This NY Times blog reports on research showing that Twitter's growth has been fueled by adults. When Twitter came on the scene, teenagers were already using social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook and texting their friends to communicate. So the challenge in higher education will be to find creative and engaging approaches to overcome young people's reluctance to use Twitter.

Sam Eneman, Center for Teaching and Learning, UNC Charlotte

The Boston Globe reports that schools are updating the names of courses to draw more students.   For example, a classics course is now called "Achilles to Batman: Where are the Heroes?"  Not surprisingly, when “German Literature of the High Middle Ages’’ was renamed “Knights, Castles, and Dragons,’’ enrollment tripled.  [h/t Inside Higher Ed]

Garvey

J. Garvey Pyke, Ed.D. | Center for Teaching and Learning | UNC Charlotte

Jeff Cobb at Mission to Learn has compiled a list of 10 websites to help sharpen critical thinking skills.  The breadth is interesting--from quizzes to games to lists of fallacies and more.

Garvey

J. Garvey Pyke, Ed.D. | Center for Teaching and Learning | UNC Charlotte

Some usage stats from a new report of faculty nationwide:

• 69.3% of respondents said they do not use Twitter in any capacity
• 56.4% haven't tried it at all
• 30.7% reported that they do, in fact, use Twitter in one way or another
• 5.1% use the microblogging service as part of instruction

This last number should rise over the next couple of years, as we get past the hype and settle into more effective usage patterns.

Garvey

J. Garvey Pyke, Ed.D. | Center for Teaching and Learning | UNC Charlotte

Every year for over a decade now, Beloit College has been publishing its "Mindset List," which shows "the cultural touchstones that shape the lives" of entering freshmen.  Here are some excerpts from this year's list:

Most students entering college for the first time this fall were born in 1991.

• For these students, Martha Graham, PanAm, Michael Landon, Dr. Seuss, Miles Davis, Gene Roddenberry, and Freddie Mercury have always been dead.

• Salsa has always outsold ketchup.

• Tattoos have always been very chic and highly visible.

• They have been preparing for the arrival of HDTV all their lives.

• Rap music has always been mainstream.

• Someone has always been building something taller than the Willis (Sears) Tower in Chicago.

• The KGB has never officially existed.

• They have never understood the meaning of R.S.V.P.

• State abbreviations in addresses have never had periods.

• The European Union has always existed.

• Cable television systems have always offered telephone service and vice versa.

• Christopher Columbus has always been getting a bad rap.

• There has always been a Cartoon Network.

• Women have always outnumbered men in college.

• Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Latvia, Georgia, Lithuania, and Estonia have always been independent nations.

• Smokers have never been promoted as an economic force that deserves respect.

• Everyone has always known what the evening news was before the Evening News came on.

The old lists are also online and worth looking at, too.
 

Garvey

J. Garvey Pyke, Ed.D. | Center for Teaching and Learning | UNC Charlotte

Patricia Fripp, a presentation expert, gives 15 tips for presenting online.  The focus here is for webinars, but most (if not all) might be applicable to presenting your class online via a synchronous tool such as Wimba.  She's organized the tips into sections:

• In the Beginning
• Knock 'em Dead
• Forge An Emotional Connection
• Before Closing
• Prepare for Hardware and Software Mishaps

Excerpts:

2. Think Hollywood! Be creative in your use of visual appeal. Just as you would in a live presentation, tell stories and give specific examples-but in a webinar you'll need even more visuals to engage the audience...

5. Use a hook. After the grabber slide, it's up to you to engage the audience immediately with a powerful and relevant hook that includes the word "you." Your hook might be:

* A catchy fact: "It may interest you to know Ferraris hold their value more than polo ponies! I first learned this lesson when..."
* A startling statistic: "Did you know that if you had spent a million dollars a day, every day, since Jesus was born, you would not have spent a trillion dollars. Please keep that in mind as we strategize how to increase sales by only 5 percent."
* An intriguing challenge: "Ten years ago we were the market leaders. This year we are 13th. You are now in an exciting position to turn that around."

