Category Archives: Events

Experiments in Teaching –Save the Date!

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save the date

Please mark your calendars for:

Friday, October 24, 3-5 pm
North Reading Room (Library 137), Munday Library

Co-sponsored by the Center for Teaching Excellence, Instructional Technology, and the Munday Library

We invite all teaching faculty (full-time, adjuncts, and staff who teach), staff, and administrators to join us for talks and a reception celebrating pedagogical experiments on campus. Featuring a wide variety of St. Edward’s faculty members making brief presentations about their innovative teaching projects, “Experiments in Teaching” will explore the range of teaching initiatives at St. Edward’s University and the models they afford our teaching community. We aim to create a venue for colleagues to share the challenges and successes of teaching innovation. The event will be an open reception with food, drink, and “lightning” talks, followed by informal conversation among all participants. Presenters will use the brief lightning talk format to share a “teaser” for their project then be available for more conversation. Lightning talks will begin at 3:30 pm.

Pre-register for the event: http://ow.ly/BN5hy

We hope to see you there!

Managing the 21st Century Classroom

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Classroom teacher's station with document camera and touch panelWhat is the 21st Century Ecosystem and how do the face-to-face classrooms fit into that ecosystem?  Most faculty at St. Edward’s teach face-to-face so the classroom layout and technology is important for classes.  The ability to display content, interact with students, bring in guest speakers and promote group work are all important components of the 21st century classroom.

At our September 17th Tech Snack, Austin Doak, Media Services Manager, discussed changes to the classroom technology on campus.  The new classrooms in Fleck and John Brooks William South are completely digital.  What does that mean for you?

  • Connectivity from your laptop to the teacher’s station is easy and you usually won’t need to purchase and remember separate connectors as connectivity to the projector will be right on the teacher’s station leash.  You can connect directly with a newer laptop that has an HDMI connector or a mini-Display port connector found on Apple laptops.
  • Setting display resolution is automatic on laptops with these new connections.  The standard VGA connector is still available as well.
  • All controls  for media, including volume, are on a separate touch panel.

Document cameras are integrated into these new room upgrades and can act as a web cam so you can use the camera to Skype or WebEx.  You can also use document cameras to project from your iPad!  Not all document cameras can be used as a webcam. Check out the list of classrooms with document cameras that can be used for Skype or WebEx.

How can I project from an iPad?

Austin reminded us that you can plug your iPad directly into the laptop leash at any teacher’s station.  You will need an adaptor to connect, but the process is simple. In the future we will be looking at other ways to project and share content from an iPad or other devices.

What would faculty like to see in the 21st Century Classroom?

The facilitation of group work is a primary concern of faculty.  Kim Garza’s students are collaborating around technology by building mind maps on iPads and laptops in class.    A way for students to share content from their devices would be ideal.  Julie Sievers has her students do group work with online texts so a way to share content from devices would help her class also.

What’s on the Horizon for St. Edward’s Classrooms?

The experimental classroom in Moody Hall 212 will be getting technology later this semester.  The room already has moveable furniture that makes it ideal for group work.  Soon it will also have Huddleboards which are small, portable display surfaces or whiteboards.

Tips for Using Classroom Technology

Austin shared some tips for the classroom:

  • If nothing works, feel free to shut down the computer by holding down the computer power button for a few seconds.  With solid state drives the computer boots back up in 10 seconds.  There are not logins on the teacher’s stations computers.  You only need to log in if you are trying to get to EdShare, which is accessible via a shortcut on the desktop.
  • If you connect to cloud storage, myHilltop or EdShare remember to log off!
  • You can hook up video cameras into the DVD player and it will play video from the camera.  You can also play audio as long as there is a standard headphone jack on your device.  There is a connector on every teacher’s station.  Some faculty use this to play music as students come in.

Need Help in the Classroom?

Media Services has a 5 minute or less response time.  If your device doesn’t work or the network doesn’t seem to be accessible, call us!  We want you to be successful! Call 448-8443 and hit #1 to get someone to the classroom in 5 minutes.

