Does What You Learn in Second Life Transfer to Real Life?

"Second Life" is an example of an immersive environment, a simulated world in which participants can move around a landscape, communicate, create things, etc. On EDUCAUSE Connect I have been listening to an excellent podcast:
http://www.educause.edu/ELI072/Program/
12402?PRODUCT_CODE=ELI072/GS07
The moderator, Alan Levine of the New Media Consortium, asked participants at one point the question in the title of this posting. I think participants' responses are quite interesting, diverse, and all to the point.

I'd echo one of the participants in asking, "Does what you learn on campus transfer to real life?" The two questions are parallel. Their common answer, "Learning often transfers less than students and faculty assume. 'What is learned in the classroom stays in the classroom (if it stays at all.)'

I especially like some of the educational lessons that are bundled under the heading, "teaching for understanding." For example, if you learn about something in context A and are only tested on that knowledge or skill in Context A, you're not real likely to be able to apply what you learned, months or years later, to context B. You're more likely to be able to apply what you've learned in some unfamiliar context later on if you were taught about the idea in more than one context, and then tested on your ability to apply it in familiar and unfamiliar contexts.

In short, students benefit when they're given practice and feedback as they 'transfer' learning from one sphere to another. The same is almost certainly true of learning in Second Life. We may look at a student designing jewelry in Second Life and hope that the lessons transfer to real life. But if that transfer is an explicit agenda, and if the learning and assessment are based on transfer, transfer is more likely to happen. A virtual world is a different sort of world, but its still a world and what we know about learning in other spheres applies to humans in virtual worlds, too.

PS If your institution is a TLT Group subscriber, you want to take a look at the chapter in the Flashlight Evaluation Handbook on evaluating educational activities in Second Life; it's Section VI.W. It's still primitive, but it's developing, and we even have a little item bank on this topic in Flashlight Online. We'd love to work with a subscriber or two on studies in this arena, and use the work to develop this further.

"change often happens most easily if it can be shown to be embedded in long-held beliefs, values, traditions"

"At Radcliffe, she responds, she immersed herself in the archives, rediscovering the institution’s roots and envisioning how to capture and fulfill its founders’ desires 'in a way that’s appropriate for a new era.' More broadly, she explains, this suggests that 'change often happens most easily if it can be shown to be embedded in long-held beliefs, values, traditions, rather than being just a total assault on everything everybody thought they were and wanted.

'So it seems to me that part of moving through change effectively is making it seem seamless, or as seamless as possible, with what has gone before—of identifying continuities that can serve as bridges over the chasm of differences, building understanding and transparency about purpose and shared commitments, and using those as the fuel of change. And then saying, ‘Hope you’ll come, too, but this is where we’re going.’ So it begins with persuasion and collaboration and building a case, but I think ultimately it becomes a gesture of decisive movement.'"

Above excerpt is from p. 30 of "A Scholar in the House - President Drew Gilpin Faust," by John S. Rosenberg, Harvard Magazine, July-August 2007, pp. 24-30

Available online as of July 27, 2007 at

http://www.harvardmagazine.com/
2007/07/p4-a-scholar-in-the-house.html

Why do good people get bad email?

Do good people get bad email? Do good people send bad email?

See also, Overloaditorium. Overloaditorium Motto: "If working 24 hours a day isn't enough, you have to work nights." - James Moss, ca. 1985, USNA

And, see one of our previous "Dangerous Discussions" about the boundaries between professional and personal lives… Whitman College policy discussion:
“An undergraduate who sends email to a faculty member between midnight and 6am may not expect a response in that same period.” Click here for more resources for/from that discussion.

Dimensions of Overload - How Many Online Persona Can You Sustain?

I already have trouble remembering all my usernames and passwords. Now I have to remember my online identities. I have to decide how much factual info about myself to divulge for which purposes, to which groups. And how truthful should I be? How should I choose what to include? What to exclude? What to exaggerate?

