Some technologies become so ubiquitous that we wonder how we ever got along without them. How did people cook before microwaves, and how did we get money out of banks before ATMs? Google Drive is one of those technologies. Drive is Google’s cloud-based suite of
During the last six years, I have become a convert to online teaching, offering students opportunities to participate collaboratively in my online literacy courses. Below are some ways I use educational technology to foster collaboration.
As classrooms become more digitally enhanced, many educators consider how they will move traditionally face-to-face elements of their content so that interactions are not lost in translation to online environments. In the language arts classroom, two such activities are the writers’ workshop and literature circles—both
If you’re looking for a way to improve your teaching, consider teaching squares. A teaching square consists of four faculty from different disciplines who visit each other’s classes within a two-to-three-week period. After the classroom visits, the four gather around coffee or a meal to
Here’s a great resource: the Teaching Practices Inventory. It’s an inventory that lists and scores the extent to which research-based teaching practices are being used. It’s been developed for use in math and science courses, but researchers Carl Wieman and Sarah Gilbert suggest it can
One of the best gifts teachers can give students are the experiences that open their eyes to themselves as learners. Most students don’t think much about how they learn. Mine used to struggle to write a paragraph describing the study approaches they planned to use
A great deal of research supports the notion that student engagement is correlated with student success. But it’s not always easy to gauge an online learner’s level of engagement because some students may be engaged in the course without posting much to the discussion board.
You can do your students a world of good in either your face-to-face or online courses by spending some time teaching process issues in your classes. Start by polling your students on how they study. You will likely find a wide variety of methods. You
A person will attempt to complete a task in an unfamiliar environment until frustration hits a critical level, according to user experience research. Frustrated online learners may abandon assignments or drop courses. This is why it’s important to understand how the student experiences the course.
Before her online courses begin, Susanne Chuku, assistant professor of economics at Westfield State University, sends each of her students a personal welcome email. “I like to write their names so they know that I took the time to email them personally rather than send