Favorite Apps at St. Edward’s University

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The #100percentdigital faculty-staff learning community got off to a great start last week with the Apps and Appetizer Mixer.  Thanks to all of you who joined us.  I learned a lot from both the full group discussion and smaller conversations about what the best apps are and why.  Below is a word cloud showing the results of our live poll using Poll Everywhere, which lets participants respond via text message or web page from any mobile device: Continue reading →

Tech Snack – Managing Your 21st Century Classroom

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Tech SnacksWhat should the 21st century classroom look like? In the fall of 2013 the Taskforce on Academic Innovation and New Academic Approaches surveyed faculty. One of the questions asked faculty to imagine a classroom that is ideal, from a technological standpoint, for teaching.  Responses included whiteboards, smartboards, audience response systems, video conferencing and easily configurable furniture.

What would you like to do in your class? Bring in guest speakers via Skype or Jabber Video? Play videos from the Library collection? Get immediate feedback from all of your students? Join us in a discussion of customizing your classroom using digital tools to create a borderless learning environment. Discover the changes and improvements in the classroom technology in Fleck Hall.  Join Instructional Technology and Austin Doak from Media Services as we discuss the 21st century classroom on Wednesday, September 17 from 3:30 – 4:30 in the Faculty Resource Center, Premont 110.

Please sign up today: http://bit.ly/SEUITTraining so we can bring enough snacks.

 

 

Apps and Appetizers Mixer

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word cloud of appsWelcome back to campus faculty and staff! Join your colleagues, Innovation Fellows, and Instructional Technology staff at the Apps and Appetizers Fall semester mixer on Wednesday, September 10, 2014 from 3:30pm-4:30pm in the Faculty Resource Center (FRC), Premont Hall 110. Lets start off the semester by sharing mobile Apps,  appetizers, and Apple cider. Bring your iPad, iPhone, Android phone or other mobile device and share which apps help you manage your work and life. Discover apps for productivity, education and fun! At last year’s mixer, Evernote was voted the favorite app.  What will it be this year?

Please sign up today: http://bit.ly/SEUITTraining so we can bring enough snacks.

Mobile Apps at St. Edward’s University

Mobile device ownership is on the rise at St. Edward’s University. 34% of this year’s freshman are bringing tablets including iPads and Android tablets and 97% have smart phones. There are more than 115 university-owned iPads on campus used by faculty, staff, and students.  How are these devices getting used? Here’s just a few uses we know about:

  • St. Edward’s Mobile App: brings all the campus information you need to the palm of your hand.
  • Productivity: Digital workflow apps help us go #100percentdigital and include, Evernote a digital note taking tool, Box and Google Drive, which are cloud collaboration and file organization tools, and Diigo an online social bookmarking and annotation tool. We are offering Computer Training Workshops to learn more about these tools. Sign up today: http://bit.ly/SEUITTraining
  • Judy Leavell, School of Education – use of free Children’s literature iPad apps for Student Teacher’s to increase iPad usage in K-12 schools.
  • Todd Onderdonk, University Programs, Cory Lyle, Professor of Spanish, and Grant Simpson, dean of the School of Education – use of iPad apps to create Digital Autobiographies of young students while studying abroad in Chile.
  • Kim Garza, Professor of Graphic Design – had students design apps for the iPad and used iPad apps for group work.
  • Michael Wassermam, Professor of Environmental Science & Policy, and Roberta Sue Engel, Visiting Assistant Professor of Entomology – using mobile apps to collect mobile data in field work.

Know of other app uses?  Have a favorite app to share?  Share it in the comments or drop by the FRC (Premont 110) on Wednesday, September 10, 2014 from 3:30pm-4:30pm.

Themes, Events, and Initiatives in Instructional Technology, 2014-2015

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Now that the semester is underway, let me take this opportunity to highlight some of the programming threads you will see in events and other initiatives from Instructional Technology this year. These include Tech Snacks, the #100percentdigital Faculty-Staff Learning Community, workshops, and a new event in October called “Experiments in Teaching”.

