Weekly Reader

The New ALA Code of Conduct
"I’ve mentioned on Twitter, but this should be formally announced on the blog as well: ALA now has a conference code of conduct. How it happened: The policy grew out of face-to-face and Twitter conversations a few months ago, with a highly collaborative (and fruitfully argumentative) Google doc draft that wound its way through ALA process – Counsel, the executive board, et cetera – to become a final statement." -- Andromeda Yelton, Across Divided Networks, 11/19/13

The Future of MOOCs
"According to the New York Times, 2012 was the year of the MOOC - a massive open online course. These courses are usually open access and free, and although they don’t usually offer course credit for participants some do offer certifications of completion. They can be attended by hundreds of thousands of students at the same time who interact in community forums surrounding course materials and resources. They offer amazing opportunities for those who lack the funding to attend traditional universities, especially those in developing nations. MOOCs have democratized learning and opened up education to the masses who may now attend and learn from quality courses at elite universities as if they were enrolled."-- Ellyssa Kroski, iLibrarian Blog, 11/19/13

Do You Really Want to be the Rules Sargent?
"I just can’t resist wading into the discussion started by Anthony Aycock about classroom management and its two subsequent replies, the first by Scott Hippensteel, who advocates that faculty should “be hard to get along with,” and Rob Jenkins’s subsequent response that “you don’t have to be a jerk” to be a good professor." -- David Evans, On Hiring, 11/19/13

Neville Longbottom is the Most Important Person in Harry Potter -- And Here's Why
"So here’s the thing: out of all your wizarding students and house elves and headmasters and Death Eaters and muggles and centaurs, there is really only one person who determines the course of the Harry Potter series. It’s Neville Longbottom." -- Emily Asher-Perrin, Tor.com, 11/19/13

Weekly Reader

Henry Rollins: Empowerment Through Libraries
"I have come to regard November as the older, harder man's October. I appreciate the early darkness and cooler temperatures. It puts my mind in a different place than October. It is a month for a quieter, slightly more subdued celebration of summer's death as winter tightens its grip." -- Henry Rollins, LA Weekly Blogs,11/14/13

New Survey, Same Engagement
"In its 15th year, the National Survey of Student Engagement launched a new model that takes an updated and more qualitative approach to measuring students’ participation in a variety of activities -- from studying to faculty interaction to cooperative learning -- that are thought to correlate with higher learning outcomes. Results show that while many students engage in such practices – and report better grades for it – many others, whether because of their major or their status as online or first-generation students, don’t." -- Allie Grasgreen, Inside Higher Ed News, 11/14/13

Two Activities that Influence the Climate for Learning
"My colleague Chuck Walker, a psychology professor at St. Bonaventure University (NY), shared a collection of instructional strategies that illustrate how the principles of positive psychology might be applied in the classroom."-- Maryellen Weimer, Teaching Professor Blog, 11/13/13

5 Things You Must Stop Doing Today if You Want a Happier Career
"Working with mid-career professionals in major transition day after day for 10 years has given me a special window into what holds people back from building happy, fulfilling lives and careers they love. Speaking with a stranger, I can detect in under five minutes those hallmarks that reveal when an individual will not get unstuck, but will remain bogged down for all eternity in career mediocrity unless she steps up to embrace change in how she behaves, performs, and views her situation." -- Kathy Caprino, Forbes Leadership, 11/8/13

16 Creative Uses of Instagram Video
"Now that Instagram Video has reached the ripe old age of four months (about 600 years in Internet time), we're seeing mind-blowing, app-specific content on a daily basis. With just 15 seconds, you'd think it'd be difficult to create visually compelling videos, but more users are getting the hang of it every day." - Max Knoblauch, Mashable, 11/11/13

The Problem We're Afraid to Name
"In recent years, I’ve had to deal with parents much more frequently than I ever imagined I would have to as a college professor. One father even tried to blackmail me into giving his son easier work and higher grades so that he wouldn’t lose his football scholarship. I’m not alone: Many of my colleagues report hearing from parents more and more frequently in the past 10 years or so." -- Jill Silos-Rooney, The Conversation - Chronicle Blog, 11/11/13

Neil Gaiman: Literacy, Reading, Libraries

Neil Gaiman's lecture: Second annual The Reading Agency conference

Mr. Gaiman's words spoke to me as a reader, teacher, and librarian;  it was challenging to select only a snippet of content to feature with the video.

"Libraries are about Freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education (which is not a process that finishes the day we leave school or university), about entertainment, about making safe spaces, and about access to information." 

"I worry that here in the 21st Century people misunderstand what libraries are and the purpose of them. If you perceive a library as a shelf of books, it may seem antiquated or outdated in a word in which most, but not all, books in print exist digitally. But that is to fundamentally miss the point." -- Neil Gaiman, The Reading Agency, 10/14/13

Watch the video. Read the entire lecture here: Neil Gaiman, Reading & Obligation

Weekly Reader

Journey to Online Teaching: Developing a Virtual Teacher Sense
"This week my focus has been developing a virtual presence in the online course environment. In my face to face classroom on a Monday morning I can look across the tired faces and know I had better ramp up my excitement if I expect my students to get excited about what we are learning. In my face to face classroom at a glance I can see that 'Jonny' is lost but does not want anyone else to know. How do I take 17 years of ”Teacher Sense” and evolve into a Virtual 'Teacher Sense'?" -- Tom McLaughlin, Discovery Education, 11/2/13

States Demand That Colleges Show How Well Their Students Learn
"Some of the hallmarks of No Child Left Behind are creeping into higher education. The 2002 law was intended to hold elementary and secondary schools accountable for improving the academic achievement of all students. It has come to be reviled by many teachers for what they see as a narrowing of the curriculum to the material covered on standardized tests, and for punishing schools for their students' performance." -- Dan Berrett, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/29/13

Ready to Learn? The Key is Listening with Intention
"Listening and observing can be passive activities—in one ear and out the other, as our mothers used to say. Or they can be rich, active, intense experiences that lead to serious learning. The difference lies in our intention: the purpose and awareness with which we approach the occasion. Here’s how to make sure your intentions are good." - Annie Murphy Paul, Mind Shift, 10/29/13

How Google + Hangouts Can Enhance Podcasts
"Google+ Hangouts enable anyone to host a group video chat, and with the On Air component, anyone can record and stream live to their YouTube account. When I first joined Google+ on its second day of existence, Hangouts really stood out. While, let’s be honest, a lot of the functionality of Google’s own social network is similar to Facebook and Twitter, no other social network offers such a robust group video chat tool…for absolutely free." -- Mike Stenger, The Blog Herald, 10/29/13