Faculty are exploring Apple’s new IPad Pro and its companion Pencil for teaching, presenting, grading and even classroom activities. Initially prompted by a faculty member in Swarthmore’s French section, Technologist Alexander Savoth has been exploring various ways to incorporate these new technologies into the classroom. The following video is a brief screencast, which highlights three particularly useful apps.
At the June LACOL workshop, Swarthmore Classics Professor William Turpin gave a presentation during the Adaptive Learning breakout on his investigations into various digital tools to support students with learning and practice of Latin and Greek. As shown in the short slideshow below, Turpin is experimenting with platforms such as Fluenz and Smart Sparrow which offer a variety of modes for presenting interactive content and adaptive drills to students.
Alongside presentations from two other speakers in the session, Turpin’s experiments sparked a robust Q&A on the useful applications for supporting student learning through adaptive tools, and also concerns regarding data and content portability when considering the use of proprietary software. It is clear that the promises and potential pitfalls of adaptive learning for the liberal arts will remain a keen focus of interest for the Consortium.
https://youtu.be/c3A7XRqExLc
Slides (no audio) from William Turpin’s investigations into adaptive tools for Latin learning.
At the June LACOL workshop, Associate Professor of Chemistry Casey Londergan demonstrated his techniques for flipping the chemistry classroom as part of a multi-disciplinary panel on faculty and student experiences with online, blended and active learning.
In a Physical Chemistry class primarily for juniors, Londergan and his colleague Joshua Schrier have experimented with a mixture of just-in-time and active learning techniques with their students in order to maximize the use of class time for problem solving work. Content delivery through readings and videos happens mostly through the LMS so more active learning can happen in the classroom. Modular videos allow students to re-watch sections of the lecture. Pre-class questions in the LMS also help Londergan adjust each class to focus on the areas where students have the most questions.
For students, the active classroom learning design pushes them to focus and improve in the most challenging areas. Using a tablet and stylus linked wirelessly to the projector, Londergan is free to move around the class and help individual students and groups get “unstuck” as they work on problems together.
https://youtu.be/yiOltLpJN-4
Prof. Casey Londergan demonstrates his flipped chemistry classroom at Haverford.
At the LACOL workshop in June, classicist Chico Zimmerman from Carleton College shared a short plenary talk entitled, “Toward a better Latin placement test”, also known as, “A Tale of Two Arcadian Friends, a Homocidal Innkeeper, and a Pile of Manure.”
In their teaching, faculty strive to meet students where they are, but often must ask, where exactly ARE they? For incoming students at Carleton, the Classics department found that their Latin placement test was not giving enough granular diagnostic information, especially for less experienced students. To address this need, Zimmerman and his colleages are investigating a variety of adaptive tools and platforms with the potential to help them better understand and guide their students at the appropriate level.
In the video clip below, Zimmerman shares details on Carleton’s experiments thus far with Moodle, Assistments, Smart Sparrow, and other tools. Similar themes of adaptive and digitally-enhanced support for language instruction and other disciplines were explored in sessions throughout the two-day workshop program.
https://youtu.be/kgJF_IgiXB8
Chico Zimmerman explores tools for better language placement at the LACOL workshop.
This talk also related to remarks in the Adaptive Learning breakout session, particularly William Turpin’s presentation on adaptive tools for Latin.
At the June LACOL workshop, Ben Ho, a behavioral economist and faculty member at Vassar College, presents several ways that online games inspire his students to learn through modeling of real data in the classroom. New pedagogies in the field of economics allow for a more experimental approaches that can lead to deeper understanding. For example, participatory games and simulations that use student-generated can add an emotional component that enriches some of the traditional and more mathematically-based modeling techniques.
Ho particularly likes a web-based software platform called MobLab that can be used on a smartphone which most students have in their pockets. This makes it easy to incorporate the online games with learning in the classroom. Watch the short video below for more details from Prof. Ho on the power of games for teaching and learning.
https://youtu.be/dOop1vzm708
Video: Behavioral economist Ben Ho presents at LACOL 2016
In Saturday’s plenary session at the 2016 LACOL workshop, Instructional Designer hari stephen kumar from Amherst College illuminated a key workshop theme: what are new pedagogical frameworks that can help us integrate place-based and digital learning in positive ways for the liberal arts? Kumar explores three emerging practices which can transform the learning and teaching in small residential liberal arts settings:
• deep(er) learning as a disruptive liberal art
• threshold concepts and limnal learning
• inclusive pedagogies
Kumar goes on to consider other high-impact practices and emerging ideas in pedagogy that have the potential for reshaping liberal arts education to better serve a wider population and to tackle complex global challenges. Watch the video and download the linked slides from hari’s presentation below.
