Personalization is often used in the ed-tech community to describe a student moving through a prescribed set of activities at his own pace. The only choice a student gets is what box to check on the screen and how quickly to move through the exercises. For many educators that’s not the true meaning of “personalized learning.”
Diana Laufenberg, director of Inquiry Schools and a former teacher at Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia: personalization only comes when students have authentic choice over how to tackle a problem.
“We often say we want creativity and innovation – personalization – but every mechanism we use to measure it is through control and compliance,” Laufenberg said. “Those things never come together as long as that is the overriding moment.”
Bertin, M., Atanassova, I., Gingras, Y., & Larivière, V. (2016). The Invariant Distribution of References in Scientific Articles. Journal Of The Association For Information Science & Technology, 67(1), 164-177. doi:10.1002/asi.23367
from the viewpoint of bibliometrics, how references are distributed along the structure of scientific papers as well as the age of these cited references
Once the sections of articles are realigned to follow the IMRaD sequence, the position of cited references along the text of articles is invariant across all PLoS journals, with the
introduction and discussion accounting for most of the references. It also provides evidence that the age of cited references varies by section, with older references being found in the methods and more recent references in the discussion.
different roles citations have in the scholarly communication process.
Passive-aggressive behavior is frustrating for both parties involved. It’s unproductive and it makes you and others become less trusted in the workplace.
‘Fine.’
My best friend recently brought this phrase to my attention. As my friend pointed out, whenever someone tells you that everything is “fine,” that always means the opposite. It turns out this is pretty spot-on. Signe Whitson L.S.W. states in Psychology Today that the “passive aggressive person uses phrases like ‘Fine’ in order to express anger indirectly and to shut down direct, emotionally honest communication.”
‘No worries.’
Actually, you do have worries. Christine Schoenwald elaborates in Thought Catalog that “This translates to ‘I’m saying no worries but what I actually mean is screw you. I won’t say what I’m really feeling but will hold it against you until I explode.'”
‘If you really want to.’
This may appear to be accommodating at first, but don’t be fooled. Whenever you tell someone, or someone tells you, this phrase, you’re actually being noncommittal. It may sound as if you’re going along with the plan, but inside you’re not all that thrilled — but you just don’t know how to communicate those feelings, or you may thing that the other person will be mad.
‘Thanks in advance.’
I’m horrible at this one, and it’s something I’m working on each day. It’s another phrase that may appear innocent at first. But it pretty much means that you’re expecting them to do whatever it is you’re asking and they pretty much have to do it. This damages your relationship with this person.
‘I was surprised/confused/curious about …’
When you hear this or see the text you can be certain it is used to disguise criticism, as opposed to be being upfront. Jennifer Winter recalls on The Muse the time she had a colleague who used phrases like this as “an attempt to soften the blow.” Winter, however, “took it as a stab in the back because my boss was in attendance — and that feeling led me to promptly ignore her feedback.”
‘I’m not mad.’
This one destroyed my relationship with my ex-wife. I never expressed how I truly felt. I’ve now learned to voice my opinions openly and be honest with my spouse. It’s the same in the workplace. Yes. This person is livid. They’re just not being honest with you. I find that whenever I use this phrase I don’t feel as if I can be honest with the person. Learn to express how you feel.
‘Whatever.’
I once had a disagreement with a friend that took place over text messaging. When they dropped the ‘whatever’ response I almost went through the roof. It was infuriating because I knew that they did care — they just didn’t want to keep that discussion going. Yes this person is mad, and now you are too. It’s not helping.
‘So …’
How can a two-letter word pack such a punch? Because most of the time it’s followed by text that either is awkward or shows their agitation. For example, “So … are we going to the movies tonight?” or “So … did you get my email?” The person on the other side is clearly agitated that you haven’t responded yet. And that’s a problem when you honestly haven’t had a chance to get back to the person.
Or, it could be the beginning of an uncomfortable conversation; the person just does not know how to come out and say it. When someone says, “So …” to me, and then that weird pause, I have the almost irresistible desire to say, “So … what?” And make an exit. This can even be expressed in the content marketing you put up on your website.
‘Just wondering…’
You see this text when someone is asking you for an unreasonable request, like, “Just wondering if you were in the city tomorrow and could pick up my brother for the train station?” Even if you were in the city, the train station could be nowhere close to where you’re at. In other words, this person knows he or she shouldn’t be asking you for this favor but will ask anyway. Keep in mind that some shy people may use this question when asking if you want to go somewhere or do something with them. Like, “I was just wondering if you would like to go to the movies with me?”
‘I was only joking.’
Sarcasm is on the most common manifestations of passive aggressiveness. If this person makes a comment that upsets you and this is what follows, then you know it wasn’t a joke at all. The person meant what was said but is backing away to cover up his or her true feelings. This is an especially damaging phrase when used in a relationship or (often) in front of other people, as a put-down.
‘Hope it’s worth it.’
