Games, in contrast, depend on failure to teach. They literally push players to the edge of their ability and knowledge; then the best games change or adapt when a level is reached to push players further. In order to succeed, players must encounter and overcome obstacles both large and small along the way. These disappointments teach students to persevere and foster creativity and adaptability – invaluable skills in our hyper-connected, fast-paced, global economy. Here is a look at some of the ways failure helps students and how games support this valuable learning opportunity.

The Benefits of Failure – What Does it Teach Us?
I recently wrote about the importance of failure for learning ("Learning to Learn from Failure" & "Teaching Students to Fail Their Way to Success") and how educators and students need to embrace the occasional learning disaster as key components of education. Failure teaches many critical skills, among them:

• Perseverance – Small failures that can be overcome teach students to keep trying until they succeed. There is little that we do in life or our jobs that is an instant success every time. Achievement is a process filled with incremental gains and small setbacks. Games involve players in this system and make it part of the learning process.
• Resilience – Students must learn that their failures do not define them and that they are not made less by experiencing them. In fact, they are made better and stronger – more resilient – by facing them. This is something that they will require throughout their lifetimes and which the best games teach through adaptive difficulty levels.
• Creativity – Seldom can a problem be solved by repeatedly doing the same thing over and over. More often than not, innovation is a key component to overcoming failures. The earlier that students learn this skill, the more proficient they will become at doing it. This ability to be creative in the face of adversity is something that defines the most successful members of an innovation-based economy and that is modeled in good games.
• Adaptability – Students who encounter failures in their learning must also become adaptable in their approaches to solving problems and in their understanding of the way the world works. If you succeed every time, there is no challenge to your understanding of reality. If however, you encounter obstacles that must be overcome on the way to success you will learn that there are a wide range of reasons for that failure, possibly including fundamental flaws in your understanding of how the world works. Developing the flexibility to adapt to these changing understandings allows students to become successful in whatever context they may find themselves in the future.
• How to ask for help: One thing that failure often prompts people to do is ask for help. This is, however, a learned skill that happens with intellectual maturity, and is not a natural part of many young people’s strategy for dealing with the world. Though it is one of the most successful strategies for learning.
• Acting Independently: Many games also push players to act independently and decisively with little advanced notice. Failure to act quickly in a game will lead to losing more often than not, but players learn to adapt to being assertive agents of their own fate – what more could a prospective employer want?

Games and Failure – How Games Use Failure to Support Learning
Games and play are naturally occurring forms of learning – animals engage in play to learn important behaviors and our children play to learn how society functions and their place in it, among other things. In any game, failure is a vital part of the process and it helps players get better. There are three areas in which failure in games helps support learning:

• Incremental knowledge gains- Games are designed with a single larger objective, but also with dozens, even hundreds of smaller obstacles or learning opportunities that, when designed well, can seamlessly lead a player/learner to develop their knowledge gradually and in a way where the process and the failures encountered along the way are motivating rather than off-putting. Good games can mirror the natural process by which expertise is developed, taking a player from the novice level to mastery in small steps. Really good games can adapt the challenges they present to match player skill, so that even the fastest learners are constantly presented with new obstacles that push them to higher levels of knowledge and skill.
• Authentic skills development – Because games, and the designers behind them, have the ability to simulate any situation, context, or challenge that can be imagined, including realistic representations of authentic tools and processes, they present an opportunity for players to gain an understanding of real world-applicable skills in a safe and supportive environment. For students training to work in hi-tech, high-stress, high-risk fields, these simulations of authentic tools can literally save lives in the future. A case where a small failure now could prevent a tragedy later. While few of these games currently exist, there is absolutely nothing to prevent their development.
• Fostering confidence – Playing any game enough will eventually lead to greater confidence playing that game. In games designed for authentic skills development, confidence can be gained in working in the real world and in coping with challenging or hazardous situations. Small failures along the way and the process of understanding those events and moving beyond them are inherent in games and work to actively instill confidence in the player despite (really, because of) failure.

Choosing Games for Learning in Higher Ed
There is a real crisis in the educational games industry. If games contain solid educational content, they tend to lack the fidelity and engagement of high-end commercial games. In higher education, finding games to use in specific courses is even more challenging than in K-12. As a university educator there is a shortage of time and possibly information available in which to seek out brave new virtual worlds to determine if they will help your students learn course content. Once implemented however, games in the classroom can, because of their ability to support independent learning, free up additional time for other activities. Unfortunately there is no secret formula or even centralized resource site of games that are useful in any given discipline. The best place to begin your search for games to incorporate into your teaching is with your institution’s instructional technology, educational technology, or learning support office. If you are lucky, you may find an individual who has been trained to help you incorporate games in the best possible way.

If there is no individual on campus who can help, you will have to turn to the Internet for assistance. The good news is that there are countless resources available to help you online. The bad news is that you may have to do a bit of hunting to find them. That said, here are a few places you can start your quest- don’t be afraid to reach out with an email to ask for suggestions, these are all open communities that invite interaction:

• Education Arcade
• Games+Learning+Society
• Center for Game Science
• Institute for Simulation & Training
• Games for Change

These sites provide some good resources for starting a search for games to incorporate into higher education. Success in this effort, like in anything however, is going to take some time and energy to do correctly. If college faculty can devote just a little bit of time to finding games that align with their course objectives, they can help their students take advantage of the power of learning through failure that games provide.

Join me for a discussion of this post and other Gamification issues every Friday at 1PM (ET) on Twitter by tagging your questions or comments with #GBLFriday.

The post How Games Help Students Embrace Failure appeared first on OnlineUniversities.com.

The Grade Inflation Problem
When I was an undergraduate, I struggled for the first couple of years of my education to pull my GPA over 3.0 (that’s a "B") . That seemed fairly average 20 years ago, but I had to work hard for that grade. Times have changed quite a bit since then. In a July, 2011 article for the New York Times, Catherine Rampell references a study by Stuart Rojstaczer and Christopher Healy that chronicles the dramatic rise in "As" since the 1940s and the precipitous decline in "Cs."

(http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/the-history-of-college-grade-inflation/)

As you can see, according to the data gathered by Rojstaczer and Healy, the percentage of undergraduate students receiving "As" in college has risen from 15% in 1940 to 43% in 2008. That’s 12% higher than  it was in 1988 when I was about to enter college. Overall, the researchers report that "As" and "Bs" now represent 73% of all grades in public universities and 86% in private colleges. This clearly represents a significant change, but what is really so bad about more students doing well in higher education?

The Detrimental Effects of Grade Inflation
Giving people an "A" instead of a "B" or a "B" instead of a "C" seems so harmless. No one is hurt, students are happier, and the professor’s job is arguably a bit easier. So, why all the fuss over grade inflation? In fact, grade inflation hurts everyone, from the individual students involved, to society as a whole.

