An Emphasis on Education Development
Sep. 6, 2018—As of last month, Provost Wente asked me to take on some additional duties as she reorganized her support staff. My original title in the Provost’s office was “Associate Provost for Digital Learning.” My title going forward is “Associate Provost for Education Development and Technologies.” As you may recall, the original title matched one of...
A Change of Heart About Benchmarking
Aug. 10, 2018—I should warn at the outset: this post initially appears to have little to do with digital learning or education technology, but do bear with me. It is almost axiomatic that any time a university office or committee is reviewing its processes or considering a new initiative, one of the first steps is a benchmarking...
Mission-driven Future for Education Technologies
Jul. 6, 2018—When I have conversations with people in analogue positions at other universities -and this happens quite often – we tell each other stories about the seemingly endless stream of third party vendors who approach us in the hopes of being chosen to “enhance” our online digital offerings. The variety of companies that exist – and...
CMAP and Digital Literacy
Mar. 22, 2018—Several months ago, I wrote about a showcase put on by graduate students in the Comparative Media Analysis and Practice (CMAP) program. As I noted then, CMAP is a joint-PhD program open to PhD students from disciplines through the university. Students with this joint degree not only have the skills and knowledge that come from...
Collaboration in Implementation
Feb. 12, 2018—Recently, I was the chair of an ad hoc committee that released a statement on digital literacy, with a series of recommendations for the campus at large (especially the undergraduate population). If you read this blog, or simply glance back over earlier entries, you will know that I have talked a lot about this committee...
Affordable Textbooks
Feb. 2, 2018—One of the concerns that every college student has, regardless of where they are enrolled, is the cost of textbooks. Like every campus, faculty and students at Vanderbilt are always looking for solutions. It is best if students have access to the most recent editions of books being utilized in a classroom, but that value...
Rethinking Digital Delivery
Oct. 4, 2017—Last Friday, I joined a number of my colleagues at a showcase of graduate student work from a CMAP (Comparative Media Analysis and Practice) Maymester seminar titled “Creative Media Practice.” CMAP is a joint-Ph.D. program that is open to Ph.D. students from all disciplines at the University. It serves to advance the critical investigation of...
Discussions in Digital Literacy
Aug. 22, 2017—As I have noted before, I initiated a discussion of digital literacy and the integration of this concept into Vanderbilt’s education model with an ad hoc committee established this spring. The committee has generated a great number of ideas—both curricular and non-curricular—about the ways to make digital literacy a natural part of undergraduate and graduate...
Learning from Doing
Jun. 22, 2017—Last week, the team that produces Leading Lines participated in a roundtable discussion about the progress we’ve made with the podcast. We talked about what we originally hoped to accomplish, how we would like to see the podcast evolve, and what we have learned from our various interviews. For me, the discussion surrounding learning opportunities...
When Opportunities Arise
May. 30, 2017—As I’ve noted before, one of the ideas I’m working on with a faculty committee is incorporating digital literacy (e.g., critical consumption of data, the production of data visualization, computational thinking) as a key element of the current educational landscape. If we think seriously about the types of skills we hope to give students as...