Abject Learning: Wikipedia and Higher Ed – Glib Answers to Tough Questions Brian Lamb has posted a great set of answers to questions about the use of Wikipedia. As Gardner points out, this is a wonderful synthesis of idealism about the promise of a connected community and the realities of our academic clutures. My favorite…
Category: General Technology
Two Kinds of People
Easily Distracted » Blog Archive » Getting the Cool Job One old colleague of mine used to say that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people and those who don’t. (This was followed by Beker’s corollary: there are 10 kinds of people in…
Teaching Project Discussion
I had the opportunity for an excellent discussion with a group of about 20 faculty today who are participating in the University Teaching project: Many teaching programs at other schools follow what might be called the “expert model,” where purported pedagogical specialists dispense their wisdom to a passive audience of faculty. Our Teaching Project follows…
Attracting Students to Adult Education Programs
Inside Higher Ed :: Registration Rave Interesting article about the “registration rave” hosted by Morton College outside of Chicago. The college runs a 29 hour event, staffed by volunteers from the various offices of the college, where prospective students can register even if they hold down jobs that keep them from more traditional registration events….
Wikipedia Article Challenges Blackboard Patent Claims
History of virtual learning environments – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Word that I have stopped blogging because I’ve been curled up in the fetal position in response to Ted Stevens tubes speech and the moronic decision by the US Patent office to give BlackBoard a patent on virtual learning environments is not quite true. I’ve…
What’s Being Done In Other Places
.flickr-photo { border: solid 1px #000000; } .flickr-frame { float: right; text-align: center; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Ostrich egg, originally uploaded by Dr Hotdog. In a small town in Vermont where I grew up there’s a story about a farmer who set an ostrich egg on a…
Even Higher Education
Back to College I generally avoid reading the AARP magazine–which I guess is the successor to Modern Maturity. As Tom Paxton wrote: So when you find it in your mailbox for the first time my friend You can tell that you getting older, you’re turning grey…. Modern Maturity, means you’re getting old When you get…
Penn Requires Blogs–Sort of.
Inside Higher Ed :: An Academic Blog for Students The university of Pennsylvania reportedly will require all incoming freshman to “keep blogs” of their academic progress, though I’m sure many in the blogosphere will have serious issues with the use of the term. New students will complete online journal entries that will focus on their…
Sharing the Sense of Wonder in the Classroom
Gardner Writes » Blog Archive » Surprised by YouTube Gardner writes about his experience with students in his film studies class finding an illustration for a critical essay–on YouTube. As usual, Dr. Glu extracts some important lessons for himself and his colleagues. As the information abundance spreads, and if we are brave and curious enough…
The Future of College Phone Service
More Colleges Give Cell Phones An ‘A’, A Growing Number Of Schools Eliminate Landlines In Favor Of Wireless Service – CBS News Somtime in the next few years William and Mary will be replacing the College’s PBX system and will have to decide if it makes sense to continue to provide land lines to 4500+…