January 2009 Archives

Deirdre Woods
Associate Dean and CIO
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Are today's learners differently wired?
How do we engage the new learner?

Teaching Platforms

• webCafe - Branded version of eRoom
• Adobe Connect for real-time collaboration
• SPIKE (system) calendar - enterprise services calendar
• Student Portal: SPIKE Facebook - everyone can put up a profile for the University and then search each other based on the characteristics
• Bi-directional communication --- upload pictures, events, groups, polls, etc.

SPIKE is Everywhere

• Web interface
• Large screen displays all over building
• Mobile devices
• RSS feeds

New Learning Tools
OPEQ - Oil pricing simulation
Creates a situation where students need to apply negotiation skills, practice face-to-face meetings, builds competitiveness to make people try harder (engagement)

Tragedy of the Tuna

• A resource gets overused
• Students must learn to balance short-term profits with long-term use

Social Networks and "Web 2.0" Platforms

• Fit-to-function - Facebook
• Looks like a user directory... but... can sell your services in a more informal way. Gets the info to the audience in the way they want it. Public bulletin board, directory, blog
• Brand Blur: be active. Partner with early adopters. Brand confusion will be an issue if you don't support your site.
• Feeds and Mashups are your friends
• Twitter: allows users to consume whatever information they want, when they want. Nothing is being forced down their throats.

Things to remember:

• Keep your message (brand) consistent across all media
• Don't let the media overshadow the message
• Common thread: communication and engagement - it's all about the communication

Web 2.0 trend "collective intelligence and mass amateurization"

• At one campus students post pics & captions to campus portal. Students can vote bad content out. Three bad votes and it is gone.
• If you don't have the engagement aspects in the simulation, it doesn't matter how beautiful the interface

Deborah Mateik
Instructional Designer - University of Maryland

Take a pre-existing 15-week course and adapt it to fit into a 6-week summer session

• Course prepares students to support faculty using technology in their teaching
• Model uses of technology in the classroom and course space

Before Hybrid Transformation

• 4 units of study
• 2.5 hours per week for 15 weeks
• Support with documents, quizzes, etc
• Individual and group research done via paper submission

Post Hybrid

• 4 units of study
• 2.5 hours/week over 6 weeks face-to-face
• Other time was completed through online pieces
• Support with content, lecture materials, quizzes, blogs, wikis, discussion board, self-assessments, assignment submission, Live Classroom
• Individual and collaborative projects performed online

Unit 1: The Blackboard System
Unit 2: Web Sites, Web pages, and HTMP
Unit 3: Creating Effective Presentations
Unit 4: Creating Digital Media

Notes:

• In 6 week hybrid class it's very important to establish precise achievable goals for course & all assignments & exercises
• You may need to cut assignments or portions of assignments
• Major work focuses on one big project rather than several separate - must fit goes of those projects into the one instead
• http://elms.umd.edu

Princeton IT is moving off campus to a building about 2 miles away in the fall. Many staff are worried about being away from clients, not being able to walk on campus or downtown at lunch, etc.

Change Management - two dimensions

• fostering culture change
• handling regular IT changes (upgrades, etc)

What are they doing?

• Created a task force to deal with culture changes associated with the move
• Coffee with the CIO allows people to come, have coffee, express concerns
• Enables discussion, identifies challenges/opportunities

Workshop activities

• Storytelling, brainstorming, activities
• What is the nature of transition? Manual for change and transition, changes in workplace, challenges and opportunities
• What do I bring/carry with me no matter what the change?
• Stories compel us to listen, engage us emotionally, make people think

Drexel and Temple case studies

Techsmith Web site has free 30-day trial

What can you do with Camtasia?

• Student/Employee orientation
• Clarify concepts and procedures
• Capture online lectures
• Conduct tours of a web site or do "how to's" for applications

Camtasia gives you the ability to put a table of contents along the left side that allows users to skip to parts they want to. They can also stop and fast forward/rewind or click on links to go straight to other sources. Also allows light boxes (spotlight). Totally editable in case you mess up when speaking. Can also add evaluations/assessments such as small quizzes and then it tells you if you selected the appropriate answer. Closed captioning can be added in as well. Easy to modify.

Notes:
Questions about degradation of sound in some players, computers (mac/pc) etc.

