This document summarizes a session discussing how high-speed digital networks and video conferencing can enable liberal arts colleges to share academic resources globally. It outlines how video conferencing has evolved from low quality stationary solutions to high definition mobile units. Examples are provided of intercampus courses using video conferencing between multiple colleges. Challenges include student engagement and adapting teaching for virtual classrooms. The Consortium for Innovative Environments in Learning is discussed as collaborating to develop virtual language learning and other shared projects across member colleges committed to experiential and globalized learning.
2. Engaging Liberal Education at a Distance AAC&U Annual Meeting January 28, 2011 This Session is sponsored by the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education.
3. Participants Gret Antilla, Executive Director, Consortium for Innovative Environments in Learning Kebokile Dengu-Zvobogo, Associate Dean, International Programs, Pitzer College Paul Burkhardt, Executive Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Provost, Prescott College Ed Clausen, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Daemen College Rebecca Davis, Program Officer for the Humanities, National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education
5. Liberal Education in the Globally Networked World Small Liberal Arts Colleges Residential, Local Close Personal Interaction Face-to-Face Focus Traditional study abroad with complete immersion in another culture Globally Networked World Always connected Access to global resources & information High-speed digital networks High-definition video
6. Session Outline Discuss projects exploring how high-speed digital networks and high-definition video can enable institutions committed to liberal education to share academic expertise Undergraduate Research Inter-institutional Collaborative Courses & Curriculum Global Competence International sites Foreign Language Acquisition
16. Sunoikisis Evaluation Conclusions Furthers a core goal of liberal education Successful collaboration of formerly competitive colleges Unbundling of instructional components to pool instructional resources
17. Sunoikisis Lessons Learned Hybrid model: include asynchronous interaction Need for collaboration lead Models for academic credit Sunoikisis: Each campus offers course CGMA: GIS in Mediterranean Archaeology DePauw University, Millsaps College, Rhodes College, The College of Wooster Rotating teaching responsibilities and course offering
18. Sunoikisis Challenges Challenges Poor student engagement with faculty and students on other campuses Need to adapt teaching & learning to virtual classroom Technology infrastructure Inadequate recognition for faculty work
19. What is CIEL? Consortium for Innovative Environments in Learning Alverno College - Daemen College - The Evergreen State College - Fairhaven College at Western Washington University - Hampshire College - Johnston Center for Integrative Studies at the University of Redlands - Marlboro College - New College at the University of Alabama - New College of Florida - New Century College and University Life of George Mason University - Pitzer College - Prescott College - Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
20. CIEL schools put innovation and experimentation at the core of their mission, organization, and everyday work. Though each school is distinct, each shares a commitment to the following goals and practices: Interdisciplinary, Integrative and Experiential learning Integration of theory and practice Independent and individualized learning Authentic assessment strategies Globalized curriculumand commitment to teaching and learning for social justice
21. CIEL institutions share a common goal: to advance innovations in student learning. CIEL’s mission is three-fold: Continued improvement and innovation in student learning Sharing information and practices Outreach to higher education
22. Projects that engage across distance Virtual Student Symposium Collaborative Curriculum Pitzer College and global study Virtual Language Learning Project
23. Virtual Language Learning Project (VLLP) The CIEL VLLPis a multiyear collaboration to enrich language learning opportunities for students of all its schools; enable faculty to connect expanded virtual and immersive place-based language learning ; increase the Consortium’s capacity for aligned technological infrastructure, and the ability to support high definition videoconferencing among all campuses and international field sites.
25. NITLE Thought Leader Series Anya Kamenetz, DIY U discusses her ideas with leaders from the NITLE Network.
26. Shared Academics American University of Paris Eugene Lang College Programs Global Cities Global Communications Global Literary Studies Transatlantic Seminars
Hinweis der Redaktion
Virtually travelingImmediacy of interactionCultural informationFace to face interactionThis is what we mean by a globally networked worldPlus, don’t we all want to teach without our pants on? ;)Video is about 2 minutes
My name is Rebecca Davis, and I will be moderating today’s session, which is sponsored by the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education aka NITLE. We work with a diverse community of liberal arts colleges and universities. This national network is focused on developing a deep understanding of the undergraduate student experience, the impact of the broader technological environment on teaching and learning, and the future of liberal education.
The current technological environment presents some challenges to the traditional model of liberal education that we see in most institutions within the NITLE network. We typically work with small liberal arts colleges that privilege face-to-face interaction. Based on the monastic tradition, students are supposed to focus only on learning in their current environment. And, the key way to gain global knowledge is to study abroad. Today’s globally networked world presents a challenge to that model. Students, whether abroad or on campus, are always connected, with access to global resources and information. And once they leave college they will likely live and work in the same context. Small liberal arts colleges, then, are presented with the challenge of maintaining the values of liberal education and preparing students to exercise their liberal arts abilities in a networked world. The model of distance education with asynchronous interaction is one answer to education in a networked world, but this model is diametrically opposed to the educational model of our institutions. Faced with this challenge colleges could pull in and try to strengthen their local focus, or they can find ways to engage the global network in ways consistent with their values.
Today, we will examine this challenge specifically through the lens of one new technology—high definition video conferencing over high-speed digital networks. Our presenters will share lessons learned from past experiences with various types of video-conferencing, including traditional and desktop, and explain how they are applying those lessons in current projects using high def video. Projects include undergraduate research, collaborative courses and curriculum, promoting global competence, connecting with international sites, and foreign language acquisition. In these examples, our panelists have explored how to use technology to interact at a distance in ways consistent with their liberal arts mission. Finally, we will end with a discussion of how these technologies can facilitate liberal education.
Flesh this out:NITLE has experience with intercampus pedagogy. Let me share one model that would benefit from high def video . . .
About the NITLE 2011 Thought Leader SeriesThe NITLE 2011 Thought Leader Series offers two immediate benefits. 1. Chief academic and information officers and other campus leaders from liberal arts colleges will have direct access to thought leaders who are currently influencing discourse and policy about higher education and its future. 2. Campuses that connect to the series will gain direct experience with the application of interactive, high-definition video for educational and collaborative purposes.