IT Summit at my University!

I’m attending an university wide IT summit today.   It was hard to narrow down what sessions I wanted to attend. These are my final choices.

Tagged! How to Sanitize Your Social Media Footprint in the Age of Facebook
Social media has revolutionized the way that people interact on a daily basis. It has created new mediums of communications and methods of expression that have a meaningful impact in most everything we do. Pictures, videos, and messages that are associated with our identities are constantly being posted for the public to see, so how we handle that data is increasingly important. This presentation will look at some guidelines and best practices to help ensure that our online social presence is a boon and not a bust.
Miguel Sanchez, Information Security Analyst, Harvard University Information Technology Security

Using Multimedia Curriculum to Support Learning Objectives: Harvard Kennedy School Experiences
Panelists will discuss how different solutions across the wide continuum of multimedia can be implemented to best meet learning objectives. They will address how options ranging from YouTube videos to custom, multimedia case study sites can support pedagogical goals and learning objectives, why different technologies were chosen for various projects, and what resources were required for each.
Dan Levy, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Faculty Chair, Harvard Kennedy School’s Strengthening Learning and Teaching Excellence (SLATE) Initiative
Patricia Garcia-Rios, Multimedia Case Producer, Harvard Kennedy School’s Strengthening Learning and Teaching Excellence (SLATE) Initiative

Assumptions vs. Reality: Closing the Student Support Gap … with Pizza
In the summer of 2012, Harvard Graduate School of Education began piloting exclusively digital delivery of all course readings. An unexpected outcome of this transition was a newfound understanding about student use of mobile devices and apps, much of which was previously unknown and, therefore, unsupported by IT. Learn how the Gutman Library and IT are partnering to transform a potential service threat into a School-wide opportunity using improvisational methods, informal events . . . and pizza.
Carol Kentner, Digital Course Content Manager, Harvard Graduate School of Education Gutman Library
Sarah Black, Technology Operations Administrator, Harvard Graduate School of Education Learning Technologies Center

College students & multimedia assignments

One of the buzzwords (buzzphrase?) at my work place is the importance of multimedia in teaching and learning.  I’ve listened to a lot of people talk about this, and also participated in discussions about the importance of using new media as part of pedagogy. 

I agree that using multimedia approaches to learning are exciting and interesting.  I’ve run into a bit of a wall when it comes to practical approaches. There is a multimedia lab in my library which has lots of hardware and software that people can use to create multimedia content.  There is documentation on how to use the software & hardware.  What we don’t have is an explanation of what the process of making a video for an assignment is like.  How do students get from point A to point B?

I decided that I would sit down and go through the process of creating a video assignment.  I also decided that I didn’t want to make one video.  Instead I wanted to make a few short videos that demonstrated various ways someone could complete the assignment. 

As part of thinking about how students use video for class assignments, I wanted to also consider about how librarians can help students with their work.  Leaving aside the mechanics of creating original multi-media content, the core of a multimedia assignment is similar to writing an essay or response paper.  The student has to do research, come up with an initial idea, do more research if the idea needs narrowing or expanding, and then come up with a final thesis statement.  A multimedia assignment needs to have a point in the same way as a traditional essay does.  

I wanted to create videos that weren’t powerpoint with a recorded narration.  Still images with narrative can be effective, Ken Burns has almost trademarked that method.  However, I wanted to see what I could accomplish with minimal narration. 

Hello World

I currently work in an academic library at a major university doing computer support, writing documentation, keeping instructional technology up to date, and the usual mish mash of “duties as needed.”  I am also getting a MLS at Simmons.

I’m starting up this blog as a place to centralize conversations I have with coworkers, colleagues and friends about issues in librarianship.