What?! No Deadlines on Assignments?!

Approximate Reading Time: 3 minutesA common kind of complaint among many HE faculty: My student comes with a long story about why they need an extension on an assignment. I have already gone to some lengths to make sure my students have plenty of … Continue reading

Why do eggs have so many shapes?

Approximate Reading Time: 3 minutesA massive new study finds that how much a bird flies influences how their egg rolls OK. Great webpage, design-wise. BUT, I have TWO problems with the science. Yes, yes, I don’t have degrees in ornithology. OTOH I *DO* have … Continue reading

Is it appropriate to make educational games for girls?

Approximate Reading Time: 2 minutesI don’t like fighting. As a result, there are a whole pile of video games that I don’t really like playing. I’ve always thought of shooters and fighting games as the low-hanging fruit of game design. It’s fairly easy to … Continue reading

Is More Choice Always Better?

Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minuteNo. Too much choice often interferes with learning; just like creating a simulated environment that is too real becomes counter-productive, especially with novices. Giving the learner too many things to think about too soon makes it much harder for them … Continue reading

University Calendar Important Dates – How to do it Right

Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minuteWhy is it that the things that people tend to check more often than anything, including the list of important dates, are so devilishly hard to find on most university websites.   I mean, REALLY. This is the modern world … Continue reading

Tips & Techniques: Assessment with Stoplight Feedback

Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minuteHere’s an idea that a student in a class I taught this summer shared with me. I LOVE it and wanted to share it here. First, THANKS to Roberta Slobodian for letting me share this. Here’s her idea: When you … Continue reading

The Value of the Designer Who Codes | Inc.com

Approximate Reading Time: < 1 minute“Knowing the technology better means more productive arguments when there are disagreements because everyone speaks the same language.” via The Value of the Designer Who Codes | Inc.com. If you want to design applications you need to understand how they … Continue reading

Blame the messenger: Why Do People Think the problem is PowerPoint?

Approximate Reading Time: 2 minutesWhat would you rather do than sit through a PowerPoint presentation? – National presentation skills | Examiner.com. It seems that blaming PowerPoint for boring or outright bad presentations is still popular. That’s bad enough. What’s worse, is that people think … Continue reading