Author Archive
A defense of student evaluations: They’re biased, misleading, and extremely useful.
The answer requires us to think about power. If you look hard at the structure of academia, you will see a lot of teachers who, in one way or another, lack power: adjuncts and term hires (a large population, and growing); untenured faculty (especially in universities like mine); faculty, even tenured faculty, in schools where budget cuts loom; graduate students, always and everywhere. You might see evaluations as instruments by which students, or administrators, exercise power over those vulnerable employees. But if you are a student, and especially if you are a student who cares what grades you get or who needs recommendations, then teachers, for you—even adjuncts and graduate teaching assistants—hold power.
Chairmen and deans also need to know when classroom teaching fails: when a professor makes catastrophically wrong assumptions as to what students already know, for example, or when students find a professor incomprehensible thanks to her thick Scottish accent. My note: indeed, when chairmen and deans KNOW what they are doing and are NOT using evaluations for their own power.
Student Course Evaluations Get An ‘F’ : NPR Ed : NPR
Philip Stark is the chairman of the statistics department at the University of California, Berkeley. “I’ve been teaching at Berkeley since 1988, and the reliance on teaching evaluations has always bothered me,” he says.
Stark is the co-author of “An Evaluation of Course Evaluations,” a new paper that explains some of the reasons why.
Michele Pellizzari, an economics professor at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, has a more serious claim: that course evaluations may in fact measure, and thus motivate, the opposite of good teaching. Here’s what he found. The better the professors were, as measured by their students’ grades in later classes, the lower their ratings from students.
“Show me your stuff,” Stark says. “Syllabi, handouts, exams, video recordings of class, samples of students’ work. Let me know how your students do when they graduate. That seems like a much more holistic appraisal than simply asking students what they think.”
7 Ways Social Media Has a Role in Education
http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2015/03/7-ways-social-media-has-role-in.html
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The Stats – College, Career, and Citizenship Success
Look who’s watching:
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1/4 of college admissions officers consider digital footprint
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3/4 of human resource managers
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1/3 of employers reject candidates based on something found in profiles
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Social Credibility is the New Credentialing
Read more about how Armond developed social credibility
here.
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Student Learning Networks
In the age of social media, the teacher is no longer the center of learning. The student is. One of the most important things an educator can do is support students in developing a powerful learning network. It also requires an understanding of how to effectively use these tools to connect, collaborate, and grow learning. Want to know more? 15-year-old Alex Laubscher explains
here.
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Work More Effectively
Social media allows you to change the paradigm from “teacher” as expert to “group” as expert. This reduces emails and increases the access to good answers and connections. My note: it is extremely important to understand that “teacher” in this case covers librarians
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Connect with Experts via Twitter
You can find a world of experts on any topic if you have literacy in using Twitter also know as “Twitteracy.” Just know
the right hashtags and how to find experts and you have the world’s best knowledge at your fingertips. It is better than any rolodex allowing you to connect anytime, anywhere, with the interested parties who are available now.
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Release the Amazing Work of Students from the Classroom to the World
We hear stories in passing about the great work happening in schools, but usually it’s locked in a school or classroom or trapped on a laptop. Social media puts an end to that.
Click here to find out what it was.
More on social media in education in this blog:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=social+media+education
Game-Changing Grading Changes
http://www.techlearning.com/blogentry/9149
Grade the Product AND the Process
With Revision History, I’ve seen students work just two hours on a paper the night before it’s due and others spend considerable time and effort on a paper. Whatever the case may be, I can identify and address what I see in Revision History with a student to help them grow. My note: use wiki or Google Apps to be able to track changes in revision
Use Kaizena for Effective Feedback – Many teachers have discovered the awesome benefits of filming themselves and their lessons, but what about recording feedback? My note: use audio recording for feedback. a more positive place to learn because my students could now hear the intonation and inflection in my voice when I delivered feedback, not have their hearts broken by red ink. They could hear the positivity with which I reviewed their work and provided feedback.
