The $200 Light Board at COLTT 2017

ID&T is always looking out for learning technology innovations. These can be the more recent innovations such as AR/VR/MR, or a remix of existing technologies that create new uses. The Teaching and Learning with Technology Micro-grant (TLTM) program is good for this as faculty can fund their innovative learning technology ideas and pilot in classrooms. This combination of technology remix and the TLTM is what caught my eye at this year’s COLTT conference, CU-Boulder’s wonderful two-day event featuring all things teaching and learning in the online environment.

A Regis faculty member applied for and was awarded a 2017-18 TLTM to fund construction of a Learning Glass, an enhanced white board (also known as a light board) with special lighting for capturing whiteboard-based teaching segments. Unfortunately, the faculty discovered that materials costs had skyrocketed well past the $2,000 grant limit, forcing a withdrawal from the project.

Enter eLearning Consortium of Colorado members Kae Novak (Front Range CC) and Chris Luchs (CCC Online). For $168, they not only built a working light board but built it live, in front of a sizable crowd, at a COLTT Idea Forge session. Their plan was elegantly simple: use easily obtainable materials, do a proof-of-concept, and let session attendees critique and improve upon the idea. Chris had prechanneled the 2x4s for the plexiglass and purchased the hardware and LED light strip. Then it was putting everything together. Within an hour, and with audience participation, the board was constructed. Once the lights were turned on, the board was ready for attendees to begin testing the board using Expo Neon markers. The results were truly amazing.

The light board is something that ID&T will be building this fall. There isn’t sufficient real estate at this time to build a full-sized floor unit so the initial board will be desktop-size. Same functionality with less space on which to write.

Huge shoutout to Kae and Chris for proving once again that when it comes to innovative teaching and learning with technology, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Additonal resources

Presenter contacts:

• Kae Novak @kzenovka email novak.kae@gmail.com
• Chris Luchs @NorthMetroTech email: Christopher.Luchs@cccs.edu

Educause - 7 Things You Should Know About Light Boards
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7111.pdf

COLTT 2017 Jill Reflection: Applying Cognitive Psychology Research to the Classroom

There were many excellent sessions to choose from at COLTT 2017. The session I attended that most resonated with my work developing courses with faculty, however, was Applying Cognitive Psychology Research to the Classroom presented by Tim van der Zee, a visiting doctoral student from the Netherlands. Tim facilitated a very engaging research-based presentation in which he shared several effective learning strategies that are based on research that tells us how the brain works.

Big takeaways from this session for me were:

• Learning is not actual performance--can't "see" learning 
• We all learn pretty much the same way--the idea that some people are primarily visual while others are primarily auditory is not actually the case. Variety is the key.
• We don't know if we are actually learning 
• All other things being equal, higher intrinsic motivation leads to higher performance...at the same time, when we perform WELL, we are more motivated intrinsically. We like success. Success begets success.
• Learning takes effort. Rote memorization is a building block that can then serve as the foundation for deeper learning later.

Additionally, Tim shared a list of Effective Learning Strategies based on cognitive psychological research that, while not hugely surprising, were very helpful to have in one place. I plan to add these to the list of resources I review with content authors when we begin to develop a course to give them ideas for ways to weave these practices into their course content.

1. Retrieval Practice-recalling information from memory makes you better able to recall it again later. How? Put away the materials. Practice tests. Flash cards, Write summaries not just for simple information, also complex concepts and relationships.
2. Spaced Practice--Spacing out learning over time is more effective than massed practice.  Takes advantage of how our brain uses memory. One hour each day rather than cramming. Don't just re-read. Progress tests. Don't rehearse immediately after learning something.
3. Interleaving--Interleaving (rearranging) different (sub)topics and concepts and practicing them in different orders. Not AAA BBB CCC, but instead ABC BCA CAB
4. Elaboration and Concrete Examples-Enhance your understanding by connecting information to be learned with what you already know, and expand on it. How? Ask yourself questions. Make connections with what you already know. Identify similarities and differences. Give examples. Do it from memory. Interrogate yourself. Focus on similarities as well as differences.
5. Dual Coding--Have lots of functional ways to represent the same information in different ways. Can do this as you present information and have students create them as well.  NOT an either or.

Discussion about these learning strategies comprised the bulk of what was covered in the 50 minute session, but I learned enough that I plan to follow Tim on Twitter to see what else he has to share as his research continues! 

