This was a Birds of a Feather session, ie, interaction required. It was led by Rod Disbennett, Director, Distance Learning Technologies, from Cuyahoga Community College, and Ken Sadowski, Director of Instructional Technology & Design at the University of Chicago Discussion around:
Communicate to faculty, not around ‘systems,’ but around tools to enhance teaching.
- Introducing technologies in non-intimidating ways.
- How to connect faculty to you (the technology supporter)
- How to connect faculty to each other (they then begin to use the same language and to share tips)
- How to engage faculty, give them ownership (and let them take it!)
Ideas from participants:
- Faculty lunch sessions (food offered) around their problems, such as how to reduce plagiarism, how to reach the introverted, shy student. This is a topical approach to a common interest.
- Faculty incentives/awards for solving some teaching problem using a different technology. Anecdotal stories about whether the incentive or stipend caused faculty who ‘win’ it to be entrenched in that technology, rather than moving on when new technologies are available.
- A “Blackboard Day” with presentations and food, first so many registrations to the event receive a prize (headset/microphone or USB drives). How are sessions for the event determined? Faculty submitted, usually.
