Class design
New machines for aiding classroom teaching. First — for or against wireless? I'm for, with some groundrules. Is there a switch you can pull on a classroom wall when you don't want wireless? If there isn't, we should invent one.
Second — how about a randomizer for calling on people? That the professor could use to take notes about what happened?
Third — how about a randomizer that the class could use for calling on other people in the class?
Fourth — how about a group visualization tool that would show how a randomly generated group dealt with an issue? so the classroom could be in constant town meeting mode? yes, you could vote on how entertaining the professor was.
Just some thoughts. Tomorrow: ICANN's stld RFP.
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Wireless is great, but a strong prohibition against time-wasting (e-mail, web, and especially IM) seems to be working (and to be necessary) in classes I'm currently enrolled in. The “roving professor” trick works too, if your classroom permits it.
Is this strictly for law school? One class I know uses a randomizing algorithm to pick the people who are “on panel” each day from a subset of the class who are notified that they may be on panel at any point over a two week period. Keeps everyone on their toes, while still permitting some breathing room for students.
You will be delighted to hear that I have a “random student generator” program — I push a button, and five different names pop up. I'm not sure the students are delighted, but it does make for a lively classroom. In my book, everyone's available to be called on. And, in my book, all answers are interesting.