The Berks Learning Technologies Certificate Program was offered by the Center for Learning & Teaching from 2011 - 2018. Faculty who earned the BLT Certificate submitted these reflections on the program.
Alexandria Chisholm (BLT, 2018)
As a Reference and Instruction Librarian, the Berks Learning Technologies (BLT) Certificate program seemed to be a natural connection to my position and role within the university. Librarians and instructional designers have many commonalities in our professional roles, so it seemed like a great fit for me as a new Penn State Berks employee to complete the program. While I do not teach any credit-bearing courses, I do work closely with faculty in their courses, both in-person and online. Most of my work centers around information literacy and research instruction for students, which fits well with learning many of the topics covered in the BLT Certificate sessions such as lesser known features in Canvas, various video, audio, and screen capture technologies, and general instructional design concepts.
I am embedded in many Canvas courses as a resource for students to ask research questions and to guide discussions pertaining to specific topics. I also design and embed digital learning objects for students such as video tutorials and quizzes in various courses. The session on Designing and Developing Multimedia-based Instructional Content gave me a number of ideas on how I can freshen up some of my content and get more creative with how I present different concepts. I especially was excited to learn about Kaltura, which will hopefully be adopted by the university, and all the possibilities it provides for my future work, including video quiz options, which integrates seamlessly into Canvas. The session on Breaking Old Habits: An Instructional Technology Infusion for Educators also provided me with a number of new technologies I could use to build activities and DLOs for students like H5P, Piazza, and video discussion boards.
Overall, I am excited to take this wealth of information and resources and begin utilizing them in my work with faculty and students at Penn State Berks! I think the theoretical knowledge I have gained in instructional design will help me to frame both my in-person and online instruction while the more concrete resources I discovered will help me to implement new ideas.
Maria Fellie (BLT, 2018)
The Berks Learning Technologies (BLT) Certificate Program provided a very helpful starting point for exploring technology options for use both inside and outside the classroom. Especially useful for new faculty, this program explores a wide variety of topics related to course websites, online resources, specialized devices and programs, accessibility options, and more. Canvas was new to me this year, and the specific attention paid to the many programs and external websites that work with or within Canvas was particularly valuable to me.
During my first semester, I had very little knowledge of Canvas and its multiple functions. My Canvas course sites were completely unorganized and I only knew about maybe 5% of what the platform could do. During the BLT program, I gained considerable knowledge about the learning technologies that are available to me through Canvas and other Penn State programs, and I have already implemented much of it into my course design and delivery. In the spring, I was able to design my second-semester courses more efficiently and make them easier for both myself and my students to use. For example, I began to structure all online materials into organized modules, use the online attendance function, create higher quality online assignments and rubrics, and experiment with student contributions on Canvas (videos, posts, sign-up pages).
I plan to continue exploring more options for using technologies in the foreign-language classroom in order to enhance course quality, learning, efficiency, and student engagement. The BLT program was central in guiding me and other faculty members in how to improve our use of and continue to learn about existing and developing technologies for both instructors and students. For me, this series of workshops was a big step in becoming a better instructor by discovering available resources and learning how to use them more proficiently.
Michelle Hnath (BLT, 2018)
I am a staff member facilitating class/community partnerships to enhance learning. I do not teach any for credit courses but assist faculty and students in all different types of learning areas. I truly appreciate the wonderful variety of learning topics, goals, and tools covered in the Berks Learning Technologies Program.
I especially enjoyed two of the classes: Breaking Old Habits: A Technology Infusion for Instructors and Designing and Developing Multimedia Content. In “Breaking Old Habits” I benefiting from learning seven principal for smart teaching and applied ways to integrate each principal with clear, easy to follow examples. That workshop is where I was introduced briefly to a platform to author an ebook called Pressbooks. The Center I work in authors a lot of books and yesterday I began preparing a booklet with Pressbooks for both online use and possibly to send a pdf to a printer.
In “Designing and Developing Multimedia Content” I learned about a plethora of tools for content development and when and why to use each one. I learned about the short attention span of our students and how 7 minute chunks of smart, reuseable learning modules can be ideal for this type of learning. In this class I pondered tools I could use to build an introduction to service learning in the City of Reading that could be “played” in multiple classes before they head out into the community to build awareness and sensitivity to what they can expect.
Overall, the four classes I took in the Berks Learning Technologies Series have been super helpful in giving me the groundwork to be more effective and helpful in my position. Mary Ann Mengel teaches in an organized, clear, helpful way and I learned very easily from her. I truly appreciate that these classes were offered and that Mary Ann sends her teaching materials for our reference after the class.
Jinyoung Im (BLT, 2018)
I am grateful to have completed the 2017-2018 Berks Learning Technologies Certificate program. The program consisted of five informative sessions that provided me an opportunity to learn how to design a quality course using the learning management system as well as different functions of Canvas and other instructional technologies (e.g., 360° video) available at Penn State. Not only did the program provided me with great resources for managing courses in my first year at Penn State Berks, but it also gave me further opportunities to benchmark the best practices and improve a course design with a blended learning approach. A few sessions focused on learning different functions of Canvas. Creating modules with a content page was something that I adopted immediately in my course to enhance students’ access to learning materials and their capabilities in managing their learning experience. Understanding Penn State’s quality assurance with standards and course accessibility guidelines helped me consider ways to design the course on Canvas from the students’ perspectives. Learning a new technological tool, such as the 360° video, was useful since I was able to guide students to consider these options for their team projects. My students further researched virtual reality and its usage in our daily lives and in the industry and shared their discoveries with their peers. The resources available at the Media Commons were shared with students so that they can use the resources to create and edit promotional videos in my marketing course. The program enabled me to effectively design and manage courses as well as to play a role as a resource provider when students navigate their own learning experience.
I will continue to improve the course design by effectively utilizing the functions of Canvas that I learned from the program. Some of these functions include the interactive syllabus, discussion, peer review, and attendance. I am planning to work on organizing the content pages better by elaborating on the learning objectives and expectations for each module. In this way, students will be able to understand what to expect before coming to the class and can manage and evaluate their performance on their own. In addition, I am planning to implement some of the instructional technologies to improve interactivity and develop students’ mastery in my courses. These specific technologies are digital badges and H5P. Building digital badges in class activities will be helpful to motivate students to interact with learning materials by being able to recognize their achievement. Using H5P in class activities or online lectures will be useful in promoting a mastery of knowledge by creating an engaging learning experience. The program motivated me to explore the available instructional technologies and learn from the best practices. By completing the program, I was able to build more competence in designing courses with technology. I would like to thank the staff at the Center for Learning & Teaching for their enormous support and guidance inside and outside of the workshops.
Pauline Milwood (BLT, 2018)
The Berks Learning Technologies (BLT) Certificate Program made a truly positive impact on my teaching and learning experience. As a first-year international faculty, many aspects of the teaching and learning environment posed new and challenging yet exciting opportunities for me. By participating in the BLT Certificate Program early in my tenure, I was able to better appreciate many of the ways in which I could leverage the use of technology to innovate and enhance the learning environment within my classroom. Importantly, learning with and observing other faculty members sharing their own experiences provided an important sense of togetherness while navigating my first year journey.
I found all the sessions tremendously helpful, and was even able to apply the newly acquired skills in real-time! For example, following the Designing and Developing Multimedia-based Instructional Content with Mary Ann, I created an H5P interactive video on the steps involving Mise en Place in the commercial kitchen environment later that week. The result? The students were fully engaged, and enjoyed the Q&A model of being quizzed while learning. The Discovering Hidden Treasures in Canvas session with Red was another great learning experience. I learned more effective ways of utilizing Canvas quiz and embedded video tools, which I look forward to implementing in the new semester.
Without hesitation, I would recommend the BLT Certificate Program to faculty, staff, and colleagues who are seeking ways to create a dynamic environment to achieve student learning outcomes; and who are constantly seeking to innovate, and be better teachers.
Meghan Owenz (BLT, 2018)
I am grateful to the Center for Learning and Teaching for offering the Berks Learning Technologies sessions. I attended four hour-long sessions throughout the year. As a new faculty member, the sessions introduced me to all of the different platforms and technology services available to enhance my courses. The sessions also provided inspiring examples from courses offered at Penn State Berks. These “real-life” examples from my colleagues’ courses were particularly helpful when reflecting on how I could integrate some of the strategies and platforms to better engage and serve my own students.
The sessions offered me a unique opportunity to reflect on my teaching and consider different strategies for achieving student learning goals. The sessions focused on teaching with technology, but were well grounded in pedagogy theory and research. Therefore, I am able to utilize some of the topics to create more engaging and synthesizing assignments and activities for all my classes, including those which are face-to-face.
