Games and game-like activities can make the process of thought visible to players, and help them explore issues and topics that are difficult to understand except through experience and interaction. This is the theory of procedural rhetoric, which “argues that games can make strong claims about how the world works—not simply through words or visuals…
If you’re looking for a Learning Management System option for a small, intimate classroom setting, Google Classroom may be the right fit. Classroom is Google’s most recent foray into educational technology, acting as hub for all of the work you are already doing with your students using Google Docs and Google Drive. Here is a 10…
If you’re interested in creating instructional videos, take a look at this great article from EDUCAUSE:
What Makes an Online Instructional Video Compelling?
You don’t have to Google too deeply to find examples of how technology in the classroom can go off the rails, sometimes spectacularly. While doing research on why iPad use in education sometimes fails, I came across an article from @thomasdaccord on Edudemic, 5 Critical Mistakes Schools Make With iPads (And How To Correct Them). Before reading the article, I could…
Have you ever struggled with how to structure and administer peer review activities in your course? ELI Review published an excellent feature article (Designing Effective Reviews) on designing effective peer review activities, backed up with research and voices from instructors. Though ELI Review promotes their own peer review tool in this article, most of the faculty…
Around the office we’ve been thinking about the future. We have a new boss, some of us will be relocating to the Library in the next year, the UMass Amherst IT strategic planning process is going full tilt, and the New Media Consortium has just released their 2015 Horizon Report. At our most recent staff…
It seems, “to app or not to app…” is no longer the question. In a blink of an eye we turned into an app-savvy (or, some would argue app-dependent) society. Using apps in education became a common practice for many of us. It can be a great idea to have an app for some professional…
On February 9 — 11, you are invited to join members of the IT group at ELI Virtual Annual Meeting 2015. This conference is arranged by EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. We’ll be projecting the virtual meeting sessions in our 40-seat conference room in…
Advancing technology and changing pedagogy have flipped our classrooms, changed the way we lecture, and put lectures, homework and assignments online. Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology David Gross has embraced these changes and uses his tablet as the lynch-pin to hold it all together. Here’s a look at how he’s integrated a ton of…
Can’t get to Florida? Join us in Lederle Graduate Research Center where we’ll be projecting the EDUCAUSE online Virtual Conference in our 40-seat conference room. When: Monday, September 29 (12-4 p.m.) and Tuesday, September 30th through Thursday, October 2nd, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Where: LGRC A215. For program and session details, visit http://www.educause.edu/annual-conference/agenda-and-program/virtual-conference-agenda This…
For Fall 2014, UMass Amherst is offering iPeer, a web-based tool that allows students to evaluate their peers as part of team-based work assignments. About iPeer Peer evaluation is particularly useful in courses where teams or groups are utilized for collaborative work. iPeer provides a number of different peer evaluation tools, including: Simple: students evaluate…
Beloit has published their Class of 2018 “Mindset List” to help inform instructors about the cultural references that will (or will not) make sense to the incoming class of students. While this list can be amusing, and may offer some useful information on what obscure sitcom lines may no longer make sense to 18-year-olds, it is…