In a recent New York Times article titled “Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction” author Matt Richtel speculates on the reasons for students’ perceived inattentiveness toward their classroom instruction, proposing that the increased multitasking of today’s socially wired students inhibits their ability to internalize and even prioritize their classwork. One factor in maintaining a student’s interest level jumped right out at me:

For Vishal, there’s another clear difference between filmmaking and homework: interactivity. As he edits, the windows on the screen come alive; every few seconds, he clicks the mouse to make tiny changes to the lighting and flow of the images, and the software gives him constant feedback.

“I click and something happens,” he says, explaining that, by comparison, reading a book or doing homework is less exciting. “I guess it goes back to the immediate gratification thing.”

At SAGrader we’re big fans of feedback. In fact, fast and accurate feedback is one of the top priorities for our product. What do you think? Are static mediums doing enough to capture our student’s attention? Should more teaching strategies encourage interactive content? Sound off in the comment section below!

As textbook costs rise, major publisher take a new approach toward an electronic format. But will students and administrators go for it?

Recently, a lot of buzz has been generated about the future of textbooks. While some see the traditional textbook as an irreplaceable part of Higher Education, a growing number of people are calling for a reworking of how students receive their course materials. The focus has turned primarily to the growing role of electronic books, and their impact on education.

Due to this, many publishers have come to realize that the traditional textbook model is quickly becoming obsolete. But textbook publishers have adapted, and in the face of an industry-rattling shift from paper to digital formats, many publishers are coming up with ways to both differentiate themselves and capture a share of a growing e-book market.

As part of this push towards the e-book format, major publishers have taken some interesting initiatives. …continue reading

I remember when cell phones first started appearing in schools. At the time I was a backpack toting student myself, struggling to define my identity in that most toxic of social environments: middle school. My family was too fiscally conservative to equip my brother and me with our own cell phones, but I distinctly remember the “cool kids” walking through the hallways showing off their latest devices.

Of course at the time the Nokia devices were used more to play “snake” in their tiny night-vision-green screens than anything else. There weren’t many other people with cell phones you could call (plus all your friends were with you in class), and the texting phenomenon was still years away.

My mother’s advice to alleviate our plight: here’s 35 cents, use a payphone.

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I’m sure by now you’ve seen the commercials for Dos Equis beer espousing the adventures and wisdom of The Most Interesting Man in the World. No doubt you’ve been intrigued by his mysterious charm and almost Zen Master-like wisdom. Every few episodes or so we’re temporarily interrupted from our day-to-day preoccupations and invited to glimpse a new facet of his fascinating life.

Surely a person of such class, esteem, and experience would have some crucial nugget of information to share with the rest of us. Some choice words of wisdom to improve our day to day existence?

Such it is that I’ve compiled a list of 5 Things Every Teacher Can Learn From”The Most Interesting Man”™:

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Sometimes it’s hard to focus.  We may have lots to do but have a hard time just getting things finished.  Doesn’t matter if you’re a teacher, student, or long gone from school and off in the working world.  It’s just a “human thing”.

Yet, there are those moments in life when procrastinating is the worst possible thing you could be doing.  For a student, it might mean not being able to “find the time” to study for five upcoming exams.  For a professor, it might be right after finals, with loads of tests that need to be graded and semester scores that need to be calculated and turned in.

No matter what your situation, here are some tips that might help you get and stay productive.

1. Schedule time for not-so-important tasks. It’s always those little things that seem to get in the way, isn’t it? Checking email, taking phone calls, a nap.  Don’t let these things get in the way of accomplishing your more important tasks. Set a specific time aside to do the little things, and then only check your email and take calls (and naps) during that time.
2. Get away from distractions. This might be the TV, a colleague down the hall, or a family member.  If it is distracting you, turn it off or get away from it.  Go to a library, close your door and lock yourself in, or just slip away to the most productive place you can find.
3. Stop distractions in their tracks. Often our brains will come up with distractions from within.  We’ll be chugging along working on a special project then out of nowhere you remember that you forgot to call Joe back or you need to pick up some bread and milk from the grocery store. When these little distracters pop into your brain, quickly write them down on a pad of paper or sticky note, then get right back to work.
4. Keep reminders around. Sometimes we need a little inspiration.  Maybe it’s a photo, a saying or quote, or small keepsake. If it’s what keeps you going, keep it somewhere visible so you can look to it to give you a little push. A quote from Abe Lincoln that I always love to keep around: “Good things come to those who wait, but only things left behind by those who hustle”.
5. Break it down. Taking on a big project can be daunting.  That stack of papers that needs grading isn’t really six feet high, but it sure feels like it.  Make it easier on yourself by breaking whatever it is you’re working on into smaller parts and focus on one section at a time.