I learned a great deal about different technologies and programs I could use to create unique and interesting assignments. The challenging part is going to be paring down what I will actually use because I am absolutely brimming with course redesign ideas after every session. I found myself consistently reflecting on one courses I have taught four times throughout my time at Penn State Berks. I had always thought this course required a face-to-face design. However, after attending all four sessions, I have been given tools to effectively translate this hands-on course into an equally engaging online format. I hope to continue to teach this course face-to-face during the academic year. However, understanding how to translate the interactive components to a web-based course will allow me to redesign the course for a summer offering.
In this course, the students utilize toys to evaluate development milestones, engage in lively class discussions about controversial issues (spanking children, supervision of children, development of prejudicial attitudes in children), and conduct community site visits to observe children. The BLT sessions allowed me to see how I could use 365 video in place of community visits to allow the students to complete developmental observations. I learned about several discussion tools that could be used for course discussions, which may be even more lively than the face-to-face ones. I believe I can use the one-button student to create videos of different children’s toys to allow students to complete the toy project. I also did not just learn how to translate the course, but I learned how to make it better. I learned how to embed quiz questions within a video to ensure student attention and increase engagement.
By far the best thing about the sessions were the thought and attention that went into designing and presenting them by the staff of the Center for Learning and Teaching. I have been teaching fully online courses for five years and I was never bored in a session. The instructors designed the sessions to cover several tools and possibilities, along with wonderful examples of how the tools were used in real courses. They were also open to questions and providing additional support. They are a wealth of knowledge and incredibly supportive and one of my favorite parts of teaching at Penn State Berks.
Marissa Ruggiero (BLT, 2018)
As a relatively new faculty member, who was a student not too long ago at Penn State, I was familiar with accessing courses on Angel. I really appreciated the Berks Learning Technologies Certificate program the sessions were informative and have inspired me to apply new techniques in the classroom. The first session introduced me to effective ways of designing a course on canvas, which helped not only myself but provided my students the course material in a more organized manner. By integrating more quizzes and online practice through canvas, it allowed the students more opportunities to review the material outside of the classroom.
I am currently planning and organizing a new hybrid 400-level Kinesiology course for the upcoming semester. By attending both the Discovering Hidden Treasures in Canvas and Designing and Developing Multimedia-based Instructional Content sessions, I have been exposed to the latest interactive techniques that I can apply to the course. By incorporating more narrated Power point lectures and game-like elements embedded into the material, this will provide more student engagement and increase retention outside of the classroom setting. The last resource that I thought would be beneficial for the hybrid course was the 360 video exploring instructional technology and the addition of sharing videos on the course material. The course is focusing on physiology of disease and by showing the students in addition to lecturing on the material, it can increase student engagement as well.
I’ve enjoyed attending the hour-long sessions for this program. For someone who is not familiar or very knowledgeable with technology being implemented in the classroom, the instructors were very informative and broke the information down so it was easy to grasp within one session. The instructors were also helpful in providing additional support and examples on how faculty and staff can utilize these different techniques in multiple settings.
Jeane L. Serrian (BLT, 2018)
I attended the Center for Learning and Teaching Certificate training sessions during the course of the 2017-2018 academic year. As an Adjunct Faculty member, I often work with students who are enrolled in the developmental mathematics courses at Berks. These students come with a variety of backgrounds and experiences in learning modalities. I was looking to expand my teaching tools to reach a broad range of students in a variety of ways. Also, with the transition to CANVAS from ANGEL, I wanted to improve my knowledge of how best to use this course management system.
I attended four of the five certificate sessions which were easy to register for and conveniently scheduled. The staff designed sessions to cover a variety of topics and provided real-life course examples that could be integrated easily into my courses. Lectures and access to session course materials were provided after each session as well, facilitating the exploration of the information presented at a later time. I was eager to try out the new things I was shown although somewhat overwhelmed by all of the technology that is available to us at Penn State Berks. All leaders offered one-on-one instruction to tailor the technology to individual needs.
The session “Breaking Old Habits: An Instructional Technology Infusion for Educators,” presented by Ms. Mengel, gave me several tools that I can use and integrate directly into CANVAS. The idea of using badges to reward students who achieve a certain set of requirements is one that I will be utilizing. Students in today’s tech world experience reward and feedback immediately either through “likes” or “games coins” so getting a badge is like getting that pat on the back. I also found the information on “H5P” and making mini-quizzes that can mimic a game situation for the students to be a very valuable tool. I discovered that Piazza.com has an equation editor built in to the platform, perfect for my math courses. Goal-directed practice and providing targeted feedback is something that students will respond to favorably.
The session “Discovering Hidden Treasures in Canvas,” presented by Ms. Yuan, also gave me ideas to improve the setup of each CANVAS course to make it easier for me to manage and for my students to navigate. Hearing from other faculty members in different disciplines also made me aware of what students are managing in those courses. Effective use of modules, speed grader, peer review, and online assessments will greatly enhance my ability to provide a more well- rounded course delivery.
Overall, the BLT Certificate program was a great opportunity for me particularly as an Adjunct Faculty member, to find out about different ways I can improve and redesign my lectures and online course materials.
Brett Spencer (BLT, 2017)
As a reference librarian, I don’t teach for-credit courses, instead I’m more of a “guest lecturer” who conducts instruction sessions for classes about information literacy and library resources. I recently decided to attend several of the BLT workshops to find ways to improve my library sessions as well as learn more about some of the practices used by teaching faculty. Studies on library instruction stress the importance of active learning and assessment, and the BLT workshops suggested several ways I can improve my instruction in those areas.
In my quest to improve active learning in my library sessions, I think I’m going to make greater use of polling and word cloud software. To foster participation in class in the past, I’ve given prizes to participators, or divided students into small groups with designated speakers. Polling software seems like it will promote more interactivity because it allows for anonymous participation: students don’t have to speak out in front of the class. After seeing Mary Ann Mengel demonstrate some of the free game maker sites on the internet, I’m also intrigued by the idea of creating a video game this summer about evaluating sources, especially distinguishing between scholarly and popular sources. Another possibility I’m pondering: an interactive game where students practice recognizing fake news by fact checking the stories against credible library resources.
I’m also considering using Respondus and the free polling sites to help with my library’s assessment efforts in the fall. Teaching faculty can add librarians to their Canvas sites and enable them to use Respondus. I might create some learning tools that could be used for pre-assessments of students’ skills before library instruction sessions, and this data could help librarians customize library instruction to a specific group of students’ skill level.
BLT workshops are idea factories! They expose you to tools as well as pedagogies that make you rethink how you conduct classes. The CLT staff’s presentations, opportunities for hands-on learning, and the exchanges with other participants right here on campus is a stimulating way to do professional development.
Amir Barakati (BLT, 2016)
The Berks Learning Technologies (BLT) Certificate program is a very useful workshop for faculty and especially for the new members and those who are interested in employing new teaching techniques in their classes. The program is a series of five short and effective sessions with the focus on technological tools to enhance the learning process for students in and beyond the classroom. Not only some creative new teaching approaches and technologies are discussed, but also the related tools and services available at Penn State are introduced.
I was very impressed with the equipment and services that the Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT) offers to faculty and students. Designing a hybrid or online course is a very challenging task that needs careful development of interactive modules to meet learning objectives. With the support and consultation of the experts at the CLT, the design process and strategic planning of the course structure will be accomplished much smoother. They also offer a variety of tools to prepare multimedia on different platforms for a web-enhanced, hybrid or online course. There are also various grants for faculty members who are interested in pursuing a hybrid/online course redesign project. As a new faculty, I found the BLT workshops very helpful to understand all such services to make necessary improvements to my courses. Furthermore, I got to learn about several features of Canvas in one of the sessions which was very useful as we are transitioning from ANGEL to Canvas now. Overall, the BLT Certificate program was a great opportunity for me to find about different ways I can redesign and improve my lectures.
Tara Beecham (BLT, 2016)
I am grateful to have been part of the pilot of the eLearning Academy at Penn State Berks when I was designing English 202C Effective Writing: Technical Writing as a hybrid a few years ago and I participated in the Berks Learning Technologies Certificate program this year in the hopes it would help me better serve our students using this hybrid format at a next-stage level of curriculum development. As one of many instructors making the to switch to Canvas later this summer, I’ll be in the process of “cleaning up” my existing online work as part of the move, and the timing of these practical sessions, coincided with my work for the transition of this course, though certainly not exclusively, in this regard. While I felt I had something to learn from each of the sessions I had attended, the April 1 Web 2.0 Tech session was the one I felt was most helpful personally in terms of how I will apply it to future courses, particularly the hybrid 202C course, that I teach at our campus.
For example, I felt the explanation about portfolios.psu.edu could inform future aspects of the Employment Documents assignment or the form of a group in-class workshop for the 202C hybrid. Also, while I don’t use wikis for that course now, I liked learning by example how tools were used in different courses (“Wikis in Plain English”) and it seemed important to know that they can connect with Canvas. My students might create documents instead of meeting or presenting and I could track how much each person added to these documents, which could affect the format of student work on the Recommendation Report assignment if I make it more of a group project, which is something I have been considering this spring.
