Diffusing Pedagogical and Technical Innovations: A Different Approach

1. Diffusing Pedagogical and Technical Innovations: A Different Approach Lanny Arvan (l-arvan@uiuc.edu) R. Varkki George (varkki@uiuc.edu)

2. Background • SCALE Renewal Grant • Charged with delivering experiments that test methods and software for making ALN better • Easier to produce materials • Lower instructor time commitment • Improve student learning • Faculty Fellow • Promote diffusion; early adopter charged with the task

3. Other Projects • NCSA Emerging Technology Class – • Adult learners and on-campus students mixed. • RiverWeb – • Mapping exercises for American History • Travel and Tourism – • Templates for student interns and sponsors • General Engineering – Remote robotics • Education – • Streaming Video of Student Presentations

4. SCALE’s Writing Initiative • Campus does not support mainstream adoption • This is beginning to change • Writing intensive courses would benefit from ALN • Mainstream faculty work with a Faculty Fellow • $3,000 incentive for assistance or computing purchases

5. Other Ideas Behind the Project • Target faculty who care about teaching • But who are novices with technology • Faculty mentor has more cachet than support staff • Questions • What are the impacts on target faculty? • How is this support best delivered?

6. ALN and Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) • Writing promotes thinking and learning in the disciplines • Results: quality of the learning experience improves but logistics get very complex • ALN promotes written communication • ALN helps manage logistical complexity

7. Program Setup • Numbers • 80 WAC participants contacted • 15 provided with details • 5 agreed to participate • Unable to participate because • Circumstances (not teaching; on leave) • Timing; Lack of time (schedule conflicts; other commitments)

8. Intensive Weekly Consultations • Initial discussions of teaching objectives • Intros to technology and pedagogy; compatibility with objectives • Advice on implementation strategies and sequencing • Pointers to campus resources • Help with technical decisions and troubleshooting

9. Technology and Pedagogy • Conferencing can be adapted for short, one-time, written assignments • Manageable peer review mechanism • Virtual portfolio for longer, staged assignments • Clarifies stages and sequence • Provides effective mechanism for assessment • http://vfolio.scale.uiuc.edu

15. Outcomes I (Preliminary) • Adoption in a variety of courses • Civil Engineering, History, French, Latino/Latina Studies, Anthropology • Incremental implementations • Increasing campus support for mainstream adoption

16. Outcomes I (Preliminary) • Measurement: • Comparison with other non-technical adopters • General quality-of-experience • Perceptions of complexity, compatibility, and relative advantage (Surry and Gustafson) • Source: E-mail conversations • Caveats • Small sample, short time frame

17. Outcomes III (Preliminary)

18. Self-Reflection • collegiality and individual attention were extremely valuable • Help with pacing of implementation was crucial • Timing is critical (during or outside the semester?) • 75% of my time was spent on logistics

19. How Would We Do Things Differently? • Use a support team rather than one individual • More efficient use of resources • More holistic support • Foster better communication among participants • Build a better sense of community • Our experience with early adopters