Conference Schedule

Breakout Session Descriptions:

The Diffusion of Innovations: Spreading Technology More Strategically
Presenter(s): Nathan Lindsay and Dan Stroud
Description: Visionary educators are constantly trying to help their colleagues adopt technologies that will help them to be more efficient and effective. This session presents an overview of the Diffusion of Innovations, a theory that explains how and why information and technologies spread in a group or culture. The presentation will feature an online game that illustrates the key principles of promoting technology in education. Participants will be encouraged to share their own success and failure stories in technological innovations, as well as what strategies they have used to encourage better technology use in teaching and learning.
Technical Level: Beginner
Benefit to Participants: As mentioned above, attendees will learn principles and strategies that they can use to convince others to adopt technology. They will also receive an overview of a game (see https://www.indiana.edu/~simed/istdemo) that they can use in future classes and settings.

Converting a traditional format course to a hybrid format: experiences with Moodle
Presenter: Marilyn Yoder
Description: Strategy and implementation in converting a traditional, lecture-based format to a blended/hybrid format will be described. The course to be described is our for-majors, freshman biology course. The use of Moodle as a scaffold for the course design and structure will be illustrated. Moodle tools used include the quiz module, forums, Wimba authoring tools, selection of web layout theme, and customized gradebook will be highlighted. The pedagogy behind the course design is based on a set of University of Washington biology courses with a strong focus on development of critical thinking skills using Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Technical level: beginner/intermediate




The Many Things You Might Not Know About Blackboard
Presenter: Jing Zou
Description: Even an instructor using Blackboard for years may have just explored less than 10% of its functionalities. There valuable tools behind the scene that can make your course look dynamic, allow large-size file uploading, and save your time and energy. This session will demonstrate several “hidden” options and solutions, including embedding multi-media files, customizing course settings, and using the Grade Center, etc.
Technical Level: Beginner

Small Group Collaboration in the Classroom: Using Technology to Achieve Active Learning
Presenter: David Ta-Pryor
Description: Ever get tired lecturing and seeing the same tired look on student's face? Wish they would use the technology they bring in the classroom more effectively other than check their social network sites? This workshop showcase some of the new innovations UMKC is bring to active learning with the use of mobile computing and the flipped classroom. Participants will engage in an activity that highlights its use in the classroom and will make teaching fun and engaging while applying difficult concepts that met the course learning objectives. For an introduction to the application we will use for this classroom, please watch the following video: http://www.youtube.com/embed/LTrR2RriEx0
Technical Level: Intermediate

Fostering Collaborative Learning with Blackboard Groups
Presenter: Andrew Buckingham
Description: Compared to students in traditional classrooms, many students in online courses have fewer opportunities to interact with their peers in meaningful ways. Blackboard offers several ways to facilitate group learning. This session will focus on using the Blackboard Group Tool to encourage students to work together to improve learning outcomes.
Technical Level: Intermediate. Attendees should have basic knowledge of how to set up and deploy course content in Blackboard.
Participant Benefit: Upon completion, attendees will be able to: Determine which tools are appropriate for the goals of the course, use the Blackboard Group Tool to set up learning groups in Blackboard, and assess group work and provide feedback and grades to users.



Online Course Support from the Library
Presenter(s): Cindy Thompson & Diane Hunter
Description: Our librarians and staff are here to assist you with your teaching online and face-to-face. The Libraries offer a variety of resources and services designed to support your online teaching endeavors – everything from course specific research guides to streaming video (without having to worry about copyright!). Join us for a brief overview of the wide variety of ways we can help you optimize your use of technology in the curriculum.
Technical Level: all levels
Participant Benefit: Attendees will learn how the library can help your online students and will be able to identify online resources available through the library.



