by Kevin Alansky
Mark Edmundson, a professor of English at University of Virginia, wrote an Op-Ed called, “The Trouble with Online Education,” which appeared in last week’s New York Times. Timing of the op-ed coincides with UVA’s recent announcement that they would be developing and offering online courses with Coursera. To boil down the article, Edmundson says he thinks of online education as a one size fits all experience, yet thinks of traditional learning experiences as that of a jazz composition. In response, Josh Kim published an open letter to Professor Edmundson exposing some of Professor Edmundson’s incorrect assumptions and confusion, which you can read here: An Open Letter to Professor Edmundson.
by Marc Nobleman
In case you haven’t heard, Jared Slayton is now the proud owner of his very own pink unicorn.
Blackboard’s annual education conference, BbWorld, drew record numbers in 2012 (over 3,500 participants!) Jared, LMS Admin and Help Desk Manager of Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, MI was one of those attendees, and one who participated in the BbWorld scavenger hunt. (No, a pink unicorn was NOT on the list. Stay with me…) Jared became the grand prize winner through his immaculate scavenger hunt skills. When
@blackboard tweeted congratulations to the winners, they forgot one… Jared. And Jared, we learned, is not one to take such an oversight lying down.
He tweeted this:
by Annie Lewis
I was lucky enough to attend the “Julie and Julie” session at BbWorld 2012! Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow, and Julie Young, President & CEO of Florida Virtual School shared their thoughts on Personalized Learning. Both agree that students are looking for ways to use technology in order to make learning more relevant and successful according to their own individual needs, goals, and preferences. And, both mention that children are using mobile phones, social networks, and the internet with such increasing frequency that it is becoming a must for schools to incorporate these tools into a student’s learning, instead of shutting them down.
Can you guess what student profile this describes?
by Jenn
Not only was this year the BIGGEST BbWorld to-date, but it was the best (or at least that’s what we heard from Fernando Valenzuela, President Cengage Learning / National Geographic Learning Latin America).
@FerVal100 Want to see how the World has changed? Just compare the tweet activity from #BbW12 to #BbW11 you will be amazed @Blackboard @michaelchasen
Last week was a whirlwind of fun activities, engaging sessions, and keynotes full of big announcements. So, we thought we’d refresh your memory with highlights – and if you weren’t there, hopefully this will make you feel like you were a part of BbWorld 2012!
by Katie Drossos
Today’s digital natives – those who have had access to computers, cell phones, email, and other forms of technology since birth – expect their professors to integrate media into the curriculum to augment learning in the classroom.
Kaltura, a market-leading open source online video platform and a Blackboard Premier Partner, helps universities deliver on this expectation by allowing faculty to easily create, edit and upload videos with a click of a button. Once the videos are uploaded to the platform, students can view the videos from any device in any location.
