Portable Pedagogy

Samuel Johnson on pedantry

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 13:13:21 -0500

Pedantry is the unseasonable ostentation of learning.

- Samuel Johnson, quoted at Language Log

'A Book That Reads You' - e-text tracking

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:39:47 -0500

Andrew Sullivan notes a pilot program for tracking e-text usage by students, and quotes one objection:

For a start, there’s no accommodation for different learning styles or reading speeds. It also assumes the worst of students, which has got to be a de-motivator, and it neurotically turns reading into a surveyed activity, which rarely does much for engagement.

The anti-MOOC? Small costly online courses - from Marketplace

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 15:48:34 -0500

Rochester is one of ten universities teaming up to offer online courses to one another’s students. Students from outside can also apply. Unlike massive online courses, these classes will be small.
“What we’re trying to do is create a smaller, more intimate teaching environment — one in which, if we have 25 or 30 students, it might even be possible on a single screen to have those students the equivalent of Skyped-in,” says Covach.

The instructor's 4 roles in e-learning

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:56:36 -0500

But e-learning’s use doesn’t preclude facilitators’ responsibilities for structuring learning experiences. The effectiveness and success of e-learning programs are dependent on facilitators’ roles in delivering and managing instruction.
One of the leading conceptualizers in the field of distance learning, Zane Berge, broke down an instructor’s role in computer conferencing into four separate parts. I propose a similar model, in which an e-learning facilitator “wears four pairs of shoes”—acting as instructor, social director, program manager, and technical assistant.

from ASTD

Alex Tabarrok on 'Why Online Education Works'

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:53:24 -0500

I see three principle advantages to online education, 1) leverage, especially of the best teachers; 2) time savings; 3) individualized teaching and new technologies.

from the Cato Institute

On 'Authentic Assessment'

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:51:48 -0500

What do I mean by “authentic assessment”? It’s simply performances and product requirements that are faithful to real-world demands, opportunities, and constraints. The students are tested on their ability to “do” the subject in context, to transfer their learning effectively.
The best assessment is thus “educative,” not onerous. The tasks educate learners about the kinds of challenges adults actually face, and the use of feedback is built into the process. In the real world, that’s how we learn and are assessed: on our ability to learn from results.

from Edutopia

Teaching Tip: Play Your Card in Discussion

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:51:46 -0500

Summary

Participants are given blank cards and asked to write down discussion questions based on the reading. One participant plays their card to start the discussion, and at relevant points another participant plays his or hers.

Notes

This approach ensures some level of direction and preparation for discussion while also allowing the discussion to take various directions.

Examples

We tried this to great effect in a reading seminar on technology and pedagogy for faculty and staff at Calvin College.

speech categories and online discussion

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:52:33 -0400

A classmate referred to these categories of speech settings from Wikipedia as a basis for thinking about online discussion:

•    Frozen: Printed unchanging language such as Biblical quotations; often contains archaisms. Examples are the Pledge of Allegiance, wedding vows, and other “static” vocalizations that are recited in a ritualistic monotone. The wording is exactly the same every time it is spoken.

•    Formal: One-way participation, no interruption. Technical vocabulary or exact definitions are important. Includes presentations or introductions between strangers.

•    Consultative: Two-way participation. Background information is provided — prior knowledge is not assumed. “Back-channel behavior” such as “uh huh”, “I see”, etc. is common. Interruptions are allowed. Examples include teacher/student, doctor/patient, expert/apprentice, etc.

•    Casual: In-group friends and acquaintances. No background information provided. Ellipsis and slang common. Interruptions common. This is common among friends in a social setting.

•    Intimate: Non-public. Intonation more important than wording or grammar. Private vocabulary. Also includes non-verbal messages. This is most common among family members and close friends.

characteristics of active learning

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 15:15:00 -0400

Grabinger and Dunlap (1996) list several characteristics of active learning:

* Student responsibility and initiative to promote ownership of e-learning and transferable skills;

* Intentional learning strategies, explicit methods of learning, reflection on learning processes, metacognitive skills;

* Goal-driven, problem-solving tasks and projects generating learning products of value;

* Instructors as facilitators, coaches and guides, not sources of knowledge, requiring discussion between instructors and learners;

* Authentic contexts for learning, anchored in real-world problems;

* Authentic assessment strategies to evaluate real-world skills; and

* Cooperative learning.

quoted by Carlson and Repman

Quote: learning as a noun and a verb

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 15:13:00 -0400

The test of a good teacher … is, “Do you regard ’learning’ as a noun or a verb?” If as a noun, as a thing to be possessed and passed along, then you present your truths, neatly packaged to your students. But if you see “learning” as a verb, the process is different. The good teacher has learning, but tries to instill in students the desire to learn, and demonstrates the ways one goes about ”learning.”

Carl Schorske, quoted by Carlson and Repman

Bookshelf: How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 11:00:00 -0400

How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough (Harcourt, 2008).

see this blog response from edutopia

Teaching Tip: Presenter to Small Groups

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 13:00:00 -0400

Summary

A presenter makes a presentation to a large group, with listeners around tables or in circles, breaking every 5-15 minutes for small group (6-10 people) discussion about practical application. The intent is to present core material that is then processed and applied via small group discussion.

