Learning and Technology: Implications for Liberal Education and the Disciplines
2006 Conference Description, Program, and Resources
Nearly 300 educators participated in AAC&U's Learning and Technology Conference April 20-22, 2006 in Seattle, Washington. Conference sessions and conversations focused on current ideas, research, and practices for using technology to enhance student learning. The organizing themes of the conference were: how people learn with technology, educational and policy implications of technology,
supporting faculty work in and across the disciplines in a technological age, and social and cultural implications of education and technology.
Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) contributed to the conference as an Academic Partner. AAC&U appreciates the contributions Academic Partners make to developing conference themes and sessions.
The full conference schedule appears below with links to many of the presentations and resources from the conference.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
2:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Pre-conference Workshops
WK1: Blended Learning: The Best of Both Worlds
There has been much debate about online vs. classroom-based learning, yet the move toward a blended (or “hybrid”) environment has been much quieter. What is “blended learning?” How is it different from other electronic learning movements? What are some of the challenges faculty and students face in blended courses? Can a blended approach improve student-learning outcomes? Through case studies and facilitated breakout groups, participants will explore the benefits of blended learning and discuss practical approaches for how institutions can support students and faculty in blended learning courses.
Pennie Turgeon, CIO and Vice President of Information Technology, Clark University; and Matthew D. Laliberte, Instructional Technologist, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
WK2: Faculty Engagement with Technology: Support and Development
This workshop will focus on the motivations of faculty as they begin (or, are asked/pressured/persuaded) to incorporate new styles, techniques, and technologies into their teaching and learning. In addition to an examination of the faculty’s roles, the workshop will detail the necessary actions of both central administration and IT support staff in bringing about successful systemic transformation. In addition to an interactive lecture format, the workshop will also feature small group breakout sessions that will facilitate the application of workshop content to participants’ home institutions.
Paul R. Hagner, Associate Program Director, EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative
WK3: Innovative Designs for Learning with Technology
Participants in this workshop will examine a range of current issues concerning the role and use of technology in the curriculum of higher education. Can an appreciation of learning principles help guide us in selecting which technology is most appropriate for use in a course? Facilitators and participants will address trends in learning space design, the ways in which pedagogical methods, technology applications, and new types of learning spaces can work in synergy, and ways to improve courses or provide infrastructure for improvements on campus. The workshop is for faculty who seek new ideas about using technology in teaching and learning; faculty or administrators who are involved in committees charged with redesigning learning spaces; and administrators who want to provide better support for teaching and learning with technology.
Malcolm Brown, Director of Academic Computing, Dartmouth College; and Joan Lippincott, Associate Director of the Coalition for Networked Information
WK4: A Nation Goes to Cyberspace: How Electronic Portfolios Can Help Assess Achievement of Liberal Education Outcomes (ppt)
E-portfolios have become a popular medium for collecting and demonstrating student learning. This workshop will explore the multiple purposes that can be addressed through student e-portfolios, key issues surrounding e-portfolios (technological and pedagogical), and ways in which e-portfolios can be used for assessing student learning and program accomplishments. The session will provide interactive opportunities, and examples of e-portfolios, reflective practice, and student learning assessment approaches.
Sharon J. Hamilton, Associate Dean of the Faculties, the Center on Integrating Learning, Co-director of the Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching, Indiana University Perdue University Indianapolis; and Terrel L. Rhodes, Vice Provost for Curriculum and Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Portland State University
7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Keynote Address
The Role of Technology in LIFE
Pre-eminent scholar in learning sciences, John Bransford will focus on his most recent work with the LIFE (Learning in Formal and Informal Environments) Science of Learning Center at the University of Washington. The Center seeks to understand and advance human learning by simultaneously focusing on implicit information and formal learning and as a result, cultivating generalizable interdisciplinary theories that can guide the design of effective new technologies and learning environments.
John Bransford, James W. Mifflin Professor of Cognitive Studies in Education, University of Washington Seattle
8:30 - 9:30 p.m.
Poster/Demonstration Session and Welcome Reception
Teaching “Millenials” and Older Students in Online Learning Environments
(pdf)
The new generation of college students is technologically capable and open to the types of practices used in Web-enhanced learning. In online learning environments where technical abilities and independent learning come into play, the differences between younger students and older students take on special implications for teaching. This poster will show results from a study comparing “Millenials” with older university students along with how these differences are addressed by instructors in online courses.
Paula Garcia, Assessment Specialist, Northern Arizona University
Human Simulation Technology in Nursing and Health Professions
Utilizing human simulators that respond to input and action has become state of the art in teaching in medicine, nursing, and allied health. As a result of visiting this poster, observers will become acquainted with technology that replicates live patients and is designed for knowledge and skill acquisition and testing. This technology gives the educator another way to teach content and application and assess knowledge, skills, and attitudes in realistic situations. Learning theories and the history of simulator learning in health and other fields will be provided.
