Hybrid Learning Faces Unthinking Opposition

Meeting the Needs by John Adsit

Back when I administered a full time high school online education program, we of course had to find some way to provide the courses that many people would not ordinarily expect to take online. The most obvious example was physical education. I don’t believe I ever mentioned the fact that we had an online physical education class to anyone without a guffaw in reply, as if that were an obvious example of something impossible to do, a sign of the failure of online education as a viable instructional alternative.

After I outlined the class, though, the response that I almost always received was “Wow! That’s great! Can I take the class?” The hybrid class we created was far superior to any face-to-face physical education class I ever took, and I suspect it was true for the students as well. Continue reading

Is Writing Best Taught F2F?

Totally Online, by Jim Shimabukuro

In “Missing the Personal Connection,” Mark Bauerlein claims that “writing is still best taught face-to-face between teacher and student.” He cites as proof the following kinds of exchanges that take place in his F2F (face to face) conferences with students:

“Look at that verb in your opening,” I say. “What do you think?”

“Passive?” student mumbles.

“How about an active verb, one that lets us drop that preposition, too?”

Student ponders, tries out a few, then we settle on a better choice.

Continue reading

Tipping Points for Change: Are We There Yet?

Jim ShimabukuroBy Jim Shimabukuro
Editor

Tom Preskett‘s most recent article, “Making Sense of e-Learning Strategy,” and Harry Keller‘s response raise a number of issues, and, together, they suggest that we may have reached the tipping point in three areas that loom large as we use the latest technologies to extend our powers of communication. As we begin to shake free from classrooms and lectures that serve as content for the new medium, we find ourselves in the dark, able only to grope our way toward understanding the new medium of the internet and the unimaginable changes that it represents for our educational systems, in particular, and our global society, as a whole. Continue reading

Making Sense of e-Learning Strategy

Tom PreskettBy Tom Preskett

It’s very common for the message to get confused or diluted when you try to introduce and encourage the use of learning technologies/VLEs into the higher education world. The main reason is that the message is inherently confusing. Ask two people tasked with encouraging their use, and you’ll get two different answers. There isn’t a dominant reason across the sector. I have mine, but I know it’s at odds with what others say. Continue reading

Breaking News


Special Issue on “The US National Education Technology Plan
By Bonnie Bracey Sutton
May 11, 2011

Did everyone see this? This is important because it is reflection on the National Educational Technology Plan
Just published in E-LEARNING AND DIGITAL MEDIA, Volume 8 Number 2 2011 ISSN 2042-7530 http://www.wwwords.co.uk/elea/content/pdfs/8/issue8_2.asp

SPECIAL ISSUE

The US National Education Technology Plan – Transforming American Education: Learning Powered by Technology
Editors: MICHAEL A. PETERS & DANIEL ARAYA

Michael A. Peters & Daniel Araya. Introduction. Transforming American Education: learning powered by technology, pages 102‑105 doi:10.2304/elea.2011.8.2.102 VIEW FULL TEXT

Robert B. Kozma. ICT, Education Transformation, and Economic Development: an analysis of the US National Educational Technology Plan, pages 106‑120

Kathleen Scalise & Mark Wilson. The Nature of Assessment Systems to Support Effective Use of Evidence through Technology,pages 121‑132

Michael B. Horn & Katherine Mackey. Transforming American Education, pages 133‑144

Leonard J. Waks. Transforming American Education: revolution or counter-revolution?, pages 145‑153

Nalova Westbrook. Media Literacy Pedagogy: critical and new/twenty-first-century literacies instruction, pages 154‑164

Raymond M. Rose. The National Educational Technology Plan Doesn’t Live Up to its Call for Revolutionary Transformation, pages 165‑169

__________

New York State Regents on Verge of Bold Step
By Harry Keller
May 10, 2011

The New York State Board of Regents has an item on the agenda for its next meeting on May 16 and 17 that could change the landscape for science instruction in that state and then reverberate throughout
all states. Here’s the recommendation for this item.

It is recommended that the Regents direct department staff to convene a group of science, technology, and education stakeholders including teachers and leaders from school districts, institutions of higher education, and business and industry to:

  • review and evaluate the science laboratory requirement;
  • consider and appraise current available research on teaching and learning in science;
  • make recommendations to the Board of Regents regarding amendments to current clause 100.5(b)(7)(iv)(d) of the Commissioner’s Regulations.

Click here for the full agenda.

This agenda item was scheduled for the previous meeting in April, but did not come up then. The committee recommended by Dr. John B. King, Jr., the item’s author, will include all stakeholders including teachers, leaders from districts, institutions of higher learning, and even businesses. The step being taken in forming a committee represents a huge change for New York State and signals the potential for more far-reaching change across the nation. The New York State Board of Regents has been adamant for decades about this topic. Other states have also created similar obstacles to using online science labs in schools. They may follow New York’s lead.

