Steve Karas, DSc Physical Therapy

March 30, 2015April 11, 2022 Admin

Overview

My original plan was multi-focused. I wanted to create an online elective in manual physical therapy. Second, I wanted to incorporate more technology in my teaching. The first goal was specific and focused, and the second a bit more open-ended.

Planning

As part of my initial planning in year one of the Technology Fellowship, I focused on designing an online course for spinal manual physical therapy. This would be an elective for the class and would be offered toward the end of their education. The course has been designed, objectives created, and video components were made for student viewing. However, within the year of my fellowship, our curriculum calendar changed and the time I planned to do the course was no longer available. I was able to utilize a portion of that planning to host a course for some of our program’s Clinical Instructors and pilot the technology in that course. The participants took video recording of themselves performing the techniques and I was able to offer feedback at the follow-up class. I will expand on this during the summer, having the comments entirely online. Portions of this course and the ideas we initiated have been placed in my core teaching in PTH 703. I am using videos for techniques as well as PBL. These can be found on Moodle: 703 2015 Management of Musculoskeletal Systems.

General

I have spent time utilizing and learning how to begin paperless exams on Moodle for both courses that I coordinate. I have found this to be user-friendly for the most part, with the only concern being loss of a student’s wi-fi connection. I have utilized Panopto in PTH703 for a Classification Lecture that will be utilized for the students.

Implementation

As noted, the majority of smaller items are in place in my courses. (exams, Panopto, video techniques, and a video PBL case) The on-line course may still be offered at a later date as part of a continuing education option. Additionally, after multiple attempts with the technology staff, we settled on the YouTube platform for posting of student technique videos and commenting. This will be initiated this summer. I found that the “ask” in my continuing education offering was a bit too much for older therapists who do not have access to or are not traditionally exposed to technology in the clinic.

Next Steps

Posting and assessing maul therapy techniques using the YouTube platform will be a novel approach to learning. I believe it will help the students excel and also lead to very focused technique performance if they are aware they are being accessed or evaluated. I am not sure what the time commitment for this will be or how critical students will be of each other as part of the feedback process, so a reassessment of the project will be needed after the summer course.

Conclusion

Although the larger project has hit some road blocks, I have still benefited from my time with Becky and Lauren and their ability to answer my questions and guide me to use more technology. The general steps I have put in place have given me some confidence to expand what I have put in place.

Sheila Squillante, MFA Creative Writing

March 29, 2015April 11, 2022 Admin

Overview

During last summer’s Technology Fellows workshops, my primary goals were to learn technologies that could help instruct and connect our low-res MFA students to the program and one another. I imagined focusing on Panopto to record videos of campus readings and talks to share with them. A second, and more urgent, objective emerged, however, when a low-residence student (located in Florida) enrolled at the last minute in one of my on-the-ground classes: The Fourth River practicum. Because we are taking steps to more fully merge the full and low-res programs, we have opened all on-the-ground courses to low-res students should they choose to enroll. So far, we have not had a lot of experience with this, so I was heading into a truly experimental space. I had to quickly put together a course that would work for both populations, and in doing so, tried out several technologies, including Panopto, Skype, FaceTime, Moodle discussion forums, and Submittable.

Planning Process

I knew from discussions during summer workshop that there are real obstacles to creating a truly synchronous learning environment for distance and residence students, both in terms of technology and pedagogy. Skype calls drop. Internet connections fail. And even if they didn’t, requiring a distance student to sit, captive, in front of a screen for three hours at a time would not make for a healthy intellectual experience. I determined that the synchronous component of the course for my student would have to be much shorter if she were to feel engaged and invigorated. I settled on requiring her to be “present” for half of the class time—one and a half hours—and began to construct EIAs that would comprise the rest of her seat time. This also helped mitigate some of the technology problems I anticipated, in particular being able to connect with a remote location reliably every week for that length of time.

Implementation

I planned to have my student use some kind of video-conferencing with her genre group for discussions each week, because I felt these were the two students who would be working most closely with her, and thus would offer the greatest possibility for engagement and connectivity. For the second half of each class, they would meet via video conference to talk about the essays from that week’s submission queue. I allowed them to choose which they preferred and they ended up going back and forth between Skype and FaceTime on the iPhone.

For the rest of her seat time, I did a variety of things, including:

Video:

Welcome and regular check-in videos with Panopto, that oriented her to the week’s goals and expectations
Guest editor conversations that took place over the course of the term

Moodle Discussion Forums

Individual, where she would respond to my orientation videos with questions or comments about the week’s expectations;
Whole-class, where everyone would introduce themselves or respond to various assigned articles about publishing
Whole-class, where they would upload blog posts, and then comment on their peers’ work

Submittable

This is the online platform The Fourth River uses to accept submissions. It includes text boxes that allow student editors to have substantive discussions about the merits of a piece of work. Students anywhere can log into this system with a free account, and it is quite easy to use.

Assessment

The students ended up finding that FaceTime worked best for video conferencing, in part because they all had Apple phones, and in part because the low-res student’s internet connection was often unreliable. The low-res student commented that she liked the Panopto videos both because they helped her feel connected to me—to see my face and hear my voice, as opposed to being just an email filled with instructions each week–and because they helped her feel like she was experiencing some of the same in-class learning as her peers. All of the students commented that while the Moodle forums were functional, they felt a little removed from the class experience, and that they didn’t work as well for critiquing work as they did for general responses to articles. From my perspective, they worked well—especially for quieter students– for inspiring thoughtful, thorough conversations. Everyone agreed that Submittable was reliable and streamlined.

Value/Next Steps

I think for a last-minute effort, the course adaptations worked well enough. In the future, however, I think it might make more sense to have the low-res students synchronously “present” for the more pedagogical part of the class, and asynchronous, using the Submittable comment fields, for genre group discussions. Last fall I was most concerned that my low-res student have a robust educational experience and that she feel included in the community to the fullest extent possible. But my overall goal is to make this sort of hybrid class work for all students, full or low-res. Two other options I’m considering are making the class hybrid for everyone, including full-res, and creating a fully online version of the class that will run every other semester.

Peggy Stubbs, Ph.D. Psychology

March 29, 2015April 11, 2022 Admin

Overview

My experience as a tech fellow has been mixed. I applied, knowing that I was behind many of my colleagues in using online tools. My approach to technology at Chatham has been gradual – I never used PowerPower in my first few years of teaching here. I believe that switching my presentation notes to a PowerPoint format was my first foray into “technology.” Then I began to “embed” clips from the Internet into my PowerPoints – not without technical difficulty. Somewhere along the line, we posted our courses, and PowerPoints on Blackboard. Then more recently the switch to Moodle happened. I thought using a course shell was a great way to post required readings – ever so much more accessible to students who were not incorporating using the library “reserve” as a part of their class preparation. And that’s about as far as I had come, for a variety of reasons, until online classes were introduced as part of our curricula.

Successes/Challenges

One of the reasons I approached technology as a minimalist had (and has) to do with a lack of time to really learn how to make use of new strategies – even those that came with Blackboard and Moodle. It seemed to take me more time than it was worth to incorporate new strategies when I do it faster using my own way of keeping track (for example, of completed assignments, grades). So I came into “technology” with the perspective of it as mostly an organizational tool and not an adjunct to my actual teaching and students’ learning.

I have come to notice though, that using PowerPoint turned me more into a lecturer than I had been, and than I am really comfortable being, really. While after the fact the PowerPoints may have helped students organize the material, I have had the suspicion that when students actually had to take notes in the days before PowerPoint, they were more “involved.” One of my colleagues had a great strategy of preparing two PowerPoints for class: one was the one that she used with all the details; the other presented only the barest outline of the material and students’ had to fill in as the class went on. To me, if a posted PowerPoint (with or without VoiceThread) or a Panopto lecture simply highlights text material, it really only serves as a kind of short hand. Of course there is no doubt some additions of explanatory value in these. To my way of thinking, reading the material before the class was the original flipped classroom, with class time free then for discussion, answering questions, and involving students in hands-on activities to reinforce major concepts. But the sad fact is that many students don’t prepare for class by reading the material themselves, and still others are. And so to some extent, these tools may actually reinforce their passivity.

I pushed myself to apply to be a tech fellow because I wanted to know more about technology from a perspective other than the one that had guided me thus far. I wanted to explore the use of technology, not only as an organizing tool, (for me and for students) but as an adjunct to enhance actual teaching and learning. After 40 some years as a teacher of students from preschool to graduate school, and whose pedagogy is grounded in what I have learned from psychology about human development and motivation, I have some strong opinions about teaching and learning. If there is ground to be gained here in becoming more effective at educating, I want to see it for myself. I want to know how to use cool tech strategies to make my classes better. I want to learn how to teach online in a way that does not compromise my pedagogy in ways that I think will not serve students well.

