EDUCAUSE | Faculty and Instructional Technologies

Spotlight On Identity Management: The Evolving Definition of "Student": Identity Management at Duke University

djacobs — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:01:32 -0500

The meaning of "student" is evolving at Duke University in response to many institutional and faculty outreach efforts. This trend is mirrored at many of Duke’s peer institutions. We see the concept of "learners" expanding beyond traditionally enrolled college students to include community participants, youth enrolled in talent programs, and continuing education students. At the same time, the realm of academic services faculty use for teaching has grown beyond traditional institutionally provided services such as Blackboard to encompass Flickr, blogs, Twitter, and any new technology available to faculty for free. How can we address the expansion in student population and in resources? How do you extend your institution’s computing resources to people outside your campus? How do you extend your local service concepts and policies to the end-user commodity-driven applications that are within any faculty’s reach? Lynne O'Brien and Klara Jelinkova will discuss the issues, concepts, and solutions surrounding identity management proposed and implemented at Duke University.

Tune In April 18 for a Free Web Seminar on Identity Management at Duke University

pkurkowski — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:04:50 -0500

The EDUCAUSE Live! Spotlight on Identity Management series is a six-month series that will feature one or two speakers from a campus that have analyzed or solved a problem in a way that many people will find instructive.

The meaning of "student" is evolving at Duke University in response to many institutional and faculty outreach efforts. This trend is mirrored at many of Duke's peer institutions. In this free seminar on April 18, The Evolving Definition of “Student”: Identity Management at Duke University, presenters Klara Jelinkova, Director, Computing Systems, and Lynne O’Brien, Director, Academic Technology and Instructional Services, Duke University, will discuss the issues, concepts, and solutions surrounding identity management proposed and implemented at Duke University.

The event is free, but registration is required and virtual seating is limited. Register now.

Doing What I Don’t Know How to Do

ckeller — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 11:06:13 -0600

Leveraging a faculty learning community has helped me do things I didn’t know how to do with technology, including podcasting my lectures.

Design and Development of a Faculty Technology Practices Directory

ckeller — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:24:49 -0600

A dynamic information base aids research into existing technology practices among faculty and fosters partnerships.

Wikis and Podcasts and Blogs! Oh, My! What Is a Faculty Member Supposed to Do?

ckeller — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 16:19:28 -0500

Given the demands of teaching, service, and research, faculty are today expected to embrace learning technologies along with everything else, challenging the institution to help them make sense of what works and how to work it.

Using Needs Assessment as a Holistic Means for Improving Technology Infrastructure

ckeller — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 10:39:23 -0500

This paper describes a four-step needs assessment process that institutions can use to determine the gaps between current and desired states of technology infrastructure, facilitating rapid decision making. The framework described focuses on aligning learning outcomes and technology tools and can help institutions compare the current state of technology infrastructure with a desired state to best meet identified learning outcomes.

From FITness to Fantasy Congress: The Growth of FITness Within Faculty and Student Projects

drupal — Thu, 10 May 2007 17:00:10 -0500

CMC\'s FITness program allowed faculty to rapidly integrate teaching with technology and help struggling students catch up. Grants from the Mellon Foundation and the Fletcher Jones Foundation funded specialized programs to help students meet faculty expectations of their technical knowledge, skill, and application.

Faculty Adoption of Educational Technology

drupal — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 11:49:24 -0600

Educational technology support plays a critical role in helping faculty add technology to their teaching.

Technology and Learning: Defining What You Want to Assess

drupal — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 12:30:44 -0500

Asking whether technology improves learning may seem straightforward, but the answer is not simple. The challenge begins with defining assessment and is compounded by the complexities of people, technology, and educational organizations. This paper clarifies technology assessment by exploring the definitions, methods, and realistic expectations it can address.

The Tablet PC For Faculty: A Pilot Project

drupal — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 12:06:29 -0500

This paper describes a pilot project with the purpose of evaluating the usefulness of tablet PCs for university professors. The focus is on the value of tablets primarily with respect to teaching and learning (and not for research or administrative work). Sixty-four professors, distributed across the various schools of a university, were provided with tablet PCs and were trained in their use. A survey was distributed to the participants at the end of the semester. There were 59 respondents, and of these 45 used the tablet in at least one of their classes. This paper describes the pilot project and the survey results. We observed that a) only a fraction of faculty are motivated to use tablet technology: roughly a third of faculty expressed an interest in replacing their notebook computer with a tablet computer and b) generally, participating faculty did indeed use tablet functionality in their classes and were convinced that this use resulted in a meaningful impact on teaching and learning.

