Information R/evolution

Michael Wesch, a cultural anthropologist at Kansas State University, has produced a remarkable series of videos about the cultural and epistemological “r/evolution” that has been produced (enabled?) by the proliferation of the Internet.

The newest video, Information R/evolution, came out a couple of weeks ago and is an amazing testament to how our mental space has been transformed in less than two decades. It also provides a glimpse of how far many of us have left to go in our own personal reconceptualizations of what this epistemological (metaphysical?) transformation will and can mean.

Wesch’s first video, The Machine is Us/ing Us, is a slightly different take on a similar subject, exploring the evolution of information through the evolution of the Internet, particularly in regard to Web 2.0 technologies.

The final video, A Vision of Students Today, should be required viewing for all University faculty. It provides a powerful look at how that epistemological/metaphysical shift is experienced by today’s college students.

As an anthropologist, Wesch is primarily concerned with the cultural ramifications of this r/evolution, but his vision, as well as the phenomena on which it is based, also has tremendous implications for educators, both in terms of how we confront this new reality in our classrooms, as well as how we find new ways to envision and take advantage of these unforeseen possibilities.

Social Texts

There was an interesting article in The Chronicle about a month ago (the September 27, 2007 edition—it takes awhile for the Library’s copy to make its way this far down the totem pole…) that talks about a new software called CommentPress. You can click here to view the article.

The CommentPress software is essentially a template for the blogging site WordPress, but what makes it so exciting is that it allows readers of online texts to place comments in the margins, just like people have been doing with printed texts for centuries.

The template divides the browser screen vertically in half so that the original text is on the left and the comment area is on the right. Each paragraph of the original text has a little comment bubble that you can click to add a comment (and each bubble has a number that shows how many comments have already been posted). While the original text scrolls up and down, however, the comment box remains stationary so that it is always positioned next to the text you are currently reading (although you must click on the bubble of the paragraph you are reading for the contents of the comment box to change).

The real advantage of this tool is that it allows a virtual conversation not only between the instructor and students, but also, and perhaps more importantly, between the students and the text itself. It is a means to more meaningfully foster learner-content interaction, as well as to create a truly writerly learning environment.

To learn more about the CommentPress project, visit http://www.futureofthebook.org/commentpress/.

Using the Clicker

One of my first charges when I became the Director of PETAL was to showcase the “clicker,” and since then I have seen and heard many testimonials about what a wonderful tool it is. I have also seen several complaints that is it nothing but a fancy (and expensive) way to take attendance. Of course, while the truth is undoubtedly somewhere between those extremes, I would contend that if you only use them to check attendance, then they are most likely a waste of students’ time and money.

However, it doesn’t take a lot of effort or creativity to find ways to use the clicker in other, more effective ways, such as to increase student engagement or keep abreast of where your students are in their understanding of the course content.

Clickers are also effective for fostering in-class interaction and administering quizzes. They can be used to create “teachable moments,” where you pique student interest by asking a question that leads to discussion or, more importantly, makes students realize that they don’t understand something and will therefore be more likely to pay attention to the explanation that is about to come. Clickers can be used for polling students with the added advantage of no one knowing how anyone else is voting (which can promote honesty and alleviate peer pressure). They can also be used to collect and grade homework assignments.

Of course, clickers are not ever going to be the savior of higher education; however, they can be a useful and effective tool in certain situations. And the more effort you put into finding ways to use them in your classes, the more your student outcomes are likely to improve.

The Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education

Over twenty years ago, Arthur Chickering and Zelda Gamson published a short article on college teaching in which they advocated seven basic principles of good practice.

These are:

1. Encourages contacts between students and faculty.
2. Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students.
3. Uses active learning techniques.
4. Gives prompt feedback.
5. Emphasizes time on task.
6. Communicates high expectations.
7. Respects diverse talents and ways of learning.

While this simple list appears almost too simple to have a meaningful impact on your teaching, how many can you say you are currently applying in your classes?

Click here to see the article in its entirety.

Chickering, A.W, and Gamson, Z.F. (1987). "Seven
Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education." AAHE Bulletin
39(7), 3-7.

Extending the Classroom with the Internet

While most people who think of online learning think of it in terms of distance learning, I would argue that the best use of online learning is actually in the classroom, or, more specifically, in connection with it, as an online supplement for the traditional course.

My first experience with “online learning” happened over 10 years ago when I decided to create a supplemental website for a Freshman Composition course I was teaching. It started out as just a spiffed up version of the syllabus I had handed out on the first day of class, but I soon realized that I wasn’t bound by paper limitations. I didn’t have to economize my use of space anymore.

I started supplementing my “page” with images and links to additional resources. After awhile, I started putting assignments online, saving paper and, perhaps more importantly, the time I had been spending in line at the copy machine. Then, I started using threaded discussion boards and even chat rooms.

Of course, doing all of this from scratch took time: both in learning how to do it and learning all the kinds of things I could do. However, my ultimate goal was to improve the learning opportunities for my students, to expand the pedagogical possibilities of my classroom.
I soon learned that the more substance I was able to give to my site, the more students took advantage of those opportunities. In fact, one month my website had over 60,000 hits, so there were definitely opportunities. The important thing, however, is that I was giving them things to do once they got there.

All of this combined to elevate not only the level of class discussions, in person and online, but also the level of student performance on papers, projects, and exams.

Of course, it took time for me to discover the various pedagogical applications of Internet technology, and there are plenty more applications out there or on the horizon for all of us to discover. But what I find most important in all if this is that the Internet is a resource of virtually limitless possibilities, and the more we are able to take advantage of those possibilities for our students, the better teachers we will be. And our students will be the ones who benefit.