The Campus Technology conference was held this year in Chicago. Eric Kunnen, Associate Director of eLearning and Emerging Technologies, captured 9 blog posts from the conference on his blog. This post features a few highlights from the conference.
Pictured left to right: James Vliesides (Western Theological Seminary) Justin Melick (Digital Media Developer, eLearning), Eric Kunnen (Associate Director, eLearning), and Hunter Bridwell (Digital Media Developer, eLearning)
Highlight #1 – GVSU Professor, Andrew Topper, presented on Supporting Faculty in Distance Education
GVSU’s Andrew Topper, Associate Professor of Special Education, Foundations and Technology presented at the conference in the following session:
- Supporting Online/Blended Learning – “Many institutions struggle to support faculty effectively as they migrate toward blended/online course formats. Andrew Topper will share experiences developing, implementing and evaluating a fully online graduate degree, and examine why traditional institutional support may not be effective for the successful transition to technology-based teaching environments. You will also learn effective practices for faculty development in support of hybrid/online courses.”
GVSU Professor Andrew Topper, Associate Professor of Special Education, Foundations, and Technology presents at the Campus Technology Conference
Highlight #2 – Inspiring Keynotes and Informative Sessions
Here are a few highlighted sessions:
- Creative Leadership: A Human-Centered Approach to Building Technology Strategies – “Student and stakeholder engagement throughout the strategic development process is essential to creating technology that is relevant, effective and forward-looking. Taking a human-centered approach, the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism partnered with innovation and strategy firm MO Studio to redesign an annual Student Technology Survey. Initially designed as a tool to collect basic usage data, it is now being used as a platform to increase student engagement. By building student empathy, focusing on collaborative design and generating insight, the school is able to better understand how students learn and faculty teach and to use this understanding to drive better technology decisions. The team will share the story of the approach, outcomes and impact of this process on the school’s ongoing strategic effort to develop an innovative technology roadmap.”
- Measuring Student Success: What #HigherEd can learn from @Fitbit – “What gets measured gets improved. We are tracking activity like never before using wearables to measure steps and sleep. This data leads to greater awareness, which, in turn, perpetuates positive changes in user behavior. What if we applied this same concept by measuring activity in the classroom? Research shows that the more a student is engaged in class, the better he or she does in the course. Hear how behavioral data from the classroom, like learning management system engagement during the first weeks of class, note-taking and reviewing recorded lectures, can offer real-time insights about student success and transform the teaching and learning experience.”
- Adopting a Learning Object Initiative for Student Success – “The Digital Pathways initiative at Columbus State Community College enables faculty to create state-of-the-art digital content (learning objects) and to employ interactive delivery methods that enhance student engagement. As one of the largest community colleges in Ohio and a leader in distance learning, Columbus State has formed a collaboration with Apple that provides faculty, as curators of information, the tools and knowledge to enhance the overall teaching and learning process. You will hear the challenges involved in creating a college-wide initiative that will meet the needs of millennial learners and analyze examples of interactive learning objects used in courses to discover how they have impacted student learning”
- Keynote: Privacy and Security in the Age of Algorithmic Spies – “Security experts often claim that people are the most unreliable part of their systems and that privacy is dead. Jennifer Golbeck, an expert in cybersecurity and human-centered technology design, asserts that the problem is not people behaving insecurely, but security systems that are designed with no concern for their users. She’ll discuss the risks organizations face when humans are not the center of their security plans, present simple changes that can make systems more secure and easier to use, and describe how we can educate people about simple steps they can take to regain control over their digital lives.”
Highlight #3 – Discovering the Future for #HigherEd and #EdTech
- Keynote: The Decade ahead for #HigherEd – “Higher education is on the cusp of far-reaching changes over the next decade as technology plays a larger role, and as students, parents and educators ask what colleges should teach and how learning should be measured in an era of shifting needs in the economy. Drawing on research from his bestselling book, College (Un)Bound, and his follow-up report for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jeffrey Selingo will discuss the attributes of a new era of higher education, demographic changes coming to campuses in the next decade, emerging learning pathways, and the roles of technology and the physical campus in the future directions of higher education.”
- Current Trends for the Future of Educational Technology – “During this workshop based on his long-running Future Trends in Technology and Education report, Bryan Alexander will explore present trends to extrapolate the future of higher education technology. The workshop will present cutting-edge, longitudinally informed research and activities that encourage you to consider how policy, economics, demographics and educational technologies are shaping your institution, community and life. Alexander will also examine trends and developments including social media, mobile, blockchain, artificial intelligence, evolutions in learning management and more.”
Bryan Alexander – Bryan Alexander is an internationally known futurist, researcher, writer, speaker, consultant, and teacher, working in the field of how technology transforms education.
Read more blog posts from the 2017 Campus Technology Conference on Eric Kunnen’s blog.
The 2018 Reader’s Choice Awards have been announced by Campus Technology!
eLearning Technologies @GVSU 