When I first opened a MySpace account - more than a year ago - just to see what it was like, I gave the minimum factual info - which included no more than my gender, age, and name. I immediately began to receive unsolicited solicitations, one of which began by explaining how attractive she found "more mature" men and offering me some photos of herself. Now I realize I had no way of knowing whether that individual was a desperate Lolita or an online sales rep for a popular pharmaceutical company prospecting for potential purchasers of a well-known product that many of us would have been embarrassed to discuss in any public venue ten years ago. If the latter, he might have been older and at least as masculine as myself - no matter whose photo was attached.

Second Life and other virtual worlds and online gaming systems permit (encourage? require?) participants to be represented by "avatars" with imaginary names and appearances and other characteristics.

Social networking Web sites permit (encourage?) us to present different descriptions of ourselves to different audiences. Rob Pegoraro of the Washington Post concludes his editorial today with "… the best option may be to avoid the temptation to put all your information at any one site. Put your work credentials at one place, but present the party photos at another, less public location and schedule the potluck dinners at yet another.

"Should you find it easier to center your online life at one place, though, remember this: Good social-networking sites help you meet other people, but great ones also help you avoid other people."
Excerpts above from "Friend? Not? It's One or the Other," By Rob Pegoraro, Thursday, July 19, 2007; D01; Washington Post, washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content
/article/2007/07/18/AR2007071802460.html

How does this relate to good or bad email?

It's all part of the burgeoning overload of messages thrown at us every second and the still-accelerating growth in information accessible to us.

Tomorrow we'll commiserate about the overload, especially email, and exchange ideas for coping. We can help each other feel less guilty about ignoring each others' email when we know that we share the same burdens.

We could even declare a moratorium on sending, scanning, or reading email DURING our weekly FridayLive! sessions. Could YOU ignore your email for 1 hour? Me neither.

So, how did you have time to read this far? Will you have time to join us tomorrow?

Click here for FREE but REQUIRED advance registration!

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MORE EXCERPTS from Pegoraro's Column:

"Social-networking sites like the big three -- MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn -- act as a sort of shared address book, letting people post profiles, leave notes for one another and find out whom they know in common.

"…when the private and professional overlap at these sites, you can spend more time worrying about your image than building your network.

"...my co-workers started becoming Facebook friends too. It would have been rude to decline their requests, not least since some were my bosses. My Facebook exposure kept increasing, and my Facebook social life started getting broader and shallower than the real thing.

"For those who find their work and home worlds merging, Facebook provides a long list of customizable privacy settings. (MySpace and LinkedIn offer much less flexibility. MySpace only permits three levels of profile visibility: public, over-18 users only or friends only.)

"But Facebook also lets users fine-tune dozens of other aspects of your online identity, including which parts of your profile are visible to whom and what sort of communication you'll welcome from others. You can also hide applications you've added that, for example, map your travels or graph your political leanings, if you prefer to keep those private.

"Most Facebook users, however, don't touch those options."

"Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro atrobp@washpost.com. Read more at:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/ "

Boudreaux Stories #1

Gabcast! Boudreaux Stories #1

On Pedagogy 15 Minute (Non?)Workshop

Lowest-Threshold Intro to Pedagogy for Higher Education
Apologies for Over-Simplification

I. How views of society and education shape each other

• John Dewey: Democratic society needs well-educated citizens who can think critically and solve problems. Memorization is not enough.
• Paolo Freire, et al., Critical Pedagogy: "...go beneath surface of any action, event, object, process, organization, experience,
  text, subject matter, policy, mass media, or discourse."
  
  

II. How views of human nature can/should influence decisions about teaching and learning

• Authentic Teaching: Spirituality, Humanity, Existentialism: Parker Palmer, Art Chickering, et al.
  
