Farewell for now.

Since I have moved out of law teaching I will no longer be actively updating this blog, although I will leave the content there including the creative commons Talking Legal Literacies resources.

The good news is that I am now in the wider world of learning innovation and have a new blog aburdly titled Thus Spake Bacon http://spakebacon.blogspot.com.au/ which continues the journey.

Is lecture capture the worst educational technology?

An excellent discussion of lecture capture technology and how it is killing the last bit of credibility that the lecture has as a method of delivery.

http://www.masmithers.com/2011/03/11/is-lecture-capture-the-worst-educational-technology/

Laying textbooks to rest

Has the time come to abandon the idea of the textbook?  Is this a redundant technology which is holding education back?   As someone who has written textbooks,  I do see the appeal in moving beyond the textbook mindset.

http://tomwhitby.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/we-dont-need-no-stinkn-textbooks-beyondthetextbook/

Indeed

Getting over IRAC

Image from the Infra Red Array Camera - no, not that IRAC

The IRAC method (Issue, Relevant Law, Application, Conclusion) is one of the more contentious tools of legal education.  On face value it provides a simple way of approaching legal problem solving which can be useful for very basic analysis but ultimately proves to be an over-simplification which eventually holds students back.   Christopher Enright has provided an interesting guide to problem solving which encourages students to see things with more complexity.   It is available here and there are other guides on his site to exam techniques and clear writing, good resources for teachers and students.   Also check out the books he has for sale (print and ebook) on his site.

The Trouble with Trads

Y Kuniyoshi, from Flickr CC

One of the brick walls that innovators hit is the assumption that traditional methods of teaching are 'tried and true' and somehow safer than trying something new.   Of course the research shows clearly that traditional delivery is now the risky form, we already know the cost in terms of retention and engagement.  In the collection Game Changers: Education and IT (available in print and digitally for free) Strader and Thille(1) give us a neat and useful list of 5 Problems with Traditional Instruction, of which boredom seems to be a recurring feature (hence Mr Kuniyoshi's expression to the right):

1) Many Instructors Teach to a Certain Percantile of the Class
It is impossible to pitch material to everyone, half are lost the others are bored senseless
2) Students Frequently Do Not Receive Immediate Feedback Crucial to the Learning Process
Waiting to test or be assessed means that bad habits get ingrained and assumptions can compound.
3) In All but the Smallest Classes, the Student's Knowledge State is a Black Box to the Instructor
What is going on out there in all those little learning worlds?
4) Degrees Favor Time Spent in A Classroom over Demonstration of Competency
Its the old factory approach to learning.  This does go some way to prepare students for a life of work which is also based on time spent being the meat in the room, but that's hardly a good thing.
5) There is Great Inefficiency in Creating Instruction within Higher Education
Every institution spends a great deal of time and energy creating pretty much the same coursework and activities.  We like to think that as great teachers our resources and activities are vastly superior to what everyone else is doing, but how true is this, really?

They go on to suggest some ways in which flexible delivery can help with these problems.  A worthwhile read in any case, but the list of 5 problems create a very neat and identifiable agenda for change.


1)  Strader R and Thille C (2012) 'The Open Learning Initiative: Enacting Instruction Online', in Oblinger D G (ed) Game Changers: Education and IT, Educause

I learnt something today? Slides on reflective practice

Reflective learning is becoming a big deal at the moment, which is not surprising given some of the different contexts in which we have to understand what learners do.  Below is a link to some prezi slides I did for a faculty seminar on reflective learning, which hopefully spark some ideas.


Prezi on Reflective Learning

I Learned Something Today... Reflection as a Learning Strategy on Prezi