Introduction
The Fall Faculty Forum, a one-day virtual event attended by 236 UMUC faculty members, was held on November 8, 2012. Sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), this event was designed to promote deeper learning and transfer of the knowledge shared at the Virtual Global Faculty Institute, which was held on July 30, 31, and August 1, 2012, and attended by 362 faculty members. The Fall Faculty Forum included seven one-hour events that were hosted via WebEx, giving faculty worldwide the opportunity to interact with the presenters and each other. Faculty were encouraged to share ways they applied the teaching techniques first taught at the institute.
Presentations
The Keynote Presentation, Making Learning Collaborative, was presented by Richard Byrne, blogger, educator, and founder of Free Technology for Teachers.
The Undergraduate School topics were:
- Giving Useful Feedback, presented by Susan Blankenship;
- Designing Effective Online Discussions, presented by Betty Ring, Kim Stott, and Richard Schumaker; and a
- Technology Showcase, presented by Liliana Meneses.
The Graduate School topics included:
- Building Social and Teaching Presence through the Use of Instructor-Created Videos, presented by DattaKaur Khalsa and Stella Porto;
- Insights into Hybrid Teaching, presented by Kathryn Klose; and
- Assessing Graduate Student Learning, presented by Mike Evanchik.
These sessions were recorded and will be available for viewing at the CTL Web site.
Faculty and Student Engagement
The Fall Faculty Forum presentations emphasized using sound pedagogy with free or low-cost technologies for faculty and student engagement. Common themes across presentations included discernment and efficiency in the use of existing resources as well as tools and techniques for creating original resources that will meet course learning outcomes. Other common themes across presentations were the importance of using detailed, specific rubrics for grading both assignments and conference participation and giving students prompt feedback.
Research Tools
Richard Byrnes presentation stressed Web-based tools that work equally well on Windows PC and Mac computers. He gave information on new uses for common search tools, such as Googles Advanced Search feature, which allows one to search for sources from different countries and in a variety of file formats, among other options.
Academic search engines mentioned include RefSeek, which eliminates commercial sites from search results and WolframAlpha, a computational search engine useful for mathematics and statistics. There were also citations of search engines that pull in social media results, such as Mashpedia and the Twitter search engine. Results from sites such as these could be useful in the study of social sciences and current events.
Additionally, Mr. Byrne recommended organizational and social bookmarking tools, such as Microsoft OneNote, Dropbox, and Feedly, to aid faculty in saving time and managing all of the resources available to them.
Engaging Students through Polling
Polling tools can be helpful for engaging students and as a starting point for online discussions. Polls can also be useful for informally quizzing students. Tools that make it easy to set up a poll include Polldaddy, Socrative, and Poll Everywhere.
Multimedia Tools
The use of multimedia can have a positive impact on student engagement. During the Fall Faculty Forum, faculty and presenters discussed teaching strategies that incorporate multimedia to achieve course learning outcomes. Strategies were presented along a continuum from using free open educational resources (OERs) to the creation of original teaching materials. Faculty were encouraged to begin the process of incorporating multimedia into their classrooms in easy steps and to continue growing in their use of these tools over time.
Audio and Video Feedback
Giving audio and video feedback is a good way to start using multimedia. Audio files can be inserted into Microsoft Word and PowerPoint as well as Adobe PDF documents to give students feedback. Screencasting software, such as Screenr, can be used to capture images of student papers annotated with comments.
Video Resources
Many resources and tools exist for the use of videos in the classroom and the creation of original videos. YouTube, TeacherTube, TED, MIT TechTV, and Vimeo are popular resources for subject-matter videos that can be linked to or embedded in learning management systems.
Jing and Animoto are popular free/low-cost online tools for creating original videos when access to high-end software, such as Captivate and Camtasia, is limited. The online tool Wevideo makes video editing easy. The Vimeo site includes a Video Schoolthat provides a variety of lessons and tutorials on how to make engaging videos, as well as some video-enhancing tools for adding or creating your own custom soundtracks.
Conclusion
The Fall Faculty Forum was a productive follow-up to the Virtual Global Faculty Institute. Participants received a wealth of resources and ideas to apply to their teaching from both the presenters and each other. We encourage you to view the presentations on the CTL Web site and experiment with some of the resources that were shared during the Fall Faculty Forum.