Teaching online from multicultural perspective: Principles and best practices
Presenter(s): Erdem Demiroz, Emine Demiroz
Description: Online learning environments are as multicultural as face to face classroom environments. However, instructors are usually not able to consider this fact because of limited interactive opportunities, lack of physical presence and face to face interaction in online settings. Thus the principles of multicultural education in online settings are usually ignored. The presenters will emphasize the principles of multicultural education and what needs to be done to make online learning environments culturally sensitive. They will also highlight the role of technology in multicultural education by presenting best practices of using technology to design multiculturally conscious learning environments.
Technical Level: Intermediate
Participant Benefit: The participants will gain a broad understanding of multicultural principles in online learning environments; why they need to consider multicultural pedagogy in online instruction practices, and how to transform their online courses to multiculturally sensitive online learning environments through the best practices of available learning technology tools to promote and facilitate multicultural pedagogy.

Small Group Collaboration in the Classroom: Using Technology to Achieve Active Learning
Presenter: David Ta-Pryor
Description: Ever get tired lecturing and seeing the same tired look on student's face? Wish they would use the technology they bring in the classroom more effectively other than check their social network sites? This workshop showcase some of the new innovations UMKC is bring to active learning with the use of mobile computing and the flipped classroom. Participants will engage in an activity that highlights its use in the classroom and will make teaching fun and engaging while applying difficult concepts that met the course learning objectives. For an introduction to the application we will use for this classroom, please watch the following video: http://www.youtube.com/embed/LTrR2RriEx0
Technical Level: Intermediate

Redesigning Modern World History-Introducing a New Hybrid Survey Course
Presenter: Andrew Bergerson
Description: A new model for a hybrid online/VSI course will begin on the UMKC campus in the spring 2013 semester. This session will include discussion of the pilot hybrid course which led to the development of the final hybrid course design. Excerpts from the videos that will be used in the course will be shown.
Technical Level: All Levels




Converting to the on-line modality: The good, the bad, and the ugly
Presenter: Kenneth J. Novak
Description: This presentation will describe the benefits and shortcomings associated with moving from a traditional to on-line course instruction. It will present a case study of one class which represented the presenter’s first exposure to teaching on-line. Discussion will focus on the use of Blackboard technology in an a-synchronous class format. The presentation will highlight what worked, what didn’t, what’s promising, and provide recommendations for novice instructors.
Technical Level: Beginner
Participant Benefit: An alternative title could be “things I know now that I wish I knew then”. Novice on-line teachers may benefit the most from this presentation and discussion. The course in question was an upper-level social sciences course that has been taught by the instructor many times utilizing the Socratic Method. This strategy was modified for the on-line modality, and it is hoped that a frank conversation about the role of on-line classes within the delivery of higher education will ensue. Technology utilized was exclusively Blackboard, including discussion boards, quizzes, online paper submissions, and wikis.



Copyright Updates: Fair use, streaming, and support for you
Presenter(s): Chris LeBeau and Cindy Thompson
Description: Still struggling with Fair Use, the TEACH Act, or streaming? Wondering if there is anything out there to make your life a little easier when you’re trying to make decisions? Join representatives from the UMKC Copyright Support Team as we share some of the basic strategies for conducting your own copyright analysis (hint: just because it’s educational, doesn’t mean it’s okay) as well as some of our newest tools to help guide you through the process.
Technical Level: Intermediate
Presenter Benefit: Attendees will learn more about how to make decisions regarding whether their use of media in their instruction falls within the limits of copyright law.




The Integration of Technology into Foreign/Second Language Curriculum
Presenter(s): Emine Demiroz, Erdem Demiroz
Description: This presentation evaluates and assesses the technology integration into second and foreign language curriculum to speed up the language acquisition process and make it more efficient. The goal of this presentation is to provide the attendees in the field with useful resources to implement in their classrooms. The presenter will give some background information on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and expand on how to provide classrooms with the interplay atmosphere among technology, pedagogy, and content through the various technology implementations.
Technical Level: Intermediate
Participant Benefit: The attendees will leave the room with sufficient technology implementation ideas to use in their classrooms. They will also gain knowledge about Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and the conditions for full technology integration to occur.