Learning Spaces (UD)

Seems that the key to this session is FLEXIBLE SPACES.

Kent State is also doing a similar project: especially the learning commons context.

UD: Ohio's largest private university, 95% residential, quite community oriented (like MC),

They have a "green classroom." woulndt' this be a gret way to integrate community and living for environmental sciences?

DEEP (George Kuh)"
Livinfg mission
focus on stud. learning
pathywas to success
envornments
improvement oriented ethos
Shared responsiblity

Barr and Tagg (1995): I need to look up their work!! Switching from a teaching model to a learning model.

Space matters, and how we develop space matters!

We need to consciously think about how we use Learning Spaces (nee Classrooms).

community-centerted planning in the building process:

• invite stakeholders


• have a patient and talented leader


• understanding differences in perspective


• open space for honesty


• eliminate roadblocks to team learning


• balance for patience and performance

From hallways to pathways

Evolution from classreoom to studie to learning complexes (how rooms relate)

Questin for student and faculty: "WHat would be the ideal learning space?" Note to self: Focus group? Perhaps talk to Liane about a focus group?

Note to self: FDC selects courses to be taught in the studio classrooms--great idea!

it's an improtant shift to learning per square foot.


CORE program: way to take GenEd courses around a theme(interdisciplinary). Has some learning community components, as well as flexible scheduling. They are expanding the learning communities beyond the CORE program.

It's about blurring the line between in-class and out-of-class learning.

Technology also assists in blurring/expanding the learning environments.

Dr. Wright is lecturing less, yet the students are learning more.

Creating new ways of learning. Technology is an important part fo that.

They are changing the model of teaching and learning from a model of transmission (faculty--->students) into a recursive situation in which students and teachers are learning from each other, and from the ones in other roles.

Hide technology so that it doesn't walk away.




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Service Learning, Authentic Learning

Cristie shared her work developing service learning-based courses. While she did not directly address technology or learning at a distance, service learning is one example of creating the authentic learning experiences John Seely Brown reminded us that students crave.

How can we add technology to the service learning experience to deepen the learning and enhance the service? Reflection through blogs? Community wikis?

Here is a link to an annotated bibliography she put together.

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Service Learning

Problem-based learning

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Great point, and one that can't be too often emphasized: Let the teaching drive the technology, not vice versa. Focus on creating valuable learning experiences for the students.

The principles of online instructional design that Bonnie's postulating now are pretty doggone similar to Chickering and Gamson (1986). It may be "old" research, but it's still the most relevant, and really the only things that we know absolutely for sure from a quantitative standpoint.

Here is a link to the problem-based learning modules online: http://infowizard.lms.kent.edu I love the fact that they're using PBL across the curriculum, and not just in the medical field.

Yay! The PowerPoint will be up, and they've done an excellent job of grounding PBL and aligning it with principles of good practice (PGP).

Another thing I like about this is that the modules are unified into a session, but that they can also be disaggregated (such as the Rules and Regulations module on proper citation) and used by other courses. I love the fact that folks are making items granular enough to be used as true learning objects.

Reflection for traditional students using PBL: can this work and how can it work well?


Hmmm... if they're doing group research, might a wiki work well? Just a thought....

The Power of Scooby Snacks

The team from OSU gave a really fun presentation this morning. They used the characters and situations in the cartoons we grew up watching as a way of seeing the many challenges of teaching and learning with technology.

My favorite analogy is Wiley Coyote. The hapless predator continued to rely on technology (and the same ACME vendor!) instead of his own innate intelligence.

We were impressed with how many details we could recall from the cartoons. That speaks to the power of using culturally familiar and relevant language to express our ideas. Remember that when teaching the Net Generation.

There was so much more I can't begin to capture here with the same spirit as the session. I guess what I appreciate most about this session was the chance to talk about our work in a fun but meaningful way by adopting an unconventional frame of reference to make meaning out of our work. It was a refreshing escape from the jargon and mental models we work with every day. And doing so opened some mental doorways to see our work with a fresh light.


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Cartoons

Fostering Learning: An Adjunct Faculty Development Model

Technorati Tags: ODCE Wow! Some schools have a lot of adjuncts. then again, when I was adjuncting, there were some pretty high numbers of adjuncts in the schools where I worked.

Good idea: professional development evenings once per quarter (with dinner!!) so that they get at least some faculty development. Also a good way to get folks introduced to support personnel on campus.

Best practices in development: Feed them, pay them, have mentors, have online resources, treat the same way as Ft, workshop funds, website, target them MORE, put announcments in mailboxes.

Challenges for development: Time, pay, institutional commitment.

Process for adjunct advancement.
Orientation every quarter. (letter in contract)
Workshops every quarter.
Virtual faculty lounge.
Self-development plan for adjuncts (encouraged but not required)
THEN they may be eligible for promotion (more $$$$)

Professional development plan is developed in first quarter and implemented in second quarter.

What works:
orientation (especially for bonding reasons; lateral network)
workshops
learning commons
assimilation into institution (I think we do a good job abou that anyway)
Virtual faculty lounge (wouldn't it serve our adjuncts well if we could do this on a statewide shared level?)

Proposals:
Online new adjunct oreintation
Adjunct fauclty virtual lounge

Thats' what I love about this experience: I always get great collaborative ideas!

Thanks Cathy and Brenda!