Author: LACOL

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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Digital Asia special issue highlights Universal Design for Learning and college collections

LACOL
Prof. Erin Schoneveld, Haverford College
co-editor Digital Asia

The ASIANetwork Exchange recently published a special issue titled Digital Asia which expands upon the pedagogical research presented at the 25th Annual ASIANetwork Conference, “Digital and Beyond: Ways of Knowing Asia.” Co-edited by Prof. Erin Schoneveld (Haverford College), several articles in this volume explore the productive relationship between digital technology and Universal Design for Learning (UDL.)

ASIANetwork’s theme of “Digital Asia” highlights a wide range of approaches used to represent and examine rapid economic, social, political, and environmental changes and their impacts on Asian cultures. These methods are comprised of both traditional academic disciplines as well as digital technologies that simultaneously allow for the preservation of existing information as well as the creation and sharing of new data, texts, and images resulting in original ways of analyzing and constructing Asia. Within this context, these articles also examine the productive relationship between digital technology and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UDL offers strategies for faculty to design curricula that stimulate interest in differentiating the ways students are able express what they know.

Prof. Schoneveld’s article, Japanese Modernism Across Media, examines the pedagogical benefits of implementing a semester-long digital curation project using the open-source web-publishing platform Omeka Classic. This digital curation project was supported by Haverford College Library and Mike Zarafonetis, Coordinator of Digital Scholarship and Research Services. Schoneveld’s colleagues Prof. Shiamin Kwa and Anna-Alexandra Fodde-Reguer, Research and Instruction Librarian, in the Haverford and Bryn Mawr (Bi-College) East Asian Languages and Culture Department contributed the article, The Chinese Poster Project: EALC Pedagogy and Digital Media, which highlights Haverford College Library’s fantastic collection of Chinese political posters held in Special Collections.

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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.

Digital Competencies Working Group

LACOL

The LACOL Digital Competencies Working Group has formed to build on prior work related to Digital Competencies, Digital Studies, Digital Fluency, and Digital Literacy.  These terms cover a group of related concepts, all of which reflect concepts and skills that are vital to the 21st Century learner and citizen … what we might call Digital Agility.

New Publication:
Digital Agility: Embracing a Holistic Approach to Digital Literacy in the Liberal Arts
by Beth Bohstedt and Sundi Richard (Jan 8, 2020, EDUCAUSEreview, Transforming Higher Ed.)   This post, co-authored by Sundi and Beth, developed out of ongoing working group discussions in 2019.

The goals of the working group are to make concrete progress on ideas develop at the 2017 Think Tank and 2018 discussions.  LACOL members are invited to join the group; reach out for more information!

  • Group members include faculty, librarians, technologists, instructional designers.
  • A top priority is adjusting the language of the Bryn Mawr Framework to fit individual/collective needs of our schools. Major elements of the Bryn Mawr framework are:
    • Digital Survival Skills
    • Digital Communication
    • Data Management and Preservation
    • Data Analysis and Presentation
    • Critical Making, Design and Development
  • Another priority is developing a shared survey of recent grads on their acquisition, use, and needs for digital competencies.
  • Some in the group will engage with liberal arts research around competencies that are critical to the future of work – what fits and what are the disconnects?
  • These ingredients will be used to engage with faculty more deeply in student-centered digital competency conversations and collaborations.

Roadmap:

JANUARY 2019 – Create a statement about using the Bryn Mawr Digital Competencies Framework as the starting point for developing institution specific frameworks. Read More

Webinar: Data Science on ramps and scaffolds (Nov 9)

LACOL

Event: Data Science: On ramps and scaffolds
Location: ZOOM web conference
Date: Friday, November 9
Time: 1:00-2:00pm Eastern
Discussion Leads: 
⇒ Ming-Wen An, Assoc. Professor of Statistics, Vassar College
⇒ Ella Foster-Molina, Teaching Associate, Quantitative Skills Laboratory, Swarthmore College

Prework:

Related Event: Envisioning a “What is data science?” webinar for students (Oct 1, 2018)

Description: Following on from the lively July webinar focused on the NAS Data Science for Undergraduates report (nap.edu/25104), LACOL DS+ members are invited to join a follow up webinar .

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Inclusive Pedagogies – Assessment Design Jam at Davidson College

LACOL

Event: Inclusive Pedagogies – Sensemaker Assessment Design Jamwork with stories
Location: Davidson College
Date: October 18, 2018
Leads: 

  • Kristen Eshleman, Director of Digital Innovation, Davidson College
  • Brent Maher, Director of Academic Assessment, Davidson College
  • Annie Sadler, Digital Design Fellow, Davidson College
  • Paul Youngman, Associate Provost and Professor of German, Washington & Lee University

Agenda: https://emergentedu.org

Envisioning a “What is data science?” webinar (Oct 1)

LACOL

Event: Envisioning a “What is data science?” webinar for students
Location: ZOOM web conference
Date: Monday, October 1
Time: 12:00 – 1:00 pm Eastern
Discussion Leads: 
⇒ Deborah Gross, Professor of Chemistry, Carleton College
⇒ Helen White, Assoc. Professor of Chemistry and Environmental Studies, Haverford College

Prework: add your topic ideas HERE

Related Event: Data Science on ramps and scaffolds (Nov 9, 2018)

Description: Following on from the lively July webinar focused on the NAS Data Science for Undergraduates report (nap.edu/25104), LACOL DS+ members are invited to join a follow up webinar.
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Meet the Liberal Arts Collaborative for Digital Innovation (LACOL)

LACOL

Yes, we changed our name!

