DAY 1 | Tuesday, June 2nd
Registration Opens: 8:30 AM
Continental Breakfast and Opening Remarks: 8:45-9:45 AM
Keynote Speaker, Dr. Michael Wesch: 10-11:30 AM
The End of Wonder in the Digital Age
It took tens of thousands of years for writing to emerge after humans spoke their first words. It took thousands more before the printing press and a few hundred again before the telegraph. Today a new medium of communication emerges every time somebody creates a new web application. A Flickr here, a Twitter there, and a new way of relating to others emerges. New types of conversation, exchange, and collaboration are realized. Taken together, this may be seen as the emergence of the greatest knowledge machine ever invented. The amount of information dwarfs the greatest libraries. But the knowledge machine runs on imagination, curiosity, and wonder. Without an active imagination and the courage to act on it, this great knowledge machine becomes nothing but the world’s most powerful distraction device. It is at this critical moment that we must recreate our classes and learning environments as places where imagination can be nurtured and flourish. This talk explores the environments and conditions in which imagination and wonder thrive, why those environments are increasingly scarce in our learning environments and throughout society, and what we can do about it.
Lunch: 12-1 PM
Afternoon Concurrent Session 1: 1:15 – 3:15 PM
Integrating Student-Centered Blackboard Tools and Features (Introductory) (FULL)
Instructional Technology Group, Suffolk University
In this two-hour hands-on session, participants will learn how to:
• Create and format menu items
• Add content (text and images)
• Upload and link to files
• Link to web resources
•Create discussion forums
Getting Your Foot in the Door of Collaborative Learning Classrooms (FULL)
Brian McDermott, Director, Media Services, Suffolk University
Katie Linder, Director, CTSE, Suffolk University
Suffolk University will be opening three new “Collaborative Learning Classrooms” (CLCs) in our new 20 Somerset Building. In this session, participants will learn about the phenomenon of technology-enhanced classroom spaces across institutions of higher education, hear more about the technology and space set-up for CLCs at Suffolk, and explore best pedagogical practices for using these spaces to their fullest extent.
Leveraging Technology to Integrate Flipped Classroom Learning Activities
Sarah Smith, Instructional Designer, Babson Executive Education
In this 2 hour workshop on flipping the classroom, join with faculty from across the university and the Boston area in an effort to reimagine your teaching. Learn techniques and technologies to expose students to course content before they come to class, and explore individual and group activities to use inside your classroom. Participants will leave with flipping the classroom best practices, a plan for their course, and ideas for what technologies can be integrated.
Taking Advantage of Open Educational Resources (OER)
Ron Wheeler, Director, Law Library, Suffolk University
Sharon Britton, Director, Sawyer Library, Suffolk University
Open educational resources (OERs) are any resources available at little or no cost that can be used for teaching, learning, or research. The resources can include:
• Textbooks
• Videos
• Course readings
• Simulations
• Games
• Syllabi
• Quizzes and other assessment tools
• Any other material that be used for educational purposes
Many of these resources are issued under a license that spells out how they can be used. Some materials may only be used in their original form; in other cases, learning resources can be modified, remixed, and redistributed. Participants in this session will explore a variety of OERs, choose appropriate resources for their courses and consider ways in which they can integrate these resources in a student-centered learning environment.
Reaching Diverse Learners in Technology Enhanced and Online Courses
Kirsten Behling, Director, Office of Disability Services, Suffolk University
This session will discuss how universally designed online courses enhance the experience of diverse learners. We will review the five most problematic areas that present difficulties for students to engage with the course content. Participants will then have the opportunity to learn how to check their existing course documents for universal access, remedy the access issues that they might find and develop new content that is accessible to all from the beginning.
Coffee, Dessert & Raffle: 3:30 PM
DAY 2 | Wednesday, June 3rd
Registration Opens: 8:30 AM
Continental Breakfast: 8:45-9:45 AM
Morning Concurrent Session 1A: 9 AM – 12 PM
Integrating Student-Centered Blackboard Tools and Features (Advanced) (FULL)
Instructional Technology Group, Suffolk University
In this three-hour hands-on sessions, participants will learn how to:
- Create and format menu items
- Add content (text and images)
- Upload and link to files
- Link to web resources
- Create discussion forums
- Create and add learning modules
- Create groups
- Develop rubrics
- Use the tests, quizzes, and surveys feature
- Create assignments linked to the Grade Center
- Manage grades through the Grade Center
Designing a Publishable Project Involving Pedagogical Innovation with Technology
Katie Linder, Director, CTSE, Suffolk University
Paula Quinn, Quinn Evaluation Consulting
As more and more instructors are experimenting with using technologies in the classroom, the outlets for publishing on pedagogical innovations are growing. In this session, facilitators will guide participants through designing a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) project that measures the effectiveness for student learning of a technology intervention in the classroom. Participants will walk away with a guiding question for their research, outcomes, an evaluation model, and a timeline for completion. Participants will also learn about the Institutional Review Board (IRB) requirements for this type of project.
Morning Concurrent Session IB: 10 AM – 12 PM
Engaging Your Learners with Video: How to Create and Integrate Video Tutorials, Short Lectures, and Demonstrations into your Teaching (FULL)
Elena Garofoli, Senior Instructional Designer, Boston University
The diversity of our student population creates a rich learning environment. At the same time, students of varied ages and learning preferences, students from a variety of cultures or whose first language is not English, students with disabilities or chronic health issues, and students with different levels of academic preparedness present instructional challenges.
