Category: Events

LACOL 2020 Small Teaching Online Mini-Workshop

LACOL

Special Event

Webinar: Small Teaching Online with author Flower Darby
Author and Presenter: Flower Darby, Assistant Dean of Online and Innovative Pedagogies at Northern Arizona University
With Special Guest: Alison Cook-Sather, Professor of Education, Bryn Mawr College; Director, Teaching and Learning Institute
Date and Time: June 15, 11:00am – 12:30pm Eastern
Location: Zoom
Read it together: LACOL Virtual Reading Group – Small Teaching Online

 

A. Cook-Sather, Bryn Mawr College

Small teaching is a phrase coined by Professor James M. Lang to describe an incremental approach to improving instruction. In 2019, instructional designer Flower Darby and Lang teamed up to apply small teaching principles to the online realm.  The result of their collaboration is an essential volume for any educator: Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes.

As a highlight of the LACOL 2020 virtual workshop,  Darby will lead an online mini-workshop, exploring small steps with big impacts for students.

The book recommendation is excellent – a lot of useful suggestions which would take years to figure out.
                           -Dr. Natalia Toporikova, Washington and Lee University;
biology professor and online data science instructor, summer 2019, 2020

Establishing presence and social learning through multi-modal engagements and reflective meta-cognition are effective techniques for *any* class, both face-to-face and through the internet.  Communicating the underlying what, why and how of learning is especially important for online learning success.  And, like any important new skills, acquiring these capabilities takes planning and practice.

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LACOL 2020 Summer Data Science Panel

LACOL

Session: LACOL 2020 Summer Data Science Panel
Date and Time: June 22, 1:00pm-2:30pm Eastern
Discussion Leads: Ella Foster-Molina (Swarthmore College), Monika Hu (Vassar College), Moataz Khalifa (Washington and Lee University), Steven J. Miller (Williams College), Natalia Toporikova (Washington and Lee University)

Now in its second year, Introduction to Data Science is a fully-online summer class co-taught by a multi-campus LACOL team. The class is designed as a collaborative, socially relevant, discussion-oriented online classroom experience in the style of liberal arts colleges.

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Building Community Online – Lessons Learned from Carleton CUBE

LACOL

Session: Building Community Online – Lessons Learned from Carleton CUBE
Date and Time: June 19, 12:00pm-1:30pm Eastern
Lead: Melissa Eblen Zayas, Professor of Physics Director & Perlman Center for Learning and Teaching, Carleton College

Running annually since 2016, Carleton College’s CUBE program is a fully-online summer bridge experience designed to support entering students in developing their quantitative skills.  A great benefit of the program has been the discovery of numerous ways to build a sense of community among the online cohort and connect students to campus, before they arrive on campus.

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Bryn Mawr’s Blended Learning in the Liberal Arts – CFP is Open!

LACOL

cropped-blendlac_logo_resized-2CALL FOR PROPOSALS – submit by Feb 16!

Blended Learning in the Liberal Arts Conference at Bryn Mawr College, May 20-21, 2020.

Submissions are now open for the Blended Learning in the Liberal Arts Conference, to be held on May 20-21, 2020 at Bryn Mawr College. We are open to all topics related to blended learning in the liberal arts. Possible themes include:

  • Digital competencies, digital citizenship, and digital wellness
  • Experiential and service learning
  • Blended learning spaces, libraries and resource centers
  • Critical making
  • Emerging technologies
  • Task-based tech-mediated learning
  • Assistive technology and accessibility
  • Blended learning beyond the single course
  • Diversity, equity, and inclusion in blended experiences

Submit by Feb. 16, 2019 at brynmawr.edu/blendedlearning/conference. Contact Jennifer Spohrer at blendedlearning@brynmawr.edu with questions.

Follow @BlendLAC

 

Data Science in the Liberal Arts Workshop (June 2019)

LACOL

Event: Data Science in the Liberal Arts
Date & Location: June 6-7, 2019 at Washington and Lee University
Workshop Goals:

  • Agenda & Program (Background and Purpose)
  • Establishing a Think Tank on Data Science in the Liberal Arts
  • Taking hands on approaches to curating, developing, and sharing liberal arts pedagogies and teaching materials for data science that broadly engage and support our students across the disciplines.

Attendees: members and friends of the LACOL DS+ working group

Scroll down for workshop resources, slides, and video gallery

Keynote Talk:

Data Journalism as a Liberal Art
Prof. Amelia McNamara
Department of Computer & Information Sciences
University of St. Thomas

One of the main ways the general public encounters products of data analysis is through journalism. Data journalists strive to explain complex stories using visualization, statistics, and heavy use of contextualization. As we incorporate data science into the liberal arts, data journalism provides a case study as a field in which the sciences and the humanities are consciously linked. In this talk, I’ll discuss the history of data journalism, how I see it fitting into a liberal arts framework, and experiences from a class I taught on data journalism.

