple of workshops that used active learning strategies with varying success, I drafted the following guidelines for facilitators. Feel free to add your own to this list:

Icebreaker activities are a great way to build community and allow students to get to know one another before implementing other active learning strategies.
[...]

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Using Blackboard to collect Student Feedback

May 11, 2009

Student feedback is valuable any time during a course, from the first day of classes to the end of the semester. A Blackboard survey is a simple method to solicit feedback from students, and  even before the first class or after the last class. Once a student completes the survey, the information is kept anonymous. [...]

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Creating Online Tests that Are Not Tests

April 28, 2009

Although online tests are often associated with student assessment, online testing tools can be used in many different ways. Yes, online assessment is possible, allowing for students to complete tests for grades. On the other hand, online quiz tools can also be used for collecting information from students such as their understanding of course content [...]

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Teach large classes

April 23, 2009

Large enrollment classes have always been a challenge for instructors who try to implement active teaching and learning strategies and activities. Lectures, often contrasted to active learning, appear to dominate large size classrooms today. From the conversations that I had with some instructors, I have the impression that a lot of instructors would try a [...]

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