Here’s an interesting new piece of software: it’s called RapidReader, and it purports to allow you to double or triple your reading speed by flashing a document onto your computer screen one word at a time, at a rate of up to 950 words per minute. Being a skeptic by temperament, I was surprised to discover that the program actually works: I was able to read an online newspaper article at about double my normal reading speed. Continue reading Reading at 900 words per minute – Mark Morton
Cognitive Surplus and Web 2.0 – Mark Morton
I heard an interesting interview with Clay Shirky on CBC’s Spark last week. Shirky is the author of the book Here Comes Everybody, and one of the many ideas he puts forth is that of cognitive surplus. In a nutshell, he proposes that in the past half century, leisure time has increased to such an extent that people now have a surplus of cognitive resources on their hands – that is, they not only have brains, but they now have time and energy to use that brain on things other than making ends meet. Unfortunately, says Shirky, this increase in leisure time and cognitive surplus coincided with the invention of television – and so for the past fifty years the cognitive surplus of hundreds of millions of people has been devoted to the passive consumption of I Love Lucy, Happy Days, Law and Order, American Idol, and so on. Even watching ostensibly “high brow” television shows like Charlie Rose, Meet the Press, and the nightly news is, according to Shirky, merely a form of passive consumption. Continue reading Cognitive Surplus and Web 2.0 – Mark Morton
“Passenger” Problem and Internet Use in Undergraduate Group Projects — Danielle Terbenche
In their 2001 study of term-long undergraduate group projects Bourner et al. defined “passengers” as an impediment to team functioning, referring to students who made little contribution to group work, choosing to “ride along” on the efforts of fellow students (Bourner et al., 2001). Last winter I also observed this problem as a TA in a second-year history course where term-long group projects, involving some shared team grades, accounted for the majority of students’ evaluation. Poor research skills coupled with questionable perceptions of work expectations seemed to me to be the origin of student disengagement, rather a conscious evasion of responsibility. Continue reading “Passenger” Problem and Internet Use in Undergraduate Group Projects — Danielle Terbenche
Big Can Be Better – Sheila Hannon
Standing at the foot of one of the tiered classrooms on campus can be a daunting experience. As you look up – look waaay up, as the Friendly Giant used to say – you encounter a sea of faces. How can you keep these students interested, engaged, or – at the very least – listening for the next 50 minutes or so? Continue reading Big Can Be Better – Sheila Hannon
What I’ve Learned from Being a Graduate Teaching Assistant Developer
In just a few short weeks, my contract as a Teaching Assistant Developer (TAD) with CTE’s Certificate in University Teaching Program (CUT) will be coming to a close. It will be a very bittersweet departure for me, as I’ve grown to admire and respect all of my colleagues at CTE, as well as the graduate students that I’ve been working with for the past two years. As my final blog post, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on my role at CTE and what I’ve learned from it. Continue reading What I’ve Learned from Being a Graduate Teaching Assistant Developer
Virtual Field Tripping: A “Real” Way to Learn — Mary Power
As a consequence of a grant that I have been working on, I have been reading about “virtual field trips”. These trips are multimedia web-based experiences that take the learner to places that might not be feasibly experienced in “real-life”, due to such practical impediments as accessibility and cost. Although the format is limitless these virtual trips often are comprised of readings, maps, glossary of terms, images, video clips and may include on-line discussions with experts and or the instructor. Together these things can lead the student on an interesting and interactive learning journey. To complete the experience there is usually a (hopefully) thoughtfully designed assignmen, such as a field trip report or on-line quiz to be assessed. Continue reading Virtual Field Tripping: A “Real” Way to Learn — Mary Power
Social Networking (and Peer Tutoring) for Second-Language Learning — Mark Morton
My nephew, who is studying Korean, recently told me about a free website that facilitates the learning of a second language by making use of social networking in the form of peer tutoring. The site in question is called LiveMocha, and it’s like many websites devoted to learning second languages in that it includes content such as flash cards, vocabulary drills, and so on. What makes LiveMocha unique, though, is that its more advanced language exercises require a user to write phrases or sentences in the target language that are then assessed by another user of LiveMocha, one whose first language is the language that you are trying to learn. Continue reading Social Networking (and Peer Tutoring) for Second-Language Learning — Mark Morton