Good morning and happy Friday! Here are some good reads we found this week. Enjoy!

10 Youngest College Graduates in U.S. History (and Where They Are Today)
Why is it that people are so fascinated by child prodigies? Who knows! But I admit, I find them interesting. Here is a post that talks about the ten youngest people to graduate from college in US history.

MILLENNIALS: A Portrait of Generation Next
Generational differences are an interesting thing. Being able to understand one group and how they function can help you better connect with those that are part of that group, whether it be in a work or educational setting.

The Case Against College Education
We certainly believe in higher education, and, well, education in general. This article, however, presents an interesting view of getting a college education and suggests that maybe getting that degree just isn’t for everyone.

101 College Blogs to Put You in the College Mood
We love blogs and bloggers, especially those in higher ed. Check out this list of 101 college blogs!

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In celebration of Women’s History Month in March, we want to remember some influential women from the history of education and recognize the inspirational leaders in education today. These women have paved the way, and continue to do so, for the women leaders and educators of today and tomorrow.

Emma Hart Willard (1787-1870) – Willard started the first school for females, offering an equal or better education than men received at the time. She helped give young women the opportunity to have an education at a time when they were expected to learn only the rules and ways of the house and home.

Sarah Pierce (1767-1852) – Pierce founded the Litchfield Female Academy, the first school dedicated to the higher education of women. Students from across the United States and from around the world came to study at her school.

Nannie Helen Burroughs (1879-1961)– In addition to being a church leader and suffrage supporter, Burroughs founded the National Training School for Women and Girls as a national model school for the teaching of African American women at the time. Burroughs trained her students to become respectable employees and emphasized the important of bring a proud black women to all students by teaching African-American history and culture.

Mary Mason Lyon (1797-1849) – Lyon founded Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, the first college for females. The school was aimed at middle-class girls of the day because Lyon felt that educating this particular group of women would have the greatest influence on changing the standards for women overall.

Diana Oblinger – Educause’s President and CEO, Oblinger previously served as the company’s Vice President and was responsible for the association’s teaching and learning activities and the Educause Learning Initiative. Oblinger has held positions with both Microsoft and IBM, and has served as a faculty member at two universities and as an Associate Dean at the University of Missouri. Oblinger currently serves on a number of boards and is a frequent keynote speaker. She has written a number of books and received several awards because of her work in the fields of education and education technology.

Rosabeth M. Kanter – Kanter, a professor at the Harvard Business School, has been recognized as one of the “50 most powerful women of the world” as well as one of the “50 most influential business leaders in the world”. Having written or contributed to 18 books and receiving 23 honorary doctoral degrees, Kanter continues to teach and inspire the business leaders of tomorrow.

Katherine C. Boles – Boles writes and teaches about teacher education, school reform, and new forms of teacher leadership. Her work advocates real and positive changes in public policy with the aim of restructureing the field of teaching. She cofounded the Learning/Teaching Collaborative, a professional development school that ties public schools and colleges in the Boston area together.

We appreciate all of the energy and work these women have poured into improving the lives of women and the field of education!

Who inspires you? Leave a comment below on the people (men and women) who have inspired you as an educator.

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50 Social Media Innovators in Higher Education
A list of the top social media innovators among the nation’s colleges and universities. It covers everything from active Twitter feeds to Facebook fan pages to videos and blogs.

2 Emerging Technologies That Will Impact College Campuses
If you work on a college campus, this is a good article for you! The article brings to your attention six technologies you should pay attention to and about how long it’ll take for each to be used on college campuses regularly.

Social Media in Higher Education: Two Perspectives
Take a look at social media in higher education from two different points of view – a student and an administrator.

Can higher education produce better/faster startups?
What can higher education do for startups? Can colleges offer the tools and resources necessary to crank out not only smart kids that enter the working world as managers but ones that start their own companies?

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Interested in higher education? If you tweet, these people (and organizations) are worth following.

@WomenInHigherEd – The only national monthly practitioner’s newsjournal dedicated to enlightening, encouraging, empowering and enraging women on campus.

@ProfHacker – Tips, tutorials, and commentary on pedagogy, productivity, and technology in higher education

@chronicle – The leading news source for higher education.

