Ask-Dr-Kirk

What Would Happen If We Engaged In Behaviors We Sometimes See In The Classroom?

This professor poses the questions we've all had at some point in our teaching career...

What would happen if I walked into class and left my ipod in? If I just pantomimed my way  through a lecture while I actually rocked out in my own little ipod world? It would look like I was teaching, just like it looks like you (chick in the 7th row to the left) are paying attention to me. Or, what if I lectured and played a video game at the same time? Instead of slides, you could see my game. Or if I just decided to work on the campus newspaper crossword puzzle (how can that take you all class period? It’s ridiculously easy, if you want, I can just give you all the answers in the first 2 minutes of class). Hmmm…what if I just interrupted class to take a call on my cell phone, or sent a text message or two. Oooh I know, what if I just ripped off a lecture from the internet. You know, it would be completely and obviously distinct from my usual lecture style. The organization would be different, the format of my slides would be different, it would just scream “I DIDN’T DO THIS” but I just passed it off to you like it was my own work. I will have to try these things. I’ll consider it pedagogical research and will begin as soon as I get tenure.

 

Happy Blogversary To Me!

Today is the 7^th anniversary of this blog on teaching tips.  I would like to thank everyone who has commented on the blog or emailed me with their own tips, stories, and links.  I have learned so much from all of you.

Career Advice For Graduating Seniors: Invent Your Own Job

Thomas L. Friedman, in his article, “Need a Job? Invent It” emphasizes the need to be more creative in searching for a job. As he notes:

“...because knowledge is available on every Internet-connected device, what you know matters far less than what you can do with what you know. The capacity to innovate — the ability to solve problems creatively or bring new possibilities to life — and skills like critical thinking, communication and collaboration are far more important than academic knowledge."

Here's a list of ten jobs that didn't even exist ten years ago such as app designer and social media manager.

Why Students Don't Have The Skills They Need Before Entering College

The Washington Post recently published this open letter from a high school teacher to college professors warning us what we can expect in years to come. It's very interesting and I already see some of the issues that she points out. I also get feedback from students who are upset that I expect them to proofread their papers and catch their own spelling errors in a management course...

Quote Of The Day

Teaching: We’re not in it for the income.

We’re in it for the outcome.

Author unknown

How Not To Take It Personally

We've all experienced this: a student makes a comment either in class or our office that feels like a personal attack. Here's an article that makes suggestions on how to answer these students.

Are Your Passwords Safe?

If you're like me, you have a small number of passwords you use on your various sites: bank accounts, email accounts, credit cards, blogs, etc. And while I worry sometimes about the security of my accounts, I also find it aggravating to have numerous passwords to remember. However, here's a very interesting article on how hackers can hack into your passwords.

My son works for Microsoft and says the best protection against having your passwords hacked is to employ "good password standards." For example:

• Don't use a single word - multiple words are better.
• Use multiple "character types" - upper case, lower case, number, or symbol - in your password.  Microsoft requires three character types.
• Have a minimum password length.  Microsoft sets theirs to 7 or 8, I would set it to longer personally.
• Make your passwords expire:  that way there's a limited window of opportunity that hackers can use your password before they're required to steal it again. 
  

His final advice?  "It sounds funny but the best approach for seldom-used passwords:  like the password to your router at home, for example - is to set an impossibly complex password, say 15 random characters - and then write it down somewhere safe for when you need it."

How Educators Use Twitter For Personal Development

For those of you who use Twitter (or would like to learn how), here's a definition of hashtags and a list of ones related to education that you might find useful.

Here's more on using Twitter.