Learning@Richmond May 2013
May 10, 2013
Inside this issue:
Postdoctoral Fellow of Psychology Karen Kochel was looking for a way to encourage students enrolled in her Child Development course, to become active participants in their learning. In an effort to enhance her students’ academic experience, Dr. Kochel decided to pair mobile technology (the iPad2) with community based learning.
CTLT Liaison, Matthew Trevett-Smith discusses the importance of tablet computing in higher education.
Plus the CTLT Calendar of Summer Workshops and Events, and the Blackboard Tip o’ the Month!
Please click here to download this issue.
UAA to slow Internet to prevent illegal downloads
December 12, 2011
Campuses across the country are taking different measures to prevent students from infringing on copyrights when downloading movies, music and videos. The University of Alaska has taken a rather unique tactic… According to an Associated Press report, the university will slow Internet connections in campus dorms from 10 megabits per second to 2 megabits per second.
A university IT official said that complaints from the recording and entertainment industry triggered the decision. There were 878 complaints last year, the official said, and more than 95 percent of those involved illegal downloads taking place in on-campus housing. A student-education campaign didn’t control the problem, he said.
Rich Whitney, in charge of computers and telecommunications services at UAA, told The Associated Press, “We don’t want to be the Internet police. This is just a practical amount of steps to be taken to try and get under control these complaints.”
It is important to note that while the vast majority of UAA students are going to school and using their Internet connections appropriately and legally, there are “a relatively small number of infringers,” Whitney said.
Students aren’t pleased by the slowdown. One undergraduate started a “Take the Internet Back” page on Facebook to protest the university’s decision. “I felt they were punishing us all for the actions of a few,” he told the student newspaper, the Northern Light.
Read more: http://www.adn.com/2011/12/01/2197531/uaa-to-slow-internet-to-combat.html#ixzz1fyZzJnbd
December Issue of Learning@Richmond
December 2, 2011
Professor of Art, Tanja Softic’s teaching methods are rooted in hands-on, experiential studio learning that is informed by the history and contemporary practice of the media she teaches, principally printmaking and drawing.
In printmaking, some very old print technologies (etching, silk screening, etc.) interface with digital means of image production and printing. When working on a photo-etching, for example, her students begin with a digital photo image that is then exposed onto a plate, etched and hand-inked, wiped and finally printed manually on an etching press. “Printmaking demands that one considers the meaning of the medium itself.”
Plus a preview of the Spring CTLT Calendar, a note from our director, how to archive your Blackboard course, and what your CTLT liaison plans to do this winter break.
Click Here to Download this issue.
If you have any comments, questions, or ideas for future issues, please contact the Learning@Richmond editor, Dr. Matthew Trevett-Smith.
Links featured in this issue:
CTLT Liaison Blog
CTLT Fall 2011 Workshop Schedule
CTLT Training & Classes
Pizza & Pedagogy Schedule
Pizza & Pedagogy: Student Voices on Technology
November 29, 2011
Join the CTLT liaisons for this week’s Pizza & Pedagogy event: Student Voices on Technology.
The classroom technology that professors enthusiastically attempt doesn’t always get a warm welcome from the students out in the lecture hall, especially when gadgets feel gimmicky or class time is wasted as instructors fumble with gear. To get a sense of just what students think of their professors’ classroom technology use, the CTLT will invite four tech-savvy students to weigh in on the best—and worst— moments in classroom technology they have seen.
We will meet Thursday, December 1st at 12:00 noon in Boatwright Library, Room 311 (Nostrae Filiae Room). Pizza and Soda included.
Please register: http://cygnet.richmond.edu/events/pizza/
CTLT Liaisons Become Digital Storytellers
August 29, 2011
One of the most popular initiatives we have had in the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology has been Digital Storytelling (DST). As part of our learning philosophy at the CTLT, each of the liaisons has produced a DST of our very own. I will share mine with you in a moment.
But first, some of you may be asking yourself, “What is digital storytelling?”
According to the Center for Digital Storytelling, a digital story is a short, first-person video-narrative created by combining recorded voice, still and moving images, and music or other sounds. Joe Lambert, one of the pioneers of this project-based multimedia activity, describes digital storytelling as a process that infuses new media and technology tools with a compelling written narrative. Jason Ohler, an advocate of multimedia pedagogy in the classroom, indicates that digital storytelling is the ideal vehicle for blending traditional (reading, writing and speaking) and emerging (information technology) literacy development. In order to understand the composition of, and ultimately produce, a digital story, Lambert provides a conceptual framework of seven elements that serve as a guide throughout the production process. They include: point of view, a dramatic question, emotional content, the gift of your voice, economy, pacing and the power of a soundtrack.
Some fantastic student made DSTs can be found at: http://learndst.richmond.edu
To better understand the the 5-step process (writing, recording, searching, producing, and publishing) of digital storytelling, liaisons Hil and Matt created DSTs of their own.
Without further adieu…
Matt Trevett-Smith:
“Despite popular misconceptions, our students’ online social networks closely align with their offline social networks.”
Hil Scott:
“My digital story interprets when I was eight or nine and my father arrived home early one day with the first Polaroid Land Camera we had ever seen. And the world changed.”
Final Summer Learning Series Speaker
August 19, 2011
Join your colleagues, the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology, and Next Generation Learning Challenges for the last webcast of the summer learning series dedicated to the transformative role that technology can play in fostering student success.
