Last semester I used Facebook in my First Year Seminar (FYS) on a modern history of stereotypes about Asia and “the West.” Generally speaking, the class Facebook page became a community discussion board about campus events that related to the FYS’s broader themes of History, Asia, globalization, cultural studies, Orientalism, race, ethnicity, and social justice….
Category: Technology Fellows
Zooming into Language Acquisition
My current Japanese 400C provides students multiple opportunities to study collaboratively with the upper-level Japanese students at Mount Holyoke College (MHC), MA by using technologies. This course employs content and language integrated learning (CLIL) approach, and students are expected to gain the new knowledge about the Japanese language through the reading materials, which my friend at MHC has been developing….
Digital Literacy: Talking Teaching Recap (Part 2)
Following up on yesterday’s post, here are three more exciting topics of discussion raised at the Talking Teaching event this Tuesday, April 7, co-sponsored by the Technology Fellows Program and Information Services. Digital Technology and Collaboration/Communication Skills: How are we using technology to replace certain interpersonal interactions, and at what cost? A common assumption is…
Digital Literacy: Talking Teaching Recap (Part 1)
The Technology Fellows Program and Information Services department co-sponsored this Tuesday’s Talking Teaching event, which focused on the concept of the “digital native”–a term often applied to the Millennial who uses technologies with a fluency not afforded to preceding generations. Faculty shared their diverse experiences, successes, and concerns with digital encounters in their courses. Throughout…
Teaching with Tomatoes
Despite lingering snow on the ground, spring has officially begun. And that means tomatoes! Not the luscious red garden staple, but the productivity technique! The Pomodoro Technique is a proven and highly favored productivity aid. It helps to focus, avoid distractions, and get things done in short bursts. As explained on Lifehacker.com, The Pomodoro Technique was invented in…
Facing the Digital Divide
I was recently surprised when watching television at home I saw a commercial that uses the idea of “digital divide” as a means to attract new costumers. As I recall, a student, clearly from an underprivileged environment, walks back home talking about the concept of “digital divide”. He mentions that hiring a particular company will…
Use Evernote to Create a Clean pdf of Your Moodle Syllabus
This semester, I followed Anthony Graesch’s advice and moved my syllabus entirely online. For all the reasons he outlined in his post, the shift from a paper-and-Moodle syllabus to a Moodle-only syllabus has been successful, and I’ll continue to do this in all of my classes in the future. However, this week I encountered a problem: how…
Workshop Recap: Students as Digital Content Creators
Thank you to everyone who attended yesterdays workshop, Students as Digital Content Creators: Benefits and Pitfalls of Multimedia Assignments. A special thank you goes to Karen Gonzalez Rice and Suzuko Knott for sharing their ideas and experiences (good and bad!). For anyone unable to attend, here is a brief summary of the event. The idea…
Technology Fellows Deadline Approaching – Don’t Miss it!
The Tech Fellows program has created a space for engaging in stimulating conversations, risking new ideas, and thinking differently about my pedagogical goals. I’m grateful for the extra time and support for researching instructional technologies, absorbing and dialoguing with others about these possibilities, and implementing new ideas. – Karen Gonzalez Rice, 2014-15 Technology Fellow …
Workshop Recap: Technology Fellows Curricular Innovations III
Anthony Graesch focused his presentation on his Introduction to Archaeology class which enrolls about 30-40 students. Assignments in this class position students as primary data collectors. Hands-on research experience provides students with an in-depth understanding of the research process in which archaeologists are involved (similar to Ann Marie Davis’s assignment in History). In this case,…