Flipped Classes

I came across an article called, "Are you Flipping the Wrong Way?" It is a fair question. I had three takeaways from the article.

One. There are some best practices when it comes to flipping our classroom instruction and the early days of simply having students watch an instructional video before class is not sufficient.

Two. There is a group working on developing standards for Blended instruction, the Flipped Learning Global Initiative.

Three. There is a great illustration of the fast pace of research on Flipped Instruction. If you pick up a book on the topic from 2012, argue the authors, and model your teaching after it, you may be missing out on 90 percent of research on flipped instruction.

So keep reading, keep challenging your teaching, and keep moving forward.

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Are you interested in the online LTEC Master's of Arts? Complete this form.

Call for Speakers for MACUL

The call has gone out for speakers for the next MACUL Conference which will be held in Detroit (March 20 - 22).

We have had students in our LTEC program present in years past and hope you will consider presenting some of your ed tech insights to teachers from across the state.

The proposal form is online and the deadline is July 20. If you need any help in organizing your presentation or want to run it past one of us, we would be delighted to help.

Dr. McVey presenting on drones at MACUL 2017

CS [Coding] Fundamentals Intro Workshop

Code.org is hosting a CS (Computer Science) Fundamentals Intro Workshop, Tuesday, May 7-8:30-3:30p @ Washtenaw Intermediate School District1735 S Wagner Rd, Ann Arbor, MI  48103, United States. It is free!

For more information or to register, go to https://studio.code.org/pd/workshops/3783/enroll

LTEC Program Update

It is with heavy hearts that we inform you that as of Fall 2018, the LTEC/COLT graduate programs have been shelved and we will no longer be admitting new students.

Only two or three LTEC courses will continue to be offered after winter 2019.  Although some of you may have already received an email informing you of this, we want to be sure that everyone affiliated with the program is aware of the changes.

Students must complete their LTEC courses by Winter 2019 although foundation & elective courses may be taken afterward within the six-year time-to-degree requirement. We still recommend that you take your EDPS research course prior to taking LTEC 695.

The LTEC course rollout is as follows:

LTEC 623: SU 2018
LTEC 628: SU 2018
LTEC 632: FA 2018
LTEC 653: FA 2018
LTEC 695: WI 2019

This rollout allows students who took their first course in the program in Winter 2013 to complete their degree at EMU.  (For more details, see Graduate School Policies – Time to Degree.)

University policies change over time and when that happens, students may have to change their plans for completing their degrees.  As you are probably aware, universities and other institutions across the country are having to look closely at their bottom lines.   The LTEC program simply does not have enough students to financially justify continuing to offer courses.  We have looked at every possibility and ultimately the dean and department chair felt that shelving the program was the only feasible solution.  LTEC faculty are redesigning the courses and programs to better meet educators’ needs in anticipation of reinstating them in the near future.

We truly understand how frustrating this may be and wish there were other alternatives to offer. Other EMU faculty, staff, and students are experiencing similar situations. Regrettably, this is the current climate that we all are working under.

We will update you as more details become available.  Please contact your advisor or any LTEC faculty, with any questions or concerns you have.


Although LTEC has been temporarily shelved, we are still optimistically taking names of those interested in our online Masters. Complete this form if you are interested and we’ll be in touch.

Movie: Screenagers

An EMU group, Students for Place-Based Education (PBE), hosted a showing of the film, Screenagers, on Saturday, April 7 in the Student Center. Some faculty were in attendance and chatted with undergraduates about the film after the showing.

The film came up in a recent school board meeting and sounded intriguing. It is an examination of what our digital lifestyles are doing to students. Take a peek at a preview.

These are the students you are going to have in your classes.

Alexa in the Classroom

Sometimes we get opportunities to help undergraduates examine topics in greater depth by guiding them through a research project. One of our undergraduates in Teacher Education, Zachary Wilson, wanted to figure out how teachers are using voice-activated assistants in their classrooms. You might know the Amazon Echo better as Alexa and that is what the students in Ms. Bell’s third-grade class call her.

When they talk about her, they refer to Alexa as “Miss A.” so as not to confuse her. They know she is always listening.

The following video is just a taste of how these voice assistants are being used in two classrooms in Saline Area Schools. Over the summer, Zachary and I hope to develop an interview protocol and put our survey in the field.

We love the Woo Hoo, Technology dance at the end.

ISTE in Chicago

For those of you who will be in Chicago for all or part of the annual ISTE Conference, please look for me and say hello. No word on the Keynoters yet, but we will share as soon as we know.

As a board member, Dr. McVey has been working with a team to develop a Higher Education reception at the conference on Monday. Many Higher Education folks have felt increasingly isolated from ISTE over the years but with two Teacher Ed professors on the board, we are hoping to change that.