Seeing Through New Eyes

I've been working on creating a review rubric/quality rubric for online educational resources lately. I did a small study in the spring that helped inform us more on the subject. But I've been thinking about the definition of quality. From our rubric I am thinking quality is relative. It depends on the context and dips into Brown's idea of the teacher knowing what they need and adapting the resources (whether that means changing the resource or padding it) to fit their needs. I think a rubric that helps someone assess whether an online resource is of high quality really is for helping teachers (or anyone) assess the basic pieces of the resource so they can then adapt (as needed) the resource to fit into their classroom; where they put the resource into context so the resource has a quality purpose. Of course, there are going to be some resources that just won't fit into what a teacher wants. So for those I would say they are a bad fit. I don't think that necessaril...

As I think more and more about what direction to go for my dissertation, I am stepping back to look at what I am doing right now and why. As an undergraduate I had the notion that the professors were there to fill me up with all this great information. Once I graduated I realized that the sponge idea is an attitude. A bad attitude. As a student (and student is very broadly defined as anyone in the world willing to learn anything), I need to take control of my own learning. Professors and other teachers are there as experts to guide me in my learning. I tried to approach my masters program with this attitude, but found myself slipping into sponge mode often. Ah, perhaps that is why I am still in school. I just haven't learned yet how to take control of my education and thought I'd have another go at it (laugh, that's a joke). Anyway, as I began my doctoral work, I found an idea that I'd never heard before that answers my question of motivation. Although it can be controv...

Sitting on a search committee in a university setting is an interesting experience. I've had this opportunity in the Library, but recently in the INST Department. They are looking for a couple of new faculty members. Having some new insights into this process is a great learning experience for me and I appreciate the opportunity to be part of it. As I move forward in my program, I find it is becoming easier and easier to have intelligent conversations with members of my committee. I'm sure most of that has to do with me feeling more confident to have these conversations. But I think it also has to do with more opportunities to generate ideas for creating and studying aspects of education. This next year is going to be very exciting as I continue with my course work. We are doing fun and exciting research in the DL Connect group and things at work are starting to move forward in a new direction (which is exciting but a lot of work).