28 Matching Annotations
  1. Jul 2016
    1. “If a person is alone in the forest when a tree falls, but they don’t notice it because they’re texting, does it still count as solitude?”

      But what if they are taking a selfie in the forest when the tree falls? Then do they have solitude with their selfie?

    2. Since that foundation was laid, times have changed, as have the possibilities for “being with” others.

      As a stay at home mom there have been times where I have been lonely but haven't had any solitude. Engaging online has helped the former but not the latter.

    1. Maybe it is this lack of summative assessment that motivates, in part, instances of honesty in open a

      It is nice knowing that I can be honest or responsive according to my thought process without having an assessment motive behind it. I feel more compelled to learn for more professional reasons.

  2. Jun 2016
    1. And this is what I mean when I say that it would be a mistake to think that what I do is digital. What I do is human

      The digital is just a tool like a pencil or a ruler. Its always been about the student.

    1. the textbook company Pearson Education recently penned an op-ed attacking the idea that open educational resources (which are produced on an emergent, open-source model) could ever compete with the factory precision of a company like Pearson.

      I think it is odd that Pearson is fighting the inevitable instead finding a way to profit from this.

    1. My decision not to formally assess learners’ participation

      Thank you! I lose some of my enthusiasm for class material when I have had requirements for reading responses/participation.

    2. It appears as if personal identification (and, in some cases, concern) may be related to comfort owning learning in the open:

      Concern about what exactly? It's terrible that people feel like they can't freely express themselves in a platform such as this.

    1. People often ask me how students can create textbooks when they are only just beginning to learn about the topics that the textbooks cover.  My answer to this is that unlike many other scholarly materials, textbooks are primarily designed to be accessible to students– to new scholars in a particular academic area or sub-specialty.  Students are the perfect people to help create textbooks, since they are the most keenly tuned in to what other students will need in order to engage with the material in meaningful ways.

      This is a great question and a great answer. I like that the material is broken down or related-able to the students. But, is there a point when a more experienced person might be able to explain the concepts better?

    1. From this perspective, reading has become equative with slowing down and stepping away. And, in a problematic sense, this understanding has lead to reading being relegated to an act of purposeful (yet temporary) disengagement with the rest of the world.

      This is why I love pleasure reading so much. I want to disengage with the world. But, there is a distinction between reading for academic purposes and for pleasure and students should learn this lesson.