The Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation, in collaboration with the
University’s Information + Technology Services, has launched a new
experiment in support of teaching with technology – the Teaching
Collaboratory.

“The goal of the Collaboratory is to provide UofT instructors with access to
new technologies they might like to use for their teaching,” said Avi Hyman,
Director of Academic & Collaborative Technology.

“We wanted to establish a place where our instructors could interact with
things in a safe environment, where help would be available, and long before
taking it into the classroom,” Hyman added.

“And we are not taking about radical technologies – there are other places
on campus for that – we are talking about consumer-level, affordable
technologies that an instructor may not yet have, and we hope the
Collaboratory will provide them with an opportunity to test-drive something
without having to make a purchase or commitment.”

To get started, the Collaboratory has been given a generous donation of five
pieces of technology on long term loan from Dell Computers. These include an
interactive projector, two large screen Windows 8 touch screen computers, a
Windows 8 laptop that can convert to a tablet, and a smaller Windows 8
tablet with stylus writing capabilities.

“Dell believes that technology can play an important role in both student
engagement and to help prepare students to work in a more connected, digital
world,” said Dennis Hofmann, Dell’s Senior Account Executive for UofT.

“These students are ‘connected’ in all aspects of their lives outside of the
classroom, so bringing the technology into the classroom delivers that same
level of engagement thereby fostering the learning outcomes that educators
are working towards.  We are excited to work with the University of Toronto
to further explore how technology can benefit instructors and students,”
Hofmann added.

“In addition to the wonderful donations from Dell that has helped kick this
off, we also have an Echo360 appliance, and we can demonstrate some of
UofT’s standard applications, such as Collaborate and Jabber,” added Hyman.
“The plan, of course, is to continue adding resources.”

The eventual goal is for the Collaboratory to be a drop-in-any-time facility
with staff on hand, but for now, the equipment and software is available for
test driving by appointment; please write to ati@utoronto.ca to arrange a
visit. The main location for the Collaboratory is at the Centre for Teaching
Support & Innovation in Robarts Library, but we are looking at making the
equipment available to other locations by request.

In a recent search for information on concept maps I came across fellow blogger Martha’s 2011 post Concept Maps, and Notetaking. Reading the post and watching the videos illustrating the topic, I found myself making a connection to some Twitter posts I’d seen from the SXSW conference. Several SXSW participants posted a synopsis of the workshops and panels they attended though a visual note taking technique called Sketchnotes.

Mike Rohde, Photo courtesy of Flickr

Sketchnotes are exactly what they sound like – notes that are sketched (obviously, someone has created a sketchnote for the description of sketchnotes).  This process of note taking has been used in creative circles for several years, but recently it seems to have invaded all realms of popular culture. Many high profile events and conferences have even started to hire live Sketchnote-takers to document key ideas and information takeaways. This past year, celebrated designer and sketchmaster Mike Rohde even penned his first “how-to” book entitled, ”The Sketchnote Handbook”.

Re-reading Martha’s post, I began to think that perhaps educational theory was ahead of its time. Could concept maps be considered the forefathers of today’s Sketchnotes? To me Sketchnotes are at their bones just fancy concept maps- structuring, relating and developing a hierarchy of information all connected to a broader topic or idea. The hype around Sketchnotes as a rich (and lets face it cool) vehicle for information makes me also ponder – is the university lecture hall is ready for these renegade note takers?

For some students, the answer is a resounding yes! Students and learners across the globe are pushing the boundaries of note taking and are using Sketchnotes to rethink their lectures. Renate Martin, a medical student from South Africa uses Sketchnotes in her neurology class and reflects on the blog Sketchnote Army that, “in general I have noticed that I remember more from class than I used to… I am also much more enthusiastic about going to class than I used to be!”

Renate Martin photo courtesy of http://sketchnotearmy.com

Think about it, for today’s multitasking student there may be some pay-off in this nonlinear form of note taking. Satisfying the need to participate beyond passively recording information, making a Sketchnote provides students a way to connect with the material on a more creative and personal level.

Application wise, some subject matters appear naturally better suited to Sketchnote-taking than others. For example, lectures that are more narrative in structure would lend themselves well to this visual depiction of text and ideas. There is also the challenge (that I quickly encountered upon experimenting with Sketchnotes) that creative doodling is not a talent possessed by all. Not to be deterred, Mike Rhode argues in his book that visual note taking is not just for the artistically inclined student, and explains that the Sketchnote-taking technique can be adapted by drawers and non-drawers alike! Regardless of skill, learning to Sketchnote takes some time and practice, so perhaps a mathematical physics course is not the best environment to hone your typographic and caricature skills.

While there may be some speed bumps slowing down the uptake of Sketchnote-taking, I believe there is enough to gain from rethinking the process of note taking that these funky notes should be given a second look. Having a set of notes, which one would actually want to look at, would (for me at least) be a scholarly boon. For the doodle nerds among us, it would make the whole process of note taking more enjoyable. Finally, there is the subtle benefit Sketchnotes possess in their innate ability to connect people. Even if one does not engage in the Sketchnote-taking process, the final product is a something that is easy to relate to, share and connect over.

