Tag Archives: technology

February 18, 2013, 8:00 am

Basic Technology Advice for Students

Here at ProfHacker, we’ve covered many aspects of guiding students in their use of information and communication technologies for their courses.

For example, Ethan discussed electronic communications policies. Amy wrote about encouraging students’ problem-solving skills. Ryan covered digital etiquette in class. Jason offered 5 tips for dealing with gadgets in the classroom. And Billie provided advice regarding technology policies on course syllabi.

This semester, I’ve begun maintaining a list of tips and links under the heading “Basic Technology Advice.” The more frequently I teach in a computer classroom, the more frequently I identify things that students do (or don’t do) that can make using a computer a slower or more frustrating process than it needs to be. One example is the use of the keyboard instead of the mouse. I was somewhat surprised that most students don’t use…

October 30, 2012, 11:00 am

Are You Missing Out?

By Natalie Houston

Paul Miller, a senior editor at online magazine The Verge, wrote an interesting column last week about “missing out,” a feeling that has, according to some researchers, become something to fear among users of social media.

It’s got its own acronym: FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), and has been discussed in the The New York Times, The Guardian, Psychology Today, and network news outlets, usually with quotations from sociologist Sherry Turkle’s 2011 book Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less from Each Other.

FOMO gets triggered in many people when they see Facebook or Twitter updates from friends (or “friends”) who mention doing something other than what the update-reader is doing. If you’re sitting at home and your friends are out on the town, you might wonder what you’re missing. But even if you’re out doing something, you might wonder if there’s something better…

March 21, 2012, 3:00 pm

Assessing Technology in the Classroom?

By George Williams

One of the core principles at ProfHacker is that experimentation is good. Trying new things, within reason, often leads to discoveries that we otherwise might not have made.

And if something doesn’t work, well, that’s a useful lesson, too.

Much of what we write about here involves teaching and learning with digital technologies of information and communication. But what is needed is a process–whether formal or informal–for assessing outcomes. Doing so is useful not only for your own purposes, but also for the purpose of explaining to others the advantages of using a particular digital tool or method.

So when it comes to teaching with technology, if you’re trying something new, how do you assess whether or not your experiment has been successful? Does your institution have some instrument or process by which such assessment takes place? Please share your experience in the…

March 9, 2012, 11:05 am

When Is Old School the ‘Best School’?

By Billie Hara

Here at ProfHacker, we strive to introduce you to the newest technologies and tools that can streamline your workflow, making your work life and even your home life a little easier, a little smoother, a little more manageable. I don’t know about you (and I’m looking over my shoulder to make sure other ProfHackers aren’t reading this), sometimes those new fangled gadgets get in the way of my productivity. (There I said it.) Learning curves can be steep. The tools can be expensive. Using them in classes, for example, can serve no pedagogical purpose other than to be “cool.” (And I frequently tell the neighborhood kids to “get off my lawn!”)

In all seriousness, though, technology is wonderful and it gives us options in how we handle the thousands of tasks we do in our professional and personal lives. I’m an early adopter of most technology in classes and in …

September 15, 2011, 11:00 am

THATCamp Games: Applications Now Open

By Anastasia Salter

There are a number of great THATCamps planned for the coming school year, including a few themed THATCamps such as the upcoming THATCamp Pedagogy and THATCamp Publishing. Themed THATCamps are a great opportunity for focused conversations that are still unconferences: free events with spontaneous collaboration and conversation instead of reading papers. In this spirit, along with Amanda Visconti, I’m co-organizing THATCamp Games in January. Registration opens today. If you find games in the classroom and beyond exciting, we hope you’ll consider joining us.

THATCamp Games was born out of a session on humanities games at THATCamp CHNM where a few of us discussed the idea that games and game design deserved their own unconference. Games and learning are hot topics across the board: Cathy Davidson notes the power of virtual learning environments in her new book Now You See It: How…

August 1, 2011, 11:00 am

Technology and Your Institution’s Mission

By Ryan Cordell

This summer I’ve been thinking a great deal about how technology intersects with my particular campus: a small, residential, liberal arts college. We’re an interesting case. In order to serve our students, we must integrate new technology into our research and our classes. This won’t surprise you coming from a ProfHacker writer, but I believe that technology opens up the classroom in ways that benefit both students and professors, and is ignored at the expense of both groups. But there are technologies that perhaps don’t fit our mission. Because we’re a residential liberal arts college and emphasize the value of close teacher-student collaboration, for instance, many of our faculty, staff, and students view the idea of offering online classes as problematic.

I’m curious about how those of you in the ProfHacker community have wrestled with technology as it relates to the missions of…

April 11, 2011, 11:00 am

How to Buy and Sell Secondhand Tech (and Why You Might Want To): Part 3

By Heather M. Whitney

Previously, we’ve covered why you would want to buy and sell secondhand tech and how to sell. This week, we focus on how to buy. In this case, I’ll use some specific examples from my recent purchase of a used first generation iPad.

Notice who around you who uses devices in which you are interested. Last fall during new faculty orientation at my college, I noticed that one of our librarians was using an iPad. We struck up a conversation about our mutual interest in the device and have continued to talk tech ever since.
Consider asking if that person is interested in selling their item. When it became obvious that the iPad 2 was about to be released, I emailed my colleague and asked if he was going to upgrade to the iPad 2, and if so, would he be interested in selling his old one to me. He hadn’t been thinking of upgrading, but it was a good match for him to sell his old one to me…