• Constructivism: "1. Knowledge is actively constructed by the learner, not passively received from the environment. and 2. Coming to know is a process of adaptation based on and constantly modified by a learner's experience of the world." - Excerpts from "Constructivism and Teaching...," Barbara Jaworski, available as of 7/9/2007 at: http://www.grout.demon.co.uk/Barbara/chreods.htm

III. How to structure teaching and learning - for large numbers of teachers, learners

• Bloom's Taxonomy: A hierarchical classification of different objectives and skills that educators set for students (learning objectives) in three "Domains": Affective, Psychomotor, and Cognitive.

• Instructional Design & Learning Objects
• Assessment
  
  

IV. How to use findings from some sciences and educational research

• Educational Psychology, Cognitive Science, Learning Sciences [e.g., Bransford]
• Multiple Intelligences: "human beings have ... different kinds of intelligence that reflect different ways of interacting with the world. Each person has a unique combination, or profile." - Howard Gardner
• Findings from educational research - Ehrmann
  

V. How to improve "classroom" teaching [without much theory]

• "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Higher Education": Teachers can learn specific instructional principles and related techniques to guide the incremental improvement of their own teaching and their students' learning. [See also Cooperative and Collaborative Learning; Team-Learning/Teaching/Work: Barbara Millis, et al.]

• Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs): Teachers elicit feedback from students 'during a class meeting that can be used by the teacher to improve teaching and learning

• Low-Threshold Applications/Activities (LTAs): Enable faculty members to begin using some new ways of improving teaching and learning with low anxiety, quick and easy initial mastery, and high expectations of success.

• "3 Ways to Reach 3 Quarters": Offer the information in three different ways to get some information through to at least 75% of a group

• POD, NISOD

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Guidelines for 15 Minute Modules	Content Outline for this 15-Min Pedagogy Workshop	Script for this 15-Min Pedagogy Workshop	Technology to be used in this 15-Min Pedagogy Workshop
Setting Expectations Presentation Intro 5-Minute eClip Interaction Assessment Follow-Through Optional: Play "Father Guido Sarducci's Five Minute University" - Just under 5 minutes More...	Why I care, why you care Main Pedagogical Theories Before, during, after class meeting Tools and technology built into classrooms Tools and technology brought into classroom by faculty, students Tools and technology used within classroom that are located elsewhere (e.g., online) More...	Hand-Out - 1-Pager with URL for this Google Doc and possibly a Web page - includes acknowledgement of list of References and Resources included here (below) Speak1 Intro, orientation, why I care, why you should care, how this is only a bare-bones, minimal intro with options for learning more if and when you're ready; working definition of "pedagogy"; why focus on theories here (instead of techniques, technologies) Play eClip - 5-Minute Course on Theories of Education Activity dkdkdkd Assessment dkdkdkdkd Follow-Through dkdkdkdk To be done...	Desk arrangement SmartBoard + Speakers YouTube 5-Minute eClips PowerPoint Microphone LecShare Pro Brief Hybrid Workshops Flashlight Online FridayLive! Adobe Connect Google Docs Google Pages Google Labs Google Page Creator: Start Google Page Account Steve Gilbert Google Home Page Thumb drive [$19 for 2 gigabytes with key ring 7/6/07] More...

Pedagogy: Educational Theories, Models, Ideas

Introduction
Many faculty members and academic support professionals find that teaching and learning can be improved significantly by using some of the following ideas. However, teaching or learning well does not depend on understanding or accepting any one of these theories - consciously or explicitly. Many highly regarded teachers use them - sometimes brilliantly - without conscious effort or awareness. And a few other faculty members seem highly successful in ways that don't fit well in any of these categories.

Here are brief introductions (perhaps oversimplifications) of some of the best known educational theories, models.

Each of these theories or models seems helpful to some faculty members and to some who support faculty members' instructional work. It is beyond the scope of this brief introduction to offer these in any particular order or with any great clarify about when and for whom they might be most useful. No one has proven that any one of these theories or models is superior to most others for most purposes in most situations. No one who embraces one of these has convinced many proponents of the other theories to change their minds. In fact, it often seems that the advocates of any one of the following are either unaware of the others or don't take them very seriously.