Paula Dunn Tropello, Associate Professor, Nursing and Learning Communities Faculty, Wagner College
Techniques and Effectiveness of Interactive Instructional Software in the Social Science Classroom (ppt)
This poster will feature pen-based computers and instructional software and how they facilitate active learning by encouraging students to work together in analyzing and presenting information they receive from a variety of electronic sources. This technology also provides students with an electronic, re-playable record of what happens in class. The presenter will demonstrate various ways to use this technology, and discuss the preliminary analysis of its impact on the undergraduate classroom.
Handout
(ppt)
Kerry Pannell, Associate Professor of Economics and Management, co-authors, not present: Michele Villinski, Assistant Professor of Economics and Management, and Mary Dixon, Associate Professor of Economics and Management, DePauw University
Blogs, Ads, IMs, Emails, Websites, JSTOR: To Which Do I Turn for Information?
The information explosion, due largely to technological advances, has raised concerns about college students' ability to navigate effectively through the profusion of available resources. Many universities have struggled with ways to assess information literacy, an integrative skill that includes researching, critical thinking, using technology, communicating, and understanding values and ethics. This poster will describe a new assessment of students' information-seeking and -using skills.
Lorie Roth, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Academic Programs, California State University Office of the Chancellor
Using Digital Educational Objects to Promote Scientific Literacy and Critical Thinking
This demonstration will explain how educational objects and their utility are combined to produce case studies that foster scientific literacy and critical thinking. Using different technologies, the University of Wyoming’s Earth science courses foster scientific literacy, critical thinking, and different perspectives through interdisciplinary learning. Digital educational objects promote reasoning, allow mathematical exploration, transport learners to distant places, and expand the classroom’s dimensions. Conversely, Web delivery promotes learner control and accommodates many learning styles. Participants will discuss how these objects might be useful in their own teaching and learning environments.
James D. Myers, Professor of Geology, University of Wyoming
Pathways to College Network: Improving College Preparation
The Pathways to College Network is a collaborative of organizations and foundations whose mission is to focus research and resources on improving college preparation, access, and success for underserved populations. This poster will highlight Pathway’s work and introduce a draft version of a tool focusing on data gathering and use to ensure underserved student success. Nancy O’Neill, Director of Programs, Office of Education and Institutional Renewal, AAC&U
Tasting MERLOT on Your Campus
The Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT at www.merlot.org) is a free, open online resource of over 12,000 learning materials, assignments, and reviews designed primarily for faculty and students in higher education. MERLOT helps faculty enhance instruction by providing easy access to online materials connected to strategies for integrating them into teaching and learning. This poster will focus on how faculty can find online learning materials in MERLOT and integrate them into their courses. Participants will also learn how to participate in MERLOT's international cooperative academic community and how their participation can become part of their tenure and promotion.
Flora McMartin, Director of Membership Services and Evaluation, Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
Sponsored by Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
The Toolbox Community: Using a Learning Community to Develop Online Pre-Assessment Instruments for First-Year Students
With the support of a grant, a group of faculty formed a learning community to study the feasibility, develop, and pilot a set of online pre-assessment tools for first-year students. This poster will provide a demonstration of the pilot Web site that has been developed, as well as reflect on the use of a learning community structure to effect change to support faculty using technology in a variety of disciplines.
Mark Lochstampfor, Professor of Music, and Barbara Helfer, Director, New Media Services, Capital University
Incorporating a Faculty Resource Center in WebCT (ppt)
This poster will demonstrate how to utilize a WebCT based Faculty Resource Center for Faculty and Staff development. With over 200 online professors, this Center has become the focal point and forum for faculty meetings, sharing ideas, problem solving, training, and essential communication.
John Cain, Director of Distance Learning, Saint Leo University
Advancing Intentional Learning through Technology (ppt)
The presenters will discuss how the various areas of student affairs and academic affairs work together to advance intentional co-curricular learning as a means of fulfilling the mission of Oral Roberts University. The poster will describe how key components, such as ORU’s student development philosophy, character development, and community building are integrated into ORU’s learning-centered paradigm, the new learning outcomes, and an established University-wide ePortfolio process for assessing student learning.
Handout (pdf)
Cal Easterling, Director of Institutional Research, and Mark Hall, Chair, School of Life-Long Education, Oral Roberts University
Seeking Diversity through Technology (pdf)
In America’s whitest state, an online literature course, New Novels, offers introductory exposure to several selected contemporary world cultures and the opportunity to study and approach understanding of diverse attitudes and values. Thorough, well-managed discussion and the rich media available online are important tools. This presentation includes resources and a summary of students’ reported changing attitudes.
Handout (pdf)
Anita Kurth, Professor of English, University of Maine at Augusta
Animating the Liberal Arts
This poster will examine a newly established interdisciplinary program that places the design and development of digital content in a broad humanistic context. The program provides a model of synthesizing education that can revitalize the role and importance of the Liberal Arts in a technologically sophisticated, media-rich world. Join the presenters to learn more about how this program was developed and how it might be used in other institutions.
