Technologies to Support Pedagogical Innovation in the Harvard Curriculum

1. Technologies to Support Pedagogical Innovation in the Harvard Curriculum Katie L. Vale, Ed.D. Director of Academic Technology Faculty of Arts and Sciences Harvard University IT

2. Agenda • Information about Academic Technology Services • Overview of pedagogical methods and examples of educational software based on those methods • Profiles of some of our larger initiatives • Group exercise • Q&A

3. My group – Academic Technology • Part of HUIT • Primarily responsible for Faculty of Arts and Sciences (College, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Applied Sciences, Continuing Education) • FAS is approximately 50% of “Harvard University”

4. My group – Academic Technology • Thirteen staff • Four faculty liaisons/instructional designers • Five technical staff/learning spaces manager • One (busy) product manager/student experience coordinator • Two unit managers • One director (me) • Our sister group, iCommons, provides our LMS

5. What we do • Consulting and support (course websites to custom courseware) • Development of tools for teaching and learning (collaboration, visualization, etc.) • Learning space design • Support for faculty and student innovation

6. Examples of pedagogical models… …and Harvard technology projects using them That is, how pedagogy and learning theory shapes what we do in Academic Technology Services

7. Direct Instruction • Lecturing plus practice problems and homework • Useful for maximizing student learning time • Shown particularly useful for teaching math and reading • Less useful for teaching abstract thinking, creativity, complex problem solving

8. Direct Instruction • Technologies useful for this method: • Practice opportunities (drill and practice applications) • Time on task opportunities (recorded lectures) • Active learning techniques (PRS, clickers, peer review)

9. Learning Catalytics

10. Personal Response Systems

11. Cooperative Learning • Foster teamwork, increase student motivation, generate synergy • Steps: • Present a puzzling situation • Explore individual reactions • Create plan of attack • Assist individual students with their piece • Regroup to share data and analyze progress

12. Cooperative/Collaborative Learning • Technologies useful for this method: • Collaboration software • Wikis • Shared whiteboards • Shared datasets

13. Annotations

14. Collaborative Annotation Suite (open source)

15. Mastery Learning • Prescribed study completed at student’s own pace • Objectives and milestones clearly set, with testing at defined intervals and feedback for advancement or remediation

16. Mastery Learning • Technologies useful for this method: • Programmed instruction • Drill and practice

17. Flashcards and iBooks

18. Role Play • Learners assume the role of another person and approach a situation in the manner of that person • Used to gain insight into attitudes and values and explore feelings that may arise from unfamiliar circumstances

19. Role Play • Technologies useful for this method: • Discussion boards • Social media • Virtual reality • Instant messaging • Online case studies

20. Inductive Thinking • Consists of these steps: • Concept formation (defining, categorizing) • Data interpretation (relationships, inferences) • Development and application of principles (predicting consequences, hypotheses) • E.g. How does per capita income affect longevity in different countries?

21. Inductive Thinking • Technologies useful for this method: • Databases • Data analysis tools (GIS, spreadsheets) • Interactive simulations • Mashups

23. Exploratory Learning • Students explore an information-rich setting via own choices • Develop concept maps to make sense of the environment • Proper framing is needed for successful exploratory learning exercises

24. Exploratory Learning • Technologies useful for this method: • Virtual reality • Knowledgebases • Simulations • Game engines • Location-aware devices

25. Harvard Mobile

26. Constructivism • Learning by doing (John Dewey, Papert) • Stresses active engagement with objects • Project- or activity-based learning (engineering and design) • Learning by teaching to others

27. Constructivism • Technologies useful for this method: • Peer tutoring and collaborative peer review • Electronic portfolios and design notebooks • Simulation and modeling • Multimedia, podcasts and presentation software

28. Creative assignments

29. Inquiry Learning • “Scientific Method” with active experimentation • Confront a problem • Gather data and isolate variables • Make hypothesis • Develop explanation

30. Inquiry Learning • Technologies useful for this method: • Simulation and modeling software (Giza) • High Performance Computing • Databases (WorldWide Telescope) • Research software (Matlab, Pymol, Geneious)

31. That’s the what… • Here’s the how: Organizations, Initiatives, and Programs

32. General Education Curriculum • Harvard’s new undergraduate curriculum • Strives to link students’ experiences here with their lives after college • Prepare them for civic engagement • Expose them to thinking from all parts of the University • Allow for new models of teaching and learning, and pedagogical experimentation

