Is lecture capture the worst educational technology?

An excellent discussion of lecture capture technology and how it is killing the last bit of credibility that the lecture has as a method of delivery.

http://www.masmithers.com/2011/03/11/is-lecture-capture-the-worst-educational-technology/

Laying textbooks to rest

Has the time come to abandon the idea of the textbook?  Is this a redundant technology which is holding education back?   As someone who has written textbooks,  I do see the appeal in moving beyond the textbook mindset.

http://tomwhitby.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/we-dont-need-no-stinkn-textbooks-beyondthetextbook/

Indeed

Getting over IRAC

Image from the Infra Red Array Camera - no, not that IRAC

The IRAC method (Issue, Relevant Law, Application, Conclusion) is one of the more contentious tools of legal education.  On face value it provides a simple way of approaching legal problem solving which can be useful for very basic analysis but ultimately proves to be an over-simplification which eventually holds students back.   Christopher Enright has provided an interesting guide to problem solving which encourages students to see things with more complexity.   It is available here and there are other guides on his site to exam techniques and clear writing, good resources for teachers and students.   Also check out the books he has for sale (print and ebook) on his site.

The Trouble with Trads

Y Kuniyoshi, from Flickr CC

One of the brick walls that innovators hit is the assumption that traditional methods of teaching are 'tried and true' and somehow safer than trying something new.   Of course the research shows clearly that traditional delivery is now the risky form, we already know the cost in terms of retention and engagement.  In the collection Game Changers: Education and IT (available in print and digitally for free) Strader and Thille(1) give us a neat and useful list of 5 Problems with Traditional Instruction, of which boredom seems to be a recurring feature (hence Mr Kuniyoshi's expression to the right):

1) Many Instructors Teach to a Certain Percantile of the Class
It is impossible to pitch material to everyone, half are lost the others are bored senseless
2) Students Frequently Do Not Receive Immediate Feedback Crucial to the Learning Process
Waiting to test or be assessed means that bad habits get ingrained and assumptions can compound.
3) In All but the Smallest Classes, the Student's Knowledge State is a Black Box to the Instructor
What is going on out there in all those little learning worlds?
4) Degrees Favor Time Spent in A Classroom over Demonstration of Competency
Its the old factory approach to learning.  This does go some way to prepare students for a life of work which is also based on time spent being the meat in the room, but that's hardly a good thing.
5) There is Great Inefficiency in Creating Instruction within Higher Education
Every institution spends a great deal of time and energy creating pretty much the same coursework and activities.  We like to think that as great teachers our resources and activities are vastly superior to what everyone else is doing, but how true is this, really?

They go on to suggest some ways in which flexible delivery can help with these problems.  A worthwhile read in any case, but the list of 5 problems create a very neat and identifiable agenda for change.


1)  Strader R and Thille C (2012) 'The Open Learning Initiative: Enacting Instruction Online', in Oblinger D G (ed) Game Changers: Education and IT, Educause

I learnt something today? Slides on reflective practice

Reflective learning is becoming a big deal at the moment, which is not surprising given some of the different contexts in which we have to understand what learners do.  Below is a link to some prezi slides I did for a faculty seminar on reflective learning, which hopefully spark some ideas.


Prezi on Reflective Learning

I Learned Something Today... Reflection as a Learning Strategy on Prezi

Will 2012 be the year of sharing in education?

Dogs in Strollers by Joel Abroad

Let's hope so.   Paul Stacey looks at some of the changes that have been brewing, I'm particularly intrigued by the end of commercial textbooks, as a textbook writer myself I don't see this as such a bad thing (sorry Peter Singer, you'll have to go back to end of the queue...).    Good links in this article, particularly to some of the open source image initiatives, like the photo on this page.

http://edtechfrontier.com/2011/12/21/2011-the-year-of-open/ 

The Udacity of it all...

http://theconversation.edu.au/open-sesame-taking-university-education-to-the-world-via-the-web-5053

More information on the open education movement, looking at Udacity and MITx.  Will it be a revolution?  Only time will tell, but I think there is a lot of potential for transitioning students who just want to pick up one unit to see if they are going to succeed in further education.

Mark it Zero Dude, my presentation on assessment

Or jump to it at http://prezi.com/u3uqbl6grbz1/mark-it-zero-dude-assessment-game-changers/

Students as learning designers

Logo: Trivium Design

http://apo.org.au/research/students-learning-designers-using-social-media-scaffold-experience
This research looks at the role of social media in allowing students to participate in learning design, an activity which helps them own their learning and engage with it.   One study looked at elementary school students and another at masters students, so it covers a broad range of learners.

Crucially, design and time management skills are important and most students need scaffolding to help them acquire these skills.  Twitter emerges as the platform of choice, one which I do not really use myself, so it might be time to try it out. The 140 character limit is useful in this context, to keep things concise.

This sort of delivery asks us to reconsider the role of the teacher and the researchers have found that students as well as teachers are resistant to change, so set the stage appropriately and stick to your guns.

Dropping lectures actually boosts comprehension!

"A study by Nobelist Carl Wieman published in Science Magazine in 2011, for instance, found that dropping the lecture component in introductory physics and using an interactive, peer-focused approach boosted comprehension by 20%. Students read the material ahead of time, come to class with questions about what they don’t understand, and the students teach each other under the guidance of the professor."

This is very consistent with what David Boud says about the lack of sustainability in current models which encourage students to become dependent.

Read more:

http://www.bigthink.com/ideas/42161

David Boud talks about sustainable assessment

A very interesting talk from David Boud about the future of assessment.  Particularly interesting, that as someone who has researched peer and self assessment for years, he now thinks these practices do 'bugger all'.  Instead, he talks about developing reflexive learners, active engagement, a shift in identity from being a recipient to being a player (or playa?).

More at assessmentfutures.com

Fish Writes Blog

Stanley Fish has come out as a blogger, see his column in the New York Times
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/the-digital-humanities-and-the-transcending-of-mortality/