Please note we will meet in Tyler Haynes Commons Conference Room #310 for this webinar which starts at 1pm. Arrive early and bring your lunch. A local discussion of the topic will follow.
The next event (on August 23, 2011) will feature Dr. Patrick McAndrew, Associate Director of Learning & Teaching at Open University. The subject of his presentation will be, “Using Openness to Bridge Success.”
Dr. McAndrew is the director of the Open Learning network (OLnet) and of Research and Evaluation for OpenLearn, open content initiative for a two year period 2006-2008 along with his core role as a Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Educational Technology (IET). As Associate Director (Learning & Teaching) he is a member of the executive team for IET. From 2002 to 2005 Patrick was Head of the Centre for Information Technology in Education. His blog is here: http://openpad.wordpress.com/
The Institute of Educational Technology (IET) at the Open University connects innovation and expertise in learning and teaching and uses this collective power to change the face of education.
IET’s programme of work is at the heart of the Open University’s mission to be a world leader in the design, content and delivery of supported open and distance learning through the innovative use of technology.
For more information about our role and objectives please see ‘who they are’ and ‘what they do’.
The Open Learning Initiative Webinar
August 11, 2011
Join your colleagues, the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology, and Next Generation Learning Challenges for the next webcast dedicated to the transformative role that technology can play in fostering student success.
Please note we will meet in Tylor Haynes Commons Conference Room 310 for this webinar.
The next event (on August 16, 2011 at 1 pm) will feature Candace Thille, Director of the Open Learning Initiative. The subject of her presentation will be, “The Open Learning Initiative.”
The Open Learning Initiative uses knowledge from learning science and the affordances of the web to transform instruction, significantly improving learning outcomes and achieves significant increases in productivity in post secondary education. OLI aims to produce exemplars of scientifically based online courses and course materials that enact instruction and support instructors while providing open access to these courses and materials. Ultimately, OLI hopes to develop a community of use, research and development that contributes to the evaluation, continuous improvement, and ongoing growth of their courses and materials.
For more information please visit: http://learning.richmond.edu/atc/
Learning@Richmond August 2011
August 3, 2011
Inside the August issue of Learning@Richmond:
Beginning in the fall of 2011, three UR faculty will use Apple’s latest technology, the iPad2, in their classrooms. Learn more about how Dr. Ted Bunn, Dr. Jan French, and Dr. Tom Shields redesigned their courses to fully utilize the iPad2.
Teaching with Blackboard: One of the most essential aspects of getting your Blackboard course set-up is the Grade Center. Taking the time early to think through how you will collect grades and assignments from students will save you time and frustration.
Plus a word from the CTLT Director, the August CTLT Workshop Calendar, and what your CTLT liaisons have been up to this summer.
Click Here to Download this issue.
Links featured in this issue:
CTLT Liaison Blog
Dr. Matthew Trevett-Smith’s Biography
CTLT Fall 2011 Workshop Schedule
CTLT Training & Classes
Games and Social Networks as Next Generation Learning Experiences
July 20, 2011
Join your colleagues, the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology, and Next Generation Learning Challenges for the next webcast dedicated to the transformative role that technology can play in fostering student success.
Please note we will meet in the Science Center Conference Room for this webinar.
The next event (on July 28, 2011) will feature Steve Ritter from Carnegie Learning; Chris Sprague from OpenStudy; and David Gibson from SimSchool. The subject of their presentation will be, “Games and Social Networks as Next Generation Learning Experiences.”
Gamification isn’t just a hot topic in the social media world, where people are competing for badges and titles on FourSquare and other applications; it’s also an emerging trend in education technology. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a Next Generation Learning Challenges partner, recently announced $20 million in grants for digital learning with an emphasis on game-based teaching tools, game-design curricula and instructive video games. Several other projects - including Next Generation Learning Challenges Wave I grant recipients - are making educational applications and sites more game-like in an effort to increase engagement and collaboration among students.
Summer Webinar Series, July 12 Speaker
July 5, 2011
This summer, you’re invited to join your colleagues, the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology, and Next Generation Learning Challenges for a “Summer Learning Series” - a schedule of webcasts dedicated to the transformative role that technology can play in fostering student success with solutions designed to improve college completion.
The next speaker (presenting on July 12, 2011) will be Thomas Cavanagh, Assistant Vice President of Distributed Learning. He will discuss, “Blended Learning at the University of Central Florida.” Cavanagh is an accomplished instructional designer, program manager, faculty member, and administrator. He has developed award-winning e-learning programs for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and the military. Currently, he is the Assistant Vice President of Distributed Learning for the University of Central Florida. He has been interviewed or featured in many publications including Training, Federal Computer Week, Information Week, and the Washington Post. He has represented the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida on the Florida Distance Learning Consortium and has participated on the Advisory Board for the Brevard Community College Virtual Campus. He is also the author of several mystery novels.
Throughout the summer, subsequent webcasts will explore the critical role that technology can play in expanding the use of educational models designed to promote engagement, flexibility, and collaboration in the classroom from the first wave of NGLC grantees.
Location: Taylor Haynes Commons Room 310. Bring your lunch and arrive early. Time will be provided after the presentation for discussion.
For additional information please visit: http://learning.richmond.edu/atc/
