Thanks Jaclyn!

In my opinion, we can teach from a textbook all we want but actual application is what really connects the dots for some students (myself included). I currently TA the Intro to Food Science class where we learned about starches today. Most of the students are first semester freshman so I was happy to hear that the professor will be bringing in the materials to make pudding on Monday rather than just continuing to lecture about the chemical reactions occurring in gelatinization. I think it will help them to get a better grip on our food chemistry chapter since it is definitely a bit dry. : )

Thanks! I agree with your comments about researchers being less worried about people stealing their work comment. I understand that some research and general work being done must remain confidential and/or is proprietary. However, from the experiences in my own field, it is very rare that someone puts out one paper that changes the whole nature of the field. It is usually many papers from various lab groups that make a strong case for something.

I don’t feel like the social media trend will go away anytime soon. If anything I believe it is an older generation that is not as accepting of it or individuals that are not immersed in that type of culture themselves.

I agree with Zach on how platforms like Spotify and Youtube allow the quantity to increase for performers and musicians but not necessarily the quality. Typically this is because the videos we see are their very first step out into the world of performances or they haven’t been critiqued for their lyrics or dance or art from a constructive standpoint. There are a lot of videos I have seen and the person goes “Like my channel!!!” and I hate every video they generated after their first because they either did the exact same thing again or they went in the wrong direction of where there performances should go. I think just giving the people technology is unacceptable. We have to also educate them on how to use it in a way that is unique to them. That is how we bring the cosmos to code, to publish art and thoughts and ideas in a way that furthers society and doesn’t just sit in archives as background noise.

Please adjust your discussion settings so comments aren’t held for moderation!

Yes to what Amy said! Also, you can’t imagine how much I appreciate this sentence: “Writing, and communication in general, occupy an enormous chunk of an engineer’s time. ” Yes!

Thanks for sharing such deep idea. I felt very identified with it because I can see myself holding a faculty position in the future, and contrary to the general idea “that I will be teaching”, we should all try to keep an all-times learning culture as our philosophy of teaching. This will also be reflected in the future students, which are the future in general.

Thank you for sharing this idea, so interesting! I was thinking, so many millions are “present” in the digital worlds (as you showed it the headings of the post), but I wonder how many were actually “present” in their real settings? Digital networking is a power full tool, but it is also very dangerous.
You mentioned: “Networked Learning strengths other skills that students will need not only in their careers but also in their life. It forces them to think, reflect, and form their own opinion by exchanging ideas, promoting discussions, and receiving feedbacks.”… but I wonder, how many learners (elementary, middle school, undergraduate, graduate students, etc) are actually using networked learning developing skills? Maybe sometimes we use the digital era to do less reflection?

Thank you for sharing. You bring out an interesting perspective as academics. As students, researchers, or as a member of an academic community in general, we are getting used to discuss the sources of where the information comes from. However, there is a myth nowadays that facts are no longer facts. There is an interesting article that expresses our new definition of “truth”: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/americans-now-see-truth-relative-what-comes-next-jeff-degraff.

“The constructive conflict of classroom debate was replaced by safe spaces and trigger warnings, and with it went the courage to confront the mediocrity of second-rate ideas. Ironically, this has left us without the ability to rightly judge fact from fiction. Bloom predicted that there would come a day when many Americans saw the truth as relative. That day is here.” something to think about! Thank you for sharing such exciting blog!

We are in the same boat together, let’s challenge the challenging things!

Thank you for response! I agree, the more we practice the more we improve; and if it is pushing out of our confort zone, then even better!