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Do critical thinking skills give graduates the edge?
It has long been claimed that critical thinking ability sets graduates apart. But are universities really preparing students for the modern workplace? David Matthews reports
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/do-critical-thinking-skills-give-graduates-the-edge
what value is higher education supposed to add? And how is this different from what school or vocational education offer?
A further question is whether even the academic brand of critical thinking is being particularly well taught at university. According to Bryan Greetham, a philosopher and university researcher who has written several books on how students and professionals can improve their thinking, “We tend to want to do the simple thing – which is to teach students what to think, not how to think.”
This was most famously explored in the 2011 book Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. The authors, American sociologists Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, found that 45 per cent of US undergraduates failed to significantly improve their critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing skills during their first two years at university. Other US-based studies have raised similar concerns. One from 2009, “Improving Students’ Evaluation of Informal Arguments”, published in the Journal of Experimental Education, warned that college and high school students have “difficulty evaluating arguments on the basis of their quality”.
But if universities don’t have the resources to offer intensive classes, could they weave the teaching of critical thinking skills into regular teaching? Britt thinks that academics can easily make time for quick “check-ins” during their lectures to ensure that their students understand what they’ve been told.
High school experience, of course, varies enormously by country. In France, studying philosophy – arguably the closest that traditional disciplines get to explicit critical thinking courses – is compulsory. In England, meanwhile, the critical thinking A level has recently been scrapped.
As well as calls for critical thinkers and smart thinkers, there are also frequent demands from politicians for more “entrepreneurial” university graduates – who, instead of joining graduate recruitment programmes at large employers, might start their own businesses.
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critical thinking
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=critical+thinking
Nobody’s Watching: Proctoring in Online Learning
There is no single best way to handle proctoring for digital courses, as this community college system pilot discovered.
By Dian Schaffhauser 07/26/17
https://campustechnology.com/articles/2017/07/26/nobodys-watching-proctoring-in-online-learning.aspx
The Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 lays out the rule: An institution offering “distance education” needs to have processes in place for verifying student identity to ensure that the student who registers for a class is the “same student who participates in and completes the program and receives the academic credit.”
OLC (Online Learning Consortium) Innovate conference and shared the solution: a combination of the use of an automated proctoring application and the creation of a network of colleges across the state that would provide no-cost proctoring on their campuses for students attending any of the member schools.
put together an online proctoring working group with “lots of faculty representation,” said Hadsell, which “paid off in the long run.” Other participants included people from testing centers and learning centers. Proctorio, the proctoring solution eventually recommended by the working group, is a web service that can be deployed through Canvas and installed by students with one click
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more on proctoring in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=proctor
I’m in ‘Kahoots’ with Technology in the Classroom
By: Cassandra OSullivan Sachar, EdD July 31st, 2017
https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-with-technology-articles/im-kahoots-technology-classroom/
Teaching tool or distraction? The key to any engaging lesson in the classroom, of course, is to connect it to the learning objectives, and Kahoot! makes it easy to do so.
https://www.sli.do/. A basic account is free. this package does not allow question moderation and restricts the number of polls you can ask per class
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The Distracted Classroom: Transparency, Autonomy, and Pedagogy
James M. Lang July 30, 2017
http://www.chronicle.com/article/The-Distracted-Classroom-/240797
https://www.polleverywhere.com/
in my role as director of my college’s teaching center, I hosted a faculty discussion of Jay R. Howard’s excellent book Discussion in the College Classroom, which recommends that we build structural methods of participation into our courses, rather than just relying on the vocal students to carry the conversation.
The first three columns in “The Distracted Classroom” series have explored the fundamental problem of digital distraction in our lives today, the way recent technologies have exacerbated that problem, and the possible solutions. All of those columns drew on the research presented by Adam Gazzaley and Larry D. Rosen in their excellent book, The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World.
Autonomy. The literature on helping students take a deep approach toward their learning — as opposed to a more surface or strategic orientation — suggests they learn best when they feel a sense of autonomy in class. Another approach to the problem of digital distraction, then, would be to invite students into the process of setting the policies that will operate in the classroom.
