Working with these students today

At a conference yesterday, a colleague approached me and asked me about working with “these students today.”  Since being on a sabbatical and overseeing an outreach program at his institution, he’s been away from teaching for a few years.  This semester, however, he’s back in the classroom and he’s troubled by the students’ work ethic, [...]

BYOD Concerns: Education vs. Prohibition

One innovation that is sweeping American institutions of learning is the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) movement.  The reasons are compelling.  Instead of schools and universities purchasing expensive technology and paying for its upkeep, individual students simply use the devices that they already have.  A recent ECAR survey reports that over half of collegiate students [...]

Examining “what the pedagogy requires”

Educause recently published a comprehensive examination of technology ownership by collegiate students.  In the study of 3,000 students in 1,179 American institutions, Educause reported that almost 87% of undergraduate students owned laptops.  They also reported that 55% of students owned web-enabled “smartphones” that allowed connection to the Internet.  As a professor who teaches instructional technology [...]

Incorporate cellphone interaction with Celly

When I was twelve years old, my family purchased its first computer, a TRS-80.  My father was sort of a computer guy and first learned to program using punch cards on a mainframe at a local university.  He wanted his sons to learn to program as well and presented us with the TRS-80 for Christmas.  [...]

Foster collaboration with Scrumblr

While there are loads of sites that allow collaboration online, few are easier to use than Scrumblr.  Simply name your Scrumblr page, add and name some columns, and then create and position “index cards.”  Honestly, it’s that easy.  The beauty of the site is in its simplicity and its pared-down features.  Sure, other sites may [...]