Multicultural Competency within Student Study Groups

We are creating draft training materials on increasing multicultural competency among the study group leaders here at the University of Minnesota. You are invited to review the draft document and provide comments, http://z.umn.edu/competency. Please email your comments directrly to me at arendale@umn.edu While I have reviewed the many wonderful video training programs on cultural diversity, appreciating difference, and the rest, I am looking for training materials that are targeted for people working in academic support groups. I welcome your reaction to this very draft version of the materials. Thanks for the consideration.

Video Interview How I Use Learning Technology in My Class

Allison Link, one of the Technology Fellows attached to our academic department, interviewed me about how I use learning technology in my global history and culture course. Click on the following link to watch the 10 minute video hosted on YouTube. Please share your comments about your experiences with using learning technology in your classroom as a comment to this blog posting. I look forward to the conversation. Link for Video Interview with David Arendale.

Using Social Media in My Introductory Global History Course

With class size increasing in an introductory global history course, more academic support was needed to support students achieving high grades and engagement. Universal Learning Design (ULD) provided the guiding educational theory for using this pedagogical approach to make course content accessible through alternative formats and for all students in a class.

Objectives for students enrolled in course included increasing engagement with the learning process through direct involvement with producing and sharing new information related to the course; stimulating learning through use of emerging technology-based learning venues; building a sense of community by involving students in teaching one another; empowering students to become co-producers of the learning process and the outcomes; and increasing measurable student outcomes, such as lower rates of course withdrawal and higher final course grades.

Interactive Social Media Channels Used by Instructors and Students

iPad. Students use iPads to complete readings (paper textbook eliminated), audio and video files, and create a group visual history project through an ePub for their iPad.

Podcasting. http://iTunes.com For the past five years, podcasts, audio or video recordings delivered automatically to a subscriber through their computer, iPod, or smartphone. Students co-create weekly enhanced audio podcasts to review course material, interview history informants, and create international-themed music programs. The history course podcast is called Then and Now, http://thenandnow.org Weekly podcast episodes provide a review of class topics, exam preparation, interviews with people with life experiences related to class history events, and music reflective of cultures studied during the course. A key for the podcast was that it was co-produced by the course instructor and the students. Individual episodes can be downloaded or free subscription through iTunes. Nearly 200 episodes have been produced during the past five years.

Animoto. http://animoto.com/education Instructor uses online music video software to create reviews of critical slides from the PP presentations for exam review. Students create history music videos of topics of high interest to themselves. Users have the ability to upload digital photos, use the Animoto free music library, add text and title slides, and the online service does the mixing of the videos. Highly professional videos with sophisticated transitions created. Up to 50 free unlimited accounts are available for students in a class each semester. Anyone can obtain a free license to create limited, 30-second music videos. Contact the company to make a request at the web address identified above.

Xtranormal. http://www.xtranormal.com/ Instructor uses the online animation software to create short dialogues among historical characters to illustrate major concepts reviews in the course. Educators can obtain an unlimited license for creating the animated videos. Others can make short ones for free and pay a fee for longer ones. An example was created by the course instructor of a fictional dialogue between Adam Smith, an early proponent of capitalism and Karl Marx, co founder of socialism. The short animated video is available through YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnRNXVLu3ek

Twitter. Instructor alerts students to relevant news stories related to class topics. The history course Twitter feed is http://twitter.com/pstl1251

iPad TV apps. Free apps permit watching during class TV news stories produced in France (France24), Middle East and England with bureaus worldwide (Al Jazeera, BBC).

Wiki Web Page. Students create an exam review web site before major exams. UMN Google Sites is used to host the web site, http://myworldhistory.org

UMConnect. http://www.oit.umn.edu/umconnect/ Use for online interactive study review sessions before major exams. A previous recorded session is available at https://netfiles.umn.edu/users/arend011/PsTL%201251/Exam%20Two%20Review.mov

For more information contact David Arendale, Associate Professor, Co-Director Jandris Center for Innovative Higher Education; University of MN, College of Education & Human Development, Postsecondary Teaching & Learning Department, Burton Hall 225, 178 Pillsbury Drive, SE, Mpls, MN 55455; 612-625-2928; arendale@umn.edu http://arendale.org; http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidarendale