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I still remember the first time I popped in the Encarta CD-ROM to my Compaq Presario. It was 1993.

Wasting no time, I went straight for the multimedia content — images, sound bites, video clips and interactive graphs. Instead of reading a couple paragraphs about General John J. Pershing, I could click a button and listen to “Black Jack” personally elaborate on the effectiveness of Marine forces.

It was engaging, addictive and fun. My parents were thrilled because instead of spending my free time playing video games or tormenting my brother, I was browsing an encyclopedia.

The advent of rich media sources like Encarta excited educators, as well.  Most educators assumed that compelling, interactive content would support a more effective learning environment.  Not only could students access different types of media, they could easily explore the relationships between different topics via hyperlinks.  Suddenly, instead of dealing with text-only documents processed in isolated from other content, learners could access a thrilling array of media connected to other relevant resources with the click of a mouse.

Of course, we’ve come a long way since the Encarta-Era (Microsoft discontinued Encarta in 2009). Most of our multimedia content and digital text has moved online. Classrooms are installing interactive whiteboards, giving students laptops to use during class, and teaching technological literacy.  Universities are exploring the use of e-Readers and providing electronic versions of textbooks.

The content itself is higher quality and more accessible. It takes someone with web access about 5 seconds to find a video lecture about bioethics or global warming from a world-renowned expert.  And, for the last 4-5 years, we’ve discovered new ways to allow students to interact with content and their peers using forums, blogs, wikis and other Web 2.0 tools.

The problem is, this interconnected multimedia may not actually strengthen learning.

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100 Apps for Tech Savvy Teachers
Who doesn’t want to load up on apps these days?! Here is a huge list of on online and iPhone apps for techy teachers like you.

Top 50 Free Education Apps
What could make you more….h”app”y than 50 more free apps!? From NASA to Greek Mythology, there is bound to be something you find interesting.

The Failure of American Higher Education
More and more college grads don’t have basic skills they need for the working world. Is this because of the failure of the higher education system? Are schools more focused on teaching content rather than vital skills their students need? An interesting read on where higher ed institutions have gone wrong.

Is college still worth the investment?
Spoiler: the answer given to this question in this article is “an unequivocal ‘yes’”. But why? In the end, the author claims that the price a student pays for his or her education is worth it when they look at the big picture (which might include better job opportunities now and in the future and a higher income).

I Failed High School Chemistry
Just because a student doesn’t ace a class doesn’t mean she didn’t learn something from it. One of our favorite bloggers, Bill Genereux, talks about a failed Chem class and what he learned from the experience.

We admit it. We’ve been a little slow when it comes to posting our weekly round ups. In fact, I think it’s been…months since our last post full of link love!

So, while we might not be sharing the link love as regularly, we’d still like to tell you about some articles we found interesting in case you haven’t already checked them out. Here are some we stumbled upon recently!

Nation has high college remedial education rate
Students taking high school level classes at college? Something seems amiss…

Podcasts: enhancing or replacing normal lectures?
How are podcasts affecting classrooms? Are they adding to or taking away? Will they quickly become a thing of the past or will they transform the classrooms of the future?

Finished College. Now What?
The goal of graduating with a degree should be more than just finding a job. The awesome people at Wake Forest believe in helping their students find a path that is meaningful and fulfilling post graduation!

What is the Future of Teaching?
Are online learning environments more powerful than the traditional classroom? Do students that learn online outperform those who are taught in face-to-face situations? An interesting article that sheds some light on using online tools in education and what the future might hold for instructors and students everywhere.

