All posts by Heather Stafford

Summer Help with Media Projects for Your Courses

For Faculty

Over the course of the summer the library employs, trains, and mentors students as they assist faculty with various digital projects. If you are interested in receiving assistance with a digital project this summer whether curricular or research related, we’d like to hear from you!

If you have any interest in participating, please send an email to hstafford@middlebury.edu  with all the information  you currently have available about the project that you’d like to pursue (for example, a general description or interest in a conversation about an idea). We will use this information to determine the number of students to recruit as well as the technical and academic skill sets needed for the projects. In addition, it will help us match your project with a staff mentor and a student.

Past projects have included:

  • Conversations and planning around innovative ideas you may have for classroom projects, and/or using digital methods in your scholarship and the scholarship of your students.
  • One on one instruction in a variety of software applications, including, but not limited to: image and document creation (including posters and diagrams); audio (podcasting, voiceovers); video (digital stories, other video applications); digitization of audio and video, and social software (blogs, wikis, LMS).
  • Consultations to discuss what is possible, and help you decide what technologies would best suit your needs
  • Development of course web sites in WordPress or Moodle

These projects will be completed during the months of June, July and August. Please be sure to specify in your email message if your timeline is different from this schedule.

I’ll be in touch with you towards the end of the spring semester to set up an initial meeting and connect you with your student tutor. We look forward to hearing from you!

-Heather Stafford, Multimedia/Curricular Technologist

Using Timelines to Help Create Context for Learning

pedagogy

Think back to the most confusing learning experience of your life. Did you feel like you understood the context of what you were learning? When Assistant Professor of Physics Michael Durst began teaching PHYS 0301: Intermediate Electromagnetism he envisioned an assignment where “students would explore more deeply the history of electricity and magnetism” as well as the “chronology of…experiments which led to our current understanding of electricity and magnetism.”

Through a discussion with Academic Technology staff in the library, Michael decided that the JS Timeline plugin for WordPress would allow a means for students to place people, discoveries and real-world applications of electromagnetism in the context of time.

In this article Professor Durst describes his process of creating and revising the assignment as well as how it has become a collaborative class resource among multiple cohorts of students.

Sample Timeline Entry

Sample Timeline Entry

How Questions Guide Learning

For Faculty, For Staff, pedagogy
Screen Shot 2016-01-05 at 11.04.56 AM

Professor Glen Ernstrom leading a session in CTLR about POGIL

As Assistant Professor of Biology and Neuroscience Glen Ernstrom read articles about the effectiveness of active learning activities in the sciences he began to consider how he could integrate some of this teaching methodology into his classroom.

In this article Glen explains how he uses process-oriented guided inquiry lessons to help students work through some of the more difficult concepts in his class. Using methods to encourage metacognitive understanding Glen guides students through activities that allow them to work

“…in groups and compare[ing] the results of their work in class, they can measure themselves with their peers and see how well they are in doing. They get immediate feedback on their understanding.”

Glen was kind enough to share links to supporting research and resources to help others learn more about POGIL and how they can try it out in their own classes as well. To read the full article and view resource links please visit the Teaching at Middlebury site here.

Providing Feedback to Students

For Faculty, For Staff

WP_20151202_002Providing meaningful and helpful feedback on writing can be a challenging and time consuming process. There are physical limitations such as time and space on the page (why are the margins always so small?) but also instructional limitations that can make it difficult to give formative feedback to students that will provide just enough guidance to help them improve their work, without doing the work for them. These are just a few of the reasons that inquiries about annotation tools are very common and popular in the academic technology neck of the woods.

Louisa Burnham, Associate Professor of History was kind enough to share her experience with iAnnotate in the story “Trading in the Red Pen for an IPad” found on the Teaching at Middlebury site here.

As a part of our initiative to support communities of practice centered on pedagogy we would be pleased to create a community centered on methods and practices for providing feedback to students. Please let us know know if you would be interested in learning more about this opportunity and we will include you in future discussions either virtual or face to face. You can either email hstafford@middlebury.edu, or fill out the online form at the bottom of the page here to express your interest.

We’re also actively collecting resources on providing feedback (like this one) and would be pleased to share your suggestions in this area as well.

Teaching Resources & Stories

Uncategorized
Teaching at Middlebury WordPress site

Teaching at Middlebury WordPress Site

The  Library and the Center for Teaching, Learning and Research have been working together to develop a site where Middlebury College faculty can share different teaching methods that are being used across campus. We will also use this site to collect, organize and share resources that can be used to achieve different learning goals. Examples of stories currently featured on the site include:

  • Ways that faculty are using different annotation methods to provide feedback and emphasize close readings of texts
  • Creating collaborative resources to highlight and contextualize course content and themes

We are pleased to share the start of the Teaching at Middlebury site and look forward to working with all of you  to develop and refine the work that has already been done. It is designed to be a dynamic source of new content, connections and opportunities, so we hope you will engage, return, and share your work as you begin or continue your journey as educators at Middlebury. Please visit the site at http://sites.middlebury.edu/teach. 

We look forward to featuring your work soon!

 

Multimedia Jobs at Middlebury College – Get paid to learn digital media!!

Student Activities
Wilson Media Lab in the Davis Family Library. Home to the Digital Media Tutor program.