@markgr – Higher ed web professional, Director of Web Services at UB, Noel-Levitz consultant, speaker, uwebd overlord, lacrosse coach, tennis player, dog rescuer

@EducationSector – Education Sector is an independent think tank that challenges conventional thinking in education policy. Visit our Web site for more information about our work

@NSNS – The National Student News Service covers student issues, student activism, and the latest trends in campus politics from around the nation.

@UVenus – Radically reinventing education. GenX women from around the globe creating and inspiring solutions via Social Media!

@timeshighered – Higher Education news, views and reviews for the UK and the rest of the world

@rpetersmauri – Instructional designer and eLearning professional focused on k-20 education, social media and tech.

@ITJil – Instructional Designer @ the Univ of Southern Miss. Interested in all technology, especially VR.

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Happy Friday! We hope you had a productive week. Here are a few interesting reads we found this week – enjoy!

How to Teach with Google Wave
Though it’s an older article, it’s full of good stuff about using Google Wave in your classroom. One of Wave’s biggest advantages? Allowing classes from different colleges to easily work together.

Technology and education continue to merge
This article starts with pointing out a simple fact – technology is changing the way we educate and learn. We know it’s changing how we learn, but what about where we learn? Is online education really the future of higher education? Online enrollment is growing immensely and it’s something educators should take note of.

Are They Students? Or ‘Customers’?
A great discussion on whether or not students should been seen as customers as well as students, and thus have more say in what and how they are taught, and how they are assessed.

Annual Poll of Freshman Shows Effects of Recession
Finances are more of a concern than ever for college kids. Parents without jobs, not being able to find jobs themselves – it’s hard entering the job market today as it is. It looks like these students might have the same job market problems over the next few years, with a lot more debt from the start.

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It seems as if textbooks are a thing of the past. If you’re looking to incorporate textbook alternatives into your classroom but don’t know where to start, here are a few ideas.

PDFs – You can share chapters or excerpts from books, articles, or just about any other type of document by creating a PDF and sharing it on your content management site.

eBooks – I think it’s safe to say that a large number of students own their own computer and most students at least have access to one. Websites like eBooks.com and CourseSmart offer a wide range of academic books and textbooks that are, for the most part, cheaper than traditional textbooks but still perfect for the classroom.

Hybrid eBooks – Companies like Flat World Knowledge and Vook offer ebook type products, but with additional features and tools like video (Vook) and the ability to edit text as needed (Flat World).

Additional Resources – Not all classes need textbooks, electronic or otherwise. I’ve taken quite a few, actually, that include handouts from the instructor, some articles or PDFs posted online, and a few supplementary, read-at-will sources. Not a single textbook involved. In some cases, I learned the most in these types of classes. Finding the best resources to use takes some time on your part, but your student will appreciate not having to spend the big bucks for a textbook they might have never used in the first place.

What textbook alternatives do you use? Share with us in the comments or tweet @SAGrader. We’d love to add your ideas to the list!

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Do you ever have a class period where it feels like your students are asleep? You’re introducing an exciting new topic but no one seems to be interested. You throw out a question but no one volunteers an answer. How do you get your students to wake up and speak up during class?

Here are a few tips to help you inspire your students to volunteer their thoughts and answers, without making it terribly painful.

Engage your students. If you can do this, you’re golden. If you’re engaging your students in a conversation throughout class, they’ll be tuned in to what’s going on. They will be thinking about what you’re saying and putting thought into the ideas that you bring forward. When you ask a question, chances are someone will be able and willing to answer.

Teach with energy and excitement. Professors that get excited about the subjects they teach are far more fun and interesting to listen to than someone who drones on in a class he really didn’t want to teach in the first place. I speak from experience. I never honestly thought I would leave an econ lecture feeling happy that I came to class and like I learned something valuable…until I met Dr. Lee. She would get so excited about economics that not only did I enjoy class, I enjoyed learning about the concepts she introduced.

