Required Session #1 -Campus Instructional Resources / Computer Security
(select one short course from the sessions offered below) |
1 |
1 - Monday, January 30 - 10am to noon - 1100 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh)
2 - Tuesday, January 31 - 3 to 5 - 1100 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh)
3 - Wednesday, Februrary 8- 3 to 5 - 1100 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh)
4 - Thursday, February 16- 10am to noon - 1100 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh)
5 - Tuesday, March 21- 10am to noon - 1100 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh) |
This short course will provide participants with a complete overview of the services and agencies that are in place at Virginia Tech to support instructional and (in many cases) research activities. New initiatives will be highlighed and the library will demonstrate their new services. Virginia Tech's security group will also present and provide strategies, suggestions, and access to software that will assist participants as they take steps to ensure the safety of the information on their computers. |
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Required Session #2 – Introduction to Track G: An Overview of the Modules
(select one short course from the sessions offered below) |
2 |
1- Wednesday, February 1 - 3pm to 4:00pm - 1120 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh)
2- Thursday, February 2 - 10am to 11:00am - 1120 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh) |
This one-hour session is a required workshop, intended for those faculty participating in Track G. In this session, faculty will be given access to the online modules, which focus on the creation of learner-centered instruction and comprise the common thread for Track G. Session participants will be provided with information regarding the requirements for the completion of the track, as well as engage in a discussion regarding their current pedagogical/instructional practices and goals. |
Required Session #3 & 4 - Other Courses
(choose TWO of the following short courses) |
3-4 |
Teaching Using Technology: Faculty Panel Discussion
1- Tuesday, March 21, 3 to 5, 1100 Torgersen Hall (Torgersen Hall Lobby) (Windows/Macintosh) |
This short course provides an opportunity for faculty at Virginia Tech to see how their colleagues have utilized technology to solve pedagogical problems. Our Faculty Panel will include colleagues from a diversity of disciplines who will explain and provide examples of their approaches to using technology in their courses. Their frank discussion concerning the process of developing class activities for face-to-face as well as blended and online class environments will include the following: problems encountered, time investment, pedagogical concerns, copyright issues, changes to the student-professor relationship, and support avenues available on our campus. Uses of technology in and outside of class (with both large and small enrollments) will be highlighted throughout. This panel will provide invaluable, real-life insight from those who have had success applying technology in their courses. |
"From the Other Side of the Podium": Student Panel Discussion
1- Wednesday, March 29 - 3pm to 5pm - 1100 Torgerson Hall (Windows/Macintosh) |
How do our students learn best? When are they the most motivated and engaged? How might we present our content to enhance student learning? This panel, comprised of both graduate and undergraduate students from a variety of disciplines, serves as an opportunity for faculty members to interact with VT students to discover details about their generational culture, their epistemological perspectives, and their educational values. The panel participants will provide anecdotal evidence regarding what educational methodologies have most (and least!) inspired, motivated, and engaged them to perform, interact, and learn. |
Student Culture and Instructional Contexts
1- Wednesday, February 15 - 3pm to 5pm - 1120 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh)
2- Thursday, February 16 - 10am to 12pm - 1120 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh) |
You've undoubtedly seen them walking across campus, stepping lively to the beat of their iPods; sitting beneath a tree or on a bench, fingers flying across their laptops; excusing themselves from your classroom, dialing their cell phones on the way out. They're wireless and connected, always engaged and entertained; they're our students, the Millennials. This workshop considers our undergraduate student culture - their attitudes toward learning, technology, social networking, and the future - and the challenges of meeting our curricular standards in light of this student culture. This discussion-rich session will enable us to share our experiences with and explore the implications of teaching the technologically savvy students of the 21st century. |
Technology and Critical Literacy
1- Wednesday, March 1 - 3pm to 5pm - 1120 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh)
2- Thursday, March 2 - 10am to 12pm - 1120 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh) |
With each new semester, emerging technologies present ideological challenges to both teachers and learners. This workshop seeks to explore the ways in which various manifestations of technology function discursively in our classrooms as microcosms of our culture-at-large. We will discuss, question, and challenge the attitudes, values, and beliefs generated by and from these technologies in an attempt to better employ them, ultimately, to our pedagogical and epistemological advantage. Of specific focus in this discussion group will include digital "discourse communities," the digital divide, and de-centered power relationships. |
Student Response Systems (Part One): Using Technology to Engage and Assess Students During Class
1- Thursday, February 9 - 10am to 12pm - 1120 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh)
2- Wednesday, February 15 - 10am to 12pm - 3080 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh) |
