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Teaching tools have come a long way

Posted on | February 3, 2010 | 1,397 views |

Digital media conference to highlight what’s new and cool in educational technology

By Julia Harris

Not so long ago, educational technology meant an overhead projector and plastic transparencies that teachers could write math equations on, then erase with a moistened Kleenex — or, if your teacher was gross, a finger moistened with spit.

Technology has come a long way since then. In fact, it’s come so far and changed so much that the questions of how and when — and what — to use are a constant challenge.

It’s precisely those types of questions that the Digital Medial in a Social World Conference,  presented by Ohio State’s Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing, is designed to answer. Open to any interested Ohio State faculty, staff or student —and provided free of charge thanks to sponsors such as Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon — the conference will explore topics that include creative uses of social media, new philosophies of technology use and innovative technologies for classroom instruction.

“It’s an opportunity for people who are ‘doing’ technology at Ohio State to learn about technologies being used for education, administration, all the different kinds of things we do here at the university,” said Doug Dangler, associate director of the CSTW and the conference organizer.

“Participants will see the latest and most interesting ways to engage with students and with colleagues. They’ll learn how to use social media in ways that enable learning.”

It’s this aspect of collaboration that most appeals to Rebecca Bias, assistant director of Ohio State’s Foreign Language Center.  “In our busy lives in individual departments, we seldom have time to see and experience what others with the same or similar goals have accomplished,” she noted. “It’s important that we develop a network of digital media resources and new ideas with fellow instructors.”

This is the second year the CSTW has presented a digital media conference, and it was because of the success of last year’s event  — which drew roughly 150 participants — that they expanded this year’s conference to two full days: Feb. 19-20, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. The first day serves as a kind of showcase for innovative things Ohio State is doing with and for technology, while presentations on the second day have a more regional focus.

Attendees can choose from a range of breakout sessions offered each day, from topics such as the use of digital mashups and social media to the classroom use of software like Google Wave (billed by Google as a “personal communication and collaboration tool”) and GeoGame (an online game board based on a virtual globe).

Lunch is provided both days and includes presentations by a range of speakers. The first day will feature comments by Ohio State faculty and staff, including Liv Gjestvang from the Digital Union and Ted Hattemer, director of new media for University Communications, as well as Michael Chaney, chief communcations officer for the Ohio Board of Regents. A panel discussion on Feb. 20 will tackle issues surrounding digital media in university settings.

“The whole idea is to bring people across campus into a conversation about technology —  what works, what doesn’t,” Dangler said. “If you look around you’ll see a lot of people here who are ahead of the curve in terms of technology use and teaching.”

He picked up his cell phone and held it in the palm of one hand. “What I’m really taken with this year is phone apps,” he said. “I’ve heard any number of faculty say that not every student has a laptop, but practically everyone has a cell phone. So I think apps are the next big thing coming over the horizon.”

A panel discussion Dangler is particularly looking forward to is “Digital Media in the Humanities: How We Learn,” slotted for 1:30 p.m. Feb. 19 and featuring undergraduates who will explore the role of digital media in their university experience. Panelists will be addressing issues such as what technology-enabled teaching practices they find most helpful and how they personally use digital media as an engine for learning.

Bringing people from across the university together to talk about these kinds of issues, Dangler says, is another way to  knock down those metaphorical silos that keep Ohio State from becoming the “one university” described by President Gee.

Or, as Libby Eckhardt, director of marketing and communications for the Colleges of the Arts and Sciences, puts it, “At Ohio State we have a complex system that could truly benefit from more creative approaches to engage audiences effectively, simplify systems and to provide more intuitive access to information.”

For more info…

For more details about this conference, including a full list of scheduled presenters, see the website at dmsw.osu.edu.

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