I found the review of Box @ PSU helpful, because even though 2015/2016 was the first year I incorporated this helpful tool into my ENGL 202C course because it could handle MP3 files, I feel like there are many other ways I could integrate it into other courses I teach, including English 15 that I will continue to explore. Finally, thank you for incorporating practical applications of the tools we covered into the BLT sessions. Learning about the Canvas equivalent of Adobe Connect – Canvas Collaboration – was a new discovery for me. I learned I could add PowerPoint and walk through text chat or add audio or video to the screen simultaneously. Since this lesson, I have been thinking of what would be the best lesson to take online in this way to best benefit my ENGL 202C hybrid students and I’ve already been leaning towards moving my proposal writing lesson and one of my graphic design lessons online in this way.
Donna Chambers (BLT, 2016)
I attended all five of the BLT Workshops and found them to be extremely informative and useful. The presenters introduced technology in a manner that allowed me to immediately implement new tools and to better understand ones I was already using.
Since I teach hybrid courses at PSU Berks, the first session, “Engaging Students Beyond the Classroom”, was a great way to learn the details of the PSU philosophy on hybrid teaching. I learned how to include online chats, surveys, testing, and grading opportunities in my hybrid courses. I discovered which information delivery systems are currently popular and which are considered antiquated. This will assist me in improving communication with my students.
I had my first introduction to Canvas in the “Explore the Canvas Learning Management System” session. I became an early adopter of Canvas and, with additional one- on-one assistance from Mary Ann Mengel, was able to launch the new system with relative ease. I am in my second term of using Canvas and I feel very comfortable using it and instructing my students to use it as well.
The next three workshops taught me ways to enhance my teaching and course delivery through the use of multimedia. Not only did I learn about various online applications, I also learned how to create films and other projects through our studio at Berks. I passed this knowledge on to my students who then developed multimedia projects in Spanish to illustrate the importance of revitalizing the Schuylkill River Trail. However, the most important tip I learned from these three sessions was that in creating multimedia presentations, I must make them accessible to all students, especially to those who may have special needs. I am currently employing that sensitivity in developing pages to add to the Berks Spanish Tutorial Website.
Without a doubt, the best thing about the series of BLT workshops was the people who taught them. Mary Ann Mengel, Amy Roche, and Daonian Liu presented an enormous amount of material in very digestible segments. They patiently answered questions and emailed participants their presentations. They are always available to answer questions and to provide guidance, thus continuing the workshop experience long after the sessions ended. I am grateful for having the opportunity to attend such well-organized workshops and look forward to attending others in the future.
Jennifer Dareneau (BLT, 2016)
Although I have been teaching hybrid and web classes for Penn State Berks for several years, the Berks Learning Technologies Certificate program did not exist when I began developing my hybrid and web classes. I really wish it would have been available ten years ago. I found each workshop to be interesting and relevant to the work I do as a faculty member in Composition. The workshops were effective in challenging some of my previously conceived notions about available resources from Penn State. The workshops served to expand my familiarity with those resources and introduced me to new ones that outperform (or are easier to use) than some of the current technologies I utilize in my courses.
I especially enjoyed the workshop Designing Instructional Resources using Imagery, Sound, and Motion. Several of the technologies I use were not even mentioned in the workshop, which was the first indication that they may be outdated or less compatible with Penn State's course management system. The discussion of how some of the older, clunkier features of ANGEL will be replaced (with ease!) in the new Canvas system was heartening, as these have proved to be a source of frustration for my students and myself over the last year. I would also like to thank the faculty who agreed to allow the Center for Teaching and Learning to use their projects and classes as samples as part of the demonstrations of each technology. Seeing how other faculty had implemented and embraced resources was the one of the most useful parts of the workshops. I appreciated the overview and description provided by staff from CLT, as they were able to provide a narration explaining the resource, the class, the project, and the student learning outcomes achieved by using that particular resource. Overall, I found the workshop series to be stimulating and pedagogically sound.
Justin DiAngelo (BLT, 2016)
As a new faculty member at Penn State Berks, I have been impressed with all of the technology-based pedagogies being used by faculty throughout the University and specifically on this campus and all of the technical support available to faculty to help integrate technology into their courses. This academic year I have taught 2 Biochemistry courses in a hybrid format and have been looking for any opportunity to learn more about the various technologies currently being used in hybrid and online courses and the best practices for infusing technology into one’s course. The Berks Learning Technologies (BLT) Certificate Program provided me with an excellent opportunity to learn about many different approaches to incorporate technology into my courses.
While I learned new technologies at each BLT session that I attended, the session that particularly resonated with me was the session on Designing Instructional Resources using Imagery, Sound and Motion. Currently in my hybrid Biochemistry courses I include many multimedia videos and animations, but as I found them all from freely available sources and didn’t create them myself, they don’t always match my learning objectives perfectly. In the future, I’d like to generate my own digital learning objects to incorporate both audio and video explanations and illustrations of difficult concepts in my hybrid courses. By learning the appropriate programs to use to generate these objects in this session, I feel much more comfortable moving forward with this enhancement of my courses. Overall, I feel that what I learned throughout the BLT Certificate Program will help enrich the learning experience for students in my courses.
Colleen English (BLT, 2016)
As a new faculty member, I appreciated the workshops that were a part of the Berks Learning Technologies Certificate program. For me, the concepts and skills learned in these workshops fall into two main categories: (1) increased awareness of technology (and assistance with these technologies) that is available at Penn State Berks and (2) new ways to integrate technology into the classroom.
Prior to attending the BLT workshops, I did not realize that Penn State provided access to so many tools for integrating technology in the classroom. Seminars on Web 2.0 tools (such as Yammer, Adobe Connect, Wikispaces, and others) opened me up to the variety of ways that students can connect with their professors beyond traditional in-class questions, in-person meetings, and email. Additionally, the overview of Canvas helped me to see what kinds of technologies are available through the Learning Management System. Perhaps one of the most important aspects of my increased awareness was meeting members of the Center for Learning & Technology. Knowing that there are helpful people on campus with experience in both instructional technologies and course design helps to make the use of some these tools less intimidating.
An important part of these workshops centered on how to integrate these technologies within the classroom. These seminars helped me to realize that learning technologies potentially have a place in all classrooms, not just hybrid and online courses. As a faculty who does not currently teach any hybrid or online courses, I admit I was skeptical of the applicability of instructional technologies. However, after this series of workshops, I now realize that technology can aid traditional forms of teaching. For example, online content delivery, through things like short instructional videos, might be a way to enhance student learning, giving them an alternate way of seeing the material. It may also enhance class time by creating stronger discussions, more opportunities for Q&A, and more time for applying concepts, rather than delivering information. I am excited about the possibilities of instructional technologies in my classroom.
Kathleen Hauser (BLT, 2016)
I am glad I attended the Berks Learning Certificate Program. Exploring the Canvas Learning Management System was particularly helpful since I will be converting my courses from ANGEL to Canvas this summer. Exploring the features that are available will enable me to more thoughtfully construct more course in Canvas and take advantage of all it has to offer. Breaking Old Habits: Technology Infusion for Educators was a great way to learn more about the way current students like to use technology for learning. It explored resources that I did not even know were available and will be fun to incorporate into my courses. I was especially interested in the custom eLearning Resources as a way to improve text material for my students.
Instructional Resources with Imagery, Sound, and Motion was again another great way to explore new resources that are available to instructors. I particularly liked learning about screencasting as a better way to teach students how to do something on the computer instead of line by line instructions which they do not seem to be interested in reading. Web2.0 Tools: Connecting Ideas Within the Classroom and Beyond was particularly helpful in not only familiarizing me with Penn State sites available for our use but also exposing me to different tools available for use through the internet. I am not just limited to the software available on my computer. Attending the Berks Learning Technologies Certificate Program was definitely time well spent!
Dawn Reitz (BLT, 2016)
Being a new faculty member at Berks this academic year, I was very anxious to learn all I could about the campus and the teaching and learning resources provided. One of the main reasons why I made the switch to teach at Berks was the ability to marry my interests in technology with my classroom. So, early on I set out to be a sponge and learn all I could!
Besides enrolling in the Berks eLearning Academy, where I literally transitioned my face-to-face course into a hybrid course, I also have participated in the BLT Certificate Program. I have participated in the first four BLT Certification courses (and would have attended the 5th, but I will be away at a conference in Baltimore).
My hybrid course is up and running this spring semester, and is based almost in its entirety upon what I have learned via the eLearning Academy and the BLT program. I have adopted the use of Canvas, and am quite happy with this transition, as well! I have been known to squeal with delight “I LOVE CANVAS” from time to time!
Currently – I am employing many of the strategies learned in the BLT program….from basics of Canvas, to the incorporation of videos to the creation of learning outcomes and modules. I am looking forward to continuing to learn and use technology to support my students' needs in and out of the classroom.
