Active Teaching Lab — expansion pack

low-commitment, structured explorations of cool teaching tools and techniques to teach more effectivelyActive Teaching Lab

GOAL: Capacity Building at the faculty level; create deeply-embodied and socially-playful environments & experiences for learners

Successesfaculty tell us they like • light-touch: no commitment, low-stress, casual• environment: safe, playful energy • stories: by peers of pedagogical problems and solutions • hands-on: pressure to try • how-to sheet: to take home and get into more deeply later, or share • community: interdisciplinary • discussions: on mitigations/alternatives • videos: to share (or for when they couldn’t come) • awareness: where to go for more information, integration with other

programs

faculty tell us they want • more offerings: different times for those who teach Fridays• training: deeper explorations of campus-supported tools & processes • local talks: facilitated pedagogical discussions with departmental colleagues

Needs

Because it is a safe & playful, low-risk environment where faculty are affirmed for trying, the Active Teaching Program inspires a willingness to try new things, and those experiences generate new discussions and new ideas.

Lure with low-risk involvement. Inspire with stories.

Motivate with hands-on success.

This is an overview of a successful Faculty Development program that I hope to expand. Read more about it at bit.ly/activeteach

http://bit.ly/activeteach

Learning Environment Inspired By…structured explorations of cool teaching tools and techniques to teach more effectively

To begin with, you should know that my teaching philosophy emphasizes creating deeply-embodied and socially-playful environments & experiences for learners

A weekly safe space and refreshments for structured explorations of cool teaching tools and techniques instructors use to engage students and teach more effectively.

1. Socializing and Introductions 2. An Instructor’s Story

• what I wanted • what I tried • what happened • what I’d do next time

3. Hands-On Activity (Demystify) 4. Unpack Pedagogy and Discuss

So, last Fall we proposed the Active Teaching Lab as a way to realize a playful, social, and hands-on environment.

A Grand Experiment


It was to be, in my mind at least, a grand experiment.

Feb 13: Michael Maguire on Google+ Communities

Feb 20: Brian Esselman, on Piazza

Feb 27: Morton Gernsbacher on synchronous chat

Mar 27: Ryan Martinez on Student Videos

Mar 13: Linsey Steege on Wordpress

Mar 20: Tom Dubois on Wikipedia Editing

Mar 6: Open Office Hours!

Apr 3: Spring Break Apr 10: Lane Sunwall on Webquests

Apr 17: Cathy Middlecamp on Mobile Field Research (Siftr)

Apr 24: Ed Hubbard on TopHat

May 1: Nick Balster on Scapple for Course Design

Feb 06: SoftLaunch Michael Maguire on

Google+ Communities

May 8: Shawn Peters on Teaching with

Twitter

Find out more at bit.ly/activeteach


Amazingly, it was approved, and so, this Spring we invited a dozen innovators from across campus to share their stories. The events were light-hearted, safe, playful, and generally quite fun.

http://bit.ly/activeteach


We create a dozen one-page, very basic, self-paced Activity Sheets that participants could follow according to their comfort.


and two quick videos for each session: a short one just of the speaker telling their story, for people who just want a taste; and a longer one of the rest of talk, in case they want to hear the Q&A, and hear the rest of the discussion around the tool.

