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Technology: Social Isolation or Connection?

Monday, January 18, 2010
By Fritz Nordengren
Technology:  Social Isolation or Connection?

There is a continuing discussion and investigation of the idea of social isolation and community engagement in a variety of texts and studies.  One of the original works  was Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone : The Collapse and Revival of American Community. The general belief, supported by many of Putnam’s cited studies, is that people are... »

PowerProfs Sabbatical

Monday, November 30, 2009
By Ann York
PowerProfs Sabbatical

Thank you for joining in our Dispatches from the Graduate Classroom conversation over the past couple of years. We have had a blast and gorged ourselves on the whole lifelong learning thing that we educators tend to do. As a result, we have suddenly... »

Gender – Part 2

Sunday, November 15, 2009
By Ann York
Gender – Part 2

Shortly after my recent post on Gender: An Academic Question, two articles on gender appeared. The first, and most important, was the Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything. The rather upbeat title stems from the fact that women now make up half the workforce,... »


Release Date: Handbook of Research on Practices and Outcomes in E-Learning: Issues and Trends

Friday, October 30, 2009
By Fritz Nordengren
Release Date: Handbook of Research on Practices and Outcomes in E-Learning:  Issues and Trends

As you may know, Ann and I worked together in the creation of a research chapter for the Handbook of Research on Practices and Outcomes in E-Learning: Issues and... »

Gender: An Academic Question

Friday, October 23, 2009
By Ann York
Gender: An Academic Question

“For every 100 American women enrolled in college, there are only 77 men. And for every 100 women who graduate with a bachelor’s degree, only 73 men accomplish that,... »

Hybrids Rule

Wednesday, September 30, 2009
By Ann York
Hybrids Rule

Yes, I do truly love my Prius, but here I am discussing another kind of hybrid: a course that involves both online and classroom learning. An Inside Higher Ed... »

Back to the Future

Sunday, September 13, 2009
By Ann York
Back to the Future

Following up on a theme discussed in a recent PowerProfs post on the evolution of educators from a stand and deliver classroom teachers to a supercharged E-mentors using a... »

Will this be on the test?

Wednesday, September 2, 2009
By Ann York
Will this be on the test?

An Inside Higher Ed blog Demand and Supply By Joshua Kim asks questions we here at PowerProfs have pondered: “Why do students seem content with a lecture based class system?... »

Educators of the Future

Tuesday, August 25, 2009
By Ann York
Educators of the Future

Inside Higher Ed ran an interview with Curtis J. Bonk, a professor of instructional systems technology at Indiana University, and author of the book The World Is Open: How... »

Thinking Too Much

Thursday, August 20, 2009
By Ann York
Thinking Too Much

It turns out that our brains can be co-conspirators in a vicious stress loop. This finding is not too surprising to any of us with an overactive cortex. I... »

“Textbooks are history” says NY Times? Not so fast.

Sunday, August 9, 2009
By Fritz Nordengren
“Textbooks are history” says NY Times?  Not so fast.

The headline in the Times  section reads: As Classrooms Go Digital, Textbooks Are History The article, by Tamar Lewin  published August 8, 2009 Has some good observations about the changing face... »

Will Blogs, Facebook, and Twitter Fade?

Saturday, July 18, 2009
By Fritz Nordengren
Will Blogs, Facebook, and Twitter Fade?

Over at EandPPub.com, they are asking a question of the day and I Tweeted the link because I found both the question and the comments very interesting. We discuss a... »

Zotero Redux

Wednesday, July 15, 2009
By Ann York
Zotero Redux

Keeping digital stuff organized is a challenge, and we dedicated a podcast to that topic last year. One of our favorite tools that has since stood the test... »

Corner Office – To the C.E.O. of Teach for America, Charisma Is Overrated – Question – NYTimes.com

Friday, July 10, 2009
By Fritz Nordengren
Corner Office – To the C.E.O. of Teach for America, Charisma Is Overrated – Question – NYTimes.com

From the NY Times Q & A with Wendy Kopp Q. What are you looking for in teachers you recruit? A. We’ve done a lot of research on the characteristics... »

Gender Models in Leadership

Tuesday, July 7, 2009
By Ann York
Gender Models in Leadership

Over the past year, Fritz and I developed and taught a one-credit hour course for our Leadership Certificate Program called Gender Models in Contemporary Healthcare Leadership. Fritz came up... »