Sillicon Valley in the Classroom
Summarized by Mary McCann
As college enrollment rates continue to decrease nationally, it becomes ever more necessary for universities to find a solution. Mike Silagadze, CEO of tech start up Top Hat, believes that colleges should take a look at Silicon Valley for the answer. Businesses in Silicon Valley take a “customer first mindset”, and colleges could take a student first mindset by evaluating the needs of incoming and present students.
Small changes like providing digital textbooks and coursework, or streamlining due dates of assignments on digital platforms (much like SCSU’s D2L Brightspace), could help meet the needs of students. A switch to digital content would not only be more relatable for students, it would also be easier on their wallets, allowing more students to enroll.
References:
Silagadze, M. (2017). Silicon valley in the classroom: What universities could learn from the googles of the world. Forbes. Retreived from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2017/10/02/silicon-valley-in-the-classroom-what-universities-could-learn-from-the-googles-of-the-world/#7dc0bded48b6
Learning through Youtube
Summarized by Sangyoon Park
The author explains that there is a vast amount of information available to students on Youtube. Of the many Youtube sources, students should be able to judge critical thinking about what content is beneficial to them.
Rather than explaining concepts to students, they can develop their ability to think through discussions.
The authors give examples of classes that apply YouTube to five different subjects. In English classes, we show criticism related to texts and discuss them accordingly. In social studies, the teachers show images of current events in various ways. Through this method, students can understand that an event will change in meaning depending on the interpretation. In mathematics and science, teachers could find videos that illustrate concepts to broaden students’ understanding.
References
Smith, A. (2017, July 25). 4 ways to teach students to find the gems in YouTube’s perilous terrain. Retrieved October 02, 2017, from https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=1028&category=Digital-and-media-literacy&article=4%2Bways%2Bto%2Bteach%2Bstudents%2Bto%2Bfind%2Bthe%2Bgems%2Bin%2BYouTube%27s%2Bperilous%2Bterrain
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