Civil Rights, Equity Issues, and Learning Assistance

Do students have a right to sufficient academic support at every higher edu­cation institution? Are students’ civil rights abridged when the services are not offered? This controversial issue probes the need for learning assistance, credit and noncredit, at all institutions because of issues of equity and equal access. Reframing learning assistance for this purpose expands the need for compre­hensive services. Because education is considered a reserved right of the states, federal civil rights laws do not currently apply, but the question of whether this equity issue is covered by the equal opportunity clause of the U.S. Con­stitution is open to debate and potential litigation. In addition, the original federal charters for land-grant institutions specified service to all students resid­ing in a state. Many such colleges and universities have instituted selective admission policies excluding automatic admission of any resident student, and it raises similar equity issues (Ancheta, 2007).

Learning assistance services such as developmental courses are essential for students experiencing extreme academic difficulty in one or more academic content areas. These students are often from low socioeconomic or other groups that have been historically underrepresented in postsecondary education. Walpole (2007) names them “economically and educationally challenged.” This controversy changes the issue from whether these students benefit from learn­ing assistance to a question of whether failure to provide access programs violates their civil rights because they need these services for success (Miksch, 2005, 2008). A legal term describing absence of services for one population while available to another is “disproportionate impact.” Does failing to provide essen­tial learning assistance services at the institution of choice for these students affect them more negatively than the larger student population that is better academically prepared because they come from privileged backgrounds?

When students attended U.S. colleges in the 1700s and 1800s, academic preparatory academies and remedial and developmental courses were offered at all institutions, even elite private colleges. These offerings were necessary as a result of nonexistent or poor-quality private or public education. When privi­leged students were able to access quality public or private education before col­lege, many institutions curtailed or eliminated developmental courses. The “new students” often represent first-generation college students, students of color, and those underprepared academically because they attended poorly funded and underperforming urban or rural public school districts (Kozol, 1991).

Based on the largest national study on learning assistance, one-third of stu­dents enrolled in developmental courses are students of color, mostly African Americans and Hispanic Americans (Boylan, Bonham, and Bliss, 1994). At two-year institutions, 29 percent of students enrolled in these courses were African American and Hispanic American. The proportion grew to 37 percent at four-year institutions. The removal of these courses at four-year colleges and universities significantly affects students of color, as they are more likely to enroll than white students (Boylan, Bonham, and Bliss, 1994). African American stu­dents are more than twice as likely to enroll in these classes at two-year insti­tutions, compared with their proportion of the student population. At four-year institutions, the rate soars to three times more likely to enroll in the courses (Boylan, Bonham, and Bliss, 1994).

If students from economically and educationally challenged backgrounds are admitted to an institution with selective admission policies, they are often denied the same services previously provided to an earlier generation of priv­ileged students at the same institution. Why is it acceptable to treat these two student populations differently? Both had the same need because of inade­quate secondary school education. Why was it necessary to provide develop­mental courses for the first group in the past but deny those same services to the second group from economically and educationally challenged back­grounds in this generation?

Failure of these students to complete higher education is a concern not only for them and their families. Society pays a heavy price economically and socially for their failure (Belfield and Levin, 2007; Bowen, Chingos, and McPherson, 2009). This failure is another reason that learning assistance is a public policy issue.

Miksch (2005) investigates unequal availability of college preparatory and Advanced Placement programs in U.S. high schools. The majority of well-funded suburban public schools offer these programs, while less than half of high schools in rural and urban areas do. These courses are essential for suc­cessfully passing AP examinations that colleges use for awarding free college credit and fulfill other first-year classes without expense or time. This advan­tage is denied to those not taking or passing AP examinations because of inac­cessibility to college preparatory classes. A trained attorney and education policy expert, Miksch concludes, “this access to AP is a critical civil right issues” (2005, p. 227). The same principle applies to learning assistance. Curtailment or elimination of learning assistance activities, especially developmental courses, is not a neutral decision by four-year institutions. Providing these ser­vices, including developmental courses, to an earlier generation of privileged white students and then eliminating them for first-generation students from low socioeconomic backgrounds effectively closes the admissions door to them or neglects their needs if they are admitted (Boylan, Saxon, White, and Erwin, 1994). In either case, postsecondary education becomes more stratified and segregated. Cross (1976) argued these courses are essential for affirmative action and educational opportunity.