Use real world examples. Another of Dr. Lee’s many teaching talents was her ability to use real world examples. Real world examples of economic situations aren’t hard to come by, but no matter how simple, they help students to learn and apply concepts to what really matters – the real world. Plus, when a student can see how something applies directly to his or her life, it makes more sense and sticks a bit better in the brain.

Ask good questions. There is a difference between a good question and a bad one. Good questions are capable of sparking conversations, thoughts, and sometimes lead to even more questions. Ask questions that students want to answer, discuss and debate.

Give students an idea of what to expect. If you have a good syllabus, students should know what to expect during class before they arrive. Encourage them to read the chapter or look through assignments and practice questions before class starts so they are aware of what you’ll be talking about and have more confidence to share ideas and answer questions.

Respond well to wrong answers. Don’t embarrass a student if he volunteers a wrong answer. Maybe he misunderstood your question. Or, maybe he was just wrong. Either way, if you make him feel stupid, he’ll be much less likely to raise his hand the next time around.

Don’t catch your students off guard. If students know you randomly call on students throughout class, it may make them nervous. Instead of being truly engaged, they take unnecessary notes to refer to in case they are called on. The down fall? It’s likely that nervous students will only pay attention to what’s going on until they are called on. After that, they know they are off the hook (for the most part) and will tune the rest of the lecture out.

Walk amongst your students while lecturing. Instead of standing at the front of your classroom, connect with your students a bit more by walking up and down aisles or moving around by the front row. This makes you seem more down to earth and willing to interact on the same level with your students.

Poll your students. This is a great way to get your students to participate in class discussions without making anyone feel targeted. Plus, it’s a way to hear from everyone at once!

What are some other ways you get your students to speak up during class? Share with us in the comments!

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It’s the end of another great week! Here are some interesting reads we wanted to share. Have a fabulous weekend!

Despite problems, laptops boost student test scores
With all the hype about laptop programs in schools, do they really benefit the student? Do they cause more harm then good? Here’s a good article on how one school is making it work and seeing the payoffs.

Is It Cheating Or Is It Collaboration?
Students using technology and the knowledge of their peers to solve problems. Is it cheating or it is collaboration? No matter what you call it, is it something students can apply to the working world later in life? The answer may surprise you.

The Ten Worst Teaching Mistakes
Are you a teacher or instructor? Chances are, if you’re reading this blog, the answer to that question is “yes”. Here are ten things you should definitely not do.

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Here at SAGrader, we like entrepreneurs. Without them – or a certain one, I should say – we wouldn’t exist! But thanks to the passionate and innovative spirits of individuals like our founder, the world of education is able to incorporate today’s technology into the classroom and offer a modern, connected, and just plain cool approach to learning.

Alas, entrepreneurs in the world of education have earned the name “edupreneurs” for obvious reasons. But how do you define “edupreneur”? One source states that an edupreneur is someone “who has served as an educator prior to organizing a business related to education and has invested time, energy, and capital to create, develop, and market a program, product, service, or technology to enhance learning.” For the most part, we agree.

So, we know edupreneurs have a few things in common – chances are the currently are or once were educators, who started education-focused businesses that aim to improve learning for students on any level. Many, according to the source above, even leave “the system” in which they work in order to pursue their edupreneurial endeavors. But how exactly does one become an educational entrepreneur? Here are the first few steps.

Step 1: Have an idea. This step is a rather important one. Perhaps the most important one. Entrepreneurs create new products or services or improve on those that already exist. In an ever-changing world, there is always room for improvement. The same goes for the world of education. Where is there a need for an innovation? What do you use everyday that could really use some improvement? Thinking about things like this will help lead you to the perfect “idea” to pursue.

Step 2: Believe in the idea. Ever heard the saying, “Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion”? This is certainly the case in the field of edupreneurship. Change is driven by people who believe in making the world around them a better place, by people who have passion and believe in their own ideas and the ideas of others. If you have a truly good idea, stand behind it, believe in it, and go to step three.

Step 3: Research and make a plan. Doing the research and making a plan for the future of your idea is vital. Most obviously, a little research is important if for no other reason than to see if anyone else has already started down the path you’re intending to follow. Beyond that, how will you know when to move forward or hold back? How will you know where you are going without having a map of how to get there? Plans can and do change – revise your plan as needed. Do what works best for you. Just try to stay away from the “fly by the seat of my pants” method.

