The Digital Spark
Issue 18.2: February 12, 2018
What Can Orange Do for You?
- Do you need to create a video to highlight a tough concept?
- Do you want to learn how to implement an interactive tool in your course to increase learning and student engagement?
- Do you want help tweaking your learning objectives so that they are in line with your assessments and learning goals?
- Do you want to know how to create open, sustainable Web resources?
- Do you want tips on to create lively discussion forums that excite students?
- Do you want to record a podcast?
We can do all that and more! While love is in the air with Valentine's Day this week, the Office of Digital Learning always has some love to show when it comes to sharing and talking Ed Tech and what Orange can do for you! In this and upcoming issues, we will highlight various services we can offer. If you get a chance, stop by, call email, or send us a letter. We'd LOVE to hear from you!
Have a Happy Valentine's Day!
~melissa
We Do...Discussion Boards!
"The instructor doesn't read what I say!" "All I get graded on is how many times I post!" "The topic has nothing to do with what we are learning!" "It's a waste of my time!"
And how many times, do you, as a faculty member, grumble about all the time and effort you put into a discussion assignment only to feel let down and uninspired?
Creating inspired discussion boards that go beyond regurgitation of content or bland copy-and-past posts isn't too much of a stretch and can be very rewarding to both students and faculty in the end. Instead of asking yes or no questions, ask connecting questions of your students. Make them think about connecting concepts and content to their own experiences or to the course content. Provide some of your own experiences related to the material. By modeling this behavior to students, you encourage them to do the same. Build problems students can solve and ask them to share their process for solving them, and then, encourage your students to share. Students love to see what their peers are doing.
There are also simple things to consider when building discussions.
- Make sure your expectations are clear. If you want student posts to be more than 200 words, make important connections, and use AP style, you need to tell them.
- Use rubrics. Rubrics help guide students to actions they need to perform to be successful.
- At the same time, don't be overbearing with the rules. Discussions should be organic and free-flowing. It's no fun to have to worry about rules all the time.
- Encourage students to interact not only with the course content, but each other. Remind them how exciting it can be to see diverse thoughts and opinions.
Most discussion activities can be built around any level of Bloom's Taxonomy: (Nilson, 2010, p. 139):
- Knowledge: What did you notice about ___________?
- Comprehension: In your own words, what does __________mean?
- Application: What would be an example of ____________?
- Analysis: What assumptions are behind the argument?
- Synthesis: What conclusions can you come to about __________?
- Evaluation: What would you choose and why?
Tools You Can Use to Inspire Discussion
Several years ago, when I was taking an online course, the instructor went so far as to break the class into groups and then each week, one specific group was not only in charge of coming up with the topic of discussion, but for running the entire discussion activity...points, rubrics, grading and all. While it was a very intense activity, it was ultimately very rewarding for us all.
Have you had a really great experience with online discussions in your class? Let us know! We'd love to share and even start a discussion in our community! Don't be shy!
Broader Impacts Showcase |February 28, 2018 | Nittany Lion Inn Ballroom
College-based learning design units work in close partnership with faculty and staff to support a wide variety of teaching and learning needs, whether those are focused on traditional Penn State students, online learners, or members of the broader local, or even global, community.
How Can We Help You?
- Program assessment
- Creation of open educational resources
- Pedagogical consultation
- Student learning assessments
- Integrating active learning
- Increasing student and community engagement
- Website development and maintenance
- Research design and support
Stop by and talk with us! We would love to help you achieve your broader impact goals!
Augmented Reality is Not the Future Anymore
ODL Educational Technologist and Web Developer, Michael Potter has been looking into Augmented Reality (AR) and the role it will play in education in the near future.
"I would give it maybe two years--if that--before we start seeing Augmented Reality having a significant portion of the educational space. Apple and Google have already been working on their own libraries for creating AR: ARkit and ARCore, respectively. The rate of acceleration in this space is just crazy. "
Some really cool examples that we are looking to build upon:
Basically, AR is not the future anymore. You can look for AR to be a standard tool in the instructor toolkit in the near future. Contact us to talk about how you can use AR in your course.