Tools of the trade--Rhodes College, Memphis

wallen — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 12:20:00 -0500

The most recent issue of the Rhodes College (Memphis, TN) Magazine has an interesting article on technology at the college.

"Tools of the Trade

Technology is a pretty handy tool. Think

cell phones, computers, cars that phone

home. Technology is defined as the practical

application of knowledge. If you have the

knowledge to use it, it can help you. The trick

is not to let it use you."

Disciples that are briefly covered are Spanish, Music, Art and Art History, German, Physics, Chemistry, Psychology

The article is available in PDF form.

Findings from the University of Washington Faculty and Student Assessment of Educational Technology

drupal — Mon, 01 May 2006 11:01:54 -0500

Higher education institutions must be alert to the constantly changing technology needs and desires of their communities. This session will present the University of Washington's second triennial institutional assessment of educational technology. Two of the study's six collaborating groups will describe methods, present findings, and discuss recommendations.

Beyond Chalk: Determining Faculty Needs for Instructional Technologies and Support

drupal — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 12:34:30 -0600

As faculty innovation and student demands push the need for increased instructional technology use, obtaining good data about faculty needs and desires becomes crucial to decision makers. This presentation gives an overview of effective research design, surveying, and focus groups that result in good data collection and includes survey and focus group results about instructional technology use.

ELI Innovations & Implementations - Instructional Development Initiative (IDI)

drupal — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 16:34:29 -0500

In 1993, the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University launched the Instructional Development Initiative (IDI), using technology to foster curricular and pedagogical innovation. IDI set in motion a series of carefully managed investments, resulting in a suite of high-profile, campus-wide professional programs for faculty and staff. As a result, Virginia Tech has been recognized nationally for its achievements in engaging faculty in the sharing of successful strategies; expanding the range of active learning experiences available to students; providing a replicable model for other institutions; and managing resources while supporting innovation in an era of continual budget constraints.

ELI's Innovations & Implementations series highlights innovative teaching, learning, and technology practices in higher education. Each Innovations & Implementations piece provides a practical overview of an innovation, focusing on its significance and implementation issues. Use Innovations & Implementations to explore innovative practices that might be of value to your institution.

7 Things You Should Know About Augmented Reality

drupal — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 12:43:20 -0500

Augmented reality adds information and meaning to a real object or place. Unlike virtual reality, augmented reality does not create a simulated reality. Instead, it takes a real object or space and uses technologies to add contextual data to deepen students' understanding of it. To the extent that instructors can furnish students with a broad context for understanding the real world, students are more likely to comprehend and remember what they are learning. Through exposing students to an experiential, explorative, and authentic model of learning early in their higher education careers, augmented reality may help shift students from passive to active learning modes and thus become more successful learners.
The "7 Things You Should Know About..." series from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) provides concise information on emerging learning practices and technologies. Each brief focuses on a single practice or technology and describes what it is, how it works, where it is going, and why it matters to teaching and learning. Use ELI's "7 Things You Should Know About..." briefs to gain a no-jargon, quick overview of a topic and share them with time-pressed colleagues.

In addition to the "7 Things You Should Know About…" briefs, you may find other ELI resources useful in addressing teaching, learning, and technology issues at your institution. To learn more, please visit the ELI Resources page.

ELI Innovations & Implementations - Calibrated Peer Review: A Writing and Critical-Thinking Instructional Tool

drupal — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 12:09:53 -0500

Calibrated Peer Review (CPR) is a Web-based program that allows instructors to incorporate frequent writing assignments into their courses, regardless of class size, without increasing their grading workload. Students are trained to be competent reviewers and provide classmates with personalized feedback on writing assignments. The CPR system manages the entire peer-review process, including assignment creation and submission, student reviewer training, and student input analysis. The tool suite is discipline-independent and supports a "writing-across-the-curriculum" approach. UCLA hosts CPR and makes it available free to participating institutions, who receive technical assistance from the development team via e-mail and a listserv. More than 500 institutions now use this free service, deploying it in 1,900+ courses that enroll more than 72,000 students.

