vitarka

cleo

mike.zellers@gmail.com (Mike Zellers) — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 17:33:31 +0000

ttfn

mike.zellers@gmail.com (Mike Zellers) — Tue, 27 Sep 2005 16:33:00 +0000

i will no longer be updating this blog. content normally posted here will be incorporated into my general blog

should be a requirement for faculty

mike.zellers@gmail.com (Mike Zellers) — Thu, 25 Aug 2005 15:30:00 +0000

Part of the trick to college life, she learned from good students, was being able to quickly decipher what work needed to be done and what could be skipped. Those management skills helped students balance classes, part-time work and involvement in volunteer or professional groups, Small said.

ah, as one book i read called it "the game of school"...the interesting thing is, while we bemoan this practice, i must confess to doing it in the classes i have taken. the challenge, as always is fostering genuine learning...

learning to teach...

mike.zellers@gmail.com (Mike Zellers) — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 16:16:00 +0000

the more i teach, the more i am struck by the importance of backing off and doing "less" - create opportunities for students to learn, then get out of the way. recently i had some activities planned, but the students were engaged doing something else - in this psrticular case, had i compelled them to do what i had planned, i don't think their education would have been served as well - they were engaged in meaningful work, answering the questions that were meaningful to them - who am i to stop it...granted there are times when an instructor should assert himself and his aims- but not just to show who's boss

distance learning and continuous partial attention...

mike.zellers@gmail.com (Mike Zellers) — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 14:57:00 +0000

while reading a page on neal stephenson's site, i came across the phrase "continuous partial attention" coined by linda stone.

this phrase perfectly describes how i feel about the semester so far, largely, i think, because i am teaching 2 distance learning classes. i check my email and the class forums compulsively, many times a day, and respond pretty much immediately to anything i receive - (which given my experience as a distance learning student, not to toot my own horn (well, perhaps a it), gives my students far more timely feedback than is the norm...)

still, i am concerned with the depth of the interaction. the asynchronous nature prevents a true implementation of the socratic method. i can pose a question back to the student to consider, or point the student in the right direction, but i am concerned the dialogue isn't as rich as in a classroom...

i suppose there are two possibilities:
a. find a way to incorporate more meaningful dialogue into a distance learning environment - imitationg that aspect of the classroom - and i'm not convinced that online chat, which seems like the obvious answer, is the way - perhaps that deserves its own post - as a student in distance learning classes, i prefer asynchronous discussion forums to the chaos of online chat
b. accept it as a limitation and look for other meaningful ways to provide the students powerful educational experiences different than the classroom experience

any ideas would be appreciated...

i agree...

mike.zellers@gmail.com (Mike Zellers) — Sun, 13 Feb 2005 03:44:00 +0000

...with this article, for a number of reasons...

flexible deadlines and rework

mike.zellers@gmail.com (Mike Zellers) — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 16:20:12 +0000

i believe both flexible deadlines and allowing students to rework mistakes are critical for student learning. face it, folks don't always learn at the same rate. in the grand scheme of things, how is a student's learning best served - by allowing an extra week to get an assignment *right* or by compelling the student to meet a deadline - often an arbitrarily-set one. mistakes are critical for learning - if teachers allow students and motivate students to learn from them.

that being said, students need to understand, that in many ways, late assignments hurt them more then they do the instructor. a student is robbed of a chance for timely feedback, and flexibility can be abused to where students fall hopelessly behind. with freedom comes responsibility. still, the bigger danger is to try to force each student to learn on the exact same schedule. anecdotally, i believe i have had many students who were able to successfully complete a class, as opposed to dropping, because of my flexibility.

many say that deadlines are important to teach students about professionality, yada yada. there is validity in this line of thinking, however, a few things to consider. first of all, there aren't *always* deadlines - secondly, students are students, not professionals - i mean there are tons of other differences between students and professionals (most obviously, professionals get paid, students don't)- why enforce this particular standard, when students are, by definition, not at the level of an accomplished professional...

