Explore a new educational technology issue each
month
Comparatively little attention
has been paid to describing interdisciplinary approaches to the redesign
of TEL courses. Explore such current TEL issues at seminars and on
the DMC site.
TEL Seminars and the DMC Site
Beginning this fall, Digital Media Center (DMC) consultants will publish
new information on our website each month about a current educational
technology issue discussed at sessions of the Technology-Enhanced Learning
(TEL) Seminar Series, including:
- an overview of the issue (why university instructors are interested
in it and how they are using technology to address it)
- a bibliography of readings related to the issue
- profiles of campus instructors' related educational technology projects
- announcements about related campus events and DMC/Academic and Distributed
Computing TEL short courses
- links to related campus resources
The first three issues (Table 1) are the topics of the fall 2003 sessions
of the TEL Seminar Series.
Table
1: DMC Fall Spotlight Issues |
| Topic |
Seminar Information |
Seminar Panelists |
Links to DMC Resources |
| Course Redesign |
October 9,
noon–1:30 p.m.
101 Walter Library |
• John Anderson and
Carol Gross;
• Deborah Dillon and Aaron Doering;
•
Craig Hassel, Linda Brady, and Paul Brady |
http://dmc.umn.edu/spotlight
/course-redesign.shtml
(available now) |
| Problem-Based Learning Activities |
November 5,
noon–1:30 p.m.
101 Walter Library |
• Victoria Mikelonis and Lenna Constantinides;
•
Susan Rose and
Simon Hooper;
• George Rehm and
Jenni Swenson |
http://dmc.umn.edu/spotlight
/problem-based.shtml
(available in November) |
| Learning Object Technologies |
December 2,
noon–1:30 p.m.
274 McNeal Hall |
• Victoria Mikelonis and Lenna Constantinides;
•
Susan Rose and
Simon Hooper;
• George Rehm and
Jenni Swenson |
http://dmc.umn.edu/spotlight
/learning-object.shtml
(available in December) |
October issue: course redesign
As instructors we always face the challenge of refining learning activities
and materials in response to practical experience, changes in curricula,
and student feedback. Now another motivation to redesign courses is to
take advantage of digital technologies or to refine existing technology-enhanced
courses. The process engages us in the kinds of questions identified by
researcher Carol A. Twigg and others:
- Does the use of technology improve student learning?
- How do we assess learning in this setting is it primarily a matter
of content acquisition, or do we consider questions of community building,
student motivation, the ability to think like a professional, or other
aspects of the learning process?
- Are the costs of purchasing, maintaining, and supporting the technology
tools offset by the learning gains?
To date, research in this area has focused largely on demonstrating the
efficacy of technology-based redesign initiatives for large-enrollment
courses or on describing individual course redesign efforts. Comparatively
little attention has been paid to describing, interdisciplinary approaches
to the redesign of activities and materials formerly delivered in nondigital
formats or to the revision of existing technology-enhanced learning materials
and activities. The TEL seminar held on October 9 took an interdisciplinary
approach to course redesign in order to initiate a discussion that is
relevant to all instructors.
October 9 panelists and topics
At the seminar, moderator Melissa Avery (School of Nursing) and the following
panelists considered the three topics below.
- John Anderson and Carol Gross (Department of Biochemistry, Molecular
Biology, and Biophysics)
- Aaron Doering (Department of Curriculum and Instruction)
- Craig Hassel and Linda Brady (Department of Food Science and Nutrition)
- Paul Brady (College of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Sciences)
| Minimizing the
costs of course redesign |
Improving time-flexibility
and accessibility |
Enlisting student
support |
The panelists discussed how they and faculty colleagues
and teaching assistants are identifying resources useful to students
in a number of courses or recitation sections and developing a body
of materials to cover these core concepts.
This will improve content consistency across the curriculum and
save colleagues time they can then use to expand the library of
materials. |
They also discussed how such efforts are enabling
campus or outstate students to access course activities and materials
at more convenient times and from more convenient places but still
participate in academically rigorous communities through:
• the use of electronic communication technologies;
• the development of assignments designed to facilitate the
creation of portfolios; and
• the creation of multimedia modules that enable students
from around the world to discuss a central topic from a variety
of disciplinary and cultural perspectives. |
The panelists also discussed how they are recreating
student activities in advanced courses as content development assignments.
This not only provides students with valuable professional development
experiences but also provides instructors with electronic course
materials they can make available to later course participants.
|
Resources
Related resources on the DMC site include:
- a more detailed version of the course redesign information above
with citations to source materials
- a bibliography of selected readings about course redesign issues
- profiles of the panelists' course redesign projects
- links to other DMC and campus course redesign resources
- Chris Scruton, Lauren Marsh, Christina Goodland, Digital Media Center
|