Committee on Educational Technology

9:00-10:00 AM, Monday, February 25, 2013

MEETING MINUTES


Present: Eric Loehr, Thomas Laughner, Marnie Anderson, Joe O’Rourke, Susannah Howe, Deborah Haas-Wilson, and Tony Caldanaro


Absent: David Gregory, Sara Pruss, and Fraser Stables


Guest: Kate Lee



Minutes from November 20, 2012


The minutes of the November 20 meeting were approved as submitted.

Introductions – Tom Laughner


Tom introduced Deborah Keisch Polin, the new Instructional Designer, to the group. Deborah holds a BA and MA in education and is completing a PhD in anthropology with a concentration in education and technology. She spoke a bit about her background and said that she was interested in Smith College because of their commitment to teaching and learning.

Tom also introduced Tony Caldanaro, Program Director for the Center for Science and Engineering Computing, who will now be a member of this committee.


Digital Media Literacy program – Kate Lee


Kate presented a follow-up on the Digital Media Literacy program that was designed and taught during J-term 2013. During that two week period the students produced digital media portfolios. They had 60 hours of coursework in class as well as many hours spent outside class time working on projects. Thirty eight students enrolled for the class and the instructors met and chose 12 to participate using an extensive questionnaire and essay that each student was asked to provide. The course was divided into five modules:

  1. Digital Audio module: in this module students were expected to produce a podcast after interviewing subjects using a Zoom audio recorder.

  2. Digital Photography module: This module was taught by Sam Masinter and students were asked to produce a photo gallery using Adobe Bridge.

  3. Digital Imaging module: This module was taught by Frank Citino using Photoshop. It was an intensive, one day module and most students were using the software for the first time.

  4. Digital Video module: During this module the students were expected to produce a news feature of interest on campus using Final Cut Pro.

  5. Web Development module: This module was taught by Pat Billingsley and students created a website.


Kate then gave examples of the work that had been produced by the students and the committee was very enthusiastic. Kate said that a survey that was done at the end of the course showed that it had been very helpful and a great success. Tom said that this was a powerful tool to give our students. The topic of allowing 1-2 credits for such a course was raised and Joe said that this had been brought up in CAP and it didn’t qualify as a credentialed course because it was not taught by faculty. The committee asked why courses presented by the Art department and ESS did not go through the same credentialing process. He promised to look into this and report back. The question of “badging” was raised whereby students could display an icon on their resumes or eportfolios showing the Smith logo that showed they had completed an optional course such as this one. Joe said that this too would be up to CAP and that ETS must not move independently with badging. Susannah suggested that Joe might make the case to CAP for using skills learned in such classes being used to improve performance levels in other college courses.


CET Budget

Tom reviewed with the committee the schedule for faculty workshops as they had been done and how they are being handled now by ETS. Now there are ETS seminars; faculty learning communities with programming throughout the year. In the past two years faculty stipends for attendance at these workshops have ceased. CET has been providing funding for the workshops but because they are happening more often and often require stipends for experts to speak, Tom asked the committee to approve an increase in funding to $4,500.00 a year. The committee agreed unanimously to the increase request and said they felt it was money well spent.

Tom also mentioned that interviews are underway for a second Instructional Technologist who will be the technical expert with knowledge of the cool new tools that are available; our “app-ologist”.


Other Matters


The grant request submitted by Christiane Metral for use of iPads borrowed from ETS and the purchase of 11 apps needed for her French classes was approved.


The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 AM; the next meeting is March25th at 9:00 AM in Seelye B4.



Respectfully submitted,

Constance McGinn, recorder

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