Education: July 2008 Archive Page
In New Media Programs, Who Benefits?
In today's landscape, defining "the media" isn't nearly as clear-cut as it used to be. Big-name newspapers and networks mingle with cable channels, all-purpose Web sites and blogs in the minds of the average news consumer, and for good reason: They are, in many cases, converging, with widely read blogs run by newspapers and online Web stories originating from cable networks. Meanwhile, a number of relatively new outlets have become powerful forces in their own right, taking advantage of the speed and connectivity of the Internet to scoop the mainstream media and blur the distinction between the producer and the consumer.
Moreover, much of the new media eschews precisely the kinds of journalistic conventions still taught in school, preferring instead to apply pressure to ideological opposites, using blogs, crowdsourcing and other citizen media techniques to gather raw material for the next humorous or polemical viral video.
Maybe that's the point. -- Andy Guess, Inside Higher Ed
Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?
A good feature from the New York Times:
Young people "aren't as troubled as some of us older folks are by reading that doesn't go in a line," said Rand J. Spiro, a professor of educational psychology at Michigan State University who is studying reading practices on the Internet. "That's a good thing because the world doesn't go in a line, and the world isn't organized into separate compartments or chapters."
Some traditionalists warn that digital reading is the intellectual equivalent of empty calories. Often, they argue, writers on the Internet employ a cryptic argot that vexes teachers and parents. Zigzagging through a cornucopia of words, pictures, video and sounds, they say, distracts more than strengthens readers. And many youths spend most of their time on the Internet playing games or sending instant messages, activities that involve minimal reading at best.
[..]
Nadia also writes her own stories. She posted "Dieing Isn't Always Bad," about a girl who comes back to life as half cat, half human, on both fanfiction.net and quizilla.com.
Nadia said she wanted to major in English at college and someday hopes to be published. She does not see a problem with reading few books. "No one's ever said you should read more books to get into college," she said. -- Motoko Rich
Where to begin? Where to end? Lots of food for thought.
When Young Teachers Go Wild on the Web: Public Profiles Raise Questions of Propriety and Privacy
"I know for a fact that when a superintendent in Missouri was interviewing potential teachers last year, he would ask, 'Do you have a Facebook or MySpace page?' " said Todd Fuller, a spokesman for the Missouri State Teachers Association, which is warning members to clean up their pages. "If the candidate said yes, then the superintendent would say, 'I've got my computer up right now. Let's take a look.' "How would you feel if a potential employer clicked through your social networking profile during a job interview?
Pa. students enrolling in online gym classes
About 600 students are enrolled at Pennsylvania Learners Online, a cyber charter school where online gym is a requirement, and 12 others are enrolled in a program called e-Cademy to make up a failed credit.
Rich Campsie, who teaches physical education at e-Cademy and at Pennsylvania Learners Online, said he works with students one-on-one through an online interface to teach them about concepts ranging from lifelong physical activities and exercise to team mascots and game strategies.
They report back to Campsie via worksheets and written reports. He acknowledges there is no way to know for sure if a student is completing the physical requirements of the course.
The Top 100 Liberal Arts Professor Blogs
I'm flattered to be included on the list (along with my colleague Mike Arnzen, who writes Pedablogue). Nevertheless, I'd say it's about five years too late for the "gosh, lots of academics are starting to blog" story, but it's always interesting to look at someone else's summaries of sites that I read on a regularly basis.Academics are flocking to the Internet like never before, particularly to start a blog. Faculty members in colleges across the world are connecting with people on a whole new level. Let's face it - academia can actually be very lonely at times. Not only can a blog be cathartic for professors, it can allow for valuable feedback from students and/or colleagues.
Liberal arts subjects are wildly varied. From art to science, the major disciplines have long been considered part of the liberal arts. Below are 100 of the most interesting and popular blogs written by liberal arts professors. They have been divided into subject and alphabetized, as it would be virtually impossible to arrange them according to importance.
Well, it's usually interesting, if the summaries reflect a particular perspective or world view. Unfortunately, I didn't always find the summaries particularly insightful or informative.
- Matthew G. Kirschenbaum - The author is an associate professor of English the University of Maryland.
- Pedablogue - This blog is described as a "personal inquiry into the scholarship of teaching."
- (In the "History" category) Scattered & Random - This is a - you guessed it - scattered and random blog written by a history professor.
BoingBoing offers a cruel fisking of a similarly sketchy article on a different topic: "GRADED: The Worst '10 Worst Consoles' List of All Time."
I've certainly posted blog entries that I've tossed out quickly, without much forethought or analysis, but I do think this Top 100 list would have benefited from a clear statement of selection criteria and a bit more proofreading -- there are two blogs listed under #73, so this is actually a Top 101 list. It would serve me right if my blog were cut to make it 100, but I'm just doing what Online University Reviews says is my thing -- "Jerz's Literacy Weblog - Learn plenty of useful writing tips from this professor's blog.")