Many will decry, as they have for a very long time, the potential for loss of the experience of working with lab equipment directly. If not carefully crafted, the change could well result in cost-savings at the expense of a degradation of student science experience. New York State must walk a narrow line if they’re to allow online lab experiences without sacrificing quality science education.

After so many decades of holding firm against any change in the 1,200-minute requirement, New York has allowed for the possibility of change. That crack in the dam of science lab requirements will create a flood of opportunity for online science lab development and, possibly, a new way of presenting science courses.

__________

Robert Morris University’s Twitter Communication Project

In past columns, we’ve looked at how Twitter can be integrated into individual classrooms, but Web and Social Media Designer Douglas Derda and the social media team at Robert Morris University (RMU) are taking Twitter and social media to a whole new level, transcending university borders to get community members excited about what they have to offer. Continue reading

Online Self-Publishing: Wave of the Future?

Lynn ZimmermannBy Lynn Zimmerman
Editor, Teacher Education

This interview with one of my colleagues, Anastasia (Staci) Marie Trekles, who teaches IT (Instructional Technology) at Purdue University Calumet came about as a result of a comment she had made on Facebook. She wrote: “I just got a plug for my book from John and Adam on No Agenda – how awesome!” Continue reading

Making Sense of Social Networks: An Interview with Zizi Papacharissi

Stefanie PankeBy Stefanie Panke
Editor, Social Software in Education

Dr. Zizi Papacharissi, who received her PhD from the University of Texas in Austin, is one of the leading scholars of social media and online communication. Her work focuses on the social and political consequences of online media. She heads the Communication Department at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Zizi is presently completing an edited volume on online social networks, titled A Networked Self: Identity, Community, and Culture on Social Network Sites. In the interview, she talks about self-presentation, social capital and the prospects of social networking communities for academic learning, teaching and research. Continue reading

UNESCO, World Anti-Piracy Observatory and YouTube

Accessibility 4 All by Claude Almansi

Content:

Continue reading

End of Free Ning Networks: Live Online Discussion: Apr. 20th

Claude AlmansiBy Claude Almansi
Editor, Accessibility Issues

Ning social networks have been very popular, particularly among educators for whom they meant a free – without ads for K-12 classes – learning environment, with blogs, forums, photo and video galleries, personal pages for members and the possibility to create sub-groups.

But on April 15th, Ning’s new CEO, Jason Rosenthal, announced that they were going to end Ning’s free offer: see Ning Update: Phasing Out Free Services by John McDonald, Ning Creators‘ forum. This is a severe blow,  as there is no simple way to back up a Ning network. Continue reading

Ebook Readers vs. Ipad for Education?

Tom PreskettBy Tom Preskett

I’m doing a project on ebook readers at the moment, and it’s led me to follow closely the advent of the iPad. My interest is the potential impact on education. At the moment, the contest is in the commercial/entertainment market. Once things settle down, education will be looked at.

From what I’ve been learning, you can’t just give students and educators an ebook reader as is right now and expect it to transfer to education successfully. Looking at it just from a book replication point of view, I feel it has to, at least, perform certain tasks well and efficiently. Continue reading

Social Media Doesn’t Threaten Literacy!

Tom PreskettBy Tom Preskett

You can read a lot about the threat of new media to literacy and the printed word. Harold Jarche’s blog post, “Literacies,” is an example. Often there is a link made between the ability to engage in deep and meaningful learning, on the one hand, and reading large bodies of text, on the other. Or rather, there’s a link between an inability to learn and the fast-pace of media in the Web 2.0 world. Well, I just don’t buy this. In fact, it’s rubbish. Continue reading

E-rara.ch: Ancient Books, Public Domain and Moral Barriers

Accessibility 4 All by Claude AlmansiContents

Continue reading

The Challenge for Our Schools: Thomas Friedman and Education

Retort by Harry Keller with a distilling retort on the left

Today, in his New York Times Op-Ed (Webcite alternative), Thomas L. Friedman made this comment:

Good-paying jobs don’t come from bailouts. They come from start-ups. And where do start-ups come from? They come from smart, creative, inspired risk-takers. How do we get more of those? There are only two ways: grow more by improving our schools or import more by recruiting talented immigrants.

