Kon-Tiki Kind of Times
This weekend I watched the movie Kon-Tiki with my family. Having never read it, I found the whole thing new, and wonderfully so. Thor Heyerdahl and his bride, Liv, are beginning their marriage on Fatu Hiva, near the Polynesian Islands. The question...
My Extra Credit Assignment: StoryCorps’ Great Thanksgiving Listen
Today in my ENG 99 class, I introduced an extra credit assignment for over the Thanksgiving weekend. The assignment is for students to download the StoryCorps app and record an interview this weekend with someone special in their lives. Then, they can join thousands...
Paperless Grading
Moodle attendance feature. I do not use the attendance feature to take attendance, I use it to grade my students’ Prepare Activities. In Moodle, the instructor can set up the attendance feature however she wants. I have it set up with a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 scale. I set...
The Students I’m Thankful For
I’m thankful for the students who are on-time and have all their work done, every time, because I can depend on them to help move a discussion along. I’m thankful for the students who are late and don’t have their work done, because at least they are making the effort...
Stoking the Pipeline
There are certain disciplines I have encountered on my life journey that have proved invaluable in framing challenges far outside the scope of their fields. Economics was one, with its emphasis on modeling interconnected systems using statistics and calculus in an...
Accessibility Lunch and Learn Sessions
Mark your calendars and join us for some upcoming Lunch and Learn sessions focusing on the how to's of making your online course materials accessible to all your students. All sessions will be held in Osterlin 113, Noon-1:00pm: October 13 - Moodle & Images....
Changing the Mindset
Have you ever felt like why do I need to know all of that? This very thing happened to me this weekend while I was working on an assignment for my class at Ferris State University. It made me think about all of the classes I have had in the past. I thought about...
Welcome Kay Harris: Curriculum & Instructional Designer
Kay Harris comes to NMC with a rich educational background. She recently completed the Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership degree and Specialist in Education in General Education Administration in Higher Education from Central Michigan University. Her...
Three Laws of Physics…
Each of us can easily apply the formula F = MA to student learning - think of an instructor, a student, and learning that happens. The electrical law E = IR (electromotive force = current times resistance) is just as easy to apply. However, both formulas assume...
Phubbing & Nomophobia: lol, but seriously tho
I’ve had a few interesting interactions recently around behaviors stemming from our use (and overuse) of technology and the subsequent new terminology that has crept into our lexicon. We’ve had our go-round in recent years with words like ‘hashtag’, ‘photobomb’,...