By: Penny Thompson
April 18, 2011
Recently I have been immersed in electronic portfolios. As a teaching assistant for the capstone portfolio course that our master's students take (ED 870 for the online Master of Arts in Education program and CEP 807 for the Master of Arts in Educational Technology program), I guide students through the process of developing their online portfolios and then evaluate these portfolios at the end of the semester. Spurred on by the great work I've seen from the students, I also devoted the past weekend to updating and adding to my own professional website. It got me thinking again about why electronic portfolios are valuable and also inspired a quick browse through some of the literature.
An article I found in Teacher Librarian caught my attention because it provides such a nice summary of the rationale for preparing an electronic portfolio as ...
By: Christopher Sloan
April 4, 2011
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Pages and Bits by sloanpix, on Flickr"][/caption]
I thought I'd share two items from the Most Popular Educause articles of 2010. What attracted my attention was one article's vision of the future of higher education dominated by networks and crowds, while the other article emphasized the role of the individual and a liberal arts education. Taken together, these two articles speak to how we educators might plan for the inevitable changes that are just around the corner.
In Innovating the 21st Century University: It’s Time, Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams argue that a new generation of students requires a very different model of higher education. The authors feel that the university needs to open up and embrace collaborative learning and collaborative knowledge production. For too long traditional higher education has focused on lecture-based “broadcast learning.” Instead they argue that professors ...
By: Barbara Thelamour
March 27, 2011
Culture and education. Parents and their school-aged children. Immigrants. These are the topics I read, think, and write about all day, everyday. This can lead to some tunnel vision. Luckily, I have friends who are technology aficionados. When I have questions about that other world, I know exactly who to call for insight. I have also taken time to explore some of what this realm has to offer. After countless discussions, informal learning sessions, and my own experience with technology, I present a few thoughts on the aspects of this technological age that I have come into contact with or discussed the most.
Social networks: On any given day, I spend more hours than I’d like to admit telling the Twitter world about the random thoughts that pervade my mind or browsing through old Facebook pictures, or reading the endless interesting ...
By: Allison Webster
March 21, 2011
Graduate School: A Balancing Act
“If the day and the night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs…that is your success.” –Henry David Thoreau
Graduate students can become deeply consumed with their research and course work and fail to continue doing activities they once enjoyed. In my opinion, real success in graduate school and in life involves finding a balance between work and pleasure. Being too consumed by work can make you stressed out, unhappy, and not a fun to be around. In this post, I will provide you with a few ways to keep balance in your hectic graduate student life.
Exercise
Exercise can be helpful for your mind and body. It can reduce adrenaline and cortisol levels. These stress hormones can cause weight gain, heart attacks, and others problems. In turn, ...
