Facing declining retention rates and dropping grades, many universities are looking for new ways to increase student engagement and, as a result, educational outcomes. Ball State University's Institute for Digital Education and Entertainment, in an attempt to develop tools that would engage students and teachers in a way that took advantage of web-based technology, turned to multimodal learning strategies.

Ball State came up with a resource called Vizi, an online-based platform that uses multiple forms of media, integrated into targeted courseware that is flexible and engaging. While Vizi is an interesting platform in and of itself, Ball State's research and analysis of Vizi's results are what's really interesting: the designers behind Vizi wanted to use multiple channels to simultaneously engage many parts of the learner's brain. Part of their design was to create sections and sub-sections whose objectives students had to meet to move on, and to assess their understanding. They also attempted to integrate both linear and nonlinear paths.

Since I was not present in class today I wanted to share some interesting aspects of the book I found while reading. This book describes an intense time in our world's history and is able to depict a wide range of emotions very accurately using only black and white childlike drawings. Because this story is being told by a child I think it is appropriate since we are seeing this story unfold from a child's perspective. The idea of black and white drawings is also interesting because during this time many people saw others as either good or bad; on their side or on the 'other' side. This stark contrast demonstrates the mentality of the time and is definetly appropriate.

One more point I thought was interesting was the difference between what the words said and what the pictures protrayed. I know Anne told us to watch for that difference and I found one particularly interesting one on page 43 when they are talking about the Shah fleein the country and the girl's father says, "Let's talk about something else. Let's enjoy our new freedom." Then her mother says, "Now that the devil is gone." The picture protrays the devil curled around the family with his tail hanging directly above the mother. This is obviously foreshadowing what is to come and it brings the idea that one cannot see all of the dangers lurking.

The question on the mind of the educator, blended learning enthusiast or otherwise, when faced with online courses is always the same: as EdSurge asks, "Do online courses work?" Supporters and detractors alike have been attempting to answer this question for years, citing mixed anecdotal result and conflicting research. Now, SRI International is attempting to provide closure to at least one part of the question by extensively reviewing online Alegrba 1 courses in a report called "Supporting K-12 Students in Online Learning: A Review of Online Algebra 1 Courses." The report, which is the first phase of a larger study, examines six online course providers and profile their strengths and weaknesses. Algebra 1 is slightly outside the purview of most college-level educators, but the report doesn't stop with reviewing these courses. The study is focused on three research questions:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/15/minecraft-an-obsession-and-an-educational-tool/?smid=fb-share&_r=1&

In their collection of teaching strategies for higher education, Faculty Focus includes an article suggesting strategies to increase the efficiency of grading. Specifically, they address how to improve the efficiency of computerized (as opposed to analog, pen-and-paper) grading using what the article calls a “comment archive.” The article discusses strategies for taking advantage of the options built into your basic word processor to increase the speed and ease of your grading without sacrificing the quality of your comments. The most user friendly and simple option involves building your frequently used comments into the AutoCorrect feature of, for example, Microsoft Word. Then, instead of typing and retyping a comment each time you use it, simply use the shortcut you designated. The article includes step-by-step instructions and a video tutorial.

seeing where i read-and-responded to your papers this week. this park, @ the end of my street,
is dedicated to an old resident of the neighborhood...

who designed this building (where some of you will soon live)

and who had a clear vision of cities as composed of "schools, streets, and village greens."

This park, designed in his honor, clearly separates spaces humans can occupy

from those they can look upon (archaic form chosen advisedly):

How bounded do you want your pleasure-and-play to be?

On our walk from Suburban station to the Free Library, most classmates were busy taking pictures of skyscrapers and monumental buildings. I, however, didn’t even press my shutter, which seemed strange since I always say I love photography. The reason was my “photography philosophy”: I see with my eyes, not with my camera, and I won’t start taking photos until the beauty no longer dumbfounds me. And I was dumbfounded then, by so many homeless people in the brightest and most fancy part of the city. In China, I had only seen them in poor suburban and subways, because city inspectors would banish them from visible area, but here they have the freedom to sleep in the perfect Logan Square or under the statue of a war hero, skateboard in Love Square, and look so vibrant under the warm Saturday sun. Just a few steps away, in the small streets straying from the broad and gorgeous Benjamin Franklin Pkwy, their scrawls are everywhere, and when they are merely standing there talking I can sense their movement like dancing. This is what Sharon Zukin says, “a kind of low-down but truer sense of where the self can develop”.

After wandering for a while, I went in the Free Library – also the territory of the homeless. I sat among them and started to enjoy the Quiet Volume.

“Put your hand on the paper, palm down, and press it into the book. Press harder. Push until your hand starts to shake a little bit.” I looked up awkwardly hoping no one noticed me. And no one did. They concentrated in reading.