Author Archives: Akesha
Highlights from the EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional Conference 2013
I attended the EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional Conference in Chicago in March of this year. My primary reason for attending was to deliver a presentation with Pat Reid on Gradient, a peer review tool developed by the Informatics team here at Purdue. I also went to learn more about the wonderful projects that our colleagues throughout [...]
Gamification in Education
Last year, Knewton published a graphic on Gamification. They used the traditional definition of gamification, which is the use of game design elements in non-game contexts, to explore the following question: How can we use it to deliver truly meaningful experiences to students? The infographic they created explores the history of gamification in education, as [...]
Advanced Search Techniques
In December, 2012, Fast Company published an article entitled, “A Google Researcher Reveals 4 Crucial Things “Average Users” Should Know But Don’t”. One section of the article looked at “basic” search techniques that could make the “average” computer user’s life simpler should they employ these tactics. I took a very informal poll of several techies [...]
What is a MOOC?
If you make your professional home in higher education, you probably have noticed an increasing surge in conversations around MOOCs, or —massive open online courses. The conversations around MOOCs argue that they will transform higher education for both the better and worse (depending upon who you ask). MOOCs offer free or low cost education to the [...]
Introducing Gradient
is a web based writing and peer assessment tool developed by the ITAP Informatics Team at Purdue University. It allows students the opportunity to practice reading and writing skills using course-specific scholarly material. Students are first asked to respond to a question submitted by their instructor. Next, students are provided with three structured writing prompts, [...]
The eTextbook unConference
This is part one of a post on the eTextbook UnConference hosted at the University of Illinois, on June 28-29th, 2012. According to unconference.net, the term “unconference” arose as people in the technology industry started making conferences that stepped out of the traditional models, which had involved presentations selected months beforehand, panels of speakers, industry [...]
Overview of Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK)
Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) is a theoretical framework for examining the funds of knowledge which educators use in order to design and develop lessons infused with technology (see the figure below for a graphic representation of TPACK). The term was originated by Dr. Punya Mishra and Dr. Matt Koehler. According to these researchers, [...]