And so, I ventured warily into the program. What I have been doing on the micro level is what many have already done: I have been learning more about Moodle features; I have been exploring techniques that students can use to talk to each other (This is really important to me because I do a lot of group work in my classes and I have observed that when students talk to each other and in front of others – orally – they become more articulate about and better able to critique what they think); I have been a voyeur in my colleagues’ online classes (with their permission, of course!); I have learned to use an iPad.

Implementation

My specific classroom project changed over time. At first it is was to implement a way for students to have synchronous conversations in order to plan a presentation in my Critical Thinking in Psychology Course. I gave up, partly because this was a fall course, and I needed more time, but also because I was encouraged to think that this was not perhaps the best use of my time – that is I might better approach my macro goals by what various online strategies and tools could do, before bending them to my will! I’ll get back to this. Instead I opted for something far simpler: to assign my students in Theories of Counseling to do their interview (practice in communication skills) using Panopto within Moodle – a small step in the scheme of things but a big step for me.

Next Steps

I remain firmly invested in exploring the macro level related concerns to technology in the classroom and online teaching and learning. I look forward to more in depth discussions of pedagogy. Just before Chatham’s tech fellows program, I attended (as an online attendee!) a conference organized by Ms Magazine and the Women’s Studies Program at the University of Maryland. It was sobering in that the technology to facilitate the “conference” was rough, but I was comforted by knowing that this whole endeavor is really in its infancy and far from systematized. I was thrilled that the conference connected the exposure to various tools, best practices in online course design to feminist pedagogy. I highly recommend the following article to those with similar interests.

“Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Virtual”: Feminist Pedagogy in the Online Classroom
NANCY CHICK and HOLLY HASSEL
Feminist Teacher, Vol. 19, No. 3 (2009), pp. 195-215
Published by: University of Illinois Press

Kathleen Spadaro, Ph.D. Nursing

March 29, 2015April 11, 2022 Admin

Overview

Although the nursing program has been delivering their undergraduate and graduate programs online, I (Nursing) feel the need to continually learn how to challenge the online learner to capture and keep their attention on the content. I worked with Prezi as a tool to introduce new MSN students to an introductory course that provides the foundation for their learning. I have been using Panopto in a introductory DNP course, Structure of Knowledge, to define and explain knowledge concepts for a foundational basis of their learning. With a pilot International MSN track of students from China, I developed a Facebook page for them to post pictures of their cultural experiences and travels throughout the US.

Planning Process

I wanted to provide a different introduction to the introductory course in the newly developed fully online MSN program. I discussed this with Lauren Panton and decided to explore the use of Prezi because I liked combining symbols with content, movement or connection between concepts, and adding voice explanation. I spent several technology sessions playing with the software to become more familiar with it. I then decided what content I wanted to share with the students as an overview of the course.

Implementation

The implementation of the project took some time. I would recommend having the content be pre-determined and organized to develop a flow from concept to concept. If you forget a concept, you need to go back, add the new content, and recreate the flow. I started with picking a design for the Prezi and how I would lay out the content. I wanted to have content that I could “drill down” from, to add more detail as well as the larger picture for the students to understand both the broad and the underlying concepts. I also wanted the final part to end at the beginning.

Adding the content was not too difficult except I would come up with more to add as I went along. That was a creative process in play which I enjoyed. The final part was adding the voice description to each of the components. At first I thought that I just recorded the audio as the Prezi moved through the different components. However, I found that was not the case. That part took a while because each of the descriptions was recorded, saved, and then attached to the concept being discussed.

Successes and Challenges

The success was developing a visual overview of the course for the students to introduce them to evidence-based practice. There were several challenges. The first was the time it took to record comments and attach them to the components. However, once I got the hang of it, it became a much easier and faster process. The second challenge was embedding it into Moodle. I needed help from Lauren Panton to get it to work for the students.

Assessment

Although there was not a specific assessment of this component to the course, the overall feedback from students was very positive that they had a much stronger knowledge base on evidence-based practice and the role that research plays in the development of evidence-based practice change projects.

Perceived/Determined Value and Next Steps

I do believe that as professors, we need to combine educational strategies to address the different types of learners. In an online program needs to be diverse in its delivery, thus the need to supplement readings and discussions with visual tools to re-enforce learning. Next steps will include using VoiceThread for discussion forums, adding brief quizzes using Whiz Quiz to these introductory courses to increase students’ ability to master APA formatting and writing and adding virtual poster sessions using Glogster. I want to add more technology tools to the DNP introductory course to engage the new DNP students early in their educational process.

Jodi Schreiber, OTD Occupational Therapy

March 29, 2015April 11, 2022 Admin

Overview

As part of my first year in the Technology Fellowship (2014-2015), my focus was on identifying tools to enhance adult learning through visual modes. I was interested in finding alternate (and engaging) methods to meet the particular learning needs of the current generation of students. The majority of my students were born in the late 1980s or early 1990s, therefore categorizing them as Generation Y or Millennials. I integrated several technology options throughout courses in the fall and spring semesters.

Planning

I have the opportunity to teach the same cohort of students each semester of the MOT Program. This allows me to gauge the effectiveness and student acceptance of different teaching tools. The MOT curriculum is developmental in nature, that is, it is necessary for students to rely on previously learned material in order to grasp and acquire new skills.

Throughout my search for potential teaching technology, I was cognizant of the learning goals and standards of each of my courses. I also had to decide if the types of technology I investigated would be used as a teaching tool or as student assignments.

During the first, or summer, technology fellowship session, I used several resources to find potential educational tools. I found a few interesting options when searching edshelf. Through edshelf, I reviewed TED Ed. TED Ed is a free resource that allows you to choose a TED Talk or YouTube video and add questions for the learner to complete during at the end of the video.

Other technology resources I investigated included Apple TV, EDpuzzle, Google Docs, Poll Everywhere, and VoiceThread.

Implementation

I chose a blog as one of the first uses of technology. The students are required to successfully complete a series of competency check offs in the course. Students were required to use WordPress to create a blog that described assessment techniques and responses. The students would have the blogs to use as a study guide and a review in subsequent courses. An example of a student blog can be viewed at: https://weloveadls.wordpress.com/about/

One reason I chose TED Ed was because of the combination of visual and auditory components that seem to meet the learning styles of the Millennials. My first attempt with the application can be viewed at http://ed.ted.com/on/1aan9g4X#watch. Although TED Ed is a great resource for posting multiple choice, open ended, and guided discussion questions, one drawback is that you must use the entire Ted Talk or YouTube video.

AppleTV was integrated in to the Functional Neuroscience course. I used my iPad and the AppleTV to demonstrate and allow students to use multiple apps for intervention with clients who sustained traumatic brain injury. Apps reviewed included: imazing, dialsafe pro, make change, visual attn. lite, imimic, yes/no button, AnswersHD, memory, and wordfindfree.

I think my favorite technology application is edpuzzle. This free application is similar to TED Ed, but you can crop the videos as well as include questions throughout the video. I like the feature that allows you to ask questions ‘as you go’. Here is an example of an edpuzzle I used in my functional neuroscience course:

Assessment

I relied on student feedback as assessment of the efficacy and usefulness of the different types in instructional technology as a learning tool. Early on the process, I discovered that not all students fit the definition of Millennial student. That is, all of my students are not technology gurus or total screen readers. An initial dilemma with the competency blog was that some students were too focused on the ‘look’ and format of the blog and not the content. That issue was resolved by providing a grading rubric that only considered accuracy of required information, not design or visual appeal.

Students provided mixed reviews of the AppleTV and apps. Primarily because not all students have access to tablets and some do not have smart phones. However, many K-12 schools and hospital/rehab clinics to supply tablets for patient assessment and intervention so the information was valuable to the students.

Overall student satisfaction was with the edpuzzle videos. Students reported an increased understanding of client assessment and intervention after viewing the guided videos and answering the questions. As a result, many classroom discussions emerged subsequent to the videos.

Value/Next Steps

My intention is to continue with the edpuzzle and TEDed applications. I have recently become aware of other potential programs/applications such as Voki, recordmp3.org, Vocaroo, Padlet, ThingLink, SpicyNodes, Kahoot!, Animoto, Bubbl.us, Powtoon, and Bitstrips. I plan on investigating the usefulness of some of these tools.

Chad Rittle, DNP Nursing

March 29, 2015April 11, 2022 Admin

Personal Background

I came to Chatham University with experience in a number of careers. After almost 4 years in the U.S. Navy I embarked on a successful career in the Computer industry. But after over 20 years I was getting tired of “the grind”. The last several years involved running a computer services company automating small businesses. I was spending almost all of my time selling, installing and servicing companies in the Pittsburgh area. It seemed like a 24/7 operation at times. I can clearly remember a couple of days before Christmas one year when I was struggling to solve a problem for a customer in Cleveland. My mind was blank. After opening gifts on Christmas morning I searched some more for a solution… I was due to see him at 0800 the next morning. While resting for a few minutes – the “light bulb” went on and I had the solution. Going to the computer – it worked! With all this said and done – I had no desire to return to these days of finding solutions on my own while working all hours of the day and night on the computer.

