Kevin Ryan in Tokyo

Category: Learning

  • Attention is Everything All At Once

    I’ve been basing grades in my classes on what I call Attention Units (AU=gold, get it?). Since studying 37.5 hours over a semester (15 weeks, 90 min class and 45 homework) is not measurable for proficiency, and because I run a class with a lot of individualization (personalized, differentiated), I can’t measure them on a specific set of language points or skills. I also find I can’t accurately measure how hard they work, which is a common fallback for language teaching. That leaves me with Attention, a more specific aspect of the “working hard” school of grading. I believe, especially these days with mobile and online learning, that this has become a viable option, both for measurement and curriculum. Let me explain.

    Some research about attention and it’s sibling, ignoring.

    Via Kottke and How to weather the storm.

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  • Remember Enron? Corruption and oil spills? It’s gone nuclear

    You can now buy a nuclear reactor for your home. From America’s favorite company. What could go wrong? From Slashdot.

    Spoiler, this is a SATIRE. It’s a fun fake. Had you going, though, right?

  • Al is making us stupid

    Research by Microsoft (pdf) shows tech industry users show a reduction in critical thinking as use of AI increases.

  • Attention Attention Attention

    Remember when it was Location, location, location? With the Attention Economy we are the ones getting mined (that’s a polite word for it), especially now, with social media up on the inauguration dias. I’m sure the tech bros and the president figure they can outwit each other, but us users are going to pay either way.

    Chris Hayes, legacy media (MSNBC) newscaster, has a new book out about attention. It’s on my list. Here is an interview at another legacy media outlet, the NYTimes.

    I am now basing my grades and interactions in my classes on what I call Attention Units; 20 minutes, a previously normal maximum for “attention span” measured for university lectures. This dates back about a decade when I was teaching with Howard Rheingold’s book in my Digital Media course at University of Tokyo.  Net Smart covers 5 parts of online digital life, the first being Attention. Then I jumped over most of that section, but gradually have come to realize it was the most important. Thus I have upgraded that into my learning and teaching.

  • Curipod beats Kahoot

    I just discovered Curipod, a lesson creator with AI feedback built in. It looks like a valuable tool more suited to language learners than Kahoot. I like the flexibility of customization while there is a good lot of lesson templates. For now, it looks like short writing sessions can set a scene for discussion.

    Oh, and most of the functions are available for free. Sadly, if you want feedback to student writing in a non-English language (something my students would actually read), you have to negotiate school or district pricing, which I have not looked into yet.