Learning via Discussion
“I cannot teach anyone anything. I can only make them think” –Socrates My students impress me in so many ways, and one is in their verbal abilities. While working with students in a testing situation, I offer the opportunity to verbally explain answers to test...
Learning for Life
In my high school, there was a statement over the entrance way that read, “Learn not for school, but for life.” I think the best gift of being an educator is that we have the ability to learn from every student, every peer, every day. I know that is a journey that...
OER Pilot
OER = Open Educational Resources made freely and legally available on the Internet for anyone to reuse, revise, remix and redistribute. The Friday Forum held on November 7th, 2014 involved a discussion and review of OERs and the official introduction of the OER pilot...
From Captain Kirk to Gandalf the White; What’s An Educator To Do?
I grew up with a brother who was and is a Trekkie. On a normal day, after school and football practice, he was found glued to the TV set watching the most recent episode of Star Trek. Not only was he glued, but he ran with a crowd in our high school who were also...
Copyright Videos in Your Moodle Shell? Important Please Read
As we learn more about copyright and our responsibility at NMC to be in compliance, Educational Media Technologies has been working to develop a process for how copyright videos are used in courses. Because use of online materials falls under the TEACH Act, please see...
Promoting Student Engagement With Online Classes
I have found it difficult to have students interact with each other when I teach online. When I did the Teaching Solution Boot Camp, one of the assignments was to have a “teaching presence”. I learned that I should have a picture of me outside of the teaching role, so...
Tech Tips: Searching for Specific Emails on Gmail
A Quick Guide on Searching for Specific emails on Gmail Tired of looking through endless lists for that one email? “What did we decide in that email conversation?” Then look no more. Here is a quick guide on how to search for those particular emails. To find that one...
Student Friendships: Worth the risk?
Ryein was a student worker in the library. He was a non-traditional student, army reservist from a troubled family but had a heart of gold. We came from two different worlds but somehow we became friends during our evening shift together. He helped me to remember...
I don’t understand what you don’t understand
“I don’t understand what you don’t understand.” A conversation was occurring in the classroom as I walked in. A student was attempting to help another with a drawing in the text. It was not clear to one, and the other thought it was obvious. It reminded me of a...
The National Debt
I have been having my MTH 120 students ponder the $17 trillion national debt. They have been using formulas for simple interest, compound interest, and debt repayment along with dimensional analysis to answer a variety of questions about the debt. Simple Interest I =...