How technology is changing education...

Brad deLong blogs embedded apps (you must follow the link Gapminder):

Chris Anderson writes:

The Long Tail: Google Apps and the power of embedded functionality: There been a lot of talk today about Google releasing a suite of hosted applications.... As Anil Dash discusses here, these web-based apps are not meant to replace Office but to compliment it by doing things online that desktop software just can't do well. What might those things be? I think we have a hint in the spread of embedded video, courtesy of YouTube. The ability to easily embed into any blog page a full-featured videoplayer dedicated to a single video is a large part of YouTube's success. It doesn't require you to go elsewhere or download anything--it just works.

Now imagine the same model working for data. Rather than me posting static jpeg charts and links to Excel spreadsheet files, what if I could post data the way I post videos: as an embedded mini-app that simply displays the data in a useful way, allowing readers to manipulate or copy it at will?... That's what I want. Not an online spreadsheet that simply replicates what Excel already does perfectly well on my laptop, but small spreadsheet elements that I can paste... in the form of a specific data set or graph. The fact that they're hosted elsewhere is what would make them simple enough to use, just as embedding YouTube video is so head-slapping easy today....

The embedded functionality era has just begun. YouTube is just the start of something much bigger.

Indeed. I had thought by now that I would be able to simply embed the spreadsheet at http://delong.typepad.com/print/20060829_Solow_growth.xls in my online lecture notes, so that people could easily see and then do their own Solow growth model calculations. But it hasn't happened--although I strongly suspect Google or Microsoft will make it possible by this time next year.

YouTube is not the only example of this working now. Consider gapminder: http://tools.google.com/gapminder/

Posted by Brad DeLong on August 29, 2006 at 0

How do learning outcomes translate to course requirements?

As the faculty discuss learning outcomes, it is important to remember that learning outcomes do not necessarily translate one-to-one to course requirements. Many of the learning outcomes would be achievable through multiple courses- introduced in one, reinforced in another, synthesized later. The important thing is to ask the question, "Of the learning outcomes under consideration, are there any that are really not essential core learning outcomes that we expect of a graduate, keeping in mind the mission of the university and that these outcomes are not a one-to-one map to course requirements?"

What about area studies courses?

After distributing our draft learning outcomes, a faculty member writes with a specific concern, that is useful and illustrative... My response is below (both original query and my response have been edited to make a bit more general, and cutting out the specifics). I'll call the original questioner "Sidney" since to my knowledge there is no Sidney on campus and it can be used for either gender...

Hello Michael,
Thank you for your update regarding the CORE revision. Interestingly, we are going through a program review in my Dept. to try and "bring the department into the present." I just wanted to bring your attention to one, oblique dynamic of the CORE and its triangulation with International Programs that is worth keeping on the periphery. As you know, we send students to the country of Sidonia. There are three CORE courses involved in the Sidonia program. The first two satisfy the presentUniversity CORE and the third partially fulfills the A&S Fine Arts requirement.
*Arts and Culture of Sidonia
*Arts of the Sidonian region
*Art of Sidonia Lab
What is the committee thinking about how these course might fit into a revised Core?
Cheers,
Sidney

...and my response...
Sidney,
It might be worthwhile to look at our preliminary core learning outcomes we sent in the document and think about how your current course offerings fit into those. Are they 100% aligned with those learning outcomes? 50% aligned? Alignment is strongest with which learning outcomes? (i.e., might be very high on engagement, collaborative learning, second language, impact of arts, and potentially could pay more attention to intertwined western and world institutions/cultures, just for example- I have never seen your syllabi). You might want to start talking with other area studies world cultures faculty (I myself am one) and start thinking about what the learning outcomes are from our sometimes very narrowly focused area studies courses. Many of us in area studies are very convinced of the value of area studies courses; the question is though, can we articulate what that value is? And is that articulation something like what we already have in our proposed learning outcomes, or is it something subtly different, in which case we want to think about proposing modifications. This is a useful exercise in any case, and sounds like you are already doing it as part of your departmental program review. If we do have a revision, eventually a Core coordinator would be gradually looking at how existing courses aligned (I say gradual because we're talking 2010 at earliest for upper-division courses to be "deployed", depending on transition dynamics) with the possibly new Core learning outcomes.
Best,
Michael

Summer work results in Core revision resource packet

Over the summer the Core Curriculum Revision Committee at Santa Clara University met and had extensive discussions over core mission, learning outcomes, assessment, structures, etc. Some of the results of that are available in an information packet that the committee would like faculty to discuss over the coming months. The packet will be available Sept. 1 on a link to the right.