When you click this button, does it take you to your personal Gmail account? In theory, this button should redirect you to your NMC configured email account. If you have logged into your personal Gmail account on the same machine that you are trying to access your...
4 x 4 x 16 Challenge Articles
Robert Goulet and Aurora Borealis; Only Connect
Do you believe there is something germinal to our lives? Is there something planted in us, perhaps even before there was an us (imagine that one!), something of eternal weightiness, our uniqueness, the reason for OUR being here, OUR being human, which welcomes our...
My students can’t write! Part 4: Grading and Rubrics
The dreaded pile of papers. We assign writing with high hopes, walk our students through the process, give feedback and direction at every step, and then it all comes down to that: one giant stack for us to wrangle. Instructors sometimes avoid assigning papers just...
Enough, But Not Too Much: Discussing Significant Learning Outcomes
Writing an effective and appropriate Significant Learning Outcome is in some ways similar to creating a work of art. You have to know what to put, where to put it, and when to stop before you put too much on your page. See the video below for one version of what a...
What Should Learning Be?
Well, learning, from a behaviorists standpoint, is a persistent and measurable alteration in an organism's behavior. We know we can measure the alteration in behavior fairly easily in our own test subjects (i.e. students). Give them some form of assessment and "see"...
Learning to Teach Online by Taking Massive Open Online Courses
One of the assignments for the Teaching Solutions Class was to participate in a “M.O.O.C”, which stands for massive open online course. These college level courses are offered free or for a small fee. The student receives a completion certificate when all of the...
Learning is Loud!
The Mark & Helen Osterlin Library is the loudest library I have ever worked. This past week it has been even louder than usual. Maybe it’s the early snow or lack of sunlight, but there is definitely a loud vibe going on in the NMC library. We are a pretty...
A picture is worth a thousand words
A picture is worth a thousand words. I received a submission for a writing assignment today via email. It was a picture, included as an attachment, showing a handwritten homework assignment, taken with the smartphone, at arm’s-length. I have received three...
Understood Betsy
Have you ever read the book Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield? It is a children’s book, but is has a lot to say about education and learning. It is about a very timid, unobserving child, Betsy (Elizabeth Ann), who changes into a brave, problem-solving girl due to a...