Dennis M. Kratz, Dean of School of Arts and Humanities, and Abby R. Kratz, Assistant Provost, The University of Texas at Dallas
Friday, April 21
8:00 – 8:45 a.m.
Roundtable Discussions
Liberal Education and America’s Promise Discussion
Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) is AAC&U’s new campus-action and advocacy initiative to engage the public with what really matters in college. This session will introduce participants to the initiative’s goals and activities. It will provide participants with an overview and introduction to the resources the initiative is developing, and the principles and practices guiding the campus action component of the campaign. Participants will discuss how their own institutions can get involved and use the campaign and the emerging national consensus around important liberal education outcomes to guide educational planning and practice on their own campuses.
Nancy O’Neill, Director of Programs, Office of Education and Institutional Renewal, AAC&U
A TECH-Knowledge Approach to Improved Teaching and Learning
This discussion provides an opportunity for participants to examine a teaching and learning approach that expands the everyday use of multiple technologies (e.g. interactive remote response system, online interactive reflective chronicles, real time web collaboration.) Participants will consider how these and other technologies might be used to strengthen student achievement, provide innovative opportunities for collaboration, and engage a diverse community of learners.
Marsha R. Cuddeback, Director of the LSU Office of Community Design and Development, Agricultural and Mechanical College, and Frank M. Bosworth, Director, School of Architecture, Louisiana State University
Online Learning Success Factors: Moving from Anecdotal to Scientific Evidence
The discussion will focus on moving online education technology and teaching principles from the anecdotal arena to evidence-based statistical evaluation. Participants will follow the progression from suggestions of student success based on individual examples of successful online classroom performance to discussion about a sequence of steps to formulate a multi-factor screening experiment to statistically evaluate teaching and technology options. The roundtable will focus on developing factors and factor levels for testing along with alternative experimental designs for future analysis.
John Ed Knight, Professor of Management and Statistics, and Daniel L. Tracy, Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee at Martin
Is Online Teaching Really for Me?
The facilitators for this discussion are and have been professors in regular "face-to-face" type classrooms in universities for most of their professional lives. Neither had taken nor taught a course online previously. Both decided to teach part-time for an online "virtual" university relatively recently, so both are novice teachers on-line. They will share their experiences in making their decisions to teach online, what their beliefs and misconceptions were going into the online environment, and how they have come to think of teaching online in an altogether different way.
James M. Towers, Professor of Education, and Paul A. Nelson, Professor of Education, Walden University
Toward a Philosophy of Multimedia in the Online Classroom: Aligning Multimedia Use with Institutional Goals (pdf)
Institutions desiring to move their online programs to the next “generation” often focus their efforts on multimedia development. While the literature provides compelling evidence to support the relationship between multimedia and learner engagement in the online environment, universities must also consider how the incorporation of multimedia will align with their institutional goals and values. This roundtable will initiate the discussion by presenting how one university developed a workable philosophy of multimedia based on its institutional vision and mission.
Amber Dailey-Hebert, Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, and Emily Donnelli-Sallee, Assistant Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Park University
EndNote as Knowledge Builder and Knowledge Integrator
Although many educators teach EndNote as a bibliographical tool, the software supports sophisticated knowledge management and knowledge sharing. A year-long project integrating EndNote into the first-year curriculum at New Century College saw EndNote stimulate the collection, classification, and retrieval of evidence and liberate students to think about, and use, evidence in more innovative ways. EndNote thus opened up new spaces for critical thinking and encouraged a culture of ongoing integration of, and reflection on learning. Join in this conversation to learn how this project was developed and might be used in your own courses to work with students.
Lesley M. Smith, Assistant Professor, New Century College, George Mason University
Establishing and Maintaining Collaborations for Teaching and Learning
Technology allows us to establish open and visible pathways, networks, collaborations, and consortia to create and sustain educational environments that support faculty and students’ educational outcomes. Members of the Knowledge Media Lab (KML) of the Carnegie Foundation, Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT), Canada’s Cooperative Learning Object Exchange (CLOE), and the Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning all collaborate to extend the use of e-portfolios in the service of learning. This roundtable will provide participants with the opportunity to explore how technology can support collaborations across a single campus as well as multiple campuses, linking all aspects of campus life to the academic endeavor.
Flora McMartin, Director of Membership Services and Evaluation, Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching, California State University Long Beach; Tracy Penny Light, Acting Associate Director/Assistant Professor, Teaching Resources and Continuing Education (TRACE)/Department of History, University of Waterloo, and Cheryl Richardson, Research Scholar, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Technology and Automation in Writing Support Services (pdf)
Developing fluency in writing is a fundamental aim of education, and a job function requirement of employers. Students’ writing skills are in great need of improvement. In order to meet this pressing need and to provide services to the ever-increasing population of distance learners, writing labs have been challenged to find more effective methods to improve students’ skills and to incorporate computer technology into their writing support services. Participants will discuss an automated system that provides immediate feedback on grammar, word usage, and punctuation to students and faculty.
