Design Technology-Rich Professional and Adult Learning Practices
Twenty-first century professional development (PD) in education, whether directed toward a focused technology goal such as increasing capacity for online instruction, or toward a more global goal such as increasing student learning outcomes, must take into account several key factors. These include the nature of … Continue readingSituating professional learning
Parsing “PD” The shift to Common Core State Standards in 2010 not only changed teaching and learning by greatly increasing and standardizing emphasis on student knowledge construction and problem-solving, but was accompanied by an associated accountability movement that ties high-stakes testing of student outcomes to … Continue readingResearch, realism, and relationship: Empowering PD partnership between Faculty and institutions
When my string trimmer battery failed last week, I borrowed a trimmer with a small gas engine. I had enough procedural knowledge of small engines to operate it successfully the first time. But then I had to turn it off to replenish the trim line. … Continue readingFostering Troubleshooting Skills in Digital Learning Environments
Well-designed digital learning environments combine effective management strategies with collaborative learning processes (ISTE Coaching Standard 3: Digital Learning Environments). Open Educational Resources (OER) are instructional materials (such as textbooks, multimedia learning tools, and lesson plans) that can be used free of charge by instructors and … Continue readingUsing Open Educational Resources to Support Academic Achievement in a First-year Humanities Class
Why re-imagine faculty professional learning? Among the three 2017-2021 strategic priorities of Colorado- and Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit higher education association EDUCAUSE is “reimagined professional learning.” By replacing the term professional development with professional learning in its vocabulary, CEO John O’Brien (2018) indicates the extent to … Continue readingToward a theory and practice of coaching higher ed faculty
Teaching college writing involves teaching a broad range of applied skills to students from a broad range of backgrounds and intended future disciplines. This statement points to three ways in which the learning and teaching of college writing is an inherently problematized endeavor. The first … Continue readingWriting Math: Integrating Universal Design with “Social Turn” Writing Pedagogy
I begin this post with two hypotheses about online learning, based on the one hand on my experience as a community college composition and humanities teacher in both face to face and digital formats, and on the other, on my experience as a graduate student … Continue readingResearch-based Frameworks for Addressing and Assessing Online Learning Engagement
In a recent post, I explored the way faculty behavior—specifically in the form of modeling and collaboration in the classroom that enables students to co-construct knowledge—is a primary factor in connectivist learning. Here, I would like to address the subject of how an institution can … Continue readingCollaborative Professional Development as a Key to Sustainable Technology Integration
Computational thinking as a lens for re-envisioning how composition and rhetorical pedagogies help college writers break down and assemble complex writing tasks The goal of college writing classes is that students will gain not only knowledge of the “threshold” writing concepts that characterize academic … Continue readingAlgorithmic thinking for rhetorical analysis
Creativity in learning involves both imagination and an ability to work with content knowledge (Hadzigeorgiou et al., 2012). A creative learning process will involve both insight or innovation and application of core content knowledge such as disciplinary frameworks and core skills such as research methods. … Continue readingBalancing Process and Product
Intellectual access: Using digital archives in an introductory literature course Learning the discipline of literary analysis and interpretation and how these activities deepen one’s ability to think, read, and write critically about life is what a college Introduction to Literature course is about. In … Continue readingIntellectual Access
