Teaching Online Classes from a War Zone

The Chronicle of Higher Education has an interesting article about Cheryl J. Wachenheim, a North Dakota State University instructor of agribusiness and applied economics, who chose to continue teaching an online economics class while on active duty as a captain in the Minnesota Army National Guard stationed in Balad, Iraq. She comments on the challenges and benefits of teaching and interacting with her students from a war zone. We often think about the benefits that online teaching and technology extend in terms of flexibility to students, but it's also interesting to think about the possibilities online learning can present to educators and the challenging circumstances in which online learning can still prevail.

Lessons Learned from the Global Campus

Inside Higher Education has an interesting article about the demise of the University of Illinois Global Campus online education, degree-granting, for-profit project. It sounds like the model they embraced - to take course content crafted by experienced on campus faculty and have less experienced, less expensive faculty teach that content - was at the heart of the problem. One of the commenters in the article, Nicholas C. Burbules, a Urbana-Champaign educational policy professor, spoke about how online education is not just a different mode of delivery of on-campus course content. It sounds like the university is now moving in the direction of examining current successful online programs and building those programs into something bigger. This is something to consider when building distance and online classes - instead of just thinking about taking curriculum that works in the in-class environment and delivering it virtually, perhaps this points in the direction of considering what instruction has proved very sucessful (maybe even more sucessful than in the physical classroom) and how can we build up the strength of and expand online learning from those examples.

Computer Literacy Does Not Equal Research Literacy

In the article "Not Enough Time in the Library" from the Chronicle of Higher Education, Todd Gilman makes a case for why it is not enough just to give students (even digital natives) the technology and tools to do research; they still need research education provided by librarians. He writes, "Research education involves getting students to understand how information is organized physically in libraries, as well as electronically in library catalogs and in powerful, sometimes highly specialized commercial databases." This is critical for students hoping to "function effectively in our information-driven economy." Gilman suggests several ways faculty can work with the library to bolster research skills including dedicating class time to practicing search strategies, taking a tour, reinforcing a lesson with a library assignment, and encouraging students to use library materials in support of their class work. The ECC Library is happy to work with any faculty member interested in incorporating library instruction to strengthen their students' research skills in either the online or physical classroom.

New G.I. Bill may drive up online enrollments!

Learn about the new Post-9/11 GI Bill legislation which has a special provision for veterans choosing to enroll online programs at colleges. This new GI Bill will go in effect this August and can be used for courses that are completely online. Learn how much ECC veteran students can expect to receive on average!

Can Continuing Education drive Distance Learning?

This article by Enid Burns, ClickZ, reviews findings from Penn State University Office of Outreach Marketing and the Communications and University Continuing Education Association. Within this article is information concerning how Continuing Education drives Distance Learning enrollments. Information including the projected rates of growth for Distance Learning within the next 10 years is included.

TechSmith's Education Community Blog

TechSmith is the maker of such academic technologies as Snagit, Camtasia Studio and Jing. They've just lauched a new Education Community blog and website. The purpose of the blog is to provide a place where educators can share stories and examples of how they are using TechSmith products. It may prove a good place to pick up an idea or two to use in your classes.

YouTube EDU and TeacherTube Brings Free Education to the Masses

YouTube has released a new sub-site called YouTube EDU aggregating thousands of free lectures from over a hundred universities across the country, including MIT, Yale, Harvard, Stanford, and many more.


Another online community that provides the sharing of instructional videos is called TeacherTube. Their goal is to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners. It is a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill.

Radio Brings Great Learning to Portable Electronic Devices

I've long thought that This American Life (by WBEZ Public Radio in Chicago) provides an incredible opportunity for students to better understand how different issues affect real people. On face value, Economics, Business, Psychology, Sociology, Education, Science, Literature, Poetry...all are represented in one of the best radio shows ever created. All current shows, and most of the past shows (if not all) are available from their archives.

Note: I've heard the host of This American Life, Ira Glass, is a fan of RadioLab (from WNYC in New York). I figured if my favorite radio host likes something, I should check it out. These two shows have got to be the best information/education shows on radio. Check out RadioLab's show on the evolution of reproduction...very funny and very informative.