Wilson Media Lab in the Davis Family Library. Home to the Digital Media Tutor program.

Do the terms instructional technology, digital liberal arts and digital humanities draw your interest? Are you looking for a way to add some multimedia skills to your resume? And most importantly, do you want to see and learn about how you can combine academic work and new media? (Check out the Chronicle’s article about the combination of liberal arts and digital media skills here.)

The Digital Media Tutor program is looking for students who want to learn more about these areas. Extreme technical expertise is not required but a willingness to learn, a professional work ethic, great interpersonal and communication skills and an interest in working with others are all necessary to be successful in this position.

The program has current openings for:

Multimedia Lab Tutor Trainees

This is an introductory position where we teach you the nuts and bolts of digital media development. Learn how to create high quality images, starting with the scanning of slides and photographs, and moving into editing for print and web delivery.  Learn how to capture, edit and render video for DVD and web.

Previous experience is not required.  The tutor trainee position will begin with limited training hours during the spring semester, culminating in a transition to the tutor position (level B) prior to the start of summer. Students interested in applying for this opportunity must be willing to commit to 40 – 50 hours of training during the spring semester and 40 hours per week of work during the majority of the summer break. Priority will be given to applicants who can work for the full summer.

Apply online here: https://go.middlebury.edu/dmttrainee

Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

Heather Stafford, hstafford@middlebury.edu

Multimedia/Curricular Technologist 

Summer Help with Media Projects for your Courses

For Faculty, For Staff

Over the course of the summer the library and the digital liberal arts initiative employ, train,  and mentor students as they assist faculty with various digital projects. If you are interested in receiving assistance with a digital project this summer whether curricular or research related, we’d like to hear from you!

If you have any interest in participating, please send an email to hstafford@middlebury.edu  with all the information  you currently have available about the project that you’d like to pursue (for example, a general description or interest in a conversation about an idea). We will use this information to determine the number of students to recruit as well as the technical and academic skill sets needed for the projects. In addition, it will help us match your project with a staff mentor and a student.

Past projects have included:

  • Conversations and planning around innovative ideas you may have for classroom projects, and/or using digital methods in your scholarship and the scholarship of your students.
  • One on one instruction in a variety of software applications, including, but not limited to: image and document creation (including posters and diagrams); audio (podcasting, voiceovers); video (digital stories, other video applications); digitization of audio and video, and social software (blogs, wikis, LMS).
  • Consultations to discuss what is possible, and help you decide what technologies would best suit your needs
  • Development of course web sites in WordPress or Moodle

These projects will be completed during the months of June, July and August. Please be sure to specify in your email message if your timeline is different from this schedule.

I’ll be in touch with you towards the end of the spring semester to set up an initial meeting and connect you with your student tutor. We look forward to hearing from you!

-Heather Stafford, Multimedia/Curricular Technologist

 

Figure Skating Lessons for Children

Uncategorized

Registration for the 2014-2015 Middlebury College Figure Skating Club will take place on Thursday, October 2nd, from 4:30-6:00pm at Crossroads Cafe in McCullough. This club is open to children of all faculty and staff (Middlebury College ID holders), from ages 5 through high school.

If you are unable to attend registration, please complete these documents (registration and waiver):

2014-15 Figure Skating Club
2014-2015 Winter Skating Middlebury College Waiver Form

You may send the documents and payment to Barbara Walter at 303 Sunderland Language Center.

If you have questions, please contact Barbara Walter (bwalter@middlebury.edu) or Heather Stafford (hstafford@middlebury.edu).

Skating practice will begin on Sunday, October 12th! We look forward to seeing you on the ice!

 

Multimedia Jobs at Middlebury College – Get paid to learn digital media!!

For Students, Post for MiddNotes, Students, Web Application Development
Wilson Media Lab in the Davis Family Library. Home to the Digital Media Tutor program.

Wilson Media Lab in the Davis Family Library. Home to the Digital Media Tutor program. Photo by: Dominik Taterra, current digital media tutor

Do the terms instructional technology, digital liberal arts and digital humanities draw your interest? Are you looking for a way to add some multimedia skills to your resume? And most importantly, do you want to see and learn about how you can combine academic work and new media? (Check out the Chronicle’s article about the combination of liberal arts and digital media skills here.)

The Digital Media Tutor program is looking for students who want to learn more about these areas. Extreme technical expertise is not required but a willingness to learn, a professional work ethic, great interpersonal and communication skills and an interest in working with others are all necessary to be successful in this position.

The program has current openings for:

Multimedia Lab Tutor Trainees

This is an introductory position where we teach you the nuts and bolts of digital media development. Learn how to create high quality images, starting with the scanning of slides and photographs, and moving into editing for print and web delivery.  Learn how to capture, edit and render video for DVD and web.

Previous experience is not required.  This position is a pre-requisite for the Multimedia Lab Tutor position. Apply online here: https://middlebury.peopleadmin.com/postings/8354

Summer Opportunities:

Multimedia Lab Tutor

Spend your summer creating websites, animations, and digital video. Projects include media collections, course website development, 3d scientific imaging and virtual world development. Apply online here: https://middlebury.peopleadmin.com/postings/8355

For more information, please contact Heather Stafford (hstafford@middlebury.edu), Multimedia/Curricular Technologist in the Davis Family Library.