Experience High Definition Video Conferencing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLQa6qtIK5c

Engaging Liberal Education at a Distance

AAC&U Annual MeetingJanuary 28, 2011

This Session is sponsored by the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education.

Participants• Gret Antilla, Executive Director, Consortium for

Innovative Environments in Learning• Kebokile Dengu-Zvobogo, Associate Dean,

International Programs, Pitzer College• Paul Burkhardt, Executive Vice-President for

Academic Affairs and Provost, Prescott College• Ed Clausen, Vice President for Academic Affairs,

Daemen College• Rebecca Davis, Program Officer for the

Humanities, National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education

National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education

http://www.nitle.org

Liberal Education in the Globally Networked WorldSmall Liberal Arts Colleges• Residential, Local• Close Personal

Interaction • Face-to-Face Focus• Traditional study

abroad with complete immersion in another culture

Globally Networked World• Always connected• Access to global

resources & information

• High-speed digital networks

• High-definition video

Session Outline• Discuss projects

exploring how high-speed digital networks and high-definition video can enable institutions committed to liberal education to share academic expertise

• Undergraduate Research

• Inter-institutional Collaborative Courses & Curriculum

• Global Competence• International sites• Foreign Language

Acquisition

Telepresence EvolutionThen:• $50,000+ stationary

solutions• ISDN/non-standards

network connectivity• Dedicated support model

Now:• Solutions ~$3000 for

mobile unit• IP/Standards-based

for interoperability• Plug and play model

Quality of the ExperienceThen:• Standard definition

(704x480 pixel density) video quality

• High latency• Out of sync audio and

video

Now:• High definition

(1280x720 pixel density) video quality

• Low latency• Life-like audio/video

experience

Intercampus Courses• High-Definition Videoconferencing, S

hared Academics and the Liberal Arts College, Eric Jansson, NITLE

• Sunoikisis, Virtual Department of Classical Studies– Intercampus Team Taught Courses– Program Evaluation and Model Design,

PIs: Susan Frost, Emory University & Deborah Olsen, Virginia Tech

– Evaluation Report and How to guide available at:

– http://www.colleges.org/techcenter/Archives/reports.html

Sunoikisis Evaluation Conclusions• Furthers a core goal of liberal

education• Successful collaboration of

formerly competitive colleges• Unbundling of instructional

components to pool instructional resources

Sunoikisis Lessons Learned• Hybrid model: include asynchronous

interaction• Need for collaboration lead• Models for academic credit

– Sunoikisis: Each campus offers course– CGMA: GIS in Mediterranean

Archaeology• DePauw University, Millsaps College, Rhodes

College, The College of Wooster• Rotating teaching responsibilities and course

offering

Sunoikisis Challenges• Challenges

– Poor student engagement with faculty and students on other campuses

– Need to adapt teaching & learning to virtual classroom

– Technology infrastructure– Inadequate recognition for faculty work

What is CIEL?Consortium for Innovative Environments

in LearningAlverno College - Daemen College - The Evergreen State College - Fairhaven College at Western Washington University - Hampshire College - Johnston Center for Integrative Studies at the University of Redlands - Marlboro College - New College at the University of Alabama - New College of Florida - New Century College and University Life of George Mason University - Pitzer College - Prescott College - Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

CIEL schools put innovation and experimentation at the core of their mission, organization, and everyday work. Though each school is distinct, each shares a commitment to the following goals and practices:

• Interdisciplinary, Integrative and Experiential learning

• Integration of theory and practice• Independent and individualized

learning• Authentic assessment strategies• Globalized curriculum and

commitment to teaching and learning for social justice

CIEL institutions share a common goal: to advance innovations in student learning.

CIEL’s mission is three-fold:• Continued improvement and

innovation in student learning • Sharing information and

practices • Outreach to higher education

Projects that engage across distance

• Virtual Student Symposium• Collaborative Curriculum• Pitzer College and global study• Virtual Language Learning

Project

Virtual Language Learning Project (VLLP)• The CIEL VLLP is a multiyear collaboration

to enrich language learning opportunities for students of all its schools; enable faculty to connect expanded virtual and immersive place-based language learning ; increase the Consortium’s capacity for aligned technological infrastructure, and the ability to support high definition videoconferencing among all campuses and international field sites.

The future• Daemen College and virtual reality

NITLE Thought Leader SeriesAnya Kamenetz, DIY U discusses her ideas with leaders from the NITLE Network.

Shared Academics• American University of Paris• Eugene Lang College• Programs

– Global Cities– Global Communications– Global Literary Studies

• Transatlantic Seminars