American Education Week Contest
Great Public Schools:
A Basic Right and Our Responsibility
NEA’s American Education Week (AEW) spotlights the importance of providing every child in America with a quality public education from kindergarten through college, and the need for everyone to do his or her part in making public schools great. The 88th annual American Education Week, November 15-21, features a special observance each day of the week. This year, let’s share our stories about public education and ensuring that every child receives a quality education. Tell us what this year’s tagline, “Great Public Schools: A Basic Right and Our Responsibility,” means to you. Ten entries will be selected to win a $25 gift certificate for DeSantis Florist. Enter here between October 15-November 13 for a chance to win.
The Twitter Experiment
Dr. Rankin, professor of History at the University of Texas at Dallas, wanted to know how to reach more students and involve more people in class discussions both in and out of the classroom. She had heard of Twitter… She collaborated with the UT Dallas, Arts and Technology – Emerging Media and Communications (EMAC) http://www.emac.utdallas.edu faculty and as a Graduate student in EMAC I assisted her in her experiment.
Kim Smith, UT Dallas Graduate Student pursuing a Masters in Emerging Media and Communication, documented the experiment for a digital video class.
Watch this video and consider using Twitter in your classroom.
Leave a comment and let us know what you think about this idea.
Faculty Groups Host Summit On Staffing Issues, Student Success
COLUMBUS — October 8, 2009 — Representatives from the Ohio Board of Regents, state lawmakers, college administrators and representatives from the three higher education faculty organizations held a summit Oct. 2 to discuss the connections between student success in Ohio’s colleges and universities, academic staffing needs and Gov. Ted Strickland’s 10-year plan for higher education in Ohio.
Faculty organizations of the Ohio Federation of Teachers, Ohio Education Association, the Ohio Conference of the American Association of University Professors support Gov. Ted Strickland’s comprehensive higher education plan and want to be active participants along with the Ohio Board of Regents in helping students, universities and the state thrive and grow. To that end, Summit participants agreed to create a working group to review current policies and practices, as well as seek ways to address the current academic staffing crisis—that is, the impact of steadily deteriorating faculty working conditions on the learning experience of students.
The working group seeks to improve the quality of higher education for Ohio’s college students by addressing staffing issues. For example, Ohio Board of Regents authorization guidelines mandate that at least 60 percent of college and university courses be taught by full-time faculty. Yet, that standard is not enforced.
Full-time faculty members often bring more experience to the teaching role which can improve student achievement. In addition, Full-time faculty are provided the resources and opportunity (office space and time to meet) to provide additional assistance to students where part-time faculty and adjuncts are not. However, some colleges and universities prefer to over-use part-time faculty and adjuncts because they can pay them less and provide fewer employment benefits. This trend does not benefit Ohio’s college students.
Solving the staffing crisis in higher education is critical to accomplishing Gov. Strickland’s goals of expanding access to an affordable college education, helping students stay in college and attain a degree. To help achieve these goals, the working group will look for strategies to ensure that both full- and part-time faculty members at Ohio’s colleges and universities receive the support they need to ensure the highest possible quality of education for all of Ohio’s students.
The groups look forward to working together on this important project, which is essential to maintaining Ohio’s world-class quality colleges and universities and keeping higher education within reach of all who have the desire and academic skills to attend.
Join the conversation @OhioEA and Like Us at OhioEducationAssociation
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The Ohio Education Association (ohea.org) represents 121,000 teachers, faculty members and support professionals in Ohio’s public schools, colleges and universities.
CONTACT: Michele Prater
614-227-3071; cell 614-378-0469, praterm@ohea.org
October 2009 Ohio Schools
- IN THIS ISSUE
- Tough lessons in hard times: Little Miami
- Fix funding in Ohio: DeRolph vs State of Ohio to House Bill 1
- Closing the Budget Gap
- Legislative update, Association news, and more
Moved recently? Contact the OEA Member Hotline to update the address on file at 1-844-OEA-Info (1-844-632-4636) or email, membership@ohea.org. Representatives are available Monday-Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. | OhioSchools — Past Issues
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Preventing Cheating
Cheating is a perennial problem. A 2006 national survey found that more than 60% of high school students said they have cheated on a test, and the number of self-admitted cheaters has steadily risen over the years.
New factors in the equation are access to online content to plagiarize and the use of digital devices to cheat on tests. In a recent survey commissioned by Common Sense Media, more than a third of teenagers with cell phones admit that they have used them to cheat in school. Over half have used the Internet to do so.
Unfortunately most of the students who responded did not think that storing notes on their cell phones to use during a test, or downloading online materials to present as their own, was a serious offense. Online social media reinforces that view for them. One YouTube video offers strategies for cheating, such as taping answers under a tie and designing a T-shirt with a cheat sheet printed on the front in a form that can be overlooked as a logo.
All of which makes preventing cheating a challenge for teachers and schools. What have you done to prevent cheating in your classroom? What have you found works and what doesn’t work?