Monday, November 29, 2010

The Joy of Learning

Interesting Podcast from Educause

Gardner Campbell and Jim Groom Discuss Faculty Attitudes and the Joy of Learning-FULL LENGTH VERSION:


When Gardner Campbell and Jim Groom get together to discuss the current state of higher ed, it's always an insightful and lively conversation. Gardner is Director of the Academy for Teaching and Learning at Baylor University and Jim Groom is an Instructional Technology Specialist at the University of Mary Washington. A couple years ago we caught the two on video debating EDUPUNK. This year we got them talking about the current state of higher ed faculty attitudes about teaching and the internet.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

WebEx Ideas

In this post I will share one approach I used recently that was pretty successful.  Please tell me what you think, experiences you have had,etc.  I will use this space to share other strategies that I try and how they worked.

The use of breakout groups
In this case I had WebEx automatically assign people into 4 groups, see below for the group assignments.  Before delivering a mini lecture I gave the groups their assignments.

After the mini lecture the groups were given a little time to formulate their answers and finish their discussions and then reported out.  The participants liked the ability to talk together in groups. They felt that they dug deeper into the content that way.

I have a little more to learn about how to manage the groups and other little nuances that they don't really explain in the documentation.  You need to "experience" it. :)

Beth
  
Team 1 = Questioners.  
Ask at least 2 questions about the material covered.
Team 2 = Agreers.
Tell which points you agree with or found helpful and explain why.
Team 3 = Nay-sayers.
Comment on which point you disagree with or found unhelpful  and explain why.
Team 4 = Example givers.
Give specific examples or applications of the material
This activity is from Silberman, M (1996). Active learning: 101 strategies to teach any subject. Boston, MA; Allyn and Bacon, p.72.









Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Looking for teaching online advice


I am looking for advice from those who have way more experience than me. On Friday, November 12th I start a class with 60 new academic directors.  They are from all over the country. The class meets via WebEx 12 times from November - June and online.  There is probably so much you can tell me. Maybe you could share 1 or 2 things that you think I should do to best facilitate the learning of my students. Thank you so much for your insights.  I will keep you posted on how it goes.

Beth