ENTREPRENEURIAL CHEATERS
Student cheating has always been a problem for teachers but the advent of mobile technology has certainly created new challenges. The addition of e-learning delivery has created new opportunities for those hoping to get an advanced degree or complete a certification program. But it has also created new problems for instructors because of the difficulties in verifying who is actually taking a course using online technology. Now the game has changed again due to unethical entrepreneurs looking to make a quick buck by exploiting the vulnerabilities of others. Inside Higher Ed ran an insightful article about this today. If you really want to get mad, take a look at this site. The e-learning software companies are working hard to thwart these efforts and in fact Blackboard has a feature called TurnItIn that helps you identify incidents of plagiarism in a student's work.
DEEP LEARNING
You know that faculty members play a key role in shaping students’ approaches to learning. Research shows that faculty who focus on deep learning provide the most benefits to their students. Looking at students’ reading strategies, Marton and Saljo identified deep and surface approaches to learning. They discovered that students preparing for a test take two different approaches: deep learners read for overall understanding and meaning; surface learners focus on stand-alone, disconnected facts and rote memorization. Barbara Millis tells us that "Teaching for deep learning requires teachers to identify the most important elements in their course, and to design and develop sequenced activities that will enable students to grapple deeply with these key concepts or skills outside of class. The concepts are further reinforced with in-class or online activities involving active learning and student-student interactions."
CONFERENCE OPPORTUNITY
Niagara University has announced that registration is now open for the 12th annual Conference on Teaching and Learning: Envisioning the Future of Teaching and Learning and the Active, Integrative Classroom. The 2013 keynote speaker will be Dr. Ann E. Austin, Professor of Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education at Michigan State University. The conference will be held on January 7-8, 2013.
ARE YOU ONE OF THE BEST
Ken Bain, in his best-selling book What the Best College Teacher Do, tells us, "Without exception, outstanding teachers know their subjects extremely well. They follow the important intellectual and scientific or artistic developments within their fields, do research, have important and original thoughts on their subjects, study carefully and extensively what other people are doing in their fields, often read extensively in other fields, and take a strong interest in the broader issues of their disciplines: the histories, controversies, and epistemological discussions. In short, they can do intellectually, physically, and emotionally what they expect from their students."
Student cheating has always been a problem for teachers but the advent of mobile technology has certainly created new challenges. The addition of e-learning delivery has created new opportunities for those hoping to get an advanced degree or complete a certification program. But it has also created new problems for instructors because of the difficulties in verifying who is actually taking a course using online technology. Now the game has changed again due to unethical entrepreneurs looking to make a quick buck by exploiting the vulnerabilities of others. Inside Higher Ed ran an insightful article about this today. If you really want to get mad, take a look at this site. The e-learning software companies are working hard to thwart these efforts and in fact Blackboard has a feature called TurnItIn that helps you identify incidents of plagiarism in a student's work.
DEEP LEARNING
You know that faculty members play a key role in shaping students’ approaches to learning. Research shows that faculty who focus on deep learning provide the most benefits to their students. Looking at students’ reading strategies, Marton and Saljo identified deep and surface approaches to learning. They discovered that students preparing for a test take two different approaches: deep learners read for overall understanding and meaning; surface learners focus on stand-alone, disconnected facts and rote memorization. Barbara Millis tells us that "Teaching for deep learning requires teachers to identify the most important elements in their course, and to design and develop sequenced activities that will enable students to grapple deeply with these key concepts or skills outside of class. The concepts are further reinforced with in-class or online activities involving active learning and student-student interactions."
CONFERENCE OPPORTUNITY
Niagara University has announced that registration is now open for the 12th annual Conference on Teaching and Learning: Envisioning the Future of Teaching and Learning and the Active, Integrative Classroom. The 2013 keynote speaker will be Dr. Ann E. Austin, Professor of Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education at Michigan State University. The conference will be held on January 7-8, 2013.
ARE YOU ONE OF THE BEST
Ken Bain, in his best-selling book What the Best College Teacher Do, tells us, "Without exception, outstanding teachers know their subjects extremely well. They follow the important intellectual and scientific or artistic developments within their fields, do research, have important and original thoughts on their subjects, study carefully and extensively what other people are doing in their fields, often read extensively in other fields, and take a strong interest in the broader issues of their disciplines: the histories, controversies, and epistemological discussions. In short, they can do intellectually, physically, and emotionally what they expect from their students."
