The war on learning : gaining ground in the digital university / by Elizabeth Losh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Losh, Elizabeth M. (Elizabeth Mathews), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Education, Higher--Effect of technological innovations on.

Education, Higher.

Education, Higher--Computer network resources.

Teacher-student relationships.

Internet in education.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (315 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

[Piscataqay, New Jersey] : IEEE Xplore, [2014]

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : MIT Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Behind the lectern stands the professor, deploying course management systems, online quizzes, wireless clickers, PowerPoint slides, podcasts, and plagiarism-detection software. In the seats are the students, armed with smartphones, laptops, tablets, music players, and social networking. Although these two forces seem poised to do battle with each other, they are really both taking part in a war on learning itself. In this book, Elizabeth Losh examines current efforts to "reform" higher education by applying technological solutions to problems in teaching and learning. She finds that many of these initiatives fail because they treat education as a product rather than a process. Highly touted schemes -- video games for the classroom, for example, or the distribution of iPads -- let students down because they promote consumption rather than intellectual development. Losh analyzes recent trends in postsecondary education and the rhetoric around them, often drawing on first-person accounts. In an effort to identify educational technologies that might actually work, she looks at strategies including MOOCs (massive open online courses), the gamification of subject matter, remix pedagogy, video lectures (from Randy Pausch to "the Baked Professor"), and educational virtual worlds. Finally, Losh outlines six basic principles of digital learning and describes several successful university-based initiatives. Her book will be essential reading for campus decision makers -- and for anyone who cares about education and technology.

Contents:

What they learn in college

The war on learning

On camera: the baked professor makes his debut

From reality TV to the research university: coursecasting and pedogogical drama

The rhetoric of the open courseware movement

Honor coding: plagiarism software and educational opportunism

Toy problems: education as product

The plays the thing: games and virtual worlds in higher education

Gaining ground in the digital university.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

0-262-32326-5

0-262-32325-7

OCLC:

879576066