“Great use of time - well-organized. Thank you!” “Great job!!! This is so important.” “Wonderful!” “Loved having time to get into the tool!” “John’s energy and enthusiasm is fantastic!” “It’s so valuable to hear about what other folks are doing on campus! Thanks!” “Great format - a good use of time.” “I am loving these sessions!” “Interesting and useful, and efficiently presented” “Nice job. People - me included, really engaged.” “Provides practical application of tool.” “Incredible session today. So relevant and incredibly well-done hands-on portion.” “Very interesting to explore what others are doing on campus.” “Very useful and practical! I can begin to think of how to incorporate and have a person [expert on a certain Academic Technology tool] to connect with.” “The series is a very good idea. Please continue these discussions. Very useful!” “Presenter was thoughtful about use of WordPress. Appreciated candor about benefits for students’ learning as well as ‘glitches’.” “Such a great place to play and not feel technologically vulnerable.” “These have been fun and informative.” “Love this community” “Great session! Covered many disciplines” “So much to learn!” “Gave me many ideas on possible uses in courses” “Every meeting so far has been very informative & filled with practical, useable info.” “Great, compelling topic.” “Everything about Active Teaching Labs is wonderful! Thanks” “As a technologist working in the back, it is motivating to see the practice on the front end.” “These have been fun and informative.” “Love this community” “Great session! Covered many disciplines” “So much to learn!” “Gave me many ideas on possible uses in courses” “Every meeting in this series so far has been very informative and filled with practical, useable info.” “Great, compelling topic.” “Everything about Active Teaching Labs is wonderful! Thanks” “As a technologist working in the back, it is motivating to see the practice on the front end.” “Nice to see application, and talk through implementation risks and mitigations.” “Will be back” “Will attend because I learn new tools, how they were used, and get inspired for using them in the future” “I made a YouTube video--easy!” “Wanted to connect with others around active teaching and learning” “Intrigued by the subject - I want to use student videos in assignments” “Great format. I like the emphasis on hands-on practice.” “Enjoyed presentation and interaction with audience” “Learned from others in attendance” “...I think this technology could be integrated around campus in many ways!”

“Love seeing tech tools applied with a sound pedagogical foundation” “I can extrapolate this tool to many, many curriculums.” “These aren’t just tool demonstrations, but a chance to be inspired and challenged to extend our thinking about instruction.” “I am signed up for next week!” “Lots of ideas to explore and consider” “Always good ideas” “Great group and great presenter” “Always something to learn” “Thank you for offering these labs; very successful” “Best thing around!” “I’ll likely play around with a few of these tools.” “Thank you for offering the Active Teaching Labs! And for keeping this an open community of designers, faculty, etc.” “I have been interested in using Scapple for course/lecture design, & wanted to see how someone else uses it for teaching.” “Very helpful to learn from people who actually teach & use tech as a tool” “Great people, great ideas, free breakfast :) “ “Interested in mind maps - and think of Nick Balster as an especially insightful speaker / teacher” “I like the mix of people and hearing their questions and comments.” “It does feel like a safe place to get introduced to tools.” “It’s interesting, motivating and exciting to see new tools being used by actual instructors.” “Interested in both teaching and tools for teaching” “super helpful, useful information. Well-prepared presentation. Very well done.” “Enjoy learning new tools & specifically how they are actually used in context” “Helpful to learn about ‘new’ methods / tools from others with experience and similar interests” “Great community to meet, work with and learn from - share knowledge” “Benefit from seeing tools in action, hearing experience of current users” “Great session - thank you!!!” “Interested in conversations about teaching in general, interested in mind mapping in particular, had not heard of Scapple” “Excellent, thank you for organizing” “Interested in tools for backward design” “Keep ‘em coming!” “Wanted to bring my boss to the Twitter session specifically” “A friend brought me because she knows I was interested in the topic” “Useful tools and usage suggestions” “Great primary content, but also conversations, networking, and software other than topic” “Idea generation; connect with others” “The value is not only in the experience presented by the instructor, but also in the wealth of tools that are included in the worksheet. AWESOME! :)” “Learn pedagogy of teaching and learning, how academic tools can help” “Great people, cross-discipline ideas” “Continue lifelong learning” “Needs to have more hands-on time, less lecture” - [we knew that today :( ] “Keep it going!” “I like that I always come out with multiple new tech ideas - i.e., Today’s Meet, etc.” “Thanks!” “Need to try out various tools with great DTI mentors looking over our shoulders”


The feedback from participants was good. It seems that we found a campus need, and had begun filling it.

We Make House Calls!

Ask about the Active Teaching Lab RoadShow!

We toyed with the idea of bringing it on the road,

…which we did, collaborating with Beth Fahlberg and Jerzy Jura to hold a “Showcase” in Nursing.

