The Rise of Universities

I picked up The Rise of Universities by Charles Homer Haskins after seeing a recommendation on Amazon. I was looking for other books related to higher education and its history when I saw this book. The title intrigued me and I thought it might be an interesting read.

The book is a rather quick read, primarily based off of three lectures given by Haskins, a Harvard professor. The first chapter focused on the earliest universities, giving attention to Bologna, Paris, and Solerno. The second chapter provided insight into the mediaeval professor, focusing on textbooks teaching, and academic status. The third chapter focused on the mediaeval student, giving attention to sources of information, funding, letters, poetry, etc.

The book was interesting and provided a lot of a anecdotal information related to mediaeval universities. I regret reading it after the conclusion of the semester, as some of the information contained within would have been useful in one of my papers focusing on the residential college model. This book could have provided some interesting facts related to the mediaeval colleges.

The Rise of Universities

Teaching Naked: How Moving Technology Out of Your College Classroom Will Improve Student Learning

I received a copy of Teaching Naked: How Moving Technology Out of Your College Classroom Will Improve Student Learning by Jose Antonio Bowen from my friend Eddie Watson, after a lively discussion related to a research project on which we are working. Eddie serves as the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning here at UGA. We were having a discussion about pedagogy and Eddie suggested the book, which was written by a recent guest speaker on UGA's campus.

As the title implies, the book is focused on providing college professors strategies for removing technology from the classroom in order to improve student learning. Bowen is by no means anti-technology, and actually advocates for its use in education, but he believes it should be used outside of face time with instructors. Essentially, Bowen's argument is to "flip" the classroom, using technology and digital media to deliver information that might otherwise be delivered through a lecture while students are away from the class. This allows in-class time to be dedicated to group work, attempting problems, and asking reflective questions. The book provides numerous strategies for positive implementation of this approach.

This book would be of interest to anyone interested in reading more about technology in higher education or student centered learning environments.

Teaching Naked: How Moving Technology Out of Your College Classroom Will Improve Student Learning