I have worked hand-in-hand with Mary Ann Mengel and Amy Roche on much of my hybrid process and have found both of them to be extremely helpful and quite knowledgeable in their guidance.
My short term goals including making tweaks to my existing hybrid course in Canvas based on my learning throughout this semester, and apply these tweaks on an ongoing basis with a more generalized upgrade at the conclusion of the spring semester. Additionally, I will be exploring more of what Canvas can do for me, including creating rubrics to use “live” in the classroom with the new iPad I just purchased. Also, I am exploring the possibility of piloting my course as a 100% online experience.
All of my learning from these women and the Center for Learning & Teaching has been amazing so far and I look forward to exploring other offerings in the future.
Matthew Rhudy (BLT, 2016)
My experience in the Berks Learning Technologies Certificate Program helped me to expand my thinking and explore new ideas in teaching with technology. I found this program interesting because even though I am a relatively recent graduate, I was exposed to new technology-based approaches to teaching that had not been in use when I was a student. One of the challenges with education is keeping up with the latest technology, student interests, as well as to fit in with your own teaching style and personality. This program did a good job in increasing awareness of the different possibilities. I particularly appreciated seeing examples of technology applications that other faculty have used. Seeing these examples helped to stimulate my own creativity, and helped to reduce the barriers for exploring new and unfamiliar approaches.
On another note, another advantage of this program, specifically for newer faculty, is that it is a great way to become aware of the various different instructional resources that are available on campus. Without this program, I would not be aware of some of the capabilities of the Canvas learning management system, the one-button studio, and the different options available for sound and video recording and editing. I plan to pursue some new teaching ideas in the future which were inspired by this program.
Allison Singles (BLT, 2016)
The Berks Learning Technologies Certificate Program was very beneficial for me as a new faculty member at Penn State Berks this past year. Primarily, the workshops served to make me aware of the resources available to us, both for instruction, and for our students. The BLT Certificate Program introduced me to different course formats and their respective benefits, the new Canvas learning management system, and several various technological aids available to us as faculty here at Penn State. I found the information about making our course material accessible for both hearing and sight impaired students to be very interesting and insightful.
The two components of the program I found most helpful for my own teaching were the Canvas workshop and the Web 2.0 workshop. Since my courses are primarily based in understanding human movement, the extent to which the material can be supplemented with technology is somewhat limited. However, the interactive nature of Canvas and the Web 2.0 tools will allow me to provide feedback and functional instruction outside of the classroom. Canvas seems to have a much broader reach than our current Angel LMS system and appears to interface very effectively with other Web 2.0 tools such as Twitter, Box, and AdobeConnect. As a soon-to-be new mother I was intrigued by the idea of holding web office hours via AdobeConnect or using it to facilitate research meetings with students.
One final benefit to participating in the BLT Certificate Program was that it allowed me to meet and get to know the Center for Teaching & Learning and the wide variety of support they can provide to us as faculty. I learned that there are numerous funding mechanisms through which the CLT can provide financial support to enhance our courses where appropriate. I also gained a great appreciation for the individual support provided by Daonian, Mary Ann, and Amy. They showed many practical examples of how current faculty are using these new technological tools in their classes, and the ways in which they were able to aid in that process. These practical examples gave us a tangible way to understand how the new tools can be used in our classes and I hope to utilize their expertise in my courses to improve the content delivery in the coming semesters.
Tracy Blunt (BLT, 2015)
The Berks Learning Technologies Certificate Program was a comprehensive and inspiring overview of the possibilities for enhancing learning through the careful integration of technology as I plan and implement instruction for my students. While each workshop was informative and helped me identify specific areas for growth and current limitations in my understanding and effective use of technology, I appreciated the overall focus of each workshop on student learning, engagement, and motivation. The session titled, Breaking Old Habits: A Technology Infusion for Educators, helped me clarify and validate the established goals for the courses I teach and the student teachers I support during their practicum experiences in the Reading Elementary Schools. I am beginning to peruse the possibilities for course enhancement through technology integration, and I?m glad to know that the university has both the technological and professional development resources and expertise to help me as I strive to provide meaningful experiences for my students as they learn about teaching, motivating, and managing elementary age student learners.
I am currently planning and designing the CI405 course in Classroom Management for Senior Elementary Education Majors, and the BLT Program ideas have compelled me to consider the development of several technology-enhanced components to augment my students? experiences in the course. I plan to pursue support from the Center for Teaching and Learning to help me choose and implement the best tools for aural and enhanced feedback on written work. I also will develop the use of chat groups for my students to have opportunities to share their thinking and ideas in an on-line forum in advance of our weekly class meetings. Finally, I appreciate the availability of so many ideas and resources for continual improvement of my course delivery and technology integration. Future plans include the possibility of creating digital badges as a motivator for improved quality in lesson plan design, the use of concept map development as a way of visualizing the main course objectives and essential questions, and the use of the one-minute studio to develop on-line tutorials of key course concepts for student review as needed or desired.
I want to thank Mary Ann Mengel, Amy Roche, and the staff of The Berks Center for Teaching and Learning for all their support and offering a wonderful program for professional development! You have inspired me to continue my own learning in the area of technology integration so I can model these practices for future elementary educators!
Chrystine Mitchell (BLT, 2015)
Although I already knew that my experience and knowledge about ways to integrate technology into classroom practices was only the ?tip of the iceberg,? it was through the content presented at the BLT workshops that I learned about the extent of my own limits. The workshops provided a means for me to learn more about what the university has to offer, the supports in place to help us achieve our own professional goals, and share invaluable resources to help us engage students in course content while pushing their technological boundaries.
The first workshop shared the numerous ways that Penn State offers course content and the different ways to integrate web-enhanced course opportunities. Although I had familiarity with how online courses are facilitated and can be created, the workshop provided a much more detailed picture of the immense learning opportunities that can be produced and shared with students. As a new faculty member I wanted to use ANGEL in a way that seemed logical but I did not have a lot of time to understand the larger capabilities. Following the workshop session focused on ANGEL, I was able to utilize much more of the functionality of the management system. This led to me being able to become greener, making instructional resources more convenient for students, and in general being more efficient. It also allowed me to understand the functionality of ANGEL in creating and managing an online course, which I will accomplish this summer. This year I also utilized the rubric tool, which enabled me to easily grade student work and provide valuable feedback.
I also attended a workshop regarding multi-modal content and ways of not only making course material more accessible for my students, but making the material more engaging as well. I plan to use different videos and demonstration lessons in next year?s courses and I also have a way to create videos for my online course this summer. Finally, the workshop regarding multi-media experiences in the classroom introduced me to some tools I had not yet encountered and certainly wanted to utilize during the spring semester. I feel that I have a responsibility to model appropriate forms of technology through my courses in order to illustrate to the future teachers I am instructing about the importance of using multi-media in their instruction. I utilized a version of every tool that was shared at the workshop and I feel that my course content was enhanced as a result.
Attending the workshops for the certificate is an excellent opportunity to gain extensive knowledge about tools that extend student thinking, offer formative assessment data, and improve student learning. I plan to continue to attend future workshops because technological tools and opportunities are continually shaped and improved over time. I want to continue to improve the way in which I provide meaningful opportunities for learning and I know the BLT workshops will provide me with relevant information to accomplish this goal.
Angelica Montoya (BLT, 2015)
The sessions presented in the Berks Learning Technologies Certificate Program were very informative and have provided me various options to incorporate in my teaching. The workshops inspired me to strive to use the best technological practices and other multimedia to enhance the learning process. I definitely plan to design and implement various new materials in order to challenge and inspire all my students. One of the workshops focused on the move from traditional teaching approaches to the incorporation of new instructional technologies that will allow convenience, flexibility and access for the instructor and also benefit the students in accommodating diverse learning styles. The integration of these new ideas will be extremely useful for the students taking a hybrid course, which combines classroom learning with an online learning component. Having taught several hybrid courses, I look forward to enhancing my teaching and engaging my students by offering a more interactive approach to learning through the use of technology.
Another workshop presented different ways to design instructional resources with the use of imagery, sound and motion. This workshop introduced me to different multimedia applications that I plan to incorporate in future classes. The integration of these resources will be beneficial in my teaching as I make a conscious effort to make the learning of the target language occur in a dynamic, yet comfortable classroom environment. By incorporating the use of audio and other multimedia, such as a recording of a 4-5 minute segment, students will be able to practice their listening and speaking skills in the target language. Having attended these workshops has increased my knowledge of how to implement technology in the target language classroom. With the integration of these technological resources as well as web 2.0 tools, I hope to facilitate the learning of a second language. Whether it is in a beginning level Spanish course or an advanced Spanish linguistics course, I plan to implement these new resources in order to enhance learning. By doing so, I hope to inspire my students to further their language studies and travels abroad.
