Earlier today I was thinking about how professors can integrate technology into classrooms — how they, instead of fighting it, could use it to promote learning and collaboration.
Then this evening, I read a timely post from Kansas State University Professor Mike Wesch’s blog Digital Ethnography. The post was about a video created by Lynn Schofield Clark’s Innovation in Mass Communications class at the University of Denver. This video is a mini-mockumentary of a professor trying to teach his digital native students about technology. If you are a fan of The Office, then you’ll enjoy this take on a professor trying to teach a class of young students about technology.
Here’s the actual video, “The Class” (which would be an example of how not to integrate technology in class):
By the way – if you don’t follow Dr. Wesch’s blog, I highly recommend you do. And, if you haven’t seen other videos made by him and his students, check out his youtube channel. One of my favorite educational videos from Dr. Wesh (in collaboration with 200 of his students!) is about students today, aptly titled “A Vision of Students Today.”
I also recommend The Machine is Us/ing Us because it provided a timely look into Web 2.0. (Note that this video was created in 2007, so it was right on time/at the cusp of the proliferation of Web 2.0 technologies).
I read from the Library Journal today that Boston University has approved moving to an institution-wide open access system. This decision comes one year after Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts & Sciences provided open access to their curriculum. The difference between the two is that Boston University’s open access initiative includes ALL 17 schools. (Harvard University’s policy is a little more selective at the moment – it does not include its professional schools, with the exception of its Law School).
Perusing through these sites made me curious for more information…
… What other schools are sharing content?
Many schools have sought financial assistance via the William & Flora Hewitt Foundation’sOpen Educational Resources (OER) program. The foundation is working to make high quality and educational content freely available on the web. From the link above, one can see their grantees’ proposals, which include various educational institutions seeking to increase open access opportunities for many exciting programs, for example:
AcademicEarth.org – an organization dedicated to sharing education throughout the world. They offer links to “thousands of video lectures from the world’s top scholars. ”
How freakin’ awesome is it to have free access to worldly knowledge from scholars at the greatest universities?! I can’t contain myself.
Wait, there’s more!
Want to know more about Open Educational Resources? I strongly suggest checking this out:
A friend of mine posted this great video about education and technology on her Facebook page. I wanted to pass it along because I think you’ll enjoy it. It will open your mind about how fast our world is changing. It reminds me a little of the “College Mindset List” that Beloit College puts together every year. As an educator, I love reading this list every year because it gives me perspective regarding the college students I work with. This video does the same thing for me.
I recently started another class toward my Reference & Instruction specialization: LIS 5661 – Government Information. To start it off appropriately, I would like to educate you with Schoolhouse Rock’s – How a Bill Becomes a Law.
I read from the 
