The Guzman Monthly

January 2014 | Volume 1, Issue 1

Welcome to the inaugural issue of “The Guzman Monthly”. In this publication I will collect and list some recent articles on higher education issues, online learning best practices, deliver some app suggestions* and links to interesting videos on the web published in the past month. Planned release schedule is the last week of every month. * Suggestions on apps will be based on my exposure or research of said apps on iOS mobile devices. Feel free to suggest other apps for my review. My intention is to have the apps be similar in functionality each month.

My name is Tony Guzman and I serve as the Director of Online Programs at the University at Buffalo (UB) School of Social Work (SSW). Shameless plug: I also oversee the UB SSW Podcast series: inSocialWork. Feel free to listen to some of our podcasts.

My family and I live in Buffalo, NY area so we have endured the Polar Vortex and some extremely frigid temperatures over the past few weeks and this graphic (from one of our favorite TV shows, Falling Skies) sums it up pretty well.

News

What might Net Neutrality mean for Higher Education? http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/01/16/will-net-neutrality-ruling-doom-education-to-second-class-status.aspx New venture to offer free college textbooks. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/edtech-news-and-trends/lumen-learning-openstax-college-aim-expand-reach-free-high-quality-textbooks/

Apps

Looking to annotate documents on your mobile devices? (Since I only have access to iOS mobile devices most of these will point to an iOS version of the app but I am sharing the URL to the product because at times they have an Android version as well). iAnnotate PDF (by Branchfire, Inc.), $9.99 http://www.branchfire.com/iannotate/ PDF Reader Pro Edition for iPad (by iTECH DEVELOPMENT SYSTEMS INC.), $9.99 http://www.itechdevelopmentsystems.com/pdf-reader-pro-edition-for-ipad_1_1_s_3_15.html PDF Reader Premium (by Kdan Mobile Software LTD), $4.99 http://www.kdanmobile.com/en/pdf-reader/index.html

Apps (cont.)

This is the original synchronization app I used all the way back to the Palm Pilot days. Today, after 15 years, they offer quite a bit of functionality and have many price points.

Documents to Go Standard (by DataViz, Inc.), $9.99

https://www.dataviz.com/DTG_home.html

Online Learning

Tips on how to best engage with your online students. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/creating-a-sense-of-instructor-presence-in-the-online-classroom/ Babson Study 2013: Over 7.1 Million Higher Ed Students Learning Online. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/edtech-news-and-trends/babson-study-7-1-million-higher-ed-students-learning-online/ Great article on defining “flipped classroom”. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/instructional-design/expanding-definition-flipped-learning-environment/

MOOCs

Inside the First-Year Data from MITx and HarvardX

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/01/27/inside-the-first-year-data-from-mitx-and-harvardx.aspx

TED Talk: Anant Agarwal: Why massively open online courses (still) matter

http://youtu.be/rYwTA5RA9eU

Student Learning

Some characteristics of successful learners. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/seven-characteristics-good-learners/ Debunking student misconceptions about their learning. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/four-student-misconceptions-learning/ Research results on student attention span. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/students-attention-interesting-analysis/ Some excellent tips for teaching unprepared students. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/tips-teaching-unprepared-students/

Groups

How to better design group work in your courses. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/instructional-design/what-components-make-group-work-successful/ Considering “collaborative testing” (or also known as “group testing”) in your course? Read ahead. http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/group-testing-taking-options-consider/

Thanks for checking this monthly newsletter out and hope to see around again next time!