At Chatham University, teaching online classes in the RN-BSN program there was an encouragement to integrate as much technology into the courses to stimulate learning and keep students engaged. Many of our students have grown up using computers and a variety of applications – so online learning was not a stranger to them. Then… there were the small percentage of nurses who were not as comfortable with the online technology – I did not want to “scare” them off!

I began the Faculty Technology Fellowship last spring (2014) wanting to learn what new technologies were available while also anxious about implementing these technologies into my courses. I did not want to return to the “old days” of figuring out how to make it work and not wanting to be embarrassed when students could not make it work for them. Fortunately, the Technology Fellowship includes assistance from Lauren Panton and Becky Borello – two very knowledgeable and highly motivated support personnel who are always willing to help smooth the implementation.

Project Overview

My goals were to find out what kinds of tools are available to enhance online courses while gaining confidence in its use. Solutions selected had to be “doable” by students, full-time and adjunct faculty and across variety of platforms used by all. By using technology and capturing the interest of students I hoped to encourage all students to be life-long learners.

Discussions with Becky and Lauren focused on the following projects:

I had included in one course a large document describing the Wheel of Public Health developed by the Minnesota Department of Public Health and a number of case studies supporting the model. The exercise asked students to review the 16 areas of public health and then to select a case student and answer a few discussion questions focused on the delivery of public health. Instead of a large and “wordy” document, I wanted to implement a graphic and interactive approach that would be easy for student or instructor to use.
I had been searching for a way to implement “virtual office hours” for my classes. Being an online environment there was no way to actually meet those “smiling faces” who are out there and for all of us to get to know each other. This would open the opportunity to have multiple users online concurrently – audio and video – to ask questions and share ideas.
The possibility of recording presentations and embedding them into courses was also a goal. This would include presentations made at conferences, both local and on a regional or national scale. This would allow the delivery of course material to supplement class objectives that students would otherwise not have available to them.

Project Implementation

Project 1: ThingLink

The first attempt was implementation of the Minnesota Wheel of Public Health Interventions – seen below:

Each of these sections is linked (through a “target”) an actual case study provided by the Minnesota Department of Health. Since all case studies were designed specifically for public health nurses, I made minor modifications to generalize the content for the typical RN-BSN nurse who works in a hospital setting.

The technology used to implement this application included:

ThingLink – using interactive images helping students develop 21^st century skill and enrich their enthusiasm for learning;
The Minnesota Wheel of Public Health Interventions– a collection of stories and case studies to illustrate public health affecting real lives in the community, and,
Microsoft One Drive– providing the ability to access files from PCs, laptops, tablets, Macs and mobile phones

The most time-consuming portion of this project was modifying the selected cases studies and saving them on One Drive. Once the Wheel was created with all targets, the link provided through ThingLink was used to embed the wheel into the Moodle course shell for NUR409. Along with the case studies the WORD document created includes 3-4 questions for discussion pertinent to that particular case study.

I gave the Wheel a “test drive” with students during Summer Session 3 of 2014 (in NUR404, the predecessor to NUR409) and asked the students to respond to the questions provided and to comment on its applicability to their practice. The instructions included the following:

“The following image highlights “Getting Behind the Wheel” developed by the Minnesota Department of Health in September of 2000. It has been used by many public health students ever since. All the stories provide good opportunities to analyze how the intervention wheel was applied.

I am looking for your feedback to see if something like this is useful to students. Please pick one intervention activity, click on the target, read the story, and answer the questions provided at the end. In your forum response, please identify the wheel intervention you are discussing. The questions may not always be a “good fit” to you this early in the class – so make any suggestions that come to mind. I am considering enhancing several of these scenarios for future classes.

Your input will assist the instructor in making this course a better experience for students. Real-life scenarios are often very effective in showcasing the effectiveness of public health interventions.”

Comments

Not all students included comments about applicability in their individual practice but one comment was notable:

“The “Getting Behind the Wheel” seems to be a tool full of interventions that are pertinent to current health care and nursing needs now. It is easy to follow, being in a color-coded chart. The stories I read are interesting and paint a vivid picture in my mind. Reading scenarios like these help develop the intervention more fully in my mind.”

Since last summer (2014) I have included the Wheel each time NUR409 has run. Unlike the first time it was used, I now include the Wheel in Week 7 of the course. Asking students to comment on the variety of intervention areas of public health in the last week of the course makes the exercise more meaningful to students. They have now completed the course and have been exposed through readings and discussions to many of these application areas. Even though most students are employed in an acute care setting, they will be discharging patients and their families to live in the community. Patients develop health conditions by living and working in the community. If nurses understand how the community and work environment affect current health conditions they can be better prepared to educate patients and family to live longer and healthier lives.

I have since “customized” all case studies to ensure better applicability to students working in an acute care environment.

Project 2: WizIQ and Virtual Office Hours

Virtual office hours had been a goal ever since coming to Chatham University. I first tried Lync that comes with Microsoft Outlook but had mixed success. I only had 1 student able to easily make the connection with both audio and video. This involved a couple of attempts over the summer of 2014. Since it was not as easy to use as desired, and I did not want to discourage students from trying new technology, I put this project on “hold” for a few weeks.

Then, Becky introduced me to WizIQ Live Class.

This is a feature of Moodle, part of every class, and allows up to 4 students to be video-connected concurrently (along with the instructor) and others to have audio while the instructor can switch users from active to inactive on the video feed at his discretion. The class is notified in the Introductory Block of Moodle in the first week of class with a couple of reminders prior to the Virtual Office Hours in Week 3. The announcement looks like this:

There will be a Virtual Hours Office session on Tuesday evening, March 17, from 7 – 7:45 P.M. I invite all students to participate. This is an opportunity for all of you to meet each other and speak with the instructor. If you have any questions, especially about the written assignments, this is your opportunity to ask.

You may wish to test your computer settings before the Virtual Office Hours to ensure compatibility. The URL to test your computer can be found HERE: http://www.wiziq.com/info/technical-requirement.aspx

This session will be worth five (5) extra credit points if you attend to the end.

For those of you who cannot attend, this session will be recorded. You can sign in to the WizIQ session and watch it at your convenience.

Please send me an e-mail by Monday evening, March 16 telling me if you will be attending. You must have headphones to minimize feedback. I expect a response from all students on whether they will be attending or not.

Some considerations for using this technology include having camera capability as well as earphones. If a student user does not have earphones, feedback may impact the ability for all to hear the discussion clearly.

I realize that not all students will be able to attend – they do work different shifts. In addition, many students will not participate in extra activities unless a certain number of points are involved – the reason for the 5 points. However, since using Wiziq Live Class I have always had at least 4 students participating, and one time 7 were on the line. They all reported they liked the ability to meet and discuss the course, ask questions about upcoming assignments, and actually “put a face” on some of their classmates and the instructor.

Comments

I did not receive any written comments from students about the Virtual Office Hours. Typical comments indicated students appreciated the opportunity to meet. I am repeating the Office Hours in other classes (sometimes the same students) so it will be interesting to see if I have any “repeat” attendees.

I plan to continue the Virtual Office Hours for all classes. I also realize that not all instructors or adjuncts will take advantage of this technology, but I will work with them if they wish to try it out with their students.

Project 3: SWIVL

SWIVL is a computerized system that makes video recording affordable. It is a base that holds an iPad or Android compatible tablet, microphone (on a lanyard) and follows the speaker through 360 degrees with a 25 degree tilt and 30 ft. range. It allows upload of content to permit embedding of recorded presentations directly into Moodle or into other platforms.

I first used SWIVL for a presentation at the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN) Southwest Chapter in Monroeville, PA in September of 2014. In the audience were around 50 occupational health nurses mostly from the Pittsburgh area. When setting up the SWIVL on the tripod some of the attendees began to ask why the iPad screen on the mount was “following me around”. This is a great feature for a presenter who is a classic “pacer” as I am! The screen will follow the speaker to continue capture of the video. The only ‘problem’ – I found out while viewing the video back in the office that I was moving faster than the robot could follow! I have taken note of this feature of the system and will do some “personal behavior modification” in future recordings.

The following is the introduction for the presentation as posted in Moodle:

Conference Occupational Health Presentation: The following presentation was given at the September 2014 Southwest Chapter, American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN) in Monroeville, PA. The title was – “Occupational Sources of Air Pollution & Their Effects on Health: An Overview”. This material is presented here to provide students some real-life examples to describe how workers and their family members acquire various conditions that affect their health. The end result is – all nurses see patients with these conditions at some time in their daily practice.

