Yes, that's the new theory posited by Bobbie Johnson in the Guardian [h/t Stephen Downes].  If e-book piracy were more rampant, the argument goes, then the adoption rate would increase.

Personally, I find nothing wrong with the paper book format to begin with, and that's why I have not gone the way of the e-book.  And then there's that little matter of the cost of an e-book reader, such as the $400 Kindle.  But I hadn't considered the piracy issue as being central to the lack of adoption. 

For instruction, I do like the movement towards the disaggregation of content--using electronic course packs, selecting and buying only the book chapters you need, etc.  I think we will continue to see more and more of this.  But my guess is that paper books will be around for a while yet.

Garvey

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

NEW WORKSHOPS ADDED.  All UNC Charlotte faculty have access to Sloan-C Workshops through the Center for Teaching and Learning's membership with Sloan-C.  There is no cost to you.  All you have to do is sign up through CTL by sending us an email to let us know you want to take it. read more »

OK, the headline caught my attention.  An excerpt from the article:

Eight O'Clock Coffee 100% Colombian at $6.28 per pound ranked number one in Consumer Reports' tests of 19 ground coffees, besting Folgers, Maxwell House, and Starbucks— America's best-selling ground coffees.

The independent testing firm reported "Starbucks Coffee Colombia Medium, $11.53 per pound, didn't even place among the top regular coffees and trailed among decafs..."

This got me thinking.  So many people take it on faith that Starbucks is the be-all-end-all coffee, the gold standard.  But what happens when the data show otherwise?  I think this applies to the classroom, too.  We often get it in our heads that one thing--one teaching method, one textbook, one tool, one product, one kind of testing, etc.--represents the gold standard for our classes.  But what do the data show?  What do the students think?  Do we ask them what they think via formative assessments?  Or maybe we know already know it intuitively but have been hesitant to try something other than what we have come to rely on.

So I ask myself, "What's the Eight O'Clock coffee in my classroom?  What have I overlooked?"  How about you?

Garvey

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

All UNC Charlotte faculty have access to Sloan-C Workshops through the Center for Teaching and Learning's membership with Sloan-C.  There is no cost to you.  All you have to do is sign up through CTL by sending us an email to let us know you want to take it. 

Getting Started in Second Life
February 3rd

Second Life is an extremely popular 3D virtual environment that has many applications for education, from increasing social interactions to deepening learning. In this workshop, you'll learn some of the basic Second Life skills that will help you successfully enjoy your second life. You'll also get a brief introduction to some of the educational possibilities of Second Life. [Sign up for Getting Started in Second Life.]

Using the Community of Inquiry Framework to Design and Assess Online Courses
February 10th

The Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework developed by Garrison, Anderson and Archer (2000) provides a theoretical model of online learning processes that has been used by many scholars and practitioners in the field of online education. CoI is a constructivist process model, assuming effective online learning requires the development of community. [Sign up for Using the Community of Inquiry Framework to Design and Assess Online Courses.]

Delivering Content, Fostering Student Interactivity, and Assessing Learning in Blended Courses
February 13th

Effective blended teaching requires significant rethinking and design. When designed effectively, blended courses can improve learning and offer more effective use of available resources. Additionally, the blended modality provides for less passive learning and more active learning. [Sign up for Delivering Content, Fostering Student Interactivity, and Assessing Learning in Blended Courses.]

The Sloan Consortium (which UNC Charlotte is a member of) has published their lastest issue of JALN (Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks), and it contains several interesting research articles about online learning.  You can view the abstracts or login (for free) to view the full articles.  Here are a few that caught my eye:

• Academic Dishonesty in Traditional and Online Classrooms: Does the “Media Equation” Hold True? [short answer: online students say cheating is no more prevalent than F2F, which refutes earlier claims by others]
• Facilitating Critical Thinking through Online Courses [authors give 10 strategies and implementation guidelines]
• Interaction in Asynchronous Web-Based Learning Environments [a review of the research with tips and examples]
• Student Experiences Of Using Weblogs: An Exploratory Study [what's good and bad about blogs in classes]

There are many more articles available--and back issues, too.  

Garvey

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

The Sloan Consortium (a.k.a. Sloan-C) has just released their report, Staying the Course: Online Education in the United States, 2008.  The report answers such questions as follows:

• How Many Students are Learning Online?
• What is Impact of the Economy on Online Enrollments?
• Do Academic Leaders and Faculty Agree?
• Is Online Learning Strategic?
• What Disciplines are Best Represented Online?

If you are interested in this kind of thing, go ahead and take a look.  By the way, UNC Charlotte is a Sloan-C College Pass Member, which gives us access to their publications, workshops, and other resources.  

Garvey

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

eSchoolNews reports the latest NSSE results (National Survey of Student Engagement).

NSSE...collected information from nearly 380,000 randomly selected first-year and senior students at 722 four-year colleges and universities across the United States...[and] explored the experiences of online learners through a set of additional questions given to more than 22,000 students from 47 institutions.

The results?  Online learners reported "deep learning," or that which goes beyond rote memorization and focuses more on higher-order learning.

The key stats in the study (from the article):

• 37% of first-year online learners and 45% of seniors said they participated in course activities that challenged them intellectually "very often," compared to only 24% of first-year classroom-based learners and 35% of seniors.
• 58% of first-year students taking most of their classes online reported using higher-order thinking in their coursework, compared to 55% of classroom-based learners.
• 69% of first-year students taking most of their classes online reported using integrative thinking in their coursework, compared to 67% of classroom-based learners.
• 62% of first-year students taking most of their classes online reported using reflective learning in their coursework, compared to 59% of classroom-based learners.

