There is an excellent story of Dr. Arnold Mitchem who just stepped down as head of the Council on Opportunity in Education in the Chronicle of Higher Education. It is quite a story of overcoming adversity and dedicating his life to helping the "forgotten" students, those who are first-generation and poor, with their educational success and future contributions to society. The article concludes with an excellent timeline of both the history of TRiO and also the fight for equality in education.
California Basic Skills Completion Practices to Increase Student Success
The following is from the document and states its purpose. I highly recommend it for reading on practical resource guide. Click on the following link to open the document and download it if you like. [Open Document] I think it is important to consider as we rethink the future of learning assistance and developmental education programs.
"This document is intended to be a practical resource guide for faculty, administrators, and staff to use as they develop, modify, and adapt data-supported and scalable programs and projects on their campuses. These programs include orientation, helping students learn to help themselves, classroom interventions, and course redesigns. Each year, the 112 California Community Colleges receive supplemental Basic Skills Initiative funding. Our hope is that this resource will help our colleges research, plan and implement programs and practices that will assist their students. This resource is neither a research paper nor a thought piece. It is also not a step-by-step “how to.” Instead, the resource is a guide to assist colleges in developing and implementing action plans for using their Basic Skills Initiative funds and any other available funding to increase student success. We encourage colleges to use these funds to institutionalize successful programs and practices and we discourage colleges’ use to implement new pilot programs that cannot be scaled up or sustained long term."
Two Year Colleges Experiment with MOOCs to Replace Developmental-Level Courses.
The lead story in Inside HigherEd focused on several community colleges that were experimenting with MOOCs to replace the need for offering traditional face-to-face developmental-level courses. [Click here for link to article] While experimentation with online delivery of developmntal-level courses dates back several decades, the stories features stories of community colleges developing MOOCs. Most of the attention about MOOCs has focused on large colleges and universities developing alliances with Courseara and others.
The surpirse to me is the modest funds being placed into the development of these MOOCs. There also seems pride in developing courses for the least cost. Several of the features colleges are using open educational resoucres such as Khan Academy to build their courses. Some of the courses have been developed by the instrituion, others received modest $50,000 grants from the Gates Foundation. I am old enough to remember when the Anneberg Foundation funded online courses development for PBS in the 1980s. Development costs for a single course might exceed $10 million or more.
Experimentation is a good thing. While I have great doubts about the efficacy of MOOCs (or any online instruction) to serve the needs of the least prepared students, I am even more worried to see the paucity of funding for their development. I hope the experiment does not turn into a disaster and results in lack of success for the most vulnerable of college students.
Disruptive Innovation: Embedding Learning Technology into the Classroom (Kellogg Institute Workshop)
On July 15 and 16 I presented a workshop at the Kellogg Institute on embeding learning technology within the classroom and campus learning center. Click on this link to connect with a special web page that contains all the handouts, PP slides, and web links to other resources. Most of the technologies shared are those I actually use with my gobal history course at the University of Minnesota. Others are ones that I plan to pilot text over the upcoming years.
One basic principle to remember when contemplating use of a new learning technology is a basic one, why? How will the technology help achieve student outocmes better than what is currently used? How difficult will it be for the instructor and the students to use the technology? Students have told me repeatedly that they like learning technology in the classroom as long as it is meaningful. Never make the assumtion that it is easy for students to use without tutorials and support. It is a learning curve for both the instructor and the students.
I am geeky by nature, but make a point to conduct focus groups with students before I introduce new technologies into the classroom. These focus groups often give me insights into new emerging technologies that they are using that could be adapated for use within the classroom. It has taken me a decade to add the learning technolgoies into my class, generally no more than one new thing during an academi semester. I hope you find one or two ideas to experiment with from all the materials provided through this web site. Best wishes with your work.
Embedding Universal Learning Design in the Classroom Workshop, Maricopa Community College System, June 4, 2013
On June 4th I conducted a workshop with a group of educators from the Maricopa Community College System in Arizona on how to embed Universal Learning Design in the Classroom and within Student Services. Below are links to some of the resources shared during the workshop that help explore this topic.
Click on this web link for a separate web page of all the resources shared during the conference.
Additional resources are available through a blog page maintained on this topic. The web site contains audio interviews with some peer study group leaders, links to online resources, and links to training programs from nationally-known organizations. Click on the following web link, PALgroups.
Intentional Teaching Conference, 05/22/13, Eau Claire, WI
On Wednesday May 22, 2013 th I provided an online presentation for a 2nd annual gathering of Wisconsin college developmental educators and others involved with college student success. The host institution was Chippewa Valley Technical College. The following items were referenced through the keynote and concurrent presentations and may be helpful as the reader explores this topic. Click on the web link to download.
Additional resources are available through a blog page maintained on this topic. The web site contains audio interviews with some peer study group leaders, links to online resources, and links to training programs from nationally-known organizations. Click on the following web link, PALgroups.
2012 OADE Conference Keynote Talk Resources
Greetings,
I have taught history courses for over three decades. It has been a long journey to provide a better learning environment for my students. Universal Learning Design allows me to embed best practices of learning assistance and developmental education inside my classroom. I am responsible for doing my part to support student success rather than just sending students down the hall and across the campus to locate tutoring or study group programs.
It is a delight to share some resources related to my online keynote talk I shared Friday morning. The following items are available to download.
Click on this link for PowerPoint slide handout of the presentation.
Click on this link to download ULD book edited by Higbee and Goff
Take care,
David