http://hastac.org/blogs/cathy-davidson/2012/04/08/single-best-free-way-transf...

Single Best Free Way to Transform Classrooms (Primary-Lifelong) of Any Size--and Fast Too!

It may sound like I'm selling snake oil, but I actually do have one trick that, at no cost, can transform your classroom or public speaking event, whether a seminar or a lecture, whether for 8 year olds or doctoral students, CEOs or senior citizens.  You can try this tomorrow, and turn the biggest lecture into an interactive, collaborative experience without so much as an investment even in clickers or a projector.  I've used it in most of the 55+ presentations I've given this year for my book Now You See It  and I've used it in my classes.   Here is the expensive version.  It requires the swank new technology called "index cards":

...

http://www.thoughtfullearning.com/blogpost/5-keys-successful-student-collabor...

As you know, group work can give teachers headaches and students nightmares. If set up poorly, collaborative projects often result in one person doing all of the work, while others contribute minimally or actually disrupt. Arguments, inefficiency, mess, and chaos follow closely.

When set up well, though, group work taps into the power of collaboration. Here are 5 keys to setting up successful student collaborations.

http://teaching.uncc.edu/articles-books/best-practice-articles/instructional-...

This paper defines Team Learning, a comprehensive, group-based instructional format originally developed to facilitate active learning in large classes, but has subsequently proven to be effective in a wide variety of instructional settings. The authors identify the structural differences in the roles that instructors and students play in a Traditional Learning vs. a Team Learning environment. Essential conditions for effective Team Learning are defined. New tools for integrating course design, classroom management, and group composition and performance evaluation are described.

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/04/to_ensure_great_teamwork_start.html?

Session Eleven: Remix, Participatory Culture, and Ethics of Digital Use
 
Required
 

• Kirby Ferguson, Everything is a Remix, 4-part video series.

http://www.hybridpedagogy.com/Journal/files/Engagement.html

Let’s take a step back to lively class discussion that happens in a brick-and-mortar class. Participants in a discussion are socially required to attend to the ideas of their peers. If someone blurts something out that was expressed just a moment ago, she reveals that she has not been listening and, thus, is weakening the conversation. There’s a sense of failed responsibility. In the online environment, we should encourage the same sense of communal responsibility by giving our class instructions that lead to engagement. Consider these:

• Divide students into staged groups that rotate with different assignments. Make one group the “first responders,” the second group the “arguers,” and the third group the “consensus builders,” to insure that students engage with their peers.
• Teach and model “social citation.” Rather than include “I saw that one of you explained how condensation affects a steam engine,” try this: “Check out Beth’s explanation of the effects of condensation on the steam engine for a good model.” On some assignments, require that students cite posts from their peers that they support or take issue with.
• Seed a discussion by requiring some students to summarize exclusively. Obviously this responsibility will have to rotate as well, but it’s a good way to assist readers in quickly un

http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/The...

• Reaching agreement on the convenience of online classes is easy, but arguing in favor of a synchronous learning experience in a virtual classroom is harder.
• Debunking the top 10 myths about synchronous online teaching helps refute the arguments against it, while the transformational nature of online teaching can convert skeptics into supporters.
• With adequate support for their online efforts, would-be online educators can embark on their own synchronous online teaching adventures — and fly!

http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2011/08/discover-what-your-digital-...

 

Discover what your digital footprint says about you

http://www.humaxnetworks.com/default.asp

https://www.reciprocityring.com/tutorials.aspx

derived from the "reciprocity ring" principle is to simply (see on Humaxnetworks page or google)

- make a circle of dots on a board, one dot per participant with their name

- ask the participants to write on post-its 1 thing they are looking for (important to them, can be big or small, and specific enough)

- stick the post-its and read them all aloud then connect the people who say they could help

You now have a lovely diagram showing who can help whom.

Then let the magic happen and people discover the unsuspected resources and helpfulness of the group.