Liberal Workforce Development?

Recommendation 2, from page 8 of “College Learning in the New Global Century"
seems to offer a counterpoint to the brewing idea that offering Stackable Certificates is the way to ensure effective workforce development. LEAP suggests that 2-year colleges, traditionally and currently the institutions that focus primarily on skills development for employability, should integrate liberal education into all coursework. Here is the excerpt from the report, with my emphases:


"Nearly half the nation’s college students, and the majority of
students from low-income families, begin their studies in two-year
institutions. It should be a national priority to ensure that these
students, whatever their career choices and preparation, become richly
prepared for a changing economy, for the option of further study, and
for a lifetime of continuous learning—as employees and as citizens.

This recommendation neither requires nor anticipates that
community college students should study only, or primarily, what
are conventionally known as arts and sciences or “general education”
courses. Rather, it calls on two-year and four-year institutions, in every
state and region, to collaboratively remap the curriculum so that arts
and sciences and professional or “career” courses can work together,
from first to final years, to foster the broad knowledge, sophisticated
skills, personal and social responsibility, and demonstrated achievement
that every student needs and deserves."

The Holy Grail?

I wish that i could remember how I linked to this site....I actually think that it was through the Ohio STEM Learning Network somehow.....



At any rate, College Learning for the New Global Century(2007), a report from the National Leadership Council for Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) beautifully and compellingly describes what revsions need to occur in Liberal Arts education in order to make this field of study relevant in the 21st century. While STEM education is getting the lion's share of publicity, funding and fans, the authors of the LEAP report argue that Liberal Arts education is essential to student success and must not be ignored.



Of particular interest is the fact that authors of the LEAP report urge us to think deeply about what college grads need to know--a question, they argue, that has not been asked.



The authors of this report see liberal education as a "liberating education", one that shapes and melds civic awareness, global awareness, and complex problem solving ability through an interdisciplinary inquiry and knowledge base.



Echoing the tenets of STEM education, LEAP urges learner directed activities in education. Unlike STEM, LEAP encourages institutions of higher learning to avoid falling into the trap of educating within one discipline, one focus, one major. Think engineering majors who do a service project in rural Mali for 2 weeks (Miami University has done this) and then publish a paper on their experiences or science PhD candidates at OSU who, as thier graduate assistantship, serve at Metro High school, leading students though cutting edge experiences and inviting teachers to participate in experimental endeavors with them....

I Have finally found in print the answer- or perhaps partial answer to the STEM focus. The Ohio STEM Learning Network website spells out the impetus for the national STEM focus in terms of the publications that have informed the policy; Thomas Friedman's book is listed first!

Also, the Science and Engineering Indicator report apparently mentioned the need to focus on STEM education in their 2006 report. I suppose that it is good news that Friedman's work, the information published with the Indicators and other seemingly low rumblings have so quickly and fervently been applied in the education sphere. But I fear that this haste can lead to panicky decision making rather than accurate, effective thought and planning.

It is also creepy that the rhetoric in support of STEM seeps with national security talk. It is true, I'm sure, that STEM education is a security issue, but I haven't recovered from the Axis of Evil rhetoric....and I don't like any scare tactics, educational or military.

21st Century Skills, Web 2.0 and Changing the "Learningscape"

"Creating a Culture of Learning", John Seely Brown's forward to Opening Up Education: the Collective Advancement of Education through Open Technology, Open Content and Open Knowledge (Toru Iiyoshi and M.S. Vijay Kumar, eds) provides a great framework for thinking about course design changes. Brown acknowledges that many current teaching approaches fail to capture the 21st century student's mind, experiences and facility with Web 2.0 technology. He positions Web 2.0 tools within the emerging "learningscape", one in which Internet based participation, collaboration and networking will help students to become active agents of their own learning processes. He says it much better and with much more detail than I can, so read on

Ohio Centers for Learning and Technology

The Ohio Learning Network has published a list of the academic centers throughout Ohio that focus on teaching and learning though technology. In Northeast Ohio, there are technology/learning/teaching centers at

• Case Western Reserve University (The University Center for Innovation in Teaching and Education)
• Cleveland State University (University Center for Teaching and Learning)
• John Carroll University (Center for Teaching and Learning)
• Kent State University (Faculty Professional Development Center),
• Kent State University (Research Center for Educational Technology)
• Lakeland Community College (Excellence in Teaching Committee)
• Lorain County Community College (Center for Teaching Excellence)
• Notre Dame College (The Center for Professional Development)
• Oberlin College (Center for Technologically Enhanced Teaching)
• University of Akron (The Institute of Teaching and Learning)
• YSU Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning at Youngstown State (CATALYST)

Also on the OLN site are some resources for professional development that appear to be very useful for self-education. The TeachU initiative offers webinars for educators. These webinars focus on emerging technologies and how to integrate them into pedagogy that will enhance student learning.

Centers of Excellence in Teaching and Learning throughout the USA

Gannon University provides yearly seminars for small groups of faculty to explore new applications of technology for enhanced learning through their Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning


From the website of the Center for Technology in Learning and Teaching at Iowa State University: "More than a physical space, the Center for Technology in Learning and Teaching (CTLT) is a community comprised of a collegial, collaborative group of faculty, staff, graduate, and undergraduate students who have created a learning environment that continually demonstrates powerful applications of technology that improve student learning."

Indiana University's Center for Research on Learning and Technology is focused on organizing and analyzing data regarding the ways in which appropriate technology can enhance learning and teaching.

At Rice University, the more than decade-old Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning
offers many past and current projects relating to an array of disciplines and to many different age groups. Most of what is displayed are links to the resources that the Center has developed through the years.

Washington State University's Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology offers a great page about ePortfolios. The WSU Center mentions their focus on faculty support first, stating that they are a resource for "everyone teaching at WSU". This primary focus on faculty support is clearly based on a desire to expand learning capabilities for students.

Student experience as Text

Blogging allows class participants to better know and understand one another. Also, blogging allows for more of the personal experience of each student to become part of the class knowledge; there is rarely enough time for all personal reflections to be addressed in a traditional class time. Blogging expands the space and time available for class participants to share their experiences

The following is from Shiang-Kwei Wang and Hui-Yin Hsua. “Reflections on Using Blogs to Expand In-class Discussion.” TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning. 52.3 (May 2008): 81-85

The authors studied a blogging project that was used in pre-service teacher training. What they found was that students generally liked the blogging, because it "enabled them to share knowledge and experiences as well as to express their feelings and thoughts outside the classroom discussion" (83). Those results are common and even to be expected. But there was another result that is interesting:

“From the in depth stories or postings contributed by their classmates, [students who blogged] became aware of their peers’ opinions and were able to confront perspectives on reading and diversity issues better than in the face-to-face environment.” (Wang and Hsua 83)

In this study, the authors found that the blog helped students to grapple with ideas and concepts that were not best served in the classroom. The blog, then, does not merely augment what goes on in the classroom; in some instances, it can create an entirely new opportunity for communication, understanding and growth. Students themselves were providing the "texts" from which learning occurred, not books, not a teacher's lecture, not published or peer reviwed articles. That is an incredible statement of voice and authority.