Rethinking How We Grade Group Work
I had students submit group contracts which clearly stated when and where they would meet and who was responsible for completing what, when. This contract was used in our post-project meetings. By having clearly defined tasks and roles, each student was held accountable. Make them be specific. Instead of Tina will do research by Friday get them as close to Tina will find five usable sources for the project and get them to Tom on the shared planning Doc by 3pm Friday.
Remember Revision History? It’s great for group projects because a Revision History is created for every person the Doc is shared with. Revision History can help a teacher see who contributed to group work and when because on any shared item in Google Drive, each individual is assigned their own color and timestamp. We can now better see how much each group member has contributed to an assignment. We can take this into consideration when grading, or, better yet, be proactive and intervene when a group’s shared planning Doc looks like one person is doing all the work
1) After a project, I gave students a Google Form where they could provide anonymous feedback on their peers efforts during the project. The Form also allowed students to grade these efforts using a rubric. I would then average the grades for each individual student and share the anonymous feedback at the post-group meetings. I would give them an opportunity to reflect on the feedback as a group and speak to the fairness of their averaged grade. Through this process we would come to an agreement on an individual grade for the project and a list of takeaways the could use to improve for next time.
Are LinkedIn Groups Worth the Trouble? 17 Tips for Success
http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2015/05/linkedin-group-tips/
Use LinkedIn Groups not only as a way to distribute content, but also as a way to listen to our audience.
Any LinkedIn user can create a group in a matter of minutes. But it is crucial to lay a solid foundation to help ensure the group’s success. Some things to consider:
- Develop a mission statement that distinctly outlines why the group exists to give a clear vision to both potential members and your brand.
- Use targeted keywords in its title and to identify its category so the group can be found in organic search rankings.
More on LinkedIn in this blog:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=linkedin
Case Study 6: Mozilla Open Badges
http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/case-study-6-mozilla-open-badges
Badges can play a crucial role in the connected learning ecology by acting as a bridge between contexts, making these alternative learning channels and types of learning more viable, portable, and impactful. Badges can be awarded for a potentially limitless set of individual skills—regardless of where each skill is developed—and a collection of badges can begin to serve as a virtual résumé of competencies and qualities for key stakeholders, including peers, schools, or potential employers. Specifically, badges support capturing and communicating learning paths, signaling achievement, motivating learning, and driving innovation and flexibility, as well as building identity, reputation, and kinship. Thus, badges can provide a way to translate all types of learning into a powerful tool for getting jobs, finding communities of practice, demonstrating skills, and seeking out further learning.
Peer badges were also built around the peer-to-peer interactions and were awarded directly from one peer to another. Finally, participation badges were based on stealth assessment and data-tracking logic built into the learning environment. While the sample size was small due to constraints of the course cycles, the pilot resulted in a solid proof-of-concept of the potential for badges and these approaches to assessment.
How Badges Really Work in Higher Education
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2013/06/20/how-badges-really-work-in-higher-education.aspx
The badges have several layers, Wisser says. While the top level signifies that you completed elements of the coursework, the badges have stripes for other accomplishments such as leading a discussion or teaching peers. “These badges are visible to other students, and if you are struggling in one area, you could turn to someone more accomplished–as shown by their badge–for help. Or if you were strong in a certain area and saw someone else was struggling, you could reach out to that person.”
More in this IMS blog on badges:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=badges
Fusking = using a program to extract files names from a website that would seem obvious. Like 1.jpg, 2.jpg, etc. http://fusking.urbanup.com/3995415#.VVNxIdIMi54.