Step 4: Find investors. While the bottom line for entrepreneurs is usually to make a buck, edupreneurs sometimes have a different goal in mind – to improve some aspect of education. In the world of business, an investor is someone who will hand over some of the funds necessary to get a business up and running. In edupreneurship, an investor could be anyone who is willing to put up some financial backing to someone who believes in your idea enough to volunteer time, energy and skills to help you accomplish your goal. Some things you just can’t do alone. If your idea is one of those things, find others who are willing to help out.

Step 5: Get other people on board. Similar to step four, finding people to stand behind and support your idea is vital to its growth. Education is a bureaucracy – the more people you have backing your idea, the better.

A few more general tips:

Hang out with other edupreneurs. Sharing ideas or just getting to know like-minded people who are passionate about similar things can be inspiring.

Take calculated risks. It’s a common misconception that entrepreneurs take wild and crazy risks. In fact, many successful entrepreneurs take very calculated risks and pursue ideas that have a lot of potential. Follow their lead and apply the “calculated risk” rule to your endeavors.

Network, Network, Network. It’s not what you know but who you know. Okay, so maybe “what you know” is important in education. But for entrepreneurs, “who you know” is just as, if not more, important. Being able to make connections with the right people can take your idea and turn it into a reality.

Are you an edupreneur? We’d love to hear your story. Shoot us an email or share your ideas in the comments. Or, tweet at us sometime.

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With the widespread use of Twitter and other social media tools, it’s no surprise that people in education are finding ways to incorporate microbloging and other like applications into the classroom.

We’d like to introduce you to Twiducate, a tool for teachers and students to communicate in an online classroom where ideas and thoughts can be shared and discussed and collaboration is encouraged. We had the chance to ask Twiducate’s Brian a few questions about the project.

Tell us about the people behind Twiducate. What made you decide to get together and start this social networking site for schools?
Twiducate started as a means to teach students the value and importance of online privacy. It is also meant to be a new medium for teachers to promote critical thinking, provide feedback and allow students to collaborate on their work – in a microblogging format. The value for teachers using Twiducate is that the content is private and students never have to enter an email address.

Twiducate seems like it’s a great tool for opening lines of communication between teachers and students. What are some other ways Twiducate can improve the overall learning experience?
First and foremost is student engagement. If kids are interested in the topic, they are more likely to write about it. All of our students are using Facebook already. Twiducate can improve learning experiences by allowing students to publish work, collaborate on work and provide feedback to each other, outside of the classroom in a private / secure manner. We have used Twiducate for story starters, open response questions, brainstorming sessions and general communication.

Okay, so we know it’s an awesome tool…but how exactly does Twiducate work? Just like Twitter? What additional tools does Twiducate have that are specific to teachers and students?
Twiducate is a micro-blogging tool. What makes it unique is the ability for teachers to create private networks. After signing up, teachers add students to their classrooms. A password is generated for students to login, thus never entering personal details, such as email. After all the accounts are created, students and teachers alike can begin posting messages. Twiducate also offers the ability for teachers to “pin” posts to keep them at the top of the timeline. Students and teachers alike can also comment on posts. Teachers can share links in the “bookmarks” section for their students.

Twiducate seems to be geared for middle and high schoolers. Can teachers and students in higher education use Twiducate?
Ironically, we are K-8 teachers and Twiducate was developed for this audience. After many suggestions, the ability to add multiple classes per teacher account was added – ideally for high school. Initially Twiducate was to be used in elementary schools where students must learn how to remain safe online and learn how to blog in simplest forms. It has had a huge following by high school and post secondary school teachers and students.

What else should we know about Twiducate?
Twiducate is still in beta mode and may contain bugs. We are constantly testing and editing the tool to meet the standards of different school board policies. We encourage ideas for functionality and tools. As is the purpose for the use of Twiducate, it in itself is a collaborative project by all teachers in all countries.

Want more information on Twiducate? Check out the website or sign up if you’re ready to use it in your classroom.

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