• For students, grade inflation means never knowing where they really stand and not having to work as hard as possible to get there. This is a problem with our culture that demands instant gratification. Students want to have immediate positive feedback regardless of the reality of the work they are doing and the actual length of the process that they are engaged in. Education is a lifelong process that cannot be evaluated in the moment, so that easy "A" that was not worked hard for does not establish the foundation for a lifetime of very necessary growth and learning.  There can be little satisfaction in being given a grade that you have not worked hard to earn. Subsequently, having things come to easy does not build the kind of fortitude and ambition that are needed in a challenging, rapidly shifting global economy.
• For faculty, grade inflation means not pushing students as hard or as far as they might and being beholden to those students for approval in an unending cycle of upward spiraling grades. This is the education insider argument: that if faculty are employees and students are customers who have paid for their education (and thus their grades) there is an issue with "customer satisfaction." There is no leverage for professors to push students in this model. In fact, when student evaluations of faculty members become part of the reappointment process, the power dynamic shifts in such a way that grade inflation is a natural outcome. In this scenario –arguably the one currently in play – faculty are unable to drive students as hard as they otherwise would because their careers are at stake if they don’t make their "customers" happy.
• For higher education, grade inflation equates to a devaluing of the product they offer. The objective of education is learning. Paying tens of thousands of dollars every year means that you should be getting a lot of learning for your money. Scholarship is also hard work for both the student and the faculty members. If either party does not, or cannot, buy into that for whatever reason – a feeling of entitlement or fear of reprimand – then the students are not receiving the maximum value for their investment. As student grades rise and education becomes incrementally less rigorous, the effectiveness of a higher education is lessened. Realistically, this means that the worth of a college diploma is decreased. Graduates are not as well-prepared for the rigors of the work world, and business will see less and less value in hiring those with a college degree.
• For society as a whole, grade inflation means that our college graduates are not as well-prepared as they could be – either in regards to specific skills and knowledge, or in terms of their willingness to work hard to accomplish a task. For everyday life this lack of intellectualism strikes at the very core of what America is supposed to be – educated and engaged citizens who are thoughtful about issues pertaining to society and critical of the process by which change happens. On a smaller scale, this contributes to the ever-increasing shortage of qualified workers ready to take on the most technologically advanced jobs that we have. Even if there were no shortage of students pursuing degrees in STEM areas, if graduates are unprepared for the positions they are expected to fill, they will be unable to keep these jobs, even if they are hired to do them.

What Happens if We Curb Grade Inflation?
Take a step back for a moment and think about what higher education and society would be like if grades were based on hard work, academic rigor, and were true reflections of a person’s accomplishments.

• Student satisfaction would rise – Frankly, it is not as satisfying to attempt to do something that just isn’t that challenging. I like to fish, for example, and it wouldn’t be fun for very long if the fish just jumped out of the water into my net. Half of the enjoyment is in the intellectual and physical challenge of finding, luring, and landing a fish. Education is the same way. Students will develop more self-esteem and greater feelings of accomplishment if they have to work harder to achieve something. Ultimately this will lead to more well-adjusted and productive adults who are, in Jungian terms, self-actualized.
• Faculty confidence and rigor would rise – In addition to student confidence rising, faculty confidence and, consequently, academic rigor would improve. Part of the reason for academic tenure is to free professors from outside pressures on their research and teaching. Making them beholden to student satisfaction is not only antithetical to this idea, but also works against their being able to push students as hard as they might. As an example from popular culture, consider The Biggest Loser. The trainers in that show are absolute drill sergeant/ jerks to the contestants they are working with. They know, and most contests quickly realize, that human beings need to be pushed hard to do difficult things. Grade inflation and the accompanying expectations rob faculty of the authority and confidence to be the taskmasters that many young people need in order to kick start their pursuit of lifelong learning.
• Societal intellectualism and perseverance would rise – Finally, doing away with grade inflation would allow faculty members and their students to push and be pushed into developing lifelong habits of intellectual rigor that would make society better for everyone. Imagine the positive possibilities if everyone were used to thinking critically about the issues that affect us all. We could put a stop to political ineffectiveness and governmental policies and business practices that are not good for us, subsequent generations, or the environment.

A Simple Solution
This is a big issue, and one that has been worsening for decades without any apparent solution in sight. Like many problems that seem insurmountable, the best course of action is for a grass-roots movement for change. In this case, that means that students themselves must demand more academic rigor, not an easy "A." While I put little stock in sites like Rate My Professor, I think this is one case in which they might actually be useful. Students can start there and use the site to target faculty members that they should be taking classes from – those who receive frowny faces, or reviews that say they are hard, rigorous, mean, etc. These are not indicators of a bad teacher, but rather of one who is pushing students to the edge of their comfort zone. It is in these classes where the most learning will take place. Conversely, students should stay away from the easy teachers; they may not be pushing students as far as they could go. Students need to focus on the learning that is occurring rather than the grades that they are receiving, in order to get the maximum possible benefit from their education.

A second stage of this movement is for all higher education administration to drop the practice of using student evaluations for consideration in the reappointment and promotion process. For starters, students simply are not qualified to judge what they have learned from a PhD in any given area. Secondly, they are generally not emotionally mature enough to understand the impact of their evaluations or to objectively consider the real results of what they have experienced. Finally, the use of student evaluations for review of faculty creates a situation in which the professors who are the least rigorous (easiest) may receive artificially inflated evaluations, while those who are most challenging for students, may receive artificially low evaluation numbers.

Finally, faculty members need to maintain their academic rigor and push students as hard as possible. Every college class should be hard for every student. There is no teaching to the middle necessary in college as there is in high school. The highest expectations and standards should be set, and student’s grades should reflect the degree to which they meet those lofty goals. Faculty, in conjunction with students and administration, need to make "C’s" the standard of basic proficiency and "B’s" and "A’s" reflections of increasing mastery, not just a satisfactory performance.

If we can temper student expectations for high grades and make them appreciate the real value of the grades they are earning, not as indicators of something finished, but of something just begun. We will start heading down the right track to curb the grade inflation epidemic that is plaguing higher education.

Join the conversation on Google+ or Twitter.

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Table of Contents

• The Evaluation System
• The Problem with Evaluations
• Change on the Horizon
• What Educators Need to Know About Evaluations

With dozens of exams and papers to grade, next semester’s courses to plan, and projects to wrap up, the end of the semester can be stressful enough for teachers without having to worry about handing out and getting back the results of student evaluations. While they may be taken less than seriously by students who hastily fill them out so they can get on to summer or winter vacation, these evaluations can actually play a big role in the success of professors in their academic careers, as the results are often used to help make decisions in who’s promoted, who’s given tenure, and even who’s let go. With so much riding on these metrics, it makes sense that schools would want to get them right, but unfortunately, they very often don’t.

Yet change may just be on the horizon. In both the K-12 sector and higher education, evaluations are seeing a lot of attention as schools, colleges, and universities work to ensure they’re getting useful and meaningful data on their professors and the courses they offer. While revolutionary changes may not have reshaped the system just yet, at least not at every school, there are indications that the future of evaluations may be quite different from the type of system that exists today, giving hope to those who see the current one as outdated and unfair.

The Evaluation System

Student evaluations of teaching have a long history in higher education, with colleges using some form of the system going back as far as the 1920s. While the evaluation system might not be perfect, it does come from a good place, with the goal of making sure that courses and professors offer a high-quality educational experience for students.

Evaluations vary from institution to institution, but generally, student evaluations of teaching, or SETs, consist of a series of questions on topics like an instructor’s communication skills, organization, enthusiasm, flexibility, knowledge of the subject, clarity, course difficulty, and fairness of grading. Students can give professors a numerical rating on each of these and in many cases can also provide feedback and comments on a separate form.

Since evaluations aren’t public at many colleges and universities, it’s hard to tell just how well professors rate in the eyes of their students as a whole, but studies have shown that students aren’t always kind or especially fair in their ratings of professors. Luckily, student evaluations aren’t the only ones that play a role in helping faculty improve and in making critical decisions on tenure and promotions: peer evaluation often carry more weight and can sometimes be more useful to professors looking to improve their professional competence.

That doesn’t mean that student feedback doesn’t have a place, however. Even Stanley Fish, a University of Illinois at Chicago professor emeritus infamous for throwing his evaluations in the trash each semester, admits they can be useful but only when well formulated and focused solely on measurable elements of pedagogy. This caveat, however, is at the heart of the issues that many have with student evaluations as they exist today.