crunch time...

mike.zellers@gmail.com (Mike Zellers) — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 20:51:11 +0000

the semester starts next week. i heard yesterday that a couple of my classes were cancelled and i will pick up two classes i've never taught before - a total of three sections - 1 land, 2 web. i am picking up slack for a colleague who will be out all semester. another adjunct will take over 1 of my web classes leaving me with 3 land and two web.

after a period of procrastinating (well spent as it turns out - i did a fair amount of prep for classes i won't be teaching - glad i didn't do more) - i feel energized - the old consultant "do what it takes to get it done..."

oddly enough, i don't feel "dumped on" - although my favorite class was cancelled. hey, i'm a team player - and always up to a challenge.

great site

mike.zellers@gmail.com (Mike Zellers) — Sun, 02 Jan 2005 19:12:39 +0000

about web design and more

great concept

mike.zellers@gmail.com (Mike Zellers) — Thu, 30 Dec 2004 00:42:27 +0000

from what the best college teachers do by ken bain

The most effect teachers help students keep the larder questions of the course at the forefront. Donald Saari, a mathemetician from the University of California, invokes the principle of what he calls "WGAD" - "Who gives a damn?" At the beginning of his courses, he tells students that they are free to ask him this question on any day during the course, at any moment in the ckass, He will stop and explain to his students why the materials under at the moment - however abtruse and minuscule a piece of the big picture it may be - is important, and how it relates to the larger questions and issues of the course.

i may have to try this...

powerpoint in the classroom

mike.zellers@gmail.com (Mike Zellers) — Tue, 28 Dec 2004 18:55:29 +0000

i have become a bit of a crusader against the abuse of powerpoint, esp. in the classroom.

what started me off was edward tufte's article in wired magazine. at the time it resonated with me, yet still, i took the stand that it is just a tool - which could be used well or used poorly. i even wrote a letter to wired, which was published.

since talking with students in my classes, esp. the multimedia class i teach, in which we touch on powerpoint, discussing it in my own master's classes and reflecting on my own experiences, esp. as an audience member at powerpoint presentations, i have come to the conclusion that - for the most part, powerpoint presentations are not effective. after reading tufte's complete essay and a recent article in the chronicle of higher education entitled, when good technology means bad teaching, i have become more convinced than ever...

i even bought tufte's hilarious, though spot on, poster for my office.

why? well, i claim few original ideas here, but to summarize...

turns students into passive observers rather than active participants
powerpoint is speaker oriented not audience oriented
the teleprompter syndrome where each slide is read
gratuitous effects which annoy and distract
the material doesn't unfold - it is just "presented" and the slides are either very thin or very wordy - either way boring or overwhelming
students don't like it. i recognize this is not always the criteria, but one of the main reasons given for the use of ed tech is that it engages the student more...

that powerpoint is not appropriate in the classroom should be a no-brainer, in retrospect. after all, to what degree are the goals of a sales presentation and education aligned?

to be sure, i have seen some good presentations using powerpoint. however, most of the time it is not the right tool. as tufte points out - some tools are simply better than others. and this is not to say that used sparingly, they can't be effective for presenting some visual aids.

like any recent convert, i am quite zealous and am seeking converts both in my classes and among other faculty. in fact, i am giving a couple of presentations in january on this very topic.

do you have any thoughts on this? love to hear them...

great book

mike.zellers@gmail.com (Mike Zellers) — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 06:59:07 +0000

anyone who teaches, esp. on the college level, ought read what the best college teachers do by ken bain

read an excerpt

i am only part of the way through and already know this book will be a revelation to me as i learn how to teach.

interests

mike.zellers@gmail.com (Mike Zellers) — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 01:33:08 +0000

in this blog, i will reflect upon and post links pertaining to my main professional interests. that is, teaching, educational technology and web development.