E-Learning and Online Teaching

The self-assessment is now available. The feedback has been enhanced (this will be an on-going process) and the tool has been tested, thanks to the Admissions Director, Rob W. Coffman, and Admissions Counselors Andrea Williard and Keith Eopechino at Penn State Harrisburg. I acknowledge with appreciation the feedback and input from Robin Gill at DuBois, the student advisers at the World Campus, the Schreyer Institute,  Laura Brown in the Division of Undergraduate Studies, and the many institutions I tapped for valid content. Thanks to all of you.

Remember the dreaded volunteer call from your classes in school? The fearful point during the period when the teacher asks, "Who wants to come up to the front to demonstrate?" Remember the awkward silence, the shifting in the chairs, the sidelong glances that seem to say, "no WAY am I going up there—why don't YOU go?"

It's common even in the digital age, if not more common thanks to our ability to lose ourselves within personal tech and cover our identities better than ever before. Technology is something of a security blanket for those unwilling or unable to, as the saying goes, put themselves out there.

But it's not just about how things have changed; it's also about what hasn't changed in our educational approaches. William Johnson delves into the real reasons why we're still afraid to risk the public scrutiny of standing up in front of our classroom peers in this article he wrote appearing on gothamschools.org.

posted by Ian Jukes
Mar 31, 2012

I've been a fan of Czikszentmihaly for a number of years.  I've experienced stated of flow while writing and working on my Internet project.    Following his ideas I found that using music helped me induce this state of hyper concentration.  Honestly, I associate Czikszentmihaly work with finding your passions in life.  Could we help our students find their passsions?  Chances go up when you understand this research.  (A good TED Video is an important part of this post. 

By Jackie Gerstien: When I first heard about Czikszentmihalyi’s “Flow” concept and research, I became quite intrigued with this research.  Its face validity immediately resonated with me.  I always...

n all the bustle to create a harmonious relationship between today's teachers and the digital learning environment, we forgot all about some tips for the most important ones of all—the students! Well, thankfully Heather Wolpert-Gawron remembered when she wrote this great article for Edutopia which offers some good learning tips for our digital kids.

In the following article from Daily Good, Leo Babauta, author and creator of the blog Zenhabits, states the following:

"Unfortunately, I was educated in a school system that believed the world in which it existed would remain essentially the same, with minor changes in fashion. We had no idea what the world had in store for us. And here's the thing: we still don't."