Archive
Digital Learning Spaces: Lessons from the MSc in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh
Digital Learning Spaces:
Lessons from the MSc in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh
Jen Ross, University of Edinburgh
Monday, April 15
Noon – 1:30 PM
Seattle Pacific University Library Seminar Room
Register: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/digitalspaces
Every course design is philosophy and belief in action. This is no less true – indeed it may be truer – in courses with a significant digital dimension. Online courses can be designed to invite particular kinds of participation, to take particular sorts of approaches to knowledge. But, like the physical classroom, they do more than embody the pedagogical values of the teacher – they are also greatly affected by the nature of the environments in which teaching and learning take place. In this talk, Jen will reflect on the experiences of teachers and students on the wholly distance MSc in E-learning programme, exploring issues such as how being at but not in Edinburgh affects students and how the values and educational philosophies of teachers on the programme impact, and are impacted by, the learning spaces they use and create.
Jen is the programme director of the fully online MSc in Digital Education programme at the University of Edinburgh, co-author of the Manifesto for Teaching Online, and co-organiser of the Coursera MOOC “E-learning and Digital Cultures”. Her teaching and research concerns digital education now and in the future, online identity, and how cultural and educational institutions are changing in the digital age. The evolving meaning of space and place is one of the most interesting topics in digital and distance learning at the moment, and Jen’s visit to SPU will focus on these and other issues relating to a broader theme of active learning spaces.
Implementing Electronic Portfolios Through Social Media Platforms: Steps and Student Perceptions
David W. Denton, Seattle Pacific University
David Wicks, Seattle Pacific University
Abstract:
Over the last two decades, students and teachers, across educational levels and disciplines, have been subject to a variety of school reform efforts. Nevertheless, some instructional practices, such as portfolio assessment, persist and grow in popularity even in the midst of changing educational reform goals and shifting priorities. Teacher education programs have used paper-based portfolios for more than three decades. Recently, institutions have migrated to electronic portfolios since these provide several advantages. Early models of these systems required special technical skills, hardware, or fee-based contracts with service providers. The newest iteration of portfolio platforms are based on social media applications, which are easy to use, free, and customizable. However, the accelerated adoption of social media applications as repositories for student portfolio content has produced several gaps in the literature. Three of these include steps for implementing electronic portfolios in social media platforms, instructional methods for soliciting quality entries from students through questions and prompts, and student perceptions about using social media as a repository for electronic portfolio content. Results from a case study identifying student perceptions of combining social media and electronic portfolios are examined. Future lines of inquiry are discussed.
Link to article: Implementing Electronic Portfolios Through Social Media Platforms: Steps and Student Perceptions
Denton, D. W., & Wicks, D. Implementing electronic portfolios through social media platforms: Steps and student perceptions. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 17(1), 125–135.
The SCALE-UP Project: Student-Centered Active Learning Environments with Upside-down Pedagogies
You are invited to attend a presentation by:
Robert J. Beichner, Ph.D., North Carolina State University
Thursday, January 31, 1:00 – 2:30 PM, Cremona 102, Seattle Pacific University
Register: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/scaleup
How do you promote active learning in a large classroom? Can students practice communication and teamwork skills in a large class? How do you boost the performance of underrepresented groups? Join us as we learn from Dr. Beichner, member of North Carolina State University’s Physics Education R & D Group, and his work on The Student-Centered Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies (SCALE-UP) Project. Materials developed by the project are now in use by more than 1/3 of all science, math, and engineering majors nationwide. Physics, chemistry, math, biology, engineering, business, nursing, and even literature classes are being taught this way at more than 150 institutions nationwide. To learn more about Dr. Beichner and the SCALE-UP Project, visit http://go.ncsu.edu/beichner
Google+ as a Tool for Collaborative Learning
Emerging Technology in Online Learning Symposium
Las Vegas, NV. July 26, 2012
Lead Presenter: Karissa Locke (Google, US)
Tess Milligan (Google, US)
Mark Green (Simpson College, US)
David Wicks (Seattle Pacific University, US)
Courtney Step (Seattle Pacific University, US)
Kami Cottrell (Seattle Pacific University, US)
Abstract:
Hear from professors and students pioneering the use of Google+ for collaborative learning, discuss best practices, and leave equipped to enhance your Google experience with Google+.