Demonstration
Mary C. Alexander, Director of Academic Services, and Heather A. Miller, Project Director, Student Development Services, University of Phoenix
A Partnership for Enhancing Information Literacy, Research, and Academic Integrity within an Online Course Environment
This roundtable is designed for distance learning/online instructors, librarians, and academic support staff to discuss collaborating with colleagues to use technologies to improve student information literacy, written communication, independent research, and to reduce incidences of plagiarism. Discussion will cover a model in which guest lecturers’ present instruction by Video Communicator, Camtasia, and narrated PowerPoint followed by their participation in asynchronous discussion boards designed to enhance the primary instructor’s course objectives and students’ learning outcomes.
Mary Slavin, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Leslin Charles, Library Director, and Roseann Torsiello, Director of Academic Support Center, Garret Mountain Campus, Berkeley College
Interdisciplinary Curriculum Development for New Media Arts and Entertainment
This discussion will address how to engage faculty across fine and technical arts disciplines – music, visual arts, film – and industry partners about to grapple with emerging technologies to meet the demands of today’s workforce and for the future. Participants will review models of emerging new media arts and entertainment industries and evaluate interdisciplinary approaches to fine and technical arts programs.
Norma W. Goldstein, Dean of Humanities, Shoreline Community College
Faculty Professional Development for Distributed Learning Environments Promotes Liberal Education
After an introduction to the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point's curricular redesign initiative, Stepping into Online Instruction, participants will: 1) engage in a brainstorming activity supporting liberal education in online instruction, and, as time permits, 2) determine which idea would best fit their own context and institutional culture. Ideas and strategies will be collated and distributed via email to the entire group.
Patricia Ploetz, Coordinator of Teaching and Learning Resource Network, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point
Moving Large-Scale Programs Online: A Case Study and Discussion (pdf)
This discussion will address how administrators and faculty can manage the transition of a large professional writing program from traditional classrooms to an online learning environment. Facilitators will share their experience meeting this challenge with administrative support, peer reassurance, a robust learning technology infrastructure, and professional development opportunities. Join in this roundtable to learn how faculty maintained a focus on a quality curriculum while learning how technology would allow them to deliver high-quality content in a different way.
Handout
David H. Covington, Associate Professor of English, Donna T. Petherbridge, Associate Director for Instructional Services, Learning Technology Service/Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications (DELTA), and Sharon P. Pitt, Director of the Learning Technology Service and Associate Vice Provost for DELTA, North Carolina State University
Designing Learning Spaces to Support Liberal Education Outcomes (pdf)
Higher education is being challenged by growing costs and trying to accommodate more students without sacrificing quality. As a result, colleges and universities must reexamine and reinvent the learning spaces in which faculty teach and students learn. Using Stanford University’s Wallenberg Hall as a case study, this discussion will explore the relationships among pedagogy, technology, and physical spaces and their potential implications for facilitating intercultural understanding, teamwork, and oral and multimedia communication.
Helen L. Chen, Research Scientist, Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning, and Daniel Gilbert, Academic Technology Specialist, Stanford Center for Innovations in Learning, Stanford University
Sustaining Faculty Collaboration: Lessons from (and for) the West Coast Technology Project
The West Coast Technology Project is supporting collaborative faculty development in instructional technologies within and beyond the West. The Project facilitates building community among partner institutions, and working to identify inter-institutional projects and strategies that will enrich the face-to-face learning environments prized on liberal arts campuses. This discussion provides an opportunity for participants to learn and share insights important for sustaining collaborative faculty work across administrative borders, multiple reward structures, and distant geographies.
Kristine Bartanen, Academic Vice President, University of Puget Sound; Michael Nord, Assistant Professor of Music, Willamette University; Alex Wirth-Cauchon, Participant Relations, National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education; and Brenda Barham-Hill, Executive Director, Claremont University Consortium
Adjunct Faculty in Our Technological Age
Designed for faculty development and instructional technology professionals along with adjunct faculty, this discussion will address particular concerns of adjunct faculty in terms of institutional support for use of technology and collaborations across disciplinary lines.
Paivi H. Hoikkala, Lecturer in History, and Susan B. Rogers, Lecturer in English and Foreign Languages, California State Polytechnic University Pomona
Future Directions for Online Learning in the Arts and Sciences
Ten years after many universities started incorporating online courses into the curriculum, many institutions are now rethinking some of the fundamental issues related to teaching with technology. Questions include why do some faculty and students prefer teaching with technology? Why do some resist it? What is necessary to support learning and teaching with technology? This discussion will begin with a case study approach to answering these questions and will engage the audience in sharing viewpoints.
Beth Gordon Klingner, Director of Instructional Technology, and Amy Foerster, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Pace University
Social Software's Role (pdf)
Social software including blogs, wikis, messengers, and online communities allows students to meet and collaborate with fellow students around the world. The facilitator will initiate discussion with a description of the tools Dickinson College is using and invite examples of other tools or ideas as a starting point for a discussion on future endeavors.
