Engaging Students Through Technology » Services

9/25 Engaging Students Through Technology Symposium

Anu Vedantham — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:27:48 +0000

Friday, Sept. 25, 2009, 10:30 am to 3 pm

9/25 Symposium

It’s not a coincidence that our symposium has the same name as this blog! Several regular bloggers here are involved and we hope all of you will join us.

Explore teaching with new media through faculty insights, hands-on exploration of four technologies and an overview of new media trends. Open to Penn faculty, instructors and graduate students. Details and Registration

The symposium begins with a faculty panel in Claudia Cohen Hall, and continues in the Weigle Information Commons with an informal lunch and Tech Tasting sessions for hands-on, small-group exploration. Faculty presenters include Linda Chance, Ann Greene, Alain Plante, Paul Rozin and Herb Smith from the School of Arts and Sciences and Amy Hillier from the School of Design. Each faculty presenter will discuss how and why they choose to use a specific technology in their teaching.

The Tech Tasting sessions include popular technologies such as Facebook, blogs, wikis, graphic design, video, web design, clickers and PowerPoint. Twelve topics are offered by presenters from several Penn organizations.

Online Mashup Voting – Now through April 30

Anu Vedantham — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:07:45 +0000

Something fun to share – our annual mashup contest has taken off this year with 33 entries, and for the first time, we are taking online votes and all entries are linked there with descriptions. Online voting closes on April 30 at 10 am.At our awards event this Thursday, we will award prizes to the winners selected by our judging panel as well as certificates to the winners of the online voting. If you have any suggestions for us, please let us know.

Zack Lesser’s Comments on Teaching with Technology

Cathy Turner — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:06:34 +0000

I want to draw everyone’s attention to a recent Almanac article that Zack Lesser, an Assistant Professor in the English Department, wrote about how he chose to use technology in the classroom. Dr. Lesser calls on all of us to think first about why we would use technology before we get excited about the “bells and whistles.” It is also fantastic that this essay is about successful use of technology in a Shakespeare class and worth reading for how he transformed his class.

He also discusses his experiences in the Center for Teaching and Learning’s Teaching with Technology Seminar. These seminars are discussion groups aimed exclusively at faculty where they can discuss why they use technology in their classes. There are people on hand who help with questions about how to use the technology but the real focus is how technology can benefit student learning. These events are a useful place to send faculty who are interested in using technology or who want to use technology more effectively to engage students. I would advocate sending any faculty who use PowerPoint to the upcoming event on PowerPoint (Monday October 20 from 2:00-3:30 in the seminar room of the Weigle Information Commons). I used to malign PowerPoint but after the conversation with Drs. Mike Kaplan (Biology) and Jay McInerny (Classical Studies) I have come to see how it can be a great tool for engaging students (rather than letting them sleep in the dark while the slides pass by).

Open Textbooks

Lisa Minetti — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:41:20 +0000

Flat World Knowledge offers a new approach to textbooks: open them up and bundle them with social learning tools. Founded by Jeff Shelstad and Eric Frank, two former textbook industry executives, Flat World Knowledge’s mission statement reads:

We preserve the best of the old – books by leading experts that are rigorously reviewed and developed to the highest standards. Then we flip it all on its head. Our books are free online. We offer convenient, low-cost choices for students – print, audio, by-the-chapter, and more. Our books are open for instructors to mix, mash, and make their own. Our books are the hub of a social learning network where students learn from the book and each other.

While the content of their Open Textbooks is free and accessible to all, they charge for convenient ways to consume the Open Textbooks (print, audio, PDF) and efficient ways to study (study aids). Most interesting of all, IMHO is their description the social learning tools:

Students can chat live with other readers, take and share digital notes, set up study groups, and even find partners for cross border projects. They can do all of this at our site or tap into the collaborative features of Facebook using our Facebook app for this. They are part of a global community of learners. Or not. Their call.

To read more about Flat World Knowledge, browse through their website or check out this article from Wired’s blog network. Potential authors can learn more about joining the “little textbook revolution” on Flat World Knowledge’s website.

Wonder if anyone at Penn might like to pilot a project with a Flat World text? LPS Online would be very interested in talking with faculty members about the possibilities. Email me if you’d like to chat.

Online textbook rental

Lisa Minetti — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:33:04 +0000

“Think NetFlix® for textbooks,” says Christopher Blythe, Founder of Skoobit, a college textbook rental service. According to Skoobit’s website, here’s how it works:

With two million books in its collection, pricing plans begin at $10.99 per book per month for four months. check out Skoobit’s website for more info.

How interesting do you think this service would be to Penn students?

When I was in college, I really liked acquiring books, thinking my collection would somehow archive my intellectual development. It’s only recently that I’ve begun letting go of them all, asking myself, “Will I ever really open that book on theoretical morphology? Won’t some aspiring linguist find this interesting?”

If anyone’s looking to find old textbooks, check out the Free Library’s Walnut St. West book sale, held outdoors on Fridays from 11:30-1 or 2, depending on the weather.