The Problem With Evaluations

While the media may have given more attention to the battle over evaluation reform at the K-12 level, the same debate rages on in higher education as well. Serious criticisms have been made of the way professors are evaluated by students, a subject that has become all the more important as budget cuts have forced layoffs, the phasing out of tenure, and other issues that make academia more competitive than ever before.

It is this competition that may have helped spawned some of the negative trends happening in higher education today. "The main problem with evaluations is that they measure satisfaction, not learning," says Louisiana State University accounting professor D. Larry Crumbley. He worries that this kind of evaluation system, which doesn’t exist in any other profession, is leading to the degradation of higher education as a whole.

"Professors believe that by being easy and giving higher grades they’ll get higher evaluations," Crumbley says. "Since 1960, there has been a ton of grade inflation, and there has also been coursework deflation, as many professors make courses easier to compete with other professors who are also becoming easier and easier." In essence, the more weight student evaluations hold, the more willing professors are to cater to the desires of students.

Evaluations, Crumbley believes, should be based on administrator class visits, peer reviews, and even learning outcomes. He isn’t alone. In 2006, the Spellings Commission called for higher education to develop readily comparable ways of measuring student learning. Colleges have been extremely reluctant to make these kinds of changes, despite studies showing that SET scores are more closely related to the grades instructors assign than to actual learning outcomes.

Evaluations have also been criticized because of their timing. "The biggest problem that I have seen with evaluations is that students do them at the very, very end of the course, often in five minutes or less. They really do not care because the course is over," says former nursing professor Carmen Kosicek. "If there are going to be changes made due to their input, it won’t affect them unless they retake the course. It would be better, in my opinion, to offer evaluations of the class multiple times so that student input could positively affect the students giving it."

Course evaluations given at the end of a course not only make it impossible for teachers to change a course as they go, but many may not receive them back until it’s already too late to make changes to their syllabus, textbook selection, or other factors for the next semester. It’s not unheard of for evaluation systems to take months to return results to professors, making it nearly impossible to actually use feedback information to improve the quality of education in any kind of reasonable time frame.

The content of evaluations may also pose challenges to their usefulness in evaluating faculty. Numerical scales give students little chance to offer individualized feedback about their experiences in the course, and the questions themselves may offer little insight into elements that research has demonstrated actually best reflect teacher effectiveness. Laura Bowman, a professor at Walden University, thinks evaluations need to be more focused on these elements. "The best evaluation I ever saw was one in which all the learning outcomes were listed and students ranked how much they learned in each area."

Perhaps most troubling is that students don’t always evaluate professors on their effectiveness alone. Studies have found that students often use factors like teacher attractiveness and personality and their own performance in the course to make their assessments. This can make it hard on faculty who don’t always have avenues for recourse if students choose to be dishonest or focus on non-academic factors when filling out SETs.

Change on the Horizon

Michael Hansen, in a paper released earlier this year, called for widespread reform of teacher evaluations at the K-12 level. He thinks evaluation systems, like other technologies, will have to evolve to accommodate shifts in the modern classroom, especially with hybrid classrooms and online education becoming more and more common. In this case, what is true for K-12 education is also true for higher education. If evaluations are to remain meaningful, they’re going to have to adapt to how educators need to use them today.

These changes are already starting to happen. Helping many schools implement them is the IDEA Center, a research-focused non-profit. In 1975, the IDEA Center developed the Student Ratings Instrument which is still the most widely used evaluation tool on the market.

While the SRI hasn’t changed radically in the past few decades, the IDEA Center still works to be at the cutting edge of understanding what works and what doesn’t in evaluations. They act as consultants to colleges to help them improve evaluation systems and are actively engaged in research on a variety of topics related to improving teaching, learning, and leadership- the results of which are released on their website and are free for colleges to use.

What are most colleges doing wrong? The organization’s Senior Research Officer, Steve Benton, says that many colleges are putting too much emphasis on student feedback. "Student ratings are only one indicator of teaching effectiveness," he says. "Peer evaluations, student products, and innovative practices in the classroom should play a larger role in how faculty are evaluated."

The IDEA Center has discovered that individualized evaluations provide the best feedback on actual student learning outcomes. Using this system, each evaluation is tailored to a professor’s personal teaching objectives and students determine how successfully a professor has met the goals he or she has set. When complete, this system generates a report that offers not only a quantitative analysis of teaching effectiveness but also tips and tools for improving.

While this system has proven effective, Benton believes there are still big changes on the horizon for evaluations. Data and analytics, which make it easier than ever for professors to track how much time students spend reading, studying, completing assignments, taking notes, what notes they take, and other critical information about student learning, may just play a critical role in the evaluation of the future.

Changes to evaluation systems don’t always have to be drastic to be effective. At Miami University, the Center for the Enhancement of Learning, Teaching, and University Assessment is simply working to modernize and refine its existing system to better serve the needs of the university and its students. According to the center’s director, Cecelia Shore, a big first step was to add a set of six university-wide questions to the evaluation form, allowing the school to look at common metrics across the university, which they think will help make the promotion and tenure system more fair.

When the new system goes live to all classes in the fall of 2013 (it’s currently in pilot), professors and departments will also have the chance to add their own questions to evaluations, giving a more personal and hopefully more useful picture of factors that are important to particular areas of study. For example, those that rely of laboratory work, studio sessions, or other specific forms of pedagogy can ask questions related to these elements.

The biggest change, however, has been in making the evaluations digital. This gives students more time to fill them out and allows faculty to get instant feedback from students once they’ve submitted their final grades. However, a digital system does come with some drawbacks, Shore admits. Because students aren’t forced to fill out evaluations in class, response rates have become a major concern, with an overall rate of just 60%-70%. Shore believes, however, that the benefits outweigh the negatives. "The system we have, once we get it going and get the kinks worked out, is going to be good in a number of ways. It gives immediate feedback, gives the promotion and tenure process a common platform, and leaves room for faculty to emphasize that aspects of the course and their teaching that are unique and special to them."

Yet some in higher education favor limiting the importance of student input altogether, relying instead on academic peers to evaluate teaching effectiveness. Bowman says that it’s these experts in education that can offer professors the best feedback on ways they need to improve. "Professors who have education, training, and experience in teaching should be visiting colleagues’ classes and completing evaluations," she says. "I have done this at several schools and it is a better way to learn where instructional practice can be improved upon." While many schools already have these types of peer review, in an era where universities are shifting to a more business-focused, consumer model, it’s unlikely student feedback will ever go by the wayside.

What Educators Need to Know About Evaluations

As the year winds down, you may find yourself again facing the prospect of student evaluations, which, despite the often hasty way they’re completed by students, can actually be meaningful to your career and how you craft your courses. If you want to improve the responses students have to your courses and the quality of what they have to say, it can be useful to make a few changes.

One of the critical aspects of getting better and often more useful evaluations is to be specific. Shore says this is one of the most common problems educators encounter with student evaluations, as students can often see questions quite differently than professors. The best method, she thinks, is to build questions that are both clear and specific, so that there isn’t room for interpretation by students, something that’s much more common than you might think.

A study by Carol Lauer in 2012 backs this up, with students having vastly different interpretations of the phrase "not organized" on an evaluation form. While 30% of faculty took this to mean not following or changing the syllabus, 17% of students though it meant not being prepared, 15% thought it meant not having a plan for the day, and 13% thought it meant student work was returned slowly.

