INTRO TO THE PLANET: Apparently the Math Emporium is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to large-scale edtech for Hokie nation. Meet Mr. John Boyer, instructor to the masses for the World Regions course at Virginia Tech. Ever-popular with the students, Mr. Boyer’s course enrollment has ballooned from 50 to 2,670 students without forsaking student engagement thanks to the untiring efforts of this eclectic professor and his commitment to utilizing technology. Before office hours on Ustream, his TA sends alerts to 9,000 Twitter and Facebook friends. (You can catch his blog here.) Making the grade is a fun endeavor, too: Mr. Boyer has introduced game mechanics that allow students to choose their own assignments while accumulating points. Maybe we should give edtech a rest and work on cloning Mr. Boyer! Full details here from the Chronicle of Higher Ed.
