Technology Transforming Teaching – Faculty Showcase

Speakers

Leona Barratt
, Technology Training Services Associate, Information Services, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Session Description
In order to encourage the use of technology in academics we have begun a program to showcase our faculty who are using technology to support and enhance academics.

This process involves targeting faculty that use various cutting edge tools then coordinating and tasking student workers to help with production. Our student staff learn skills by helping to conduct interviews, editing the videos, and assist in the creation of an interactive website that showcases these individuals.

Other faculty are exposed to success stories from peers, and be motivated to incorporate these kind of practices into their own academics.

Notes:

• University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been using Bb since CourseInfo 2.0 in 1999.
• T3 Team – Technology Transforming Teaching team combines 8 people to focus on transparent and easy to use technology along with evaluating new technology while helping faculty engage and advance learning and to improve student success.
• The goal was to create a showcase to tell other faculty what their peers are doing with technology.
• Promotions that have worked well
  • Create certificates for training events.  If faculty attended 6 of the 11 workshops they would receive a certificate.
    
  • Power classroom week is a hands on week with clickers, Bb, Adobe Connect, and doing more with Powerpoint.  This is offered a week before faculty come back.
  • Lots of sharing among the audience for ideas for elevating technology in teaching.  Things such as awards, special technology events were faculty apply and receive a stipend such as $500, and more.
• What technologies should be encouraged?  How about costs?
• A technology model for decision making… what have money at the end of the year and we need to spend it!  Studies, research, evaluation have shown that it will enhance the classroom and learning experience.
• How does your university decide on which technologies to use?  The audience responded with various models.  The focus is always on extending learning.
• “The clickers journey” – This fell flat on it’s face… because the technology was IR based and it didn’t work well.  The college moved to i>clicker through a process of evaluation, testing, selection.  Radio frequency worked much better and provided a more transparent use, simple and easy to deploy, worked with Blackboard, and IT staff and ADA team was involved.  The equipment was installed in a “test classroom” where technology is evaluated.  This is a dedicated room for evaluation.  Feedback is provided along the way during the testing period.
• Technology Transforming Teaching Process > Explore, Test, Research/Analyze, Training and Support, Research/Analyze Full Deployment
• Ideas: Monthly High Tech Happy Hours (cocktail tables with computers, bar, appetizers), Knowledge Base (highlights faculty work with featured projects), Incentives to Encourage Faculty (stipends, ipads), Faculty Led Brown Bags Lunch, Symposium (instructors give short presentation, keynote), Website Showcase (California State Polytechnic University) – http://www.csupomona.edu/~elearning/cool/
  
• Student workers helped with creating a showcase website.  They also helped with short video interviews of faculty.  UNL used Doodle to schedule the interviews. Some of the questions asked were: Who do you look to for support when using this technology? What do your colleagues think of your technology use in your teaching? What was your motivation for including specific technology tools in your teaching methods?  Were there any specific challenges to implementing your ideas for use in the classroom?  If so, how were those challenges (design, cost, equipment, or other) meet and overcome?
• Faculty discussed: Bb tools, Adobe Connect, Quicktime Pro for welcome videos, iPads, Multimedia Classrooms
• The UNL site is still being developed and here is the current version: http://nmc-server1.unl.edu/fast2/index2.html