My first sketch "quote" attempt

Welcome  to CTSI’s feature on recommended reading. Once a month, a U of T faculty or staff member will suggest books or articles on teaching, learning and higher education.

Our inaugural recommendation comes courtesy of John Percy, Professor Emeritus, Astronomy & Astrophysics, and Teaching Academy member:

Tobias, Sheila (1990), “They’re Not Dumb, They’re Different”, Research Corporation, Tucson AZ, pp. 94, paperback, ($3.99 on Amazon)

Sheila Tobias is a social scientist who has made deep and constructive studies of the teaching and learning of science and mathematics, and written many books and articles on these topics.  Research Corporation is a non-profit foundation which, through its support of this work, made it available at a very low cost. This book is “a study of why students abandon science for other disciplines”. The core message is the following: especially in introductory courses, the students are not “like us”; they are unlikely to do graduate work and eventually become a professor in our discipline. They don’t necessarily want the course content to be dumbed-down, but they do want to see its connections and applications to society and to other disciplines.  This is a special problem in physics, which is too often taught in a narrow, analytical way.  No wonder physics enrolments are going down across the continent!

The landscape of Canadian higher education is changing. Provincial government mandates are calling for increased opportunities for online learning, stronger transfer opportunities between colleges and universities, and there is a move toward a new kind of teaching-only institution.

The Canadian Studies program and instructors from the course, The University in Canada (UNI305) will bring together members of Ontario’s higher education community to address these timely topics and their impact for a panel discussion entitled, The Future of Canadian Universities.

Panelists for this March 28 event are: Harvey Weingarten, President and CEO of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO), Professor Ian Clark from U of T’s School of Public Policy and Governance, Melonie Fullick, a PhD Candidate at York University and Professor Suzanne Stephenson, Vice-Dean of Teaching and Learning at U of T’s Faculty of Arts & Science.

“Higher education is the public sector most critical to Canada’s future social and economic health and competitiveness,” Weingarten said.

“It is important that we get this sector right,” he added. “We are not there yet but the will and courage to make the tough decisions to reform higher education could get us there and, if we do, Canada will prosper.”

The Future of Canadian Universities panel is one of the final sessions of the University in Canada course, offered through the Canadian Studies Program. “One of the goals of the course is to provide students, as future leaders and voters in a range of sectors and jurisdictions, with the ability to critically assess information and proposals about the university,” said Pamela Gravestock, a co-instructor of UNI305 and panel co-moderator.

Students attending this panel will see the issues they have been discussing throughout the semester in the broader context and how the proposed mandates could affect universities in the future.

“[This panel] will help students consider how universities might change in the years to come,” said Emily Greenleaf, a co-instructor of UNI305 and panel moderator.

It will also address issues such as the government’s goal to move toward a skills-focused curriculum, interactive learning and providing more flexible ways of earning credit and progressing through a degree.  “These proposed changes may lead to the emergence of more diverse and specialized institution than what we currently see,” said Gravestock. ”All universities face a future of potential substantial change.”

Attendees can also expect to hear about the forces that will be driving these changes over the next decade and how governments and university leaders are likely to respond.
“The combination of rising university costs, tightening government budgets and revolutionary new technologies has made higher education a hot public policy topic,” said Clark.

The Future of Canadian Universities
28 March 2013
2pm – 4pm
University College, Room 140
15 King’s College Circle

If you have any questions about this panel presentation, please contact Dr. Gravestock at p.gravestock@utoronto.ca or 416-946-8585.

Scholarly Kitchen recently posted a piece on what scholarly publishing could learn from their trade colleagues. The focus of this post was the need for an online bookstore bringing together scholarly publishers – much like Bookish, an online store that combines the lists of Simon & Shuster, Hachette and Penguin (soon to be merged with Random House). The argument is that while it is hard to compete with Amazon (and why would you when they bring in a lot of revenue) but why not try to increase the playing field.* The author’s opinion is that there are many lessons to be learned, and perhaps most importantly is recognizing that although it might be difficult to win the race, it’s important to stay in the game.**

For those of us in educational development, the culture tends more toward sharing ideas and expertise rather than competitively trying to do do someone else or another office. Our practice grows when we share. We gain resources by seeking out colleague’s research and understanding of events and experience. The struggle is to get the word out so instructors and teaching assistants know where they can go for assistance and resources. So, the question for educational developers, then, is how do we increase our playing field? How can we create an environment where ideas, research and experience can be shared? Could we have an online community (as most teaching support offices survive under strict budgets, anything that might cost money is not too plausible) that allows for different offices from many institutions to post and share resources? Could this be something along the lines of Creative Commons? When there isn’t a revenue stream component or a single governing body it is difficult to bring together these different voices (who, let’s be honest, are already strained with projects and items on the to-do lists). However, I doubt if I speak only for myself when I say, “I wish I knew what everyone was up to….” And I like to know more than a list of accomplishments and upcoming events. Ideally, we could generate a space that is more than water cooler topics but somewhere to share, explore and expand.