How hackers built software to steal naked photos from hundreds of women automatically
The Dark Art Of “Fusking”
http://www.buzzfeed.com/katienotopoulos/the-dark-art-of-fusking
Fusking: Photobucket Fights Back Against Peeping Toms, Sends Takedown Notice To Reddit Pages
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/16/fusking-photobucket-takedown-notice-reddit_n_1792472.html
7 Things You Should Know About Developments in Instructional Design
http://www.educause.edu/library/resources/7-things-you-should-know-about-developments-instructional-design
Please read the entire EducCause article here: eli7120
discussion of IMS with faculty:
- pedagogical theories
- learning outcome
- design activities
- students’ multimedia assignments, which lead to online resources
- collaboration with other departments for the students projects
- moving the class to online environment (even if kept hybrid)
What is it?
the complexity of the learning environment is turning instructional design into a more dynamic activity, responding to changing educational models and expectations. Flipped classrooms, makerspaces, and competency-based learning are changing how instructors work with students, how students work with course content, and how mastery is verified. Mobile computing, cloud computing, and data-rich repositories have altered ideas about where and how learning takes place.
How does it work?
One consequence of these changes is that designers can find themselves filling a variety of roles. Today’s instructional designer might work with subject-matter experts, coders, graphic designers, and others. Moreover, the work of an instructional designer increasingly continues throughout the duration of a course rather than taking place upfront.
Who’s doing it?
The responsibility for designing instruction traditionally fell to the instructor of a course, and in many cases it continues to do so. Given the expanding role and landscape of technology—as well as the growing body of knowledge about learning and about educational activities and assessments— dedicated instructional designers are increasingly common and often take a stronger role.
Why is it significant?
The focus on student-centered learning, for example, has spurred the creation of complex integrated learning environments that comprise multiple instructional modules. Competency-based learning allows students to progress at their own pace and finish assignments, courses, and degree plans as time and skills permit. Data provided by analytics systems can help instructional designers predict which pedagogical approaches might be most effective and tailor learning experiences accordingly. The use of mobile learning continues to grow, enabling new kinds of learning experiences.
What are the downsides?
Given the range of competencies needed for the position, finding and hiring instructional designers who fit well into particular institutional cultures can be challenging to the extent that instructors hand over greater amounts of the design process to instructional designers, some of those instructors will feel that they are giving up control, which, in some cases, might appear to be simply the latest threat to faculty authority and autonomy. My note: and this is why SCSU Academic Technology is lead by faculty not IT staff.
Where is it going?
In some contexts, instructional designers might work more directly with students, teaching them lifelong learning skills. Students might begin coursework by choosing from a menu of options, creating their own path through content, making choices about learning options, being more hands-on, and selecting best approaches for demonstrating mastery. Educational models that feature adaptive and personalized learning will increasingly be a focus of instructional design. My note: SCSU CETL does not understand instructional design tendencies AT ALL. Instead of grooming faculty to assume the the leadership role and fill out the demand for instructional design, it isolates and downgrades (keeping traditional and old-fashioned) instructional design to basic tasks of technicalities done by IT staff.
What are the implications for teaching and learning?
By helping align educational activities with a growing understanding of the conditions,
tools, and techniques that enable better learning, instructional designers can help higher education take full advantage of new and emerging models of education. Instructional
designers bring a cross-disciplinary approach to their work, showing faculty how learning activities used in particular subject areas might be effective in others. In this way, instructional
designers can cultivate a measure of consistency across courses and disciplines in how educational strategies and techniques are incorporated. Designers can also facilitate the
creation of inclusive learning environments that offer choices to students with varying strengths and preferences.
More on instructional design in this IMS blog:
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2014/10/13/instructional-design/
http://forum.academica.ca/articles/2015/4/29/written-by-bob-gillett
commentary from Bob Gillett. It was recently submitted to The Conference Board of Canada as part of the work of the Centre for Skills and Post-Secondary Education.
Posters, Images and Metaphors
http://cristinaskybox.blogspot.fr/2012/09/posters-images-and-metaphors.html
offers excellent choice of digital tools for end solutions such as signage and other electronic posters.
This blog has entries with wide variety of presentation solutions:
Thttps://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/?s=presentations
What2Learn – Create Your Own Review Games
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2015/05/what2learn-create-your-own-review-games.html
What2Learn is a site offering lots of review games on topics in math, science, social studies, and language arts. Most of the games are of the question and answer variety. Students can play the games without registering on the site.
