TeachOIT: a Blog for People Who Teach with Technology

This video made the rounds on the Internet (and TeachOIT) about a year and a half ago, but when we showed it at the beginning of our two most recent “Emerging Technologies” workshops I don’t believe any of the attendees had seen it, so I’ve decided it is worth sharing again here:

Cultural anthropologist Michael Wesch and 200 students at Kansas State University created a video about students in today’s college classrooms. It is an example of “digital storytelling” with an interesting mix of low tech (words on paper, chalkboard and walls) and high tech (time-lapse footage of a Google Doc being edited by the 200 students). It doesn’t offer any concrete solutions, but rather poses some though-provoking questions for anyone trying to reach 21st century students in a 19th century setting.

Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD) is a great web comic about life in academia and one of my favorite comics. Usually written from a grad student perspective, I thought the most recent comic on what undergrads really mean with their questions would appeal to many of you:

“Piled Higher and Deeper” by Jorge Cham
www.phdcomics.com

[Found via the Chronicle of Higher Education's technology blog]

A survey report by a Harvard student looks at student perceptions of usefulness of a range of instructional technologies. The report is interesting in that it looks at differing perceptions between undergraduates and graduates as well as students in different fields of study. Posting course materials and syllabi were indicated as the most useful tools by the student surveyed. An interesting significant difference in perceptions was between graduate student and undergraduate student as to the usefulness of of video recordings of lectures; which undergraduates considered more useful than graduate students.

Check out the full report here:
Instructional Technology Survey (PDF)
Berkman Center Blog Post With Commentary on Survey Results

Cultural anthropologist Michael Wesch and 200 students at Kansas State University created a video about students in today’s college classrooms. It is an example of “digital storytelling” with an interesting mix of low tech (words on paper, chalkboard and walls) and high tech (time-lapse footage of a Google Doc being edited by the 200 students). It doesn’t offer any concrete solutions, but rather poses some though-provoking questions for anyone trying to reach 21st century students in a 19th century setting.

If you are interested in learning more about teaching the “Web” generation:
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