If the courses were presented “on the ground” and not online, this is an example of the type of material I could include for presentation and then through class discussion. The real goal of this presentation for my AAOHN audience was to provide an overview of the air pollutants that affect worker health in the work environment as well as where they live in the community. In a “former life” I worked as an Air Quality Inspector for the PA Department of Environmental Health and saw on a daily basis the variety of substances in the air that can affect health. These pollutants are often the reason a patient is under the care of nurses in our community. A better understanding of these compounds can help the nurse provide better education so they can live longer and healthier lives.

Comments

I cannot recall any particular comments – positive or negative – from the students about this presentation. Since including it in the course it has only been used once.

Successes and Challenges

Overall these projects have been successful and rewarding. I now have tools to enhance my online classes. In particular, the interactive use of ThingLink and One Drive will permit me to develop other interactive exercises in future classes. Although it seems like the majority of enhancements were in the Community and Environmental Health Class, (that was my area of nursing focus for many years) I can see using these tools in other classes as well.

I can also see ways to better use the SWIVL technology in classes. I need to put more focus on the Occupational Sources of Air Pollution presentation in future classes. By re-designing the questions in Week 4 I would better encourage comments from students on the applicability in their current practice.

I am still “getting the hang” of WizIQ! Unfortunately all this wonderful technology takes a while to become second-nature to the instructor. Manipulating audio and video, and coordinating all the features include in WizIQ take a while. I am looking forward to the next Virtual Office Hours session in a few weeks and hope it runs smoother.

One thing I have noticed – every time I use the new technology it becomes easier! Sort of like driving a “stick shift” or riding a bike. One needs to practice in order to get better.

Reflections and Next Steps

I am planning to use SWIVL in the next couple of months. I have a presentation at the AAOHN National Conference late this month in Boston. If the presentation recording works out well I plan to integrate it into one of my classes. I am also presenting at the Technology Fellows on April 9 and want to record there as well. With the use of this technology I can see many areas where these recordings can be used in the future.

I also want to enhance the usage of technologies like ThingLink and the OneDrive in other courses. In fact, I have already used OneDrive in some of my personal activities. For one, I am on a committee planning our high school reunion and have shown a teammate how to put our Reunion Book (a presentation with over 300 slides) on the internet for all to see. It was a simple process to share it on OneDrive and then pass around the link to classmates. Even with changes, the link remains the same.

I also plan to spend time with the President of the Northeast Chapter of AAOHN. The team there has created a booklet chronicling the history of Occupational Health Nursing in the Northeast over the past 75 years. When I heard discussions on a Board meeting about how to get this booklet to all attendees – OneDrive just jumped out of my mouth. It is easy and there is no cost to send the link to all attendees at the National Conference in Boston.

I don’t know what else lies “down the road” in this discovery of technology to implement in online courses. I know I have heard and seen a number of other products that might be applicable. Teaching in an online environment requires that I think differently since many products discussed were really designed for a traditional “on the ground” environment. That doesn’t mean they cannot be used online – just that I need to think a bit differently. Sometimes I receive inspiration, other times much more thought and reflection is needed.

One further point – I really want to thank Lauren Panton and Becky Borello for their patience with me and their assistance. They are always ready, willing and able to answer questions or to “get me over the hump” whenever those !@#$% computers frustrate me! Help Desk staff has also been invaluable over the past year. Not only have I tackled lots of new technology but I have lost my hard drive (virus) and had to upgrade my personal laptop (hardware problems) and have had some connectivity problems at home. Through it all Lauren, Becky and the Help Desk have patiently answered questions and rendered assistance. I really appreciate their help.

Conclusion

I have definitely met my goals over the past year and look forward to setting new ones for the coming year – one of those goals is to attend a conference to learn more about using technology in an online class environment. I found and implemented some great technology tools; have implemented them in the classroom; and am now developing plans to further utilize these tools in my classes.

One of my main goals is to encourage all nurses to become “life-long learners”. I read a number of years ago that the sum knowledge of medical and nursing practice doubles every 3 to 3-1/2 years. With the explosion of technology I have to believe it is doubling even faster today. If nurses are not learning something new each and every day, in 3 years they have been left behind and cannot provide the best possible care to their patients and families. This brings me to a quote I found a while ago from Clay P. Bedford:

“You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.”

Ali Abdulsattar Abdulrahman, Ph.D. Biology

March 29, 2015May 3, 2022 Admin

Overview

I was really totally blind to many items regarding usage of technology before joining Chatham at Dec. 2011. Yes, I have a little bit knowledge on PowerPoint and Word for preparing lectures and while in 2012, I recorded my lectures using Panopto, I wanted to KNOW, more and more.

So, I applied to the Technology Fellowship program in 2014 and entered with a healthy combination of ambivalence, skepticism, and lack of confidence. Like a moth to a flame, I knew that I wanted to learn some new teaching skills and to see if some of this technology stuff was really helpful to me and students.

My project goals were:

Gain confidence in the technology, especially doing Moodle quizzes and tests.
Explore ways to deal with online quizzes in case of system collapse during the test.
Become familiar with a variety of technology teaching tools that would help me save time grading as my graduate classes typically have no less than 40 students in a given term.
Learn about technologies in order to improve my teaching in a way that makes items simple and easy to be absorbed by students.

Implementation and Assessment

In addition to learning more about the iPad, VoiceThread and other technologies, I experimented with learning Moodle quizzes and understanding the AIKEN file format needed to upload multiple choice questions. It is a very simple format, but also very specific regarding spacing and formatting. For example, the question must be all on one line. Each answer must start with a single uppercase letter, followed by a period ‘.’ or a bracket ‘)’, then a space. The answer line must immediately follow, starting with “ANSWER: ” (NOTE the space after the colon) and then giving the appropriate letter.

Which LMS has the most quiz import formats?
A. Moodle
B. ATutor
C. Claroline
D. Blackboard
E. WebCT
ANSWER: A

Which LMS has the most quiz import formats?
A) Moodle
B) ATutor
C) Claroline
D) Blackboard
E) WebCT
ANSWER: A

Successes and Challenges

The advantages of this approach are many. The convenience of being able to import questions into Moodle is worth the time and effort as it avoids quiz questions by having to be added one by one. In addition, once the questions are in Moodle, they are saved in a quiz bank, so they can be edited and reused in a later course. Since the AIKEN format includes the answers, Moodle will automatically grade the questions saving time for the instructor. Finally, online quizzes are useful for students to be able to review material in preparation for future exams.

The challenge to this approach is learning the AIKEN format and making sure the formatting is absolutely correct. A missed space, an additional period, or incorrect numbering can quickly halt the import process. Also, potential technical issues are a concern during any online testing. Having a backup plan is important when doing anything with technology.

Next Steps

I plan on implementing the Moodle quizzes into my BIO 503 in Fall 2015. I also plan to survey the students to see if the prefer online testing and make changes if needed. In addition, my goals for next year are:

Implement online quizzes for the MOT students
Continue to learn new technologies that will enhance my teaching
Continue to learn new technologies to help me become a more proficient technology user
Explore the variety of Anatomy Apps for the iPad for potential use in the classroom

Another Tech Fellow JITP Publication!

March 23, 2015April 11, 2022 Admin

I’m very pleased to share that Dr. Tracy Bartel, a 2012-2013 Faculty Technology Fellow, has recently had her work published in the online peer-reviewed Journal of Interactive Technology & Pedagogy. The article, Inspiring Student Engagement with Technology, addresses the question of how to replicate the educational benefits of in-class discussions and lectures in an online environment.

Congratulations to Tracy and thanks to her and the technology fellows for their ongoing work!

P.S. Don’t forgot to come support the 14-15 Technology Fellows on Thursday, April 9th for their Faculty Lecture Series Presentation!

Sheryl St. Germain, Ph.D. Creative Writing

March 29, 2014May 4, 2022 Admin

Overview

My primary objective was to enhance and improve my teaching with technology, and to be able to share whatever I learned with the MFA faculty. Secondary objectives were to learn to use Prezi to create more vibrant presentations both to promote the MFA program and to utilize in our hybrid classes.

Planning Process

I wanted to be able to respond more fully to student work. I read a lot of papers and usually comment on them in written format. Sometimes I use “track changes,” but I sense students just glaze over those. I wanted to find a technology that would allow me to respond orally to their pieces. I also wanted something very easy to use. I wanted to be able to record my comments, save them, and email them to the student or make them available via dropbox.

I reviewed five or six technologies over the course of several months that allow you to record comments. I found the one that was best for my purposes is called Voice Memo. It is extremely easy to use; you simply press a button; and allows you to record quite a bit. There are apps available for cell phones as well as iPads. You can mail directly to student when you are done or save somewhere like Dropbox.

I also worked on my secondary technology, Prezi, at this time, over a period of several months to create two presentations.

Implementation

In Spring of 2014 I used Voice Memo in lieu of written comments to respond to students drafts in my graduate level Nature Writing course. The students loved it, and I got lots of positive comments from them. I also developed a Prezi to use in the Virtual MFA Open Houses, and another one to use on a stand-alone lecture on the Lyric Essay, which I used at a recent literary festival in Mississippi where I was invited to do a Master Class on the Lyric Essay.

