Lao Tzu on Leadership

To lead people, walk beside them... As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence. The next best, the people honor and praise. The next, the people fear; and the next, the people hate... When the best leader's work is done the people say, 'We did it ourselves!'

found on this page

This, I think, summarizes teaching as well as anything I've read. The question, though, how to achieve this...

Should faculty keep blogs?

Rochelle Mazar, an Instructional Technology Liasion Librarian discusses the pros and cons of faculty blogging in this post.

from the post:

I've used this space time and time again to extol the virtues of blogging; it's not that I'm just dazzled by the technology, I genuinely believe that the venue has real promise. Linking ideas about information literacy from a library science perspective with pedagogical theory, and with the criticisms faculty and students have of university education as it currently it is currently configured, I think blogs could go a long way toward revolutionizing the classroom. In short, I think that when you have a medium to sketch out your reactions to the things you read, a constant, personal venue, you get in the habit of composing a post every time you get an interesting idea. You don't read things and just store them away; you read and react, you write something down. Blogs can help encourage the habit of seeing the world of discourse as a conversation rather than an avalanche of information. And being prepared to respond means your critical thinking hat is never off. That's information literacy. Always with a question, always engaged, never on autopilot. That, I think, is the goal of a university education, regardless of field.

That said, what does it mean to be a blogging faculty member? Duke University's Chronicle published an article that briefly notes that some faculty members are uneasy at the idea of keeping a regular blog.

Mazur writes:

There seems to be a correlation between the idea of a personal weblog and random venting and private thoughts, ideas and comments that should circulate only from friend to friend over beer. Is that what worries non-tenured faculty?

More from the post:

Perhaps that's the guiding principle of keeping a weblog as a faculty member, or an administrator, or a librarian, is less about ethics and more about being audience-aware. Your blog can actually be fairly personal and reflective of your real life, as long as you remember who your audience is or can be. Everyone has little anecdotes about their lives that they like to relate; before professors posts one, they should ask themselves whether, in a casual setting, they would tell that same story to a student.

Her stand echoes my own. Blogs mean many things to many people. Because of my position as a faculty person, I would never discuss deeply personal matters on a blog, as some do. That being said, I agree with Ms. Mazur that "it's okay to have a personality, right? It's okay to care about and talk about the politics of the moment, international events, conferences, and so forth?" I have used my personal and professional blogs much in the way that Mazur describes as "a public sandbox where you learn about new things, try out new technologies for use in the classroom and discuss their pros and cons, littered liberally with ideas about your work and your field..."

This post is as eloquent an argument for faculty blogging as I have read!

Powerpoint in the Classroom?

I have become a bit of a crusader against the abuse of powerpoint, esp. in the classroom. What started me off was Edward Tufte's article in Wired Magazine. At the time it resonated with me, yet still, i took the stand that it is just a tool - which could be used well or used poorly. I even wrote a letter to Wired, which was published.

Since talking with students in my classes and reflecting on my own experiences, esp. as an audience member at Powerpoint presentations, I have come to the conclusion that - for the most part, Powerpoint presentations are not effective in classroom lectures. After reading Tufte's complete essay and a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education entitled, When Good Technology Means Bad Teaching, I have become more convinced than ever..

I even bought Tufte's hilarious, though spot on, poster for my office.

Why do I feel this way? Well, I claim few original ideas here, but to summarize...

• turns students into passive observers rather than active participants


• most usages of PowerPoint are speaker oriented not audience oriented


• the teleprompter syndrome where each slide is read


• gratuitous effects which annoy and distract


• the material doesn't unfold - it is just "presented" and the slides are either very thin or very wordy - either way boring or overwhelming


• an academic lecture, is likely to be more complex than a sales presentation, and as such, less easily reducable to bullet points


• students don't like it. I recognize this is not always the criteria, but one of the main reasons given for the use of ed tech is that it engages the student more...


• Powerpoint tends to guide a speaker into a particular style of presenting. I have often seen people, that I consider good speakers, become less engaging when they use PowerPoint.

That powerpoint is not appropriate in the classroom should be a no-brainer, in retrospect. After all, to what degree are the goals of a sales presentation and education aligned? To be sure, i have seen some good presentations using powerpoint. however, most of the time it is not the right tool. as Tufte points out - some tools are simply better than others. And this is not to say that used sparingly, they can't be effective for presenting some visual aids. My suggestions concerning the effective use of PowerPoint are as follows:

• Use sparingly. There is no rule tht says you must use PowerPoint for every lecture or for entire lectures. Use it where it is a beneficial visual aid for the students. I have seen some very effective PowerPoint presentations - presentations that were truly enhanced by the use of the tool. However, the repetition of any presentation technique tends to dull the effect. It is a good strategy in general to vary one's presentation style.


• Remember, a PowerPoint presentation ought to be geared to the listener. It shouldn't be used as a teleprompter, or to plan your presentation


• Keep it simple: Simple graphics, not too wordy and no gratuitous effects.


• A PowerPoint presentation can be useful as a handout, or as an online resource for those that miss a lecture. A few cautions though: having a handout may guide students to be less active listeners and not take notes, as they have the presentation. Secondly, a PowerPoint presentation that is meant to "stand alone" ought be designed differently than one that accompanies a speaker.

I recognize that there are many teachers that love PowerPoint and may have a different perspective than mine - which reflects my own experiences. Do you have any thoughts on this? I'd love to hear them...

