technology for liberal education: the state of the art

Technology for liberal Technology for liberal educationeducation

Technology for liberal education:

the state of the artAAC&U annual conference

January 2016

Today’s plan1.Introductions

2.Technology overview

3.Tools

4.Approaches

5.Next steps

Who are you?

•Your name, institution, and role concerning technology

Who is this very hairy person?

•Researcher, writer, professor, consultant, speaker, futurist

nitle.orgnitle.org

Communities of practice

Research

Joint projects

Outreach

Network platform: events f2f/online

Partnerships Translation

Ground rules for today

• Comments and questions gleefully welcomed.

• Social media use celebrated and possibly exploited.

• Please avoid technobabble.

Ground rules for today

• Chinese restaurant menu metaphor

• If we go too fast, stomp on the brakes.

Technology trendsTechnology trends

Rise of the stacks

Post-Snowden

Hardware + networks: multiple ecosystems

Digitization

Technology trendsTechnology trends

digital video

cloud wars

augmented reality

automation and artificial intelligence

Technology trendsTechnology trendssocial media triumphing

Technology ecosystemTechnology ecosystem

Design for mobile *first *

PCs getting crowded out

Mouse and keyboard declining

3d printing mainstreaming

3d tv dying

2. Tools for learning

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/15984700386/

The LMSUses•Copyright control (TEACH Act)•Content hosting (lead use)•Basic pedagogies •Safe space for student and instructor expression

The LMSFunctions• Hosts course materials (instructor’s, e-

reserves)• Class information• Discussion boards• Quizzes• Other optional functions

The LMSThe state of play •% with 1+ LMSes (Casey)•Blackboard dominates, barely•Open source options (Moodle)•Modern web version (Canvas)

The ePortfolio

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/163592587/

The ePortfolioAdvantages• Evidence of learning and growth• Metacognition through longitudinal reflection

• Deepens audience understanding of learner

• Don’t talk to me - go to AAEEBL!

Video

• Consumption

• Production

• Videoconference

Robotics• Students building• Career paths

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/22982166705/

Telepresence bots

Big data and data analytics Big data and data analytics

Improve student outcomes

Adaptive learning Integration

w/assessment

Uses of social media

•Student work•Faculty work•Staff development•Research

New learning spaces• Smart classrooms• Reconfigurable classes• Learner-centered “• The commons• http://learningspacetoolkit.org

3d printing in higher education

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/7729488378/

Reasons to do 3dvisualization• teaching• also research and creative work

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:3D_printed_Spinosaurus_skulls.jpg

Reasons to do 3dmaking stuff• Prototyping• Design thinking• Sheer creativity• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2MSXho_KlU

Save $$ in object purchasing and replacement

Which academic fields?• Classical studies and archaeology• History (ex: http://

digital.vpr.net/post/students-recreate-historic-buildings-3d-printers)

• Creative arts (i.e., fashion, studio art, theater)

• Engineering• Robotics

Which academic fields?• Math• Geography and geology• Life sciences, allied health fields• Media studies ("critical

making")• Business (study impact; new

opportunities)

Strategic questions• What type of institution? (research

vs engineering vs CC vs LAC)• Which disciplines show interest?• Is interest aimed at research or

teaching?• Will you partner with off-campus

interest and/or support?

Campus sites• Library• Makerspace (Abilene

Christian University, http://go.nmc.org/rema)

• 3d lab• Professor’s office

Campus sites• Departmental office• Multiple sites (Northeastern:

https://soundcloud.com/educause/cni-podcast-patrick-yott-on-3d-printing-services-at-northeastern-university-libraries)

• Other…?

Operational questions

• Who owns the printing ecosystem?

• Do you charge users? (intra-preneurial possibility)

3. Approaches

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/14160813606/

blended/flipped classroomblended/flipped classroom

Technologies: video, audio

Pedagogies: shift to discussion, other interactive learning forms

distance learning growsdistance learning grows

numbers keep building

pedagogies improve LACs experiment

MOOCsMOOCs

Credit for MOOCs STEM vs humanities Sustainability? pedagogical

exploration

The open revolutionThe open revolution

Open education Open access

scholarship Mandates (Trinity U

example)

MobileIn class?• Clickers pedagogy• Scribes• Response index• Variable use

Mobile

Out of class• Immense increase in access• Changed socialization• Media capture, use, sharing pedagogy

rise of the net.generations Greater outreach Collaborative pedagogy Constructivist “ Teach away from bad

habits

On to digital literacy-

2015

Selected principlesYes, technical skills are required.

