UP TechTalk Podcast

Theology professors face a big challenge.  How do you make the words spoken a few thousand years ago talk to young people today?   One way is to combine the multisensory stimuli of media with the connectivity of the web and add in a large dose of community building.  That’s what Dr. Rebecca Gaudino does to bring the lives of her 21rst Century students into dialogue with ancient prophets and scribes.

“Learning is really encouraged when students have a multiple of stimuli,” Dr. Gaudino says. “when [learners] can make connections between the subject matter and their own lives and their own world.”  Students in her class bring together music, news casts, and photos to explore linkages between current events, song lyrics, and personal experiences with time-honored texts.

“We are whole people and our brains work as a whole system.  Emotion, sensory stimuli, thought, and intuition are all a part of learning,” Dr. Gaudino says.  She also employs a technique called “photovoice” in another class to allow students to find images that explore and express emotions that can sometimes be beyond words.

Listen to this fascinating conversation about Dr. Gaudino’s personal approach to teaching (Authentic Learning), her focus on engaging the whole person body, mind, and soul in the classroom, and her desire to build community within and outside of the classroom.  She’s one of our favorite podcast guests for a good reason – always insightful, full of grace, and finding new ways to connect with her students.

Continue the conversation at the Teaching & Learning Community Blog: https://sites.up.edu/tl

UP TechTalk is a bi-monthly podcast with cohosts Ben Kahn and Maria Erb of Academic Technology Services and Innovation at UP that explores the use of technology in the classroom, one conversation at a time.

Dr. Rebecca Smith of UP’s School of Education decided to make assessments more fun.  How? By having her MAT students take quizzes.  What, that doesn’t sound fun to you?

Ah, but these are not your grandmother’s quizzes.  Using quiz making apps like Socrative and Kahoot takes quiz making to the next level with fun interactive features that promote collaborative learning.  Dr. Smith invites her students to a recurring Appy Hour where they get to take a quiz with a new app and experience the tool first like their K-12 students would.   Then they learn how to create a quiz using that app so they can use it in their own classrooms.

“You have to accept that we’re in the technology world,” Dr. Smith said.  “Kids are on their phones and computers all the time inside and outside the classroom.  I really believe we have to say these tools can be used for learning also.”

Appy Hour has been a big hit.  Students even started bringing appetizers.  (Get it? Apps for Appy Hour).  They also share new apps with their peers when they find ones they think will be a good learning tool.

In this podcast, Dr. Smith explains how she keeps Appy Hour fun and fresh.  Learn more about this innovative, engaging idea.

Continue the conversation at the Teaching & Learning Community Blog: https://sites.up.edu/tl

UP TechTalk is a bi-monthly podcast with cohosts Ben Kahn and Maria Erb of Academic Technology Services and Innovation at UP that explores the use of technology in the classroom, one conversation at a time.

The ISTE standards (International Society for Technology in Education) for students are designed to empower students to become global, innovative, creative learners by leveraging technology in the process of learning, collaborating and problem-solving.  In this podcast with Drs. Eric Anctil and Randy Hetherington from UP’s School of Education, we discuss the role the ISTE standards play in addressing 21st-century skills in learning.

Technology has historically been thought of as an “add on” to teaching; the ISTE standards represent an attempt to embed these standards into everyday learning.

“We need more intentionality about how we infuse technology into the curriculum,” Dr. Anctil said.  “I believe we have an obligation to meet our students where they are.  The ISTE standards speak to some of those things.”

“We want people to be critical thinkers and if we have them look at the technology when they’re becoming teachers, then they can help their students look at the technology critically,”  Dr. Hetherington said.

The standards reinforce good digital citizenship,  collaboration and communication skills, multimedia literacies, and the development of critical thinking habits.

Enjoy this engaging conversation with our two lively, thoughtful guests.

Continue the conversation at the Teaching & Learning Community Blog: https://sites.up.edu/tl

UP TechTalk is a bi-monthly podcast with cohosts Ben Kahn and Maria Erb of Academic Technology Services and Innovation at UP that explores the use of technology in the classroom, one conversation at a time.

Getting students up to speed with hands on technical skills can be challenging, especially when students are coming to class with a wide variety of experience levels.  For engineering students, fundamentals like using a multimeter are basic skills needed to move on to bigger projects.  Dr. Shaz  Vijlee, Assistant Professor of Engineering, decided to make a series of videos for students, teaching them the core technical skills in a self-paced format that has enabled students to tackle new ground in a user-friendly format.

In true DIY spirit, Shaz built his own camera rig with PVC piping so that he could mount a camera above a work surface to show students how he connects an Arduino to a circuit board.  One video shows him setting up the circuit but also shows him coding on a screen so students can see what results the code produces.

They[students] really like to see that things actually do what they’re supposed to do…It’s really satisfying for students to think “I’m actually learning the skill to do something with this… so what can I do with it next”

In this podcast Shaz explains the process he goes through to produce videos and how students use them in his class.  Pick up some pointers on producing your own videos that can improve student learning in the classroom.

Continue the conversation at the Teaching & Learning Community Blog: https://sites.up.edu/tl

UP TechTalk is a bi-monthly podcast with cohosts Ben Kahn and Maria Erb of Academic Technology Services and Innovation at UP that explores the use of technology in the classroom, one conversation at a time.

Bootcamps are usually designed to get participants up and running quickly with a new skillset provided they’re willing to use plenty of elbow grease.  Imagine, if you will, a kinder, gentler bootcamp.  That’s what Dr. Lindsay Benes and Dr. Joanne Olsen had in mind when they teamed up with Instructional Design & Technology Specialist Ben Kahn (the co-host of this podcast) last summer to create a professional development opportunity for School of Nursing graduate faculty.  Using the new UP Boost online learning platform, faculty were treated to a two-week self-paced online course that covered best practices for communicating with students at distance, effective design for online courses, and strategies to use digital tools in Moodle effectively.   The result? Faculty got a taste of what it’s like to be an online student (which brought more than a few “a ha” moments to the surface) and they got a portfolio of efficient learning technologies to employ in their own classes.

“In the industry side of healthcare, [professionals] are using all of these different technologies so making sure our students come out with the skills they’re going to see in their employer is very important.” Joanne said.

Going beyond a standard workshop format where faculty learn about a new tool, try it out once but often forget how to use it shortly after the workshop is over, the bootcamp’s extended format offered a deeper learning experience.  The material covered in the course remains online for faculty to access at any time.  Topics are easy to find and all of the course resources are compiled in one area.

“The part of the bootcamp that really make it effective for me was that we had assignments to complete,” Lindsay said.  “Until I actually do something… that’s the time when I really learn how to do it.  That last piece is what really sealed it for me. “

The bootcamp addressed a need for standardization in the SON graduate courses taught in a hybrid format and it also enhanced teaching practices used by the graduate faculty.  In fact, Dr. Olsen expects to see some time recovery by using rubrics for grading, standardizing formats, and establishing “Moodle norms” in the SoN graduate school.

Continue the conversation at the Teaching & Learning Community Blog: https://sites.up.edu/tl

UP TechTalk is a bi-monthly podcast with cohosts Ben Kahn and Maria Erb of Academic Technology Services and Innovation at UP that explores the use of technology in the classroom, one conversation at a time.