When access to essential learning assistance services is diminished, new access and equity questions arise. Who belongs in college? Where should they begin their academic career? Should some applicants be permitted to attend college, regardless of its location or level?

40 iPad Apps for Younger Children

In the past I have shared a directory of my favorite (300) iPad apps I find useful personally and as a college educator. <Click to download the free directory.> Recently I received a message from someone that has focused on younger children. I found it quite good and recommend you check it out. <Click to open the document web site.>

From the author's web site: Jill Rooney, Ph.D. is an Education Writer for OnlineColleges.net. After earning an undergraduate degree in Secondary Education and a Ph.D. in History, Dr. Rooney taught History, Political Science, and General Education college courses at state universities, small private colleges, community colleges, and for-profit colleges. An experienced educator with expertise in American politics, Dr. Rooney has also published articles in publications by the Smithsonian Institution, Oxford University Press, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Her teaching experience has taught her that all students really just want one thing: To learn. And that isn't always easy, so she's here to help! We're also on Facebook: join us for more conversation on college life, study tips, career advice, and more!

Call by Dept. of Education for Promising and Practical Strategies

A perfect opportunity has been created for educators to share promising and practical strategies to increase postsecondary success, transfer, and college graduation through the U.S. Department of Education. Please read further how you can share what works with your students and programs with your colleagues nationally. While it is the middle of the academic term and you no doubt have more than a full work load, do not miss the chance to influence other educators and policymakers with what you know for making a difference and demonstrate how your profession has the expertise to increase college success rates. The priority review deadline for submission is April 30th.

The U.S. Department of Education announced at its College Completion Symposium and posted to the Federal Register on January 30, 2012 a Request for Information (RFI) for any person or organization to share with them strategies for increasing college completion that may then be made available through a special web site created by the Department. Submissions received by April 30, 2012 receive priority consideration for dissemination. Click on the following web link for the complete announcement published in the Federal Register, https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2012/01/30/2012-1963/promising-and-practical-strategies-to-increase-postsecondary-success#p-3

It is important in your proposal to stress the unique features of your activity or program. For example, while many schools have a tutoring or mentoring program, what is novel about yours? How are your credit-hour courses different than others? These are some of the questions the RFI asks for the submissions to address.

The Jandris Center for Innovative Higher Education (http://cehd.umn.edu/jandris/) based at the University of Minnesota has volunteered to provide several free hour-long webinars in the near future to share suggestions for completing a submission with examples from others that have already have or in process of completing their document. Announcements about these webinars will be posted to this blog page soon. Based on the regulations from the published announcement in the Federal Register, click on the following web link for suggestions by a Jandris Center staff member for the submission: http://www.besteducationpractices.org/storage/pdf-documents/Summarized%20RFI%20Announcement.pdf

For more official information and technical assistance with the submission, contact Dr. David Soo at the Department of Education, (202) 502-7742, david.soo@ed.gov Information about the Jandris Center is available at http://cehd.umn.edu/jandris/

Department of Education Collecting Strategies to Increase College Completion

The U.S. Department of Education has asked colleges and universities to report on their successful strategies toward achieving President Obama’s goal of the United States having the highest percentage of postsecondary-degree holders in the world by 2020. In a notice scheduled to appear in Monday’s (January 30) Federal Register, the department is reaching out to institutions of higher education, as well as states and nonprofit organizations, for strategies that have worked. The reported best practices, the notice says, will be posted online in due course.

The U.S. Department of Education is convening a one-day symposium on college completion on Monday, Jan. 30, for 50 of the nation’s leading researchers, policy experts, and practitioners from 30 postsecondary institutions to identify evidence-based best practices that work to increase college completion. At 2:30 p.m., Education Secretary Arne Duncan will address the symposium, challenging participants to think creatively about ways to substantially boost college completion.Sessions will highlight ways to support students’ achievement through accelerated programs, learning communities and bridge programs; as well as through advising, coaching and mentoring. The symposium will also focus on affordable and innovative ways to promote completion in an effort to meet President Obama's goal that the United States once again have the highest college attainment rate in the world by 2020.