Todd Bryant, Language Program Technologist, Dickinson College
On or Among Thieves: The Confluence of Plagiarism, Technology, and Ethics in Higher Education
Join in this facilitated roundtable exploration of the problem of plagiarism in a time of heightened technology. Participants will discuss the practical and ethical implications, frustrations and successes, and how to counter what seems to be a mounting concern.
Scott L. Horton, Assistant Professor of Behavioral Sciences Department, Suzanne Risley, Vice President for Library and Information Technology Services/CIO, and Mary Loose, Chair of the Humanities Department, Mitchell College
9:00 - 10:15 a.m.
Featured Sessions
Helping Students Think Critically About Technology
This featured session will explore ways of helping students think critically and ethically about the powers they have with the use of technology. How technology affects interactions will be considered, as well as ways for students to become more intentional in their uses of technology to advance learning and engagement with the larger world. Emphasis will be placed on sharing strategies that enable active and reflective thinking about technology by employing resources and collaborations from all aspects of the curriculum. It is hoped that participants will emerge from the session with an expanded awareness of the dynamic relationship between technology and society and the relevance of these concerns to all aspects of education.
Brian M. O'Connell, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Philosophy, Central Connecticut State University and President, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Society on Social Implications of Technology
Advancing Together: Collaborative Professional Development for Faculty (ppt)
The panelists in this featured session will lead participants through an exploration of collaborative professional development for faculty that includes participation in conferences, seminars, workshops, and the development of collaborative projects. Together they will examine some of the results of this kind of professional development that include inter-campus collaborative classes, shareable digital resources, and learning object aggregation and pedagogy.
Nancy Millichap, Director of Professional Development Programs, and Bryan Alexander, Director of Emerging Technologies, National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education
10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions
Creating a Community of Learners Online
Participants in this seminar will examine how to promote and facilitate online discussion. For online courses to work optimally, a sense of community must exist among students. This is best accomplished through the efficacious use of discussion. Research indicates that certain instructor behaviors, feedback strategies, questioning techniques, and other methodologies are key to creating effective online discussion and a sense of community among students. These strategies will be examined in this collaborative and participatory session.
James M. Towers, Professor of Education, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota; and Paul A. Nelson, Professor of Education, Pacific Lutheran University
IT101 and Critical Thinking: Using Technology to Integrate Liberal Learning into the Classroom (ppt)
Liberal learning principles are traditionally thought to be an inherent part of humanities courses while technology courses tend to focus on skill-building and domain-based knowledge. This session will present examples of how liberal learning elements were applied in an experimental introductory technology course offered at a business university. Presenters will share examples of student work and course assignments to illustrate the benefits of integrating critical and creative thinking and social awareness with applications of technology.
Mark Frydenberg, Senior Lecturer, Software Specialist in Computer Information Systems, and Angelique M. Davi, Assistant Professor of English, Bentley College
Disciplinary Approaches to Using ePortfolios to Advance Reflective Thinking and Integrative Learning
What does reflection mean to a historian compared to an engineer? How can faculty teach and model the skills of effective communication and integration of learning in a language and format that is relevant to how today’s students understand and live their lives? Stanford University, University of Washington, and the University of Waterloo describe three approaches for using ePortfolios as the medium to facilitate reflection and synthesis in mechanical engineering, art, technical communication, and history.
Helen L. Chen, Research Scientist, Stanford University; Tracy Penny-Light, Acting Associate Director and Assistant Professor, Teaching Resources and Continuing Education (TRACE)/Department of History, University of Waterloo; and Janice Fournier, Research Scientist, Catalyst Research and Development, University of Washington Seattle
Technology Advances in Nursing Education
Technological advances have been widely employed to increase access to and quality of nursing education to meet the need for nurses. Educators from four institutions will discuss promising practices and critical outcomes for the field including problem based learning, reflective practice, and critical thinking.
Hermann Paper (pdf)
Resnick Paper and Diagram
Jerelyn Resnick, Lecturer in Nursing, University of Washington, Bothell; Mary L. Hermann, Associate Professor of Nursing, Gwynedd-Mercy College; Janice Wiegmann, Associate Professor of Nursing, McKendree College; and Anita B. Singleton, Clinical Associate Professor, School of Nursing, University of Missouri - Kansas City
Use of Multimedia Tools for Leadership Development
Multimedia tools offer a productive, interactive means to guide faculty, staff, student, and administrative leaders through common institutional challenges. The development of these tools can be used as a campus-wide collaborative learning opportunity. Existing tools will be demonstrated and plans for future tools will be discussed.
Alma R. Clayton-Pedersen, Vice President, Office of Education and Institutional Renewal and Co-Director of the Network for Academic Renewal, AAC&U
Academic Commons: Building an Online Community
Academic Commons, an online web community and journal launched in July 2005, aims to share knowledge, develop collaborations, and evaluate and disseminate digital tools and innovative practices for teaching and learning with technology. As the founders of Academic Commons, the presenters will discuss 1) the challenges of creating online communities, 2) the emerging shape of the discussion in Academic Commons about technology and liberal arts education, and 3) their sense of how the conversation must develop in higher education.