Assessment

I received positive comments from students in my class and I felt positive about using Voice Memo. I found that I was able to say more in 5-7 minutes, than I could write in that same time period, and I was able to present critiques in a more friendly way so that students’ next drafts seemed much improved. I could tell they were listening very carefully to my comments.

My Prezis were also quite successful both at our Open House and at the literary festival in Mississippi on the Lyric Essay.

Value/Next Steps

I will continue to use Voice Memo in all of my classes, and encourage my faculty to use them. I am much more comfortable with Prezi now, and can design courses and help faculty design courses using this technology.

Kristin Harty, Ph.D. Education

March 29, 2014May 4, 2022 Admin

Overview

I wanted students to work together to create and present material in an online class.

Planning Process

In the field of special education, collaboration is essential therefore pre-service teachers need to learn how to collaborate with other individuals. In my introductory special education class, EDU 234 Inclusion: Issues and Strategies, I had always had the students present information about various disabilities and it was always a collaborative project. This year was the first year I attempted to place the class online and my goal was still the same for the online class. So now I had to think about using a tool that was simple and would enable them to work together without needing to ever meet face-to-face. I chose VoiceThread because it was easy to use and would allow the students to coordinate online without ever having to meet face-to-face to record the presentation. I did consider Panopto and PowerPoint, but I wanted to expose students to a different tool.

Implementation

Most people think of using VoiceThread to aid in online discussion, so I first used the VoiceThread tool early in the semester for online discussion of single questions. This allowed the students to become familiar with the tool prior to using it for their project. I then developed a rubric for the presentation and also modeled how to place and record a PowerPoint presentation on VoiceThread.

I had the students use the tool as a final project so that 1) they had time to familiarize themselves with VoiceThread and 2) they had enough time to plan with their partner.

Successes/Challenges

This project was very successful. All students in the class were able to create a PowerPoint presentation via VoiceThread. For most students the project was easy to implement. One challenge was that I had to constantly remind students to make the presentation public so we could view them. Another challenge was that in one pairing I could only hear one student’s voice. It took several days emailing back and forth to correct that error. Also, I would like to find an easier way to make the students responsible for communicating to the class that their presentation is available and can be viewed.

Assessment

An informal survey was given to the 20 students at the end of the semester. Students were asked to answer the following questions.

On a scale of 1-5 (1 being uncomfortable to 5 being extremely comfortable), how would you rank your comfort level with technology?
How comfortable are you with VoiceThread?
Have you used VoiceThread before?
Have you created an oral presentation online prior to this class?
What technology tool did you use?
Now think about one tool compared to voice thread. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being easier to 5 meaning more difficult), was VoiceThread easier or more difficult?
Would you recommend using VoiceThread again?
Any other information you would like to share?

The majority of the students had used VoiceThread in a previous class (all but three) and those three students were from a different institution. No student had used the Voicethread tool for a presentation. Fourteen students stated that they had created an oral presentation online prior to class using Panopto (10) or PowerPoint (4) using narration audio. One student stated that PowerPoint was easier, 3 people said that VoiceThread was easier than PowerPoint. The ten students who had used Panopto all said that VoiceThread was easier than Panopto .

Perceived/Determined Value and Next Steps

I was very happy that I was able to maintain an important project in my course despite the course being online. Most students found VoiceThread easy to use and their projects were good. After implementing this project, I feel that VoiceThread is a viable option for online group presentations.

I would like to continue using VoiceThread in my online classes to spark discussion. In the future I will be posting more presentations on VoiceThread with questions embedded in the PowerPoint. So while students view the PowerPoint, they will be able to stop and ask or answer a question.

Katie Cruger, Ph.D. Communications

March 29, 2014May 4, 2022 Admin

Using Turnitin’s “Grademark” features to Increase Efficiency and Efficacy of Written Comments

Dr. Katie Cruger
Assistant Professor, Communication
Director, Professional Writing Program

Overview

While I used this first year as technology fellow to tweak my courses (online, on ground, and hybrid) in many different ways, I’ve chosen to use this space to share my success incorporating Turnitin for efficient and effective paperless grading at the undergraduate level.

I wanted to achieve the following outcomes:

Decrease the amount of time I spent downloading papers, making comments, uploading feedback to moodle, etc., which was much greater than hard copy grading practices
Increase usefulness of comments to students
Increase the likelihood that students would actually read/incorporate electronic feedback in future work or revisions

Image 1: The grademark screen in Turnitin.

Implementation

Beginning in Summer of 2013, once Moodle 2.0 was available, I used Turnitin Assignments for all student submissions of written work (both group assignments and individual papers and proposals). I utilized the following key features of Turnitin:

1) Originality Report: This is the part of Turnitin that faculty members are most familiar with, and we often use it as a way of catching/proving plagiarism. However, in lower level courses, this is also a great tool for reinforcing information literacy. It lets students see, in a relatively low-stakes environment, when they are relying too heavily on any particular source, when they haven’t done enough to move from a quotation to a paraphrase, etc.

2) Quickmarks: This feature allows an instructor to drag and drop a standardized comment anywhere in the document. You can edit or make additions to any of these comments, as well as create your own quickmarks for feedback you provide often to students. For sentence level errors and suggestions, it both decreases the time spent giving comments and increases the amount of information students receive about a punctuation rule or the difference between there/they’re/their.

Image 2: A customized quickmark with additional comments for the student.

Image 3: The quickmark as it appears in the paper. Students hover over the mark or click to read full comments.

3) Grademark General Comments: Turnitin allows instructors to leave overall feedback on the paper either in text format or as a voice comment.

Image 4: General Comment view, including text feedback, voice comment, numerical grade, and percentage similarity with other sources.

Assessment

When I compared the amount of time I spent grading a Turnitin Assignment (vs. a regular moodle assignments the previous semester, or using iAnnotate and a stylus to mark PDF copies of papers two semesters ago) I spent less than a third of the time (7.5 minutes vs. 25 minutes) per 5-page paper.

Furthermore, I was much happier with the quality and quantity of feedback I was able to provide students. Quickmark comments are thorough, and offer students enough information (in clear text they can read easily) that they are able to incorporate changes in future writing. Their customizability allowed me to tailor a few comments to the style of writing we were working on for a particular assignment without recreating the feedback each time. Voice comments (which limit me to 3 minutes) allow me to quickly talk through the good and the bad of student work and convey enthusiasm and emotion through my voice. This felt particularly important during online courses, where I didn’t have the same face-to-face connection to students.

However, Turnitin does require a little bit more effort from students to retrieve my comments than some other forms of electronic grading. They must first log into moodle, then click on the actual assignment, at which point they are directed to their paper on Turnitin’s server. The process takes about 1 minute, but we know this might be too much effort for some. Once there, students need to toggle between different views in order to see general comments, specific Quickmarks, and the originality report. Although we think of our students as technologically savvy, this has not been my experience when it comes to instructional technologies. Anecdotally, I know a few students struggled to gain access to my comments and asked for help. I can only assume that others struggled and chose not to pursue the matter further. However, I was able to address some of these challenges in productive ways.

Overcoming Challenges

1) Student User Error: Many students said they “couldn’t see” my comments in Turnitin. This was usually because of one of two problems: either they hadn’t actually clicked on the link and entered turnitin (meaning that they expected all the info to be present in moodle) or they were using a browser that was not compatible. Both were relatively easy fixes. I provided students with instructions for how to use the Grademark feature in Turnitin (see “Resources” below) and stated explicitly in assignment descriptions and in the syllabus that Firefox is the optimal browser for use with moodle and Turnitin. In the future, I may devote classtime to showing students a sample and getting them familiar with the platform.

2) Instructor User Error: Moodle isn’t always the most user-friendly interface. One quirk with the Turnitin Assignment plugin is that, unprompted, it creates randomized deadlines for all assignments. These parameters are not something that an instructor can amend or disable while they are creating a new assignment. Instead, they must go in and amend the assignment after the fact, so there are two steps to this process. Until I recognized this, students were erroneously notified that their submissions were late, which created some panic.

Next Steps

I will continue to use Turnitin for all my grading in all courses in the future; it’s the best option for my needs and the needs of my students. Additionally, I’d like to incorporate the Peermark feature in my writing-intensive courses, where students must often review one another’s work. Currently, I use Moodle forums or hard copies of papers for these exercises.

I’m also continuing my work exploring VoiceThread to increase student engagement and interaction around course readings in hybrid and online courses.

