Friday, January 25, 2013

I-BEST and Degree Estimator Cited as Exemplary Models


Dated January 24, 2013

 An Open Letter to College and University Leaders: College Completion Must Be Our Priority
National Commission on Higher Education Attainment and ACE

Under the sub-heading of “Improve the academic experience”, Washington State’s I-BEST program is cited as the example. (p.14)

Under “Communicate with students about progress to graduation”, Walla Walla CC’s “Degree Estimator” tool is cited as the example. (p.22)
 
Nice to see the recognition for work in our Washington State system of higher education!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Fabulous Compilation of SoTL Journals and Conference

Originally posted to the POD Network listserv (always a great source of information), and reprinted with permission from Tom Pusateri:


Dear colleagues,

I have recently updated the lists of SoTL journals and upcoming teaching conferences that are available from Kennesaw State University's CETL Web site.  See below for links to those resources.

PLEASE NOTE:  CETL is in the process of updating its entire Web presence, and we hope to have the new site operational in March 2013.  At that time, the journals and conferences sites will be searchable by key terms, topics, dates, etc.  Until that update occurs, we are providing the lists of SoTL journals and teaching conferences in PDF formats rather than in the HTML format we had used previously.  We will notify you when the sites have been updated and include redirects from the current sites to the new sites.

 Here are the current sites with updated information,  Please feel free to share these resources with your colleagues.  If you have any suggestions for additions or updates to the site, please email me at tpusater@kennesaw.edu.

 SoTL Journals


 

Teaching Conferences



 Tom

Thomas P. Pusateri, Ph.D.

Associate Director for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Kennesaw State University
1000 Chastain Road NW #5400
Kennesaw, GA    30144
Office: 770-423-6551
Email: tpusater@kennesaw.edu

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Shootings on Kentucky Campus, Related Articles


Shootings Stun 2 Colleges
January 16, 2013 - 3:00am
By
Scott Jaschik

On Tuesday, the day before President Obama is expected to announce new proposals to control gun violence, two campuses were stunned by shootings.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that two people were killed and one was injured in a shooting at Hazard Community and Technical College, in Kentucky. The shooting took place in the early evening and the college went into lockdown until authorities said that it was safe for people to move about. Classes were being held in two buildings on campus when the shooting took place.

 Authorities said that the motive for the shooting may have had nothing to do with the college. A man charged in the shooting is reported to have had a child with a woman whom he allegedly killed, and officials believe the couple used the college's parking lot to exchange the child for visitation. The child was not injured.

College officials have called off today's classes at the campus.

The shootings in Kentucky came hours after a man reported to be a part-time student at Stevens Institute of Business & Arts shot the St. Louis college's financial aid director and then himself on Tuesday, KMOV television reported. Police officers quoted by the station did not identify a motive for the shooting of Greg Elsenrath, Stevens' financial aid director, by the unidentified student. The shooter was taken into custody at the hospital, where both he and Elsenrath were taken; both are expected to survive.

 The Associated Press reported that the shooting was not random and that that aid director "appeared to be targeted."

 Here is a compilation of articles from the last two years about higher education, shootings on campus and regulation of guns:

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/01/16/2-killed-kentucky-community-college#ixzz2IB0VXBHE
Inside Higher Ed

