We’ve set up a special email address so that you can contact our traveling IDSes! Just send an email to ids@ma.psu.edu and they’ll all receive a copy of your request.
Brian, Heather, and Jeff will be visiting again on Wednesday, October 17, from 9 am to 2 pm. They’ll be available for a meet and greet in the upstairs Library conference room for a good portion of the day. This team hopes to meet faculty and have discussion to better discern faculty needs. Here’s a short list of technologies/interests their group can help with:
Penn State Supported Services:
Voicethread
Blogs
E-Portfolio
Clickers
Streaming Server
ANGEL
Other areas of interest:
Classroom Assessment
iPad as a classroom tool (Doceri)
Educational Research
Yammer
Would you like to know more about them?
Brian has been working within Education Technology Services consulting with faculty for a number of years at Penn State. His main focus has been technologies used for classroom teaching, such as clickers, and iPad projection (Doceri). Prior to coming to Penn State, Brian has worked as a middle school History teacher, has developed curriculum for an online high school. Brian has also worked at the University of South Carolina assisting in the development of an online Public Health Training Center. He earned a Masters degree in Instructional Technology as well as his Secondary education History degree from Bloomsburg University.
Heather is completing her Ph.D. in Art Education at Penn State, where she studies activity in a large-scale online social network. Heather also has several years of experience as an instructor and instructional designer at Penn State. She has taught both online and residence courses and managed a University art gallery. Most recently, Heather worked at Education Technology Services on research and pilot studies of new education technologies.
Here’s the announcement that describes their objectives in working with us:
“Education Technology Services (ETS), a unit of Teaching and Learning with Technology within Information Technology Services, is happy to announce it is now offering pedagogical consulting services to instructors located at the Commonwealth Campuses. Beginning with the fall 2012 semester, two instructional designers will be available to assist instructors interested in using technology to improve the teaching and learning experience.
The primary mission of ETS is to provide leadership and support in the appropriate use of technology for teaching, learning, and research. By trade, our instructional designers work with instructors with the design of a new course or to modify an existing course by assisting with the arrangement of content and how it is delivered to the students. The goal is to help improve student performance by designing a course where the acquisition of the required knowledge and skills are optimized by creating a learning experience that is both appealing and productive.
Instructional Designers Brian Young and Heather Hughes are available to consult with instructors on good teaching practices potentially involving the use of technology. Both Heather and Brian have a long history of success working with instructors with the utilization of technology to improve instruction. Instructors at the Commonwealth Campuses are encouraged to contact Heather and Brian for consulting assistance on any number of technology tools including, but not limited to, our more mature technologies such as ANGEL, Adobe Connect, blogs, and podcasts as well as the newer and more experimental technologies such as Yammer, Doceri, and clickers. Heather and Brian are available to consult with instructors remotely via telephone, email, or other collaborative tools. They will also periodically visit your campus for group sessions covering multiple topics.
Please note, ETS is able to provide consulting services and is not able to support with the building and maintenance of a course. It is recommended that instructors work with their existing support team, instructional designers, multi-media specialists, teaching assistants, IT and help desk support as they are the best and most efficient way for your immediate needs to be met. Instructors should continue following the established support protocols at their respective campuses. Instructors at campuses currently providing instructional design support should continue to use their design team as their primary means of assistance. Instructors located at campuses that currently do not have the support of an instructional designer can contact ETS directly.
ETS is excited to be able to provide this consulting service to instructors at all the Commonwealth Campuses. We hope it will be a great resource for learning about and experimenting with the latest technologies to impact teaching and learning. “