Resources

Student training and GradeMark overview for students

Karen Kingsbury, Ph.D. International Studies

March 29, 2014May 4, 2022 Admin

Overview

Over the course of the year, I investigated and experimented with several technologies, with the following results:

iPad as digital reader
- useful for this purpose: will continue to use it
- reduces financial and resource (paper) costs
- access to other readers’ highlighting of a given text is an interesting feature
- it’s best to stick with reputable publishers because the quality of digital text-publishing varies widely; many products are sub-standard due to poor editing and page enumeration.
- iPad as mobile computing device
  - useful for note-taking during oral sessions and for short travel (2-3 days)
  - does not, so far as I can tell, offer enough features to replace MacBook for office use and longer trips
  - VoiceThread as asynchronous audio-visual discussion forum
    - useful, well-received addition to my online teaching strategies: will definitely use it again
    - breakthrough learning technology, offering something that often cannot be achieved in traditional classroom teaching: opportunity for each participant to speak and be heard by every other member of the group.
      - two-round VoiceThread discussion (thank you, Katie Cruger, for this great idea!):
        
        each student makes initial post of a defined length
        
        all students required to listen to all initial posts, then
        
        refer to them, in a second post.
    - Setting up assignment parameters and deadline schedule requires careful thought, but the result is satisfying to all concerned.
    - Skype and Google Hangout as platform for international videoconferencing
      - Skype performed much better than Google Hangout
        
        ease of use
        
        clarity of readily available trouble-shooting instructions
        
        international conversation partners’ existing level of familiarity with the technology (our partners were in India and Taiwan)
Skype would also be first choice when talking to people in China, due to the Chinese firewall that complicates use of Google products.
Prezi as a presentation tool

- This tool, for me, is closer to a new medium (e.g., hypertext, animation) rather than a formatting or packaging tool (e.g., Word, PowerPoint), because it fosters visual thinking about rhetorical issues that, in my thinking and training, have previously been centered in and by verbal text. Its panoramic, zoom, and pathway features offer concrete correlatives for abstract rhetorical concepts like introduction, paragraph development, topic ordering and transitioning, conclusion, etc. Thus, it feels to me as though Prezi has prompted a quantum shift in my own understanding and practice of written and oral argument. It opens up new areas, channels, and even modes of thought, much the way a new language does.
- It was a student who first introduced Prezi to me, and many students share my excitement about this product, even though one might think it would not be so startlingly new and inspiring for people who have grown up in an environment filled with digital, visual-media communication tools and (flip side of the coin) do not have decades of training in verbal-text thought pathways that now can be so productively disrupted and reconfigured by this new medium/tool.
- In fact, the first big negative result came when a student grew so excited by the opportunities afforded through this tool (and by the topic she was pursuing) that she lost sight of the necessary limits: her Prezi project ballooned into a behemoth that exceeded the assignment limits by a full magnitude (yes: 10x).
- Thus, the first big lesson (not a new one, to be sure) is that caution and heedfulness, as well as energy and imagination, are needed when using a new tool (or medium) like this one.
- This is a proprietary tool and Chatham does not currently have a site license, but the business model, cost, and subscription policies seem reasonable to me.
- Downloading is possible but remember that the files may become very large, which may impact both the time needed to download and the storage space needed on a drive.

Planning Process

Desired Outcomes: Effective, engaging presentation of ideas and materials, for scholarly and classroom presentations
Review of Current Technology Practices and Trends: Prezi seems to be an increasingly popular, and well-received tool.
Clarify a Technology’s Teaching and Learning Value: Prezi seems to be a flexible, convenient, inspiring tool

Implementation

Offered Prezi to students as an option for presenting project results in Fall 2013 online course
Used Prezi to prepare for a Faculty Seminar presentation in February 2014
Plan to develop several Prezi presentations for use in Fall 2014 courses

Successes/Challenges, Assessment, Perceived/Determined Value and Next Steps

I am still using and experimenting; may have fuller comments to report here at the end of the summer.

Joyce Salls, OTD Occupational Therapy

March 29, 2014May 4, 2022 Admin

Overview

Over the past year, I have experimented with several technology tools with the goal of increasing student engagement and active learning in my on the ground classes. These have included Prezi, creating YouTube videos, and VoiceThread, with VoiceThread being the main focus this past year. I have also been using Poll Everywhere in the classroom as a method of assessing student learning of key concepts, as well as providing students with feedback regarding their grasp and retention of material. Additionally, I have used the iPad with the Smartboard in the classroom to present apps appropriate for therapeutic interventions. Outside of the classroom, the OT faculty have begun using OneDrive for working on collaborative research projects.

Implementation

I implemented VoiceThread in my pediatric courses OTH 622 in both the fall and spring semesters. I used this mostly to upload video clips of children at various stages of development, requiring the students to identify developmental patterns and therapeutic interventions to further support a child’s growth.

I am incorporating Poll Everywhere in all my courses as a means of receiving and providing feedback on student learning. Additionally, in one of my classes students were required to develop a short educational You Tube for parents or teachers.

Successes/Challenges

My biggest challenge with VoiceThread was learning that you tube videos could not be uploaded on VoiceThread. As a result, I was challenged with finding appropriate videos from friends with young children. Another challenge was helping the students with the process of signing up for and using VoiceThread. Once that challenge was resolved, students reported the VoiceThreads were beneficial. Since I have 40 students per class, once I discovered how to put the students into small groups (10 per group), the learning was more effective and the process much more efficient. Poll Everywhere was a success from the beginning with positive feedback from the majority of students.

Assessment

At the end of the fall semester, the students completed a survey regarding the use of Poll Everywhere, VoiceThread, and creating an educational YouTube video for caregivers. Students were very positive about Poll Everywhere. VoiceThread received mixed reviews due to difficulty signing up and accessing the videos, but commented that it was beneficial to their learning. Creating a YouTube video, though reported as a valuable learning experience by many, was cited as too difficult and cumbersome to use. Students reported spending more time on the technology than on the content, which for me defeated the purpose of the assignment. I plan to re-assess the use of technology tools at the end of each semester.

Perceived/Determined Value and Next Steps

What was most valuable for me during this first year of the Technology Fellows Program was the opportunity to take the time to learn new technologies as well as to learn from other members of the group throughout the year. Additionally, the patient ongoing support from both Becky and Lauren is what made it possible for me to experiment…get “stuck”….and get support rather than giving up! In the next year, I plan to continue exploring effective ways to incorporate VoiceThread in the classroom, as well as begin working on developing telehealth with a free clinic in Ecuador.

Greg Galford, Interior Architecture

March 29, 2014November 1, 2022 Admin

Overview

I chose to implement a technology change into my Visual Communications course that would help bridge the gap between the traditional print portfolio and a digital portfolio. There are several sites that let someone upload pdfs of their graphic work, but they really don’t use technology in any more significant way. I have recognized for a while that this course needed to transform to changes in how potential employers look at young graduates.

Implementation

With suggestions and searching, a particular new product from San Diego was implemented into the course for the first time. The name of the company/program is Portfolium. The name is a combination of ‘podium’ and ‘portfolio’. The founders of the company recognized the need for young graduates to find new ways to connect to employers beyond current websites that are designed for older workers.

After much of the print portfolio was done, I had my graduate interior architecture students obtain a Portfolium account and begin to build their online presence. Since they had already categorized, edited and designed their print portfolio, they had the items ready for uploading.

Successes/Challenges

I thought that Portfolium was an interesting product and it definitely fulfilled a need that exists in the marketplace. It’s a fairly new company so we don’t have any long history to evaluate for student success. I could see that as a new product, there was a delay in utilizing it, but the eventual portfolios were sufficient. The program does use a similar platform to other social media, so it does feel somewhat comfortable. Using it for the design professions provides some challenge as it was designed originally for business and engineering students. Our graphic needs tend to be greater.

Assessment

This response from one of my graduate students was typical of the group.
“I think I have completed the Portfolium about 90-95%. It coaches you through what needs filled out while you’re using it. I haven’t used it much since the class ended, but I haven’t been on any social networking lately since I am dealing with Capstone work. I liked Portfolium. I think it definitely has its benefits and is a useful tool to display work. I’m not sure how effective it is as far as networking or landing a job, but it’s an easy option to have work displayed electronically. I think the fact that it links with LinkedIn is nice because I think that is a good site to join. I wish the Portfolium would allow larger pictures and maybe some type of “book” appearance. The way I had to enter projects was a little awkward and some of my projects are divided into 2 folders. I think it’s something I’ll maintain and check minimally… But not regularly like Facebook or LinkedIn.”

Next Steps

I will have a large cohort of Visual Communications students in the fall. I intend to use Portfolium again. I will probably require the students to establish a LinkedIn and/or Facebook presence to coincide with their Portfolium work to leave the course with a more complete package. This course is taught prior to their Professional Practice courses, so having this developed will enable them to enter that class more fully prepared.
I will also try to establish more formal measurements of their satisfaction and use of the Portfolium site. I will also look for similar options that may provide alternatives. I may integrate the use of the Portfolium earlier in the course.

Resources

Anthony Isacco, Ph.D. Counseling Psychology

March 29, 2014May 4, 2022 Admin

Overview

I am a paradox to many – I am an early career professional but a complete late adapter when it comes to technology! Case in point – I still have a basic talk/text phone from 2008. Nope, no iPhone or Samsung Galaxy for me yet.