Research also suggests that professors who are more animated (using hand gestures, modulating their voices, and walking while they talk) or who are more entertaining tend to get significantly better evaluations, no matter what they’re actually saying. Students want to feel engaged and excited by the coursework; getting them there isn’t always easy, but it is possible.

While you can’t make changes this semester, there are things you can do in the future to help you craft better courses and get important feedback from students. Mary Clement in an article for Faculty Focus, advises a few changes that can make students feel more excited about and engaged in your course:

• First, you can strive to make course material relevant to modern students. This can mean incorporating elements from pop culture and tech or just explaining why students need to know this today. This can motivate students and often leads to better course evaluations.
• You should also be explicit about what students need to do to succeed in the course and how they’ll be evaluated. Let them know what you want and how you expect them to perform in class. It can also help to make it easy for students to figure out their grades throughout the semester so they can judge whether they need to ask for help or work harder.
• Finally, keep in mind that you don’t have to (and probably shouldn’t) wait until the end of the semester to get feedback. While the official course evaluations are the ones that count, you can get feedback throughout the semester on your own. Your students will feel valued and you may find ways to improve your courses earlier in the school year, giving you time to adjust and hopefully earning you better evaluations when it counts.

No one wants to earn the scathing, sometimes cruel comments that students can dole out, and most teachers want to be considered good at what they do. Getting there will take time, effort, and yes, maybe a little pandering to students’ needs. In the end, however, both you and your students should benefit: you earn better evaluations and they get a better, more fulfilling educational experience.

The evaluation system that exists on most college campuses isn’t perfect, or in some cases even desirable, but things are changing as schools look to get more from the data they collect and professors fight for the right to be evaluated fairly and on elements that truly matter. Like most things in higher education, change in evaluations is moving slowly, but educators can take solace in knowing that evaluations are, slowly but surely, getting better.

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A Tale of Two Philosophies?
Not really. Gamification and traditional education have the same objectives – to provide students with the skills and knowledge necessary to become productive, contributing members of society. Unfortunately, both camps too often think that there is a diametrical opposition between the approaches. The difference is often reduced to having fun vs doing serious work. This need not be the case, and finding a balance between the engagement of GBL and the rigor of traditional education should be a top priority given the shortcomings of our education system at all levels and the dramatic rise in the popularity of games and gaming.

For discussion: What do you see as the role of entertainment in education?

Grades 
In my post "What if Badges Replaced Grades?" I examine the positive potential of doing away with our traditional grading system and replacing it with a more granular approach to tracking student mastery. Badges provide one such possibility.

For discussion: Is a change in grading needed? What aspects does an innovation like badges add? What would it take away?

Individualized Instruction
In many K-12 schools across the country there are simply too many students in classes. Even in some more affluent areas, there are 27 or more students, including some with special needs, in a classroom with a single teacher. In this scenario there simply is no possibility for meaningful, focused, one-on-one instruction. The National Dropout Prevention Center cites individualized instruction as one of the most important factors in keeping students engaged and in school. Technology, and games in particular, can help ease the burden on teachers by providing self-paced, individualized learning for each student. This frees teachers up to monitor the learning and remediate as needed, one-on-one.

For discussion: Have you incorporated games or a flipped curriculum to free up more individual instructional time? How, and how has it worked? How could this strategy play out in higher education?

Competition
Classroom competition cuts both ways. For some students it is extremely motivating, while for others, it can lead to feelings of learned helplessness and disengagement. Because games are based on play and have both an inherent fun-ness and socially acceptable competition on a level playing field, they can bridge the gap between those who enjoy competition and those who fear it. Games can even help students compete against themselves.

For discussion: What is the difference between game-based competition and competition over grades? Do you see this as a meaningful difference? How so, or why not?

Technological Literacy
Technology literacy is one of the most important skills that education can provide for students at any level and games, both inherently through the medium, and because of the content, have the potential to develop and support tech-literacy in a vast number of ways. In addition to game play, having students engage in game design and production can access even deeper understandings of some of the key STEM areas desperately needed in the 21st Century workforce.

For discussion: How do games improve technology literacy? What is the cost (both monetary and in other ways) of relying on games to help build tech literacy? Are we sacrificing some other type of literacy in favor of technology? What is the impact?

Collaboration
In a world where much of our daily interactions are technology-mediated, engaging students in the embedded communication systems of games supports the types of collaborative communication they will need to be proficient at in the work world. Additionally, some games depend on team-based play which emulates many workplace environments and teaches students to be part of a successful, technology connected team.

For discussion: How important is collaboration in your field or the areas you teach? What is the best way to impart an understanding of that process?

Cost
One area in which GBL poses a serious problem for our under-funded and under-staffed educational system is in the cost of implementation. Without dramatically changing the ways in which we fund education, the cost of gamification will continue to be a serious obstacle to a meaningful integration of games and game design in the classroom.

For discussion: What are your experiences dealing with the costs of implementing a game-based curriculum? Can you share any strategies for finding a balance between the cost and benefit of the model?

Instructor Knowledge
There is a very real disconnect between much teacher education and almost all graduate training in the use of games as teaching tools. Educators simply are not taught how to incorporate games into their teaching, and they require either a strong commitment to learn on their own time, or professional development and the support of well-trained IT staff if they are to make gamification a part of their repertoire.

For discussion: Have you received training in a teacher education course or graduate program that helped you to understand how to implement game-based learning? Please tell us about the experience.

Content
The content of current games also presents an obstacle to gamification. Commercial games rarely have any straightforward education application. It takes time, resources, tech skills, and creativity on the part of teachers to figure out how to use commercial games in the classroom or to mod them to make them suitable. Conversely, most educational games lack the engagement, entertainment, and polish of commercial games. Some balance between these two models is needed, but is only possible with the support of the gaming industry.

For discussion: What games have you found that contained the kinds of rich educational content that is needed for GBL? What games have you modified or seen modded to be used in education? Are there resources that are useful for finding or tweaking games for learning? Please share your findings. How could the gaming industry and education be brought together more closely?

Classroom Management
Finally, because games provide an additional level of excitement and are not traditional classroom tools, there can be issues with managing a game-based classroom. Educators need to have training not only in how to use games, but how to manage a classroom where they are being used.

For discussion: What classroom management challenges have you encountered through the use of gamification? What solutions have you found? It is more or less difficult to run a game-based class than a traditional one?

Join the Conversation
#GBLFriday discussions on Twitter provide an opportunity for those of you who have implemented a game-based curriculum at any level to share your experiences. What has worked? What hasn’t? How have you achieved a balance between core curriculum and gamification? Do you have institutional support? How so? Tag your posts with #GBLFriday and I’ll be sure to respond and share them with my followers.

For those who have yet to try to incorporate GBL into their teaching, #GBLFriday provides an opportunity for you to see what others are doing and to ask questions of those who are using games in education.

Please join the discussion tomorrow at 1PM ET (10 AM PT). Looking forward to Tweeting with you.

Follow Justin on Twitter @drjwmarquis

The post #GBLFriday – Finding a Balance Between Gamification and Education appeared first on OnlineUniversities.com.

Is screencasting so important that it deserves so much attention? As an indicator of the changes that technology is bringing to education, including "flipping the classroom," the answer is probably yes. As a true pedagogical educational innovation, I have doubts. But that is a debate for another time. Right now, given the prevalence of the screencast as an educational content delivery medium, this is a perfect time to fall back on my years as a video and media producer and instructional technology professional to provide some high-impact tips for making your screencasts the most engaging, enlightening, and valuable to your audience. That said, here are my top three Education Unbound tips for achieving the maximum impact for your educational screencasts.

