Technology Is A Tool, NOT A Learning Outcome

All too frequently, we become enamored with the bells and whistles of technology without taking a step back to examine our goals for using it.  Bill Ferriter, of the Center for Teaching Quality, created the following image to demonstrate how learning to use technology can be conflated with learning what technology can enable us to do.  It provides... Continue Reading →

Examples of #SAgrad Online Professional Portfolios

In the practicum course I taught in the Merrimack College Higher Education program this semester, I had the students experiment with the creation of online portfolios.  Online portfolios can be an excellent opportunity to promote reflective practice as well as give students a leg up in the job search.  They can follow you throughout your... Continue Reading →

PRESENTATION VIDEO: Flipping Out: Concepts of Inverted Classrooms for Teaching and Training

I had the pleasure of presenting with Dr. Susan Marine, one of my fellow faculty members at Merrimack College, on concepts of classroom flipping.  What is flipping?  Here's a useful definition from Wikipedia: Flipped classroom is an instructional methodology and a type of blended learning that delivers instructional content, often online, outside of the classroom and moves activities, including... Continue Reading →

Checklist: Selecting Technology for Learning [REBLOG]

Learning + Technology Development Process Model (Hibbitts & Travin, 2015)The following post comes from Laura Pasquini which shares an excellent model for determining how one should go about integrating digital technology into course content and deciding what are the most appropriate approaches given the content and context.  Tony Bates’ SECTIONS model is a practical and useful tool to have in your digital teaching arsenal.  Read on…

techKNOWtools

With so many possibilities for digital learning, selecting media and technologies for appropriate course instruction is a very complex process. Although there are a wide range of options in the ed tech realm, pedagogical considerations should always come first. Instructors should reflect on the learning objective and desired outcomes for their subject matter before identifying identifying technological applications for the course.

The SECTIONS model, developed by Tony Bates (2015), is a pedagogical framework for determining what technology, specifically how this technology will be appropriate for instructional approaches. This might include identifying and determining pedagogical characteristics of text, audio, video, computing, and social media. With this framework, Bates (2015) asks five critical questions for teaching and learning for technology and media selection:

  1. Who are the learners?
  2. What are the desired learning outcomes from the teaching?
  3. What instructional strategies will be employed to facilitate the learning outcomes?
  4. What are the unique educational characteristics of…

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5 Outcomes #PechaKucha Presentations Can Teach You

From the first ACPA PechaKucha session, to its adoption as a conference-wide event, a number of faculty have begun to utilize the presentation style as a class assignment for their students.  For a few years, I have avoided assigning this to my own students.  I thought it was just too hard.  That it required too advanced a... Continue Reading →

My MediaKron Experiment in E-Learning

This semester I am collaborating with one of the Boston College Higher Education faculty members, Ana Martinez Aleman, on a new technology e-learning project called “MediaKron” for her Higher Education in American Society course. MediaKron is an online multimedia platform that was developed at Boston College as a means of presenting and enhancing course content.... Continue Reading →

Good Evening Scholars: A Teaching Observation

I had the privilege of doing a teaching observation of a colleague this semester. I always love the opportunity to learn from other’s approaches to the learning process. I thought I would share some of my reflections and observations hoping it may help you too. The instructor and I both share an approach to teaching... Continue Reading →

My Teaching Philosophy

< Return to my Teaching Portfolio For me, teaching is a calling.  From my earliest childhood memories, I remember loving to play “school.”  This love of the entire process of learning has followed me throughout the changes in my career path.  In any role, regardless of whether I am acting in the formal roles of... Continue Reading →

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