Tweets by Research_Tim

Reflections on the 2017 Fusion Conference

Doug Emmerich - Reflections on the 2017 Fusion Conference

I would have to say that this was perhaps the best Fusion Conference I’ve ever attended. Perhaps the tone was set for me in my first session that was titled “Be a Copyright Ninja” presented by Dr. Thomas Tobin. Tobin used the concept of the Ninja law of secretly serving a cause of one’s own choosing. To that point, he has distilled the muddy waters of Copyright into some simple “rules of thumb” because even the courts and lawyers acknowledge that Copyright is almost a case by case issue.

For starters forget these two thing often sighted by faculty as justification or guidance for use of other’s works.

1. The 10% rule – I can use up to 10% of anything and be in compliance of the law. (game show buzzer) WRONG! There is no set amount or percentage anywhere in the law.
2. It’s legal for academics to use anything in the classroom for educational purposes, it’s called “Fair Use”. Again (game show buzzer) WRONG! Fair use is a defense, not a right. You have to make a case for the fair use which has no real definition but just happens to be supported in court again and again. Probably why people think it is the rule.

It’s important to understand that Copyright is based on the concept of copying (duh). If you take content from an original source and put it into any fixed format; ripping a DVD, copying a CD, taking a photo of a photo, copying, even mimeographing (remember that?) than Copyright applies and you have to get permission or make a case for “Fair Use”. However linking to or embedding content isn’t copying so Copyright doesn’t apply (so long as the source isn’t violating Copyright in the first place.

Use this flow chart to help determine your responsibility:

1. Did you make a copy of the desired content? YES? Go to step 2. NO? Copyright doesn’t apply.
2. Do permissions currently exist? Is the product licensed or otherwise released through a Creative Commons license agreement. YES? Use the content according to the terms of the license. NO? Go to step 3.
3. Do the PANE criteria apply strongly to your use of the copy?
1. Purpose – You are copying the content for “teaching, scholarship, or research”.
2. Amount – You are copying a representative sample from the desired content.
3. Nature of the work – Prefer factual content over creative, published over unpublished.
4. Economic Impact – Copying the content will not deprive the owner of revenue or profits. If YES use your copy of the desired content according to the PANE criteria. IF NO go to step 4.
4. Is the owner of the content known? YES? Go to step 5. NO go to step 6.
5. Has the owner granted your request for permission to use the desired content? YES? Use the desired content according to the owners grant of permission. NO? Do not use the content. 
6. Were you able to discover the owner after a good-faith effort? YES? Got to step 4. NO? Do not use the content or document your good-faith effort to locate the copyright holder if you do decide to use the desired content.

So what is the one best piece of advice when considering the use of others published work? DON’T copy it. Look a little harder and try to find a way to link to it.

Doug Emmerich - Tips on Copyright from the 2017 Fusion Conference

Reflection of 2017 COLTT Conference

Reflection of 2017 COLTT Conference by Carl Kinney

The fact that this conference is so well organized and in our backyard, is one of the reasons I've attended for the past several years. As always every presentation provides good insights and you come away with at least one nugget of information that you didn't have before you attended. The presentation that I want to highlight this year is "Bringing the Right Instructional Tools to the Job" by Dr. Vivian Shyu, Assistant Professor, C/T from CU Denver.

At CU Denver they conducted a project that taught the same course in 3 different formats (F2F, Online, and Hybrid), during the same semester and by the same professor.

In all three formats they had students rate the same 27 course elements. In this presentation they made it interactive by having participants go to bit.ly/2vy7f9Q and actually complete a portion of the survey.

Hello COLTT Participant! Here, you will be completing a portion of the survey that the students filled out. Please fill out this information as you PREDICT students would report. You will act and answer as a student in one of the FORMATS as assigned below. If your LAST NAME begins with: A-G = Traditional F2F (meet in person 2x/week; 30 in-person meetings) H-N: Hybrid (meet ~ 1x/week; 10 in-person meetings; 60% of instruction is online) O-Z = Online (meet 0x/week; NO in-person meeting; all instruction is online)

Some of the results/findings from the project:

• Hybrid/Blended might be the best
• Interaction is Critical
• Teacher presence
• Teacher to student
• Student to student
• Student content interaction - engagement with the material
• Students generally prefer F2F. This is mainly because of the interaction and guidance.
• Students like online flexibility, but see it as disconnected.
• Summative assessments with Hybrid showed the biggest improvement, but also started lower.
• Half the students in the Hybrid course didn't realize they were signing up for a Hybrid course or what it meant.
• With F2F students struggle with, do I go to class or do I use Canvas?