ChemSpider
ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database providing fast access to over 63 million structures, properties, and associated information. By integrating and linking compounds from approximately 280 data sources, ChemSpider enables researchers to discover the most comprehensive view of freely available chemical data from a single online search. It is owned by the Royal Society of Chemistry.
ChemSpider builds on the collected sources by adding additional properties, related information, and links back to original data sources. ChemSpider offers text and structure searching to find compounds of interest and provides unique services to improve this data by curation and annotation, and to integrate it with users’ applications.
Because it is an Open Educational Resource (OER), our office can look for ways to integrate and leverage this resource in any of your courses. Please let us know if you are interested in learning more or discussing potential integrations!
Adaptive Learning Report: RealizeIt
This past Summer and Fall, Penn State ran a pilot with the adaptive learning company, Realizeit. The Office of Digital Learning worked with Mike Troyan to redesign and implement his online course BISCI 002 course in an effort to increase meaningful content interaction, provide personalized learning support, improve student performance, and improve student and faculty satisfaction. The two other courses that were piloted included FIN 301 and PHIL 001. 177 students participated in the pilot.
Upon completion, the pilot suggested the potential of adaptive learning as a new pedagogical approach. Strengths from the student perspectives included the discrete breakdown of content, immediate feedback, ability to easily repeat exercises, and the ability to go more quickly through areas already mastered. From the faculty and designer perspectives, strengths included the detailed student dashboard and the flexible format for modular content delivery.
Additionally, the pilot highlighted challenges that should be addressed if Penn State continues with adaptive learning. Challenges from the student perspectives include rounding issues in the system, content that is too discrete, and a lack of extensive feedback on incorrect answers. From the faculty and designer perspectives, challenges include the initial course building process, additional time required to teach in an adaptive format, and a need to better understand the algorithms underlying the system. Overall, the FA17 implementation went more smoothly than the SU17, which is to be expected.
If you are interested in learning more about the pilot or reviewing the full report, please contact our office or Mike Troyan in BMB.
Events and Opportunities
Canvas Brown Bag: New Tools and Features Integrated into Canvas (via Zoom)
This discussion-oriented workshop will acquaint participants with the apps, features, and external tools that have been integrated in Canvas over the past year. Learn about the features and purposes of various external tools that have been integrated in Canvas including VoiceThread, Piazza, and TurnItIn.
Objectives
- Enable available LTI Integrations in your Canvas course
- Investigate VoiceThread, Piazza, and TurnItIn for functionality and use within your Canvas course
- Incorporate the appropriate LTI Integrations into your Canvas course
Wednesday, Feb 21, 2018, 11:45 AM
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Canvas Day 2018
Eight Canvas training sessions, led by IT Learning and Development, will be offered in two tracks — basic and in-depth.
In the basic track, four sessions will be offered on these topics:
- Canvas overview
- Content
- Assessment and quizzes
- Gradebook
In the in-depth track, two sessions will be offered at two times on these topics:
- New Tools and Features Integrated in Canvas
- Rubrics
In addition to training sessions, other components of Canvas Day will include faculty panels and large enrollment sessions led by Instructure, the Canvas vendor. More information will be forthcoming.
Lunch will be provided at this free event that will also include opportunities for networking.
Friday, Mar 16, 2018, 08:30 AM
The Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center, Innovation Boulevard, State College, PA, United States
Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) Symposium
The Penn State Symposium for Teaching and Learning with Technology is an annual one-day event to showcase ways that technology can be used to enhance teaching, learning, and research. Our intent is to give faculty and staff the opportunity to share how they are using technology in unique ways, network with other colleagues, and generate new project ideas.
The symposium is a free event that welcomes all Penn State faculty, staff, and students.
Saturday, Mar 17, 2018, 07:30 AM
The Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center, Innovation Boulevard, State College, PA, United States
Meet Our Team
The Office of Digital Learning
The Office of Digital Learning (ODL) helps faculty and students make the most of digital learning technology. We collaboratively design and build tools for any pedagogy.
Dream it and we can help bring it to life.
Email: odl@science.psu.edu
Website: odl.science.psu.edu
Phone: (814) 867-1391
Twitter: @eberly_odl