Pedagogical Theory

Archiving (and ending) the Feed: April 2010 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Social Networking, Time Management, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on April 30th, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment

CC-licensed photo, IMG_2883 by Richard Mansfield via Flickr

Each month, I post a list of @wisepedagogy Twitter posts from the previous month. If you missed them the first time, you can find them here.

Unfortunately, this will be the last archive for @wisepedagogy. We have reached the end of our grant funding for this project, and most WISE Pedagogy initiatives are being discontinued after April 30. Anyone who wishes to read more tweets for eLearning and online pedagogy can follow my personal feed, @amckinn.

So long and thanks for following! Just for fun, here are two additional images of dolphins  for your amusement:

CC-licensed photo, La saga del zoo de Madrid VI - Acrobacias con los delfines by Carlos Alejo via Flickr

CC-licensed photo, dinner by snailo86 via Flickr

Video: What Does it Mean to Teach in the 21st Century?

Posted in Collaboration, Course Activities, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on April 14th, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment

The following video by Kevin Roberts offers inspiration for making online education engaging: if students can get information online, what can instructors do to teach beyond the limits of imparting information?

The focus is on active assignments, asking students to discuss ideas and use cloud-based networks (like Prezi) to analyze the information they are learning. As far as inspiring presentations for educators go, this one stretches on longer than most at almost ten minutes. However, the content is worth the watch if you have time.

On a related note, the video serves as a good example of how to present information and ideas in Prezi. Even without the addition of image files or embedded videos, the presentation moves from point to point in a way that holds readers’ attention with pure text. For anyone who is learning how to adapt presentations to Prezi, the style of delivery in this video may be reason enough to watch it.

Teaching in the 21st Century

Archiving the Feed: March 2010 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Social Networking, Synchronous Learning, Time Management, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on April 1st, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc-licensed photo, Chicks, by nickgraywfu via Flickr

cc-licensed photo, Chicks, by nickgraywfu via Flickr

Each month, I post a list of @wisepedagogy Twitter posts from the previous month. If you missed them the first time, you can find them here.

Not included in this list are posts related to the Spring 2010 ELI Focus Session on Mobile Learning. You can find those in this post: Mobile Learning: Educause ELI Focus Session Recap

Introduction to Online Pedagogy Workshop Survey: New Forum for Discussion Board?

Posted in Collaboration, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Time Management on February 18th, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc-licensed photo, Day 30 | 01 May 2008 | Decision Time via Flickr by Shereen M (has been away far too long. Back soon!!

cc-licensed photo, "Day 30 | 01 May 2008 | Decision Time" via Flickr by Shereen M (has been away far too long. Back soon!!

Those who have participated in the WISE Introduction to Online Pedagogy On-Demand Workshop are familiar with the workshop’s discussion board  in phpBB. For those who aren’t familiar, this has been our solution to the need for an open forum independent of a course management system. The on-demand workshop has been open to anyone, free of charge, without the need to wait for a time-sensitive online course with a seat limit and wait list.

The phpBB system has provided a discussion board, but it has not been without its drawbacks. People who want to join need to wait to be approved first, to keep the board free of spammers. What’s worse, phpBB does not send notifications of new members, or notices of new messages or responses — meaning that unless people remember to actively return to the site, the participation rate drops off.

How to fix this: A poll has been created for forum users to help us choose a better, more effective venue for continuing discussion of online pedagogy. Because space for explanation on the poll page is minimal, the options are listed below.  If you would like to participate in this forum, please respond to the poll by March 5: http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/2721699/

Which online service would you most likely use to participate in asynchronous discussion about online pedagogy?

  • The Commenting feature within the PBworks wiki. Users will get notices when new comments are made. Comments will be visible to anyone who views the wiki. If over 100 people want to join, the ones who have already completed the workshop can opt out. A free registration would be required for the 100 users who can join the wiki at any given time.
  • A Facebook Fan Page. Users can post their discussion responses in the Discussions page, and keep in touch by visiting the fan page itself. Once users comment they may receive notifications of replies to their comments, if not new discussion threads. Comments will be visible only to people who join the fan page. A free registration would be required for those who are not already on Facebook. An unlimited number of people could participate.
  • A private blog. This would be separate from the public WISE Pedagogy Blog; users would need to be invited to a private space in order to view discussion prompts (as blog posts) and participate in discussion (as blog comments). Users could receive notification of new messages by signing up for RSS feeds of both the blog and blog comments in addition to joining the blog as a private reader. Private membership is limited to 100 readers at a time.
  • An email list like Listserv or Google Groups. Messages will be viewable only to registered users, who will receive all new messages individually or in a digest. Discussion would take place as email messages or replies to existing discussion threads. An unlimited number of people could participate.
  • I would prefer to stick with the phpBB forum.
  • Other (Please specify).