ELI Innovations & Implementations - SCALE-UP: Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs

drupal — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 11:45:31 -0500

The SCALE-UP Project provides an effective and affordable model for introducing hands-on, team-based learning into large-enrollment undergraduate courses. SCALE-UP's approach to undergraduate education was first applied to introductory physics and chemistry courses at North Carolina State University in 1997. Since then, the model has been replicated at more than two dozen other institutions, including the University of Central Florida and MIT.

7 Things You Should Know About Blogs

drupal — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 14:03:22 -0500

A blog—shorthand for "Web log"—is an online collection of personal commentary and links. Blogs can be viewed as online journals to which others can respond that are as simple to use as e-mail. The simplicity of creating and maintaining blogs means they can rapidly lead to open discussions. Faculty are using blogs to express their opinions, promote dialogue in their disciplines, and support teaching and learning; students increasingly use blogs for personal expression and as course requirements. By carefully evaluating blogs' strengths and weaknesses, educators are learning to set guidelines and expectations to maximize blogs' instructional benefits. Structured exercises and clear goals are further enhancing the educational value of blogs. Put into practice with an understanding of their benefits and limitations, blogs are an increasingly accepted instructional technology tool.

Faculty Use of Course Management Systems

drupal — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 13:45:06 -0500

This is 2003 ECAR survey instrument used for ECAR Research Study concerning Faculty Use of Course Management Systems.

7 Things You Should Know About Wikis

drupal — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 17:05:09 -0500

Update: An earlier version of this document contained an error that has been addressed. If you accessed this file prior to February 17, 2006, please download the corrected PDF.

Wikis are Web pages that can be viewed and modified by anyone with a Web browser and Internet access. Described as a composition system, a discussion medium, and a repository, wikis support asynchronous communication and group collaboration online. Their inherent simplicity gives students direct access to their content, which is crucial in group editing or other collaborative activities. Their versioning capability allows them to illustrate the evolution of thought processes as students interact with a site and its contents. Wikis are also being used as e-portfolios, highlighting their utility as a tool for collection and reflection. They may be the easiest, most effective Web-based collaboration tool in any instructional portfolio.

The "7 Things You Should Know About..." series from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) provides concise information on emerging learning practices and technologies. Each brief focuses on a single practice or technology and describes what it is, how it works, where it is going, and why it matters to teaching and learning. Use ELI's "7 Things You Should Know About..." briefs to gain a no-jargon, quick overview of a topic and share them with time-pressed colleagues.

A Collaborative Approach to Faculty Development

drupal — Mon, 08 Nov 2004 11:47:38 -0600

The Center for Instructional Technology collaborates with university organizations to facilitate a proactive multifaceted approach to faculty development. A highly skilled staff works with these organizations to provide and support development opportunities that incorporate the use of university learning-management tools in order to model their use and develop faculty skills in an effective and efficient manner.

Relationship of Gender to Faculty Use of Online Educational Tools

drupal — Thu, 13 Nov 2003 12:11:26 -0600

Research shows that men and women use the Web differently. This difference may dictate what online tools faculty make available to enhance student learning. This paper will present the results of a research study that questions whether this gendered use extends to higher education faculty and will discuss possible implications.

Transforming Teaching in a Technology-Enabled Learner-Centered World: True Enterprisewide Change Requires Faculty Development, Support, and Rewards

drupal — Tue, 22 Jul 2003 15:38:44 -0500

Higher education administrators must understand the challenges presented to faculty by the revolutionary changes being made by the new teaching and learning technologies and by the pressures created by the new students entering the academy. Faculty vary considerably in both their abilities and their attitudes toward the new technologies and institutionally-based attempts to engage the faculty must take these variations into account in order to be successful.The NLII has looked at some strategies that administrators can use to successfully engage faculty and to effectively transform teaching and learning using technology.

This article highlights five approaches presented at the NLII annual meeting in New Orleans which addressed faculty engagement and development, presenting case studies and findings to help guide institutional leaders in their understanding of the complex nature of faculty attitudes, motivations, cultures, and abilities.

A summary of NLII resources and activities (past, present and planned) on Faculty Engagement is also provided.