Bringing Technology into the Service of Teaching and Learning

Creating Partnerships, Creating ScholarshipJSTOR Regional Grant Proejct

Scott Macklin Oct 27, 2000

UW Environment

• Large– Community of over 50,000– One of the larger cities in the state– 703 acres plus Bothell and Tacoma

• Decentralized– Sixteen major schools and colleges

– Arts and Sciences - 42 departments– Over 4,500 courses per quarter

– No required core curriculum

LandscapeTHEN 1988

•1 thousand email per day •400 networked devices

•0 Wired Classrooms

LandscapeNOW

•80,000 UW NetIDs •1 million email per day

•38,000 networked devices

•213 Wired Classrooms

•

Our challenge…

• Support faculty• Improve teaching & learning with

technology

. . . In a large, decentralized, heterogeneous, and underfunded public research university

UWired is….• Not a place • Not a program• Not a single person or group

…It is a partnership, process and way of thinking.

UWired’s Culture

COLLABORATIVE

Partners at the University of Washington

• Computing & Communications• Educational Outreach• Office of Educational Partnerships• Office of Undergraduate Education• University Libraries• …Faculty and Students

Three Challenges:

•How to bring technology into the service of teaching and learning

•How to make information literacy one of the hallmarks of an undergraduate education

•How to increase opportunities for students to enter into learning communities

Philosophy

• Technology in the service of good teaching

• Instructional goals and needs should drive applications of technology

• Faculty input is critical to the success of faculty support

• Development should be part of the workflow, not extra-ordinary

• Respond to learner expectations and information needs

Diffusion• Convey a relative advantage over existing

ways of doing things

• Are compatible with expectations, experience and needs of faculty

• Reduce complexity associated with new technologies

• Are triable in that they can be experimented with on a limited basis

• Are widely observable to the campus community *Everett Rogers

Service Approach

Catalyst Initiative

On an average day, 600 UW instructors use Catalyst content.

Over 1350 instructors have created 3416 implementations of Catalyst Web Tools.

On an average fall day, more than 700 students use Catalyst Web Tools as a part of some learning activity.

www.catalyst.washington.edu

Scaling Innovation with the 3-Tiered Catalyst Initiative

       Lesson Learned: Scale support through collaborative partnerships, making disparate resources and innovative practices visible and available to all.

Catalyst Web Site

Catalyst Profiles . . .

Stories

of Innovation

Teaching Guides start with yourteaching goals

The learning section provides information about workshops and clinics

Action Planshelp you usetechnology

The How-To section has detailed instructions for specific tasks

• Our tools help faculty easily putup complex Web content

• All tools can be used with only a Web browser

• Can be linked to course Web sites

• Stored on Catalyst account, so you don’t have to use your own Web space

Participatory Design & Catalyst Web Tools

       Lesson Learned: Create tools that meet pedagogical needs expressed by faculty and constantly engage with faculty to make sure the tools remain current and easy to use.

Co-Branding with the Program for Educational Transformation through Technology

       Lesson Learned:        Provide instructors with direction in how to effectively incorporate educational technologies into pedagogical practices.

Researching science of learningInforming design and development Disseminating innovations

Goal

• PETTT seeks to enhance the effectiveness of the University of Washington's faculty and thus of the institution itself, by creating a campus framework to promote the thoughtful exploration, development, assessment, and dissemination of next-generation technologies and strategies for teaching and learning.

Source: http://depts.washington.edu/pettt

Approach

1. Characterize the exemplar

2. Research the technology in use

3. Refine the tools and practices

• Give shape to the field by characterizing the educational efforts of exemplar projects, in terms of learners, learning domain, instructional approach, and structure of the learning environment.

