Author Archives: Heather Tillberg-Webb

Apply to the 2018 Summer Academic Technology Institute

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Join your Lesley faculty colleagues for an exciting, immersive professional development opportunity!

The Summer Academic Technology Institute is an opportunity for faculty to participate in a learning community across disciplines and schools engaged in an exploration of the effective uses of technology in teaching, learning, collaboration, and scholarship. This event is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Center for Teaching, Learning and Scholarship, and organized by eLearning and Instructional Support.

All faculty — core or adjunct — are welcome to apply.  Faculty who consider themselves basic technology users or who do not currently use technology in their teaching are especially encouraged to apply. Faculty selected through the application process receive a $500 stipend for participation in the institute. Applications are prioritized to select faculty who have not participated in past institutes, depending on demand.

The program features a 4-day institute in June, held at University Hall. Faculty engage in a rich mix of dialogue, hands-on practice, project-based learning, reflection, and application to explore innovative ways technology can be integrated into their teaching.

Examples of workshops from past Summer Tech Institutes include:

  • Putting Technology in Its Place
  • Designing Lessons for Engagement
  • OneDrive: Collaboration Made Easy
  • The Student Experience in Online Learning (panel)
  • Designing and Facilitating Online Discussions
  • Introducing Media Into Your Blackboard Course

Expectations for Summer Academic Technology Institute Participants

Faculty are expected to:

  • Participate in all four days (~9am to 4 pm) of the institute: June 4-7, 2018
  • Develop a technology-enhanced learning activity for a 2018-2019 course
  • Attend or participate in at least one professional development outreach activity during the 2017-18 school year

Important Dates

March 30, 2018 Applications Due
April 20, 2018 Participants Announced
June 4-7, 2018 Summer Institute


Application

Coming Soon

TeachLive: Using Immersive Simulations to Practice Being a Teacher

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Lesley Graduate School of Education (GSOE) faculty members Maureen Creegan Quinquis and Susan Patterson are wrapping up a successful year piloting TeachLive, a new immersive technology to prepare teachers for classroom experience. TeachLive (produced by Mursion) allows faculty to guide teacher candidates through several types of classroom situations from behavior management to practicing for parent-teacher conferences.

To learn more about this initiative, rewind to the summer of 2016.  Faculty members Maureen Creegan Quinquis and Susan Patterson, collaborating with GSOE Dean Jack Gillette wrote a grant proposal to the Department of Education (DESE) to allow Lesley students to gain access to a new technology tool that blends an immersive experience with live action by an actor. They wrote a proposal detailing the elements of teacher preparation that immersive virtual reality could most effectively address. Specifically, it provides students with experience in:

  • Classroom management
  • Parent-teacher/community relationships
  • Special education practice, particularly developing skills in differentiation
  • Job interview practice

Lesley was awarded the grant for equipment and services in August 2016, allowing GSOE to offer this experience for candidates in initial licensure programs. The equipment for the program is situated in a dedicated space in University Hall. Faculty schedule time with their students to interact with virtual students. Faculty introducing the tool have work closely with students on the preparation, the live simulation itself, and then debriefing after the simulation—all of which are essential components to learning from an immersive simulation.

In Fall 2016, Elementary/Creative Arts in Learning and Elementary and Middle/High School students began working with two of the simulation scenarios:

  1. a classroom setting of 8th graders with a variety of personalities and levels of knowledge;
  2. a parent teacher conference where the teacher is speaking with family members about their child’s progress or presenting a serious issue to the family.
image from http://www.rdmag.com/article/2016/04/simulation%E2%80%99s-teaching-moment

image from http://www.rdmag.com/article/2016/04/simulation%E2%80%99s-teaching-moment

The faculty members report that in addition to providing the space to “practice” with simulated students, there is a real benefit to being able to also pause the simulation to debrief specific moments or to step back from the situation.  As Professor Creegan Quinquis notes, “If I have a group of students who have been working on differentiated ways to present a lesson; they can all be in the room fishbowl style– they can watch each other to try and present the lesson. If the student candidate suddenly freezes– he/she can say “pause” and then ask for help or let someone else step in, or we can have a discussion right there in the room. You get to practice it several time.  What’s interesting is how much like real life it is. You have this experience of feeling like it’s really happening…The beauty of this is that they can make mistakes and have a safe space to practice” …before ever getting in front of real students.

Apply to the 2016 Summer Technology Institute

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STI2015Join your Lesley faculty colleagues for an exciting, immersive professional development opportunity!

The Summer Technology Institute is an opportunity for faculty to participate in a learning community across disciplines and schools engaged in an exploration of the effective uses of technology in teaching, learning, collaboration, and scholarship. This event is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Center for Teaching, Learning and Scholarship, and organized by eLearning and Instructional Support. To apply for the Summer Tech Institute, please complete the brief application form here.