Screencasting Tip #1: Equip Yourself to Succeed
You may think that screencasting is basically a process where you sit or stand in front of your computer, turn on the web cam, and go. That’s fine, but boring and actually a bit unprofessional. Don’t forget that your own personal reputation and that of the institution you represent are on the line (online!) with every video you release to the public. That seems like a lot of pressure, but a few simple measures will help to ensure that you make a professional-looking video every time.  Be sure to consult with your on-campus IT department, film studies, or instructional support if you need help to find the resources below.

• Lights: Lighting is one of most daunting, but simplest things that you can do to make your video look great. Too little and the picture is grainy, too much and you become a ghost. The optimal solution is to get a light kit and diffuser from someone on campus. This will provide you with the right levels of light. However, if one isn’t available, or you don’t want the hassle, natural lighting supplemented by some halogen or incandescent lamps can provide a soft glow that will make for a pleasing viewing experience. One thing to avoid is having any kind of light source behind you. If it’s bright enough, you’ll just become a shadow.
• Camera: Most web cameras simply are not that good, so choosing a stand-alone video camera, particularly a HD one will automatically make your videos much better. Even choosing an inexpensive HD flip camera or the camera on a new iPhone, iPad, or Android device will be better than the one on the computer. One caveat here is that you will want to be able to mount the camera or device so that it does not move. No handheld video please!
• Sound: While this may seem simple, it is the one thing about making a professional quality video that is the most challenging. As with the camera, the mic on your computer is not good enough for this task. Cameras generally have better microphones, but if you are going to stand more than a few feet away, you will need a separate microphone. If your IT department does not have a lavaliere mic that you can borrow, go to Radio Shack or visit Amazon and pick up one. They can be pretty inexpensive (20-40$) but will make all the difference in the world for the sound quality of your video. Finally, make sure that the background noise where you are filming is minimal. That quaint café may not sound so quaint when the coffee grinder kicks in.

Screencasting Tip #2: Plan for Success
Part of your planning will include accounting for the lighting, filming, and audio quality of your video as mentioned above. Beyond that, however, there are a couple areas in which some basic planning in advance will make for a much more enjoyable video.

Content planning is essential for a successful video. While you as an academic are most likely a certified expert in the area you are about to discuss on camera, having a basic structure and outline will help make sure that you don’t miss anything or go on too long and make the video boring. Additionally, think about ways in which you can split your content into the smallest meaningful segments. This is one thing that instructional design professional Sharon Boller reported finding most enjoyable about her experience taking  a MOOC from the University of Pennsylvania.

Delivery of your content is critical for screencasting success. One of the reasons that The Plaid Avenger (John Boyer) is so watchable is because he makes rich educational content really enjoyable through his flamboyant delivery. You don’t have to be Jack Black to be interesting either. Just don’t be a robot, and consider adding in some anecdotes to help add a story telling flavor to your screencast.

The lighting quality of Boyer’s video is good, and you can see the lavaliere if you look closely on his left shoulder. For more tips on developing your own unique on-screen voice, see my post "Crafting an Academic Screencasting Persona".

Finally, be aware of the staging of your video. A quiet classroom or your office offers the best options for controlling the quality of the recording. But there may also be a reading nook in the library that you can use, or if you have a decent lavaliere mic and the room is quiet at an off hour, the corner café might work. Don’t forget to look behind you too. We’ve all seen the clips of the news anchor who appears to have antlers because he stood in front of a mounted trophy.

Screencasting Tip #3: Litter the Cutting Room Floor
I know that editing video is not everyone’s cup of tea, and that the perception is that it is an incredibly tedious and time consuming task that is technically demanding. That’s true at the professional level. However, it doesn’t have to be the reality you experience when preforming simple editing of your screencasts. If you are on a Mac, then just using iMovie will provide you with a tool that will allow you to make basic edits and create a coherent video that flows more smoothly than is possible without editing.  Here is a video introduction to iMovie to help you get started:

On the Windows side things are a bit more cluttered, but a similar experience to iMovie can be found with Window’s Movie Maker which is free. Here’s how to get started:

If you are serious about making your video look professional you will need to step up to a program that allows multi-track editing such as Final Cut or Adobe Premiere, which are the two most commonly used by serious editors. On the free side, Lightworks allows much of the same fubctionality as Final Cut and Premiere. This video will get you started. But remember, no matter what program you choose, there are thousands of good tutorials online that will help you develop the ability to use your chosen program quickly and effectively.

In terms of actually editing your video, the best piece of advice I ever got came from a friend who was an editor for MTV. She told me that, "if there is any question of whether a piece of content should be cut or not, just cut it. No one will notice that it is missing except you."

If you can maintain the continuity of your message but make it shorter, your video will be much more watchable and enjoyable. The secret to this process is B-roll. B-roll is additional footage that illustrates what is being said, but allows the viewer to watch something other than a talking head. In a multi-track program like Lightworks you will be able to layer video so the B-roll hides your edits.

Keep Trying
Like anything that you want to do well in life, the secret to making successful screencasts is to keep trying and critically self-evaluate the process and the results. Each time you make a video look back through this post or make a checklist of items from it. Grade yourself on each of the categories and make note of ways you could improve on the results.

I am also happy to provide critical feedback if you’d like to share your screencasts below or on Twitter or Google+. Looking forward to seeing you online.

The post Make Your Screencasts Hits appeared first on OnlineUniversities.com.

In my most recent post, "Develop Hyper-Connected Critical Research Skills for Higher Education," I outline a process by which students can thoughtfully acquire information in any facet of their lives that can then be evaluated in order to make the most well-informed, globally aware, intellectually contemplated decision possible. Now that you know how to get the information necessary for critical thinking, here is a process that you can employ to put that data to work for you and to develop lifelong habits that will help make you a valuable contributor to society.

What is Critical Thinking? A Refresher
The basic concept behind the idea of critical thinking as summarized by from Michael Scriven and Richard Paul (1987).

"Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness."

The important aspects of this definition for the college student are that critical thinking is a set of skills for actively "conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating" information about the world we live in. In short, this is a process for making sense of the world around you.

Not coincidentally, the steps of critical thinking mirror the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy of learning which provide a structure for the most efficient way that people learn: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. Combining these two models provides an excellent plan for undertaking a process of critical reflection, particularly in a media rich, hyper-connected world. Here’s my model for "Hyper-Connected Critical Thinking" and some suggestions for how you can apply it within the existing framework of your higher education.

Stage 1: Researching – Conducting solid, informed research is the basis of all critical thinking in the Information Age, and thus is deserving of its own post, which can be read here, "Develop Hyper-Connected Critical Research Skills for Higher Education." 

Stage 2: Evaluating– Critical thinking is an iterative process, meaning that as you learn more, you return to earlier steps to invest what you have discovered back into previous levels of the process. You will be evaluating both the information you are finding and your own though process continually as you work through the critical thinking progression. This process is also addressed in "Develop Hyper-Connected Critical Research Skills for Higher Education," but at the most basic level, you will want to make sure that the sources you are incorporating are reputable. Here’s how from George Mason University.

The process of critically evaluating your own thought process is far more complex and involves developing self-awareness and open-mindedness. For starters you should create a list or diagram that captures your own perceptions of the issues and the effects of your potential findings. I would suggest a simple SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) that describes your stake in the issue.

(Source: Wikipedia)

In the case of the sample diagram, think of the areas as relating to you personally. For example, are there personal strengths you have that would help you understand the issue? Are you a member of the group or organization you are studying? If so, this also can be a weakness as your ability to see clearly may be effected by your involvement. For Opportunities and Threats, are there personal gains that you will achieve as a result of your findings? Those will need to be factored into your critical understanding of the issue.

