January 20, 2005
Sessions designed to spark technology use
Technology comes more easily to some than to others. Even some of the most savvy faculty members have trouble learning the newest technologies for teaching amid their many other responsibilities.
And because that is true, four campus entities are teaming up to offer a yearlong series of new Catalyst Spark Sessions designed to help members of the campus community better integrate technology into their teaching and research, with a special focus on the award-winning Catalyst Tools developed at the UW. The Spark Sessions are being offered by Educational Partnerships & Learning Technologies (EPLT) along with Educational Outreach, UW Libraries and Computing and Communications.
Catalyst Spark Sessions Kickoff meeting: 2-4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21, 310 HUB. For more information: Or to register for breakout sessions, visit online at: |
“They wanted to create a series of events to tap into the UW faculty’s expertise — to create a forum for faculty to share technology innovations in teaching and research with their colleagues,” Lewis said. He said the sessions will be open to the campus community, but especially tailored to resources available to faculty.
The kickoff event, to be held Friday, Jan. 21, in 310 HUB, is titled “Meeting the Challenge: How to Start Using Technology for Teaching & Research.” The two-hour workshop will begin with an opening session called “Getting Started: Four Faculty Perspectives,” that will be moderated by Vice Provost Fox featuring faculty presentations about diverse applications of technology in classroom teaching, online classes and research and digital scholarship.
The next hour will be dedicated to three breakout sessions that take a closer look at one aspect or another of technology and teaching:
- Educational Technologies for Your Courses: Designing a Useful Course Web Site — A review of simple strategies for creating Web sites and discussion of how best to serve students with such sites.
- Creating & Teaching Courses Online: Managing Time, Managing Learning — A discussion of managing day-to-day activities of online classes and suggested techniques for creating supporting learning environments.
- Using Web-based Technologies for Research: What’s Available and What’s Needed — A review of research resources available at the UW, a discussion of the role of technology in UW research and a conversation about faculty needs for Web technologies to support their research.
Other sessions to follow later in the year will include discussions, workshops, and seminars continuing themes begun in the opening session: teaching, learning and technology; research and digital scholarship; and online education. Sessions will feature UW and national experts. Information about upcoming sessions will be available on the Catalyst Spark Sessions Web site, and through e-mail and print announcements.
Lewis said the series of technology sessions “will highlight the many innovations of UW faculty, draw on expertise from national colleagues, and assist with the ongoing development of resources and services to support UW faculty.”
