- Beyond Computer Literacy:
- Developing Effective Workshops to Empower Faculty
by
|
CorriganD@zeus.dt.uh.edu Lecturer, Composition and Professional Writing Department of English |
GrauI@zeus.dt.uh.edu Director, Academic Support Center University of Houston-Downtown |
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Introduction
| Rationale | TE2
Model
Participant
Feedback | References
- Introduction
- University of Houston Downtown
- The University of Houston - Downtown
(UHD) is a public four-year undergraduate university, beginning limited
expansion into graduate programs. UHD's dynamic campus is located
in the heart of downtown Houston and serves about 8,200 students per semester.
With dedicated faculty, small classes, and innovated course options, UHD
offers excellent educational opportunities in more than 30 degree programs.
UHD prepares individuals to thrive in the multicultural workplace of the 21st century through interaction with its richly diverse student population. UHD is nationally recognized for its student diversity and outstanding academic opportunities, including its accredited programs and productive community partnerships. UHD was recently named by U.S. News and World Reports' annual America's Best Colleges guidebook as the most diverse liberal arts college in the western United States. At UHD, the emphasis in on teaching excellence and student success.
English Department
| Technology Workshops | TE2
Model | Goals |
Organization
| Format
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The English department at UHD is comprised of approximately 80-90 professors, lecturers, and adjuncts in composition, technical writing, reading, and literature. In the fall of 1997, as a part of state and university funding, the UHD English department constructed one departmental electronic classroom. A second electronic classroom, specifically for the department use, was constructed one year later.
The Department of English, at the University of Houston - Downtown, has an ongoing commitment to provide faculty with a variety of teaching environments. Among these is the availability of technology in electronic classroom facilities. After these facilities were constructed, the next key step was to provide training and support.
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It was after Dagmar's first year that she and Isidro were asked to give a workshop on the use of the electronic classroom. During the summer of 1997, we planned our workshop and decided to focus on helping faculty integrate the available software into their pedagogy, stressing a novice level, hands-on, approach. Inspired by Cynthia Selfe's work, we also felt that it was imperative to include composition theory as an essential part of the workshop.
We then worked together to publish a user's guide for the new electronic classroom, including a list of FAQ's about teaching in an electronic environment which provided us with the opportunity to emphasize the importance theory plays in practice. We worked over the summer to ensure that these two elements worked seamlessly.
It was at this point that Isidro and Dagmar discovered that their two fields, instructional technology for Isidro, and composition for Dagmar, had similar, basic, underlying assumptions about teaching and learning. And we also discovered that our personal teaching and learning styles complimented each other. This entered into our formula for success, from the initial planning stages to the execution of the workshops.
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TE2 Model
- After reflecting on the first workshop,
we both realized that the way we planned our workshop could be actualized
in the form of a model and could be used not only by workshop developers
but also by those who planned and/or taught courses in electronic environments.
For this reason, we have named it the Teaching in Electronic Environments
(TE2) Model.
UHD is currently laying the foundation for its distance education program. We see the opportunity for designing instructional curriculum by applying our TE2 Model. Our model has all the necessary components to design and teach an ITV or web-based course.
- Goals
- Prior to each semester, Isidro and
Dagmar provide a technology workshop to all interested faculty. The
goals of the workshops at UHD focus on (1) orienting faculty to the software
and hardware available, (2) providing guidance on developing instructional
materials for their classes, (3) providing advice on how to integrate current
composition theory into practice, and (4) informing them of departmental
policies and procedures for using the electronic classroom facilities.
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- Organization
- As those of us who teach with technology
have come to know, learners respond and retain knowledge when they are
allowed to explore and experiment with technology tools. Our workshops
are designed to provide learners a safe environment to make mistakes.
Mistakes allow us to provide immediate corrective feedback. Faculty
are also encouraged to sign up before attending the workshops in order
to ensure that everyone has a computer. The duration of the workshops
range from two to three hours.
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- Format
- Our workshops emphasize a "hands-on"
approach for learners. Based on our experiences, we found that it
was important to create activities that were authentic and relevant to
workshop participants. We allow them to work on sample assignments
or classroom activities that may be suited to students or focus on activities
that would enhance their own personal pedagogy as educators.