Strong openings grab your audience's attention—then, it's up to you to keep it. It's less effective to start with, "Good morning," than, "Welcome! You are in for a treat! You are about to learn…"

As you introduce the session, sell the listeners on how they're going to benefit. Keep them glued. Remember, they can't see you, so it's all too easy for them to answer their email or get a cup of coffee.

6. Introduce yourself second. Only once you've sold the session can introduce yourself (unless someone else will be introducing you). Do not introduce yourself first. You'll need to say something the listeners care about before they will care who you are.

That last point quoted above (no. 6) is one I strongly believe in for face-to-face presentations, too.  We often think we need to trumpet our vita before proceeding with the real reason everyone came: to learn the content! 

Garvey

J. Garvey Pyke, Ed.D. | Center for Teaching and Learning | UNC Charlotte

As back to school time approaches, it is time for textbook purchases for many folks.  This came across a listserv I subscribe to:

I hope the summer has been treating everyone well. I was looking through
potential books to aid me with my dissertation writing and came across the
following book:

Case Study Research
Author(s): David, Matthew
ISBN10:  1412903831
ISBN13:  9781412903837
Format:  Hardcover
Pub. Date:  12/15/2005
Publisher(s): Sage Publications Ltd

New Price: $1,023.75 (this is not a typo) at ecampus.com and slightly more at
Amazon. Thank goodness this isn't a required text :)

Hope this brought a laugh or a smile from you as well. Anybody found
worse in their own searches?

Wow!  Anyone else feel that a place like Flat World Knowledge is the wave of the future instead?

Garvey

J. Garvey Pyke, Ed.D. | Center for Teaching and Learning | UNC Charlotte

Cathy Davidson at Duke University has had enough of grading.  She now puts the onus on students for their own evaluations.  This is an interesting move that could, were it to gain wider traction, transform education.  I'm not suggesting that it is intended to be transformative on a macro scale, but for those who are frustrated with this aspect of the teaching and learning process, it may be worth exploring.

Garvey

J. Garvey Pyke, Ed.D. | Center for Teaching and Learning | UNC Charlotte

Rob Weir at Inside Higher Ed gives timely advice regarding the use of technology.

Rule One: If technology doesn’t make your teaching easier or better (preferably both), leave it alone. There’s great pressure to adapt the newest, shiniest, and coolest gadgets in our classrooms. Many new hires are keen to prove to students that they’re way more hip than older profs (like yours truly). Get a grip. Your primary task is to be a great teacher, not work on your image. What are the educational goals of each lesson you are preparing? How can you best meet them? Some professors are using Twitter for its buzz factor, but it’s of limited educational use for most of us. Forget the fact that you can’t communicate much in 140 characters; before you start Tweeting, does every one of your students have a cell phone or 24-hour access to a computer? Mine don’t. Editing programs for video and audio files also fall into the too-much-trouble-for-too-little-payoff category for me. I know how to use them, but why spend half an hour editing a sound file that only takes 30 seconds to play in class?

He gives six more rules, all of which are excellent.  The one I like the most is the sixth one, about always having a low tech backup.  Great, great advice.  Weir also includes these links at the end:

See also:

1. For Michael Edlestein’s threads on teaching with Facebook start here.

2. Oregon State has a nice primer on teaching with technology.

3. Read a recent StateUniversity.com blog about how students think of technology.

4. A North Carolina State student’s thoughtful musings on technology in the classroom.

5. If you want to consider using Twitter, here are some tips.

Again, great stuff. 

Garvey

J. Garvey Pyke, Ed.D. | Center for Teaching and Learning | UNC Charlotte

While the author of this article seems shocked that this is the case ("It may seem paradoxical, but educational technology as a supplement to face-to-face learning could personalize the educational experience"), those of us who are instructional designers, instructional technologists, or online educators already knew this to be true.  The article does, however, give a summary of a recent study regarding how the "use of educational technology such as blogs and online questionnaires, combined with personal tutors, could enhance the feedback loop while also making face-to-face communication more efficient." 

Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. ;-)

Garvey

J. Garvey Pyke, Ed.D. | Center for Teaching and Learning | UNC Charlotte