Dear Dr. Nelson,

The Contemporary Pedagogy course was a great and a very rewarding adventure! The more important aspect for me is that the course created a very strong sense of community – a welcoming place to discuss various themes, to express yourself, to listen to different perspectives and  above all, to learn with you and the other […]

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Engaging the Imaginations of Digital Learners: “Setting Student’s Minds on Fire”, Mark C. Carnes

Mark C. Carne, author of “Setting Student’s Minds on Fire” opens by addressing the national deficiency in higher education access.  Why are enrollment numbers so low in the United States? Carne claims that the reason isn’t insufficient funding alone. He goes on to emphasize that the true reason that more people don’t have degrees is lack of […]

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Teaching in the 21st Century…

“We have a responsibility to ensure that every individual has the opportunity to receive a high-quality education, from prekindergarten to elementary and secondary, to special education, to technical and higher education and beyond.”
– Jim Jeffords

Students are becoming more unplugged to the traditional lecture and classroom climate, so instructional strategies are becoming more fluid and learner-centered, connecting innovated methods to link students with learning and establishing ownership over their learning. Instructional strategies are evolving from internal to external, not delaying or permitting educational and technical trends to dictate change.

Being an instructor isn’t solely about being a wonderful educator or presenting great, effective teaching and learning strategies that directs students to their mastery level. It encompasses the ability to be a change agent and visionary in advancing and progressing the future of higher education as lustrous as the past and in doing so, remaining abreast of hot topics, technical and educational trends in teaching as well as in students’ cognitive development, being an advocate, being available, supportive, and innovated for students in reevaluating and reinventing instructional strategies that aligns or supports the new-age of learners.

Teaching and learning is rapidly evolving, so embrace the power of transformation (i.e. open access, MOOC’s, disruptive technology, social media, competency based learning, and etc.). The emergence of technical trends, educational environments, and teaching strategies is leveraging these developments to make the most of students’ learning experience and decisions.

The future in maintaining the balance of non-traditional and traditional learning is adapting to innovated or contemporary pedagogical approaches while retaining the foundation of traditional methods.

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Have I lost my empathy?

I connected so much with the article ‘When do medical students lose their empathy?’ found here – http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2013/10/medical-students-lose-empathy.html- that I thought I’d start writing on empathy and see where my thoughts take me. As I read the article above I realized, once again, that the degree to with I empathize or feel connected to situations … Continue reading Have I lost my empathy?

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Is value-free knowledge such a bad thing?

I get what Parker Palmer means when he argues we in education need to “uproot the myth of value-free knowledge.” Palmer argues cold, calculated, emotionally divorced students become cold, calculated, emotionally divorced graduates, emotionally divorced citizens, professionals, etc., and he argues this is not a good thing. Vulcans, Spock, logic over emotion, “needs of the […]

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