Shannon Nowatarski (BLT, 2015)
As a new faculty member, who is illiterate when it comes to technology, I very much appreciated the opportunity to learn about all of the exciting ways we can implement technology into the classroom. Every session was very informative and encouraged my exploration of using various tools, tools that I would have never known about without attending the BLT sessions, in the classroom. I came back from each session filled with new ideas about how to better my courses and increase my students? engagement in my courses.
I am already in the planning phase of adding learning badges to my laboratory course. In fact, after discussing this with other biology faculty members, we are trying to create a comprehensive badge program for the students who take their mandatory laboratory requirements in the BMB major. We want to implement the badge system as a way of not only rewarding our students for mastering a scientific practice/method but also as a tool for the faculty to gage where individual students are in terms of laboratory methodology. The next step for our program is to have the lab instructors come together and create a rubric for each badge that we will offer and determine which laboratory course will offer each badge. I think that this is a fantastic way to increase students? engagement and to give them an incentive to master laboratory techniques. To me, this is better than just offering a grade.
I want to take this opportunity to thank the Center for Learning and Teaching team for putting on a wonderful workshop series. Every workshop was quite useful and really made me think about how technology can be utilized to enhance course curriculum.
Alice Shaparenko (BLT, 2015)
I have been interested in developing a hybrid course for either Math 110 or Math 140. The BLT Certificate program and the Berks eLearning Academy would be the perfect places to get this started. Ms. Mengel and Ms. Roche have helped me and Prof. Eshbach develop five eLearning modules for Math 110. They are very knowledgeable and very helpful.
The workshops taught me many different ways to motivate students. The one I would like to try for next fall is using Doceri on iPad to make short videos and post them on Box. This is very useful for topics that are more challenging to students because they can advance the slides at their own pace outside of class.
I also plan on editing my clicker questions from a few years ago and use them in the near future. Students often find Calculus classes boring and difficult. Clickers can encourage them actively doing some problems during class, therefore enhance their learning.
Finally, I would like to thank Ms. Mengel, Ms. Roche, and the Center for Learning and Teaching staff for offering such a wonderful program.
Michael Briggs (BLT, 2014)
As a relatively new faculty member who only just a little bit ago was a student, I felt as though these instructional courses on classroom technologies would be mindless and pointless. After all, I had just graduated from a university with faculty using technologies in their lectures. So, clearly I knew all that was to know about technology?right?! I couldn?t have been more ignorant!
The BLT Certificate Program's instructors present a wealth of innovative learning technologies while still ?dumbing it down? for those who may otherwise be technologically afraid/ungifted. They did an excellent job in presenting what the technological tool was and illustrating examples of how it could be incorporated into the classroom.
I will be teaching a Polycom structured class in the fall that is also supplemented with an online component. The amazing BLT instructors have already graciously offered to help me in constructing and incorporating some of the technologies discussed in the BLT program. While online is nothing new to me as a student, it will be an exciting and novel experience for me to be the one creating the class! The use of Polycom and its complementary technologies will be a beneficial experience for me.
I would like thank all the instructors of the BLT courses for their time and easy-to-follow presentations throughout the certification process. I hope you don?t mind me phoning you for support! Also, to those faculty reading my reflection right now, I encourage you, if you haven?t done so, to attend this certification program!
Cesar Martinez-Garza (BLT, 2014)
I wandered into the BLT program searching for ideas to integrate the humble blackboard with computer graphics and animations. My approach to teaching Mathematics relies heavily on graphics--simple graphs and animations to generate intuition. At the 3-dimensional level, some graphs are better rendered in a computer than drawn by hand and much faster. Animations require a computer altogether. I currently find myself skipping from the blackboard to the projector screen. Typing Mathematics is a miserable experience if one uses standard tools. There are mathematical typesetting programs that can be utilized, but at this point one has to question the need for a textbook if one has to replicate the effort of preparing a textbook, and the animations are still not included. Mathematics has to be taught ?live?. The logic has to flow and become evident as arguments are constructed in real time, not stationary in print. I have tried Doceri on an iPad and I found the experience completely unsatisfactory.
Moving into the future, I plan to combine a Smart Board, data capturing equipment, and a microphone to generate video files of solutions to exams and quizzes that can be posted on ANGEL. Other tools presented during the seminar may be of use with this endeavor.
Wolfram?s Mathematica, my preferred mathematics computer tool, now has a mode called a Computational Data Format (CDF) where documents look like PDF?s but all graphical aspects are interactive. I would like to begin constructing a collection of CDF?s with examples. These files would be suitable for electronic distribution, but as mentioned above, this task will be very time consuming. This way, however, the animations and complicated graphs will become available to students outside of the classroom.
Jeanne Marie Rose (BLT, 2014)
As a teacher-scholar of literacy, I hold a strong interest in students? ways of reading, writing, thinking, and knowing. And, after thirteen years at Penn State Berks, I?m increasingly aware of the gaps between my own preferred literacy practices?many of which remain print-based?and students? ever-changing digital literacies. My students remind me that we are in the midst of a ?convergence culture? that requires us to produce, as well as consume, information. Today?s students thrive on interactivity; indeed, they demand it, and the Berks Learning Technologies (BLT) Program has helped to highlight ways that I might connect students? preferred ways of learning with my own commitment to critical inquiry.
Most of my teaching is located in the Professional Writing Major and the Composition Program. Given the discursive nature of writing, it?s unlikely that I will be adopting Clickers any time soon. That said, I found the Clicker component of the ?Breaking Old Habits? session to be a valuable hands-on experience. This workshop demonstrated how a Clicker session can be highly interactive while simultaneously providing a safe, anonymous space for students to test their understanding. In a way, this ?safe, anonymous space? characterizes students? expectations?and perhaps hopes?for a writing course, which nevertheless remains a risky, highly personalized learning space. ?Breaking Old Habits? therefore helped me to think through some of the ways writing courses challenge students? sense of vulnerability, and it gave me some ideas for anonymous online activities. I can imagine, for example, creating peer response activities through ANGEL that allow for anonymous student feedback.
The ?Breaking Old Habits? session also introduced me to Digital Badges, a form of online gamification. I was immediately drawn to the badges because their ability to document conceptual learning struck me as a good fit for a writing course. I started envisioning a Revision Badge, a Peer Workshop Badge, a Successful Paraphrasing Badge, and more. All of these represent concepts that are valued in writing courses, but are not easily quantified or graded. A student who does extensive revision may write a B-range paper while still deserving special recognition for her commitment to revision. Students who excel at peer review may not be able to transfer that skill to their own writing. Successful paraphrasing often goes unremarked while ineffective paraphrasing receives plagiarism warnings. The badges therefore represent a way to galvanize interest in writing, reward accomplishments that are not easily graded, and, ideally, merge students? participatory digital literacies with my own pedagogical values and priorities. To that end, I plan to follow the BLT series? recommendation to explore Mozilla?s Open Badges and Penn State?s Digital Badging Platform.
Bryan Wang (BLT, 2014)
As a relatively new faculty member, I appreciated how the BLT Certificate program both exposed me to new classroom technologies and helped inform my vision of an effective undergraduate learning environment. While the Center for Learning & Teaching team presented a wide array of tools and strategies for using them, the discussions were not limited to technical matters; the presenters also talked about and modeled ways to keep students actively learning.
The experience has already substantively affected my teaching practices. For example, this semester I?ve begun to use i>clickers and other classroom activities in my freshman biology lectures to encourage deeper student engagement?with the topic at hand, with their peer mentors, with me, and with each other. I?ve also added weekly online homework assignments to reinforce what I?ve taught in class. These changes have positively impacted student learning, as evidenced by formal assessment scores, and they?ve enhanced the atmosphere of the lecture hall. In the future, I?m planning more adjustments to my courses. One possibility that I?m eager to explore is the idea of giving audio feedback on student writing?another BLT tip?in hopes of delivering my comments in a more efficient and personal manner than is possible with written feedback.
On a broader scale, the BLT sessions, along with the e-learning academy, helped convince me of the many benefits of hybrid classes. This summer, I?ll be building a hybrid version of the freshman biology class, combining lectures, discussions, and problem-solving workshops in face-to-face sessions with asynchronous online and traditional learning activities. In this course redesign, I?ll incorporate more of the tools I first learned about in the BLT workshops. For instance, for each learning module, I?ll be creating online videos or narrated PowerPoints to introduce foundational concepts to students.
I look forward to continue learning how to improve my teaching through programs of similar quality to the Berks Learning Technologies Certificate program.
Ryan Hassler (BLT, 2013)
With the click of a mouse or the push of a few buttons, we literally have the world at our fingertips. In fact, our society thrives and has become based on information technology. As an educator, I therefore find it imperative to integrate technology into my daily instruction and curriculum. My goal in attending the B.L.T. workshops was to gain further knowledge about online, multimedia and web 2.0 resources that I can use to further enhance my Statistics 200 hybrid courses.