All faculty — core or adjunct — are welcome to apply.  Faculty who consider themselves basic technology users or who do not currently use technology in their teaching are especially encouraged to apply. Faculty selected through the application process receive a $500 stipend for participation in the institute.

The program features a 4-day institute in June, held on the Brattle Campus. Faculty engage in a rich mix of dialogue, hands-on practice, project-based learning, reflection, and application to explore innovative ways technology can be integrated into their teaching. 

Examples of workshops from past Summer Tech Institutes include:

  • Navigating the Technology Wilderness
  • Designing for Engagement
  • OneDrive: Collaboration Made Easy
  • Blackboard Beautification Project
  • Designing and Facilitating Online Discussions
  • Introducing Media Into Your Blackboard Course

Expectations for Summer Technology Institute Participants

Faculty are expected to:

  • Participate in all four days of the institute: June 13-16, 2016
  • Develop a technology-enhanced learning activity for a 2016-2017 course
  • Attend or participate in at least one professional development outreach activity during the 2016-17 school year

Important Dates

March 25, 2016 Applications Due
April 8, 2016 Participants Announced
June 13-16, 2016 Summer Institute

Application

To apply for the Summer Technology Institute, please fill out the 2016 application form.

Apply to the 2015 Summer Tech Institute!

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image from summer tech instituteJoin your Lesley faculty colleagues for an exciting professional development opportunity!

The Summer Technology Institute is an opportunity for faculty to participate in a learning community across disciplines and schools engaged in an exploration of the effective uses of technology in teaching, learning, collaboration, and scholarship.  This event is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Center for Teaching, Learning and Scholarship, and organized by the eLearning and Instructional Support Division. To apply for the Summer Tech Institute, please complete the brief application form here.

The Summer Technology Institute, sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Center for Teaching, Learning and Scholarship, is an opportunity for faculty to participate in a learning community of colleagues across disciplines and schools engaged in an exploration of the effective uses of technology in teaching, learning, collaboration, and scholarship.

Faculty who consider themselves basic users or do not currently use technology in their courses are especially encouraged to apply. All faculty — core or adjunct — are welcome!

A $500 stipend accompanies participation in the summer institute.

The program features a 4-day institute in June, held on the Brattle Campus. Here, faculty will engage in a rich mix of dialogue, hands-on practice, project-based learning, reflection, and application to explore innovative ways technology can be integrated into their teaching. Regular gatherings over the course of the academic year will extend conversations and deepen learning begun at the Summer Institute.

Examples of the types of workshops you will encounter at the Summer Tech Institute include:

  • Navigating the Technology Wilderness
  • Designing for Engagement
  • Google Tools: Collaboration Made Easy
  • Blackboard Beautification Project
  • Designing and Facilitating Online Discourse
  • Enhancing your Blackboard Course Site with Voice Tools

Expectations for Summer Technology Institute Participants

Faculty are expected to:

  • Participate in a 4-day training seminar: June 8-11, 2015
  • Develop a technology-enhanced learning activity for a 2015-2016 course
  • Attend at least 1 “brown bag” discussion workshops during the 2015-16 school year
  • Present a workshop or poster session at the January, 2016 eLearning Institute

Important Dates

March 13, 2015 Applications Due
March 31, 2015 Participants Announced
June 8-11, 2015 Summer Institute
January, 2016 eLearning Institute

Application

To apply for the Summer Technology Institute, please fill out the application form.

Week of Learning at Summer Tech Institute

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The inaugural Lesley University Summer Tech Institute was a week full of energy and new ideas. From June 10th – 14th, the Brattle campus was bustling as twenty-five faculty members from all Lesley schools explored the possibilities of teaching with technology. The week of professional development was planned and facilitated by the department of eLearning and Instructional Support (eLIS) and sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Center for Teaching, Scholarship, and Learning.

The theme of the Summer Tech Institute was Blended Learning and was possible due to collaboration across the University. Several Lesley faculty members added their expertise to the program, including Sue Cusack on Universal Design for Learning, Susan Patterson on developing a personal learning network with social media, and Michele Forinash, Paul Naso, Susan McFarland, and Susan Patterson on a panel discussion around effective teaching methods for online courses. The entire eLIS design and technology team was embedded throughout the training, providing one-on-on guidance and coaching every step of the way. The Information Technology department gave an overview of classroom technology support. The library staff also conducted workshops on Endnote Web, Mobile (iPad) applications for library resources, and using the library video databases.

You can hear some of the participants thoughts on the event on VoiceThread.

Be on the lookout this fall for information about applying to next year’s Summer Tech Institute!