Continue reading →

Join the #100percentdigital Faculty-Staff Learning Community

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#100percentdigital blog logoWondering how to get the most out of your new iPad? Ever compared apps with your friends or students? Follow Lifehacker or Profhacker?  Tired of all that paper piling up in your office?  If you answered yes to any of these questions (and even if you didn’t), Instructional Technology and the Center for Teaching Excellence invite you to join the #100percentdigital faculty-staff learning community, focused on digital workflow and practice.

To join, please fill out this short registration form.  We will get in touch with you shortly about how to join the web site and share with the community. Continue reading →

Teaching Symposium 2014: A Conference on College Teaching

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Word cloud with largest text: classroom, global, digital, teachingInterested in how technology is being used in classes at St. Edward’s?  The Teaching Symposium will host a number of sessions that illustrate innovative uses of technology by faculty. This peer-reviewed teaching and learning conference organized by the Center for Teaching Excellence and the Teaching Symposium Planning Committee will be held in on Thursday, August 21, from 8:30 – 4:00 pm in John Brooks William South.  This year’s conference features a variety of formats for learning and interacting, including an opening plenary session, short and long presentations and interactive sessions, roundtable discussions, a poster session, and a resource fair.

 

Highlighted Sessions Featuring Innovative Uses of Technology

  • Designing Course-Based, Student-Faculty Collaborative Research Projects Using Digital Tools – Rebecca Frost Davis, Instructional Technology and Pongracz Sennyey, Munday Library
  • Teaching in the Global Digital Classrooms: Lessons Learned and Tips for Success – Michael Weston, Instructional Technology, David Altounian, Digital Media Management, Rebecca Frost Davis, Instructional Technology, Kendall Kelly, English, Writing, and Rhetoric, Kay Firth-Butterfield, Criminal Justice
  • Innovative Teaching with Technology: Utilizing Social Media and E-Communication in the Classroom — Monique Mercado, Psychology
  • The iPad-Equipped Classroom: Results from Two TLTR-funded Pilots – Billy Earnest, Communication, Judy Leavell, Education, David Hollier, Education
  • Three Ways You Can Elevate and Energize In-Class Discussions with Clickers – Michael Weston, Instructional Technology
  • The Syria Simulation and Global Learning Assessment—Chistopher Micklethwait, Literature, Writing, and Rhetoric, Mity Myhr, History, Jason Rosenblum, Digital Media Management, Christie Sample Wilson, History, Selin Guner, Global Studies, David Blair, Institutional Assessment
  • Using Rap Genius: How to Make Annotating Sources Engaging, Effective and Even Fun! – Amy Nathan Wright, University Studies

The complete conference program is available on the Teaching Symposium site.

Please visit Instructional Technology at the Resource Fair  during the Symposium.  We’ll answer questions, talk about opportunities such as the Innovation Fellowship, and discuss your instructional technology needs.

2014 Innovation Institute

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cropped-header-1k2beicThe 2014 Innovation Institute kicked off on Monday, May 19 in the global digital classroom in the Munday Library.  Sixteen faculty were named as Innovation Fellows or Global Innovation Fellows for the 2014-2015 academic year.  During the Innovation Institute fellows are learning about a variety of pedagogical approaches, learning how to integrate technology to support those pedagogical approaches, and developing their fellowship projects, which consist of course designs or redesigns to integrate innovative pedagogical approaches.  The institute will wrap up on May 30 with final presentations by the fellows on progress on their projects so far.  Follow along with what the fellows are learning during the Institute via the Innovation Fellowship blog.

Event Cancelled: Disruptive Innovation via Open Education Resources

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CANCELLED: Baraniuk talk and events
We regret to announce that the Wednesday, March 26 talk by Richard Baraniuk, “Disruptive Innovation via Open Education Resources,” and all related events are cancelled.  The speaker, Richard Baraniuk, has fallen ill and is unable to travel to Austin tomorrow.
Please feel free to query the Center for Teaching Excellence if you have any questions.

Continue reading →