Preston Lawing, professor of art and design, took the stage to first of all demonstrate Google's new "Art Project" and then to show how the art department is making use of phones and tablets in instruction. He described how his students are using a number of apps for the iPad to create their art. 
Nathan Lien and Brett Bodsgard, both from the Chemistry Department, introduced the group to SmartWork, a program from publisher W. W. Norton that bills itself as the "most intuitive tutorial and online homework system available." The program comes bundled with a W. W. Norton textbook. Students can purchase the print book along with the online version and the homework system for about $125.00. This purchase covers two semesters of chemistry and has been well received by students. 
Chat Chow opened the new school year with a panel discussion by faculty who worked over the summer teaching online classes. Panel participants included Carolyn Ayers, Jeff Hefel, Derek Jackson, Brooke Lenz, Larry Price, and Chris Vondracek. Jason Spartz, Director of Instructional Technology, provided opening
remarks and some helpful statistics about the new online program. Panelists then shared their experiences and took questions from the audience. Some of the main points of discussion included the effectiveness of the in-person pre-instruction sessions, the ability of undergraduates to adjust to the online environment, techniques used for garnering participation and timeliness, use of technologies such as Blackboard, Skype, and blogs, and methods for promoting community and incorporating LaSallian principles. Overall the panelists indicated that the online teaching experiment went well and that they would be interested in doing it again next year.
Missed this session? Get Jason Spartz's PowerPoint. View the whole session on Tegrity.
On the last session of the semester faculty and staff were invited to participate in a technology "petting zoo." Campus innovators were encouraged to bring in their mobile devices and their ideas about how to use them in the classroom. Bookstore staff brought in e-readers. The library put an iPad, an iPod, and a Nook on display. Participants browsed the displays and lively conversations ensued.
In this session Dean of Education, Dr. Scott Sorvaag, aided by several of his former students, described how they created and sustained not just a paperless classroom, but also a real community of learners. Since the class was Global Issues and Sorvaag's focus was sustainability and community, the paperless component was part of an overall theme and not just an attempt to employ new technologies. Students were given a choice, and all of them chose to go paperless. Some of the tools employed included a free, cloud-based collaboration program called Typewith.Me; the audience response system, Poll Everywhere; the free zooming presentation editor, Prezi; smart phones; and Sorvaag's syllabus which was loaded with links. Students kept up with their work through discussions in the blogs and wikis they created in Typewith.Me. Rather than taking notes in class, the group spent the last 10 minutes of every session recouping what they had learned and putting it into the class wiki. When they watched videos, the students were encouraged to contribute their reactions into the Poll Everywhere program. Prezi was used for student presentations. Listening to the Sorvaag and his enthusiastic students it was clear that not only had they learned some new technologies, but that they had also learned a good deal about how to create community and promote global sustainability as they moved toward future careers.