Integrating video technology to capture and post your instructional activities online offers all students the opportunity to become self-directed learners as they:
- view the posted video as many times as needed for comprehension purposes,
- translate what they are learning for the purpose of integrating new learning with previous knowledge,
- prepare for in class discussions, and/or
- use the learning activity for remediation purposes.
Join this session to learn how to plan for, create, and publish a video taped learning activity that can be used to support a flipped classroom approach to engage students in the learning process, to create an evergreen learning activity to support the continuity of learning, and/or to create a just-in-time tutorial for struggling students.
Taking Advantage of Open Educational Resources (OER)
Ron Wheeler, Director, Law Library, Suffolk University
Sharon Britton, Director, Sawyer Library, Suffolk University
Open educational resources (OERs) are any resources available at little or no cost that can be used for teaching, learning, or research. The resources can include:
• textbooks
• videos
• course readings
• simulations
• games
• syllabi
• quizzes and other assessment tools
• any other material that be used for educational purposes
Many of these resources are issued under a license that spells out how they can be used. Some materials may only be used in their original form; in other cases, learning resources can be modified, remixed, and redistributed. Participants in this session will explore a variety of OERs, choose appropriate resources for their courses and consider ways in which they can integrate these resources in a student-centered learning environment.
Reaching Diverse Learners in Technology Enhanced and Online Courses
Kirsten Behling, Director, Office of Disability Services, Suffolk University
This session will discuss how universally designed online courses enhance the experience of diverse learners. We will review the five most problematic areas that present difficulties for students to engage with the course content. Participants will then have the opportunity to learn how to check their existing course documents for universal access, remedy the access issues that they might find and develop new content that is accessible to all from the beginning.
Lunch: 12:15-1:30 PM
Afternoon Concurrent Sessions: 1:45-3:45 PM
Meta Reflection – Integrating Technology in a Mindful Manner
Roben Torosyan, Director of Teaching Learning, Bridgewater State University
Research shows the brain can only singletask, yet our tools tax our cognition. If we obey only what a teaching technology “wants,” we may let the important but easily delayable (e.g. planning) be pushed aside by the urgent and important (e.g. crises), habitually. Conversely, the best uses of technologies can simplify our teaching and help make time for the delayable but vital tasks of preventing mini-crises, through planning, preparation, creating systems and building relationships, before we need them. Join this session to:
• Experience methods for consciously using, and moderating the use of, technologies (for yourself and those you teach or lead)
• Choose a tool you want to most “go big on” in teaching or leadership, for the best tradeoffs of learning and efficiency
• Identify technology uses that create barriers (for you or those you teach or lead)
• Plan takeaways to manage barriers and increase focus
Engaging Your Learners with Video: How to Create and Integrate Video Tutorials, Short Lectures, and Demonstrations into your Teaching (FULL)
Elena Garofoli, Senior Instructional Designer, Boston University
The diversity of our student population creates a rich learning environment. At the same time, students of varied ages and learning preferences, students from a variety of cultures or whose first language is not English, students with disabilities or chronic health issues, and students with different levels of academic preparedness present instructional challenges.
Integrating video technology to capture and post your instructional activities online offers all students the opportunity to become self-directed learners as they:
- view the posted video as many times as needed for comprehension purposes,
- translate what they are learning for the purpose of integrating new learning with previous knowledge,
- prepare for in class discussions, and/or
- use the learning activity for remediation purposes.
Join this session to learn how to plan for, create, and publish a video taped learning activity that can be used to support a flipped classroom approach to engage students in the learning process, to create an evergreen learning activity to support the continuity of learning, and/or to create a just-in-time tutorial for struggling students.
Leveraging Technology to Integrate Flipped Classroom Activities
Sarah Smith, Instructional Designer, Babson Executive Education
In this 2 hour workshop on flipping the classroom, join with faculty from across the university and the Boston area in an effort to reimagine your teaching. Learn techniques and technologies to expose students to course content before they come to class, and explore individual and group activities to use inside your classroom. Participants will leave with flipping the classroom best practices, a plan for their course, and ideas for what technologies can be integrated.
Getting Your Foot in the Door of Collaborative Learning Classrooms
Brian McDermott, Director, Media Services, Suffolk University
Katie Linder, Director, CTSE, Suffolk University
Suffolk University will be opening three new “Collaborative Learning Classrooms” (CLCs) in our new 20 Somerset Building. In this session, participants will learn about the phenomenon of technology-enhanced classroom spaces across institutions of higher education, hear more about the technology and space set-up for CLCs at Suffolk, and explore best pedagogical practices for using these spaces to their fullest extent.
Reaching Diverse Learners in Technology Enhanced and Online Courses
Kirsten Behling, Director, Office of Disability Services, Suffolk University
This session will discuss how universally designed online courses enhance the experience of diverse learners. We will review the five most problematic areas that present difficulties for students to engage with the course content. Participants will then have the opportunity to learn how to check their existing course documents for universal access, remedy the access issues that they might find and develop new content that is accessible to all from the beginning.