What it does for youlow-commitment, structured explorations of cool teaching tools and techniques to teach more effectivelyActive Teaching Lab

We surveyed participants on what they thought of the Lab…

Impact on teachinglow-commitment, structured explorations of cool teaching tools and techniques to teach more effectivelyActive Teaching Lab

how it impacted their teaching…

What could we do better?low-commitment, structured explorations of cool teaching tools and techniques to teach more effectivelyActive Teaching Lab

and what we could do better…

Successesfaculty tell us they like • light-touch: no commitment, low-stress, casual• environment: safe, playful energy • stories: by peers of pedagogical problems and solutions • hands-on: pressure to try • how-to sheet: to take home and get into more deeply later, or share • community: interdisciplinary • discussions: on mitigations/alternatives • videos: to share (or for when they couldn’t come) • awareness: where to go for more information, integration with other programs

faculty tell us they want • more offerings: different times for those who teach Fridays• training: deeper explorations of campus-supported tools & processes • local talks: facilitated pedagogical discussions with departmental colleagues

Needs


and we took stock of this feedback of What Worked and What’s Needed so we could try to meet more needs

Low-risk lures.

Stories inspire.

Success motivates.

low-commitment, structured explorations of cool teaching tools and techniques to teach more effectivelyActive Teaching Offerings

Because it is a safe & playful, low-risk environment where faculty are affirmed for trying, the Active Teaching Program inspires a willingness to try new things, and those experiences generate new discussions and new ideas.

Gateway drug.


It is light touch, low-risk, low-commitment environment, with inspiring stories of what the cool kids are doing, and hands-on successes that reassure them that they can “handle it” — it is an excellent recruitment environment for FE programs.

Active Teaching Lab• every Friday morning • Sterling 2425 • hands-on / pedagogy • focus on experimental tech • stories by faculty


Active Teaching Showcase• as requested ~1x / month • departmental spaces • facilitated showcase

• organized by department faculty • faculty share teaching methods • facilitate pedagogical structures • peer/colleague learning

• lead with methods • direction to support / solutions

Tested Success

Lab Showcas

so, what can we do next that —

• builds off the Lab’s participant-identified successes? (story, hands-on, pedagogy, engaging & fun)

• addresses participant-identified needs? (more times, more depth with specific tools, bring it to them)

• complements other AT programs and staff strengths? (Blend, REACH, UCIRA, L@UW, etc.)


With the Lab and Showcase tested, we want to build on strengths participants identified, and address needs that they shared.

Active Teaching Workshop• every Tuesday afternoon • Middleton room 120 • hands-on / pedagogy • AT and Blend-promoted tech • led by IT staff (AT / campus)

• what works • how to start • next steps • where to find support

Active Teaching Lab• every Friday morning • Sterling 2425 • hands-on / pedagogy • focus on experimental tech • stories by faculty


Active Teaching Talk• as requested ~2x / month • as part of department meeting • facilitated conversations

• departmental teaching challenges • solutions from campus / labs • idea generation • peer / colleague learning

• lead with challenges • direction to support / solutions




Expansion Packs

Tested Success

Lab Showcas

TalkWorksho

low-commitment, structured explorations of cool teaching tools and techniques to teach more effectivelyActive Teaching Program

and so we propose our Fall 2015 Expansion Pack, adding in-depth WORKSHOPS for supported-tool and technique investigations (at a time to catch those who can’t come to the labs); and adding faculty-requested (and departmentally-hosted) light-touch TALKS to reach new participants who don’t/won’t come to us.

TargetParticipants

Commitment /

MotivationFocus Cost

Lab

individual instructors

& instructional support

1 hour /self-selected

highlight motivated faculty, explore what faculty do/use,

ground practice to pedagogybagels, coffee

Workshop



1 hour / self-selected

hands-on workshops by staff for supported tools discussed in Blend

and other AT programs

bagels, coffee

Showcase

faculty who don’t come to us

90-120 minutes /

colleague-nudge

facilitate department-specific sharing of

teaching problems/solutions, ground practice to pedagogy, and connect to other campus solutions

and teaching resources

none

Talk


20-30 minutes / departmental-

nudge




none


Each of the four parts builds on the successes of the Active Teaching Lab, and fills a specific gap on campus. Like the Lab, they are safe and playful, facilitated informal spaces that model and encourage risk-taking in teaching & learning.


Scenarios.

