Modernized computer lab now open in Beaver Hall 

Modernized computer lab now open in Beaver Hall 

Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) recently completed renovations to the computer lab inside Beaver Hall. The redesigned lab is now open and available for students to use.

“We took on this project to provide University Park students with access to modern amenities and a collaborative space,” said Jennifer Sparrow, deputy chief information officer for Penn State and associate vice president for Teaching and Learning with Technology. “It will be a thrill to see what good work comes from the students who visit the lab,” she added.

Highlights of what is now available to students in the Beaver Hall computer lab include:

  • Work stations with 27-inch monitors to connect with students’ personal laptops
  • Work stations with University-provided computers (PCs and Macs)
  • Lounge-style seating with device charging outlets
  • Mobile and fixed whiteboards
  • Collaboration areas for small and large groups
  • Multiple 55-inch display screens with wireless screen sharing systems

“The Beaver Hall lab also provides us with a great opportunity to understand how we can best modernize computer labs across Penn State,” noted Sparrow. “We are approaching this as a prototype and plan to learn a lot from what takes place inside the lab.”

Beaver Hall is located within the Pollock housing area, and students who are interested in using its computer lab are encouraged to check its days and hours of availability.

Stuart Selber’s profound impact on teaching and learning at Penn State

Stuart Selber’s profound impact on teaching and learning at Penn State

In 1998, professor Stuart Selber created Penn State’s first online English class, and in 2021 he received the Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) Impact Award. These achievements bookend over 20 years at the University in which Selber has leveraged technology to help engage students and transform education. 

A scholar in the field of rhetoric, with a specialty in technical communication, Selber has recognized the ever-growing presence of technology in education and understands the need to marry it with sound pedagogy, saying, “Digital technology is the new English studies. It allows us to reinvigorate how we think about things.” 

Selber’s technical innovation is prominent in his English 202C course, where he has implemented littleBits to facilitate technical communication. The lesson requires students to use littleBits, electronic components that snap together, to construct an invention and write instructions for how to do so. Later, classmates share the instructions with their peers who recreate the inventions.

The goal of the lesson, according to Selber, is to teach students to write in a clear, succinct language that considers their audience; communication skills that can serve students well in their professional lives.

“Students bring a lot of expertise with them. I want students to pursue their interests, have a stake in their learning, and express all of that by teaching others how to do things. That’s what littleBits is really about─ that level of engagement,” Selber said.

Engaged learning is a foundational element of the University’s strategic plan and a principle that Selber shares and incorporates into his pedagogy.

“Digital writing has created so many interesting questions, both about teaching and learning. What is the best way for students to learn? To take a course? To integrate technology? It just seems like the sky’s the limit when you work in this area.” 

Selber’s role as professor of English only scratches the surface of his leadership in technological innovation. As director of Penn State’s Digital English Studio, Selber played an integral role in the University’s transition to online learning following the onset of COVID-19. 

Before the pandemic, Selber assumed responsibility for the online World Campus portfolio, streamlining the online class design and implementation process. With the infrastructure of his online English 15 and English 202C classes at his disposal, coupled with the online teaching tutorials created through the Digital English Studio, Selber could share his design and expertise with all Penn State faculty. 

“It was an emergency situation for everybody. But we were helped out a lot by the fact that we already had online versions of courses that the Studio developed, that we were able to roll out basically over a weekend.” 

As years pass and new tools become available, education has no option but to evolve and transform. However, it takes creativity, strategic thinking, and leadership skills to make those transformations successful and meaningful. Selber has been a steady source of positive transformation in his time at Penn State. Over his 23 years at the University, Selber has seen tech advances like mobile devices and high-speed wireless internet profoundly impact teaching and learning.

Under his direction, the Digital English Studio provides tech expertise to both faculty and students in pedagogy, usability, and strategy. The Studio offers undergraduate and graduate students internship opportunities, giving them hands-on experience running the English department’s social media, designing online courses and more. The Studio also oversees the Teaching with Technology certificate program, which Selber coordinates. The program helps graduate students and lecturers in English develop teaching with technology philosophy statements, integrate technology into their courses and design digital teaching portfolios. 

In addition to Selber’s commitment to advancing the fields of rhetoric and technical communication, he has a passion for learning and developing his peers and students. He sees his work as endlessly fascinating and remains humble about his accomplishments. 

“My secret has been to show up every day. I see my success as the product of small, daily efforts.”

Selber sees himself as a part of a Penn State faculty and staff community committed to transforming knowledge and engaging students. The TLT Impact Award annually celebrates and recognizes those like Selber who marry pedagogy with technology to help develop digitally fluent students. Penn Staters across the Commonwealth can learn more about the award and submit nominations through the TLT website. 

Leaders needed for new Faculty Learning Communities

Leaders needed for new Faculty Learning Communities

Penn State faculty are invited to lead peer groups exploring how technology, combined with sound pedagogy, can improve teaching and learning.

Proposals are now being accepted for Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs) for the upcoming academic year. Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) offers this program on an annual basis in support of faculty who seek to understand and make use of educational technology. FLCs can be formed around myriad ideas including; open educational resources, immersive experiences, data science, and learning spaces.