Unfortunately, "the survey did not collect data that could concretely determine why [emph. mine] online learners reported deeper approaches to learning," but Alexander McCormick, NSSE director and education professor at Indiana University, speculates that "those who teach classes online may be making special efforts to engage their students" or perhaps "online classes appeal to students who are more academically motivated and self-directed."  Explanations from Bob Gonyea, associate director of the Center for Postsecondary Research, include the fact that "online learners tend to be older students who are somewhat more motivated and responsible in getting things done" and that "people who teach online classes don't take engagement for granted...[which leads them] to structure assignments that get students connected."

A more compelling idea is one put forth by the author of the article: "It might be that students who pursue online courses are those who embrace the spirit of independent, student-centered, intellectually engaging learning."  Is this true?  Does this fit your experience or your mental model of the self-selected online learner? 

And before we get too engrossed with all of these positive attributes, we must also look at these other findings in the study (quoted from the article):

• 25% of freshman and 20% of seniors reported that they frequently came to class without completing readings or assignments.
• students spend about half as much time preparing for class as faculty expect.
• more than 90% of the variation in the quality of undergraduate education occurs within institutions, not between them.

Interesting.  This won't be the last you hear about it, of course.  I'd encourage you to take a look at the NSSE results--either on their website or see the attachment below. 

Garvey

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

At the beginning of this semester, I met with Aspen Hochhalter (Assistant Professor of Photography, Department of Art and Art History) to brainstorm some ideas for using a blog in her course.   I heard back from Aspen today about how it's been going:

...for the photography area, right now students from my classes post artists/techniques they are researching that correlate to their own projects. I like the idea of having a huge archive of that any photo student can browse through. Its been working really well, although I do need to get them to use labels more faithfully. Anyway here’s the address: http://www.unccphotography.blogspot.com.

The blog looks interesting--very visually rich, as one might expect of a photography blog.  I also noticed that Aspen included links to the following (on the right-hand side of the page, organized into sections):

• magazines, museums, events
• recommended vendors for various kinds of supplies
• tutorials, additional information on processes 

So the blog actually serves multiple purposes.  It is not only a way for the students and instructor to interact and share but also a place where students can get information, help, and resources to assist them in the course, further their learning, etc.  By giving the students links to external information that she has already vetted, Aspen is guiding her students and modeling for them her own processes she uses for creating and supporting her art.

I also find it interesting that the students are not very diligent about using the labels or tags.  This is a great lesson learned, if you are considering using blogs in your courses: spend some time showing students how to use labels on blog posts and make it part of the evaluation process.

Garvey

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

Many universities are grappling with this same question. Why?  Rapid enrollment growth, dwindling financial resources, demand for increased access and flexibility, scalability, cost, and sustainability are among the many reasons universities are examining their next learning management system (LMS). The LMS has become mission-critical. Our next LMS must be easy to learn, easy to use, reliable, and affordable. It must also accomodate our growth by providing increased access to hybrid, blended, and online courses.

As learning technology evolves, so do LMS's, requiring a change practically every 3-4 years. This Campus began several years ago with WebCT Campus Edition.  Then we migrated to WebCT Vista.  When Blackboard Inc. purchased WebCT, our blended LMS became Blackboard Vista, which is the Java-based version we currently use.

According to Gartner, Blackboard is the most widely used LMS in higher education.  Other proprietary systems include Desire2Learn (currently in litigation with Blackboard), Angel, WebTycho, eCollege, etc. Each of these systems is based on a fee structure for software licensing, user fees, support costs, etc. They each have similar learning features with just slightly different feature designs and user interfaces.

Leaders in the open source community include Moodle and Sakai.  Contrary to popular belief, open source does not mean that the product is free.  It simply means that the software and code is shared freely by the open source community. Open source systems allow greater flexibility with comparable learning features at significantly less cost.

The campus LMS evaluation committee, charged with investigating and recommending a future LMS for UNC Charlotte, has recommended that the Center for Teaching and Learning conduct a trial of Moodle as an alternative to Blackboard Vista. Phase 1 of the Moodle trial is currently underway and Phase 2 is planned for spring 2009.  At the end of the Phase 2 pilot, the LMS evaluation committee will make a final recommendation to Provost Lorden.

As part of the Moodle pilot process, CTL would like to hear from you.  We welcome all perspectives, including faculty, staff, and students as well those with direct experience or no experience with any LMS.  Take a few minutes and weigh in on this topic.  What are the advantages of remaining with a proprietary system such as Bb Vista? What are the disadvantages?  Is Moodle a viable alternative?  If so, why?

Tell us what you think.

Dr. Valorie McAlpin
Director, CTL 

It seems all the rage in some circles to talk about microblogging, namely Twitter, as a new, cool tool for instruction.  I am sure there are many instructional uses, as a recent article in Campus Technology points out.  What caught my eye in that article, though, is Reynard's (2008) outstanding admonition in the conclusion of the piece (chiefly the setup and the first bullet point, as quoted here):

Points To Remember
It is important to think through a course of study and the instructional design of a course before deciding to integrate microblogging. The following is a suggested guide in the use of this technology:

• Think through the learning outcomes of your course and decide how the use of microblogging can support one or two of these outcomes. To simply add this as a way to keep connected with students without using it to enhance the community of learning would diminish the potential of the technology in instruction.

Yes--it is critical to consider these things!  I admit that it is natural to want to use a technology because we saw it on CNN or heard about it at a conference, but let's get back to the "why" aspect of this.  Why should we use it, instructionally?  What need does it serve? 

So I'll restate and interweave Reynard's advice to apply more broadly: "Think through the learning outcomes of your course and decide how the use of [the instructional technology in question] can support one or two of these outcomes...before deciding to integrate [said technology]."

Garvey

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