So, I began the Technology Fellowship with a healthy combination of ambivalence, skepticism, and lack of confidence. Like a moth to a flame, I did know that I wanted to learn some new teaching skills and to see if some of this technology stuff was really helpful to me and students.

My project goals were:

Learn a bunch of technology teaching tools
Gain confidence in the technology
Use the technology to improve my teaching and help students learn

Implementation and Assessment

Panopto: I taught a Research Methods class and made an instructional video about qualitative research coding.

Student Feedback: The video was underutilized by students. The feedback that I received from most students was that they forgot the video was posted to Moodle because they never had a professor post supplemental videos before. A couple students did remember and reported that the video was helpful with their homework.

Google Hangout/Skype & Google Documents/Dropbox: The Research Methods class included a group project that required students to analyze a dataset as a team. In the past, students complained about the logistics of the assignment (e.g., multiple in-person meetings, emailing documents, etc…). I gave extra credit to students if they used technology to improve logistics. Many students used a combination of video-conferencing and cloud-based, shared storage to manage the project. The students loved the convenience that technology provided and the extra credit points! : )

Group 1: Throughout the development of our research project, we found technology to be very beneficial. We found Dropbox to be a very useful tool. Dropbox is a program that allowed us to access one document which could be edited at any time by any of the group members. We were able to track everyone’s progress by each member choosing a font color, signifying it was he/she who had written the post. Instead of getting in your car, driving to campus, opening up a notebook, Dropbox allowed us to work from home at any time that was convenient to us. We found this to be especially helpful because our group was the largest containing four people.

Group 2: We used google docs for our technology and we just completed the entire lab on this document. This was very helpful, as it allowed us to contribute to one document even if we were not in the same physical location and on the same computer. It also allowed us to just sign onto google docs to contribute instead of having a flash drive or other type of document. This made updating our lab much easier.

Group 3: Our group capitalized on the use of technology and virtual communication throughout the project. By using the easily accessible and user friendly Google Drive and Google+, we were able to communicate by sharing documents, progress notes, and questions that surfaced throughout the project. Google+ allowed us to create a communication circle where we could easily communicate through posting to our group wall with links, comments, and meeting reminders. Google drive allowed us to upload our documents so that each member would have access to update the documents, all while being revised and saved in real time.

Sample Feedback from Students

Poll Everywhere: Poll Everywhere is a simple way to compose a poll as part of a presentation. I used Poll Everywhere in all of my classes as well as for professional conference presentations. The technology increases engagement and often is a catalyst for larger group discussions.

Feedback: Universally, students and professionals love Poll Everywhere. You get to text in your answers and the results show up on the screen in real time. Students like being able to use their cell phones during class instead of being told to put them away. Below is an email I received after the conference from a colleague.

Dear Anthony,

Quick question–I thought I had written it down…but what was the name of the app you demonstrated so beautifully in Atlanta during our presentation?

Best,Carol

VoiceMemos for Grading and Student Feedback: I bought a voice memo app for .99 cents, which I use for grading assignments and giving feedback to students. Very easy to use. I like the voice grading a lot better than writing all of my feedback on student assignments because students can understand my tone and style a lot better and seem to accept constructive feedback easier.

Sample Feedback from Students

Student 1: I think the voice memo is FANTASTIC! It totally took me by surprise, but it felt as though we were having a face to face meeting!

Student 2: Wow! What a cool way to give feedback. Thanks Dr. Isacco!

Successes and Challenges

When I received my iPad, I didn’t even know how to turn it on! I knew implementing my ideas was going to be a challenge. My first success was turning on my iPad. Since that magical moment, I had a lot of fun using Polleverywhere, VoiceMemos, and encouraging students to use technology. I also use my iPad for note taking all my meetings, to-do list (Wunderlist is a great app for this and free), and has basically replaced my laptop.

I can see how technology can increase student engagement, make classes more fun and interactive, and improve logistics on assignments. Making instructional Panopto videos as supplemental material for my Research Methods class was a challenge. Even I found the video a bit boring and I would like to figure out a way to increase student utilization of the videos. Learning new technology is frustrating at times and not everything works all of the time.

Goals Met!

1. Learn a bunch of technology teaching tools
2. Gain confidence in the technology
3. Use the technology to improve my teaching and help students learn

Next Steps

Make better use of Panopto videos for upcoming Research Methods class in Fall 2014.
Develop a hybrid or purely online course within the next year.
Keep using the tools that I learned and like.

Thanks, Anthony
aisacco@chatham.edu

Andres Carrillo, Ph.D. Exercise Science

March 29, 2014May 4, 2022 Admin

Overview

As a 2013-2014 faculty technology fellow I addressed a teaching related topic. The main objective of my project was to initiate the conversion of a scientific research methods course (IND 350) into a hybrid learning course. Specifically, some of the material previously covered in a traditional classroom setting was replaced by online learning activities. The main assignments that were replaced by online learning activities included in-class presentations and in-class discussions. The in-class presentations were replaced by online presentations using Panopto. Panopto is a video capture and management software that was used to record each student’s presentation. In-class discussions were complimented by and expanded on with the use of online discussions through Moodle. This allowed for extensive student interaction that led to valuable discussion and analysis of course material.

A secondary objective was to incorporate technological methods of learning into a kinesiology course (EXS 345). EXS 345 is a course that heavily relies on figures/pictures of anatomy to generate discussion on movement analyses. PollEverywhere is a program that was introduced to the students as an in-class technological method of generating discussion on a particular aspect of the course. PollEverywhere is a software that allows students to respond in real time to prompts that are introduced by the instructor. All answers provided by the students are integrated into a figure that are immediately updated when a response is submitted.

Planning Process

During the faculty technology summer workshop time was spent relating a potential use of technology to specific learning outcomes. An important part of the IND 350 course is to match a student with a faculty member who would serve as their tutorial adviser. After some thought regarding the teaching and learning value of implementing a certain technology, my initial plan for the IND 350 course was to have the science faculty use Panopto to record their research interests for all the students to watch as they pleased. The videos would available for the following years and could be updated as needed. The main idea (or plan) was to use technology as a way to provide the students with more of an individualistic approach to selecting a research topic and preparing for their tutorial. This is relevant because the students in this course range from mathematics to exercise science.

After some discussion with other faculty members I decided to have the students complete their final presentations using Panopto instead of having the faculty record their research interests. This decision was mainly because of logistics, but I’m still hopeful that once more faculty become familiar with the program, videos can be made on their research that can be distributed to the IND 350 students.

Implementation

During the fall 2014 semester, Lauren Panton and myself introduced and assisted the IND 350 students with the Panopto program. At first there seemed to be some resistance with the incorporation of online presentations rather than the traditional in-class presentation. After a while, however, the students become familiar with the program and carried out the task with few problems. The recorded presentations were made available to all students, but they were required to evaluate only five. This was found to be a much more efficient use of time given that there were ~25 presentations. The students liked that they could watch the presentations that were most relevant to them.

As mentioned above, the use of PollEverywhere was incorporated into the kinesiology class (EXS 345) as an additional way to review for exams. Prompts were provided along with relevant figures. After each question, we would have a short discussion on the topic. Thus, it also served as an efficient way to stimulate an organized discussion. Other than a few students having problems with submitting the response, the feedback was quite positive.

Assessment

I generated an online discussion for the purpose of generating student feedback. The feedback regarding Panopto was mixed. The majority of students felt that it was beneficial to learn a new technology like Panopto. A few students, however, felt uncomfortable with the idea of presenting to a computer screen. Others realized the importance and growth of technology use in society. One student said: “I think that technology is something that is continuously growing in our society. More companies than you would think are turning to making videos rather than do in-person conferences. For example, if you are working on a project for a large corporation that is located in several cities, they would do a video conference rather than fly everyone to the same location. I think it is a medium that we should try and get used to using. It may not be terribly comfortable, but it is always good to learn new skills.”

Feedback regarding PollEverywhere was positive. The students found this technology useful as a way to review the material and stimulate an organized discussion.

Value/Next Steps

The use of Panopto was valuable and I hope to encourage the rest of science faculty to generate their own research videos so that we can distribute them to the IND 350 students. Perhaps in the future I’ll spend more time making sure the students are comfortable with the software. Also, next time I teach the course I hope to incorporate the use of Voice Thread as an online discussion tool rather than using Moodle. I will also continue to use PollEverywhere as it was a useful tool and the feedback I received was positive.

