A program on Teaching and Learning in a Digital Age
was held at the Young Research Library on May 2. Various faculty members attended and some emailed
their notes and reactions. Below are
edited versions of those responses. The
agenda for the program is at the bottom of this posting. (Scroll down.)
= = =
From: Prof. Toby Higbie
I was only able to attend the
Senate event on and off due to teaching duties. I arrived in the afternoon, and
so missed the session with the deans.
From what I saw, there was
quite a bit of critical engagement with teaching technology. The general
mood was neither Luddite nor Pollyanna. One theme that emerged was that
some types of learning are well-fitted to the online format, while others are
not. However, there wasn’t any real agreement about which was which.
There was a disconnect between the way faculty and administrators talked about
online issues.
One administration did bring up MOOCs, but the faculty presenters (who had all created online courses) we not particularly interested. In the afternoon there was a
showcase of perhaps a dozen online and hybrid courses. Clearly there is a
lot of creative energy coming from the faculty. This was the most
sustained and largest conversation on teaching I've ever seen among UCLA faculty.
So if only for that, the event was a success. In the wrap up Jan Reiff noted that during a recent meeting with state legislators it was clear that legislators believe all faculty are afraid of technology. So one task is to find a way to talk about our teaching practice that makes the innovative blended approaches more visible.
Marta Brunner of the library kept up a constant Twitter
feed, which is a nice record of the event.
= = =
A listing of Marta
Bruner’s Tweets During the Event of May 2, 2013 to which Prof. Higbie referred:
1. Marta Bruner
Observation that funding seems to gravitate toward fully
online courses rather than tech'ly enhanced courses #TLsummitUCLA
2. Marta Bruner
Main concern going forward should be robust infrastructure
to support broad range of approaches to teaching. #TLsummitUCLA
3. Leah Lievrouw
#tlsummitucla ...and developing course tech and materials
takes more faculty time/effort, not less
4. Marta Bruner
Caroline Tam Kong on her experience with two fully online
courses. Q: Where does learning happen? How can we help faculty? #TLsummitUCLA
5. Leah Lievrouw
#tlsummitucla
resources a key question: who will get what $ to develop...and who gets
the IP?
6. Marta Bruner
At this point, UCLA has no policy regarding delivery of
existing courses online, per Troy Carter #TLsummitUCLA; need assessment now
7. Leah Lievrouw @Leah53
#tlsummitucla Troy Carter: how to insure value of the
residential experience and enhance with technology?
8. Marta Bruner
Per Troy Carter, discussions of quality in online courses
must focus on hybrid- how tech can enhance in person learning #TLsummitUCLA
9. Marta Bruner
Intellectual property is growing concern in courses as more
online elements are integrated into delivery #TLsummitUCLA
10. Leah Lievrouw @Leah53
#tlsummitucla summit should help faculty understand what
tools we already have and how to use them well
11. Leah Lievrouw @Leah53
#tlsummitucla undergrad survey reveals tech-savvy students
*not* sold on online courses
12. Marta Bruner
Surveyed seniors identified impacts of technology on their
own learning outcomes. #TLsummitUCLA
13. Marta Bruner
Surveyed students hate powerpoint slides with text but like
with diagrams/videos #TLsummitUCLA
14. Marta Bruner
UCLA students conflicted about online discussions in courses
#TLsummitUCLA
15. Marta Bruner
Pat Turner, dir of undergrad ed, talking about UCLA Senior
Survey results #TLsummitUCLA
= = =
From Prof. Malina
Stefanovska
What I retained from the meeting is the students' opinions;
they mostly do not want courses entirely on-line. They want the human presence
of the professor and of the others (By the way, the Dean’s presentation was an
example of what the students hated about PowerPoint presentations: a text which
we get to see, and then to hear it read again.)
Second - as for the "hybrid" courses - most of us
are using some form of them occasionally when needed. For example, we use discussion
forums or boards. It helps the students who are too shy to speak in class and
those are quite a few. But just posting the lectures online is not a great
tool. The best courses are more interactive and that is appropriate for certain
fields/disciplines and certain audiences more than others. The best judges of
that are the professors who should be helped and kept informed. I think the
forum and the afternoon workshops showed that.
A MOOC, if I understand correctly, is a "for profit"
venture ultimately and who would profit from it should be discussed. I was a
little alarmed at the "piling up" of work on the TAs.
= = =
From Prof. Phillip Bonacich
In the morning session, representatives from the Anderson School,
the Medical School, and Engineering showed how
internet resources could be useful and could improve the quality and
availability of professional school education.
There was almost no discussion of MOOCs for standard undergraduate
courses controlled by outside providers in order to reduce costs. There were
only occasional allusions to this elephant in the room. EVC Waugh described the pressure from the
legislature to reduce costs and from potential providers seeking to
profit. Judy Olian, Dean of Anderson,
referred to Bill Gates’ prophesy that soon there would be only 20
universities. David Schaberg, the
Humanities Dean, said that MOOCs did not teach students how to think collaboratively
in groups and doubted that computers could teach and evaluate style. Dean and Vice Provost Pat Turner informed us
that 60% of students at UCLA would not like to take completely online courses. A NY Times article describing an
eloquent protest by the San Jose State Philosophy Department directed toward a
MOOC supported by the administration there can be found at the link below:
= = =
Agenda of the Event
TEACHING AND LEARNING IN A DIGITAL AGE
Sponsored by the Academic
Senate, the Executive Vice Chancellor/Provost, the Office of Instructional
Development, the Office of
Instructional Technology, and the University Library
May 2, 2013
···
9:30-4:00
···
Young Research Library
All sessions in the
Conference Center (11360) unless otherwise noted
9:15 Continental Breakfast
Video clips from campus
online courses will be available for viewing
9:45 Introduction: Campus
Overview
Linda Sarna, Chair, Academic
Senate
Scott Waugh, Executive Vice
Chancellor/Provost
10:00 Challenges &
Opportunities: Deans’ Perspectives
Deans Neil Parker (Medical School),
Judy Olian (Anderson),
David Schaberg (Humanities),
Dean and Vice Provost Pat Turner
(Undergraduate Education),
Gary Strong (University Librarian)
11:15 Getting Started
Troy Carter (Chair,
Undergraduate Council), Jim Davis (Vice Provost for Information Technology),
Caroline Tam Kong (Social Science Computing), Larry Loeher (Associate Vice
Provost, Office of Instructional Development), Christopher Lynch (Director,
UCLA Online Master of Science in Engineering)
12:30 lunch break
1:15 Lessons Learned So Far
David Glanzman (Integrative
Biology and Physiology/Neurobiology), John Mamer (Anderson),
William Roy (Sociology), Jan Reiff (History/Statistics), Otto Santa Ana (Cesar E. Chavez Department of
Chicana and Chicano Studies)
2:30 Concurrent Sessions (YRL
Research Commons)
- Explore UCLA’s innovative
technologically enhanced and fully online courses. Demonstrations of courses
from the College, GSEIS, Anderson,
Geffen, Art & Architecture, Extension and TFT by faculty and design teams
creating them
- TAing an Online Course
- Taking a MOOC: Faculty
Experiences as Students
- Launching your Course with
Library Collections & Services: Where to Start
3:30-4:00 Next Steps
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