Recently and for a while, stakeholders across our membership have agreed that the original name – Liberal Arts Consortium for Online Learning – only partly aligned with our current work, shared goals, and mission.  After some deliberation, a name change was unanimously endorsed by our Faculty and Leadership Councils this fall.

Luckily, with our new name, LIBERAL ARTS COLLABORATIVE for Digital Innovation, we keep our familiar acronym: LACOL.

FACING INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS

LACOL

How important is it for instructors to include their own faces when creating instructional videos? The answer might surprise you. Dann Hurlbert, Carleton College’s Media & Design Guru (and an actor, director, and inventor of the Little Prompter) leans on research and his own expertise to offer guidance.

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After MERLOT? CHIANTI.

LACOL

Update on the shared grammar resource, summer 2018.

Convened by Chico Zimmerman and Clara Hardy (Carleton College), about a dozen faculty and technologists met at the workshop to make progress on ideas that emerged from several separate Zoom meetings in the two months preceding the conference. Eventually, the discussions centered on three main elements to focus on moving forward in the near term:

  • A set of videos featuring LACOL language instructors and students reflecting on the college-level language-learning experience. These videos will be available for sharing with all LACOL institutions by the end of the summer (see next bullet).
  • A self-curated online digital library of shareable resources for LACOL language instructors, for which a proof-of-concept site has been created and tentatively named CHIANTI (as a more appealing version of MERLOT). The (currently WordPress) site would allow for submissions from LACOL language instructors and would be searchable by category and tags. The initial categories will be in the area of:
    • General tips for college-level language learning, including research on adult L2 acquisition
    • English grammar for L2 learners, including models or maps that integrate all aspects of language
    • Phonology
  • An interactive glossary of grammatical and linguistic terms from which instructors can draw for their own pedagogical purposes and to which they can contribute their own definitions and examples.

The CHIANTI site will continue to be built through the summer and populated with some initial resources for testing. A prototype submission form has been drafted and will be tested and finalized through the summer as well.  The group will be soliciting contributions once these elements are finalized.
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CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO

LACOL

Dann Hurlbert and Palmar Alvarez-Blanco at Carleton College recently co-taught Spanish 206, a course focused on developing language skills with native speakers and fostering civic engagement–while also giving something tangible back to the community. Students in this course worked with under-represented local organizations to help them create a “participatory videos” (short documentaries) to help tell each organization’s story. In addition to having students create video as a portion of their coursework, Dann also used instructional videos to teach and guide the learning. Dann created a successful Moodle-based micro-course that can now be easily replicated and plugged into a multitude of courses in which the faculty member hopes to tie Civic Engagement with his/her own course content, and video production.

Here’s a short video that offers a peek into the course and this engaging instructional method:

https://vimeo.com/academictechnology/instructionalvideoandspan206

*Note: this sample video includes short selections from the following films: Bacon and God’s Wrath by Sol Friedman and Sarah Clifford-Rashotte; Godka Circa by Antonio Tibaldi and Alex Lora; Damon at 86th Street by Emily Sheskin, and the Price of Certainty by Daniele Anastasion.

For more information on how you and your institution can use this technique and these materials to foster civic engagement in your courses, contact Dann at dhurlbert@carleton.edu

Data Science for Undergraduates: Opportunities and Options … a liberal arts conversation

LACOL

Event: Discussion of the NAS Data Science for Undergraduates Report
Location: ZOOM web conference
Date: Thursday, July 12
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Eastern
Discussion Leader: Professor Nicholas Horton, Amherst College

Following on from the lively Data Science meets Environmental Studies meet up at the 2018 LACOL summer workshop, LACOL members are invited to join an online conversation to discuss faculty perspectives on the newly released Data Science for Undergraduates: Opportunities and Options report from the National Academies of Science. (More about the NAS report is here: http://nap.edu/25104)

Discussion of the report through a liberal arts lens will be lead by Dr. Nick Horton, Professor of Statistics at Amherst College.  Nick served as contributor to the report on the Committee on Envisioning the Data Science Discipline: the Undergraduate Perspective.   As he and colleagues at the summer workshop note, there is considerable potential to engage with each other as liberal arts colleges around curriculum development (see ASA Guideline, developed with AALAC) and other ways to support students learning to work with data.

Faculty and academic support specialists interested in data science education across the curriculum are encouraged to join this conversation!

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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