My reflections regarding the findings:

• I believe Hybrid/Blended courses are an aspect of learning that we haven't explored enough. I'm not sure what percentage of our courses are Hybrid, but I am thinking it is very low.
• Interaction being critical is not new, but we need to work on making sure that our online courses are designed in a way that creates the opportunity and encourages all the aspects of interaction.
• I think having standard formats really helps with the guidance.
• Even though they were very clear on the different formats: Online = 100% Asynchronous, Hybrid = 60% Asynchronous, and F2F = 100% Synchronous, it wasn't clear to the students. I'm concerned that Regis doesn't have consistent criteria for what is considered "Online" or "Hybrid". This can really add an aspect of confusion for the students.
• We really need to pay attention to the fact that F2F students struggles with when and how to use the LMS. My suggestion is, if it is a F2F class, course content in the LMS should be considered supplemental material and only required if the facilitator specifically refers to it. In a F2F class the LMS should be used for assignment submissions, grading, and communication as determined appropriate by the facilitator of the class.

I am happy to discuss any or all of the above in more detail.  Just let me know.

Highlights from 2017 Fusion Conference

Highlights from 2017 Fusion Conference - Carl Kinney

This was my first Fusion Conference, and I consider it a great opportunity. I came away from the conference believing that our Learning Management System (LMS) is pretty impressive. I have to realize the conference was put on by Brightspace (D2L), but I was very impressed with their vision, their desire for innovation, and their goal to reach every learner. I believe our LMS has many features that we haven't explored enough to determine if we want or how we would utilize the capability. For example, one session was on "Getting Started with Personalized and Adaptive Learning". D2L has this capability, and we really need to investigate more and determine our strategy around Personalized and Adaptive learning if we are hoping to stay competitive. I appreciated their clarification given around the terms Personalized and Adaptive.

• Personalized Learning - taking into consideration the different needs and learning styles.
• Adaptive Learning - is a subset of Personalized Learning, and is reacting to the inputs of a particular student.

Greg Jorgensen and Instructional Technology Specialist from St. Cloud State University gave a session on: Content- Put It All In Your Course - Adding All The Things To Your Course Content. I enjoyed this session, and agree that "You don't want to do something just to do it. It needs to align and increase interactivity. From this session, I think we need to discuss external sources we are using in our courses and determine if they can be accessed within D2L and make the access somewhat transparent to the student. For example: you can create a link so a student automatically goes to Adobe Connect.

In a session titled: Setting Students Up for Success Through Student Engagement, I discovered that YouSeeU has a partnership with D2L and it is a free offering in the core platform. It also provides a Virtual Classroom Feature with no plug-ins required, and is completely browser driven. This is one of those features that I wasn't aware of, but we really need to investigate taking advantage of this capability.

This was a very good conference and hopefully some of the highlights I've shared are helpful, and can be the foundation for our growth with our LMS. Please feel free to stop by or call if you would like to discuss in more depth any of the above highlights.

Violetta's Reflections on the 2017 eLCC Conference

Submitted by Violetta Miles, ID&T Instructional Technologist

Do You Have a Textbook In You?

After years of teaching, most of us probably have a textbook in us. Learn how to assemble, create and distribute your first book. Thomas Harrop, MGD Lead, Red Rocks Community College

In this session Thomas went step by step on how to publish your own book (textbook), what important things to remember, and what to keep in mind. And then he went over these three websites that will publish your book:

• https://www.lulu.com/
• http://www.blurb.com/
• https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/?ref_=kdpgp_p_us_psg_kw_ad63

           
It was interesting to me because I do wish to publish a book one day. I thought of it when I was teaching Communications at ITT-Tech. I wished I could make it easier for students and have a more useful information in the textbook instead of very complex and full of terminology that students will never remember and use. I will learn more about this process and be able to provide some information to our faculty, if some will express an interest.

CU Online Creation Station- Videos with the Touch of a Button!