Debby Rubin, Ph.D. Social Work

March 14, 2014May 4, 2022 Admin

Overview

When teaching classes involving hands on skills such as interviewing and assessment, it is easy to dismiss technology as being impractical, inappropriate or just ‘not as good’ as traditional methods. When I considered how I wanted to use technology to help students develop their basic social work interviewing techniques, I realized that, despite this, I have always incorporated some type of technology. Years ago it was a classroom with an observation booth and microphones, later it VCRs and big bulky cameras. Until recently, access to cameras and other technology by students was challenging but now most of the barriers have been overcome. Since Chatham provides Macintosh laptops to incoming students, most have the capability to record assignments easily. Beyond that, I wanted to provide an experience where students became comfortable as critical thinkers about their own and others work. Developing interviewing skills takes practice but it also requires feedback from others. Students were often reluctant to provide feedback in the classroom beyond praise and there was never enough time to provide both didactic course material and frequent role-playing and practice.

Implementation

I decided to see if Panopto could provide a solution to this challenge. It provided an easy user interface for students to record role-playing and practice interviews as well as the ability for students to watch each other’s recording and make comments.

Successes/Challenges

One immediate challenge was a part time Chatham University undergraduate who did not have access to a laptop computer because of her part time status. She was able to work with other students to use their technology and access to Panopto through the computer labs. In the end it was not a problem but did underscore the technology divide which might be more acute at other places. The support of the instructional technology department through the technology fellows made a positive difference in both my willingness to incorporate Panopto in to my class and students’ ability to use it effectively. Having Lauren come to class and help students get started using Panopto prevented many technical concerns and glitches along the way.

Assessment

Students reported that they liked using Panopto and didn’t seem to have the kind of difficulties I had seen in previous years (e.g. “the technology didn’t work”; “my video disappeared from my flash drive” etc.) which made it much easier for me. The grading was also significantly easier because I could watch and comment on the videos from any computer or tablet. The quality of the student comments and feedback was much more specific than in years past, however, students still remain hesitant to give much constructive criticism to each other. Students’ performance seemed to be better and more polished than similar assignments in previous years but I am not sure whether using Panopto had anything to do with this improvement. Not everyone actually provided comments for every video even though it was part of the assignment.

Value and Next Steps

Doing this assignment using Panopto was valuable and I think added to students comfort level in interviewing. Some of this group will be completing a social work field placement next year and I will ask them if this technology helped prepare them. Now that I am more comfortable with Panopto, I will use it again and expand the number of videos that students complete. I would like them to do one at the very beginning of the class and one at the end as a pre/post measure.

Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy article

May 16, 2013April 11, 2022 Admin

We are pleased that Chatham has been represented in a new peer-reviewed journal, The Journal of Interactive Technology and Pedagogy (JITP). The article entitled “Incorporating the Virtual into the Physical Classroom: Online Mastery Quizzes as a Blended Assessment Strategy” originated from Kyle Beidler’s work in the Faculty Technology Fellows program.

Congratulations to him and the rest of the fellows for their ongoing work!

Vadas Gintautas, Ph.D. Physics

March 30, 2013April 11, 2022 Admin

Overview

Google Moderator is a system for soliciting and aggregating responses on a given topic. For example, before the 2012 Presidential election over 20,000 people participated in the Google Moderator poll “Your Questions for the Candidates.”

Implementation

I set up a new Google account for use with the class, then created a new Series for my PHY251 class. I then created on topic for each day that we covered new material, such as “Unit 4: Newton’s Laws” (click above image for full size screenshot). The students were expected to view a smartPhysics pre-lecture before class, then participate in the Google Moderator poll for that day. They were instructed to either ask a question about the pre-lecture or vote on another student’s question rather than post duplicates. This way I could start the next class by going over the most popular questions, and just answer the less popular ones individually by email (or directly in Google Moderator).

Assessment

This was tricky. I wanted the students to have the option to post anonymously so they would feel comfortable asking anything. However, with Google Moderator, even the administrator (me) is not shown the identity of anyone who posts anonymously. To solve this problem, I created a link on Moodle to each topic, and students were instructed to access Google Moderator using these links in order to receive credit for participation. Moodle can generate a report of which students clicked on a given link, and this is how I was able to assign credit. Of course, I could not determine whether a student actually did anything after clicking on the link, but once students got used to the system there was not a significant discrepancy between the number of participants in Google Moderator for a given topic and the number of students who clicked on the link in Moodle. It is worth noting that early in the semester a few students went to the topics through Google Moderator directly, rather than via Moodle, and did not receive credit.

Successes and Challenges

Overall, Google Moderator was not as useful as I had hoped, but I had a class of only 15 students. Because I use a lot of group activities in my classes, after a few weeks into the semester, students seemed to be comfortable asking questions during class or emailing me when they had trouble. Some days the most popular question was something that would obviously be covered that day. An example of such a question might be “Can we go over Newton’s Laws?” for Unit 4: Newton’s Laws.

Perceived pedagogical or teaching value

This facilitates Just-in-Time-Teaching, especially for large classes in which there may not be enough time to answer every question.

Next steps

I would try this again in a bigger class. I would also consider requiring students to post using their names, so that assessment is easier. The class I am teaching currently (PHY252) is even smaller, so I did not use Google Moderator again. Instead I solicit feedback directly through smartPhysics and use that to prepare before class.

Tracy Bartel, Ph.D. Education

March 30, 2013April 11, 2022 Admin

NOTE: For more information on any of these technology tools, please click on the tools name and it will take you to the coordinating website.

simSchool : Instructors can use this tool with pre-service teachers as an applied activity in classroom management and differentiated instruction in this game-like application.

I am presently piloting this technology tool in my Child Development course and I am hoping that I will be able to expand it to the Adolescent Development and Contemporary Education and Technology course.

VoiceThread : Students can engage in an on-line forum discussion using varied modes of responses (microphone, webcam, text, phone and audio-file upload). Instructors can present the topic for discussion several different ways: uploading a document, image(s), audio file(s) or video(s).

This tool was piloted in my Contemporary Education and Technology course last semester. At the end of the semester, I found that students enjoyed using this tool and that their level of discussions were at a higher level in comparison with the other courses that used the “written text only” forum discussion in Moodle. I now use this as a tool in all my online, hybrid and “on the ground” courses.

PollEverywhere : Instructors can embed classroom polls into PowerPoint lectures and student responses can be seen on the screen within 2-5 seconds of responding. Poll questions can be either open-ended or multiple choice in format.

I piloted this tool last semester in my Contemporary Education and Technology course as well. In order to keep the students’ responses anonymous, at the beginning of the class I took attendance so that students would receive class participation points for participating in this in-class activity. There is an option in Poll Everywhere to track individual student responses instead of having the students’ responses be anonymous.

Panopto : Instructors can use a webcam to record their image in sync with PowerPoint lectures or use audio to discuss a document.

I use this technology tool predominantly in my online courses. I have also had my students use it to give presentations to upload to the Moodle course shell. This tool is beneficial when the instructor cannot make it to the regularly scheduled class time (illness, weather, conferences).

Rubistar : Instructors and pre-service teachers can use this tool to create rubrics for a variety of assignments. Rubistar allows you to select from a wide variety of grading categories to add to the template and permits editing of any content.

For years I have hand-made my grading rubrics as a teacher, administrator and as a college professor. Rubistar saves me time and increases the clarity of the rubrics for each of the courses that I teach.

Update!

Congratulations to Tracy for recently having her work published in the online peer-reviewed Journal of Interactive Technology & Pedagogy. The article, Inspiring Student Engagement with Technology, addresses the question of how to replicate the educational benefits of in-class discussions and lectures in an online environment.

Kudos to Tracy and the other technology fellows for their ongoing work!!

Overview

Planning

General

Implementation

Next Steps

Conclusion

Overview

Planning Process

Implementation

Assessment

Value/Next Steps

Overview

Successes/Challenges

Implementation

Next Steps

Overview

Planning Process

Implementation

Successes and Challenges

Assessment

Perceived/Determined Value and Next Steps

Overview

Planning

Implementation

Assessment

Value/Next Steps

Personal Background

Project Overview

Project Implementation

Project 1: ThingLink

Project 2: WizIQ and Virtual Office Hours

Project 3: SWIVL

Successes and Challenges

Reflections and Next Steps

Conclusion

Overview

My project goals were:

Implementation and Assessment

Successes and Challenges

Next Steps

Congratulations to Tracy and thanks to her and the technology fellows for their ongoing work!

Overview

Planning Process

Implementation

Assessment

Value/Next Steps

Overview

Planning Process

Implementation

Successes/Challenges

Assessment

Perceived/Determined Value and Next Steps

Using Turnitin’s “Grademark” features to Increase Efficiency and Efficacy of Written Comments

Overview

Implementation

Assessment

Overcoming Challenges

Next Steps

Resources

Overview

Planning Process

Implementation

Successes/Challenges, Assessment, Perceived/Determined Value and Next Steps

Overview

Implementation

Successes/Challenges

Assessment

Perceived/Determined Value and Next Steps

Overview

Implementation

Successes/Challenges

Assessment

Next Steps

Resources

Overview

Implementation and Assessment

Successes and Challenges

1. Learn a bunch of technology teaching tools

2. Gain confidence in the technology

3. Use the technology to improve my teaching and help students learn