Twitter and other companies are smart enough to let their users innovate — see what catches on — and then integrate the successful features. At the university can we empower students to do the same with classroom technology systems and course management/learning systems? Why not? Our users are certainly a cut above the average Twitter user — at least more selectively chosen!
One of the new tech-memes is that the Internet brings a new information abundance, and businesses built on a model of information scarcity, like newspapers and universities, are doomed. I think many aspects of the delivery of information and where learning takes place is changing — and it needs to given the many new opportunities offered by the internet. But to predict that the experience of taking on-line courses replaces the in-person experience of participating in a learning community is foolish. The experience of going to college is so much more than just the time spent in class. Institutions that only focus on the traditional classroom are probably at risk. But those that recognize and embrace the full value of a multifaceted learning community have a value that will endure, and will actually be enriched by the internet.
The development of new learning/teaching should be a partnership between teachers and students –nice to see there are some folks out there actually leveraging this partnership…
My college career started at Middlesex Community College. It was there when I needed it, and I had an excellent semester. It gave me the boost I needed to get back onto the college track. In fact it is still one of the more memorable semesters of my many college experiences. My professors exhibited a real commitment to teaching. Bravo to our president for his focus on the community colleges.
Interested in enabling online group discussion/analysis of a text? Such as Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow? CommentPress, a project of The Institute for the Future of the Book, was a WordPress theme that enabled paragraph-level commenting. The comments appeared next to the paragraphs, instead of being relegated to the end of the page, making for a much more natural and engaging experience. There has been talk of an updated version of CommentPress for months — and it is here, renamed as digress.it. It is now a full featured WordPress plug-in which works in both the single and multi-user versions. And you can even have your projects hosted on their site. This is a powerful idea, well executed, and a natural for a host of classroom/educational uses.
As a recent recipient of a Kindle birthday present I’m starting to like it. It is really convenient and perfect for a rabid reader such as myself. But is it ready for the classroom? Should we be moving wholesale to dump old fashioned print books and replace them with sexy new eReaders? A couple of thoughts: Read the rest of this entry »
Randall Rode's online home for thoughts, notes, and experiments with a wide range of technology topics. Visit the about page for info on my recent projects and professional background. I welcome your comments!
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