In the spring of 2017, CU Online adapted the Penn State One Button Studio™ model and designed a ˜Creation Station™ for faculty. CU Online not only adapted this idea, but also created additional media solutions specifically designed for faculty. The Creation Station allows faculty to create high quality audio and video with the push of a button! Amy Arnold, Academic Services Senior Professional, University of Colorado Denver.

Great session and a great service, but I am not sure if Regis has the budget and resources for that.

Be the ONE in the DRIVEr’s Seat! Using OneDrive for Course Design Collaboration and More

Explore Microsoft OneDrive, with a special focus on using the tool for course development project management. All attendees will have the opportunity to observe use of the tool and learn more about online collaboration best practices. Grace Whiteaker, Instructional Designer, CCCOnline

OneDrive allows you to sync (including SharePoint online team sites), share, and collaborate on all files anywhere and anytime across PC and Mac in Office 365. 

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn_1Bt3cayM

I have Office 365 and OneDrive on my devices, but I didn’t have a chance to use OneDrive yet. So, this session was very informative on how this team is using it, and made me go and read more about OneDrive.

Best Video Recording Practices for Flipping Your Classroom

Get guidance and practice on best video recording techniques when considering the “Flipped Classroom” method for students. Anne Banister, Videographer, Red Rocks Community College

Anne is a great asset for RRCC. In her presentation she talked about why flipping your classroom is a great idea, what to consider, technical aspects, and more.

Designing Explorations

Leverage technology and instructional design to create meaningful and effective opportunities for students to engage with content. See some examples from CCCOnline, and be inspired to create your own! Jessica Gagnon, eLearning Technologist, CCCOnline

In this session they talked about enhancing courses with Spry (Accordion), Tabs, Knowledge checks, and Articulate Storyline. We are already using most of them in our courses, but it was good to see how other colleges use them and what they are focusing on.

CU Denver’s Canvas Migration

Come hear from CU Denver about their migration to Canvas. Christian Bell, Regional Director, Canvas, Dave Thomas, Director of Academic Technology, CU Denver

In this session, Dave Thomas stated that Canvas is “the best documented LMS out there.” He shared that the moving transition from Blackboard to Canvas was fairly easy. However, the transition would have been even better if they have done these things in the first place:

• Use Canvas help desk
• Batch interface is good enough (takes 4 years to lean bugs out)
• Build better comm pathways
• Get students involved

Dave was very enthusiastic and happy with the things they are able to do in Canvas, the things they are currently working on, and the things they wish to improve.
It was an excellent presentation and great insights, but we are not changing our LMS anytime soon. So, I guess it was good to learn why some colleges prefer Canvas over others.

Transform your Online Discussions by Creating Presence Creatively

Increase student interaction, see and hear your students’ emotions and allow your students to connect in a more human way through creative online software. Create a topic for your students, learn how students participate through text, voice, video or cellphone and load it into your LMS. Joan Anderssen, Faculty/Economics and Finance, Arapahoe Community College, Denise Lefort, Faculty/Business, Arapahoe Community College

Removing Roadblocks to Student Success: Simplifying Access to Digital Content

“Things are continuing to come together”, says Amy Sorensen, ProfHelp at Colorado Community Colleges Online. Join us to learn how CCCOnline & Labyrinth Learning partnered to simplify access to etexts and digital content without the need for license keys or access codes. Amy Sorensen, ProfHelp, CCCOnline; Kristin Rivedal, Learning Management Systems Administrator,

CCCOnline; Jodi Noll, Business Development, Labyrinth Learning

Hybridize the Learning Experience

Discover some guidelines and considerations for developing a hybrid or blended course and how to replace the F2F classroom meetings that will be missing. Make F2F meetings more precious and re-design certain parts of your course content so it can be delivered and learned in an online environment. Design your course so that it has 3 tracks of learning: F2F class meetings, regular assignments, and online/independent study learning opportunities. Another major challenge is to make these learning tracks interweave with one another so that they are connected to common course objectives. Tim Kochery, Senior Instructional Designer, Laramie County Community College

Show Me the Makerspace: The How and Why of Makerspaces in Higher Ed

Explore the foundations of maker education such as definitions, pedagogy behind maker education, best practices for beginning your makerspace, and resources that include Higher Ed makerspaces locally and across the country. The bottom line? Makerspaces are about the construction of knowledge by learners, not the technology you adopt. Brandon Poulliot, Technical Support Specialist, Laramie County Community College; Dr. Rebecca M. Reese, Laramie County Community College,

Senior Instructional Designer.

