The Little Assignment with the Big Impact: Reading, Writing, Critical Reflection
May 6, 2013 By: Geraldine Van Gyn, PhD in Instructional Design Several years ago, I came across the Purposeful Reading Assignment that was reported to encourage students to read, reflect, and write about readings assigned for class. Research (Roberts and Roberts, 2008) and experience tell us that supporting students’ reading, writing, and reflective practices is one of the most challenging aspects of learning and teaching. Although this assignment appeared to be simple, it has proven to be an influential tool for learning and has increased engagement and participation among my students. The basic assignment, also called the 3-2-1, has three requirements: Requirement 1: Students read what is assigned, then choose and describe the three most important aspects (concepts, issues, factual information, etc.) of the reading, justifying their choices. The completed assignment is submitted on an electronic template before the class when the reading will be discussed. References Novak, G. Dr.
50 really useful iPad tips and tricks
With great new features like two video cameras, a faster processor and a Retina display, the new iPad is the world's best tablet device. It's also fully capable of running the latest version of Apple's iOS operating system and great apps like iMovie and GarageBand. Here we present 50 really useful iPad tips. We cover everything from customising your Home screen through to getting more from built-in apps like Mail and Safari. 10 best tablet PCs in the world today The vast majority of these tips will also work on the original iPad and iPad 2, so owners of any generation of iPad shouldn't feel neglected. For 50 more iPad tips, check out a new iPad app called 100 Tricks & Tips for iPad 2, brought to you by our colleagues on MacFormat. 1. iOS now supports folders. Your iPad will create a folder with both the apps in. 2. Double-clicking the Home button shows you all the apps that are running on your iPad in a bar along the bottom of the screen. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. The iPad supports a VPN connection.
Why Don't They Apply What They've Learned, Part I - Do Your Job Better
By James M. Lang For two years I taught in a special program in which the same cohort of students took two consecutive courses with me: freshman composition in the fall and introduction to literature in the spring. In both years that I taught the two-course sequence, I was startled to see many students come back from winter break and—on their very first papers in the spring class—revert directly back to those tired strategies that I had worked so hard to help them unlearn in the fall. One such student came into my office early in the spring semester to show me a draft of her paper, and it included a lame reverse-pyramid (i.e., general to specific) introduction. She looked up at me in genuine puzzlement: "You mean that the stuff we learned last semester applies in this course, too?" D'oh! "Far transfer is, arguably," they point out, "the central goal of education: We want our students to be able to apply what they learn beyond the classroom." Many of us state that outright in our courses.
How to Add Typing Shortcuts to Your iPad: Make Abbreviations for Common Phrases
All of us have phrases we use frequently when writing. For example, I often type “iPad Academy” or “Thanks for contacting me” in my email messages. If you have phrases you type repeatedly, you can create shortcuts (abbreviations) for these phrases. The shortcut, composed of a few characters, automatically expands to become the phrase it represents. When you create the shortcut, take care to select a series of characters that isn’t an actual word. Kim, a member of my online iPad Academy Master Class, offered this tip after viewing my Keyboard Settings video lesson.
Active Learning
By Diane Starke, El Paso Community College Purpose: Learning is not a spectator sport. Research has demonstrated that students learn more if they are actively engaged with the material they are studying. Key Concepts: Section 1: What is Active Learning? Active Learning is, in short, anything that students do in a classroom other than merely passively listening to an instructor's lecture. This website from Stoutland Elementary School in Missouri, provides an extensive list of the various definitions of active learning originally posted by the Teaching Resource Center at UC Davis. Powerful Partnerships: A Shared Responsibility for Learning (1998 Joint Report, American Association for Higher Education, et. al.) describes learning as an inherently active process: Learning in an active search for meaning by the learner--constructive knowledge rather than passively receiving it, shaping as well as being shaped by experience....To stimulate an active search for meaning, faculty [must]: D.C.
Active and Cooperative Learning
The past decade has seen an explosion of interest among college faculty in the teaching methods variously grouped under the terms 'active learning' and 'cooperative learning'. However, even with this interest, there remains much misunderstanding of and mistrust of the pedagogical "movement" behind the words. The majority of all college faculty still teach their classes in the traditional lecture mode. Some of the criticism and hesitation seems to originate in the idea that techniques of active and cooperative learning are genuine alternatives to, rather than enhancements of, professors' lectures. "Active Learning" is, in short, anything that students do in a classroom other than merely passively listening to an instructor's lecture. Exercises for Individual Students Because these techniques are aimed at individual students, they can very easily be used without interrupting the flow of the class.