This phrase should be rather obvious. The person you’re communicating with clearly doesn’t want you to do something but is aware that you will do so anyway. Instead of expressing concern, the person will leave with this passive-aggressive text and stew until it become a major issue. This person will also beg you to discuss it later so he or she can use the phrase again on you. It’s a shaming phrase.
‘Your thoughts?’
In most cases I find this a pretty harmless phrase. Asking for someone’s thoughts on dinner, etc. But this phrase can also be used a way to tell someone that he or she screwed up. “Your behavior has been subpar at work, your thoughts?” or “I wasn’t that happy with how this assignment turned out, your thoughts?” Both of these are passive-aggressive and damage your relationship with the person.
Your thoughts … on this article? What other phrases do you find yourself or others using that are passive-aggressive? I’m not mad, just tell me.
Join us for an online training program that will provide faculty with critical information about FERPA, the federal statute that governs nearly all student records. Beginning with an overview of the FERPA framework, we will address issues that faculty commonly face—often without realizing the implications and risks—including:
Posting grades
Emailing with, and about, students
Writing recommendation letters
Using online tools and collaborative pedagogies
Speaking with (helicopter) parents
Administrators requesting student information
If you are searching for relevant scenarios and practical tips for better understanding how FERPA applies to everyday work of faculty, this online training is right for you.
Bonus Training Material and Quiz
Included in registration is a bonus lesson covering specific nuances of FERPA as it relates to faculty and an accompanying quiz which will provide a chance for you and your team to test your knowledge immediately before or after the webcast. This 20-minute training will cover:
Taking attendance, posting grades, and other course communication
The Do’s and Don’ts of identifying students online, in person, and on paper
Indiana University’s Brad Wheeler explains how his institution is ditching the college textbook and replacing it with digital alternatives that are accessible to students from day one.
it’s taken a long time for textbook publishers to own up to the “fundamental flaw” of their industry: “They are obsessed with counting their gross margins on the things they actually do sell.” And, he added, they ignore the enormous amounts they lose through the other 75 percent of the market made up of used and rented books and other kinds of substitutes. Because of those blinders, the publishers have “long pursued a model that has been failing, year over year.”
Starting in the mid-1990s, the price of educational books rose faster than just about any other measure, including healthcare. Something had to give. Wheeler has seen a “constellation of things” forming to bring about change. First, the e-reader software has matured, he said. “It works on your phone, your tablet, your laptop.”
Second, students are “increasingly digital.” They’re “comfortable with interacting with digital information [and] electronically marking it up.” After all, he noted, “some of them went through high school with digital books and materials.”
Third, familiarity is growing among faculty too. “They see e-texts not just as a substitute for paper, but as a teaching and pedagogical tool. They can go in and annotate that paragraph in the textbook and point to classroom materials or go online and correct something,
Fourth, the printed textbook-first philosophy has stopped paying off for publishers.
The three biggies — Pearson, McGraw-Hill and Cengage — weren’t first in line to sign on, even as additional universities piled onto Indiana U’s project. As a result, their reticence to promote textbook alternatives hit their bottom lines. Eventually, Pearson’s shares took a hit, hovering currently around $8; McGraw-Hill’s education division was peeled off and sold to Apollo Global Management in 2013; and just months later Cengage filed for bankruptcy, emerging a year later with $4 billion less debt.
Unizin. This is the organization created by Indiana U and other large institutional partners to develop services that could replace major paid third-party applications, such as learning management, digital textbook and data warehouse platforms. The goal: to enable higher ed to own its data.
These gaps and others “suggest a disconnect, the report stated, “between the impacts that many administrators perceive and the reality of how digital learning is changing the market.” Open-ended responses suggested that expectations for the impact of digital learning were “set too high” or weren’t being “measured or communicated well.” Another common refrain: There’s inadequate institutional support.
While most administrators told researchers that “faculty are crucial to the success of digital learning initiatives — serving as both a bolster and a barrier to implementation success,” the resources for supporting faculty to implement digital learning are insufficient. Just a quarter of respondents said faculty professional development was implemented “effectively and at scale.” Thirty-five percent said implementation was in progress. And a third (33 percent) reported that faculty professional development was “incomplete, inconsistent, informal and/or optional.”
The report offered recommendations for improving and expanding digital learning adoption. Among the guidance:
Get realistic. While the data suggested that digital learning could improve scheduling flexibility and access, among other benefits, schools need to identify which goals are most important and “clearly articulate how and to what extent its digital learning programs are expected to help.”
Measure impact and broadcast it. Forget about small pilots; go for a scale that will demonstrate impact and then share the findings internally and with other institutions.
Use buying power to influence the market. Connect faculty with vendors for “education, product discovery and feedback.” Insist on accessibility within products, strong integration features and user friendliness.
Prepare faculty for success. Make sure there are sufficient resources and incentives to help faculty “buy into the strategy” and follow through on implementation.
MEL Science aims to release more than 150 lessons covering all the main topics included in K–12 schools’ chemistry curriculum. Later this year, MEL Science also aims to add support for other VR platforms, including Google Cardboard and Samsung Gear VR.