• Makerspaces:  https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eli7095.pdf 
• Introducing MakerSpace https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3xhnD2yjss
• What is a MakerSpace? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLEJLOB6fDw
• Makerspaces - The Future of Education: Marc Teusch at TEDxLuxembourgCity
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ruo904vtQ8w
• Join MakerSpace now: http://www.makerspace.com

2017 International Conference and Expo (ICE) - Association for Talent Development (ATD formerly ASTD) -

I attended the ATD ICE conference (http://www.atdconference.org/About/Reasons-to-Attend) in Atlanta last month as a volunteer which means the conference fees were waived. For each day I volunteered I received a complimentary day. I volunteered two days and received two days free! What a win-win. One day I served as the volunteer day manager which turned out to be a 12 hour day. My second volunteer day wasn't as taxing. I served as a room monitor which means I was able to select the room I wanted to work in for the day to help the speaker, count the number of attendees, and make sure the room was tidy along with materials and water. I wanted to hear. Again, this was a win-win for me.

This international conference includes 10 content tracks of Science of Learning, Instructional Design, Learning Technologies, Learning Measurement & Analytics, among many others. This is a fabulous conference for those in Higher Education. In fact, one of the four Industry Tracks includes Higher Education. There were special events and receptions for those in Higher Education to meet and network on a global scale. In addition, Thomas Gilhooley, of Regis University's Higher Learning Partners was interviewed as part of the conference video summary. Thomas is interviewed beginning at 2:30 minutes into this video, see http://www.atdconference.org/About/Video. Further, there are many session tracks such as Healthcare, Education, Global Voices, Innogizer, Leaders of the Profession, Panels, Senior Leaders, Learning Transfer (applicable for back on the job), and Voices of Innovation.

One "Science of Learning" track speaker was Britt Andreatta of 7th Mind, Inc. She spoke about the power of teams. Her neuroscience research discusses how to build more effective teams. To do this, we must understand how the brain works and the human biology that works toward building collaboration, trust, productivity, and engagement. She discussed the metrics of inclusion and psychological safety affect team engagement. Britt cited that over 86 percent of employees and leaders lack the skills to create an effective team which leads to workplace failures. This information is astonishing. If you would like more information on Britt's research, her latest book is titled, "Wired to Resist." She can be contacted at http://www.brittandreatta.com/.

The keynote speakers (http://www.atdconference.org/Speakers/Keynote) included Captains Mark and Scott Kelly who spoke on their experiences that shaped their views on teamwork and collaboration, overcoming adversities and dealing with tragedies. Dr. Kelly McGonigal, Health Psychologist and Lecturer at Stanford University spoke about the upside of stress. Her book by the same title, "The UPside of Stress: Why stress is good for you, and how to get good at it. Here's a link to her TED Talk, https://www.ted.com/speakers/kelly_mcgonigal. The final keynote speaker was inspiring, Dr. Ronan Tynan is a medical doctor, paralympic champion and lovely Irish tenor. He spoke on hitting the high notes by living life to the fullest.

I highly recommend this conference for those interested in hearing from experts in our field of learning and education. There we also many, many exhibitor sessions, author chats and meet and greets. The exposition included over 400 vendors. What fun that was!!!

On a final note, being Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) I attended the annual ATD Awards ceremony and reception, sponsored by Harvard University, in which corporations and individuals were recognized for their efforts . Dr. Maureen Orey, CPLP, of Brandman University was recognized for her dissertation titled, "Is it Worth It? The Career Benefits and Return on Investment of Volunteer Leadership as Perceived by Chapters Leaders in a Professional Talent Development Association." As part of her research findings, the study participants reported volunteer leadership led to transformational change as a leader within their current workplace environments. For many study participants who were business owners and consultants, they reported a 424 percent return on investment.

As the 2017 Chapter President of ATD Rocky Mountain Chapter (www.atdrmc.org), these research findings resonate with me. Along with serving as a coach for the Regis Leadership Institute and a mentor in the upcoming academic year, I find that all of these experiences are tools to help me develop my leadership skills. So if you are looking for opportunities to develop your leadership skills, volunteer leadership is an investment in yourself which has a large return on investment.