Ed-Tech list members,
It's summer so many of you are probably deeply engaged with your
research. If you have time for a break and want to read about the use
of technology to enhance instruction, you might want to take a look at
Innovate magazine (http:/www.innovateonline.info).
First, it has some interesting reports from other faculty members at
other institutions. This issue's topics include social software wikis,
chat rooms, and plagiarism.
Second, it schedules web casts by the authors of the articles so that
you can hear them and ask them questions. The web cast schedule will be
available from the "Innovate Live" link on the previous web site, as
they are scheduled.
Bill Vilberg
Assoc. Dir. of Instructional Advancement
305-284-3944
-----Original Message-----
From: James L. Morrison [mailto:jlm@nova.edu]
Sent: Thursday, June 01, 2006 1:52 AM
To: Vilberg, William R.
Subject: June/July Issue of Innovate
The June/July 2006 issue of Innovate (www.innovateonline.info) offers a
range of practical ideas for using new technologies in classrooms as
well as ways to avoid common pitfalls caused by technology.
We open with Sir John Daniel and Paul West’s exploration of how
the digital dividends of technology can be used to overcome the digital
divide for impoverished nations worldwide. They examine the challenges
of bringing higher education to developing nations and advocate open
educational resources as a potential solution to the problem. (See
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=252 )
Our next three articles address specific ways in which instructors have
used the digital dividends available to them in teaching. Ulises Mejias
describes a graduate seminar he taught on the affordances of social
software--software that allows for information exchange, collaboration,
and ease of communication. His students used the software while learning
about it and critiquing it, illustrating well the learning opportunities
afforded by this category of technology. (See
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=260 )
S. Pixy Ferris and Hilary Wilder examine wikis, one example of social
software, as a way to bridge the distance between students and teachers.
Adopting the linguistic theory of Walter J. Ong, they see teachers as
part of a print paradigm of learning, whereas they propose that students
are increasingly a part of a secondary-oral paradigm characterized by
certain attributes of both oral-based cultures and print-based cultures.
Wikis, they argue, can be a pedagogical bridge between these two
educational positions. (See
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=258 )
Craig Smith focuses on chat, a common way for online instructors to
replace classroom discussion. He provides a protocol to keep discussions
focused and productive, helping teachers realize the potential
usefulness of an easily accessible technological tool. (See
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=246 )
Technology also presents some problems in the classroom. The easy
availability of apparently anonymous information on the Internet blurs
definitions of plagiarism. While tools such as electronic plagiarism
detectors have become more common, Eleanour Snow argues that they are
not enough. She advocates online tutorials as an easy and effective way
of teaching students about plagiarism, and offers examples and links to
tutorials for teachers eager to begin the process of educating
themselves and their students. (See
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=306 )
Howard Pitler also sees a need to make copyright guidelines clear, but
argues that copyrights should be more flexible. He offers guidance about
how copyright works and describes Creative Commons, a Web site that
provides writers and artists a way to select the rights that they want
to reserve and make it clear to others exactly what they are allowed to
reproduce and alter. (See
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=251 )
Another difficulty inherent in the digital age is the notorious
attrition rate in online education. While noting that drop rates for
online courses should not necessarily be equated with lack of success,
David Diaz and Ryan Cartnal acknowledge that reducing attrition in such
courses should still be on educators' agendas. In addressing this issue
they examine the impact of term length on attrition rates, advocating a
shorter length to enable time-strapped students to complete the course
more efficiently. (See
http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=196 )
Please forward this announcement to appropriate mailing lists and to
colleagues who want to use IT tools to advance their work. Ask your
organizational librarian to link to Innovate in their resource section
for open-access e-journals.
Thanks!
Jim
James L Morrison
Editor-in-Chief, Innovate
http://www.innovateonline.info
Professor Emeritus of Educational Leadership UNC-Chapel Hill
http://horizon.unc.edu
