Matt’s Notes
OK, OK! Most of these notes have been ready in WP for awhile now… for a change! And the recordings are circa four days ago… from May the Fourth!… for those who partake! All we’re waiting for now are my odds and ends… emphasis on odd, fyi… so I better get ‘er done! This time we’re about Hearting TLC’s… and CELT’s… and many other lovely acronyms… which spell out ways your local teaching centre can help remedy… and downright ENHANCE… your teaching practices! Please click below for the audio and the video as per your heart’s contentment…
Here’s hoping the audio lives up to the SIGNIFICANT promise implied by the still from the video… #ednontech
This past week has been characterized by a few leaps on the Ed Tech front… at least from my standpoint!
My newish consulting venture… cause I’m self-employed as Doug is kind enough to keep reminding me… now has a similarly newish website! Please feel free to check it out! I’ve included a phone number and email to go with said venture… which I realize opens me up to spam and trolling… but if I can’t handle a few trolls or bots or people with bad or weird intentions… then honestly I would have avoided the educational technology business altogether. And that’s not sour grapes… simply… anything on the Internet is open to such… and I believe, as far as it goes, in “walking like we talk it”… we may have an episode on the positive value of trolling… and how we as educators in the e-learning space can roll with it, adapt, and come out stronger… because learning anything is, at least in my world, almost never comfortable… nor should it be… the past 15 months of being “self-employed” and/or “freelancing” have made me more convinced of this than ever… and, truly, as per the Stoics, I am immensely grateful for these opportunities for profound learning and growth… the obstacle is the way…
A screenshot of some H5P turkeys… see below… which is intended as an example of potential uses of AI for art education; and for ed tech development…
We made some mention during the episode of a specific e-learning application… a variation on a WordPress submission and posting format… while acronyms are still in the process of being decided… and I’ve made a few JOKING suggestions for such on my PERSONAL social media… the jury… namely that comprised of Doug and myself… is still out on what to call it… and how this new application and associated terminology… including naming and acronymizing… may DIFFERENTIATE itself from formats and applications CURRENTLY IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN vis-à-vis Creative Commons Licensing… and if, somehow, you saw such comments and were offended by my admittedly low-brow humor… then I’d say you’re probably pretty privileged to be piqued by so little… but… to each their own… as per both Marcus Aurelius… and the norms of common Internet usage…
In any case, my first attempts… at the still-to-be-properly-acronymized new open learning application for WordPress… will be ready over at the Ed non-Tech Sandbox site… since we haven’t yet done anything with it since last Thanksgiving… hence the turkey theme… but… ya know… I’m kinda partial to the birds… especially now that I’m vegan and against harming animals for any reason… so… here’s an H5P rendering of some turkeys created using the Bing AI Image Generator… as these are H5P objects, feel free to remix and/or adapt these turkeys as per your preferences… we will not be offended! In fact, we encourage such usage, as it is conducive to CREATIVE and CRITICAL DISCOURSE… even if you were to use these with say… a satirical intent...
But I digress! Which is pretty common given my mentality lately… and given the fact that I have such an abundant surplus of time… compared to those who may feel more constrained… due to having external (read: paying, stable, and benefit-providing) employment…
The turkey is a large bird in the genus Meleagris, native to North America— Wikipedia— and they deserve to live without being eaten… Dr. Matt S
Some Wild Turkeys
9 sets of turkeys… each in the style of a famous artist. See how many artists you can name before reaching slide #10 with the answers! Like what you see here? Download the H5P file and remix and/or reuse to your heart’s content! #ednontech
This was not the only experiment in “kicking the tires” of the Image Generator… one piece that I came up with today… a series of slides, effectively, limited to ten in number by Instagram’s strictures… makes me feel like there is much to appreciate vis-à-vis AI and an inquiry-driven approach to teaching and learning…
But that is for another time!
As per recent FB Messenger chats, Doug and I will be taking a deep dive on specific #edtech and #ednontech tools and applications in some of the coming episodes… including various applications of AI!
Thanks as ever for spending some time with us! We definitely appreciate it…
Doug’s Notes
Introducing Centres of Teaching & Learning: Why we have our bumper sticker idea in previous podcasts
- leverage partnerships and communication between CTLs and engineering faculty, administrators, and students;
- enhance teaching effectiveness, including how is it defined, measured, developed, practiced, used, rewarded, and supported;
- identify and use promising teaching and learning practices that are evidence-based;
- promote a culture change for valuing teaching and learning in engineering disciplines;
- organize professional development for faculty that is targeted to career lifecycle needs;
- help faculty become more efficient in their teaching;
- facilitate multi-institutional collaborations to support scalable and sustainable professional development opportunities across campuses; and
- ensure the ongoing assessment of students, learning outcomes, courses, programs, and related items.
Varma-Nelson, P., Hundley, S., & Tarr, T. (2011, June). The role of centers for teaching and learning in improvement of undergraduate engineering education. In 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition (pp. 22-1498).
CTLs are committed to informing and advancing the institution as a whole.
CTLs can serve an integrative function, bringing together groups of faculty, staff, and administrators from across an institution.
Dickens, E., Cruz, L., Alderson, J., Atias, D., Graham, R., Hurney, C. A., … & Wang, C. (2019). Starting a center for teaching and learning. POD Speaks, 3, 1-6.
Roles of CTL
- Outreach
- Motivations
- Expectations
- Change Agents
The work of CTLs are seemingly guided by theory, yet, it is not always articulated or obvious to instructors who attend their programming.
This is the first non-host thesis I have included in the podcast.
Dunn, S. (2020). Perceptions of Outreach, Theory, and Practice at Centers for Teaching and Learning. Illinois State University.
Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA)
“Working with Teachers: A Handbook for Teacher Educators.” Teaching in Sub-Saharan Africa, Open University, 2021, www.open.edu/openlearncreate/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=153824&printable=1.
The 3 things that I’d say to anyone new to the CTL world are:
- CTLs live in the liminal space between an academic discipline and an institutional service organization.
- The CTL world is changing.
- CTLs, and the academics who work in them, should be at the forefront of leading institutional change.
Kim, J. (2018). 3 Things That Someone New to the CTL World Should Know: A liminal academic / service discipline, a time of great change, and the opportunity to lead. [Blog post]. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/3-things-someone-new-ctl-world-should-know
Other monikers:
- Centre of Teaching & Learning (CTL)
- Centre for Learning & Teaching (CLT)
- Centre of Technology for Teaching & Learning (CTTL)
- Learning Commons (LC)
- Teaching Commons (TC)
- Centre for Academic Faculty Excellence (CAFE)
- Teaching & Learning Centre (TLC)
- Centre for Development of Teaching & Learning (CDTL)
- Centre for Learning (CL)
- Centre for Engaged Teaching & Learning (CETL)
- Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, & Leadership (CETLL)
- Centre for Excellence in Learning & Teaching (CELT)
- Learning Centre (LC)
- Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT)
- Faculty Development Center (FDC)
- Academic Support Center (ASC)
Word of the Podcast
Heart emoji
Phrase of the Podcast
Semantic preferences and local context
Question of the Podcast
Why haven’t people spent more time collaborating with CTLs?
We’re grateful you’re not sick of us… yet! It’s been a pleasure, and we can’t wait to check in again really soon!
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