Evolving Meaning of the FLC

Being part participant part facilitator and part observer in the FLC this semester has taught me some valuable lessons about how we engage our students, about the unique academic community at RU and about the potential of our “collective intelligence” and work as “smart mobs”. I was never part of “writing across the curriculum” at RU but already see why some folks still speak with great admiration about the community value of that program when it was in its hey-day. Within the fledgling FLC community folks have already found a variety of common cross-disciplinary concerns and goals. That seems to have been one of the drivers of WAC and something that folks have been eager to re-kindle in new ways. I certainly think we are all benefiting from the collective thinking of an academic community.

Within the group there has been great discussions about the use of wikis, blogs, collaborative work suites, online conferencing, hand-held computers (iPod Touch) and a slew of other technologies. These discussions have ranged from simply understanding what the tools are and how to use the features to high-level discussions about integration of technologies into teaching and learning. The good mix of techno-savvy, technology interest and technological wariness among participants coupled with an overarching pedagogical curiosity has proven to be a great driver for the groups' continued trajectory.

I think what excites me the most about the FLC thus far is the number of folks who are taking the ideas discussed at the regular meetings and experimentally incorporating them into courses and other academic work. My own personal adventures this semester have included the use of a wiki in a Univ. 100 class, the development of a simple roster tool for the iTouch (Teresa-O-Bannon’s idea, thanks!!) and the exploration of a variety of note-taking tools. I can’t wait to share the ups and downs of these with the group, listen to great feedback, and hear how the explorations of other “FlCers” are going.

In fact, it would be great to see a sort of inventory of ideas in the comments following this post. What are you planning to tryout in the upcoming semesters?

Fall 2008 Reflections

As we wrap up the semester, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank you all for participating in the Faculty Learning Community. I hope you all agree that we've had some fantastic conversations as we've looked at many new technologies and the myriad possibilities for using these tools for enhancing student engagement. I would like to offer a few of my own reflections -- both technological and theoretical, as I look back on the conversations and prepare for next semester, so here goes:
1. We all, as do our students, have varying levels of technological literacies and, as such need to continue to investigate and find tools that are a fit both pedagogically and from a ease of use perspective.
2. Applications such as Google Docs and Wikis are nice tools for facilitating various types of collaboration
3. Any technology should be embedded within relevant and authentic contexts. Students don't always understand the relevance and utility of new tools, so we need to model and support the use so as to not overshadow the discipline of study.
4. Various types of tools such as facebook, Doodle, and Ning can fulfill a variety of needs that support the teaching and learning process (e.g., connecting with colleagues, scheduling academic meetings, etc).
5. The iPod touch, while still largely a 'new' device, holds much potential in the instructional world.

This is just a quick summary to tack onto the obvious benefits of sharing dialogue with colleagues across campus. I am looking forward to another round of meetings next semester as we begin to bring some more specific needs, strategies and options into focus.

Happy Holidays!