CURRENT ARTICLE • September 17

Twitter in Higher Education 2010: Usage Habits and Trends of Today’s College Faculty

By: Mary Bart

Is Twitter a powerful learning tool or a colossal waste of time? It depends whom you ask. In its second annual survey on the popular micro-blogging technology, Faculty Focus found a great divide in how professors perceive Twitter, including whether it should be used in the classroom or is best reserved for networking with peers.

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OTHER RECENT ARTICLES

Twitter Usage Among College Faculty is on the Rise

By: Mary Bart

Results of our second annual survey on Twitter usage and trends in higher education are now available. The survey of nearly 1,400 college faculty members found that more than a third (35.2 percent) of the 1,372 respondents use Twitter in some capacity. That’s an increase from 30.7 percent in 2009.

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Curricular Design Problems

Dan Klionsky makes some excellent points in a letter to the editor published in Cell Biology Education. He’s objecting to how departments design curricula. He’s writing about biology, but what concerns him doesn’t just happen in biology.

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Assistive Technologies Improve Access to Learning

By: Mary Bart

Earlier this summer the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) marked its 20th anniversary. The landmark civil rights legislation, which protects and strengthens the rights of individuals with disabilities, has helped ensure a more inclusive educational system and society as a whole.

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Being Ariadne: Helping Students Find Their Way

Thinking and writing metaphorically is often a recommended way to clarify one’s approach to teaching. Having a particular mental image provides a reference point, or compass, to guide teaching decisions and actions. There are many interesting and colorful characters in Greek mythology that might serve as possible metaphorical models for teaching faculty.

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Advice for New and Not so New College Teachers

When you’re a new college teacher, good advice can be so helpful. Studies are important—good practice rests on what has been verified about teaching and learning, but early on, it’s those practical bits of wisdom that help a beginner get a handle on the details that matter most. The other thing about advice for new teachers is that it contains important reminders to those who’ve been teaching for a while. I’ve found an example that illustrates. Edward Burmila suggests “Seven Things to Know about Teaching Your Own Course while in Graduate School.” Here they are with a sampling of the pithy quotes that appear throughout his article.

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Observing Online Instruction: View of Instructors and Students

The tremendous growth of online learning has been spurred by improved student access, the increased rate of degree completion, and the growth of varied and/or professional education1 (Seaman and Allen, 2008). For long-term success in online education , institutions must establish an overall program composed of recruitment, training, scheduling, and mentoring. They also need a system for evaluating and observing faculty to ensure that course standards are maintained and courses are taught within institutional policies.

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Five Techniques for Dealing with Problem Students and Other Classroom Challenges

By: Mary Bart

James is a first-year student who is enjoying the freedoms of being out from underneath his parents’ rules. He’s an average student academically, but is often a distraction in class. He is perpetually texting or surfing the web, and gentle reminders from the professor to pay attention fail to keep him on task for long. His behavior is having a negative effect on other students in the class and the professor is reaching his breaking point. The final straw came when the professor noticed James was wearing headphones while taking an exam.

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Modular Assignments: Learning Episodes for Diverse Students

On our campus, we have growing numbers of nontraditional students. The demands on their time out of class are numerous—work, family, and military obligations. It is my job to meet them where they can learn and benefit.

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Less Stress at the Semester’s End

There is no question that many students experience pretty serious burnout by the end of the semester. It’s easy for us to recognize it because we experience it ourselves. Even so, I have to admit I was surprised by the findings of a survey of one cohort of business majors.

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