Ensure a baseline:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/DigitalLiteracy/basiccurriculum.aspx

Selected principlesInformation literacy:

“a set of abilities requiring individuals to ‘recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.’”

-Association of College and Research Libraries

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ergonomic/3402981862/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/5968799566/

Selected principlesComputational thinking:

“a way of solving problems, designing systems, and understanding human behavior that draws on concepts fundamental to computer science. To flourish in today's world, computational thinking has to be a fundamental part of the way people think and understand the world. “

-Carnegie-Mellon University

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mrsdkrebs/16164384034/

Selected principlesComputational thinking

“Computational thinking means creating and making use of different levels of abstraction, to understand and solve problems more effectively.“

-Carnegie-Mellon University

Selected principlesComputational thinking

“means thinking algorithmically and with the ability to apply mathematical concepts such as induction to develop more efficient, fair, and secure solutions.”

Carnegie-Mellon University

Selected principlesAt least a glancing familiarity with coding

Selected principles

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/85997668/

Selected principlesActive, productive student work

“Education should not be about merely learning how to consume; education should be about becoming an active participant in the major communication functions of society. Just as we not only teach students to read, but we also teach them how to write, how to assemble their writings into forms others will want to read, how to speak publicly, etc., in a digital age we need to teach our students how to author and distribute digital works.”

-Howard Besser, http://tcla.gseis.ucla.edu/divide/politics/besser.html

At a different levelThe best digital literacy is storytelling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6yVCgoBn-I

At a different level• Integrati

ve• Creative• Voice

https://twitter.com/williams_war

Digital literacy is a futures practice

Digital literacy applies to non-digital domains

• Impacts non-digital information flows

• Alters spaces• Makes students - citizens -

harder to manage

Digital literacy is socially and politically insurgent

https://www.flickr.com/photos/77688862@N02/20014884218/

Digital literacy is socially and politically insurgent

• In the classroom• In the community• About policy

Gaming world

Gaming as part of mainstream Gaming as part of mainstream cultureculture

Median age of gamers shoots past 30

Industry size comparable to music

Impacts on hardware, software, interfaces, other industries

Large and growing diversity of platforms, topics, genres, niches, players

Games serious, public, and political

• Oiligarchy, Molle Industries• Jetset, Persuasive Games• The Great Shakeout, California• DimensionM, Tabula Digita

Classroom and coursesCurriculum contentDelivery mechanismCreating games

Peacemaker, Impact GamesRevolution (via Jason Mittell)

Example: Duolingo

•Joost Raessens and Jeffrey Goldstein, eds, Handbook of Computer Game Studies (MIT, 2005)•Frans Mayra, An Introduction to Game Studies (Sage, 2008)•Pat Harrigan and Noah Wardrip-Fruin, eds. Third Person: Authoring and Exploring Vast Narratives (MIT, 2009)

Game studies as academic Game studies as academic fieldfield

How is gaming used now?How is gaming used now?

Use games to impact society

Some impacts on campusesSome impacts on campuses

Changes in hardware, software

Part of undergraduate life Learning content, both

informal and formal Career paths

4. Next steps

• FLICKR PHOTO

The CIO POV1. Information Security 2.Optimizing Educational Technology

“In 2016, higher education IT organizations are divesting themselves of technologies that can be sourced elsewhere and of practices that have become inefficient and are reinvesting to develop the necessary capabilities and resources to use information technology to achieve competitive institutional differentiation in student success, affordability, and teaching and research excellence.”

•http://er.educause.edu/articles/2016/1/top-10-it-issues-2016

Selected challengesSelected challenges

Attracting skilled staffKeeping up w/changesDigital security threats growing

(ex: Rutgers)Changes in library role

Selected challengesSelected challenges

CostsAlways pilotStudent laborOpen sourceInter-institutional collaboration

http://bryanalexander.org

bryan.alexander@gmail.com

http://twitter.com/bryanalexanderhttp://twitter.com/bryanalexander