Would you like to go through a few scenarios for each? (we already know what the Active Teaching Lab looks like)

Scenario 1: On week X of Blend@UW, Timmo discusses how several faculty have used Case Scenario Builder to create blended activities. A number of participants are very intrigued and ask where they can find out more about CSCR. Chad replies “It turns out that next Tuesday from 2-4pm there’s an Active Teaching Workshop on CSCR!”

Scenario 2: IT staff have gotten several requests on how to setup and use campus’s newly-recommended student-response system. They answer: “There’s an Active Teaching Workshop on it in October!”

Scenario 3: EDUCAUSE highlights an awesome way to use Google Docs to simplify course administration across several LMSs. An IT person in Nursing has been playing with this process and sees great benefit in prepping LMS-portable courses for the Canvas transition. He offers to lead a workshop.

Workshops on tools and processes applicable to a broad audience, led by various IT staff,

connected to broader campus initiatives and programs by the AT facilitator.


Tech Overviews: 1) Feature IT staff, 2) basic principles and how to get started, 3) identify and recruit interested users for campus CoPs and deeper ad hoc workshops/interest groups, 4) direct to resources.

Scenario 1: The chair of Department X wants his faculty to blend more, but doesn’t know where to start. The department is across the board in technology use. The chair invites an AT facilitator to the first 30 minutes of the department meeting. The facilitator engages the group with a quick activity to determine their primary concerns and individual problems. The facilitator qualitatively codes them into broader categories of: discussion engagement, grading, and difficulty navigating in D2L. The facilitator shares 3 tricks (used by X,Y, and Z) for engagement, shares one quick tip for grading that addresses some of their needs, and shares that a “Navigating D2L” workshop will be held in 3 weeks. After the meeting the facilitator follows up with the group with a grading resource, and follows up with one individual on another concern that was specific to that individual. Faculty are impressed both at the facilitator’s immediate helpfulness, but also at the breadth of programs available for them that they didn’t know about. Three show up at the next AT Workshop, and two eventually sign up for Blend@UW. The Talk also helps AT identify campus needs.

Informal facilitations of department-specific teaching technology issues, directing to

potential campus solutions and support, but always providing simple “try this one thing

tomorrow” solutions.


Trust-gaining: facilitator 1) determines needs, 2) shares quick tips, 3) points to resources, 4) follows up to group and individuals on additional resources

Scenario 1: A few faculty in Department X enjoyed the Active Teaching Talk (see above), and with the conversation started, began talking with each other about what they’re doing. With rapport already developed, they asked that the AT consultant come facilitate a discussion that objectively (to minimize self-aggrandizing in dep) showcases different approaches already being used, and to connect faculty who may not know about the teaching expertise in their own department. For AT, the Showcase also educates us on who is doing what, whose stories we can share with campus, and where more work is needed.

Scenario 2: Chemistry gets the okay on classroom renovations, and wants help deciding what they want. The School of Nursing has some great expertise, so interested faculty from the two departments meet and share what can be done in an active learning classroom. After a each demo, the AT facilitator helps the groups translate how the methods/activities can change to accommodate the type of content taught in Chemistry.

Informal facilitated showcases of what faculty are already doing to blend and address

teaching issues.


Making Connections: facilitator 1) emcees discussions, 2) learns what department is doing, 3) facilitates safe departmental sharing, 4) points them to external resources.

TargetParticipants

Commitment / Motivation Focus Cost

Lab



1 hour /self-selected

highlight motivated faculty, explore what faculty do/use,

ground practice to pedagogybagels, coffee

Workshop



1 hour / self-selected

hands-on workshops by staff for supported tools discussed in Blend

and other AT programs

bagels, coffee

Showcase


90-120 minutes /colleague-nudge




none

Talk


20-30 minutes / departmental-

nudge




none



curated introductorylow commitment


All of the Active Teaching offerings are curated, low commitment, and introductory — designed to lure, inspire and motivate. Then to guide participants to other campus resources and programs.

Lab

Showcase

Talk

Workshop

UCIRA!

BlendCommunity

rEAcH

Blended Learning

ideas stories

imaginings what if?