Stage 3: Conceptualizing – Once you have conducted your initial research and evaluate it you need to create a conceptual model, either in your head or physically, of how the information you are finding fits together. In formal academic courses, your professors may do some of this for you by presenting historical contexts or explicitly emphasizing links to ongoing events or research. If they don’t, or you are working outside of formal educational channels, you can do this for yourself using free online concept mapping tools. This list from Indiana University contains several suggestions. Additionally you could use PowerPoint or Prezi, particularly if you are looking to collaborate with others. 

Stage 4: Analyzing – In the critical thinking process, analyzing applies to discrete pieces of information, the larger issue being considered, and your own thought process. The process of analysis is where true critical perspective begins to develop. Take all of the information you have acquired, the broad concepts you have formulated, and your own burgeoning self-awareness from the SWOT analysis, and put them all together to form a complete picture of the issue(s) and your place in relation to it. This process will be different for every problem you tackle, but basically you should consider the mainstream perspective on an issue and then as many alternative perspectives as you have encountered or can conceive of. Refer back to your education to think about these alternative points of view. World history, political science, philosophy, classics, and other disciplines will help provide divergent perspectives. Additionally, return to the Internet and consult discussion boards, affinity groups, and social media sites to find real people whose opinions you can elicit.

Stage 5: Synthesizing – It is now time to begin putting everything together to synthesize your new critical perspective on the issue or topic. The best way to synthesize the information you have gathered, conceptualized, and analyzed is to clearly articulate your position. You have done all of the necessary legwork to take this step, but formalizing your point of view will be intellectually challenging. This is the point of the process where social media and face-to-face contacts are essential to developing a clear articulation of your conclusions. Talk to friends, family, and experts in the field such as professors or professionals available online and walk through your process with them and your conclusions. As this is an iterative process, you should remain flexible about incorporating any new information into your developing understanding.

Stage 6: Creating – Finally, in the Information Age, the end result of any critical thinking endeavor is to create and share a product that will add value to the ongoing conversation and solidify your thinking on the topic. If you are in a class, the guidelines for this production will be clear – PowerPoint, paper, or some other project. If you are coming to your critical perspective on your own, you can create a blog, video, video game, or some other piece of media that takes your synthesis and turns it into something that articulates and shares your newfound understanding.

For hyper-connected critical thinking this sharing and the ensuing conversation that follows from it will serve to further enhance your view, and should be funneled back into the process. Critical thinking will never end, and every new piece of information you receive should be incorporated into your ongoing process.

Keep It Going
Hyper-connected critical thinking is an ongoing process that never stops. Not only will it continue for any individual topic you research, but, if put into play, it will help you to develop the kind of lifelong habits of intellectualism and critical consideration that will make you a thoughtful, concerned, and ultimately successful person. Critical thinking will help you to make the most well-informed, best decision in any event that you encounter, It is a skill that will benefit you and the entire society. Go ahead and start honing your critical thinking skills right now.

The post Applying Hyper-Connected Critical Thinking in Higher Education appeared first on OnlineUniversities.com.

Websites are no longer a novelty in the business world – they are a necessity. If people cannot find information about your company by doing a web search, they will likely go elsewhere. Websites are also great for establishing your own voice, credentials and outreach. If you do not promote your talents online, you are missing out on a readily available, some would say, necessary resource.

Websites are also valuable to teachers. They can now count on sites to stimulate students’ minds in exciting ways. Not only is the Internet a key component of 21st Century education, but many students also have come to expect the availability of online course work. Despite the disapproval of many contemporary educators, online learning is only becoming more popular among students. Teachers, therefore, have embraced flexible, web-based academics with largely positive results.

Below are a few steps you can take toward building your own website, regardless of your ultimate goal.

Step One: Choosing a Platform

There are plenty of website-building platforms to select from. The platform you choose should reflect your budget constraints, level of experience, and intended content. The following is a list of some free options:

• WIX is a fast and easy platform that enables the use of various multimedia, such as videos, photo albums, maps, and animation effects. It also offers upgrades in case you need more tools, or wish to expand on the free version.
• Webs is a popular tool that allows users to link e-commerce functions such as Paypal or Google Checkout. It also allows you to create social networks by providing visitors the opportunity to “join” your website.
• Webnode is probably the most user-friendly website-building platform. It allows you to navigate through your website as you build it, thereby creating a picture of your product while you are still in the development process.
• WordPress is a popular and flexible blogging website. Part of the flexibility comes from the easily organizable widgets and the clear editing interface. It also offers the option to buy a .com or .net for $17.
• Blogger is the oldest and easiest-to-use blogging website available. Since Google bought the site, its capabilities continue to grow. However, Blogger domain names typically connote amateur blogging, and these pages are known for system outages. Nonetheless, it is a great resource for beginners looking to develop a web presence.
• Drupal is a versatile tool that can be used for discussion forums, professional business pages, or personal websites and blogs. A moderate of amount of experience or research is necessary, since Drupal offers such a wide variety of services. Also note that the website and software installation can be inconvenient.

The following website-building platforms are more expensive, but still popular:

• Dreamweaver is an advanced website-building tool offered by Adobe. The newest version, CS6, offers mobile app building capabilities. It also offers multi-screen layouts so you can view your final product as you edit. It is, however, built for experienced users and occasionally requires you to write code.
• Microsoft Expression Web is another highly professional website-building and editing software program. It is much more user-friendly than Dreamweaver, though it does not offer mobile app building.

If you are a teacher shopping around for the right learning management systems (LMS), there are three that are particularly popular right now:

• Blackboard is a LMS commonly used by universities, which is particularly strong in its ability to connect educators and students. It does, however, take special training workshops in order to maintain a blackboard site. Canvas and Moodle allow educators to take a more hands-on role.
• Moodle is a little less user-friendly, but it is more community-based. The site offers discussion forums and endless resources from other users to assist your LMS maintenance.
• Canvas is arguably the most user-friendly of the three LMSs covered here. It features automatic updates and provisioning, so that resources are always available, no matter how busy a week the editors or users are having.

Step Two: Implementing a Design and Building Content

When beginning to build a website, it might be a good idea to gain some HTML knowledge. Here’s an easy-to-navigate HTML guide to help you get some basic code under your belt. If you don’t mind depending entirely on the tools of the platform you choose, it may be best to choose a platform that’s more visual. Webnode, for instance, allows you to drag content around and place it wherever you like, much like an MS Word document. Webs is a little more rigid, like Microsoft PowerPoint. The format of a WordPress page depends on the ways you manipulate widgets from your dashboard. While there are a few exceptions, the eight platforms above can accommodate almost any content you would like to produce.

For most of these platforms, adding different forms of media or social features is as easy as drag-and-drop. Drupal, Dreamweaver, and Microsoft Expression Web offer the widest selection of appearance options, since their users must often write code. Webs, Wix, WordPress, and Webnode all offer a decent amount of options, as long as you accept that there will be other websites with the same theme or general appearance. Blogger is the least customizable, but if you use it, there is a good chance you are a website-building novice looking for a template that’s less complex.

Whatever kind of site you run, make sure you have a comprehensive ‘Contact’ page with phone numbers, snail mail, email addresses and social media buttons. If you run a personal site, be sure to stay organized by clearly expressing your project on an ‘About the Site’ page. And whatever your goal is, be sure you have a catchy, visually appealing ‘Home’ page. This is the first screen visitors will see, so make it stand out!

