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WHERE’S THE MEAT IN THIS SANDWICH?

4/30/2013

2 Comments

 
 
Tamar Lewis has an important article on the front page of today’s New York Times, “Colleges Adapt Online Courses to Ease Burden  “ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/education/colleges-adapt-online-courses-to-ease-burden.html?ref=education.

I’ll comment more on it in due course but here’s her starting point:  “…the gritty task of harnessing online materials to meet the toughest challenge in American higher education: giving more students access to college, and helping them graduate on time.”

Are those really the “toughest challenge in American higher education“? Or are they two slices of white  bread around what should be  the meat in the sandwich – getting students to engage and learn.  Without student engagement and learning access to college doesn’t mean much and graduation rates are not likely to rise from their current dismal levels.

 There is plenty of evidence that student engagement and learning need to rise throughout higher education. That, in my opinion, is the toughest challenge.  Let’s get it in focus first, and judge technologies and innovations by whether they contribute to it or not.

2 Comments
Elizabeth Dunn
5/6/2013 04:05:14 am

And the good news is that creative faculty ARE looking for new and better ways to get students engaged in learning. More professors in all disciplines are coming to realize that the most important aspects of learning include fueling student imagination and creativity along with demonstrating the pleasures of intellectual curiosity. And to do this linked to reliable delivery and student comprehension of course content.
One group making headway is a national consortium of colleges and universities of all sorts called Reacting to the Past. The Reacting pedagogy puts students in charge of learning with faculty as "coaches" and then holds students accountable to rigorous standards --not just for course content but for learning behavior. Just search for Reacting to the Past--see what they are up to.

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Bob Connor
5/6/2013 06:07:12 am

Coincidence. Just before reading this comment I was emailing with Judith Shapiro who says she is just finishing her Reacting to the Past course on the French Revolution. She is a great fan of the project and I am too. It should be widely adopted and adapted. Real meat there!

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