“let’s try it”

Design Develop Deploy Evaluate

stories, examples of using research in teaching

training by IT on blended & active learning tools & processes

facilitated departmental

ideas & stories with direction to more help

facilitated departmental info gathering with quick tips and direction to more help

Showcase



designing active learning for high enrollment courses

Where we fit…Inspire

Lab

ideas stories

imaginings what if?

“let’s try it”Lab

ideas stories

imaginings what if?


Workshop


importance of, and elements of, designing blended learning stories, examples,

crowd-sourcing help with blended learning


Once inspired, they’re willing to go on to programs that require a deeper commitment.

Workshop

UCIRA!

BlendCommunity

rEAcH

Blended Learning


facilitated departmental info gathering with quick tips and direction to more help

Showcase



Connecting to Resources

Lab

ideas stories

imaginings what if?


PTESTS LSOCP

Talk


At its heart, the Active Teaching Program is about inspiring, motivating, and then connecting to other resources. Resources in AT will be at the forefront because those are the ones that we are most familiar with, but we want to minimize unneeded duplication across campus as well, so we aim to continue to be good conscientious partners with other units and programs.

Partnerships & Connections

Workshop

• UCIRA (assignment design) • Chad (Interactive Case Studies) • PTE (L@UW) • Don F (video) • Greg K (online courses) • Design Lab (aesthetics) • Margene (course design) • George J (whiteboards) • John M (Google Docs) • LSS (so many things) • WiSCIENCE (STEM-related) • ComETS (so many things) • Delta (Ach. Gap strategies)


For example, in the Active Teaching Workshops, we might facilitate a session where PTE’s Learn@UW trainers come in and lead a session on embedding (CSCR, Google Docs, etc.), or invite someone to present a repeat session of a popular Symposium session…

TargetParticipants

Success: inspire & motivate faculty, who move forward on T&L path, and further conversation

Lab

individual instructors & instructional

support

attend UCIRA program (e.g. assignment design), attend Active Teaching Workshop, bring colleagues to Lab, join BLCC, sponsor

a Showcase or Talk, share a story at Lab, etc.

Workshop

individual instructors & instructional

support

attend UCIRA program, implement in class, bring others, join Blend@UW or BLFP or BLCC, etc.

Showcase


further conversations, implement in class, attend Active Teaching Lab, bring colleagues to Lab, join BLCC, sponsor a Talk, share a

story at Lab, etc.

Talk


further conversations, identify REACHers, attend Active Teaching Workshop, bring colleagues to Lab, join BLCC, sponsor a

Showcase, share a story at Lab, etc.

low-commitment, structured explorations of cool teaching tools and techniques to teach more effectivelyActive Teaching Success


A Grand Expansion


It will be a grand expansion of a grand experiment.


The Future is Exciting!

Thank you.

The Grand Experiment

Active Teaching Lab

Active Teaching Workshop• every Tuesday afternoon • Middleton room 120 • focus on supported tech • led by IT staff (AT / campus)


• hands-on / pedagogy

Active Teaching Discussion• as requested ~2x/month • as part of department meeting • facilitated conversations

• departmental teaching challenges • solutions from campus / labs • idea generation • peer/colleague learning

• lead with challenges • direct to support / solutions

Active Teaching Showcase• as requested ~1x/month • departmental spaces • facilitated showcase

• department faculty lead • faculty share teaching methods • facilitate pedagogical structures • peer/colleague learning

• lead with methods • direct to support / solutions

Active Teaching Lab• every Friday morning • Sterling room 2425 • focus on unsupported tech • stories by faculty


• hands-on / pedagogy

Active Teaching Workshop• every Tuesday afternoon • Middleton room 120 • hands-on / pedagogy • focus on supported tech • led by IT staff (AT / campus)


Active Teaching Lab• every Friday morning • Sterling room 2425 • hands-on / pedagogy • focus on experimental tech • stories by faculty


Active Teaching Talk• as requested ~2x / month • as part of department meeting • facilitated conversations

• departmental teaching challenges • solutions from campus / labs • idea generation • peer / colleague learning

• lead with challenges • direction to support / solutions




Home AwayExpansion Packs

Education

Active Teaching Lab — expansion pack