John Ottenhoff, Professor of English and Associate Provost, Alma College; and David Bogen, Director of the Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies, Emerson College
Breeze and the Digital Divide and Diversity: Several Systems and One Answer
Rural institutions must move beyond their isolated local hegemony in order to remain relevant in the expanding global community. Expansion into a global vision forces campuses to embrace diversity which, in turn prepares the student for work in a world that is globally connected and interdependent. The session facilitator will initiate discussion on how a small rural institution can overcome the barriers through aggressive recruitment of a diverse student body and the use of technology to reach rural and urban areas, out of state, and international students.
Carl O. Ellis, Dean of Continuing and Professional Studies, Southern Utah University
1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions
Student Learning with Advanced Technologies
Student use of educational technologies has gone far beyond email and word processing. At the University of Washington in Seattle, students collaborate using wireless shared workspaces, digital master video and audio recordings for course presentations, creative expression, and personal evaluation. Participants will learn how these learning environments were created in preparation for a visit to the campus on Friday afternoon.
Karalee Woody, Director, Catalyst Client Services, and Ari TenCate, Catalyst Help Desk Manager, University of Washington Seattle
Using an Electronic Response System (ERS) to Discuss Controversial Topics
Many factors hinder students from actively participating in classroom discussions, particularly if course content focuses on controversial topics. The integration of an electronic response system (ERS) into the classroom has helped to increase student interaction. Participants will experience the use of an ERS first-hand, hear the results of research regarding their use, and explore innovative ways they might use technology to enhance discussion in their own classes, particularly regarding sensitive issues.
Andreas Brockhaus, Manager of Learning Technologies and Web Services, and Ron Krabill, Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington Bothell
Reading in the Age of New Literacies, Aliteracy, and Academic Literacy (ppt)
For instructors working with novice learners in general education courses, one thing has become all-too transparent: the main obstacle to learning in any academic area is students’ reluctance to read. Participants will discuss instructional strategies that use digital resources to draw students into academic literacy. What are the advantages and disadvantages to teaching with digital resources? How do these instructional strategies change classrooms, institutions, and disciplines for better or for worse?
Sharona A. Levy, Professor, Borough of Manhattan Community College
Drowning in Communication Devices, But Who Feels Heard?
Even with a faculty committed to the pursuit of knowledge for themselves and their students, attaining widespread use of technology for teaching and learning is a challenge. With pervasive use of technology all around, what structures encourage use of technology to improve learning? Join in this discussion about developing communication and collaboration to build a holistic infrastructure that includes support for faculty and students, effective learning spaces and instructional systems, innovative policies, and integration of technology into the disciplines.
Sharon P. Pitt, Associate Vice Provost for Learning Technologies, and Sarah Stein, Associate Professor of Communication, North Carolina State University
Teaching Imagination: The Making of a Studio Classroom at a Community College
This presentation charts the institutional and conceptual changes taking place at one community college as we discover a new architecture for the classroom and explore its implications for teaching and learning. Participants will discuss ways in which the structures and practices might transfer to their own institution.
Michael R. Schoop, Vice President, Academic Affairs and Student Services, Christine Aguila, Instructor, Communications Department, Carmen Baila, Instructor, Mathematics Department, Roxane Assaf, Instructor, Adult Education Division, Amanda Drake, Director of Student Services, Brenda Weddington, Dean of Student Services, Pervez Rahman, Dean of Instruction, and Armando Mata, Dean of Adult Education, Harry S. Truman College
Digital Storytelling: Enhancing Critical and Moral Reasoning Skills
Stories are our oldest and most trusted teaching tools. Through stories, we share our history, our experiences, and our knowledge. Now, using advanced new media technology, we can create digital stories. Digital stories provide an excellent pedagogical tool that requires students to: 1) think critically; 2) analyze personal and professional relationships; and 3) reflect on moral and ethical values in order to write finely crafted and focused scripts – scripts that tell a story. Join in this session to discuss how stories might become an integral and effective learning tool in a variety of settings.
Mary Ann Drake, Department Chair, Interdisciplinary Studies, Mary Alice Morgan, Program Director, Women and Gender Studies, and Kelly Jones, Director, Media Center, Mercer University
2:45 – 3:45 p.m.
Plenary
Creating Spaces for Learning: Exploring Technology’s Role (pdf)
Educators and educational institutions around the world are at the epicenter of a potential “perfect storm”: rising expectations from stakeholders, increasing costs but flat to decreasing budgets, pressure for pedagogical changes, and the constant and quick changes in technology. This session will explore the opportunities that are presented from these four dynamics to create new and/or enhanced opportunities for teaching and learning and highlight a few examples from around the globe of innovative approaches that are creating new spaces for learning.
Roberto H. Bamberger, Government, Education, and Public Health Briefing Consultant, Executive Engagement
4:00 – 6:30 p.m.
