Disqus - Latest Comments for Deirdre

Re: How to make a great topic boring

Deirdre — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 14:33:40 -0000

I feel like I have spend the last 30 years fighting with the educational system both as a teacher and as a parent. I was lucky to have attended an experimental high school in the '60's that used a lot of media. I then attended a unique teacher training course in the '70's, only to discover that the vast majority of schools were obsessed with pen and paper, rote learning.
I consistently see teachers not giving students credit for what they can create, for what they can add to the educational environment. Are teachers so afraid of their students out teaching them!

Re: jay parkinson + md + mph = doctor in brooklyn - A Sunday morning game…Chernobyl or Detroit?

Deirdre — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:14:22 -0000

That fills me with such sadness to see the destruction of something that was so lovingly created and made to be beautiful.

Re: jay parkinson + md + mph = doctor in brooklyn - Boards of Canada - Dayvan Cowboy Footage from the...

Deirdre — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:44:21 -0000

Thanks for this. I had no idea and I was 10 at the time. However, he didn't then climb on his surf board and surf to shore that was added by the band.

Re: Groupthink update

Deirdre — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 18:56:27 -0000

The question that needs to be very clear in the goal setting is one of relevance "what do you want students to learn because they are blogging?" I might see blogging as a way to practice popular writing. Someone else might see it as a discussion tool where students comment on each others blogs. Someone else might see it as developing information literacy. I think lack of clarity about expectations often gets confused with assessment plans so the goals are mistakenly stated as the student will write three blog posts and six comments.

Re: Groupthink update

Deirdre — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:19:34 -0000

Individual problem vs systemic problem. If your system was pass/fail instead of graded, the process of transiting to intrinsic learning would be more easily doable. As long as students are rewarded/punished for marks, they are less likely to make that transition.

So let's go back to your problem, if you want students to be more reflective in their writing, they need to write about something that matters to them and that is what you need to identify. What are some of the big issues in virology? What makes or breaks careers? What impact can a virologist have on today's world? What is the latest news? If you can engage their brains and still meet their mark angst, they will begin to write, draw, video what matters to them.

Then twitter their blogs to med ed friends and get them to comment on what the student wrote. Amazing how outside types increase motivation.

Re: Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Does everyone have to go to learn something from a Face to Face Conference?

Deirdre — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:49:39 -0000

Please submit this to the Active Learning Blog Carnival, a monthly journal of the best articles about actively engaging students in learning. I'm the editor and would love to include it. http://activelearningcarnival.blogspot.com/. Scroll down to last months carnival "Be It Resolved to Delight, Puzzle, and Astound in ... " and at the end of the edition there is a link to submit article.

Re: Multiple-personalities and making connections

Deirdre — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:11:04 -0000

I notice my own multiple personalities online a lot lately and find my professional presence dominates. I am more and more careful about not revealing personal information. I found Facebook a huge problem as friends, family and colleagues joined. The roles became too blurred.

Re: Primary Care Trusts on YouTube

Deirdre — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:27:32 -0000

Very interesting study Mark. Looking forward to the results.

Re: SlideShare’s April Fool’s Prank: Cruel, Or Just Unusual?

Deirdre — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:09:45 -0000

I initially thought someone was scamming SlideShare because I knew I didn't have that many possible viewers. I felt humiliated when I found out it was SlideShare, as if they were making fun of my low number of viewers. I'm seriously thinking of removing my slides.

Re: The Power of Comments

Deirdre — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:37:10 -0000

I think this is quite a creative approach to involving people in blogging. Please submit this to the Active Learning Blog Carnival http://activelearningcarnival.blogspot.com/. Submit by going to http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_2804.html.

Re: Is Social Media an Impediment to Problem Solving?

Deirdre — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:55:55 -0000

I think you are making the common problem solving error of identifying the problem based on personal experience.

As our world of information expands, kids are expected to memorize/search for more and more facts and theories. Schools are spending less and less time on critical thinking/problem solving/creative thinking to accomodate the information overload.

So we have a generation that are very good at quickly finding discreet pieces of information and more limited in their ability to use higher order thinking.

Re: I teach, therefore you learn… or do you?

Deirdre — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 19:41:20 -0000

Please submit this to the Active Learning Blog Carnival, a monthly international journal that I edit http://activelearningcarnival.blogspot.com/ I think you have done a wonderful job of sharing an important message.

Re: Videos: Revolutionary Teaching Style

Deirdre — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 11:12:05 -0000

Please consider submitting this to the Active Learning Blog Carnival. It is a great example of actively involving students in memorizing content, one of the key learning tasks. http://activelearningcarnival.blogspot.com/