From Student To Instructor, Discussion on Technology and Pedagogy

My brother and I often have conversations about instructional technology, instruction, and student learning as he is taking on more teaching responsibilities as he moves through his Doctoral program in Biblical Studies in Denver.

Next year he will be teaching Greek (I can’t wait to ask him how it is going just so I can give him a dear in headlights stare and work “it’s all greek to me” into the conversation).  He is already thinking about how he will teach the content and provide resources that he finds in a timely manner to his class.

He is blogging his transitions from a teaching assistant/student to instructor at Technology and Pedagogy.  I would encourage you to follow along (and hire him if he applies to your religious studies department) our conversations have helped me refine my approach to instructional technology.

An ELI In Conversation Not to Loose Track Off…

As we are thinking of how to support faculty instructional needs (technology and otherwise), this ELI In Conversation: Veronica Diaz and Laura Blankenship on Instructional Technologies, is a good conversation starter as it provides a good overview of the processes, technologies, and understandings necessary of a successful instructional technologist.

MP3 – Diaz/Blankenship ELI Audio

Library of Congress Photos on Flickr (Prints and Photographs Reading Room, Library of Congress)

ELI’s 7 Things this month is on flickr in the document I learned that the Library of Congress has partnered with flickr.

Library of Congress Photos on Flickr (Prints and Photographs Reading Room, Library of Congress)

The project sounds interesting what caught my attention was the invitation to participate…

” We invite you to tag and comment on the photos, and we also welcome identifying informationâ??many of these old photos came to us with scanty descriptions! …

What participatory history? I concentrated on Social Studies (history really) as an education major at SUNY Fredonia (go Blue Devils). And loved the courses where we engaged in the primary resources of the time period being studied. Looking at pictures, letters, dress, etc… of the day some how drew me back to the day I could get lost in the mess for hours on end. History is about people and the pilot the LOC is doing with flickr makes history accessible to people. What an interesting mesh of structured Library stuff with user-produced content of Web 2.0 this is a fantastic mash-up of culture if you ask me.

A funny aside is that I was listening to Gardner Campbell’s talk from this year’s ELI where he references the concept of simple tools loosely joined (Jim didn’t you give a talk last year on this? If so, a link would be helpful…) as being a model of teaching and learning technologies. This use of flickr would be an example of that. I wonder how the success of this pilot impacts the need for tools such as Luna. Is a Luna like tool necessary for the back-end and a flickr like tool best used for interaction and engagement?

Any who back to my thoughts on LOC on Flickr.

The level of access that this gives people like me – who with small kids won’t get to DC in the near future and then when I do get there wouldn’t have the time to do more than notice the pictures as I ran past reminding the kids that daddy is almost done and there are chicken nuggets in it for them if I can have just a few more minutes to look at the cool stuff. – a chance to

• look at the pictures and absorb the content
• share reflections using the comments or notes tools
• help organize by adding my tag
• identify the image with place via the map tool
• respond to the image in my blog using flickr’s Blog This tool.
• see the changing collection as new images are posted (God Bless RSS)

For added reference here are a few screen shots from my few minutes on the site.

I took this one to show that Flickr users can embed notes about the picture. I wanted to share this one because note added to the value of the picture by making it a picture of pattern as much as it was a picture of industry or trains.

I wanted to share this one as it allows for humor-

And this note shows correction of the the humor…

I hope that they add more to the map. I really am interested as to where the images were taken from. I think it helps place the image in a better context.

I look forward to watching this grow and change.  I hope that this is brought into the visual literacy workshop.

Delicious Posts Finding Value in Microposting

As of late most of my posts have been via my delicious bookmarks.  This is partly because of limited time at work but now I am finding value in tagging url’s in delicious and allowing that to post to my site.  I think if I am more focused in making sure that I take advantage of the description field this will provide a reminder of why I bookmarked the resource in the first place.

How to bring this around to a practical tool for the masses? That is the question.  Any suggestions?

NITLE workshop on Visual Literacy

Weeks ago I started a category to post ideas of ways to connect the web2.0y technologies and mindsets with the liberal arts philosophy.  In particular how such technologies can be incorporated into Allegheny’s First Seminar program that’s focused on writing, communication, and research.  My first post was pretty much a mind fart of the ideas floating in my head as I drove to work.   With my new role (more on that later, maybe much later) at the college I have not had the time nor the inspiration to think more deeply about these ideas.

Today I came across a NITLE workshop on Visual Literacy.   I think incorporating visual literacy into the liberal arts curriculum is appropriate as much of the information we receive in this day and age is not merely text or spoken but images (or moving images).

Have others at liberal arts colleges started to incorporate such competencies into their liberal arts/general education courses?  If so links to examples would be appreciated.

Today as I drove….

Today as I drove to work I got to thinking about sample assignments that include technology for the First Seminar Classes. I think that a combination of the three days of workshops I attended last week and a conversation I had with the director of writing at the college family picnic last night about incorporating some technology into the FS 101 training.

So this morning I went to the Learning Commons page for the FS program.

It seems that many of the technologies of Web 2.0 would work well in support of FS courses as…

Globally the FS Program encourages

• careful listening and reading
• thoughtful speaking and writing
• reflective academic planning and self exploration

As podcasts and blogs are not reviewed by a formal editorial process, using both as resources to present the content of FS courses would encourage critical reading and listening skills while connecting students to first hand artifacts from ‘experts’ in the field.

As blogging is a connected and reflective writing platform I think it plays well to the thoughtful speaking and writing as well as the reflective academic planning and self exploration. What if instead of thinking of blogging as a personal journal, we start to present blogging as a portfolio of personal academic/professional growth?

As I worked my way down through the goals of individual FS courses (101, 102, 201) many of my morning commute ideas gathered momentum. I think I will need to sit down with Ann, Vesta, Ben and the other instructional technologists to see if there is interest.

But at this point here are the raw ideas:

• Identify a number of podcasts for students to subscribe to that relate to the course’s theme. Build writing, discussion, speaking, and research assignments from that content.
• Identify a number of blogs for students to follow that relate to the course’s theme. Build writing, discussion, speaking, and research assignments from that content.
• Have each student maintain a blog for the course to publish reflections on readings, draw attention to current events/resources related to course, draft/workshop ideas for presentations and writings, publish finished projects, and generally develop the language of the topic. Encourage revisiting of ideas and use of the feedback tools (comments and trackbacks) as part of the expectations for the blogging.
• As an alternative to one persuasive writing or speaking assignment incorporate a 5 image story assignment that promotes an argument or conveys a message (see gender miscommunication)
• Incorporate a digital video through a digital storytelling assignment
• Have students create podcasts that set the stage for in class presentations (see cbluhm blog) or as an alternative to a speaking assignment (see Adventures in Storytelling).
• Incorporate a collaborative writing tool, such as a wiki, for communal note-taking, annotated bibliography, muddiest point page for reading or class presentation.
• Take advantage of social bookmarking for research and sharing of resources.
• Identify wikipedia articles relating to content of the course. Assign students to critique, add, subtract, substantiate, etc.. content and generally engage in the communal creation of content as a way of developing the student’s communication patterns in the subject area.

Earlier I had more ideas but they escape me at this point. I wonder if others at liberal arts colleges have suggestions as to ways technology can be added to first seminar style courses to promote speaking, writing, and research skills.

If you have ideas consider this an open invitation to comment, trackback, or tag ‘techandlibarts’(delicious technorati) your examples.