Time for Institutions to Evolve
It's getting more difficult to be just a run-of-the-mill university in North America today, as noted in Higher Ed: Next Bloated Industry to Go?:
The challenge, of course, is that the needs and composition of students, industry, and state are constantly changing. Federal, State, and Local funding will all be decreasing in the years ahead. So doing the same thing (like GM or Ford) won’t get the weaker colleges and universities through what is ahead.
Three Perspectives on Literacy
Almost everywhere you turn today someone is lamenting the lack of literacy or the inability of certain generations or groups to articulate their thoughts. For instance, Chris Hedges, in America the Illiterate states that the lack of print literacy is creating a society that is not able to reason or understand the complexities of our modern world.
Recommended reading: Teaching as a subversive activity
This book, by Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner is the first in this series of reviews that specifically addresses the matter of teaching and learning. If you have no desire to rock your education boat, do not read this book. If, however, you are (or plan to become) a teacher/learner who will make a difference and equip learners (including yourself) for life-after-assessment, I strongly recommend you get your hands on a copy... then fasten your seatbelt!
U.S. Presidential Election and the Internet
Congrats to Obama for a great victory and for energizing many of us to reflect once again on the ideals of the United States .
Teaching, Critical Thinking and Love
Most schools say that they promote critical thinking and many do, in some way. Critical thinking requires that you constantly question authority, including your own. However many schools concentrate on traditional teaching. Here you get the facts and establish some common understanding. Some go further and help students gain non-teachable insight through less authoritative methods such as play or metaphor. Finally, some teachers prepare students to seek meaningful conversations and develop their own networks for learning.
Blogging, writing and creating
In Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, Lawrence Lessig, referring to writing, states that, "Creating is a responsibility. Only by practicing it can you learn." Later he talks about blogging, "A culture filled with bloggers thinks differently about politics or public affairs, if only because more have been forced through the discipline of showing in writing why A leads to B."
Recommended reading: The Cult of the Amateur
In order to gain a balanced view of the role of social media in business, learning and society at large, it is important to consider both sides of the story. Andrew Keen's book serves as council for the prosecution.
Recommended reading: A Whole New Mind
This book by Dan Pink is having a strong impact in the edublogosphere. Let me say right up front that I have a significant problem with part of the premise for the book, which is addressed in the strapline/subtitle "Why right-brainers will rule the future".
Recommended reading: Doing your research project
There are a lot of books out there aimed at helping students with research projects, but this one by Judith Bell (published by Open University Press) is - currently - my favourite. It is astonishingly readable. As evidence of this fact, mine has beach sand caught in it! I genuinely did read it on a beach in Spain.
How do you compete with free?
It's not about the technology. Sounds trite and in some cases we can see that enabling technologies do make a difference. However, the world-changing technology is the Internet and it's already here. So why do institutions spend so much on their VLE or virtual learning environment [also known as LMS, LCMS, CMS, etc]?
In The Vice Chancellor's VLE, a parody of The Emporer's New Clothes, two "scoundrels" sell a VLE to a university:
academic infoCreated by: Mike Madin 1998 | Last updated: 02/09/2012