Symposium for Teaching and Learning with Technology

Podcasting has great potential for enhancing language instruction. This has been the single most extensive use of podcasting at Penn State since the pilot began in fall 2006, providing a huge number of students with the ability to practice speaking various foreign languages, discuss culture, and collaborate with their peers. The French, German, and Spanish departments are just a few who are actively exploring the pedagogical implications of podcasting. In this presentation, teaching strategies and implementation issues will be discussed and numerous examples will be shown by experienced staff and instructors.

More and more faculty at Penn State are using podcasts to enhance teaching and learning in their classes. In addition to using the technology to deliver lecture recordings, instructors are extending the classroom by offering supplementary audio and video content to help motivate students and review difficult concepts where there might not be time in class. Students are also getting the opportunity to create podcasts ranging in subject from journalism to music to foreign languages. In this panel discussion, attendees will hear from faculty members who have had extensive experience incorporating podcasting into their classes.

To give everyone a better idea of what is in store for the 2007 Teaching and Learning with Technology Symposium, I interviewed our keynote speaker, Lee Rainie. In the interview, Lee and I discuss the Pew Internet and American Life Project, their research, and its relevance to this year's theme: social computing and the culture of teaching and learning.

The interview is available through iTunesU

We're going to be adding some podcasts to our feed about the 2007 Symposium as the planning process shapes up. In the first one, Jason Johnson interviews me about what we have planned for the 2007 Symposium, including the theme, speakers, and the change of venue from the Thomas Building to the Penn Stater.

If you would like to listen, the podcast is available through iTunesU.

The second presentation from the TLT Innovators Speaker Series took place on October 18th, 2006 on the University Park campus. The talk featured Brian Smith, Associate Professor of Information Sciences and Technology and Instructional Systems entitled "Live and Learn: Supporting Everyday Cognition with Computation." Brian spends a great deal of time envisioning ways to effectively use the things we do when we are outside of formal learning spaces to create learning opportunities. Brian's talk focused heavily on those informal learning spaces and ways he has found to tap into them.

Direct Link to Podcast

The first presentation from the TLT Innovators Speaker Series featuring Kyle Peck, Associate Dean for Outreach, Technology, and International Programs, and Professor of Education in the College of Education entitled "It’s What the Student Does that Counts: Rethinking the Roles of Students, Teachers, and Technologies" is now available for download. This presentation, which occurred on October 4, 2006, is the first of three such talks by faculty speakers this fall.

Direct Link to iTunes U Podcast | Link to MP3

I had the opportunity over lunch to speak with several of my colleagues on their experiences and thoughts on the impact blogs and wikis on teaching and learning. There seems to be a lot of interest in experimenting with this technology in the classroom, but some barriers do exist. Listen to hear what our group had to say. Direct Link.

After the keynote I had an opportunity to sit down one on one with Henry and talk to him a little more about his talk. What an amazing guy -- talking to him just gives you that feeling that something important is about to be said. Great keynote and a great conversation. I think his talk in the morning got us all off on an amazing track. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed having this conversation.

The podcast is about 25 minutes and weighs in at about 17 MB. Here is the direct like to the podcast

A panel of Penn State students discuss their use of technology in the classroom.

TLT Symposium - Student Panel

Attendees talked about incorporating video in the classroom.

TLT Symposium - Systems Integration