MOOC on OER, OER-101: Locating, Creating, Licensing and Utilizing OERs


Earlier today, we sent a broadcast message about the OER course at SUNY. However, people have to be logged into this Community to see the details and the registration link. So I am now sending the content of the event including the registration link. If you register for the course and would like a mentor, write to melody@collegeopentextbooks.org   ---  Regards, Jacky
Course Description
Use Buffalo State as the Institution, search for Beth Burns and then choose the class.
OER-101: Locating, Creating, Licensing and Utilizing OERs is a self-paced online community course that has been built to demonstrate how to find, adapt, and develop OERs step-by-step. These OERs may then be licensed via Creative Commons, printed and bound, and integrated into any type of learning environment.
The course is organized into five “pursuits,” each of which represents one facet of the world of OERs.  Participants are encouraged to complete all of the pursuits by following the suggested course progression, but each pursuit can also be completed individually.
For evaluation and feedback, OER-101 will employ a badging system powered by Mozilla Open Badges.  The exploration of badging within the course is funded by a SUNY Innovative Instruction Technology Grant. Participants will earn badges by completing the course pursuits and will receive a ‘master badge’ for course completion.  Additionally, OER-101 will utilize a community learning model informed by a facilitation method established by Philyse Banner at the American Public University System.
The results from this course will be documented within the SUNY Learning Commons.
Accessing the Course
The course is offered through Blackboard’s Coursesites.  Enrollment in the course is open and continuous.  Participants may self-enroll beginning on Wednesday, January 16th, 2013, and the course content will be available to participants after Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013.  Additional information on the course and a link to registration can be found at  https://OpenSUNY.coursesites.com    Use Buffalo State as the Institution, search for Beth Burns and then choose the class.

Visit College Open Textbooks Community at: http://collegeopentextbooks.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network
Expanding a bit on Noreen's recent listserv invitation to "consider posting [to the ATL blog] links to the 'good stuff' you’re finding and share your thoughts...as well," I'd like to invite you to consider committing to a specific scheduled blog post as a designated ATL blogger. With Noreen leaving us to take on a new job and new challenges, at least for a while I'm going to have to pick up my game here and help out more, but I'm hoping to get some additional help by "crowdsourcing" the work load :-) We know everyone is crazy busy these days, but we think the blog is a great vehicle for an active exchange of ideas and discussion of issues that are broadly relevant to our ATL community; there's real value in hearing from multiple voices and perspectives, and I know we have lots of folks in this far-flung community with lots of valuable things to share! So contact me if you're interested (bmoore@sbctc.edu) and we'll take it from there to work out details; thanks! Bill

Learning Analytics: A comparison of tools

Learning analytics tools aim to boost student retention, outcomes

learning-analytics-tools-aim-to-boost-student-retention-outcomes

Learning analytics software helps professors evaluate their course
structures and ensure better student outcomes.

As policy makers and campus leaders focus on boosting college completion rates, learning analytics is a field that has exploded in importance. A number of programs now exist to help instructors and campus leaders track student progress more closely, leading to better student outcomes.
Some of these programs are standalone software packages, while others are modules or features included in leading student information or learning management systems. Here’s an overview of some of the many products that can improve communication between students and professors, allowing everyone to gain a clearer perspective on students’ needs.

Read full article...

MOOCs, Prior Learning and Portfolios

Interesting article with thoughts on combining MOOC-learning and prior learning in an ePortfolio. Shouldn't everyone have an ePortfolio for course-related evidence of learning, professional development, on-the-job highlights, and so forth? (No, I haven’t created one for myself, yet!)

From Campus Technology:

The Taming of the MOOC--With ePortfolio Evidence

The IT revolution that was supposed to transform higher education has failed to materialize, at least in the way we had imagined it. The revolution did occur, but not directly within higher education--instead, it changed the overall nature of work in our culture. And now, higher education seems to be behind the curve, struggling to catch up.

Enter the MOOC--a relatively new buzzword meaning Massive Open Online Course. And it holds hope for many as a way for higher education to "catch up." Indeed, MOOCs could be one way to get ahead of the curve again, or, they could become a yet another material threat to higher education.

Here's how to turn this "threat" into something much more positive.

Read full article...

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

2013 Legislative News Via SBCTC Blog


Please see the new forum for SBCTC Legislative News – a blog!

 In lieu of the weekly Leg News newsletter, SBCTC staff will be posting twice-weekly updates about legislative action relevant to higher education on the blog.