My first attempt to use what I learned in the workshops will be to create mini-lectures/podcasts that can be posted onto Angel in order to provide an effective way for students to learn material outside of the classroom. In addition, I am anxious to also create a different set of podcasts that will be used to review topics that students often find difficult. Throughout the workshop I learned about several different tools that can be used to accomplish these goals and will work to find the best one suitable for my needs.
Another topic that I wanted to take away from these workshops was various ways to increase student engagement in the classroom. Although I already use clickers in my classroom, after attending the assessment workshop and discussing effectiveness of clickers I revised and further integrated the clicker questions into my daily classes. Moreover, I am going to explore using Doceri (an interactive white board application for the iPad) for instruction. With having my lecture in my fingertips this will allow me to be mobile and roam around the room further interacting and engaging students.
Malika Richards (BLT, 2013)
My goal for participating in the BLT program was to expand my knowledge of new learning technologies and resources in order to enhance student learning. In this respect, I was almost overwhelmed by all the information presented.
In session #2, I learned new things about ANGEL and classroom clickers.
In session #3, I was amazed at all the online open access educational materials. I will explore these resources to see if I can find useful engaging activities to integrate into the classroom or assign as out-of-class exercises. Some useful points brought up in this session are that the material students tend to struggle most with is ideal for a game or interactive activity they can do out of class. This way, class time would not need to be used for remediation. Other things to consider are the useability, quality of content and activity, level of feedback, and technical specifications. The more engagement and feedback, the more students will like it. The more time students spend on working on a content, the more they learn.
In session #4, I learned about numerous multimedia tools and will give Adobe Presenter a try in future. Another tool, GoAnimate, could be a lot of fun incorporated into student projects.
In session #5, I was most intrigued by the possibilities of Google Drive (formerly Google Docs). This tool allows one to open files from any device and to "e-mail" even large files.
Thanks again to all the dedicated professionals in the Penn State Berks Center for Learning and Teaching.
Wah-Kwan Ku (2013)
Session 1: Engaging Students Beyond the Classroom: Two thoughts after attending this session:
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I was convinced that hybrid classes can be useful to some students. I had one student in MATH 110, who lived and worked far away from campus, and she had to miss the class on every Friday because she had to work on Thursday evening. It will be helpful to students in her situation if we can develop one hybrid section in MATH 110.
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The online forum seems to be a good idea. I experienced this when I was an undergraduate student in a computer science course that consists of 400 students. I learned a lot by participating in online discussions with other classmates.
Session 2: Organizing & Assessing Students for Success: I had never used Clicker in my teaching before. It seems easier to use than I thought it would be. After this session, I have developed an interest to try it sometime in the future. It seems Clicker works better with conceptual questions than questions that require lengthy calculation. Therefore I need to think about how to make it useful in a computational-based course such as MATH 22 or MATH 110.
Session 3: Motivating Students' Course Engagement: Using Interactive Online Resources: Through this session, I realized that most students in the current generation grew up in a different technological environment than me. It can be helpful and even necessary to incorporate some technological resources to provide interactive learning opportunities for students. Some of my colleagues have been creating electronic modules for MATH 110, and many of my students found it useful for their learning of calculus. I wonder if we can do something similar with MATH 22.
Session 4: Multimedia: Enhancing instruction with imagery, sound and motion: Before this session, I thought Multimedia must consist of both sound and motion. It turned out the definition of multimedia is broader than I previously understood. This session introduced several basic multimedia applications that are currently used by other Penn State Faculty. More importantly, it provided resources that allow the participants to find out more if they wish.
Session 5: Web 2.0 Tools: Connecting Ideas Within the Classroom and Beyond: With the many tools introduced in this session, I want to try using Yammer. I hope it can address the issue that students in general don?t like to check their emails.
Lauren Jade Martin (BLT, 2012)
I was fortunate to attend the first four BLT workshops of the 2011-2012 year: Engaging Students Beyond the Classroom, Facilitating Discussion and Collaboration, Motivating and Assessing Student Learning, and Multimedia Tools. Having attended these workshops, I feel more competent in my ability to find and assess technologies I may want to incorporate in my teaching. While I am sure that I will integrate several of the provocative ideas and technologies that I learned about in these sessions, some of the workshops were more immediately useful than others. Technologies such as online tutorials or multimedia tools seem like they would be great for hard science or language classes, but I am still uncertain about how to apply them in my largely discussion-based classes in Sociology and Women's Studies.
Two sessions, however, definitely piqued my interest, and gave me ideas about how to integrate technology into--and out of--the classroom: Engaging Students Beyond the Classroom, and Facilitating Discussion and Collaboration. Prior to coming to PSU Berks, I had never even heard the term "hybrid course," but I was excited to learn about the possibilities of working with CLT staff to create or modify a course that involves both in-class and online components. This kind of course could prove helpful for reaching students with a variety of learning styles; whereas some would benefit from immediate face-to-face interaction in the classroom, others may appreciate the ability to work privately and at their own pace. I am also interested in exploring the use of blogs in the classroom. Having my students blog may help me to reach several of my pedagogical goals at once: improving students' writing through low-stakes exercises, facilitating discussion among students, and getting students to engage with sociological concepts as they encounter them in their daily lives.
Toby Rider (BLT, 2012)
First and foremost, the Berks Learning Technology series has helped me to rethink the way that I teach. In the long run, this will hopefully lead to a better learning experience for the students that take my classes. I must admit that for much of the series I was left trying to come to terms with the myriad of ways that technology can be used in the classroom. Fortunately, the instructors clearly explained the often overwhelming flood of technical jargon.
Without question, each session contained ideas about teaching and technology which were new to me, and some of the tools outlined were very applicable to the classes I lecture on the history and philosophy of sport and physical activity. For instance, learning about the role of sport across a range of historical periods is a far from straightforward process. To take one example, in order to understand the function and purpose of sport in ancient Greece, one must also understand the social and political dynamics of ancient Greek society. Merely cataloguing the events in the Olympic Games tells us little; the student must grasp why athletic festivals such as the Olympics were an important part of Greek culture. However, communicating this can become complicated, especially when class time is limited. Sometimes the contextual background can overwhelm the focus of the class, which is sport and physical activity. During the BLT session on ?Finding, Choosing, & Using Interactive Educational Resources,? John Shank suggested that online educational resources may well be able to help me navigate this problem. For example, before class the students could be provided with a link to an online learning tool which gives them a brief and accessible overview of the structure of ancient Greek society. This could alter the dynamics of the class in a positive manner. Rather than beginning class with a barrage of information, the students and I could discuss the contextual background covered in the online tool, and tackle any troublesome questions. The rest of the class time could then be spent discussing the role of sport in ancient Greece by referring back to the online tool. In sum, the aim of the class remains the same, but the learning outcome and the student experience would be greatly enhanced.
I intend to contact John on this particular issue and to also explore how suggestions from the other BLT sessions can be applied to my classes.
Terry Speicher (BLT, 2012)
I enjoyed attending the 2011-2012 Berks Learning Technologies (BLT) Certificate Series. After participating in the first session in October, Engaging Students Beyond the Classroom, I decided to experiment with the hybrid format in my fall STS 233 course. For a few weeks I canceled our Thursday class, and the students then had until Friday to write commentaries on an ANGEL Discussion Forum. The time period between Tuesday and Thursday was not sufficient for some students to complete the weekly assignment. This flexibility was well received by the students, and it convinced me that a hybrid format had advantages over meeting on a typical twice a week schedule.
The second session in November, Facilitating Discussion and Collaboration, gave me ideas on how to deliver my spring STS 245 course as a hybrid. My course typically met on Monday with assignments due on Wednesday and Friday but no class meeting those days. The before-class assignment was a multiple choice quiz on the reading material. The during-class activity was discussion of the quiz and other short answer questions. The after-class activity was for students to comment to a discussion question on the ANGEL Discussion Forum by Wednesday and then reply to another student?s submission by Friday. Students could not see any posts until they first posted their paragraph. This facilitated students seeing other points of view on a topic and strengthened their ability to state and to defend a position.
The fourth session in March, Multimedia: Enhancing instruction with imagery, sound and motion, and the fifth session in April, Web 2.0 Tools: Connecting ideas within the classroom and beyond, gave me ideas for my summer course with a six-week schedule. This summer I plan to use video clips of problem examples in MATH 211 to forgo class lectures. Limited class time during the summer session will be used as a recitation class to discuss homework problems attempted from the online lecture notes and video clips. Flipping the classroom is facilitated by a hybrid format course delivery.
The sessions delivered by the staff at the Center for Learning and Teaching illustrated many opportunities to incorporate instructional technology in the classroom to engage students and enhance learning. This fall I?ll deliver STS 233 in a hybrid format, and I?m looking forward to incorporating more of these Web tools in the course.