Are you looking for ways to engage ALL of your students, even in large classes? Imagine if you could give a pop quiz, on the fly, to a group of 500 students and have it graded as soon as students turn in their answers. Student Response Systems (sometimes referred to as Classroom Performance Systems) can do both of these things and more. This short course will provide participants with an overview of the features and pedagogical applications of student response systems. Participants will learn how these systems promote discussion, capture students' attention, and engage every student in class, even those in the back row of large lecture halls. In-class quizzing and other assessment features will be shown as well. The response system concept has been around for decades, but the technology has finally advanced to the point where any faculty member with a laptop or in-class computer can utilize this in his/her courses. Faculty that wish to use a student response system will be given one at the end of the session (either Mac or PC), and clear information will be provided that details what is required of students in your course. Those that take a system are encourage to participate in Student Response Systems (Part Two) - a hands-on session that will help you begin to use your system in your classes. |
Student Response Systems (Part Two): A Hands-on Workshop for Macintosh Users
1- Thursday, February 23 - 10am to 12pm - 1120 Torgersen Hall (Macintosh) |
Have you made the decision to use a student response system in your class and would like some guided assistance? This short course will provide you with hands-on experience using your student response system. Participants will be shown how to prepare and pose questions to a class, including how to quickly share the results of on-the-fly surveys. Creating quizzes and exporting grades for upload into Blackboard will also be shown. In addition to these practical skills, best practices and teaching methodologies associated with student response systems will also be explored. Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptop so that they can work with the system on the computer they will be using in their own courses. |
Student Response Systems (Part Two): A Hands-on Workshop for PC Users
1- Monday, February 27 - 10am to 12pm - 3060 Torgersen Hall (Windows) |
Have you made the decision to use a student response system in your class and would like some guided assistance? This short course will provide you with hands-on experience using your student response system. Participants will be shown how to prepare and pose questions to a class, including how to quickly share the results of on-the-fly surveys. Creating quizzes and exporting grades for upload into Blackboard will also be shown. In addition to these practical skills, best practices and teaching methodologies associated with student response systems will also be explored. Participants are encouraged to bring their own laptop so that they can work with the system on the computer they will be using in their own courses. |
Motivating Your Students: Strategies for Design and Implementation
1- Wednesday, March 15 - 10am to 12pm - 1120 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh)
2- Thursday, March 16 - 10am to 12pm - 1120 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh) |
A universal challenge of instructors in higher education is how to motivate and engage students throughout the course of a semester. Informed by motivational research, this short course will provide faculty with a number of course design considerations as well as applicable technology tools that have been found to motivate students to learn. Participants will use a model for motivation and will work individually and in groups to learn about and incorporate several tools for motivation. Among the topics to be discussed are the nine most effective instructional strategies, collaborative and active learning techniques, learning styles, current technology, and rubric development. |
Did it help? Evaluating the Use of Technology in Your Courses
1- Wednesday, March 22 - 10am to 12pm - 1120 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh)
2- Thursday, March 23 - 10am to 12pm - 1120 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh) |
One of the greatest challenges for those using technology in higher education is determining if its application in a course has truly had a positive result. For those that are looking to evaluate their use of technology in a class, it is important to note that underlying all instructional uses of technology is an instructional strategy. This short course will provide methodologies for determining if innovative instructional strategies have had an improvement on student learning, and much of the focus of this short course will be upon evaluating instructional strategies that utilize technology. Those who are motivated by continuous instructional improvement will find this short course to be of great interest. Participants will be provided with practical approaches to evaluating instruction, enabling them to ask and answer the right questions to assess the gaps in results and the consequences. While all materials presented in this short course will be grounded in instructional evaluation theory, participants will find the strategies provided to be exceptionally practical and accessible. |
Online Student Ratings of Instruction Tool (Part One): Formative, Mid-term Evaluations
1- Tuesday, February 14 - 3 to 5- 3080 Torgerson Hall (Windows/Macintosh) |
This short course (part one of two) introduces our university community to a new, Online Student Ratings of Instruction Tool that was developed at Virginia Tech in partnership with Columbia University. Participants will be provided with an overview of the status of online student ratings of instruction across higher education, including online rating systems at other institutions. An analysis of the advantages and challenges of online student ratings will be provided. Additionally, a discussion of best practices as well as question formulation suggestions for formative evaluations will be presented. Hands-on training in the use of the tool will be a key component of this short course, and participants will have the opportunity to plan and create a mid-term evaluation using the online ratings software. |
Online Student Ratings of Instruction Tool (Part Two):
Summative, End-of-Term Evaluations
1- Tuesday, April 4 - 3 to 5- 3060 Torgersen Hall (Windows/Macintosh) |
This short course (part two of two) introduces our university community to a new, Online Student Ratings of Instruction Tool that was developed at Virginia Tech in partnership with Columbia University. Participants will be provided with an overview of the status of online student ratings of instruction across higher education, including online rating systems at other institutions. An analysis of the advantages and challenges of end-of-term online student ratings will be provided. Additionally, a discussion of best practices as well as question formulation suggestions for summative evaluations will be presented. Hands-on training in the use of the tool will be a key component of this short course, and participants will have the opportunity to activate and add to an end-of term evaluation in their own courses using the online ratings software. |