This morning, the House Higher Education committee heard from the Washington Student Achievement Council (including SBCTC Executive Director, Marty Brown) and also heard from student representatives, in a work session. The video will be available soon at http://www.tvw.org/index.php?option=com_tvwsearch&acronym=HE&biennium=2013-14

Friday, January 11, 2013

Paradigm Shift: Instruction-centered to Learning-centered



Instruction Paradigm Learning Paradigm
Improve the quality of instruction Improve the quality of learning
Transfer knowledge from faculty to students Elicit students’ discovery and construction of knowledge
Covering material Specified learning results
Faculty are primarily lecturers Faculty are primarily designers of learning
methods and environments
Any expert can teach Empowering learning is challenging and
complex
Achieve access for diverse students Achieve success for diverse students
"Live" teacher, "live" students required "Active" learner required, but not "live" teacher

Source: Barr & Tagg, From Teaching to Learning: A New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education,
Change, November/December 1995, pp. 13-25.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

The Washington Center: New Journal on Learning Communities and Newly-Updated Website

Journal: Learning Communities Research and Practice

At the end of the month, the Washington Center, as the National Resource Center on Learning Communities will release the first issue of a new open-access, peer-reviewed e-journal dedicated to LCs—Learning Communities Research and Practice.
The first issue features reprints of articles from the Journal of Learning Communities Research (JLCR. Future issues will be released bi-annually in May and November.

Our May 2013 issue will focus on providing a broad outline of the shape that learning community practice is taking today.
The journal will have four main types of articles:

  • Research articles (2,000–2,500 words) focus on an issue or question, provide theoretical grounding, gather and assess evidence to address that issue or question, and use a method appropriate to that particular context.
  • Practices from the Field (1,000–2,500 words) describe a practice developed to address a particular issue or problem in learning communities work, including a rationale for the practice being used.
  • Perspectives (1,000–2,000 words) share personal and/or professional reflections on the field of learning community practice or experiences in the context of higher education.
  • Reviews  (500-1,000 words) highlight books and journal articles relevant to the learning community field.
The deadline for submissions for the May 2013 issue is March 5, 2013. We invite faculty, staff, administrators, researchers, and students involved in higher education learning communities to submit articles. A complete list of instructions for authors will be available when the January issue is released. Questions about the journal can be sent to lcrpjournal@evergreen.edu.

WEBSITE
If you have visited the Washington Center website in the past month, you have found an entirely new website – with a new look and a lot of new material—including new resources on learning communities, as well as many other areas of teaching and learning.
If you have not visited our website lately, we invite you to take a look at it.

To view the new website, go to www.evergreen.edu/washingtoncenter
We would love to get feedback – from those of you who are new to learning community work and integrated, contextualized learning, as well as those who have been working in the field for many years.

If, after viewing the website, you have a few minutes to answer some questions, please take our short survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/X7328C7
We also welcome e-mail comments and questions at washcenter@evergreen.edu.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

National Trends in Online Education

Here's the latest report on national, online education, from the Sloan Consortium: Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education in the United States.

And an informative graphic from PearsonLearning to go with it.

Media Portrayals of Teachers and Professors

This list was compiled by Joseph La Lopa, and originally posted on the POD Network listserv.
Perhaps some gems to discuss in professional development workshops.

Hans Christian Anderson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXi3bjKowJU
 
Stand and Deliver
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKqT57N9Y3Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k_jS1zVLWw
 

Disney – Teachers are People
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMdTBep3W9c

Professor Jones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYI7IlYFx2c
 
Mona Lisa Smile
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkteNuJepzU

 Dead Poet’s Society
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycLb6wJDieY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8fu-hq3S7A

 Back to School, First Economic Class
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlVDGmjz7eM

Ferris Bueller Econ Class
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxPVyieptwA

Goodbye Mr. Chips
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-vQslJoqpw
 
To Sir with Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDtFVFst59c

 Fast Times at Ridgemont High (orders pizza)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J8__fWphE0
 
Young and Dangerous
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYmTbCOimvQ

“Great Physics Teacher”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHobpMBJOyQ
 
Show Me the Money (La Lopa sales class)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNCvcF4wdGI

 Beautiful video of what is a teacher?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egtx_GPoNJU&list=PLBF55BA3B3A7988D3

 Are you a teacher or educator?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC3D7O-ByLE&playnext=1&list=PLBF55BA3B3A7988D3&feature=results_video

 

Monday, January 7, 2013

Quality Matters Conference


Registration for QM Works! Great Northwest Regional Conference, being held at the Heathman Lodge in Vancouver, WA, April 25 & 26, 2013 is now OPEN!