Original version of video posted on YouTube by Karissa Locke.
Does Space Matter?
Space Matters: The Impact of Active Learning Classrooms
Interactive Lecture wit D. Christopher Brooks, Ph.D.
Tuesday, December 11, Noon – 1:30 PM Cremona 101, Seattle Pacific University
Register: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/spacematters
D. Christopher Brooks is a Research Fellow in Educational Technology Services at the University of Minnesota. He earned his doctorate in Political Science with a minor in Russian and East European Studies from Indiana University. He taught Comparative Politics and Political Theory at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, St. Olaf College, and the University of Minnesota-Morris before coming to the University of Minnesota where he now conducts empirical research on the impact of educational technologies on teaching practices and learning outcomes. Since 2008, he has served as co-PI on the University of Minnesota’s Active Learning Classroom (ALC) Research Project delivering nine conference presentations, presenting five posters, and publishing nine peer-reviewed articles on the subject. His research appears in a number of publications including the Journal of Learning Spaces, the British Journal of Educational Technology, the Journal of Faculty Development, The American Biology Teacher, EDUCAUSE Quarterly, the International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Evolution, the Journal of Political Science Education, and Social Science Quarterly. He is co-editor of a forthcoming (2014) volume of New Directions for Teaching and Learning that features research projects on learning spaces.
Can using a tool like Google+ lead to the death of the LMS?
This summer I have enjoyed using Google+ in place of Blackboard‘s Discussion tool in two courses that I am teaching. Students were able to interact with each other, chat with participants in another course, and even learn with real-world education experts like +Holly Rae Bemis-Schurtz and +Larry Ferlazzo. An LMS (e.g. Blackboard) “protects” students by letting them only interact with those who are taking the same course.
I relied on Google+ to communicate with students so much that I failed to notice when links to my Blackboard courses were accidentally deleted one morning due to a system error. I only found out when a student reported that she could not submit homework because the course was gone from her Blackboard listing. Would my students have even missed Blackboard had it not been for the fact that they needed to post links to their work in the gradebook? (Don’t worry, the IT folks were able to bring back my courses so my students were able to finish uploading their assignments.)
For years, +Steve Wheeler, +Graham Attwell, and others have discussed the death of the LMS, or as they call it in Europe, the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). They see the LMS as top-down structure that stifles student and faculty creativity, and when the course is over everything is gone, including the community. In its place, they advocate for a Personal Learning Environment (PLE), where students control the digital learning tools they use. In a PLE, students control their own content and can continue to learn with their professor and peers even after the course is over.
Up until now I would have argued that many professors and students are not ready for PLEs. Instructors would struggle to keep up with the tools advanced students choose to use. Novice students would struggle to find ways to collaboratively construct knowledge with their technically advanced peers. However with Google+, I saw all students share articles, videos, docs, and their blog posts… pretty much anything they wanted from whatever tool they used to create it. Students gave each other feedback, and drew others into conversations, all without any coaching or training from me.
There is still plenty of room for improvement, such as an easy way to reference a previous post and a good home for static content. And oh yes, and we can not forget to include a secure place to access grades. As a professor, I think I could give up a lot of autonomy to students if we just agreed to collaborate using Google+. Heck, I might not need Blackboard at all. What do you think?
Flipping the Session
Updated 7/22/2012 to include a flipped session from Todd Conaway and Jill Schiefelbein.
The idea
Several months ago Alan Levine and Audrey Watters blogged about the possibility of flipping traditional presentation-centric conferences. Both suggest that presenters share session content prior the conference, and then use the freed up face-to-face time for conversations, debates, and brainstorming on session topics.
As program chair for the 2012 #et4online conference, I brought this idea to the conference steering committee. We agreed to support a small pilot project to test this idea. Four sessions flipped their presentations by sharing content-related videos prior to the conference. (Full disclosure, I am a presenter in two of these sessions and a close colleague of the third presenter. A number of lead presenters turned down an offer to flip because of other commitments prior to the conference.) Each group chose a slightly different path for how they will use their face-to-face time. TechSmith provided free access to a Camtasia Relay server for presenters to record screencasts. (Thanks TechSmith!)
