Last updated on July 28, 2017
[Feel free to view & download the slides here too: bit.ly/digtools_ped]Welcome!
Welcome to the University at Buffalo, Singapore Institute of Management workshop on Digital Tools and Pedagogy. An hour doesn’t feel like enough to dig into both technology and how we teach, but we’re going to give it a go. Ideally this will be just the start of a collective, collaborative conversation about how we integrate our teaching concerns and practices with spiffy, useful, exciting digital tools. Here’s what we’re up to today:
- Introduction of Topic
- Goals for the Workshop
- Definitions: Pedagogy & Digital Tools
- Thinking Critically & Enthusiastically about Digital Tools
- Individual Reflection
- What makes us enthusiastic about digital tools?
- What makes us hesitant about using digital tools?
- Networking Our Knowledge
- Padlet – on the web or via the app using this QR code:
Additional Resources
Digital Tools I’ve Used/Can Teach/Have Heard Of
I’ve used Twitter for two semesters of my course and the platform is a major part of my dissertation research. I’m pretty comfortable discussing the uses and challenges of Twitter in the classroom. It’s less daunting than you might think, but does take some patience and preparation.
In addition, this Teaching with Twitter online course is how I got started, but there are lots of other resources out there.
The course has a fee ($400), but there are generous discounts for students & contingent/adjunct faculty (I think I paid $150 for the 6-week course)
Padlet (online corkboard; app or web-based)
Google Slides, Forms, Docs, and Sheets
Slides has an option for students to submit questions via a link, which could be helpful for participation
I’ve used Forms for long surveys, quizzes, and quick questions during class
My classes used Docs for submitting assignments – I can comment and they can write back in real time if they choose
I use Sheets for grading and share student grades via a web app (courtesy of this nifty tutorial)
Keynote slides
Apple only, alas, but very attractive layouts
I supplement with Toolbox for Keynote; paid, but worth it, I think
Bit.ly (useful for tracking how many students/participants have clicked a link)
Squarespace (blogging platform)
WordPress (blogging platform; self-hosted and free versions)
Zotero (research organization program)
Zotero has a little bit of a learning curve, but is a flexible and customizable way to compile references, articles, webpages, and notes for a research project.
Zotero databases are sharable, which means users can collaborate with other researchers – definitely useful for faculty or students.
Evernote (note-taking app)
Socrative (clicker app)
Today’s Meet (backchannel/forum/questions app, web-based)
Hypothes.is (web annotation, good for collective reading)
Learning/content management system
More flexible and inviting than UB Learns, I think.
Also free! Also open-source code, for any coders among us.
Data visualization tool
Sometimes called the “gateway drug” to data visualization 🙂
For Thinking Critically About Technology & Pedagogy
“There’s no good app for teaching” (Laura Moorhead, 2014, TED article)
“Is it okay to be a Luddite?” (Jesse Stommel and Sean Michael Morris, 2014, Digital Pedagogy Lab)
“Are apps becoming the new worksheet?” (Lee Skallerup Bessette, 2017, Digital Pedagogy Lab)
“From Knowledgable to Knowledge-able” (Michael Wesch, 2010, TEDxKC talk)
- Wesch’s YouTube videos are also worth a view: Web 2.0: The Machine is Us/ing Us, A Vision of Students Today, and The Sleeper
“The Digital Era: 50 Years of Technology” (Ben Myers and Erica Lusk, 2016, Chronicle of Higher Education, access available through UB Libraries)
Agile Learning (Blog by Derek Bruff; generally useful and inspirational stuff)
HASTAC (pronounced “hay-stack”; Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory)
Creative Uses for Digital Tools in the Classroom
Professors Assign Students to Post to BuzzFeed. You’ll Never Believe What Happens Next. (Gabriel Sandoval, 2016, The Chronicle of Higher Education)
Twessays and Composition in the Digital Age (Donna M. Alexander, 2017, Digital Pedagogy Lab)
Lying About the Past (T. Mills Kelly; this prof and his students “hoaxed” Wikipedia as a class project)
The Pedagogy Project (from HASTAC)
Business Strategy Game (used and recommended by a UB-SIM instructor, Paul McAfee)
Practical Advice/Resources
Ed Tech 4 Beginners (Neil Jarrett – practical stuff like apps and tools + some ideas for assignments/activities)
Teacher Tech (Alice Keeler – especially good for Google Apps)
This Week in Web 2.0 (Larry Ferlazzo – an ongoing series of recommendations for websites, apps, and cool things on the internet)
25 Awesome Apps for Teachers, Recommended by Teachers (TED-Ed blog, 2015 tho…)