* Warning: there are a lot of sports analogies in this post. Strange coming from someone who doesn’t really follow sports and who has been known, during play-offs, to which team you are voting for.

** I did warn you.

Teaching at the University of Toronto offers the experience of meeting and working with one of the most diverse groups of students in the country. As the most multicultural city in North America (more than half the population was born outside of Canada), Toronto is culturally and linguistically diverse, but as we know from surveys such as the National Survey on Student Engagement (NSSE), there are many more factors that influence our students backgrounds. How does this diversity affect their experiences here as students?   CTSI interviewed a group of undergraduate students to learn more about their orientations to campus life.

 1. Commuting affects us all

UofT students are very likely to have long commutes to campus, with 1 in 4 taking 1 hour or more to travel to campus. Senka Zahirovic, a 5^th year student in Criminology and Psychology, when she had the option to study at either St. George or UTM campus, chose UTM because it meant an easier commute of one bus trip instead of a transfer to the crowded subway. Even when the commute is only 15 minutes long, as for Ayyaz Aamer, a 4^th year student Majoring in Equity Studies and English, it still means thinking about “all the things commuters have to do to plan the day.”

Continue reading →

“Digital native” is a term often applied to the so-called “Millennial” generation, those people born in the 1980s and 1990s who grew up and came of age in a time of rapid digital growth. Millennials, particularly the younger half, have been exposed since childhood to computers, the Internet, cell phones, video games, and electronic gadgets, creating the expectation that  they have a natural fluency and ease with digital devices and environments. Indeed, many have taken on expertise that surpasses their parents’, to become the technological advisors of their household. This has led to several assumptions about Millennials: that they can process and sort information easily, can do anything online more easily than previous generations, and that they are always online, creating and consuming content.

Current perspectives on Millennial media use show us a more nuanced picture. Here are three points that can help us approach how we teach the Millennial generation:

1. First, the way Millennials approach media is not wholly different from previous generations: for entertainment, access to information, consumption and creation of content, and social interaction. What sets apart younger generations is that all these things can now be accomplished online, where previously they might have been found through television, radio, telephone, and previously print-only media. (Kilian, Hennigs and Langer)
2. Continue reading →

Upcoming events and incoming technology for 2013 at the University of Toronto:

U of T has recently signed licensing agreements with webconferencing solutions. Echo360 is a lecture capture software that enables video-on-demand and live web-based broadcasting. Bb Collaborate allows for live synchronous “virtual” classrooms.

CTSI is offering three workshops this term for instructors – Making the Most of Faculty-TA Relationship: Working Effectively with TAs, Shouldn’t They Already Know How to Do That? Scaffolding Instruction to Meet Diverse Needs and Abilities While Maintaining High Expectations, and Assembling a Teaching Dossier.

Fundamentals of University Teaching is an 8-week course designed for faculty who have an interest in improving their teaching and furthering their understanding of teaching and learning at the University of Toronto.

Registration is open for the Teaching Assistants’ Training Program (TATP)’s Winter Workshop Series. There are 16 workshops between January 21st and the end of March, including Active Learning Methods in the Sciences and Engineering, Effective Communication with Your Course Instructor: Building Positive Working Environments, and Get em’ Talking: How to Plan and Run Discussion-based Tutorials.

The Course Design Institute for Doctoral Students will be held on February 20 & 21, 2013. This institute will introduce the principles of integrated course design to senior doctoral students who must either face teaching a course for the first time or who would like to hone their course development skills and overhaul a course they’ve already taught.

The 2011-2014 collective agreement between CUPE 3902 and the University,  outlines that Course Instructors (CIs) who are members of Unit 1 who will be teaching a course at the University for the very first time shall receive 6 hours of paid job training. At the Centre For Teaching Support & Innovation, we have taken a variety of steps to help the University meet this mandate. In the fall of 2012, I was hired as the first Course Instructor Training Co-ordinator and I have been developing a series of workshops.

On December 7th, 2012 from 9:30 to 5:00 pm we are holding a Training Camp, a full day of training targeted as advanced professional development for CIs beginning contracts in January 2013. Training Camp will be held in the CTSI Office, Robarts Library, 4th floor, Room 4029 from 9:30 am -5:00 pm.  The breakdown of the day will be as follows.

• Course Design and Management for First Time CUPE 3902 Unit 1 Course Instructors (9:30-11:30am)
• Making Your Syllabus Work for You and Your Students: Effective Course Syllabus Design (12:30-2:30 pm)
• Designing Effective Assessments (3:00-5:00 pm)

To register for CI training camp please visit our registration page.  

We recommend that CIs review the information provided by CUPE 3902 on CI training. CIs should use the CUPE 3902 CI Training Request form on this page to get departmental approval for any workshops you plan to take through CTSI as part of your paid training.