33. Implementing “Gen Ed” • The Instructional Support and Services Team • Comprised of representatives from IT, Library, Museums, Writing Program, Undergraduate Education Office and Bok (Teaching and Learning) Center. • Members collaborate to help faculty design new courses from scratch or modify existing courses to make them compatible with the Gen Ed philosophy. • Also graduate seminars that design the follow-on undergraduate course (Graduate Seminars in General Education)

35. How we work with Gen Ed • Consulting for faculty – brainstorming, demos, discussions about pedagogical goals, custom courseware or adapted software • Course trailers (available via the General Education website) • Creative assignments – student work using digital media

36. Example: Middle Ages course • Museums: located examples from the collection for site visits… • Libraries: located manuscripts and music, prepared research guides, visits to library collections… • ATG: digitized materials, created interactive materials, course trailer… Making the Middle Ages, Professor Daniel Smail

37. Example: Sociology GSGE • Initial meeting with Teaching and Learning rep; faculty chose who in ISST to contact next • Faculty consulted with ISST and has us present to the class as follows: • ATG about data visualization tools such as Gapminder, Many Eyes, OECD Explorer • Libraries on locating data sources, how undergrads find information • Bok Center on syllabus design and leading discussion sections • Writing Project on how to respond to student writing and how to write for the social sciences

38. Example: CS50 • Provide data feeds for student projects • Brainstorming about pedagogy and objectives • Guest lecturing to introduce students to computer science careers • https://www.cs50.net • Game Changers profile

39. To learn more about Gen Ed: • http://www.generaleducation.fas.harvard.edu/ • Course trailers

40. PITF • Presidential Instructional Technology Fellowships • Made possible from a grant from Harvard’s President and Provost • Mission: to provide opportunities for student PITFs to intern with faculty to help create instructional materials • Outcomes: faculty receive digital teaching materials, PITFs gain valuable experience in both technology and pedagogy, ATG can work on many more projects than otherwise possible

41. Planning PITF Projects • Meet with faculty and potential project staff (teaching assistants, librarians, etc.) • Train students in pedagogical models and assessment • Ascertain faculty commitment, availability, whether project will be fully integrated into course, sustainability • Explain fully how the team operates and what expectations would be

42. Expectations of faculty • Participate in planning meetings with ATG, Library, or Art Museum staff • Participate in regular meetings during the development period • Work with ATG, Library, Art Museum staff, Fellows, and others to develop course materials for the project • Update their syllabus and/or assignments to incorporate materials into the course • Participate in ongoing assessment of technology integration in the course (interviews, student surveys, etc.) • Share the results of the project as appropriate (via presentations, written reports, etc.)

43. Factors for success • Engaged teacher who sees value of project • Explicit educational goals • A project coordinator (if multiple participants) • Commitment over years (funding, porting) • Good documentation (both user and code)

44. More information on the PITF Program • Past PITF project reports • Portfolio of developed applications

45. HILT • Harvard Initiative on Learning and Teaching • Based on a $40 million donation from Gustave and Rita Hauser • Goals: • Elevate discussions about teaching across all of Harvard • Explore how new technologies can help teaching • Create opportunities for collaboration

46. HILT: Components • Annual symposium on teaching for Harvard faculty • Grants program for faculty, student, and staff projects • Establishment of a Teaching and Learning Consortium comprised of staff in instructional support roles (see ISST) • IT infrastructure improvements for digital video • Decanal requests for School-wide projects

47. HILT Symposium • Deans selected faculty participants • Daylong event • Speakers from both outside and inside Harvard • Associated Resource Fair where faculty could learn about Harvard-wide instructional support assistance • Demos by some of Harvard’s known educational innovators

48. HILT Grants • Innovative • Evidence-based • Extendable • List of initial recipients • Work begins July 1st

49. HILT TLC • Builds on the success of the Gen Ed ISST • Official liaisons to Hauser Grant projects • Provide forum for problem solving, information sharing and innovation dissemination • Help the different “tubs” of Harvard learn from one another

50. New Digital Video Services • HILT is bootstrapping this group • Will provide infrastructure for automated classroom and event capture, digital content management, dissemination and archiving • Initial experiments using Opencast/Matterhorn and Kaltura this summer