One view is to place these theories/models on a very crude scale that runs from delivery to engagement. Delivery models reflect beliefs that the essential activity of education in some areas is to move information from one person to others. Engagement models reflect beliefs that the essential activity of education in some areas is to establish meaningful relationships among teachers, learners, and whatever is to be taught and learned.

There are two valid reasons for ignoring all of these pedagogies entirely:
1. You are so overloaded with other work that you cannot spare the time to learn about these ideas and the techniques and technologies that are available to implement them.
2. You are one of the few truly gifted teachers - having a rare combination of skills, personality, and depth of knowledge about your subject that fits remarkably well with the nature of your institution and the characteristics of your students.

Otherwise, you might benefit from learning more about some of the following pedagogies that seem best-suited to your own views about teaching and learning, about human nature, about the needs and goals of your students, and about the kinds of resources available to you and your colleagues.

Specific Educational Theories, Models [Pedagogies]
(Some have a flavor of faith in a particular view of human nature, of values, of the universe... Psychology? Anthropology? Cosmology? Theology?)

Low (Not Lowest) Threshold Intro to Pedagogy for Higher Education

John Dewey "...greater emphasis should be placed on the broadening of intellect and development of problem solving and critical thinking skills, rather than simply on the memorization of lessons" - from Wikipedia entry (see below). "...one's present experience is a function of the interaction between one's past experiences and the present situation. For example, my experience of a lesson, will depend on how the teacher arranges and facilitates the lesson, as well my past experience of similar lessons and teachers." - from "500 Word Summary of Dewey’s 'Experience & Education'" - See ref below. by James Thomas Neill, Centre for Applied Psychology, University of Canberra
So what? Who, why, when? Who might use approaches (why? when?) based on Dewey's ideas of progressive education and democracy: When establishing, confirming or revising institutional mission; reviewing and revising general education requirements and curricula.

Faculty Development: "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Higher Education," Classroom Assessment Techniques, LTAs (Low-Threshold Applications and Activities), and "3 Ways to Reach 3 Quarters"
"Seven Principles" was the best-known, most widely respected meta-study of educational research in the past three decades. The results offered seven principles for improving the kind of teaching and learning that moves beyond traditional lecture/delivery. From the original article (see below for ref.), here are the "Seven Principles:

"Good practice in undergraduate education:

1. encourages contact between students and faculty,
2. develops reciprocity and cooperation among students,
3. encourages active learning,
4. gives prompt feedback,
5. emphasizes time on task,
6. communicates high expectations, and
7. respects diverse talents and ways of learning."

"Classroom Assessment Techniques" are among the best-known and widely respected collections of very specific activities designed for use by teachers in a wide variety of courses - especially to elicit feedback from students 'during a class meeting that can be used by the teacher to improve teaching and learning almost immediately and quite visibly. See reference below to work of Cross & Angelo.
The POD Network and NISOD are two well-known professional organizations for academic support professionals and faculty members who help faculty colleagues improve their teaching and their students' learning. POD focuses more on 4-year colleges and universities while NISOD focuses more community colleges.

Low-Threshold Applications and Activities (LTAs) is both an approach and a growing collection of resources designed to enable faculty members to begin using some new ways of improving teaching and learning with low anxiety, quick and easy initial mastery, and high expectations of success. The LTA approach is intended to help those who work with overloaded faculty members who are on the threshold of first-time use of some new approach to teaching and learning. Those thresholds often appear formidable - too time-consuming and risky. The LTA approach identifies specific small improvements that have low incremental cost in money, time, and stress. Developed originally by Steven W. Gilbert of the TLT Group.