High-Tech Cheating Abounds, and Professors Bear Some Blame
Is technology not only helping students to cheat, but blurring the lines of what defines cheating? And how much influence do professors have – positive or negative?

Some students believe that if a professor doesn’t care about what he or she is teaching, they as students shouldn’t care much about what they are supposed to be learning. Can you really blame them?

And while you really might not care at all about what you’re teaching (though it would indeed be sad if that were the case), you should care whether or not your students care. Because when students don’t care, they don’t try as hard – or at all – to do well in your course, are more likely to cheat, and in the end, learn very little. All things you should not want for your students!

How can you show that you care? And we don’t mean the ushy-mushy caring. We mean the type of caring that shows you love (or at least, like) what you teach and that you want your students to learn something and succeed in your class. It’s amazing what a little caring can do!

So you want to show that you care but how do you do it?! Here are some ways to get you started.

1. Stress the fact that you want your students to actually learn something. Let it be known that you’re not there just trying to get to get positive feedback and high marks on your end-of-semester evaluations. You’re there to TEACH and to help your pupils LEARN! If nothing else, at least your students will know that you care and want to be there.

2. Hold your ground when it comes to cheating. Regardless of your school’s academic honesty policy, take cheating in your classroom seriously. Cheating doesn’t do any good for anyone, and when you turn a blind eye to it, it further goes to show that you really don’t care if your student learn.

3. Make time to help your students. Do you remember that one professor way back when that never seemed to have the time of day for you? Don’t be like him (or her). Spend a little time outside lecture to be a resource for your students, to answer their questions or help guide them in the right direction. If you know a student is starting to slip up, go the extra mile and pull the student aside and see what’s up. Ask what the student needs to regain his or her footing.

4. Give good feedback. Do you remember that other time, way back when, when you got a paper back with a big fat “C+” written at the top and no other explanation as to WHY you received that grade? How frustrating!! Then, when you marched up to your professor and asked for explanation, the only response you received was “It wasn’t quite sufficient”. How was that supposed to help you improve the next time around? By providing feedback of substance to your students, not only will you prove that you actually took time to look at the assignment and put some thought into your grading, you’ll actually help your students as they work on following assignments.

5. Consider your students’ schedules. While YOU may think your course should take precedence over all the other classes your students are taking, they don’t exactly see it that way. Most of them want to get decent or good grades in all of their courses and will, believe it or not, have to spend some time on them. So, even if you want to assign a lot of reading or homework, don’t purposefully overload your already overloaded students. They will love you for it.

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Meet Lloyd, an instructor at the University of Missouri, who uses SAGrader in his Introduction to Sociology and Social Psychology classes. We asked him a few questions about his SAGrader experience and wanted to share his answers with you.

Why did you decide to use SAGrader in your class?
There were basically two reasons. Firstly, I wanted to educate myself by exploring new technology. I always want to have a sense of what the latest teaching tools are, how well they work, and how they can help me to teach better. Secondly, I wanted to know what I could do to adapt to the changing demands of higher institutions, for instance, with colleges offering online courses, and larger class enrollments. I saw in SAGrader an opportunity to address both these reasons.

How has your class improved since you started using SAGrader?
I strongly believe my class has improved in a few ways. Being able to keep a big class of students writing throughout a course is invaluable, something that typically would not be possible with an instructor and two TAs for a big class of 290 students like I’m teaching now. Students benefit from having to understand and apply concepts instead of just hearing about them in lecture. I believe students are more motivated to grasp concepts and theories because instead of being just passive “consumers” of knowledge, they know that through SAGrader they have to engage these concepts as “producers” of knowledge. They are forced to be “hands on” with the concepts and theories, and do things with them by formulating arguments they have to back up and provide evidence for.

What are your favorite tools or features of the program?
I think one of my favorite features of SAGrader is the instant scoring and feedback function. It motivates students since they know their grade is essentially in their hands: they can work on assignments as early as they like, so that they have enough time to resubmit and improve their grades. I also appreciate being able to track which students are not doing well, or who are consistently late submitting assignments. It has given me the opportunity to contact those students, express concern about their performance, and in a few cases to eventually help them get back on track with their grades.