Teaching and Technology Institute

This assignment is meant to sharpen your skills of critical evaluation and keeping up-to-date with research. You will also gain further familiarity with ERIC database, which can be used for other educational research projects.

Instructions:

1. Choose a textbook topic from the suggested list provided by your professor (e.g., multiple intelligences)
2. Search ERIC on the subject of your topic by limiting to peer-reviewed full-text journal articles and set up an alert (RSS feeds)
3. Create your blog and subscribe to RSS feeds of your search topic
4. Monitor RSS feeds for 2 weeks and choose 2 articles for your reflection
5. Provide a reflective analysis of the two articles and compare them to the textbook article. Do these articles expand the textbook explanation of your topic? Do they contradict? Do they add anything new? Dis the articles change your mind about your topic?

“Ning is an online service that allows users to create their own social networks and join and participate in other networks. No technical skill is required to set up a social network, and there are no limits to the number of networks a user can join. Users of Ning social networks have access to functionality similar to that of more well-known social networks, such as Facebook and MySpace. Various features allow users to read news or learn about related events, join groups, read and comment on blog entries, view photos and videos, and other activities as set up by the network creator. RSS feeds let users subscribe to updates from specific parts of the social network” ( read more about Ning and implications for teaching & learning at http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7036.pdf )

Specific questions on creating & managing Ning please go here

Thanks! Let me know if you have any questions.

Welcome to our first session of the Teaching & Technology workshop series. How about starting off with a short introduction? What are 3 adjectives that describe you best and why did you sign up for the Institute?

All right, I will start: I am Tatiana and I am foreign, radiant, and adventurous! I signed up for this workshop series because my supervisor Liz told me so (just kidding), actually, because I am going to provide some technology support for you and start us off discussing & exchanging ideas at our private social network called Ning (I will show it to you at our first meeting). How about you? What would be your 3 adjectives and what would be your reason?