"3 Ways to Reach 3 Quarters" - Given current conditions of too much information, too many options, and too little time (TMI/TMO/TLT), if a trainer, leader, teacher, or communicator needs to get some information through to at least 75% of a group, then it is a good idea to offer the information in three different ways. [Under construction July, 2007: Todd Zakrajsek of Central Michigan University and Steven W. Gilbert of the TLT Group]

So what? Who, why, when? Who might use approaches (why? when?) based on "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Higher Education," Classroom Assessment Techniques, LTAs (Low-Threshold Applications and Activities), and "3 Ways to Reach 3 Quarters": When helping new or experienced teachers who want to make some improvements but who are not yet interested in more nuanced or elaborate theories to go along with new teaching practices. When helping experienced teachers who are ready to build on their lecture/presentation skills to improve their students' learning and engagement.

Bloom's Taxonomy, is a hierarchical classification of different objectives and skills that educators set for students (learning objectives). 3 "Domains": Affective, Psychomotor, and Cognitive. Implies both a holistic approach (include all 3 domains) and very structured ordering of learning activities - building on "lower level" prerequisites. Related to developmental views that some kinds of human learning depend on the learner having already achieved a certain stage of development (see, e.g., work of Piaget).
So what? Who, why, when? Who might use approaches (why? when?) based on Bloom's Taxonomy and developmental approaches:
Clarify goals for learners on 3 dimensions (affective, psychomotor, cognitive). Structure information and activities so that learners will master pre-requisite lower level activities before encountering higher level ones. Views differ on whether or not learners must progress through developmental stages in order and which kinds of development might be accelerated or slowed by educational activities.

Instructional Design & Learning Objects. Instructional Design is the practice of developing and arranging media to facilitate the delivery of knowledge most effectively: determining the current state of learner understanding, defining the end goal of instruction, and creating some media-based "intervention" to assist. "Learning Objects" are characteristic of an approach that believes that small chunks of instructional resources can be developed, cataloged, and made available for effective re-use - perhaps with some adaptation - by other teachers and learners under somewhat similar circumstances. Very little attention to possible differences among teachers or learners other than narrowly intellectual. Also see "First Exposure" approach by Tom Laughner of Smith College and Barbara Walvoord- (both formerly of Notre Dame University)
So what? Who, why, when? Who might use approaches (why? when?) based on Instructional Design & Learning Objects:

Educators and publishers who focus on developing and promoting the use of instructional materials that take advantage of various interactive media options beyond books and that can be shared among and used by a wide variety of teachers and a wide variety of students.


Educational Psychology, Cognitive Science, Learning Sciences - Applying research about how humans learn individually or in groups - including classrooms - to planning, developing, and using instructional resources and strategies. See below for reference to Bransford book that attempts to bring many research strands together and draw some inferences for guiding future educational activities.
So what? Who, why, when? Who might use approaches (why? when?) based on Educational Psychology, Cognitive Science, Learning Sciences:

Critical Pedagogy "Habits of thought, reading, writing, and speaking which go beneath surface meaning, first impressions, dominant myths, official pronouncements, traditional clichés, received wisdom, and mere opinions, to understand the deep meaning, root causes, social context, ideology, and personal consequences of any action, event, object, process, organization, experience, text, subject matter, policy, mass media, or discourse." (Ira Shor, Empowering Education, 1992, p. 129) - also see work of Paolo Freire
So what? Who, why, when? Who might use approaches (why? when?) based on Critical Pedagogy:

Multiple Intelligences - "human beings have ... different kinds of intelligence that reflect different ways of interacting with the world. Each person has a unique combination, or profile." - Howard Gardner

Howard Gardner

recognizes many different kinds of intelligences.

Dr. Howard Gardner, a psychologist and professor of neuroscience from Harvard University, developed the theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) in 1983. The theory challenged traditional beliefs in the fields of education and cognitive science. Unlike the established understanding of intelligence -- people are born with a uniform cognitive capacity that can be easily measured by short-answer tests -- MI reconsiders our educational practice of the last century and provides an alternative.

