Higher Ed Experts Predictions for 2021

2020 sure was challenging, difficult, unique, interesting (?), and [insert other adjectives here]. Now that we are in a new year, (but are, sadly, still facing similar issues as we were just a few months ago) WCET is curious what higher education practitioners predict for digital learning and higher education in 2021. We are even …

What We’ve Learned: Getting Comfortable with the Silence

In today's "What We've Learned" video, Matthew Parfitt, one of the authors of , reflects on the pace of student discussion in online classes.  What We've Learned: Getting Comfortable with the Silence

Shadow Courses and Their Impact on Academic Integrity

I explore what shadow courses (also known as ‘parallel courses’) are, how they operate, who offers them, and who takes them.Shadow Courses and Their Impact on Academic Integrity

Is Everyone Thinking? What are they all thinking about? This is THE Key. — teacherhead

“Memory is the residue of thought”. As part of my work with Oldham College, this week we were revisiting the key ideas that underpin our Teaching for Distinction programme. Right at the top is Dan Willingham’s work on memory including this important and famous statement: memory is the residue of thought. It deserves repeated revisiting. […]Is …

Uncertainty as a vital component of learning: making room for the ‘how’ as well as the ‘what’

By Dr Vic Boyd, Academic Development Tutor, Institute for University to Business Education (U2B) Managing uncertainty is an area of expertise for every single member of staff at GCU. Particularly at this time of year as we embark on a new academic session, there are many friendly, familiar unknowns that we have become adept at …

Scaffolding the Class: Mid-Course Corrections

In a recent meeting with instructors teaching gateway/corequisite pairs (both math and English) in a range of hybrid formats (with as little as 10% to as much as 75% online), I heard my colleagues talk about the difficulties students were having in navigating their courses—not just our corequisite or “learning support” courses, but their psychology,…Scaffolding …

We Are (Still) Teaching (Repost of Bedford Bits Blog)

Week 4 of the semester is about to begin—perhaps the most difficult semester I’ve ever had. Nearly eight years ago, I taught a full load of composition and ESL courses at a community college while going through chemotherapy. I wore hats to cover my hair loss, and fatigue kept me seated and perhaps a bit…We …

A Story about Becoming a University Teacher

Living by the Proverb ABSTRACT There seems to be a strong link between developing our identities and storytelling. As humans, we strive for coherence, and this coherence is found in stories (Hermans, 2001). This is an experimental paper telling a story about developing a brave, and authentic self as an educator (teacher) in Higher Education …

Back to School with Integrity: Getting our Priorities Straight

What are you prioritizing as you head back to school?Back to School with Integrity: Getting our Priorities Straight

Workshopping Workshops

The efficacy of asking people to attend workshops so often is debatable. In my own opinion, it is actually counterproductive to what we want to do. With so much information being channeled to people on so many different digital platforms, most of it, I think, cannot be take up and absorbed. It mostly becomes exercises …