Read about the call for papers, pricing, workshops and accommodations HERE.

The call for papers is scheduled to close Friday, January 18.  Submit your paper TODAY!

Discounts on registration fees for the conference are available for groups of 5 or more.  Read more by clicking here.

Join us in Vancouver, WA in April!

If you have questions, please contact Beth Knapp at events@qualitymatters.org or 410-497-8063.

Friday, January 4, 2013

2013 Assessment, Teaching and Learning Conference


Save the Dates

May 1-3, 2013
 24th Annual
Assessment, Teaching and Learning Conference
Spokane, WA

 

Thursday, January 3, 2013

MOOCS, Online Learning, and the Wrong Conversation

The fact that MOOCS and online courses have sparked new conversations on your campus about teaching and learning is a terrific development. We should be grateful whenever attention is paid to teaching. The problem is that neither MOOCS or online courses are, in themselves, a strategy to meet the challenges we all face in higher ed. MOOCS and online courses are a means, not an ends, and should be understood as such. Source: Inside Higher Ed


 

Free Software Courses

All working-age residents of Washington are eligible to access free online classes that teach how to use computer software programs. Over the last two years, the Employment Security Department has provided free access to online Microsoft courses. Now the free course selection includes instruction on software by Adobe, Apple, IBM, Intuit, SAP and others. Registrations are processed through WorkSource at http://www.wa.gov/esd/e-learning/default.htm

MOOC on MOOCs


The Canvas Network is offering a 1 week class on MOOCs that might be of interest to you or your faculty. Here is a link to the class information.
https://www.canvas.net/courses/mooc-mooc

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Positions Open at SBCTC

The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) is seeking applications from qualified candidates for the following three positions:
 
o   Policy Associate, eLearning and Open Education

o   eLearning Program Administrator

o   I-DEA Instructional Designer

These positions are based in Olympia, Washington – State Board has office locations in Bellevue, Olympia and Spokane – and are assigned to the Education Division of the State Board.  Applications will be accepted through 5 p.m., Friday, January 11, 2013, or until filled.  For more information about these positions and the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, see the attached recruitment announcement, visit http://sbctc.edu/college/_hr-jobs.aspx, or contact SBCTC’s Human Resource Office at (360) 704-4301.

 

Placement Tests and Cut Scores

November 2012
National Assessment Governing Board
Tests and Cut Scores Used for Student Placement in Postsecondary Education

"The data in this analysis suggest that postsecondary education institutions across the nation do not hold a single, common conception of "just academically prepared."

How to Use Canvas LMS

Explore on your own.  Canvas has a free open course that covers the ‘how’ of using Canvas.

Quality Matters Regional Conference


For those who are new to using Quality Matters and those who are diehard QM advocates -  there will be something for everyone at the Great Northwest Regional Quality Matters Conference.
 

April 25-26, 2013, Vancouver, Washington

The Call for Papers is now open! Submit your proposal online  now.
The closing date for proposals is January 18, 2013.
 
The QM Program Mission
To promote and improve the quality of online education and student learning through:
1.    Development of research-supported, best practice-based quality standards and appropriate evaluation tools and procedures.
2.    Recognition as experts in online education quality assurance and evaluation.
3.    Fostering institutional acceptance and integration of QM standards and processes into organizational improvement efforts focused on improving the quality of online education.
4.    Provision of faculty development training in the use of QM rubric(s) and other quality practices to improve the quality of online/hybrid courses.
5.    Provision of quality assurance through the recognition of quality in online education.