A Bit About the Flipped Sessions
Apps @ the Common Core: MERLOT Teacher Ed Favorites (click link to view session page with flipped videos)
Lead Presenter: Jane Moore (National Louis University, US)
Dorothy Fuller (Black Hills State University, US)
David Wicks (Seattle Pacific University, US)
Cris Guenter (California State University, Chico, US)
Carol Helton (Regents Online Campus Collaborative, Tennessee Board of Regents, US)
Nicole Kendall (Tennessee State University, US)
Robin Blackman (Middle Tennessee State University, US)
Each presenter in this session used Camtasia Relay and AirServer to record a screencast of an iPad app that was to be shared during the original conference session. Flipping the demonstration of apps will allow the presenters to interact with participants in small groups, demonstrating features and answering questions during the face-to-face session.
Improving Student Reflections in Electronic Portfolio Environments (click link to view session page with flipped video)
Lead Presenter: David Denton (Seattle Pacific University, US)
This presenter used Camtasia Relay to record his entire presentation. Flipping his session content will allow more interaction time with participants during his face-to-face session.
Google+ as a Tool for Collaborative Learning (click link to view session page with flipped videos)
Lead Presenter: Karissa Locke (Google, US)
Tess Milligan (Google, US)
Mark Green (Simpson College, US)
David Wicks (Seattle Pacific University, US)
This session demonstrates why one size does not fit all. Google management asked that the presentation not be shared prior to the face-to-face event. Instead, Google+ Hangouts on Air was used by the presenters to create YouTube videos that preview what will be presented during the face-to-face session. A document with links to Google+ tutorials and directions was also shared. The hope is that participants will come to the face-to-face session prepared to ask questions and experiment with some of the shared techniques.
The Human Touch and Your Digital Personality (Presentation information) [Blog posts with video content]
Todd Conaway (Yavapai College, US)
Jill Schiefelbein (Impromptu Guru, US)
The presenters for this session added flipped elements to their session without any prompting from the #et4online steering committee. They used VoiceThread, YouTube, and WordPress.com to share content prior to the conference. VoiceThread provides a means to make the session learner-centric by facilitating the use of participant answers to questions the presenters plan to ask during their live session. The face-to-face portion of the session can now include discussion of the recorded responses. The presenters also share numerous video examples of how instructors are adding a “Human Touch” to their online courses.
Conclusion
This pilot was a lot of work for all who participated. A total of twenty-four videos were created, accounting for 119 minutes of content. (This total now includes 12 videos and 38 minutes of content from the Conaway and Schiefelbein presentation.) Presenters learned how to use new software and had to think outside the box. I want to publicly thank the presenters for their participation and flexibility. Please support their efforts by watching some of the videos and attending one or more of the face-to-face sessions. Also, the project would have been impossible to complete without the support of TechSmith, Google, and the staff at Sloan-C, specifically R.T. Brown, Katie Fife Schuster, and Christine Hinkley.
Could this project be scaled to cover every session of an entire conference? That would be a lot of work and would require many presenters to change how they prepare for a conference (not a bad consequence as several presenters in the pilot commented that they feel better prepared for the conference after flipping their content.) My recommendation would be to open it up as an option for those who are willing to put in the extra work. If enough presenters participate, conference attendees like Alan and Audrey may be able to fill their entire schedule with flipped sessions.
About
David Wicks
Educational Technology
I have been active in the instructional technology world for over 20 years. My previous positions include: high school teacher, university lecturer, school district technology facilitator, multimedia author, and project manager for an educational technology company. My current position is Director of Instructional Technology at Seattle Pacific University. As Director, I regularly consults with faculty on effective uses of technology. I have been involved in the development of numerous online and blended courses. In addition, I have taught face-to-face, blended, and online courses in the School of Education for over ten years.
Recent projects include: developing a Web 2.0 electronic portfolio system based on WordPress, creating a feature-comparison matrix for lecture capture solutions, and leading SPU’s iTunes U project. I am an Associate Editor for MERLOT’s Teacher Education Editorial Board. I served as program chair for the 2013 International Symposium for Emerging Technologies in Online Learning, and will be the conference chair for the 2014 conference. Currently, I facilitate faculty learning communities on topics such as learning spaces, active learning, blended learning, and mobile learning.