“The Class” video parodies classroom technology, “The Office”-style

Posted in Articles, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Pedagogical Theory, Synchronous Learning, Video on February 11th, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment

This parody of The Office tells the mock-umentary-style story of a college instructor who is attempting to teach with technology in his classroom. For any instructor or student who has been in a similar situation, this video may hit close to home.

“The class is on technology, and you’re not really using any…the board doesn’t really count,” the IT assistant patiently explains to the instructor. Consequently, he gives his students course information on floppy disks, then sits in front of the class and broadcasts a live Skype video onto the classroom projection screen (so they can either look at him face-to-face or at his Skypecast face).

The video was created by students at the University of Denver as a video essay to express some of their real-life frustrations with classroom technology. While the instructor is obviously trying, the results are ineffective. What lessons can we draw from this? Here are a few that leap to mind:

If specific technology is required, get students to use it in the classroom. In this class, students supposedly have been required to bring laptops but only half of them are using them during class while the instructor lectures. Rather than just using laptops to take notes (or spending the hour on Facebook), this instructor could have them interacting in a discussion assisted with Twitter for sharing notes and ideas, or (gasp) learning how to use specific software or programs.

Beware of outdated technology. The example of the instructor who hands students floppy disks is a bit extreme, given that contemporary computers and laptops don’t even include floppy disk drives anymore. Still, the longer we get accustomed to specific technologies, the harder it is to notice when those technologies become obsolete or replaced by something more effective. Know what your students are using, and avoid using stuff they can’t.

Keep it relevant. “If you are here, why are we Skyping?” Sure, live video lectures are a great idea…for online education. If you’re already face-to-face, there is a better use for your projection screen.

Make sure you know how to use the technology you plan to use in the classroom. Save yourself the embarrassment of failing to use the projection equipment or giving the class an assignment using software you haven’t learned how to use yet yourself, and give everything a test run. This saves class time and prepares you for any issues your students will face as they learn.

Listen to your students. The students in the video give good advice to their instructor: “Let us collaborate with our classmates.” “Better blackboard use.” “Don’t just read off your PowerPoint.” “Please respond to my emails.” “I’m so bored. Just let the students play a more active role in the class.”

Read the article about this video in The Chronicle

Video: Online Student Experience

Posted in Pedagogical Theory, Video on February 9th, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment

The following video by YouTube user mokmcdaniel shows what an online student’s experience would look like if his instructor’s lack of instruction had occurred in a face-to-face classroom. It’s a good reminder of the level of effort that is required to make online learning effective and valuable for our students!

Archiving the Feed: September 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Social Networking, Synchronous Learning, Time Management, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on February 2nd, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc-licensed photo, Sprinkles, M&Ms and Chocolate Crunch, via Flickr by Sister72

cc-licensed photo, Sprinkles, M&Ms and Chocolate Crunch, via Flickr by Sister72

I am in the process of archiving the wisepedagogy Twitter announcements from past months. Links have been expanded to show the entire URL rather than bit.ly shorthand.

September 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy:

I have left out a few tweets that related to dated events, such as webinars and calls for participation. I’m guessing that the people who would read this archive would be most interested in resources that still have a chance of being available.

Archiving the Feed: October 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Social Networking, Synchronous Learning, Time Management, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on February 1st, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc-licensed photo, P1060127, via Flickr by jessicareeder

cc-licensed photo, P1060127, via Flickr by jessicareeder

I am in the process of archiving the wisepedagogy Twitter announcements from past months. Links have been expanded to show the entire URL rather than bit.ly shorthand.

October 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy:

Archiving the Feed: November 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Social Networking, Synchronous Learning, Time Management, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on February 1st, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc-licensed photo, DSC00948, via Flickr by godutchbaby

cc-licensed photo, DSC00948, via Flickr by godutchbaby

I am in the process of archiving the wisepedagogy Twitter announcements from past months. Links have been expanded to show the entire URL rather than bit.ly shorthand.

November 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy:

Archiving the Feed: December 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy

Posted in Articles, Collaboration, Course Activities, Fun Miscellany, Learning Aids, Library & Info Science, News in Online Education, Pedagogical Theory, Podcasting, Social Networking, Synchronous Learning, Time Management, Uncategorized, Video, Visual Aids, Web Tools on February 1st, 2010 by Anne – Be the first to comment
cc-licensed photo, Lunch Time! via Flickr by AR Nature Gal

cc-licensed photo, Lunch Time! via Flickr by AR Nature Gal

I am in the process of archiving the wisepedagogy Twitter announcements from past months. Links have been expanded to show the entire URL rather than bit.ly shorthand.

December 2009 Twitter Posts by wisepedagogy:

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