top off your perfect blend with topr: the teaching online pedagogical repository
DESCRIPTION
Presentation at 2012 Sloan-C Blended Conference and Workshop in Milwaukee, WITRANSCRIPT
Top Off Your Perfect Blend with TOPR:
The Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository
Dr. Kelvin ThompsonDr. Linda FutchDr. Baiyun Chen
University of Central Florida
Agenda
Big PictureDetailsYour InvolvementClosing
http://bit.ly/blend12_topr
What Is It?
a peer-reviewed resource to support the curation of effective pedagogical practices in online and blended courses
individual entries include:• strategy description drawn from the pedagogical
practice of online/blended teaching faculty • artifacts depicting the strategy from actual courses• alignment with cited findings from research or
professional practice literature
All released for reuse/remix under Creative Commons
Editorial Board• Alec Couros, Associate Professor, University of Regina
• Charles D. Dziuban, Director, Research Initiative for Teaching Effectiveness (RITE), University of Central Florida
• David Wicks, Director of Instructional Technology, Assistant Professor, Seattle Pacific University
• Fred Stielow, Vice President, Dean of Libraries & Course Materials, American Public University System
• Karen Swan, Stukel Professor of Educational Leadership, University of Illinois Springfield
• Mark A. Laumakis, Lecturer, Department of Psychology Faculty in Residence, Instructional Technology Services, San Diego State University
• Melody A. Bowdon, Director, Karen L. Smith Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric, University of Central Florida
• Norman Vaughan, Professor, Education & Schooling Faculty of Teaching & Learning, Mount Royal University
• Susan Wegmann, Associate Professor, Director of Programs and Research, Morgridge International Reading Center (MIRC), University of Central Florida
• Tana Monaco, Consultant
• Veronica Diaz, Associate Director, EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, EDUCAUSE
Demo: Finding Strategies
"Bigger than a Breadbox"
Getting the granularity right
Pedagogical practice is • Not a theory• Not an instructional model• Not a tool• Not a broad, sweeping concept• Not "here's what i did"
IS an impactful, replicable teaching practice/strategydescribed, anchored to literature, illustrated in examples, and connected to other practices via keyword tags
Demo: Contribution Form
Isn't This Like MERLOT?
MERLOT is primarily a collection of materials.• "learning exercises" are lessons associated with materials• eLIXR is a set of holistic faculty case studies on big
themes
TOPR is a collection of teaching strategies• artifacts are illustrative• faculty testimonials are highly contextualized
Conceptual Framework
Strategy Description• 1-2 paragraphs• "blogs are not a practice but implementing public blogs for
reflective writing in a community of practice might be"
Artifacts• Preferably image/files uploaded into the repository• External links/images acceptable
Scholarly References• Research articles are great• "Professional practice literature" (journals, blogs,
podcasts)
Theoretical Underpinning
Source of possible tags• Theory• Instructional Model• Concept• Sub-Concept• Tool
Loosely suggested tags (existing "categories")
Development Process
Entries• Anyone can contribute an idea• Any registered user can create a new entry• Many "stubs" (Wikipedia) in backstage Draft area
Editing• Any registered user can edit or add additional material• Managing editors responsible for "keeping on the rails"
o Edit with eye for consistency, conceptual frameworko Possibly move an entry backstage if "just not ready"o May coach contributor(s)
Peer Review
New Scholarship Issues
"Perpetual beta" + peer review = strange bedfellows/mutation• Scholarly rigor in entries• Peer review process for improvement/validation• Wiki for on-going improvements/updates
Intellectual property complications• Creative Commons licensing for "remixing" • Some faculty (and administrators) not sure about CC• Many individuals uncertain how to operationalize CC
Making It Work
Few, simple non-negotiables (conceptual framework)
Editorial Board• Promoting TOPR• Feedback on processes• Recruit peer reviewers
Peer review process to followIssue: entry is peer-reviewed but on an ever-changing wikiPossible answer: "oldid" function (used currently in citation)
Perhaps a "peer reviewed" graphic and a statement like: "a version of this entry was peer reviewed previously. see that version."Allows reader to compare versions for herself
Current Status
Emerging from betaNew entries being made/editedCasual submissions and regular contributors welcomedInitial editorial board meeting being scheduledPeer review process in the works
Your Involvement
Your Thoughts?
• What value (if any) do you seen in TOPR as a whole for your institution?
• Can you envision yourself or colleagues contributing to TOPR?
• How might you adapt ideas from TOPR for your own teaching?
• Do you see yourself contributing ideas?
Get Involved
Have the germ of an idea or a fully fleshed out entry you wish to share?• Contribution Form: http://bit.ly/topr_contributionform
Do you wish to get more involved in contributing and editing ideas on a fairly frequent basis? • Send email to [email protected] to request a login to TOPR
Want to become a peer reviewer for TOPR?• Send email to [email protected] for follow-up
Questions and Answers
Contact Us
http://topr.online.ucf.edu
Dr. Kelvin Thompson [email protected]. Linda Futch [email protected]. Baiyun Chen [email protected]
http://bit.ly/blend12_topr