Tech 4 Teach 2018

Technology: Break Out of the Norm utilizes technology to enhance student engagement and learning through the use of "breakout boxes." A spin off of the "escape room" idea, breakout boxes use a series or collection of clues to lead students to learn about a topic while simultaneously uncovering clues to unlock a box (a tool box with multi-hasp and varying locks). I used QR codes, videos, websites, Google Forms, and a Google Sheets add-on called "Wizy Merge" to facilitate the breakout box experience for my students. Additionally, I used tool boxes, multi-hasps, and keyed/combination locks to systematically organize the adventure. The goal is always the topic or learning objectives for the unit or course; however, using breakout boxes increases curiosity, critical thinking, and engagement in the learning process by adding mystery and problem-solving to the experience.  
Evidence: I used breakout boxes with my CI 2300 students this semester. On the last day of class I asked them to create an infographic that shares their favorite memory from our semester. The majority of the students indicated that their favorite memory was the breakout box activity that happened in September. Considering they remembered it in December, that is a feat in and of itself! They noted that they were engaged and intrigued by the experience and many want to use it in their future classes. 
Broader Impacts: What is nice about breakout boxes is that they can be adapted for any content. They can be created to facilitate a staff meeting or to help student learn more about a topic. My breakout box for CI 2300 was focused on teaching them about fake news; however, in the process, they also learned a little chemistry (compound naming rules). Breakout boxes are a student-centered, hands-on, inquiry-based instructional strategy that can be useful to teachers at all levels (PK-12 and higher ed).

Technology: In this session, I will share my experiences using the video response tool, Flipgrid, in both online and blended teaching and learning contexts across graduate and undergraduate courses. The focus of my presentation will be on how to enhance student engagement and active learning through the use of this innovative video tool. Specifically, I will extend theories in social-constructivism as the guiding philosophy of my use of this technology. As part of my presentation, I hope to inspire brainstorming of other ways the tool can be used to create engagement across content, students, and in the world.
Evidence: I have been using Flipgrid in my classes since January 2017. Sharing my grids with colleagues in the College of Education ignited interest in exploring this tool. To support emerging curiosity, our department purchased the 10-licensue package. Since this point, Tom Van Gilder and others in Learning Technology Services in the Center for Academic Excellence have expressed an interest in supporting a larger campus initiative. Further, in my classes, students have commented on how the tool helps them build community and share ideas. While largely anecdotal at this point, this evidence illustrates the impact of this tool on learning communities.
Broader Impacts: It is my hope that my session will inspire discussion of the broader impacts of how Flipgrid can be used to facilitate students’ engagement and learning in authentic ways. Specifically, I hope to develop a list of considerations that may be used to promote active learning and higher order thinking, rather than lower-order memory and recall types of engagement. In this way, my presentation will focus on thinking through pedagogy and implications for learning experiences as vital prerequisites for using Flipgrid.

Technology: Quizizz is a free web-based program that can be used for interactive review of course content or assessment of learning. It incorporates elements of gamification including avatars, memes, and leader boards. It can be used live in class or set-up as an out of class homework assignment. Each participant works through questions at their own pace on a computer or hand held device. The Quizizz developer can create custom memes to reinforce course content or use stock ones that add humor and entertainment to the material review. Questions can be manually entered or imported from and Excel template.
Evidence: Anecdotally, some students prefer the self-pacing of Quizizz to some other quiz review programs, such as Kahoot that require everyone to move thru the questions at the same pace. The use of memes to provide feedback for correct incorrect questions serves as immediate positive reinforcement and injects humor into the classroom. Studies and experts suggest that humor and gamification helps improve learning outcomes while engaging students and relieving stress (Ziv 2014, Lei et al. 2010, Terrell 2014, Renaud and Wagoner 2011).
Broader Impacts: These type of review “games” have the ability to be implemented across disciplines and participant results can be useful to the instructor to evaluate both teaching success and the quality of the questions presented.

Technology: This presentation will address ways in which the cell phone, I-Pad, or laptop can become a tool for classroom learning rather than a distraction. Students in my courses use their cell phones or other portable technology (i.e. I-Pads, laptops) during class to actively look up information, to complete Google Form surveys or partner activities, to take and upload pictures to use in class discussion, and to engage in quick assessments of learning and review of presentation content using Kahoot!.
Evidence: Students get excited when given instructions to login to a Kahoot! They quickly complete internet searches when directed to do so and share the results of their search with the class, increasing their classmates' learning. Students willingly engage in classroom activities involving the use of their own technology and pay close attention during related class discussion.
Broader Impacts: Actively using cell phones and computers in the classroom teaches students how to use their everyday technology to increase learning which hopefully will extend outside of the classroom as well. Direct connections are made between course topics and how/why we are using technology in a particular way.

Technology: Excel assignments can build skills that are valued by employers. However, grading such assignments can be an arduous task. I have developed an automated grading program that can grade student work quickly, facilitating faster feedback to students and the assignment of more Excel work for students.
Evidence: I have used the automated grading program for several semesters. A number of colleagues have used it as well. Without it, I would have been forced to eliminate some spreadsheeet assignments. The grading program has also allowed me to provide students the chance to correct and resubmit their work, thereby learning from their own mistakes.
Broader Impacts: Excel assignments can also promote learning of underlying course material, such as accounting, finance, and statistics.

Technology: I will share strategies for using video technology to enhance students’ engagement, interest, and sense of community in online learning contexts. With more courses moving to online, hybrid, and other blended situations, instructors are increasingly reliant on pre-made video content. Although there are ample video resources available online— and many faculty create their own using Camtasia, Panopto, Screencast-O-matic and other tools— a possible negative outcome of dependence on pre-made content or screencasts is a loss of authenticity in teaching. My session focuses on how instructor-created video with a narrative or story approach may reposition students at the center of instruction.
Evidence:
I began shifting my production strategies in online video creation after being bored by my own screencasts. Using a video production approach that presented each lesson or unit as a story offered students a more authentic entry into learning. Through the use of videos that leverage simple editing techniques, present student work, and include instructor voice, I have seen growth in my online communities of learning. Students often respond in course reviews that the videos enhanced their experience of the course, of community, and of their relationship to the instructor.

Broader Impacts: While abundant resources exist to facilitate instructors and students in online learning contexts, many of these technology tools are ultimately situated for profit. The danger of an over-reliance on pre-made video content or screencast tools is that we may lose ownership of our courses, authenticity in our learning communities, and the value of thoughtfully cultivated teaching and learning relationships. The broader impacts of teacher-created video stories for online learning is that we preserve the integrity of human relationships and experience in learning. If we do not create our own content, for-profit companies (e.g. Pearson) may gladly step into the void.