Saturday, February 15, 2014

From the Dorm to Lake Placid to Sochi


This article appears in The Huffington Post:

I like your hat, Bill offered mischievously to the middle-aged Russian man.
The man kept walking with a deliberate gait.
Trade you my Vikings football cap, Bill tries, with the tact of a paparazzo in the Olympic Village.
The Russian gentleman stopped and looked at Bill. Then at me, wrapped in a parka the size of the Hindenburg.
Nyet, the man delivered stoic faced, as he disappeared amidst the snow flurries.
This was the beginning of my trip to Lake Placid. It was a safe bet that Bill and I were not destined to be good will ambassadors for these Games.
We left for Lake Placid from our Binghamton University dormitory at 2:00 a.m., to a mock chorus of God Bless America from the less than enlightened frat boys. About forty pioneers boarded a charter bus for the one day, 14-hour roundtrip journey from Vestal, New York. As we pulled away from campus, my thoughts wandered back to Franz Klammer's downhill run in 1976 at Innsbruck, and to the ice-cold keg of beer in the back of bus -- courtesy of those more than enlightened frat boys.
Headline - Monday, February 18, 1980 - Bus waits may last throughout Games
For the sixth day in a row, spectators were forced to wait for more than an hour-and-a-half at some venues sites.
Headline - Many treated for frostbite
(UPI) A bitter wind from the Northwest ... plunged the 'chill factor' to minus 40 (F and C).
When the bus arrived at 9:00a.m., the first thing I wanted to do was see the Olympic torch and get in touch with all the good that it represents. The silver cauldron was perched about 100 feet above the snowdrifts. The base of the structure was a very unassuming platform from which the torch was first lit. After the lighting, the cauldron traveled up to its resting place along a track supported by two thin white beams, one on each side of the track. Access to the torch was permitted, as Bill took a picture of me on the platform. I posed with both arms raised in victory celebration form.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Integrating Social Networks into Out-of-Class Activities


Abstract accepted for The Future of Education conference, June 2014:
Integrating Social Networks into Out-of-Class Activities for
Traditional and Hybrid College Courses
Abstract
It is the framework which changes with each new technology and not just the picture within the frame. 
Marshall McLuhan, 1955
This paper supports the proposition that student use of social networking tools outside of class increases student-to-student and student-to-professor interaction, while enhancing critical thinking skills in the classroom.  Given the trend to move some classes into a hybrid format, the increased use of social networks on the students’ preferred “technology turf” is a key component in facilitating learning in such activities.  Further, the paper will offer insight from the perspective of a professor and a graduate teaching assistant (GTA), as they discuss the pros and cons of integrating social networks into out-of-class activities.  For example, the paper demonstrates how students and a professor formed an online Twitter community in an Internet Law business course, where students shared and commented on the latest international law news affecting the internet and social networks.  The class then assessed the legal context of social network behavior when they re-grouped in class.  As another example, a professor created a Facebook project, and (with a bit of trepidation) asked students to “friend” him.  In the project, students were instructed to find inappropriate comments posted anywhere on Facebook, re-post them on the professor’s “wall,” and comment on the implications of such postings if an employer actually read them.  Hand-in-hand with the pedagogical benefits of social networks, there is an overarching need to ensure student privacy in learning environments.  A major challenge faced by educators is how to teach students to navigate and leverage social networks in the business world, while maintaining their comfort level of privacy on the internet.  This paper addresses the importance of guiding students on how to be responsible digital citizens, as they analyze and assess the ethical use of social networks in the global workplace.  Thus, in a professor-GTA discussion over whether students in a study abroad class should maintain a public blog or a closed Facebook group for communication, the closed group option was chosen for privacy reasons.  Finally, the paper will introduce how out-of-class social network activities, when augmented with “gamification” (applying game-design thinking to non-game applications in an attempt to make the latter more fun), can elevate student engagement and learning in traditional and hybrid courses.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The Inspiring Teacher Series: Interviews with Master Teachers from K-12 to College


My favorite blog posts over the years involved interviews with great teachers who've inspired students year after year.  This blog post brings all of those interviews together.

The Inspiring Teacher Series: Interviews with Master Teachers from K-12 to College

Enjoy!


Questions included:
What inspired you to teach?
What teaching methods are most helpful in guiding students towards their goals?
What would you like to improve about your teaching?
What is the one thing you wish you'd known when you started your teaching career?

Kindergarten
Bridget Robbins

Middle School
Travis Tingle

High School
Paul Cohen
Brendan Halpin
Barry Hantman

College
Jody Blanke
Greg Henley
Mara Mooney