Jan. 5: Winter Faculty Institute expands its opening day program
The 2010 Winter Faculty Institute—which begins Tuesday, Jan. 5—has expanded its opening day program to include a second plenary session that focuses on e-portfolios. The Institute will be held in the Rodney Room of the Perkins Student Center.
Gail Ring, director of the e-portfolio program at Clemson University, will discuss her institution's e-portfolio program in which all 14,713 undergraduate students, including transfer students, must complete an e-portfolio to demonstrate their skills and abilities toward achieving general education goals.
In this session, participants will be treated to a stimulating and interactive discussion exploring the uses of e-portfolios and the questions that must be answered prior to using this tool to facilitate and assess student learning.
Ring received her doctorate in Instructional Technology from the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida. Her research interests involve the study of innovation diffusion in an academic setting, specifically as it relates to the use of digital portfolios. Her specialty teaching interest is the implementation of e-portfolios.
The first plenary presentation, given by Carolyn Jarmon, “Improving student learning while reducing instructional costs: The case for redesign,” will concentrate on how more than 100 institutions across the United States are engaged in course redesign and the cost savings these institutions now benefit from. These models validate that colleges and universities can use information technology to achieve the dual goals of improving student learning while reducing instructional costs.
Jarmon received her doctorate from Cornell University, a master's degree in business administration from East Tennessee State University, and a bachelor of science degree from the University of Delaware.
Morning program schedule
- 8:30 a.m.—Continental breakfast for participants.
- 9 a.m.—The opening session begins.
- 9-10:30 a.m.—“Improving student learning while reducing instructional costs: The case for redesign.”
- 10:45 a.m.-noon—“E-portfolios: Planning for successful and efficient implementation.”
Afternoon program schedule
Lunch—Noon-1:15 p.m.
Workshop session 1
1:15-4 p.m.—“E-portfolio simulation: From creation to evaluation.”
Session participants are expected to bring a laptop with their own artifact (i.e., a writing sample of their own creation, which can be something previously published) loaded on their laptop before arriving at the session.
By the end of the session, participants will have:
- created the first page of an e-portfolio,
- uploaded an artifact and a reflection,
- participated in a mock calibration with a rubric (also called a “norming” session),
- conducted an assessment of their work and a colleague's work using the rubric,
- provided feedback on the work, and
- engaged in a discussion on the multiple purposes of an e-portfolio.
Workshop session 2
1:15-4 p.m.—“Course redesign applications for the University of Delaware.”
Department chairs and faculty are encouraged to join in discipline-specific, hands-on workshops in the afternoon. Contact IT-ATS [ats-info@udel.edu] to have a designee from your department included in this activity.
The Winter Faculty Institute consists of a month-long series of events designed to enhance teaching and learning using technology. Some of the Institute's topics, held throughout January, include how to use
- the course redesign process that has been developed by the National Center for Academic Transformation (NCAT),
- iTunes U as a teaching tool,
- flip cameras for low-cost video production,
- Google Sites for a collaborative Web site project,
- Sakai for research and other innovative projects,
- e-portfolios to facilitate integrative and reflective learning, and
- additional sessions throughout January on related topics sponsored by various institute sponsors.
Registration
The event is free and open to the University community. However, space is limited, so registration is required. Register online at the LearnIT@UD Web site.
For more information about this year's Institute, visit the IT Academic Technology Services (IT-ATS) Web site.
The Winter Faculty Institute is coordinated by Information Technologies and the Center for Educational Effectiveness and is co-sponsored by the University of Delaware Library, Institute for Transforming Undergraduate Education, UD Online, Office of Service Learning, Office of Educational Technology, and Undergraduate Research.