Campus Visit
UWA Campus Visit: Campus Designs to Deepen Student Learning
The University of Washington is driving innovations in teaching and learning through the deployment of innovative technologies in informal spaces. Through its integration of technology into student use of informal learning spaces, the campus is now expanding some of its very best practices into more formal learning environments. Join in this campus visit to experience first hand, three creatively designed learning spaces that respond to the ways students learn and interact in this age of technology. During the tour, Karalee Woody, Director, Catalyst Client Services, and Ari TenCate, Catalyst Help Desk Manager, will introduce the suite of informal spaces, engage participants in the use of the multi-media resources, and discuss what they have found from research and evaluation on student use of these spaces. Sponsored by the UW Office of Educational Partnerships and Learning Technologies
Saturday, April 22
8:00 – 8:45 a.m.
Breakfast with the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Group
The TLT (Teaching, Learning, and Technology) Group invites its subscribers and all interested individuals to join in this discussion on the implications of technology for the shape of liberal education and the scholarship of teaching and learning. A continental breakfast will be available. For more information about the TLT Group, visit www.tltgroup.org.
Stephen C. Ehrmann, Vice President, The Teaching, Learning, and Technology (TLT) Group; and Nancy O’Neill, Director of Programs, Office of Education and Institutional Renewal, AAC&U
9:00 – 10:15 a.m.
Plenary
Helping Students Become Intentional Learners by Using Technology
This session will focus on two levels at which campuses can engage technology to achieve more powerful student learning outcomes--at the administrative and individual course levels. Drawing from conference sessions and the facilitator’s campus teaching and administrative experiences, participants will explore ways that campus leaders can encourage and support the faculty’s effective use of technology for learning in the disciplines. Participants will also examine practical ways of harnessing students’ experience and familiarity with technology to foster their development as intentional learners.
Alma R. Clayton-Pedersen, Vice President, Office of Education and Institutional Renewal and Co-director, Network for Academic Renewal, AAC&U
10:45a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions
The Life of the Mind: Practicing the Socratic Method Online (ppt)
We should not assume that philosophy can be taught only in a conventional classroom, with four walls, a chalkboard, and a clock on the wall. From the very beginning, philosophers have taught in a wide range of settings, ranging from hilltops and gardens, to market squares and taverns. This session will examine the particular challenges and advantages of practicing the Socratic Method in the online classroom.
Jason A. Scorza, Director of the School of English, Philosophy and Humanities, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Two Approaches to Inquiry-Based Learning with Technology
Digital learning environments often (merely) provide new media delivering standard materials. Participants in this session will explore two alternatives that better exploit the rich possibilities of educational technologies using inquiry-based approaches to learning. First, material from "Theory of Language" (MIT Press) will illustrate how simple inquiry-based presentation styles (with low technology overhead) can be developed. Second, CHAT, inquiry-based software for building grammars, will demonstrate the extreme potential of inquiry-based learning in a digital environment.
Steven E. Weisler, Dean of Academic Development, Professor of Linguistics, Hampshire College
Undergraduate Student-Faculty Collaborative Research in Professional Schools: A Front-Burner Issue
This seminar will promote a discussion of the current state of faculty-student undergraduate research programs in professional schools. Participants will explore how the effective application of the concept of “Communities of Practice” enhances the design, implementation, and growth of faculty-student undergraduate programs, and how technology plays a critical role, both in sustaining these programs and enhancing opportunities for student learning.
Timothy P. Shea, Associate Professor of Marketing/MIS, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth; Pamela D. Sherer, Associate Professor of Management, Providence College; and Eric Kristensen, Senior Instructional Consultant, University of Ottawa
What Works: Toward Promising Practices for Integrating Multi-Media in Liberal Arts Course Development (ppt)
Substantial evidence confirms that educational technology (including stand-alone software, Web-based resources, video and audio, and other media) is not nearly used to its potential. The bottleneck appears to be course development. Instructors may in theory accept the arguments in favor of multi-media, but in practice they might face challenges when designing their curriculum. Participants will discuss creating a community of practice to develop processes of effective integration of multi-media into Liberal Arts courses.
Laurence Miller, Director of Online Learning, Associate Professor of Education, and Jaya Kannan, Assistant Professor of Human Services, Metropolitan College of New York; and Adam Feinberg, Student, New York University and Metropolitan College of New York
Collaborating Around Digital Objects (ppt)
Technological developers and educators have long pushed for collective knowledge building, giving life to open source, open content, and open knowledge genres in education. Facilitators of this seminar will provide background information on open resources and technologies as well as examples of how faculty can use these resources to collaborate around teaching with digital objects. The overarching aim is to explore productive systems for communicating within and across campuses about common teaching resources and practices.