Cathy Davidson has argued very effectively for what she calls a “class constitution” — an agreement that the class has reached together about certain aspects of how the course will operate.
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More on Classroom Respire Systems in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=crs
Losing the White Working Class, Too
Survey of voting bloc that favored Trump finds skepticism about value of higher education.
Scott Jaschik July 31, 2017
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/07/31/new-data-point-white-working-class-skepticism-value-college
professors and college leaders were stunned and concerned by recent data showing that more than half of Republicans say that colleges have a negative impact on the U.S., with wealthier, older and more educated Republicans being least positive.
Study after study has found that a college credential is essential for economic advancement, and these studies include associate-degree programs that focus on job-related training.
Among white working-class voters who voted for Barack Obama and then voted for Trump, only 21 percent saw debt-free public college as a major issue. That was behind six other possible issues, with building up infrastructure in ways that would create jobs attracting the most support, from 43 percent of these voters.
Among black working-class voters, however, 39 percent identified debt-free public college as a top issue, and that was the second rated of the seven possibilities. (Raising the minimum wage won top billing.)
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more on employment in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=employment
Why everyone still falls for fake emails
By Richard Matthews Jul 31, 2017
https://gcn.com/articles/2017/07/31/why-fake-emails-still-work.aspx
Phishing is likely to get only more sophisticated.
Based on my experience in Tallinn, we will see companies become more transparent in how they deal with cyber attacks. After a massive cyber attack in 2007, for example, the Estonian government reacted in the right way.
free anti-phishing software
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more on phishing in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=phishing+
‘Anonymous’ browsing data can be easily exposed, researchers reveal
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/01/data-browsing-habits-brokers
A similar strategy was used in 2008, Dewes said, to deanonymise a set of ratings published by Netflix to help computer scientists improve its recommendation algorithm: by comparing “anonymous” ratings of films with public profiles on IMDB, researchers were able to unmask Netflix users – including one woman, a closeted lesbian, who went on to sue Netflix for the privacy violation.
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A hacker explains the best way to browse the internet anonymously.
https://www.facebook.com/techinsider/videos/824655787732779/
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more on privacy in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=privacy
Where: Normandale Community College (G) When: August 3, 1:45 PM
join our discussion #mnsummit2017 #vrlib on Twitter (@scsutechinstruct) and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InforMediaServices/
http://www.cce.umn.edu/documents/CPE-Conferences/MELS/2017-MELS-Program-Booklet.pdf
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more on elearning summit MN in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=mnsummit
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more on VR in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=virtual+reality
Using Snapchat to Reach Library Patrons Workshop
A two-part workshop running 90 minutes each session on Thursday, August 24, 2017 at 2:30pm Eastern/1:30 Central/12:30 Mountain/11:30am Pacific and Thursday, August 31, 2017 at 2:30pm Eastern/1:30 Central/12:30 Mountain/11:30am Pacific
Snapchat is one of the 10 most downloaded apps in the world and a key means of communication for individuals aged 13-34. Emerging quickly onto the social media scene, Snapchat has left many librarians wondering how to incorporate it into their outreach strategy. In this two-part workshop, social media expert Paige Alfonzo responds to this question and teaches you how to successfully leverage Snapchat as a marketing tool—one that can be used for readers’ advisory, promotion, information dissemination, and a variety of other marketing purposes.
In part one, Alfonzo covers the ins and outs of the platform—from teaching you the basics of setting up an account, adding friends, and sending snaps to demonstrating how to annotate snaps, incorporate filters, and use Snapchat Stories and Memories. In part two, Alfonzo delves into the specifics of how to make Snapchat work in libraries by discussing how librarians have successfully used Snapchat to promote their services, then she provides you with an opportunity to participate hands on with Snapchat by sending snaps to each other. The workshop will leave you with useful approaches to get creative with the app and expand your social media strategy.
http://www.alastore.ala.org/detail.aspx?ID=12115&zbrandid=4634&zidType=CH&zid=45997474&zsubscriberId=1026665847&zbdom=http://ala-publishing.informz.net
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more on social media for the library in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=social+media+library
http://unfiltered.news
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more on fake news in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=fake+news