Step Three: Promoting the Site

Speaking of standing out, it is important for your website to be searchable. The best way to improve the likelihood of a search engine locating your site is to update often, produce a lot of content, and cross-link the different pages within your site in order to create more URLs. It also helps to normalize your site’s URLs, so that each click within your website counts toward the same popularity ranking.

Another way to funnel people into your site is through social plugins like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Facebook encourages website owners to use its features in order to promote your website. Whether your goal is business, education, or just entertainment, it is a good idea to set up social plugins so that guests have multiple pathways to your website.

Inviting guest contributors to your site’s blog might be a good idea. This arrangement can be mutually beneficial; guest writers want people to read their work, and you, the site owner, can enlist these contributors to help you promote the brand. While you’re at it, try to get advertisers for your website. If you use a guestbook feature (a good idea if you run a business), keep in touch with the people who visit your site; keep them in the loop about new developments, promotions, and other happenings. It’s important to show people you are not going anywhere and that your website is a worthwhile investment.

Finally, know how to evaluate your success. It may be disheartening to look at abysmally low websites statistics (or “metrics”). But it is essential you make sure you are paying attention to the right metrics. Here is a helpful page that rates the usefulness of different metrics. These include metrics that provide evaluation of success as well as tools for increasing page views and reducing bounce rates.

All of the platforms listed in this article come with supportive communities full of people willing to give accessible advice to people with any level of experience. Most importantly, you need to remember there is relatively little at stake when building a website. So go with an idea and use a free website-building platform to get it off the ground. If it takes off, put a little more into it and see what you get back.

The post Building Your Website appeared first on OnlineUniversities.com.

What is Critical Thinking?
Surprisingly, critical thinking as a distinct area is relatively new, having only been formally defined in the late 20th Century. Its roots however, go back as far as recorded human history, as we have always been striving to apply these concepts to our existence in the world. The formal definition we use today comes from Michael Scriven and Richard Paul, who presented the concept at the 8th Annual International Conference on Critical Thinking and Education Reform in 1987. Here is their summary:

"Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action. In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness."
Scriven and Paul, 1987)

According to Scriven and Paul, there are two distinct parts of critical thinking: gathering information from the world around you (researching for class assignments) and making sense of that information (completing class assignments). They list several different ways in which information can be gathered and several steps necessary for actively understanding the facts gathered. Both aspects of the critical thinking process can be developed and sharpened by the thoughtful college student interested in enhancing their ability to think critically and thus to make informed judgments and take appropriate action in any circumstance that they might encounter.

Gathering information is the first step in critical thinking. Here’s how you can become a thoughtful and thorough researcher to provide the best data for your critical consideration.

Building Your Critical Capacity
Prior to applying your critical thinking skills, you must first acquire the material that you are going to analyze and synthesize. This is a process which can be honed, thus providing you with the best possible information to consider. Whenever you are engaged in looking for targeted information, whether for conducting scholarly research or to determine which new cell phone to purchase, you will be well served by following these tips for conducting critical research:

1. Cast a wide net/conduct primary research – In any information gathering task you should begin by considering the broadest possible array of sources. In the 21st Century, this generally means using the Internet and your favorite search engine such as Google or Bing. More important than which engine you use are the search terms that you enter. Start with the most general. If you are doing research on the Native American occupation of Alcatraz Island in 1969, starting with a generic search for Native American history, or Indigenous movements will net you some results that may help place your specific topic in a broader context and that may open up additional avenues of inquiry. You are looking for the most authoritative and reputable sources regardless of the search you conduct. Google does a fairly good job sifting out the bad ones, but following these tips from George Mason University will help to ensure that you are targeting the best resources possible.
2. Refine your questions – Once you have done your initial search and background reading you will be ready to dig in to specific questions and your targeted issue. First you will want to formulate a research question. Referring back to the Alcatraz occupation as an example, you may choose to ask "What were the objectives in occupying the prison?" or "What events led to the occupation and how does it contribute to an understanding of the indigenous rights movement?" or even more specifically, "What was John Trudell’s role in the occupation and why is he a controversial figure in the indigenous rights movement?"

   Once you have generated a specific question you are interested in answering you should generate a list of key words – names, dates, concepts, etc. that can help you create a list of search terms that will help you find your answers. At this point you should also consider switching to a more academically focused search engine such as Google Scholar or any of these others recommended by TeachThought.com. These engines will return results from even more authoritative sources such as scholarly journals that will give your assertions real weight, and lead you to further articles.

3. Track back other sources – As you read through the sources you are finding at both levels above, you should be making a list of additional references given in what you are reading. Specifically make note of those that seem to provide more detailed information about some aspect of your research. Write down the author’s name, title of the work, and date of publication whenever available. Then begin searching for those sources. I have had surprisingly good luck putting titles and author names into Google and receiving results that link directly to digital copies of the work I am looking for. Start there for the broadest possible search. Then head to the library for some old fashioned catalogue/stack searching, or search online research databases such as JSTOR, or ERIC. The specific one you use will depend on the field you are researching. For a list of which databases contain what type of information check out studenthacks.org’s "Super-Sized List of Online Academic Databases."

Putting Your Research to Work
Part of the problem with doing all of this critical research is going to be keeping it organized. Best Colleges Online blogger Michael Keathley offers three steps for dealing with the "information overload" you are likely to generate by doing thorough research in the Internet Age.  Keathley’s suggestions for organizing and incorporating your findings are excellent, but in addition to just using them, you want to make sure that you are incorporating them into your personal critical framework.

Once you have applied critical thinking to the process of finding valuable information about a topic you are researching, you will need to understand how to make sense of the material in order to draw sound conclusions.  I will address that process in the next post.

Follow the thread and share your thought on critical thinking in the 21st Century on Twitter or Google+.

Image courtesy of Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The post Develop Hyper-Connected Critical Research Skills for Higher Ed appeared first on OnlineUniversities.com.

But financial planning need not be complicated, nor does it have to keep you from using your money the way you want. It’s really about being aware of the money you have and creating priorities for how to spend it. This guide has been designed to help you learn more about financial planning and the steps you can begin taking now to ensure that you avoid a “financial crisis” of your own in the years to come.

Step One: Creating a Financial Checklist

Many college students and other young people will learn rather quickly how important it is to keep their expenses in check. It’s easy to become bogged down with ‘new’ financial obligations, such as college tuition, rent, food, and entertainment. Getting started now with a financial checklist of your own may save you time, stress, and money.

Creating a checklist is simple. All you need to do is record your monthly income (from parents, part-time employment, financial aid, etc.) and your recurring monthly expenses. The goal is to reconcile (or balance) your expenses with your income so you don’t end up spending more than you have. Doing this will help you avoid trouble with nasty credit card debt or a low credit score.

For more information on creating a financial checklist, as well as some other great information about financial planning, this informative article from Western Washington University is a great read.

Check Your Financial Knowledge: Microeconomics

If you took economics in high school, you may be familiar with the term “microeconomics.” Unlike macroeconomics, which deals with big picture economic issues such as inflation and unemployment rates, microeconomics gets into more specific economic issues concerning individuals and businesses, such as cash flow and opportunity cost. While we don’t expect you to be an economic expert, being familiar with these concepts will definitely help you craft a solid financial plan.

One of the most recognizable formulas in the world of microeconomics is the “cost-benefit analysis.” Most of us conduct this analysis every day, often without even knowing it. A cost-benefit analysis is a simple determination of whether the benefit of something you spend money on matches or exceeds its cost.