Interesting and I may try the 30-day trial. We already use Jing (though that's very bare-boned)... but there's a Jing Pro now. Brad also has ScreenFlow which is supposed to be pretty good.  Will have to do some playing around and comparisons.

Mary Balkun & Mary Zedeck - Seton Hall   
Sarah Baker - George Mason

Changing English classroom from the traditional to the 21st Century.
See: 21st Century Skills Map 
Used: Digital Stories, Course wiki, projects in Second Life

Student-Generated Digital Stories (freshmen English)

• Changing English classroom: students are expecting a more collaborative and interactive class
• Goal/Purpose: create digital stories to serve as instructional resources for faculty and new first-years students in writing program --- made for the use by next year's class

          -    helps with key first-year writing concepts
          -    stories based on student's personal experiences

• Results: produced great resources for first-year writing students and instructors

          -    high level of satisfaction

Student-Generated Course Wiki

• Began as sharing resource for students.
• Developed into vehicle for peer review.
• Further developed into online text.
• Ongoing resource for future students to utilize and contribute in subsequent semesters.
• Course materials based on research and class discussions.
• Students were excited to participate.
• No paper!

Student-Generated Projects in Second Life

• Hands-on approach to literary analysis, material culture theory and literary genres
• Students were to turn their research into SL activities demonstrating their knowledge of the text, theory, time period, and genre
• House of 7: ongoing resource for future students to utilize and contribute to in subsequent semesters
• Allowed for collaboration and constructivism

Sustaining Faculty Integration of New Technologies

• Integrate new technologies with the standard of teaching English
• Why Collaborate: sustainability of projects (unhappy with projects/workshops).
• Technology has changed writing... not all faculty have adapted.
• Move to projects around a common teaching problem.
• Writing was a common teaching problem.

Structure of the program (for interested faculty):

• Introductory workshop
• 7 face-to-face bi-weekly meetings

          -    structured curriculum
          -    some readings
          -    a technology assignment per meeting

• Final projects

          -    collaborative brainstorming

• Workshop/event presentation

• Created a Facebook page, blog, wiki, some did Twitter --- just to dabble with personal versions of the technologies without a particular purpose in mind.

Highlights:

• Level of excitement
• Metagenres article - pulled them back from daily teaching to reflect on what else they could do to change teaching
• Thinking about affordances
• Early signs of community and openness to mentoring
• Strong reflective work

Lowlights:

• Dropouts
• Balancing other responsibilities
• Desire for more guidance and structure

Adapting for next time:

• Shorter into workshop
• Reduced f-to-f to 4 or 5 times

Note:
IUP is considering admissions, recruiting, orientation in Second Life; students preview and choose dorm rooms via SL.

General Assembly Speaker Panel

Sayeed Choudhury
Interesting video on democratizing higher education just like Ford did for transportation with automobiles. Also interesting information on how resources are being used, etc. While Bangladesh doesn't have a good infrastructure for roads, etc. they are doing better than the US on other things.  Compared technology impact on culture.

Notes:
AMAZING video on the "e-horse."

John Bielec
IT is moving away from managing physical assets. Technology puts the individual in charge... not the institution. Services are just a click away. CIOs role is changing... shifting to more of a Chief Information Strategist. Individuals making their own IT choices ... inevitable that IT will need to cope with this loss of control & manage differently.

Maureen McCreadie
The Technology Revolution in Higher Education: The C's of Change
E-Everything (connecting learners, faculty, and staff) makes you rethink learning spaces, etc. Changing roles for creators of content - implications: requires supporting ubiquitous technology use. Maureen McCreadie: C's of change: connections, collaboration, complexity, content, convergence.

Notes:
Search Vera Cooper Rubin on You Tube

Nadine Stern
IT Leadership Pipeline - Succession Planning
What will the next generation of higher ed IT leaders be like? Nadine Stern asks will newer higher ed CIOs may be more focused on their specific technology and less interested in the academy? Interesting video on different wants and needs of Gen Y.
Bit of a culture clash. So as CIOs today: develop mentoring skills for ourselves and opportunities for aspiring staff. Identify future needed skills. Create multiple roles in management team not only for succession planning but planning for success. Preparing college administration for a non-linear succession plan.

Thought to go forward:
Define Leadership. Now define IT Leadership.