Along with support from TLT, FLC leaders will receive funding that could cover items needed for meetings such as lunches, books, tech tools, and guest speakers. Details covering roles and responsibilities of FLC leaders can be reviewed on the TLT website, and Marilyn Goodrich can be reached via email for more information.

Tech TAs: From idea to essential program in one week

Tech TAs: From idea to essential program in one week

In March 2020, Bryan Wang, associate teaching professor in biology at Penn State Berks, found himself in unexpected territory alongside hundreds of other Penn State faculty. The onset of a global pandemic meant nearly everything about how they performed their jobs changed almost overnight.

“Before the pandemic, I taught exclusively face-to-face,” said Wang. “I was familiar with and used [Canvas] in all my classes, but during spring break 2020, I had my first lesson on how to run Zoom.”

On March 11, 2020, Penn State announced that all classes would be delivered remotely upon the conclusion of spring break. The implications of that decision meant, among other things, that technology would be used at a greater scale than it ever had before to deliver a Penn State education. 

Jennifer Sparrow is the associate vice president for Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) at Penn State and the University’s deputy chief information officer. Her team at TLT typically works with faculty to combine new and emerging technology with sound pedagogy to improve the teaching and learning experience. However, their mindset needed to shift from innovating with smaller numbers of faculty to innovating at scale to support hundreds of thousands of Penn Staters, from faculty to students to staff, through virtual conferencing technology to handle day-to-day work. One particular need the team identified related to faculty like Wang, who had zero or limited experience teaching online. 

A conversation with a former TLT Faculty Fellow and teaching professor of sociology, Sam Richards, gave Sparrow the idea for a brand-new service that could fill such a need. The service came to be called Tech TAs. 

“When we first made the shift to remote learning, [Sam told me] about what he was doing for his SOC119 course,” said Sparrow. “Prior to the pandemic, it was live-streamed [worldwide on YouTube] from Thomas 100, where about 700 students attended. He mentioned that he was able to do this because of a team of students who [managed] the live stream.”

“Later that day, as I was walking, I had this ‘Ah-ha’ moment where I thought we should be able to do this for every faculty member,” Sparrow continued. “[They could] have a student partner to manage the technology while the professor concentrated on what they do best, the teaching.”

Sparrow took her idea to Lindsay Kiraly, manager of IT Learning and Development (ITLD). Kiraly’s unit leads Penn State’s efforts in training the University community on numerous technology tools. It also provided the infrastructure necessary to bring Sparrow’s concept to life. For years, ITLD has managed the Tech Tutors service staffed by students and offers one-on-one tutelage on assorted tech tools. Kiraly realized that the Tech Tutors had the fundamental skills needed to make the Tech TAs service possible.

“Jennifer challenged us to ‘upskill’ our group of Tech Tutors to become Zoom gurus and pair them with faculty in need,” said Kiraly. “[We worked with them] and the IT Service Desk to recruit students who were ‘laid off’ from on-campus positions. Then we collaborated on processes and documents around hiring, training, scheduling, and faculty request forms. Ultimately, we took the Tech TA program from idea to implementation in just over one week.”

With combined decades of higher ed experience between them, Sparrow and Kiraly remarked at how unique it was for Tech TAs to come online so quickly and effectively.

“I’ve seen successful student employee opportunities in higher ed, but the speed at which this program was created and the way it has positively impacted faculty, staff, and students is something I’ve never experienced,” said Kiraly.

“I joke with people that in the first six months of the pandemic, we made six years of progress with learning technologies at Penn State,” added Sparrow. “ITLD did a great job of getting this project done by effectively training the Tech TAs on Zoom and figuring out the complex jigsaw puzzle of matching Tech TAs with faculty.”

Wang, whose BIO 110 course is taken by biology majors and non-majors both, learned about Tech TAs through Penn State Berks’s Center for Teaching and Learning. His Tech TA was essential to keeping the virtual course offerings similar to face-to-face ones.

“I have 48-60 students per section and back-to-back sections in some semesters. I typically group students for several weeks, then reassort groups to help them meet new folks,” said Wang. “[For remote teaching] I used Zoom breakout rooms in about 40% of my class periods. My Tech TA set up and managed the rooms because handling all those groups on my own would have been a challenge.”

Helen Major, an instructor in astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State Brandywine, had also never taught online before the pandemic. And, like Wang, Tech TAs played a vital role in her teaching over the last academic year.

“I could fully concentrate on teaching each session because my Tech TA, Gabriella, monitored the questions in the chat and took attendance each day,” said Major. “She also found a fun, engaging way to do in-class quizzes. Originally, she displayed the quizzes and results with Zoom’s poll feature. Later, she suggested an interactive game called ‘Kahoot’ that was more interactive and enjoyable for the students.”

Major’s “Gabriella” was Gabriella Schadler, and she was inspired to work as a Tech TA based on her first experience with a virtual classroom.

