Bryn Mawr College

Bryn Mawr hosted the second in a series of conferences on blended learning on December 14th. At the midpoint of our study, this conference was envisioned primarily as an opportunity for faculty who experimented with blended learning in the fall to share their experiences with faculty who planned to do so in spring 2012 or beyond. Bryn Mawr faculty and staff also demonstrated various technologies that faculty involved in the project had expressed interest in learning more about, including clickers, lecture capture, and Moodle quizzes. Representatives from several partner institutions attended in person or logged in to the associated webinars we hosted December 15th and 16th.

A video of the webinar presentation is also available.

Agenda

8:30-10 a.m., Dalton 212E — Meeting for Representatives from Partner Institutions

At this welcome meeting for new partner institutions, Jennifer Spohrer provided a quick overview of the blended learning initiatives here on campus and the online resources available for such courses. Partners had the opportunity to meet people involved in the project, ask questions, and discuss ideas for blended learning initiatives on their campuses.

9-10 a.m., Dalton 300 — Teaching with Clickers
Olivia Castello and Chris Esposito of Information Services demonstrated how to use our clicker system and how it integrates with Moodle.  They also presented an overview of ways that clickers are commonly used in higher education and offered tips for writing clicker questions.

10-noon, Dalton 300 — Blended Learning and Library Education at McMaster University
Jeff Trzeciak, John Maclaghlan, and Julianne Baggs, demonstrated a geospatial tutorial that McMaster developed to support the thousands of undergraduate students that use the library’s map collection each semester.  They described the collaborative development process, which involved faculty, library and information technology staff, and students; the ongoing assessment and evaluation studies that are part of this process; and future plans.

12-1 p.m., Dalton 212A-E — Lunch

1:30-3 p.m., Dalton 25 — Blended Learning Study Project Meeting
In this open-ended discussion, faculty and staff from Bryn Mawr and partner institutions shared the ideas and issues that had arisen as part of the blended learning experience in the fall and discussed possible opportunities and areas of concern moving forward.

3:15-4:15 p.m., Dalton 25 — Using Camtasia to Capture Lectures or Make Tutorials

Peter Brodfuehrer demonstrated how easy it is to capture lectures or record video tutorials using a laptop and Camtasia software. We discussed resources professors might need to experiment with this technology (including the pros and cons of tablet computers vs. graphic tablet peripherals), reactions from Peter’s students, and ways that he and other faculty have used these recordings in their teaching.

4:15-5:15 p.m., Dalton 25 — DIY Interactive Tutorials and Quizzes in Moodle
Students and faculty consistently cite instant feedback and tracking of student progress as two of the most valuable aspects of computer-based learning materials. Jennifer Spohrer demonstrated the similar feedback mechanisms available in Moodle and how to make interactive quizzes and tutorials that take advantage of them.