Better Educators

As a professor of communication, i am always on the lookout for ways to improve my teaching. I just finished reading the book “What the Best College Teachers Do,” by Ken Bain. I have created a series of podcasts summarizing and reviewing the content from the first five chapters. While this will provide a great overview of the material, I strongly encourage reading this book to get a close look at the case studies and research Bain uses as support.

Host Eric Robertson and professional development technology facilitator Laura Conley discuss strategies for improving professional development activities for educators. As Conley shares her “flipped” approach to professional development, she advocates for promoting a sense of ownership among professional development participants by asking faculty what they need and designing sessions that respond to those needs. Based on strategies like working with faculty in small groups, developing workshop agendas with links to interesting technology resources, and asking faculty to prepare in advance for those workshops, Conley’s approach shifts the emphasis from presenters showing people what they can do to faculty exploring shared interests in a focused and productive environment. This discussion of flipped professional development also includes descriptions of effective but easy to learn online tools like Evernote, thinglink, and Pictochart and concludes with an invitation to further explore Conley’s ideas via her twitter account (@lconley86) and her new web site flipped-pd.com

In this interview with Dr. Bernard Robin from the University of Houston, Eric Robertson addresses the question of how doctors learn to become educators. Similar to college educators, medical professionals are often placed in teaching roles with little to no training on how to teach, and Dr. Robin shares his experience developing a program to help those who are already experts, become expert teachers. One highlight of the programs Dr. Robin has created is the feature of digital storytelling. Dr. Robin discusses examples of the implementation of digital storytelling from his website (http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/) and ways to bring it into a variety of classes.

In his interview with MiraCosta College French Professor Rachéle DeMéo, host Eric Roberston inquires about differences between French and American educational systems before exploring Professor DeMéo’s experience with learning styles in her language classes. An enthusiastic advocate of the power of learning style awareness to enhance student learning and teacher pedagogy, DeMéo reviews the basic learner types (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic), shares a wide range of specific techniques and activities, and rebuts research skeptical about learning styles approaches.

A discussion of the new bill in California (SB520) and how it may create change in the UC and Cal State University system. A study by the McKinsey Center for Government is also explored and how the path from education to employment needs to change.

Guest Rita Soza, a Business Professor at MiraCosta college, shares the story of Dr. Helen Miller Bailey, an extraordinary community college educator who taught at East Los Angeles Community College for twenty-eight years. As a former Bailey student and current community college professor, Soza has been inspired to spend seven years researching Dr. Bailey’s life and work, particularly her unshakeable belief in her students’ potential and profoundly effective non-traditional teaching approaches. Professor Soza explains how Bailey’s authenticity and willingness to share so much of her self—her paintings, her scholarship, her travel experiences, and even her home–left behind a legacy of students whose lives were transformed by their professor’s faith and personal investment in them. As host Eric Robertson and Professor Soza reflect on Dr. Bailey’s life, they explore how the relationships between teachers and students have changed since Bailey’s era and wonder how we can find new ways to enhance our personal connections with students. Professor Soza’s book can be found at http://docsmagic.com/

Host Eric Robertson’s conversation with Michael Truong, Associate Director of UC Merced’s Center for Research on Teaching Excellence looks at technology innovations at the UC system’s newest campus as an indicator for what is happening nationally. After covering topics ranging from the role of Learning Management Systems to trends in student technology purchases, their conversation focuses on UC Merced’s Mobile App Learning Lounge, a resource designed to help students and faculty explore the possibilities of teaching and learning using mobile applications. Truong argues that mobile tools are dramatically enhancing assessment, communication between students and faculty, collaboration activities, and even access to and time spent with learning materials. The conversation concludes with a fascinating discussion about the challenges of teaching in an age of technology driven distraction. Referencing thinkers like Michael Wesch, Sherry Terkle and Nicholas Carr, Robertson and Truong explore how faculty can help students develop critical thinking skills in a “search culture” by moving beyond consuming knowledge to curating and producing it.

Lisa M. Lane MOOCs and Quality Online Instruction In this interview, Lisa M. Lane discusses her experience of over 15 years of teaching online. She shares her perspective on MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) as well as things to consider when teaching online. Topics discussed include the Cathy Davidson quote from the HASTAC website "If we can be replaced by a computer screen, we should be" as well as overall critical conversation regarding the difference between training and education and their relationship to massive automated courses.

A discussion with Jackie Lopez regarding education, culture, and service. Jackie discusses her experiences and research in the Philippines as well as her work with Americorps.