“In spring 2020, I had a thoroughly enjoyable class with a professor who knew the material and taught it well. When we went remote, though, Zoom became an extreme hurdle for them,” Schadler said. “The technology sometimes got in the way of class starting on time or running smoothly. So, I sought the chance to [be a Tech TA] because I wanted to help professors and students have a sense of normalcy when it came to class during the pandemic.”

Along with helping her fellow students feel more at ease by helping to iron out potential technical issues, Schadler gained an appreciation for what faculty went through daily.

“[It showed me] what professors do to prepare for a class and how they care about their students,” said Schadler. “Transitioning to an online setting was stressful for professors. [The ones] I worked with tried their best to make classes as normal as possible. And I appreciated how they were willing to try new things to improve the students’ experience.”

With fall 2021 approaching and Penn State set to transition to a more traditional mode of teaching and learning, the impact of the Tech TAs program won’t fade into the background.

“Faculty want guidance on how to move beyond using Zoom in teaching and learning,” said Kiraly. “Tech TAs gave us a great opportunity to adapt and move beyond the basics of educational technology and to explore how to reach educational goals in new ways.”

Sparrow identified some of the technology tools available to Penn State faculty and a possible future version of Tech TAs.

“We have some great learning tools like Top Hat, LinkedIn Learning, Media Commons, Maker Commons, and the Adobe Creative Suite,” she said. “I think we envision a future where the Tech TAs are true partners with faculty as they plan their courses and help match technologies to pedagogy and learning outcome goals.”

Schadler noted as she prepares for the upcoming school year that she will miss her experience of being a Tech TA. Her work, though, left her with an important lesson she’ll take with her long after her time at Penn State is done.

“Being a Tech TA taught me to be a lot more patient and understanding when it comes to those who are dealing with technical issues,” she said. “Professors work so hard to make class a good experience for their students, and it can be frustrating to struggle with technology when they haven’t grown up with it.” 

According to TLT’s data, Tech TAs supported faculty and students in over 400 course sections across the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters. Innovative thinking, collaboration, and grit allowed the program to come together so quickly and effectively. Those same qualities will define how Tech TAs continue to support Penn State in the future.

Engaging Student Series provides valuable lessons to faculty

Engaging Student Series provides valuable lessons to faculty

Born out of the Penn State Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) BlendLT program, the Engaging Students Series has been an instrumental resource for faculty to drive student engagement in the online space.

BlendLT offers a series of faculty engagement opportunities and resources that support converting traditional residential courses to a blended (face-to-face and online) format. Since its inception during the 2015-16 academic year, the program has assisted faculty-designed blended courses.

“We took the basis of the BlendLT program and adapted it to create the Engaging Students Series to help faculty figure out how to engage their students in this new online environment — especially for faculty who had never taught in an online format before,” said Erica Fleming, an instructional designer for TLT.

The Engaging Students Series was launched early during the pandemic to support Penn State instructors preparing to teach their summer 2020 courses online and was found to be such a popular and valuable resource that it has continued since. In addition, it has helped countless faculty who may or may not have already been familiar with teaching in an online environment. Past resources can be found in the Engaging Students Series Pressbook.

One such faculty member is Kelly Karpa, assistant dean of Interprofessional Education and a professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the Penn State College of Medicine. Karpa, who is responsible for engaging learners from 36 schools that have physical therapy, occupational therapy and pharmacy programs, never taught in an online format previous to the pandemic.

“Having the TLT folks walk through these different tools and options was hugely enlightening for those of us who had never taught online before and suddenly found ourselves thrust into that environment,” Karpa said. “Now, students are definitely more engaged than they would have been if it was just someone lecturing to them. There are now tools they can use to stay engaged in the course.”

Some of Karpa’s most significant takeaways from attending the Engaging Students Series sessions were learning various ways to incorporate Zoom and Canvas into courses. Before the remote transition, the College of Medicine had not used Canvas for pre-clinical courses. Other tools to drive student engagement in her courses included breakout rooms in Zoom, the chat feature in Canvas, and Google Docs for small-group collaboration.

Another faculty member new to teaching online (and participating in Zoom meetings) who sought out resources like the Engaging Students Series is Judith Newman, an associate professor of human development and family studies at Penn State Abington. “I began teaching in 1977, so I was around 70 when the pandemic pushed us into remote teaching,” Newman said. “I was very old school in regard to technology; I had a lot to learn.”

Some of the most valuable takeaways for Newman included making Zoom polls and the resources available on online exams and academic integrity. “Finding ways to engage students was certainly more difficult in a remote environment,” she said. “But I began to get more and more confident that there were things I could do that I had not done before.”

Despite the return to normal on the horizon, TLT plans to continue to offer more workshops in the Engaging Students Series, focusing on engaging students in online environments while also incorporating more strategies for engaging students online while teaching in-person classes. TLT will be announcing dates in July for future sessions.

Fleming said, “Engaging students in online spaces does not stop when we go back to in-person classes. Faculty can take the lessons they’ve learned from the remote teaching and learning period and incorporate those to create more engaging, successful, and inclusive spaces for their students when we’re back to in-person teaching and learning.”