A. McNamara SLIDES

More Workshop Talks and Resources:

1. R. DeVeaux – Data Science for All? 

2. L. Heyer – Starting a Data Science Minor

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Cultivating Student Leadership in a More Inclusive Liberal Arts Classroom

LACOL

Mini-Conference: Cultivating Student Leadership to Foster a More Inclusive Liberal Arts Classroom
Location: Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning (Frost Library)
Date: April 5, 2019
Agenda: Student Leadership – April 5 Agenda
Invited Speaker: Bryan Dewsbury, University of Rhode Island
amherst CTLHost: Amherst College Center for Teaching and Learning in partnership with Being Human in STEM and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion Read More

Sensemaker Team Data Review – April 4 at Amherst College

LACOL

Event: Exploring Complexity through Student Micro-Narratives with Sensemaker
Host: Sensemaker Team Leads (Kristen Eshleman, Brent Maher, Annie Sadler, Paul Youngman)
Date: April 4
Time: 1:00pm-5:00pm (optional group lunch at 12:00pm; details tba)
Location: The Powerhouse, Amherst College
Attendees: Sensemaker Teams (Davidson, Hamilton, Haverford, Washington & Lee)
Sensemaker: http://lacol.net/category/collaborations/projects/inclusive-pedagogies
Project Website: http://emergentedu.org

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Language Instruction Jam 2019

LACOL

BMC JamEvent: Language Instruction Jam
Location: Bryn Mawr College, Canaday Library
Date: March 23-24
Agenda: Language Jam Agenda
Attendees: Language Instruction working group and project teams

Full agenda & highlights:

  • CHIANTI: Ample time devoted to collaborative workshopping on CHIANTI, the shared teaching resource for college-level language instruction; participants will explore the resources that have been gathered so far (including student and faculty reflection videos on liberal arts language learning), brainstorm on ideas for the emerging platform, and work on building additional content.
  • SKILLS DASHBOARD: Demonstration and brainstorming on the language skills question bank and dashboard prototype – initially developed for French last year, with future possibilities for other languages.
  • DIGITAL TOOLS for LANGUAGE LEARNING: Colleagues across LACOL shared experiences with digital pedagogies and tools for language instruction. 

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Local and Global Decisions: Digital Competency Initiatives, Development and Assessment

LACOL

Event: Pre-Conference Liberal Arts Workshop at ELI (Session)
Title: Local and Global Decisions: Digital Competency Initiatives, Development and Assessment
Date: February 19, 2019
Venue: EDUCAUSE ELI Annual Conference
Location: Anaheim, California
Registration: Opens Nov 5
Time: 8am-11am PT
Facilitators:

  • Donnie Sendelbach, Director of Educational Technology Services, Denison University
  • Jennifer Spohrer, Director of Educational Technology, Bryn Mawr College
  • Mo Pelzel, Director of Academic Technology, Grinnell College
  • Ted Wilder, Associate Director of Information Technology, Macalester College
  • Liz Evans, Director of Liberal Arts Collaborative for Digital Innovation (LACOL)
  • Ed Finn, Liaison for Innovation and Collaboration in Teaching and Learning, Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM)

Abstract: Digital competency initiatives begin from shared global objectives but must adapt to local culture and structures to succeed. Collaboration helps define needs and goals, but how can we collaboratively assess programs that adopt intensely local variations? In this pre-conference workshop, we will present multiple examples of program development with overlapping goals. After examining existing efforts on attendees’ campuses, they will develop plans for their own initiatives, considering local circumstances. We will then brainstorm with participants about how to collaboratively assess the impact of digital competency initiatives. Moreover, we will determine what evidence of impact would be meaningful to different stakeholders.

Workshop Instas & Tweets! #LACOL2018

LACOL

Consortium-wide workshop at Carleton College, May 31-June 1, 2018. Browse the page below to see tweets (TWEETS); and see photos (INSTAS) from the #LACOL2018 workshop.

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G. Siemens Keynote
The future of learning and knowledge: Human and artificial intelligence

LACOL

Session: The future of learning and knowledge: Human and artificial intelligence
Date/Time: Thursday, May 31st, 11:00am-12:00pm
Presentation File: LACOL2018_SiemensKeynote_5-31-18.pdf 

WATCH: (60 min)

George Siemens
Dr. George Siemens

LACOL welcomes George Siemens as keynote speaker at the 2018 LACOL Workshop.