Notes

The trick is for questions to be focused enough that groups are clear on what/how to answer, but open-ended enough that meaningful discussion can take off.

Examples

This was the format of plenary presentation at the annual colloquium of worship grant recipients from Calvin College.

Teaching Tip: Panel of Practicioners

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 11:00:00 -0400

Summary

Invite 3-5 panelists from the field being studied to speak about their experiences and perspectives on a topic or concept.

Format

Each makes a brief presentation and responds to questions.

Notes

In the example I experienced, each speaker presented for 20-30 minutes, which seemed to defeat the purpose of them appearing together. It would have been more effective to limit their presentations to 5-10 minutes and then proceed to questions among each other and from students.

Examples

I experienced this as a student in course 621 at Calvin Seminary, and appreciated the format overall. The panelists were pastors speaking on how the theology of baptism shapes their practice of the sacrament. Some of the panelists were students in the course, which greatly enriched their and our experience.

News links

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 11:00:00 -0400

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Bookmarks

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 11:52:00 -0400

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Digital Natives: the role of teachers and librarians

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 11:52:00 -0400

Part of a series on Digital Natives

Aside from these forms of institutionally provided support there are also clear opportunities for information professionals to support young technology users. As our brief review of the research literature suggested, the increasing complexity and sophistication of digital technologies brings “significant distractions and obstructions” that young people must confront ([14] Crook, 2008). In this sense, teachers, librarians, parents and others can play important roles in managing young people’s experiences of using digital technologies, and supporting their attempts to apprehend the structures and meanings of digitally-based information ([35] Ljoså, 1998). Therefore, adults can assume joint responsibility for the goals and methods of young people’s interactions with digitally-based information, supporting self-directed activities and providing the initial impetus for collaborative activities that underpin digital information use and digital scholarship ([54] Rosenblum, 2008).

Selwyn, “The Digital Native: Myth and Reality”

Digital Natives: Semel Institute neurological study

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 11:42:00 -0400

Part of a series on Digital Natives

Gary Small, director of the Semel Institute and UCLA’s Parlow-Solomon Chair on Aging … sees the brain as intrinsically flexible and eminently trainable. In February 2009, Small and his colleagues published a study (“Your Brain on Google: Patterns of Cerebral Activation During Internet Searching,” American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 116-126) that assessed the effect of internet searching on brain activity among volunteers between the ages of 55 and 76. Half of them were well-practiced in searching; the other half were not. Using fMRIs to scan the subjects’ brains while they surfed the web, they found that the brains of the web-savvy group reflected about twice as much brain activity compared to the brains of those who were not web-savvy. …

The really important part of the study followed. After a week’s training the less-savvy group was retested. The results? “Just after a week of searching online, the Internet Naive subjects showed brain neural circuitry similar to those of the experienced Internet searcher. That is very rapid adaptation that likely occurs as we learn new technologies.”

from Herther, “Digital natives and immigrants: what brain research tells us.” Online magazine

Digital Natives skeptics: biological determinism

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 11:38:00 -0400

For more, see Digital Natives skeptics, part of a series on Digital Natives

Prensky’s technological determinism culminates in a biological determinism in part 2 of his introduction to the concept of the digital native (2001b). Prensky argues that the brain’s neuroplasticity makes it so that the brain adapts to the environment that it is in, so in a technology-infused environment the brain will adapt to better use the tools that are available in that environment. While this may be true, there are two things that Prensky does not take into account. The first is that as human beings our brain is continuously rewiring itself throughout our lives. We don’t fossilize at a specific state of our lives, but we learn to use the tools that are available to us, thus digital natives should also exploit that physical ability to learn to function in environments that don’t necessarily have the tools that they are used to.

Koutropoulos, “Digital Natives: Ten Years After”

Digital Natives skeptics: content creation

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 11:36:00 -0400

For more, see Digital Natives skeptics, part of a series on Digital Natives

First, keeping an eye toward the USA, we see that contributional usage by members of the digital native generation on social sites is quite low. Only 36% of digital native students contribute to blogs, only 40% contribute to wikis, and only 42% contribute to video sites. Social games and social bookmarking sites are only used by 25% of these digital natives. Fewer that 20% of the students said that they used course lecture podcasts or videos (Smith & Caruso, 2010).

Koutropoulos, “Digital Natives: Ten Years After”

Digital Natives skeptics: shallow engagement

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 11:34:00 -0400

For more, see Digital Natives skeptics, part of a series on Digital Natives

[W]hilst some commentators may like to imagine collaborative communities of content creation, in reality many young people’s engagement with technology is often far more passive, solitary, sporadic and unspectacular, be it at home or in school ([34] Livingstone, 2009). If anything young people’s use of the internet can be described most accurately as involving the passive consumption of knowledge rather than the active creation of content - leading, at best, to what [14] Crook (2008) terms a “low bandwidth exchange” of information and knowledge, with any illusion of collaboration described more accurately in terms of co-operation or co-ordination between individuals.

Selwyn, “The Digital Native: Myth and Reality”