Kira Baker-Doyle (BLT, 2011)
My pedagogical background and praxis have always valued the distributed intelligence possibilities inherent in technological media and programming. As such, I was eager to participate in the Technologies certificate program. In addition, I looked forward to sharing experiences with colleagues. The workshops provided an overview of means and methods to include technology in the classroom. As an education researcher and professor, I took note not only of the content provided, but also of the format of instruction. In this reflection, I would like to touch upon both of these issues. Content-wise, I was re-introduced to a variety of popular technological tools in the classroom, from media tools to web 2.0. Although I already had knowledge of many of these tools, the websites and resources online were frequently novel and noteworthy. Jing, a web-based program that allows users to record the computer screen particularly intrigued me. I would like to use this program in my course, in order to show students how to use some of the programs they need to use for digital storytelling. Further, the workshops allowed me to reflect on the work I accomplished with the TLI grant that I received in 2009, and spurred me to enhance or modify certain aspects of my syllabus regarding technological applications.
In terms of the instruction, I enjoyed being with colleagues and occasionally sharing ideas and experiences at the end of the sessions. In the future, I would suggest offering more opportunities for sharing and discussion, which would both give the presenters some information on the background knowledge of participants, and allow participants to get to know more about what practices are being implemented in Berks classrooms. I would be happy to offer more specific suggestions and strategies if requested.
David Bender (BLT, 2011)
My goal in attending the BLT series of workshops was to increase the use of technology in my courses with respect to (1) identifying resources to incorporate into classes consistent with my course objectives, and (2) increasing the online components of my courses that match my philosophy of teaching.
I found the workshops to be a great overview of the possibilities for increasing online learning. I realize, however, that I need to explore the various tools in more depth and give thoughtful consideration as to how different types of technology will enhance student learning in my courses.
Although not part of the BLT series, I attended the NBCLearn workshop and have started to develop my own playlist. I have used some segments in my classes and will use more segments during the remainder of the spring semester.
Zohra Guissé (BLT, 2011)
I plan to use the Students Response Systems (Cliquers) in the foreign language class to review the material taught. I will ask students to answer to multiple choice questions about vocabulary, grammar, or culture. I believe that the use of the Cliquers will improve students? participation in a non threatening environment. It will also help me assess their understanding of the material and adjust my teaching accordingly.
I plan to use the Voice Thread as a tool of communication in the foreign language class. For example, I will post videos in the target language or pictures with questions and have students answer either by recording their answers or in writing. This method will help students to improve their writing, speaking, and listening skills in the target language.
Benjamin Infantolino (BLT, 2011)
I plan to implement what I have learned in the program to aid student learning in and outside the classroom. One of the major aspects from the program that I will be implementing will be the online interactive resources. Students in anatomy need practice with the material and since much of the class is based upon memorization, non-graded quizzes are an effective way for students to test how much material they know. Interactive online quizzes are a great way for the students to have their knowledge tested in a low pressure situation. I learned how to search for reputable sites for online quizzes, which helped me post more of the quizzes for the students.
Another portion of the program that I will implement in my courses is increased use of ANGEL. I currently use ANGEL to post notes. Now I will focus on using the online gradebook and online quizzes. The gradebook will allow me to post grades more quickly for students as well as give the students an electronic way to check their grades. Online quizzes allow for more flexibility on the student?s part so they can take the quiz when they are comfortable and not at 8 am in lecture.
Overall, I learned numerous techniques that I can use to enhance my lectures and the learning experience for the students. This will translate to increased student engagement and more success for the students.
Ron Jastrezebski (BLT, 2011)
I found the various workshops presented by the instructional design staff of the Berks Center for Learning & Teaching to be quite beneficial. I learned a great deal of how I potentially further enhance the use of technology in the classroom. I would highly recommend this certificate program to other Berks faculty in the event the program is offered again in the future. The sessions I found to be of interest to me in the short-term were the last three (sessions 3-5): "Using Interactive Online Resources" (session 3), "Enhancing Instruction with Imagery, Sound and Motion" (session 4) and "Web 2.0 Tools: Connecting Ideas Within the Classroom and Beyond" (session 5).
A number of the textbook publishers in the field of accounting that I currently use in my courses have recently introduced a number of online and interactive tools as a basis for enhancing the overall student learning process and to better engage them in the subject material. As a result, I would be looking to partner with the staff of the Berks Center for Learning & Teaching to see how much of this available textbook publisher interactive material would practically make sense to incorporate to my accounting course. I see some real upside to enhancing the overall student learning process in my courses by taking advantage of this available interactive technology that currently exists.
There also was a wealth of information provided in the last two sessions on Multimedia (session 4) and Web 2.0 Tools (session 5) many of which we were only able to touch upon due to time constraints. The tools presented in these last two workshops that are of immediate interest to me are: Adobe Presenter, PSU Media Commons, NBC Learn, Google Docs, Adobe Connect and VoiceThread. Specifically, I see some real immediate value to being able to record my study review sessions to make these available to all students, to be able to utilize Adobe Connect (or other tools), to be able to conduct an interactive make-up class session in the event of class cancellation, and to be able to incorporate NBC Learn in future courses as part of either homework assignments or course projects. My near term plans are to reach out to the Berks Center for Learning & Teaching staff to find out more about each of the teaching and learning tools to see how I will be able to take advantage of the technology presented in the various workshops especially the these last two sessions.
Edwin Murillo (BLT, 2011)
The teaching methodology that I encourage in my language classrooms is one of immersion. I base my pedagogical approach on the belief that an individualized investment on the part of the learner is paramount in the dynamic, but slow process of second language acquisition. In order words, language needs to be intricately woven into the fabric of the personal, so that the mechanisms of an implicit linguistic system are founded and set in motion. As noted linguist Bill Van Patten puts it, with regard to language learning: ?interaction promotes acquisition because students help to manage the input [?] interaction may also heightens learners? awareness of thing that are missing in their developing systems, pushing them to be more active input processor,? to which Van Patten concludes, ?what it suggests is that whenever learners produce language, it should be for the purpose of expressing some kind of meaning? (108). In this respect, the BLT Certificate workshops have provided valuable tools for implementing a dynamic classroom approach to Spanish language education.
In Amy Roche?s workshop ?Engaging Students Beyond the Classroom,? we discussed how technology can expand the boundaries of the traditional classroom. To this end, the workshop examined the multitude of possibilities available to instructors at Penn State Berks. In my classroom I have incorporated the Spanish eLearning Project which was initiated in 2009 by Spanish professors Dr. Belén Rodríguez-Mourelo and Dr. Rosario Torres and the Center for Learning & Teaching at Penn State Berks. This project allows students to assess online tutorials and interactive practice exercises. Also, after this workshop I become more familiarized with ANGEL, and have since linked Spanish versions of MSN, Yahoo and ESPN to help students access ?real? world media. Furthermore, I?ve made links available to other online resources, such as Spanish dictionaries, and Latin American and Spanish newspapers. In fact, I often show news clips from BBC Mundo for the students to keep up to date with the Hispanic world and to experience a new perspective on current events.
John Shank?s workshop on ?Motivating Students' Course Engagement: Using Interactive Online Resources,? discussed the innovative new learning resources that have been and are being developed by textbook publishers and universities. After this workshop, I located Spanish Language and Culture with Barbara Kuczun Nelson, an interactive grammar and culture learning resource sponsored by Colby College. I have since returned to Spanish Language and Culture, several times to incorporate grammar lessons and exercises for my basic Spanish language courses. Also, after participating in this workshop I have more thoroughly integrated the online learning resources of Dos Mundos and Rumbos, which include interactive cultural videos, music links, chapter vocabulary quizzes, verb conjugation charts, an individualized country image bank and even a textbook contextualized version of Jeopardy!
Through language learning I strive to develop in my students an informed appreciation of languages, literatures, and cultures. At the same time I aim to help my students to continue acquiring skills in critical thinking, effective writing, and oral communication which in Spanish opens the door to a vast world of distinct cultures. After the BLT Certificate workshops, I am more comfortable with implementing distinct technological resources to create ?windows? into the Spanish language world, with the hope of fostering language learning but also real world dialogue.
JoAnne Pumariega (BLT, 2011)
I signed up for the sessions not only to hopefully earn the Berks Learning Technologies Certificate, but to learn as much as I could in order to enhance the hybrid course in Math 22 which I began teaching during the spring 2011 semester.
The first session by John Shank and Amy Roche demonstrated the difference between web-enhanced and hybrid courses. It was mentioned that students retain more and do better in web-enhanced and hybrid courses if they put forth the effort that these courses demand. One can reach a diverse population outside of the campus community by the use of web-based courses that do not restrict the student to be on the campus taking courses for as many hours as before. These courses reach out to older students who may work several hours a week and/or live far away from the campus while at the same time attracting the younger students who enjoy experiencing and learning in a manner different from their parents.