Dr. Siemens researches, technology, networks, analytics, and openness in education. Dr. Siemens is Professor and Executive Director of the Learning Innovation and Networked Knowledge Research Lab (LINK) at University of Texas, Arlington. He leads the development of the Center for Change and Complexity in Learning (C3L) at University of South Australia. He has delivered keynote addresses in more than 35 countries on the influence of technology and media on education, organizations, and society. His work has been profiled in provincial, national, and international newspapers (including NY Times), radio, and television. He has served as PI or Co-PI on grants funded by NSF, SSHRC (Canada), Intel, Boeing, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Soros Foundation.  He has received numerous awards, including honorary doctorates from Universidad de San Martín de Porres and Fraser Valley University for his pioneering work in learning, technology, and networks. He holds an honorary professorship with University of Edinburgh.

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Panel: Teaching Online in the Liberal Arts

LACOL

Session: Teaching Online in the Liberal Arts
Panelists:

  • Melissa Eblen-Zayas, Professor of Physics and Director, Perlman Center for Learning and Teaching, Carleton College
  • Erland Stevens, Professor of Chemistry, Davidson College
  • Chad Topaz, Professor of Mathematics, Williams College

Facilitator: Janet Russell, Director of Academic Technology, Carleton College

WATCH

How is online teaching and learning relevant for small residential liberal arts colleges?

In this panel, three faculty members with hands-on experience teaching online tell their stories and engage in a dialogue with colleagues across the consortium.  How might these insights help us build a vision for online teaching and learning that aligns with the core mission of our institutions?

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LACOL 2018 Teaching with Tech ⚡Lightning⚡and (((Thunder))) Round

LACOL

Session: Teaching with Tech ⚡Lightning⚡ and (((Thunder))) Round
Date/Time: Thursday, May 31, NOON – 1:30pm (over lunch)

In the lightning round, LACOL faculty and staff will share an idea or demo – JUST FIVE MINUTES OR LESS – on a digital tool or teaching technique.  Some presentations are flipped – see videos below – so that more time can be devoted to discussion – that’s the thunder.

Lineup and Video Gallery – Watch!

Long term Collaborative Class – Carleton & Addis Ababa U.

Deborah Gross, Professor of Chemistry, Carleton College

Using video conferencing, chemistry students at Carleton College and Addis Ababa University are working together on projects, meeting together via video approximately once per week. This presentation shares the successes and challenges of teaching and learning in a globally connected classroom.

https://youtu.be/1Kekw1HGpoQ
Highlighting Digital Tools for 3 Data Science Skills

Ella Foster-Molina, Social Sciences Quantitative Laboratory Associate, Swarthmore College

The Social Sciences Quantitative Laboratory at Swarthmore College has developed a series of workshops designed to develop data analysis skills. These workshops rely heavily on a variety of digital tools to allow students to interact with, be amused by, and engage the theory behind data. This talk highlights a few digital tools used to teach: (1) theory building, (2) p-hacking, and (3) programming. All links included in the video can be found here.

https://youtu.be/Y7hq7Gg_F4I

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LACOL2018 Workshop Contest 🏆

LACOL
Grand Prize winner Prof. M. Hu from Vassar College
Grand Prize winner Monika Hu

Congratulations to our three LACOL 2018 contest winners!

🎉 Prof. Deborah Gross, Carleton College
🎉 Prof. Stephen Strand, Carleton College
🎉 Prof. Jingchen Hu, Vassar College

Amazingly, all three contestants tied for 1st place in the initial round of voting. Upon further deliberation, Profs. Gross and Strand graciously awarded the grand prize –  The Little Prompter – to Prof. Hu.

Many thanks to Dann Hurlbert, Carleton’s Media and Design Specialist and inventor of The Little Prompter for sharing his expertise and fantastic gadgetry with the workshop.

And, thanks to *everyone* who took part in the contest. Your creativity and good humor was remarkable. All entries will be be shared with LACOL’s advisory councils. Stay tuned for further results of this intriguing deliberation.

Measuring Complex Domains for the Liberal Arts

LACOL

Session: Measuring Complex Domains for the Liberal Arts (Inclusive Pedagogies) with Sensemaker
Resources:
⇒ Project site: https://emergentedu.org
⇒ About Sensemaker: http://cognitive-edge.com/sensemaker/#sensemaker-about
Leads:
⇒ Kristen Eshleman, Director of Digital Innovation, Davidson College
⇒ Brent Maher, Director of Academic Assessment, Davidson College
⇒ Annie Sadler, Instructional Design Fellow, Davidson College
⇒ Paul Youngman, Prof. of German, Chair, Digital Humanities, Washington & Lee University

WATCH!  Intro video (15 min)

https://youtu.be/sLCjhu4M-N8

Innovations in assessment can directly address a key challenge for our institutions – demonstrating our value in a time of increasing skepticism about the liberal arts.

On April 27, Davidson College and Washington & Lee University hosted a LACOL workshop to explore an assessment tool and method called  Sensemaker that has the potential to manage and account for the complex domains of learning.  Pursuing a research design as a network of allied liberal arts institutions provides evidence at scale while building capacity for experimentation and innovation at each of our institutions.  Read More