For example, let’s say you go to your local “buy-in-bulk” grocery store and decide to spend $60 on buying your favorite coffee in bulk. Normally you spend $10 a week on the same brand of coffee at the corner grocery store, but the bulk purchase you just made should provide you with enough coffee to last eight weeks. A quick cost-benefit analysis shows that you end up saving $20 by purchasing coffee in bulk.

Something as simple as buying more up-front really can end up saving you a significant amount of money over time.

Step Two: Cut Your Expenses

Now that you’ve successfully completed a financial checklist guided by microeconomics, cutting out unnecessary expenses from your checklist is the next step. There are three possible conclusions you can make upon reviewing your checklist:

1. Your income is more than your expenses. (This is what you want)
2. Your income is less than your expenses. (This is what you DON’T want)
3. Your income and expenses are the same. (You don’t really want this either)

If you fall under the second or third categories with little chance of increasing your income in the near future, you will want to consider cutting your expenses where possible.

Sometimes this process can be easier than you think. If you use a cell phone, for example, take a moment to consider how many minutes you use per month. In many cases, the number of minutes the average person spends talking on their cell will be less than the number of minutes for which they currently pay. Therefore, downsizing your cell phone plan is often an excellent way to cut expenses right off the bat.

Here are some more great expense cutting tips for students:

1. Consider taking the bus or your bike to school instead of driving.
2. Cook your own meals instead of going out to eat.
3. Sell your used textbooks online instead of going back to the campus bookstore.
4. Identify how much money you spend on “non-essential” items, such as movies, video games and going out on the town, and consider cutting back on some of those expenses.

For more information and tips on cutting expenses, take a look at this great article hosted by the AARP, as well as this one provided by Family Circle.

Step Three: Manage Your Cash

Once you have created your financial checklist and cut expenses where appropriate, the income you receive per month will ideally exceed your monthly expenses. This is known as “positive cash flow.” We realize that reaching this goal could be a challenge, given that students may not have a very substantial source of income while they attend college. Even if your cash flow remains slightly negative or just breaks even, learning how to manage your cash now is a great way to prepare for the future.

While this may seem counterintuitive to what we’ve discussed thus far, once you graduate college (or even before you graduate), you may want to consider applying for a credit card. This is an important step toward building your credit history. Building a good credit history now may allow you to borrow money later for important things you may not be able to afford with cash alone, such as a car or even a house. Having a credit card is a great way to show lenders that you have financial responsibility when it comes to using credit and following a sound financial plan.

Any time you have positive cash flow, saving a portion of your income will be a top priority. In the long run, saving money can help you afford the vacation you’ve always wanted, paying off unpredictable debts, or even retiring comfortably. The best way to save money is to not question the immediate value of doing so, and instead to just keep on doing it.

For more information on what students can do to begin managing their cash today, Get Rich Slowly hosts a terrific article featuring 27 great cash management tips college students can put into action today.

Your Money, Your Future

We hope you were able to take away a few things to help you get your financial plan started the right way. Remember, now is really the perfect time to start. Remember, what you do with your own money is entirely up to you, but achieving financial independence after college could entirely depend on the financial decisions you make today.

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1. Embrace the Liberal Arts – There is a lot of bad press about the liberal arts not being worth the return on the investment. However, as a product of just such a degree, I can assure you that it is well-worth the investment, particularly as the world changes so dramatically. The value of a liberal arts education is summarized nicely by David Shribman of the Pittsburg Post-Gazette. Shribman cites, for example, the fact that every member of the current Presidential cabinet, save one, holds a liberal arts degree. He further notes that eight of the top ten colleges in terms of alumni wealth 30 years after graduation are liberal arts institutions.

Universities should adopt some aspects of the liberal arts model in order to help their students develop the creative capacity needed to be successful after graduation. For starters, colleges should adopt broad-based core curriculums that require students to experience various disciplines and their associated perspectives on the world. Next, institutions must require students to apply their knowledge from various fields across multiple disciplines. Finally, encouraging students, even at the undergraduate level, to work on research that applies their knowledge and encourages them to interact with their peers, professors, and working professionals will help ensure that the application of creative thinking that is central to the liberal arts becomes part of every student’s learning process.

2. Encourage Study Abroad – While the curriculum in any given study abroad program may or may not encourage student creativity directly, the simple experience of living in another culture and studying their language will. One of the great side effects of studying abroad is the exposure to the culture and various art forms from that area. Visiting museums, attending concerts, plays, and other cultural events all expose students to different ways of thinking and thinking about the world. See my post "Make Creativity the Focus of Your Higher Education" to learn more about how the arts foster creative abilities and how they are useful on any job.

The greatest benefit to living abroad, however, is gaining insight into the ways in which other parts of the world function. We live in a connected global economy, and having an understanding of the ways in which hi-tech businesses in China, cattle farmers in Argentina, or even the neighborhood café in Italy function can open innumerable doors for innovation, collaboration, and economic opportunity for the creative individual.

3. Support Community Engagement – One thing that is often not supported broadly at the institutional level, particularly at larger universities, is community engagement for all students. Getting learners out in the community to share what they are studying, to interact with experts, or to gain experience in real world working environments helps them gain insights into their chosen career. These opportunities can also begin to formulate ideas and provide a space where what they are learning in the classroom can be applied in the field.

Students can become engaged in the community at any level: local, national, or even globally thanks to the Internet. Each student can also engage in their own individual type of involvement as well. Some ways that this can happen are through charity work, community service, coaching, mentoring, service learning associated with a course, by starting a non-profit, or even by starting a business. All of these endeavors will teach students to innovate, problem solve, and apply what they are learning in new ways.

4. Go Hi-Tech – One thing that all institutions of higher learning should be doing in the Information Age is going all in on technology. There can be no doubt that we live in a society dominated by advanced information and communication technologies and that students will be expected to use them when they enter the workforce. More importantly, they may well be expected to already know how to use them as a requirement of being hired. Regardless, knowledge of the latest tools and software can only enhance a student’s employability. In addition to making them better candidates, being thoroughly versed in technology helps students in other ways. It supports the development of technological literacy which promotes lifelong learning, for example. In terms of supporting creativity, going hi-tech allows students to use the latest tools for individual expression and to practice the kinds of real-world, global interactions that will almost certainly be a part of their work experience.

While technology may be expensive to purchase, outfit, and maintain, it really needs to be an expectation of every student that a university education will include access to the most up-to-date resources being used in their intended field. Students are paying for an education and that education should include access to the devices and software that will make them well prepared for their chosen careers. More importantly though, having access to this technology early on will help them apply their learning in new and creative ways and begin thinking through real problems that they will be expected to solve for the rest of their lives.

Be Deliberate
My recent post, "Make Creativity the Focus of Your Higher Education" admonished students to be deliberate in their pursuits of classes and activities that would help make them critical thinking, creative innovators who would be highly valued as employees in the hyper-connected global economy. Colleges and universities also need to be deliberate in their mission to support their students in developing these critical skills. The four suggestions above outline activities that schools can begin undertaking right now to help their students be successful after graduation and throughout their lifetimes. But in order for these initiative s to be successful, schools will need to promote and cultivate the types of interactions and opportunities described. We cannot forget that most college students are still young and may need a friendly nudge from time to time to help ensure that they are maximizing their educational opportunities.

One suggestion not made above because it can encompass all of the others is to support eLearning. There is no reason that every college or university in the country cannot provide some online learning options for their students, either in a straight online format or as hybrid options that integrate with field work and allow students to move further from the campus in pursuit of the kinds of activities that will support their burgeoning creativity.

Join the discussion about higher education’s obligation to teach creativity on Twitter or Google+.

Image courtesy of Boaz Yiftach / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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