A Snowy First Day of Spring
For the second consecutive year, the TLT Symposium covered both floors of the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center. Approximately 460 faculty, staff, and students attended the event. To start the day, our new TLT Senior Director Jennifer Sparrow welcomed guests with a short historical presentation on how the TLT Symposium has transformed over the years.
Dr. Eric Mazur, Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Harvard University and Area Dean of Applied Physics, was the keynote speaker.
The Symposium also had two firsts – the Open Innovation Challenge which provided 6 faculty a high-profile speaking opportunity to present new innovative ideas about anything that enhances teaching and learning in higher education, and the Innovation Panel featuring three leaders in the world of educational technology who shared their ideas on hot topics in educational technology and discussing their most exciting and innovative work.
Keynote: Eric Mazur
Dr. Eric Mazur is the Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Harvard University and Area Dean of Applied Physics. An internationally recognized scientist and researcher, he leads a vigorous research program in optical physics and supervises one of the largest research groups in the Physic Department at Harvard University. Dr. Mazur has made important contributions to spectroscopy, light scattering, the interaction of ultrashort laser pulses with materials, and nanophotonics.
Dr. Mazur is author or co-author of close to three hundred scientific publications, numerous patents, and several books, including Peer Instruction: A User’s Manual (Prentice Hall, 1997), a book that explains how to teach large lecture classes interactively, and Principles and Practice of Physics (Pearson, 2014), a book that presents a groundbreaking new approach to teaching introductory calculus-based physics. Mazur is a sought-after speaker on optics and on education.
COIL Co-Sponsorship
The Center for Online Innovation in Learning (COIL) co-sponsored the Symposium. COIL sponsorship included distinguished concurrent sessions, the COIL Links area, marketing of COIL by the Symposium’s marketing team and COIL representation on both the Program and Marketing planning teams.
Attendees
Approximately 460 individuals attended this year. l4 Colleges at University Park were represented this year which rose from 11 in colleges in 2014. Every Commonwealth Campus with the exception of Wilkes-Barre sent attendees to this year’s event.
Sessions
The day featured 45 faculty-led presentations that provided attendees a variety of topics that range from classroom design, student engagement, the future of the LMS and digital learning at Penn State.
Open Innovation Challenge
Immediately following lunch, the Symposium had the first ever Open Innovation Challenge that provided 6 faculty a high-profile speaking opportunity to present new innovative ideas about anything that enhances teaching and learning in higher education. Select innovators were given an opportunity to showcase their ideas in a set of fast-paced five-minute presentations. The audience then had the opportunity to vote on their favorite ideas.
Innovation Panel
For the first time ever, the Symposium closed the day with an Innovation Panel that over 200 attendees attended in President’s Hall. The panel featured three leaders in the world of educational technology who shared their ideas on hot topics in educational technology and discussing their most exciting and innovative work. Those panelists included Katie Vale, Director of Digital Learning, Harvard University; Tom Cavanagh, Associate Vice President of Distributed Learning, University of Central Florida; and Peter Doolittle, Executive Director for the Center for Instructional Development and Educational Research, Virginia Tech. This panel was moderated by ETS Director, Kyle Bowen.
