Archive of ‘learning’ category
“As I create and modify my course syllabi, I want to make sure my students use APA 7th ed. when writing their formal assignments. For those of you who also use APA, what do you say in your syllabi? What matters to you with your students giving proper credit to sources, images, or videos? I’m trying to do better and expect better”
I never assume the they learned the format, and I build in an APA workshop. I use OWL Purdue and go over a sample paper first, then the APA PowerPoint. Then I give them a low stakes assignment (like a discussion post) to practice.
I talk about documentation more as a convention of their discourse community, not just citations. There is a certain structure and way of writing in APA, that along with citations, represent the values of a particular discourse community. Those are the things that matter to me. (I also get more buy in from students.)
I was happy to discover that APA now has decent examples online, free, at their website. So in my instructions to students, I linked to the main page and also 3 specific pages with commonly used items, such as newspaper articles online, and YouTube videos. So step 1 is providing tools. Step 2 is clearly expressed grade penalties.
I actually don’t say anything my syllabus. What I do is in my LMS: give them a template and links to the Purdue OWL and other relevant websites. I have also written a “Dr. Kaminski’s APA 7th Ed Guide”. It’s more of my pet peeves and what they should be focusing on that students often miss. I give a lot of grace on the first (low stakes) written assignment, with more focus on the APA portion than the actual content. After that, I’m expecting them to have it down.
I say it (and link to resources) in my assignment sheets and have a spot in my rubric to reflect what I am asking of my students.
I post resources to our LMS. Mostly the usual subjects (APA, Purdue OWL, etc). I often add a short video on the bias-free writing chapter because that’s often not covered in their intro to research writing courses. For citations, I’m more a stickler for complete information than semicolons and whatnot. I don’t feel good about deducting points for anything that students were taught with APA 6 that is different in 7 since we changed the rules on them.
I provide a free workshop at the beginning of the semester to explain the ‘why’ and provide practice. It carries a rather high weighting in our rubrics so…some understanding and ‘free points’ if they use it appropriately.
I have a different document I refer to in the syllabus titled “Writing Expectations”. I briefly explain the importance of using APA and the characteristics of academic writing (e.g. paraphrasing, avoiding over usage of direct quotes, and other things I see in student writing). The second page is an APA job aid that shows the basics for citations, reference lists, and leveled headings.
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more on APA 7th edition in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=apa+7
Why Smart Bosses Let Employees Turn Off Their Cameras During Zoom and MS Teams Meetings
The pressure to perform for the camera is draining–and distracts from pursuing meaningful outcomes.
https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/why-smart-bosses-let-employees-turn-off-their-cameras-during-zoom-ms-teams-meetings.html
https://www.facebook.com/groups/onlinelearningcollective/permalink/738496626781038/
Almost never did everyone feel that everyone else in the meeting was looking at them — or at the very least could be looking at them — at all times.
And then there’s the pressure to respond quickly: A 2014 study showed that delays in replying to a question or prompt as short as 1.2 seconds made other people in a teleconference perceive the responder as less focused.
Great bosses lead and manage by meaningful expectations and meaningful deliverables.
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more on webcam policies in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=webcam+policy
https://www.facebook.com/groups/onlinelearningcollective/permalink/738016123495755/
I’m planning on having students build a concept map throughout the semester. This is my first time doing this without them being able to just do it on paper and hand in random pieces of paper taped together to make it able to grow as much as they need throughout the semester in any direction. A google search for “free concept map generator” reveals that there seem to be about a gazillion options out there. Does anyone have any experience with any that they would recommend using or not? (Trying to avoid the time sink of sifting through the options and/or unnecessarily burdening my students with this decision.) Thanks in advance!
responses/suggestions:
Creately Concept Map Maker: https://creately.com/lp/concept-map-maker/
Padlet: https://padlet.com/
Cmaps: https://cmap.ihmc.us/
Lucid chart: https://www.lucidchart.com/pages/
google draw , Google Jamboard
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more on mind maps in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=mind+map
How to Email Your Professor (without being annoying AF)
https://medium.com/@lportwoodstacer/how-to-email-your-professor-without-being-annoying-af-cf64ae0e4087
10 Elements of an Effective, Non-Annoying Email
Here’s a template you can follow in constructing your email to a professor. Each element is explained further below.
