Posted on No Comments on iStudy for Success

iStudy for Success

from Brett Bixler


After several years of effort, iStudy for Success! (http://istudy.psu.edu) is sporting a new web site and revised tutorials. We’ve worked with subject-matter experts to ensure the content is up to date, and added media and interactivity to the tutorials to engage the viewers. We’ve ensured the tutorials are accessible. We’ve added mobile options. We’ve de-coupled the tutorials from ANGEL’s toolset, so now it doesn’t matter if you are using the tutorials in ANGEL or outside it – the user experience is the same.

Whew!

So what’s next? First, please spread the word. Second, I’d like to see more activity in the tutorials, and I need your ideas. Interested in stretching your Learning Design skills and becoming part of a great initiative at Penn State?

If so, I’ve created a Yammer iStudy group, and I invite you to join the group to begin the discussion. You’ll find more info. in the group itself. I hope to see you there!

Posted on No Comments on A Deeper Kind of Service

A Deeper Kind of Service

I found this article interesting as Warren Wilson College updates it service learning requirement to include social activism and policy work.  They have been requiring service learning since the 1960s.  Here is the link to the article: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/04/18/warren-wilson-gives-service-learning-program-makeover and also a link to the the Warren Wilson College service learning website.

Posted on No Comments on “Clickers in the Classroom: Pedagogical Best Practices”

“Clickers in the Classroom: Pedagogical Best Practices”

For those interested in more information about using “clickers in your workshops”, here is an announcement from the ITS Training Services listserv.
 
Faculty and staff interested in getting the most out of in-class use of student response systems (clickers) are invited to register for a clicker pedagogy workshop titled “Clickers in the Classroom: Pedagogical Best Practices” to be held November 9 at Foster Auditorium in Paterno Library from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The main speaker at the workshop will be Dr. Roger Freedman, Ph.D., lecturer in physics at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB). Several Penn State faculty members who use clickers in their classes will also be on-hand to discuss their use of technology and to answer any clicker implementation questions from the audience.
Among the subjects the workshop will cover are the following:

  • Writing good clicker questions
  • Utilizing “peer instruction” and other types of questions
  • Do’s and don’ts when implementing clickers
  • Giving points for answering questions


At UCSB, Dr. Freedman has taught in both the Department of Physics and the College of Creative Studies, a branch of the university intended for highly gifted and motivated undergraduates. He has published research in nuclear physics, elementary particle physics, and laser physics. In recent years, he has helped to develop computer-based tools for learning introductory physics and astronomy and helped pioneer the use of classroom response systems and the “flipped” classroom model at UCSB. He is co-author of three introductory textbooks: “University Physics”, “Universe”, and “Investigating Astronomy”.
To register and for more information, please go to: https://register4its.psu.edu/Public/ShowDetail.asp?scheduleid=109546.

 
Refreshments will be available after the presentation in Mann Assembly Room located next to Foster Auditorium.

For those not able to attend in person, the event will be streamed live by Media Site Live at http://live.libraries.psu.edu/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=caa2d734489a42f5bd4811fea72d60b71d.

The workshop is sponsored by University Libraries and Teaching and Learning with Technology.