Each month, we have two collaborative meetings with the entire ITAP group (all the mentors and apprentices from each of the six schools). We conduct the meeting using conference calls (a communication medium that I have yet to get used to!....I find it incredibly challenging to communicate with that many people when there's not body language to reference); the first meeting each month is just a general meeting to discuss what we've all been up to, to address any questions, and to briefly discuss that month's workshop as well as the work that must be completed prior to that workshop (this can be readings, videos, reactions, etc.). The second meeting is designated to addressing aspects of the workshop material as well as any responses, reactions, etc.
This past Friday, we completed our first workshop: Digital Media (presented by Colgate)
It was an interesting workshop and discussion. For me, I was already very familiar with the material addressed in terms of the theories of digital media, as I am a Media and Society major here at HWS. What I found interesting, though, was to learn about the various ways in which the six schools are beginning to implement digital media in the classroom. While the IT aspect (how the schools provide assistance- process, strategies, documentation, etc.) of the implementation was interesting I was most interested in WHY professors are choosing the digital mediums. To me, this reasoning is what ultimately determines how we (IT) make decisions involving the assistance we provide.
Warning: Minor soapbox moment...
From the student perspective, I find it incredibly annoying (for lack of a better term) when instructors choose to require digital projects merely for the sake of having something more "interesting" to grade at the end of the semester.....really? There are plenty of ways to relate a digital platform to the intent of a project from a pedagogical perspective! Merely wanting something different, however, will only result in projects that barely meets the true potential because students spend more time figuring out the technology and how to get content into it than they do finding ways to make the two work together and compliment one another.
SO, it is exciting to hear of the various ways that professors from the various schools (including right here at HWS!) are working with IT services as a means of strengthening their lessons in the classroom. I recommend checking out this YouTube channel that Colgate provided us with to see how Colgate is using technology in the classroom - there's some pretty cool stuff!
Here at HWS, we have a similar collaborative structure as Colgate's in that we support a wide variety of class types (from MDSC to Biology!) and an equally various array of technology (from Prezi to GeoCommons!). Like most of the other schools, the popularity of digital projects on the HWS campus has grown significantly over the past few years. One thing that does seem to separate HWS from the other schools, though, is the presence of IT student workers within that development. Here at HWS, student workers of the Digital Learning Center (originally the "Technology Resource Center") have been very involved in the implementation of technology within the classroom through workshops and tutorials and one-on-one interaction with both the students and the professors themselves (check out this video we made a few years ago discussing the role of Technology Fellows: click here ... while some of the specifics of the role has changed, the essence of the program is still the same). It is a model that, I believe, reflects many positive aspects of HWS, most importantly the respect that students have for each other (as Tech Fellows, we're teaching our peers!) as well as the respect that professors have for the DLC and its team (as Tech Fellows, we work one on one with professors, literally making suggesting and telling them what they should do...). It is an interesting model that could not work for every school but that works well for our own.
From this workshop, though, we can certainly see potential for improvement to our current structure and can use Colgate as a model for some of that improvement. Based on my own experiences, I think that implementation of a structured and specific process for documenting and reflecting on the various projects we play a role in each semester is key to long term development! Because of the number of courses that we support, it it sometimes (almost always) extremely busy at the end of the semester and this just ends up seeming like a good idea but an impossible task. However, with a structured and pre-planned process (such as establishing dates and times for class interviews/reflections within the project timeline itself) I think it can be done and will be incredibly beneficial to the team and all of the collaborators. Further, I think that this process will result in us receiving more information about what professors are really looking for. This information can be used both to help the team in the future as well as allowing us to gain "the best of" samples for display to the community!
The various perspectives provided by the 6 schools of the NY6 ITAP program provided us all with an interesting look into the implementation of digital media projects throughout college campuses (more specifically, liberal arts schools). This type of collaboration is essential in the world of ever-changing technology and I believe this particular workshop showed us all the strengths and weakness of our own institutions while also providing specific models to reference for improvement.
- Megan
Next Post: My Digital Project
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