According to Howard Gardner, :

"human beings have ... different kinds of intelligence that reflect different ways of interacting with the world. Each person has a unique combination, or profile."Although we each have all nine intelligences, no two individuals have them in the same exact configuration -- similar to our fingerprints. To read about the benefits of MI and for tips on implementing MI in your classroom, visit the Tips section. For additional MI resources, visit the Resources section.

Above from "Great Performances, Multiple Intelligences, Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences Theory"

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/education/ed_mi_overview.html

So what? Who, why, when? Who might use approaches (why? when?) based on fkjfkldsljkfdjkld:

Constructivism
"The constructivist view involves two principles:

1. Knowledge is actively constructed by the learner, not passively received from the environment.

2. Coming to know is a process of adaptation based on and constantly modified by a learner's experience of the world." "… constructivism is not about teaching at all. It is about knowledge and learning. So I believe it makes sense to talk about a constructivist view of learning. And we might ask about the teaching which results from such a view of learning. …" Excerpts from "Constructivism and Teaching - The socio-cultural context," Barbara Jaworski, available as of 7/9/2007 at: http://www.grout.demon.co.uk/Barbara/chreods.htm

So what? Who, why, when? Who might use approaches (why? when?) based on Constructivism:

Authentic Teaching: Spirituality, Humanity, Existentialism - Focus on deeper values, deeper connections among teachers and learners, more profound goals for individuals, courses, and educational institution. Parker Palmer, Art Chickering, ....
So what? Who, why, when? Who might use approaches (why? when?) based on Authentic Teaching: Spirituality, Humanity, Existentialism approaches:

Script - Detail

Resources, References

1. Constructivism
   Constructivism Web site: Martin Ryder, University of Colorado at Denver, School of Education, see:
   http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc/constructivism.html
   http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/reflect/constructivism.html
   "Social Constructivists embrace a distributed view of knowledge. Knowledge is located neither in the mind nor in any representation of the mind. All of our understandings are situated in complex webs of experience, action, and interaction. Knowledge is a dynamic, evolving phenomenon, a fabric of relations in which one individual is fundamentally entwined with all others in a community. This [Web] page illustrates that woven fabric of knowledge. Each of the following sites links to the Constructivism site here at U.C. Denver. The UCD page serves, not as a hub, presuming some privileged position within the discourse, but as a conductive thread, one of many fibers which transforms a collection of unique sites into a common woven text. This Corollary page returns a thread to each of the common sites, strengthening possibilities for subsequent queries within this collective fabric.
2. Seven Principles & Classroom Assessment Techniques & POD Network & NISOD
   "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Higher Education," by Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson (1986); original article and related resources from the TLT Group.
   Classroom Assessment Techniques, by Tom Angelo and Patricia Cross, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1993. Click here for excerpts
   Low-Threshold Activities and Applications (LTAs), http://www.tltgroup.org/LTAs/Home.htm
3. Cognitive Science Applied
   How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning, by John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking, editors; With additional materials from The Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice, M. Suzanne Donovan, John D. Bransford, and James W. Pellegrino, editors; Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education of the National Research Council; National Academy Press, 2000, ISBN: 0-309-07036-8 - Informative summary/review from New Horizons for Learning
4. Bloom's Taxonomy
   Bloom B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc. ;
   Krathwohl, D. R., Bloom, B. S., & Masia, B. B. (1973). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, the Classification of Educational Goals. Handbook II: Affective Domain. New York: David McKay Co., Inc.;
   Also see Wikipedia entry (as of 7/7/2007) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_Taxonomy
5. Technology and Teaching - Learners'' First Encounters with Content, Focus on Assignments
   "Teaching Well Using Technology: A Faculty Member’s Guide to Time-Efficient Choices That Enhance Learning," Created by: Barbara Walvoord, Kevin Barry, Assistant Director and Thomas Laughner, The John A. Kaneb Center for Teaching & Learning, University of Notre Dame ca. 2004
6. Dewey: Progressivism, Pragmatism, Democracy
   "500 Word Summary of Dewey’s 'Experience & Education'", James Thomas Neill, Centre for Applied Psychology, University of Canberra;
   John Dewey, Experience and Education, 1938; also see Wikipedia entry (as of 7/07/2007) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey
7. Instructional Design - Wikipedia Entry (as of 7/7/2007) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructional_design
8. Encouraging Authenticity & Spirituality in Higher Education, by Art Chickering et al. - same Chickering as developed 7 Principles
   Parker Palmer, various books.

