Author Archives: coleeducationaldesigns

Objective Elizabeth Barkley states that “teachers have the greatest control over what happens to students in the specific courses they teach, but their efforts to foster engagement will be both easier and more effective if their instructional environment is supportive. Additionally, engagement will be deepened if what students are learning in the classroom connects toContinue reading “Three-Way Partnership”

I cannot count the number of times I have walked by a classroom and have seen students having conversations/discussions as a class task. When taking the the communicative approach to teaching, this would appear to be a good thing. Right?Well, technically this is right, if the teacher has managed to appropriately design the speaking tasks to “communicateContinue reading “Why are your Students Talking?”

In previous posts, I mentioned how I thought by combining all 4 of the taxonomies created by Fink, Bloom, Krathwhol, and Simpson educators could build a better student experience in the classroom. Looking at this summary of the levels within these taxonomies, you can see quite a bit of overlap. They all start with receivingContinue reading “Cole's Taxonomy in Progress”

Learning how to learn is now becoming a bigger part of course design and planning used with the revised blooms taxonomy to challenge students with more complex learning which leads to higher order thinking. I think that Dee Fink  would say that every course requires you to teach the students how to learn, as Bloom, Krathwohl, Simpson, et al.Continue reading “One Simple Sentence”

To comment on Jose Bowen’s suggestions, here are the benefits he mentions and his explanation of why podcasts are better than lecture capture or video on his website http://teachingnaked.com/ He says that “most of us teach to the mean, so if most students can understand a problem after two examples, we do two examples. We wouldContinue reading “Podcast Pros”

Hidden curriculum refers to “the unwritten, unofficial, and often unintended lessons, values, and perspectives that students learn in school. While the “formal” curriculum consists of the courses, lessons, and learning activities students participate in, as well as the knowledge and skills educators intentionally teach to students, the hidden curriculum consists of the unspoken or implicitContinue reading “Hidden Curriculum a Student Experience”

Have you ever been in a classroom without a whiteboard (or a blackboard)? As a teacher in the digital age, we can teach without projectors, without speakers, without TVs, and without the internet, even though sometimes we think we cannot. Inspired by a chat I’ve been having with fellow teachers, we think that sometimes weContinue reading “The Whiteboard: Underdog of the Classroom”

To continue on from my previous post, one of the areas for learning how to learn  is Ways of Studying Information. As I am currently designing career college courses, I am constantly thinking about strategies I can share with instructors to help them in the classroom. According to Terry Doyle, there are nine main waysContinue reading “Take Note”

This was the concept that planted the seed for this blog. I asked myself what does this mean?  I am sure it means something different to everyone. I have participated in discussion forums and listened to teachers ask Have you ever wondered why some students are much quicker to understand and apply concepts from class withContinue reading “Learning How to Learn”

I created my first infographic just a month ago in a class I took on Instructional Strategies. It is entitled Creative Thinking Class Road Trip (see it below). It was a great experience for me because I am a crafter at heart. In doing this, I realized what a great assessment tool they can be.Continue reading “Info about Infographics”