Video: hari stephen kumar plenary talk June 17th at the LACOL workshop
DOWNLOAD: H. Kumar LACOL Plenary Slides
A major highlight of Saturday’s plenary session at the June LACOL workshop was a presentation from Carleton College on their new online/hybrid bridge program called ‘Carleton Undergraduate Bridge Experience’ or CUBE. Associate Dean and Professor of English George Shuffelton opened the session with some background on the motivations for designing the new program to support incoming students with their quantitative skills and reasoning which pilots this summer. Director of Academic Technology Janet Russell has worked closely with the program’s director, Physicist Melissa Eblen-Zayas, and the Carleton IT team to guide the learning design for the first cohort of ~24 students. Janet described various elements of the program, including on-campus and online mentoring, videos and connections through social media. Workshop participants, especially those involved with the Quantitative Skills working group, applauded this excellent presentation and are excited to learn from Carleton’s initial experiences this summer. The QS group is exploring various ways the colleges might collaborate to support students with quantitative skills and reasoning as they arrive on campus and progress with their studies.
https://youtu.be/LaNmJ1OBQzY
Carleton’s G. Shuffelton and J. Russell share a look at the CUBE for QS/QR.
Greetings and thank you to the more than 70 faculty, staff, students and friends who journeyed to Haverford College for the two-day Consortium-wide workshop on June 17th and 18th. Read the full workshop report for details. Here is a slideshow which captures a few moments of #LACOL2016 fun and ideas.
LACOL hosted a Consortium-wide workshop on June 17-18, 2016 on the campus of Haverford College. Browse the posts on this page for details on the program, videos and workshop resources.
| Full conference schedule: View Program Workshop Attendees: Contact List2016 Workshop Materials
Collaboration Tools and Documents |
|---|
1. The Consortium as incubator for learning research and effective pedagogies
2. Student perspectives on digital approaches and online/blended learning
3. From high school to college; preparing and supporting our students
4. Techniques and tools for collaboration, how can we work together?
5. LACOL working groups – team meetings and presentations
World-renowned open learning pioneer Dr. Candace M. Thille (Stanford University) delivered a captivating keynote address on the campus of Haverford College on Saturday, June 18th. This talk was a major highlight on the program of LACOL2016, a two-day, consortium-wide workshop organized by LACOL. In her remarks, Dr. Thille shared thoughtful and provocative commentary on the opportunities and risks ahead as we move further into the blended, digital future of teaching and learning for the liberal arts. She invited faculty, staff and students at small liberal arts colleges to engage and contribute to shaping a more positive, open and transparent future.
Speaker: Dr. Candace Thille, Stanford University
Keynote Talk: The Science of Learning, Technology, and Student Success in Liberal Education
Date: Saturday, June 18th
Time: 11:30am-12:30pm
Location: Stokes Auditorium on the campus of Haverford College
https://youtu.be/QQhTbXgcYyI
Candace Thille Keynote, “The Science of Learning, Technology, and Student Success in Liberal Education” LACOL 2016, June 18, 2016 at Haverford College
https://youtu.be/HzEgm7-hGWc
Q&A with Candace Thille: algorithms, feedback and measuring the unmeasurable
Traveling to LACOL2016? Haverford College is located just west of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Campus is easily accessible by car, train, and taxi, and is located about 30-45 minutes from Philadelphia International Airport.
Haverford College
370 Lancaster Avenue
Haverford, PA 19041
(610) 896-1000
For travelers flying into PHL, options for getting to Haverford Campus include:
Here are the recommended places to stay for the June 2016 LACOL Workshop. Please indicate your choice as you register for the workshop.
RECOMMENDED: Haverford Residence Hall. Participants can reserve a room (or rooms) to stay in the Haverford College residence halls (Kim Hall or Tritton Hall, pictured above) located immediately adjacent to the workshop. The charge for a single room per night is $50US.
Important Note: All rooms in the residence halls are singles with a shared hall bathroom and shower (approximately 5 rooms per hall.)
Hotels near the College (short driving distance)
RECOMMENDED: Radnor Hotel
(4 miles off campus)
591 East Lancaster Avenue
St. Davids, PA 19087
Phone: (610) 688-5800
From out of town: (800) 537-3000
www.radnorhotel.com
Marriott Philadelphia West, West Conshohocken (6 miles)
111 Crawford Avenue
West Conshohocken, PA 19428
Phone: (610) 941-5600
From out of town: (800) 237-3639
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/phlwe-philadelphia-marriott-west/
Residence Inn by Marriott, Conshohocken (4 miles)
191 Washington Street
Conshohocken, PA 19428
Phone: (610) 828-8800
From out of town: (800) 331-3131
www.conshohockenresidenceinn.com
Philadelphia Center City Hotels (10-12 miles, take SEPTA rail to Haverford Stn)
Hampton Inn Philadelphia Center City-Convention Center
1301 Race Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Phone: (215) 665-9100
From out of town: (800) HAMPTON
http://www.hamptoninn.com/en/hp/hotels/index.jhtml?ctyhocn=PHLCVHX
Read More
■ Multicampus Microlearning 2023
SHARED CLASSES - SUMMER 2023
■ Applied Machine Learning
■ Digital Humanities
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