Welcome to the 2017 Collaboratory: Evidence in Action
Faculty, students, and academic partners are invited to the Global Citizenship Collaboratory, May 23-24. The annual Collaboratory provides a space for the Webster community to share research, collaborate across disciplines, strengthen assessment practices, and explore new directions related to teaching and learning.
Tuesday, May 23
8:30AM - Check-in Opens - EAB 264 - Coffee served
9:30AM - Opening Remarks from GCP Director
10:00AM - Global Citizenship: Expressing Our Mission and Goals for HLC Reaccreditation
11:00AM - Creating a Global Student-Centered Connection (Starfish)
11:30AM - Lunch
12:30PM - Plenary Discussions - SOE Passports Portfolio Program - AY17-18 Faculty Fellows - Etc.
1:45PM - Concurrent Session A
- In Search of Structure: Challenge, Transparency, and Creativity
- What Can We Learn from Student Course Evaluations?
- How to Teach Labs without a Lab
3:15PM - Concurrent Sessions B
- Faculty Panel: Mobility Models for Global Engagement
- Helping Our Students Tell Their Story Using Adobe Spark
- Using Portfolios to Start the GCP
4:30PM - Ice Cream Social
Wednesday, May 24
8:30AM - Check-in Opens - EAB 264 - Coffee served
9:30AM - Plenary Activity - GCP Check-up: Hands on with Assessment Data
10:45AM - Keynote Speaker - Bryan Alexander
Noon - Lunch
1:00PM - Plenary - Helping Our Students Tell Their Story with Adobe Solutions
1:45PM - Concurrent Sessions C
- Digital Storytelling Workshop
- Helping Our Students Tell Their Story Using Adobe Spark
- Using Wikipedia in the Classroom to Achieve Course Objectives
3:15PM - Concurrent Sessions D
- Critical Junctures: Using Primary Sources to Stimulate Critical Thinking
- Helping Our Students Tell Their Story Using Adobe Portfolio Solutions
- Helping Transfer Students Navigate the GCP
4:30PM - Closing Reception
All plenary events in East Academic Building
Register now, or keep scrolling for details about this year's Collaboratory.
What is "Evidence in Action?"
This year’s Collaboratory theme, “Evidence in Action,” invites the Webster community to consider the diverse purposes of collecting evidence, the various ways in which we evaluate evidence, and the urgent need for critical thought in today’s world. Attendees will consider questions such as:
- How do we as learners and teachers critically evaluate evidence? How do we understand diverse perspectives while collaborating as global citizens? How might we model reflective and collaborative practices?
- How and why do faculty and academic partners evaluate evidence of learning at Webster? Whom do our assessment practices serve?
- How does the academic community digest and evaluate information in an age of digital media saturation, fake news, and increasingly polarized social network echo chambers? How do we help students move beyond media consumption to meaningful action?
Keynote Speaker
Bryan Alexander is an internationally known futurist, researcher, writer, speaker, consultant, and teacher, working in the field of how technology transforms education. He completed his English language and literature PhD at the University of Michigan in 1997, with a dissertation on doppelgangers in Romantic-era fiction and poetry. Then Bryan taught literature, writing, multimedia, and information technology studies at Centenary College of Louisiana. There he also pioneered multi-campus interdisciplinary classes, while organizing an information literacy initiative.
From 2002 to 2014 Bryan worked with the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (NITLE), a non-profit working to help small colleges and universities best integrate digital technologies. With NITLE he held several roles, including co-director of a regional education and technology center, director of emerging technologies, and senior fellow. Over those years Bryan helped develop and support the nonprofit, grew peer networks, consulted, and conducted a sustained research agenda.
In 2013 Bryan launched a business, Bryan Alexander Consulting, LLC. Through BAC he consults throughout higher education in the United States and abroad. Bryan also speaks widely and publishes frequently, with articles appearing in venues including The Atlantic Monthly, Inside Higher Ed. He has been interviewed by and featured in MSNBC, US News and World Report, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the National Association of College and University Business Officers, Pew Research, Campus Technology, and the Connected Learning Alliance.
His two most recent books are Gearing Up For Learning Beyond K-12 and The New Digital Storytelling.
Helping Our Students Tell Their Story Using Adobe Solutions
Adobe Partnership Special Guest
Ben Forta has three decades of experience in the computer industry in product design and development, support, training, and marketing. As Adobe Inc.'s Senior Director of Education Initiatives he spends a considerable amount of time teaching, talking, and writing about Adobe products, creativity, and digital literacy, and provides feedback to help shape the future direction of Adobe products.
Ben is the author of over 40 books, including the world's best-selling title on SQL, as well as titles on topics as diverse as Regular Expressions, mobile development, and Adobe ColdFusion. Over 750,000 copies of his books are in print in English, and titles have been translated into fifteen languages. Many of these titles are used as textbooks in colleges and universities worldwide.
Education is Ben's passion. Between writing, lecturing, and in classroom experience, Ben has dedicated his professional and personal lives to teaching, inspiring, and sharing his love for technology and creativity. He is immensely grateful to have had the opportunity to share with millions worldwide.
Networking Opportunities
Participants at the Collaboratory have the opportunity to network and collaborate with colleagues across disciplines, departments, and campuses. A contingent of representatives from Webster’s international campuses provides diverse perspectives and insights, and partnerships formed during the Collaboratory help strengthen Webster’s worldwide network.
Hands-on Sessions
Attendees of the 2017 Collaboratory are invited to participate in engaging sessions about technology and education, teaching and learning, and various pedagogy topics. Some of the highlights of this year’s line-up include:
- Advancing portfolio initiatives using Adobe products
- Helping students tell their story with Adobe Spark
- Mobility models for global engagment
- How to teach labs without a lab
- Helping transfer students navigate the GCP
- Using Wikipedia in the classroom
- Using student search for "structure" to foster learning and creativity
- What can we learn from student course evaluations?
- Using historical evidence to teach critical thinking
- Overview of assessment practices in the GCP