Session Notes (pdf)
Cheryl Richardson, Research Scholar, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; and Flora McMartin, Director of Membership Services and Evaluation, Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching, California State University Long Beach
Examining the Trust Factor in Online Instructor-Led College Courses (ppt)
This session will address a recent doctoral survey and findings from 630 survey respondents linked with WashingtonOnline Virtual Campus about the ways in which trust manifests in online instructor-led courses through the eyes of the student. Participants will discuss the effect of a high-trust (vs. low-trust) online learning environment on learners and various strategies for enhancing online trust.
Shalin Hai-Jew, Instructional Designer, Kansas State University
1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions
Using Technology Intensively in a Learning Community: Lessons Learned
Using Geographical Information Systems to explore data, create a land use plan and then present it using PowerPoint are technologies underpinning a capstone group project in a unique interdisciplinary course in environmental geology and public speaking developed as a learning community. Competent use of GIS to explore data, answer geographical questions, vision the future and create presentation quality maps are environmental geology technical skills. Public speaking requires skills in group presentation and presentation map graphics. Participants will learn how to create such an interdisciplinary course and the principles that provide the foundation for this and similar endeavors.
James A. Brey, Professor of Geography and Geology, and Kristin Runge, Lecturer in Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin Colleges -Fox Valley
Virtual History: Integrating Computer Gaming Simulations into the Liberal Arts Curriculum
This session will explore the pedagogical dimensions of integrating computer gaming simulations into an introductory world history course. Based on actual classroom practice, the session will focus on the implications of this new technology on college teaching practices and the ways that students learn in the traditional Liberal Arts core curriculum.
Christopher E. Mauriello, Associate Professor of History, Salem State College, and Nick deKanter, Vice President, Muzzy Lane Software
Using Clickers to Engage Students and Enhance Learning (pdf)
UMass-Amherst has nearly completed the second of two grants from the Davis Educational Foundation on “Creating Active Learning Though Technology.” The seminar will share our experiences with using student participation devices in large lectures in several departments that cover the curriculum from Classics and English to Chemistry and Statistics. After a brief video and introductory comments, the presenters will engage the audience using the “clickers” to direct a discussion on active learning across the curriculum.
Richard T. Rogers, Faculty Advisor to the Provost for Undergraduate Education, Daniel A. Lass, Professor of Resource Economics, and Mei-Yau Shih, Coordinator of Teaching Technologies, University of Massachusetts Amherst
To Google or Not To Google: Research Integrity in an Era of Information Explosion
As the quantity of information available expands exponentially, students and faculty need ways to ensure the integrity of the information they find, select, evaluate, and apply to problem-solving and research. The skills of information literacy are critical in this context. Participants will discuss how these skills can be embedded in the curriculum so they cross lines of disciplines and delivery modes. They will examine how integrated technology can assist students in becoming information literate.
Elizabeth Fountain, Dean, School of Arts and Sciences, and Linda Fenster, Director of Library Services, City University
Collaboration, Technology, and the Liberal Arts College (ppt)
This session will present two initiatives that seek to create challenging learning environments for students and new opportunities for collaboration in research, teaching, and service for faculty through inter-institutional, technology-assisted cooperation. The presentation of these two initiatives in the Classics and Middle East Studies will serve as a springboard into discussion that explores how technology can best enhance, rather than compete with, the values of small liberal arts colleges.
Michael A. Toler, Chief Program Officer, Al-Musharaka Initiative, National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education (NITLE), and Rebecca Frost Davis, Chief Program Officer, Sunoikisis and Intercampus Teaching, NITLE
Implications of Technology for the Content and Assessment of General Education
AAC&U's Greater Expectations initiative laid out a valuable guide for transforming liberal education. In this interactive session, the facilitators will outline the five major themes of Greater Expectations, as summarized in the recent AAC&U Accountability Statement and describe examples of how technology use is reshaping elements of those learning outcomes. Participants will examine how the use of multi-media can help advance liberal education outcomes and the implications of the use of technology for pedagogy and course design.
Stephen C. Ehrmann, Vice President, The Teaching, Learning, and Technology (TLT) Group; and David Starrett, Dean, School of University Studies and Director, Center for Scholarship in Teaching and Learning, Southeast Missouri State University
2:45 – 3:45 p.m.
Facilitated Discussions
These four discussions provide an opportunity for participants to reflect upon what they have learned throughout the conference and discuss how these new insights and information might become useful when they return to campus. The discussions will take place at the same time; please select one.
How People Learn with Technology
Marsha Cuddeback, Director of LSU Office of Community Design and Development, and Frank Bosworth, Director, School of Architecture, Louisiana State University
Educational and Policy Implications
Lorie Roth, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Academic Programs, California State Office of the Chancellor and Steven Weisler, Dean of Academic Development, Hampshire College
Supporting Faculty Work In and Across the Disciplines in a Technological Age
Discussion Notes (pdf)
Cheryl Richardson, Research Scholar, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and Flora McMartin, Director of Member Services and Evaluation, Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching, California State University Long Beach
Social and Cultural Implications of Education with Technology
Brian M. O’Connell, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, Department of Philosophy, Central Connecticut State University and President, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Society on Social Implications of Technology
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