EduGeek Journal

If you have worked in education long enough, chances are that you have had to deal with student threats. A typical scenario in online courses usually unfolds like this: a student disappears from class for a while and misses several assignments. This student appears again after the last day of class and begs to be allowed [...]

“Recent studies suggest that laptops in class detract from lecture-based learning” Lecture-based learning?  Isn’t that an oxymoron?  How much can you really learn by sitting and soaking?  :) Okay, so I’m showing my constructivism bias here.  The article I am reading, Can I have your half-attention, please?, actually is an interesting read about how instructors [...]

Educators are grappling with how to deal with some of the problems that arise when students and teachers use online social networks such as FaceBook. No one is going to get it perfect to start with. So, while we are shaking these tools out and trying to learn what is good and what is wrong, [...]

I read an interesting article on Wired Campus today called “What Happens When a Course Is Taught Entirely via YouTube?” The basic idea was that a class was taught entirely through YouTube – class interactions were filmed and posted, discussions happened through comments, etc. Of course, this design does violate just about every Instructional Design [...]

Yes, I am referring to The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman… and I must admit that I have not (yet) read it. I have been to a large number of conferences and blogs that discuss this book – some praising it, and some disagreeing with it. I think the book sounds interesting, and [...]

This is the third post in a series examining this topic. See the first two posts for background and a brief disclaimer that sets the stage for this discussion. So, I’ve been going on about how we need to save the Learning Management System. I gave a list of things that need to happen with [...]

This is the second post in a series examining this topic. See the first post for background and a brief disclaimer that sets the stage for this discussion. As I mentioned in a previous post, there are several concepts in the “Death to the LMS” campaign that I agree with. Here is a list of [...]

First of all, I want to preface this with a reality check: I am only talking about ideal situations here. I realize that many educators are hampered from realizing the ideal due to budgetary constraints. I am a huge supporter of doing the best with what you can get. I love creative solutions. But I [...]

Like it or not, the great copy protection debate is sucking education into it’s vast void of murky confusion. Fair Use law or suggestions or whatever they are supposed to be called in education have been poorly defined and confusingly tricky for decades. Now we get the pleasure of murking it up even more with [...]

Teach42.com reported yesterday about a new study by the National School Boards Association and Grunwald Associates LLC that explored the online behaviors of teens and ‘tweens’ in the United States. The press release can be found here, and the report itself can be read here. The report contains a wealth of information that can be [...]