On our campus many of the instructors, including myself, make use of ANGEL to enhance instruction, to act as a tutorial, to post the grades in a timely and confidential manner, and to make use of discussion groups and various other technologies which enhance the learning of the many objectives set forth in the syllabus of the course. Amy Roche has worked tirelessly with Selvi Jagadesan and me in order to develop Math 21 and Math 22 hybrid courses. All of the materials we teach for each class session are stored under Lessons on ANGEL and presented to the students on line. We teach two days in the classroom and the third day is optional which is used for extra practice or small group tutorials. From the surveys which Amy Roche has received, again all online, it appears that the students are enjoying the hybrid and feel that they are learning in a different environment. I have never used clickers, but their usage and usefulness in the classroom was demonstrated by Tricia Clark, especially focusing on the objectives that students need to master in order to move on to the next level.
The third session given by John Shank focused on the various types of learning resources that publishers have had to develop since the ordinary books are going out of style. In developing the hybrid math courses we used as much as we could from the publishers including online homework problems which could be selected, online tutorials, videos, etc. which were all developed so we did not have to reinvent many of the materials. Our job was to select the materials that fulfilled our objectives and organize what was useful to us as we developed the materials for the students. Various websites that I could use to enhance the course further were shown. Materials may be taken from these sites and shared amongst instructors without worry of academic integrity and thus integrated into the specific course throughout the semester.
The fourth session given by Mary Ann Mengel proved to be a very exciting one for me. She said that Richard Mayer (2007) feels that ?relevant? visuals increase comprehension for the students. Mary Ann focused on incorporating multimedia of which she is an expert into the instruction, assignments, and assessment given in the classroom. I was exposed to many tools, too numerous to mention, which I took notes on while I watched Mary Ann demonstrate and give examples of each one. Some of the tools I had heard of such as podcasting, for example, where we see our chancellor each month, screen captures, audio feedback, and video displays were also demonstrated. The tools such as Audacity, Jing, PSU Media Commons, Kaltura, NBC Learn were amazing to me. I would need a lot of hands-on experience with the video camera, but would like to be videotaped to demonstrate some of my lessons for my hybrid course. I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation, but honestly speaking, do not feel that I have the time or know how to learn all of them. Several websites were given so we could set up accounts such as with iTunesU, podcasts, Kaltura and thus explore these tools on our own time. Perhaps, this instructor could make use of Jing and make a screencast to share with the students and save it in a file.
The last session by Amy Roche and Tricia Clark which explored Web 2.0 was even more amazing. I was overwhelmed by the display of tools used at Penn State that are currently used by our students. Some that I felt as though I could make use of were Blogs and ePortfolios. Wikis and Google Docs would be great for my FYS. Wikis allow students to share and post together their feedback instead of waiting for an email to go from one person to another. We do a lot of group activities in this class. I do have a Facebook account, but it was nothing like the Facebook sites developed by an Advanced Placement History class shown in our session. Learning how to use these tools along with the assistance of the students would help me become more acquainted with each one. I would probably need a demonstration on a particular tool, such as Adobe Connect or Voice Thread and for someone to watch me use the tool before I would feel comfortable using it with the students.
In conclusion, I learned an incredible amount of information in these sessions, and hope that I am able to incorporate at least a few of these tools that are most interesting to me into my classes. Hopefully, this summer I will have a chance to do this exploration of tools in the classroom. Thank you for sharing your expertise with us faculty members.
Holly Ryan (BLT, 2011)
Since writing and technology are intertwined, my teaching has always included a significant integration of various technologies in and out of the classroom: course management software, WordPress blogs, multimedia tools, and, of course, the computer! Even so, I?m always looking for ways to increase students? engagement with technology since I believe critical analysis of these tools will empower them in their professional and educational pursuits. The Berks Learning Technologies Certification program introduced me to several ideas that I hadn?t considered using in my writing classroom. In particular, I found two tools that I?d like to incorporate into my classroom activities: the personal response devices and the podcasting/multimedia technology offered through the media commons.
Since my classes are relatively small in size and fairly student-centered, I never considered using the personal response devices since I always thought they would be most useful in larger classrooms where faculty employed a lecture-oriented teaching style. However, after our BLT workshop, I can see how I might use them. In the writing classroom, my students and I discuss credible evidence and effective source integration, among other writing-related issues. I could imagine creating classroom activities with student writing that used the devices to poll students about what is effective for them as a reader. I could then facilitate a discussion of why certain texts, strategies, or evidence works for them. Since I have a small classroom, I often get the same students piping up with their own opinions and I could see the clickers getting a broader range of responses from more (maybe even all!) students. Furthermore, if a writer saw that, for example, 80% of the class found he/she needed more evidence to support a claim, the writer might be more inclined to make changes than if he/she heard from just one or two students.
In addition to personal response devices, I hope to incorporate podcasting into my English 250 course next semester. English 250 is the peer tutor training in writing course, and the students who enroll in the class create materials that help our student-writers on campus. Often times, these materials are used in the Writing Center, but, next semester, I?d like the students to create writing-related podcasts that anyone can download from our website. I could imagine these podcasts might even be assigned by composition and/or writing across the disciplines faculty when they are teaching new writing strategies to their students. Given that the media commons has the equipment and resources to help students create these audio texts, I am confident that my students will create projects that could be helpful to the entire campus community!
Jenifer Shannon (BLT, 2011)
The Berks Learning Technology Series has been a great way to introduce how new tools in technology could enhance my teaching practices and student engagement. I have been exposed to some new ways of using technology through this series. Summarized below are the aspects of technology that I have tried as a result of this series and those that I intend to try in the future.
I found the session on ANGEL particularly helpful. In my first semester of teaching at Penn State, I was only using ANGEL to post documents such as the syllabus, schedule, and lectures. After the BLT Session, I added the gradebook for my students so they could access their current grade at any time. This semester I incorporated online assessments into my classes through ANGEL. I had a number of problems using the assessment development software provided by the textbook publisher with ANGEL, but Tricia Clark patiently worked with me until we ironed out the kinks. I have found Tricia to be a wonderful resource.
The session covering enhancing instruction with imagery, sound and motion has given me some ideas about using the Jing to develop tutorials the various software packages that my students will be using in their coursework. I have also started to explore iTunesU for additional ideas for course supplemental material.
Googledocs is a popular way of sharing materials. I intend to explore using Googledocs for my classes that require teamwork and project development. I currently use Google Calendar and find it extremely helpful in that I can share my schedule with people of my choosing. Last but not least, my summer project is to open a Facebook account.
Jessica Schocker (BLT, 2011)
As a professor of education, I?m a firm believer in staying current with the available technology that supports classroom instruction and independent student learning. I was thrilled to participate in the BLT training to gain deeper insights to the technology I already use and to learn more about technologies I have not used. There are a number of ways that I will incorporate my new learning into my teaching here at Berks.
First, I?d never seen or used Jing before. I love the idea that I could post tutorials for my students of how to navigate a website. I?ve often spent precious class time teaching my students to navigate the Pennsylvania Department of Education content standards for K-12 students, and it takes a long time to go through a process that could very easily be done outside of class, depending on the student?s level of savvy with the internet and their experience on the site. I look forward to creating such tutorials and posting them onto my ANGEL pages in the future.
Another new feature I?m looking forward to implementing next semester are the clickers. My class is already highly interactive, but it is often impossible to get 100% participation from my students with limited time. The clickers offer a way for all students to be actively involved, even when there is not time for all students to speak aloud in class. Student engagement in class is essential for their understanding, but it is easy, particularly in a large class, for students to zone out or feel disconnected from the teacher and from the class content. Using the clickers to regularly poll the class can be used to spark discussions on controversial topics, to assess student prior knowledge, or to evaluate student understanding before moving on to new material, among many other possibilities.
I have dabbled in the use of social networking tools with my students in the past, but never was quite sure how to make it successful. I particularly enjoyed learning how other professors have been successful using Facebook and Twitter to support their classes. I already have a professional Twitter account that I encourage my students to follow, but I look forward to encouraging them to create their own page in order to join in the conversation. This provides a short, easy way to communicate and share without the pressure of a detailed discussion board. Balanced with other types of assessments, this will add a lot of student engagement to my classes.
I tried to incorporate the use of Blogs in the past in my classes, but with little success. I wasn?t sure how to get my students to read each other?s blogs and share feedback. Getting to learn more about the Penn State blog tool was very valuable, as I see how other teachers have successfully used the blogs for a collaboration piece. I would like to take my blogging assignments even further by developing a class wiki page in the future that would give the students ownership of the content and a live, developing site that they could watch grow and evolve as the content progresses in the class.
I enjoyed this series of workshops immensely, and would love to see more such opportunities available to faculty at Berks in the future. I would certainly like to continue to refine me skills and be exposed to the technology available to support my teaching and my students? learning.