Business Division Blog

The Business Division has a new blog. Visit there for information about the world of business and the activities of the division.

Dancing about Trigonometry?

'Multiple intelligence' spreading in colleges

from the article:

Basically, multiple intelligence learning encourages students to learn a subject in a way that is most comfortable for them. It categorizes learning in eight groups of intelligence.

For example, a student who best learns through bodily expression may decide to perform a dance routine to demonstrate knowledge of a trigonometry theorem instead of taking a test.

The approach allows students who don't test well but who still understand the subject to demonstrate their knowledge in a different way.

While I feel it is important for educators to recognize multiple intelligences, I am a bit skeptical of the way this is described in this article. Part of learning any subject matter is learning its vocabulary, and the language of trigonometry is mathematical expressions and not dance. While, to be sure, one might find elements of, and analogies to math in the arts, that is not the same as learning math.

What are your thoughts on this?

Target sued for inaccessible site

Blind patrons sue Target for site inaccessibility

From the article:

The suit, filed in Northern California's Alameda County Superior Court by Sexton and the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind (NFB), claims that Target.com, "contains thousands of access barriers that make it difficult, if not impossible, for blind customers to use."

For example, the suit charges that visual information is missing "alt-text," or invisible code that allows screen readers to detect and vocalize a description of an image. In addition, the site lacks accessible image maps, an impediment to jumping to different site destinations, the suit says. As a result, Sexton, who attends the University of California, Berkeley, says that while he can search the site for specific products, he's unable to associate prices with those goods.

More from the article:

This is just the latest in a series of lawsuits filed related to Web accessibility for the blind. Goldstein represented the NFB in a case against America Online that ended in a 2000 settlement that led to better Web service for the blind, he said. And in August 2004, Priceline.com and Ramada.com agreed to make their Web pages easier to navigate for the blind and visually impaired as part of a settlement with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

But soon after, a federal appeals court ruled that Web publishers are not required to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act in a case filed by an advocacy group for the blind asking Southwest Airlines to redesign its Web site.

I think the issue of Web Accessibility has particular relevance and importance to us with regards to distance learning.

Friedman at MIT

See and hear the NY Times Foreign Affairs Columnist, Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat deliver a speech at MIT.

This speech is available through MIT's MIT World™ project which "is a free and open site that provides on-demand video of significant public events at MIT."

LCCC's Center of Teaching Excellence is sponsoring a roundtable discussion on Friedman's book, The World is Flat. The first session was held 2/15/2006. The last three sessions will be 2/22/2006, 3/1/2006 and 3/8/2006. You are welcome to attend the future sessions even if you have missed the first session. Contact Mike Zellers, if you are interested

Podcasting Lectures

A number of instructors at various colleges have begun podcasting their lectures.

Here is a partial list. Podcasting is "the distribution of audio or video files, such as radio programs or music videos, over the internet using RSS syndication for listening on mobile devices and personal computers." (from wikipedia)

Apple provides resources for educators who want to use podcasting.

As one might imagine, there is a range of opinions on this new use of technology.

From Mac News World:

In some cases, the tactic backfires. A podcasting professor at the University of California at Berkeley recently lamented that only about 20 of his 200 students regularly showed up for class.

Others are more optimistic. From The News & Observer:

"The general consensus here at Duke is it's going to change higher education, maybe ultimately very dramatically," said Richard Lucic, a professor of the practice of computer science at Duke University. "The basic thought is we probably don't even know all the ways it's going to change it yet."

Like any new technology, it will take time to figure out the proper usage in an educational context. To quote Duke professor, Richard Lucic: "This is still in the beta phase."

Gender Differences and Learning
Michael Gurian has written a number of books concerning how gender influences learning. These include: The Mind of Boys and Boys and Girls Learn Differently!

You can sample some articles by and about him on his web site. Gurian is a co-founder of the Gurian Institute, "an educational training organization primarily focused on providing teachers, administrators, parents and community members with crucial understanding of how the brain learns and how the male and female brain learn differently." The Gurian Institute's web site contains additional articles on the topic.

Thanks to Vince for this information.

Silicon Valley and "The World is Flat"

An article on Mercury News discusses the popularity of Thomas Friedman's book The World is Flat
From the Article:

How obsessed has Silicon Valley become with "The World Is Flat," the bestselling book about globalization?

Ash Lilani, head of Silicon Valley Bank Global, not only read it, he bought 50 copies of the book by New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman as gifts for employees and colleagues.

More from the Article:

Peter Schwartz, a Friedman friend and chairman of the Global Business Network, a futurist think tank in Emeryville, said the author has taken something very complex that many in the valley have been struggling to explain and put it in a language easily understood.
"It's not radically new," Schwartz said. "But he articulates it in such a way that it speaks to everyone."

As one might imagine, there are those that disagree with the book:

Of course, Friedman has his detractors. Kevin Danaher, co-founder of Global Exchange, a San Francisco organization fighting growing corporate power, said Friedman fails to acknowledge the dark side of globalization, such as the increasing environmental problems.

"He doesn't really see the dirty underbelly," Danaher said. "The people we work with are pretty critical of Thomas Friedman. They see him as the mouthpiece of the empire."

According to the article, "A 'Flat 2.0' is due out this spring -- with another 100 pages."

Mike Zellers will be leading a roundtable discussion of the book this semester. Contact him for more details.

Read the complete article.

Cross Posted to LCCC's Business Division's Blog