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Script - Detail

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Resources, References

1. "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Higher Education," by Arthur W. Chickering and Zelda F. Gamson (1986); original article and related resources from the TLT Group.
   
2. How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning, by John D. Bransford, Ann L. Brown, and Rodney R. Cocking, editors; With additional materials from The Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice, M. Suzanne Donovan, John D. Bransford, and James W. Pellegrino, editors; Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education of the National Research Council; National Academy Press, 2000, ISBN: 0-309-07036-8 - Informative summary/review from New Horizons for Learning
3. Bloom B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc.
4. Krathwohl, D. R., Bloom, B. S., & Masia, B. B. (1973). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, the Classification of Educational Goals. Handbook II: Affective Domain. New York: David McKay Co., Inc.
5. "Teaching Well Using Technology: A Faculty Member’s Guide to Time-Efficient Choices That Enhance Learning," Created by: Barbara Walvoord, Kevin Barry, Assistant Director and Thomas Laughner, The John A. Kaneb Center for Teaching & Learning, University of Notre Dame ca. 2004
   
6. Also see Wikipedia entry (as of 7/7/2007) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom%27s_Taxonomy
7. "500 Word Summary of Dewey’s 'Experience & Education'", James Thomas Neill, Centre for Applied Psychology, University of Canberra
8. John Dewey, Experience and Education, 1938; also see Wikipedia entry (as of 7/07/2007) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey
9. Instructional Design - Wikipedia Entry (as of 7/7/2007) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructional_design
10. "Constructivism" Web site, University of Colorado at Denver, School of Education, On this page: "All links verified July 02, 2007"
    http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/reflect/constructivism.html
    

Medieval Help Desk

Great accompaniment to Support Service Crisis 2.0

Skills and beliefs of Superlative Faculty (Teaching Online)

If you've known me for a while, you may well have heard me rave about an unpublished 1981 study by Carol Schneider (now with AAC&U), George Klemp (now with Cambria Consulting), and Susan Kastendiek (University of Chicago) The study is called "The Balancing Act." I liked its methodology and the vivid contrast it draws between the beliefs and skills of faculty who were widely seen as superlative teachers and a second set of faculty who were equally known to their peers, administration and students, but who were seen as average teachers. Unfortunately, until now, there's been no way for anyone to read the study, which was a typed report from the University of Chicago. I hadn't had a copy myself for 20 years.

Now, thanks to Susan Kastendiek, we have linked a pdf of this study to this page suggesting that someone study the skills of faculty members who are great at teaching online. This page (describing the topic and suggesting a methodology) is part of a larger collection of ideas for dissertations and grant proposals in our Flashlight Evaluation Handbook.

If the findings from such a study of faculty teaching online are anything like that of the 1981 Schneider, Klemp and Kastendiek study, they should provide useful insights for both hiring and faculty development.

Hint: the pdf is likely to appear sideways so use the control bar in your reader to give the text a clockwise turn. Then it's easy to read without twisting your neck!

PS My connection to all this: I was a program officer with the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), the Federal program which funded the project. The project was designed to promote educational quality in programs designed primarily for non-traditional learners – learners, since 1981, have become the new majority in higher education.