• Transform portions of our process and/or results into tools, resources, and techniques that can be made available for educators (Catalyst)

• Present results from the investigations at local and national scholarly meetings and scholarly publications

Arthritis Source

Exemplar

Arthritis Source

•Web-based resource

•Developed in 1995

Extend Educational Mission of UW

•600,000 living with arthritis in WA

•1.5 million in WWAMI

•61% showed clinical improvement as a result of educational intervention (information therapy)

*K Lorig study

Exemplar

Learners

•Non-traditional learners (Learners at Large)

•Patient with chronic, progressive medical condition

•Multiple learner populations sharing information sources

Learning Domain

•A constantly changing knowledge domain

•Enable multiple distributed authors to contribute content

Instructional Approach

•Information therapy

Characteristics of Learning Technology

•Web interface to a multimedia database of information

Characterizing the Arthritis Source

CSE TVI Pilot

Exemplar

CSE TVI

•Instructional approach combining elements of on-demand lecture videos, small group discussion, and tutoring

•CSE 142/143 taught to 2,500 annually

•Extend UW expertise

•Allow other institutions to offer courses

•Combination of local resources and disciplinary expertise

Exemplar

Learners

•Distance learners

•Community College students

Learning Domain

•Additive, linear material

•Problem solving skills

Instructional Approach

•Didactic lecture

•Facilitated group discussion

Characteristics of Learning Technology

•Digital video streamed from host to remote TVI classrooms

Characterizing the CSE TVI Pilot

Contributions

hit rate, referring page, domain

Log Analysis

stickiness, engagement, penetration, path analysis

Site Value Analysis

interviews, online surveys, lab and field studies

InterventionInteraction

science of learning, assessment of outcomes

Effectiveness of learning

Dissemination

• Conducting logfile analysis

• Conducting online survey (to characterize users and site effectiveness)

• Conduction interview with designer/developer

• Effective facilitation of online discussions

• Authoring and presenting streaming video

Guides under development

Coping with Info

• Information tsunami • Gods must be crazy• We need more space• Clint approach

Timing is Everything&

Nihil est simplex

Accept uncertainty.Embrace experimentation.

“Try again. Fail again. Fail better."

--Samuel Beckett

depts.washington.edu/pettt

www.catalyst.washington.educatalyst@u.washington.edu

WebQ

• Create online surveys, quizzes and questionnaires

• Download data, or look at it on the Web

• Many security options for password protecting your data

Peer Review

• Create a forum for evaluating student work

• Encourage group projects

• Any kind of Web content: (text, graphics, sounds, movies) Can be used.

UMail

• An anonymous email feedback tool

• Messages come to your regular email inbox

E-Submit

• Students can turn in homework online

• Saves time and frustration with email attachments

• Students receive a digital “receipt”

EPost

• Create an online discussion board

• Many sort options: by thread, subject, author, and date

• Option for students to use pseudonyms to encourage frank discussion

Templates

• Make a course Web site quickly and easily

• Simply insert your course information and post to the Web

• Edit with any Web editing software

Step 1: Needs Assessment

Extensive interview• What’s the pedagogical

goal?• What’s the applicability to

others on and off campus?• What’s the impact on

teaching and learning?• What’s the technology and

can we implement it?

Step 2: Design Review (repeat)

Develop screen designs & review• Conduct informal and/or

formal usability studies.• Review for terminology,

understanding, and concept.

• Involve PETTT, students in educational technology, designers and other interested parties.

Step 3: Build

Program the systems• Build to interface with existing

teaching tools– Class lists– UW NetID– Existing computing infrastructure

• Use internet standards– CGIs, Apache, Perl, JavaScript– Not locked into vendor

Step 4: Testing

Release code for testing• Limited announcement to interested

faculty.• Actively seek feedback.• Use logs and database statistics to

follow-up with instructors.• Ask how faculty “integrated” the

technology into the curriculum.

Step 5: Catalyst content

Develop Catalyst content• Workshops• Documentation

– Profiles– Teaching (pedagogy)– Student guides– How-to pages– Quick guides

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Developing for a purpose

How do you balance technology and pedagogy?• Diverse development team:

Technical Communication, Computer Engineering, Biology & diverse undergraduate staff.

• Strong goals: To help teachers teach and learners learn.

In-house development?

Modularized tool kit gives educators the power to innovate.• Educators use the pieces they want.

– Integrate technology as needed.– Have a direct influence on new features.

• Ability to customize to campus needs.• Not locked into a specific vendor.

Building Catalyst through Co-Branding

       Lesson Learned: Renew and refresh anytime-anywhere technology support resources by co- branding and co-developing them with campus teaching practitioners.

My Class