Dear [1] Professor [2] Last-Name [3],
This is a line that recognizes our common humanity [4].
I’m in your Class Name, Section Number that meets on This Day [5]. This is the question I have or the help I need [6]. I’ve looked in the syllabus and at my notes from class and online and I asked someone else from the class [7], and I think This Is The Answer [8], but I’m still not sure. This is the action I would like you to take [9].
Signing off with a Thank You is always a good idea [10],
Favorite Student
https://www.statesmanjournal.com/story/opinion/2020/12/19/guest-opinion-online-education-improve-2021/3947676001/
Online learning is here to stay
Greater focus on equitable access
Employers will partner with universities to develop talent
Increased demand for nondegree credentials
In 2021, we will see individuals supplement their current or past postsecondary degrees with nondegree credentials and in-demand skills.
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more on microcredentials in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=microcredential
In 2021, we need to fix America’s internet: We pay twice as much as Europe for high speeds, assuming we can even get them from r/technology
IN 2021, WE NEED TO FIX AMERICA’S INTERNET
We pay twice as much as Europe for high speeds, assuming we can even get them
https://www.theverge.com/22177154/us-internet-speed-maps-competition-availability-fcc
Across the country, the FCC and internet service providers are pretending there’s competition in an unimaginable number of places where it doesn’t actually exist.
As FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel wrote for The Verge last March, as many as one in three US households doesn’t have broadband internet access, currently defined as just 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up — which feels like the bare minimum for a remote learning family these days.
early 12 million children don’t have a broadband connection at home, the Senate Joint Economic Committee reported in 2017. And the “homework gap” hits harder if you’re poor, of course: only 56 percent of households with incomes under $30,000 had broadband as of last February, according to the Pew Research Center.
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more on netneutrality in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=netneutrality
Federal regulators have issued new guidelines letting drones operate at night and over people — a change in the rules that could expand the use of drones for commercial deliveries.
Posted by NPR on Tuesday, December 29, 2020
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more on drones in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=drones
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-12-16-now-is-the-time-to-redefine-learning-not-recreate-traditional-school-online
The vast majority of emergent virtual and hybrid learning models appear to be “stuck at substitution”—that is, they seek to recreate or translate the brick-and-mortar school experience into the cloud without stopping to ask which aspects of those models may not truly serve students in the time of COVID-19 or beyond.
When we say “stuck at substitution,” some readers may recognize the SAMR model of education technology integration. The SAMR framework describes four different levels of technology use, from Substitution to Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition (SAMR). At its most basic level, education technology can be used to simply substitute: to replace traditional methods of teaching and learning with ones that are digitally mediated, but are still based on the same basic structure and pedagogy.
edtech can be used for augmentation, to bring some other affordance or benefit to the teaching and learning experience—for example, when that worksheet becomes a shared Google Doc that allows for collaboration and increased critical thinking.
Redefinition means thinking beyond existing paradigms and schedules that are built for an on-campus experience. It is the opportunity to imagine entirely new ways of teaching and learning—for example, attendance policies that emphasize engagement versus seat time, blended learning models that leverage technology for anywhere, anytime learning, and instructional design that allows increased student choice and participation.
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more on online learning in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=online+learning
https://www.nber.org/papers/w28180
the effect of computer-assisted learning on students’ long-term development. We explore the implementation of the “largest ed-tech intervention in the world to date,” which connected China’s best teachers to more than 100 million rural students through satellite internet. We find evidence that exposure to the program improved students’ academic achievement, labor performance, and computer usage.
Nuclear-Powered Rockets Get a Second Look for Travel to Mars from r/technews
https://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/space-flight/nuclear-powered-rockets-get-a-second-look-for-travel-to-mars