Online infographic

The article "How Social Media is Changing the Education Industry" http://www.mindjumpers.com/blog/2011/04/education-industry-infographic-2/ is interesting not only for its content but also for its presentation. It is an "infographic" and the graphics shown illustrate more clearly than a traditional chart.

iPads in the Classroom

This interesting article "iPads Could Hinder Teaching, Professors Say" in the March 13, 2011 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education discusses the negative impact of the iPads. http://chronicle.com/article/iPads-for-College-Classrooms-/126681/ It makes a point that I did not think of: the slow typing (no keyboard) makes taking notes more difficult. I know one of my students bought the eBook version of the text for class but she cannot cite the page numbers because there are none. Still, I think I will get an iPad.

The Learning Coach: Great web site for teachers

The Leaning Coach is a great web site for teachers. http://theelearningcoach.com/learning/what-is-cognitive-load/ For example, in this post, "What is Cognitive Load?" the graphics visually describe the difference between long term memory and working memory.

Great Journal Resource for Online teachers

The IRRODL (International Review of Research in Online and Distance Learning) is a great resource for online teachers. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/index
As I was looking through the latest issue (Vol 12, No 3 (2011): Special Issue - Connectivism: Design and Delivery of Social Networked Learning - I noticed that any of the refereed publications can be accessed by HTML PDF MP3 or EPUB. This means I can listen as well as read. Good for them!

Humor in Teaching

In the March 2011 issue of JOLT magazine (http://jolt.merlot.org)
Donna Gayle Anderson Instructor, Texas A&M University-Commerce
Commerce, TX 75429 USA donna_anderson@tamu-commerce.edu
reports on adding humor to a class with low student retention, Production Operations Management.
http://jolt.merlot.org/vol7no1/anderson_0311.htm

I was interested because humor can be a tricky thing online. What the author did was link to YouTube videos that showed humorous situations of production operations such as an "I Love Lucy" segment on Lucy's schedule. The retention in the class improved significantly and students felt they were welcome. Of course the author also notes that she was an active participant in the class, which does make a difference.

Scholarship in Teaching

http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/projects/scholarshipproject/model.htm

The Australian "Scholarship in Teaching" began in 1999 as a collaborative effort in three Australian institutions with the aims:

•To improve teaching, and the recognition and reward of teaching, through the development of scholarship in teaching in four universities.
•To improve teaching, and the recognition and reward of teaching, in the United National System in general through the development and dissemination of two self-help modules on scholarship in teaching.

They have developed the modules. I cannot find any research on whether this model actually improved teaching scholarship.

The Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education-TOJDE October 2010 ISSN 1302-6488 Volume: 11 Number: 4 Article 12 article "ARE YOU A DREAM COME TRUE OR A NIGHTMARE? DESIRED CHARACTERISTICS IN THE FACE TO FACE AND ONLINE INSTRUCTOR" used a small group to examine what students said were positive and negative characteristics of teachers. The article is found here: http://tojde.anadolu.edu.tr/tojde40/articles/article_12.htm; the authors,Dr. Barba Aldis PATTON and Dr. Teresa LESAGE are from the University of Houston-Victoria, Victoria, Tx USA. The tables produced are interesting, and the conclusion is: "The first recommendation is for instructors to communicate with their students." Why is that so difficult for so many online instructors?