Comments for

Comment on Why I blog by Sara Weber

Sara Weber — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:53:10 +0000

You brought up a good point about becoming a better writer. I feel that unless I am taking a graduate class I am not really writing anything that is meaningful. Maybe school districts should create a blog for their faculty and department meetings since most schools have similar problems that need addressed, lets here what others have to say!

Comment on Learning can be messy. by E is for evaluation |

E is for evaluation | — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:48:09 +0000

[…] arts concepts to 4th and 6th grade students. I organized the semester following a typical ADDIE instructional design model. We started the semester with my students heading out to the schools, observing students and […]

Comment on Cultivating innovation by dave porter

dave porter — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:58:40 +0000

I think combining problem based learning with collaborative learning is a great challenge – both are messy on their own; together the level of ambiguity and frustration can be overwhelming. And yet this combination offers some of the most intense and lasting learning opportunities students will ever encounter. I’ve learned that helping students develop group skills is often just as important as helping them develop problems solving and critical thinking skills. Providing them with a simple model of group development (e.g., Tuckman’s classic (1055), forming-storming-norming-(then) performing) can be helpful. It is also important to assess and provide feedback on the group process itself. Surveying individual group members concerning their own experience and perspectives on the group and its activities can provide invaluable insights. My point is that students have many of the same tendencies we do: they tend to focus intently (and sometimes obsessively) on “the problem” and “the process” and ignore the social context in which both are situated. We need to be intentional about increasing their awareness. Best wishes for continuing success in your important and innovative work. Cheers, dave

Comment on Cultivating innovation by Kevin Bower

Kevin Bower — Wed, 08 May 2013 02:25:34 +0000

With great risk comes great reward!

Comment on Learning can be messy. by Cultivating innovation |

Cultivating innovation | — Wed, 08 May 2013 02:01:46 +0000

[...] this semester. At the start of the semester, I laid out an instructional design plan utilizing the ADDIE model that would help guide my students’ work. As the semester comes to end, we’re entering [...]

Comment on Start with one by Greg Johnson

Greg Johnson — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 13:24:43 +0000

Another thing you might try is to use an idea on one section of your course first, then try it out for the other sections. This gives you an idea of how to introduce it after it has been tested. Use one of your sections for a course as a pilot program. This way, some medium or big size changes might seem more manageable.

Comment on Discussing Cheating in the Digital Age by Ollie Dreon

Ollie Dreon — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:55:12 +0000

Students were not involved in this discussion. Although with the level of interest, I think we’ll be having follow-up sessions. Would be great to get a student perspective!

Comment on Discussing Cheating in the Digital Age by Candace Shively

Candace Shively — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:52:45 +0000

When I first encountered students using digital media without attribution, I chalked it up to ignorance and a cultural shift about “ownership.” But the cheating strategies you mention are neither accidental nor uninformed. Many seem deliberate — indeed an elaborate game to see who “wins”, not who LEARNS, and that is the most disheartening side of the discussion. Good that you and your colleagues are having it. Did you have any students involved?

Comment on Ivory towers, fear the MOOC! by Troubles with Online College? More questions than answers. |

Troubles with Online College? More questions than answers. | — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 18:16:59 +0000

[...] report is compelling and echoes some of the statistics on completion rates in Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs). In some reports, almost 90% of students drop out of MOOCs before the end of the [...]

Comment on Minecraft and the power of the IKEA effect by Leilani Hill

Leilani Hill — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 21:00:52 +0000

Love this one!!! My son is in love with Minecraft. He also loves legos and pretty much anything where he can build. When I student taught, my co-op and I had the students create their own quizzes in showme. They were able to learn while creating a quiz that their fellow classmates could try when finished. ALL THE WHILE learning themselves. Very cool to witness! It took a little extra time to allow them the time to create their quizzes (taking pictures, writing questions, putting them in the program and recording their voices), but I really think that the creativity made it more concrete for them.

Comment on Minecraft and the power of the IKEA effect by Kim McCollum-Clark (@KimMcCollum)

Kim McCollum-Clark (@KimMcCollum) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 18:05:07 +0000

I’ve got the same thing going on over here. My ten year old watches thirty minute instructional videos to figure out how to build machines with redstone repeaters. My fifteen year old made his first real girlfriend a Minecraft Valentine’s Day “card” by creating huge message for her you could only see if you took a cart up into the sky. It’s mindblowing!

Comment on Missing the gorilla by Duane H

Duane H — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:57:06 +0000

Ollie, Your points are some very important to my safety and emergency management students…big picture. We talk to EMers about the crying baby syndrome, the adult lies dying while the responder addresses the crying baby. I show the Gorilla video early on in all my classes to try to stimulate my students to understand this line of thinking.
Thanks