This respected economist and commentator has closely linked our education system to our future success as a nation. He also argued for more immigration, more H-1B visas with longer durations. Continue reading

Social Networking and the Secondary Student

Meeting the Needs by John AdsitMost discussions on this site dealing with the use of social networking in education are devoted to post secondary education. This column will look at the unique challenges of using any form of social networking in secondary education. The differences are significant, partially because of the ages of the students and more importantly because of the role of boards of education. Social networking in the secondary level has to solve some problems if it is to be used successfully. Continue reading

Thomas H. Huxley on Teaching Science

Retort by Harry Keller with a distilling retort on the left
Frederick W. Westaway wrote on many subjects, especially about teaching science. He wrote the definitive volume, Scientific Method, Its Philosophy and Its Practice, for example. In 1929, he spoke clearly to us today about science education in his book, Science Teaching. He quotes Thomas H. Huxley, also known as “Darwin’s bulldog,” at length about science education. This Huxley quote from Westaway’s book dates to 1869! Continue reading

iPad – Breakthrough or Misstep?

Totally Online, by Jim Shimabukuro
The iPad debuts today, and, as an educator, I can’t help but wonder if this will be the breakthrough portable communication device that will hasten the release of students and teachers from the grip of classroom walls. Continue reading

Headphones, Computers, and the Web

Jim ShimabukuroBy Jim Shimabukuro
Editor

Note: The primary reason for selecting this subject for the second article in ETC’s “Extracurricular” series (see John Adsit’s “The Great Technology Controversy Follows Me into the Caves“) isn’t so much to share information about what I consider an enjoyable hobby but to underscore the fact that the entire pastime is built on computers and the web. All of the equipment was researched and purchased on the web – out of necessity because, for the vast majority of enthusiasts, it’s not available in stores within driving distance. I think I can fairly say that this hobby wouldn’t be possible without the internet and that it owes its survival and growth to a community that’s defined virtually rather than geographically. -js Continue reading

MOOC Sightings: Links to Series

Jim Shimabukuro

Jim

Series began on 20 Feb. 2015

MOOC Sightings 007: The Battushig Factor in College Admissions

MOOC Sightings 006: Universities Are ‘Middle-men Selling a Product That Is Past Its Sell-by Date’ 3/23/15

MOOC Sightings 005: Wharton School and Universiti Teknikal Malaysia 3/11/15

MOOC Sightings 004: Outside the Box with Ontario’s Judy Morris 2/28/15

MOOC Sightings 003: FutureLearn, Microdegrees, ‘Open Internet’ 2/24/15

MOOC Sightings 002: Oxford Professor Declares MOOCs the Loser 2/22/15

MOOC Sightings 001: UNC and Cornell 2/20/15

What’s the Buzz? Buzz

A Google search for the term Google Buzz returns 72,400,000 hits. Google Buzz Twitter returns 53,100,000. This is considerable, given the relative new shininess of the Google Buzz functionality. But isn’t Buzz just like Twitter in Google? Is it a Twitter killer? What the heck is it? Continue reading

Threat of Lawsuits on Social Networking Sites

Meeting the Needs by John AdsitOne of the dangers we face in using social networking sites is our lack of control over them, their content and the way participants interact. Because the law on this is still emerging, we face the potential for unknown legal repercussions. An example of this has just come about as a social networking site devoted to scuba diving, scubaboard.com, has been sued, along with over 100 of the people who post on it, for content that would be considered tame in most social networking sites. Continue reading

Thoughts on ‘Innovating the 21st-Century University: It’s Time!’

Tom PreskettBy Tom Preskett

I’ve read and re-read Innovating the 21st-Century University: It’s Time! by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams (Educause, 2010) to try and absorb its key messages. Here are some quotes from the article, followed by my comments.

Universities are losing their grip on higher learning as the Internet is, inexorably, becoming the dominant infrastructure for knowledge — both as a container and as a global platform for knowledge exchange between people — and as a new generation of students requires a very different model of higher education. Continue reading

YouTube, Geoblocks and Proxies

Accessibility 4 All by Claude Almansi
Skip to updates

Geoblocking as censoreship measure Continue reading

Tech Support – Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter

Meeting the Needs by John Adsit
Advocates of technology in education, especially those who, like me, advocate for online education, need to consider the problems that the modern concept of tech support can cause. Tech support within a school campus is very different from tech support for the student or teacher working at home. If I were either an online student or teacher during the past year, I would have had serious problems due to technical difficulties, and the nature of these is such that it brings me real concern for anyone in such a situation in general. Online programs will have to consider processes to deal with this. Continue reading

The Great Technology Controversy Follows Me into the Caves

adsit80By John Adsit
Editor, Curriculum & Instruction

[Note: ETCJ editors and writers live full lives, and from time to time, we’ll be publishing some of their extracurricular pursuits. See Jess Knott’s “Smackademia – the Best of Both Worlds!,” the second in this series. -Editor]

I made my first online class in 1995, and since those days much of my life has been spent trying to convince nonbelievers that computers could improve student learning if used properly. Those years were filled with many less than pleasant arguments, and like many people I looked to my recreational life to get away from such battles. Unfortunately, I now find that my chief area of recreation, scuba diving, is filled with those same battles. The controversy of my work life has doggedly pursued me into my recreational life. Continue reading