Developing Educational Technology At An Urban Community College

This book uses a mix of personal narratives, anecdotal evidence, and research-based findings to tell the story of a small, urban community college’s efforts to develop and nurture a Community of Practice (CoP) that would galvanize the campus’ adoption of Educational Technology. Located in one of the poorest congressional district in the United States, Hostos Community College, a Hispanic-serving institution and part of the City University of New York (CUNY), has a unique history rooted in activism, advocacy, and community outreach, and has built a reputation for technology innovation. This book is a collection of writing from faculty and staff members whose decades of experience integrating technology into the classroom pre-dates many of the official initiatives now in place at CUNY.

An in-depth look at Centers for Teaching and Learning and their profound impact on US higher education. Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs) are important change agents on campus with strategies that are unique and impactful—but sometimes unarticulated or misaligned. In this wide-ranging book, Mary C. Wright maps the landscape of 1,200+ CTLs in the United States through a unique approach: by conducting complex web searches to identify and categorize CTLs, then examining the wealth of information that is available on these institutions' own websites. The data she uncovers reveal important insights into CTLs' strategies and operations and offer a fuller picture of the impact these centers are making on US higher education as a whole. Drawing from this web-based methodology, as well as interviews with CTL leaders and staff, Wright provides a broad picture of educational development in the United States and examines trends in what CTLs aim to accomplish, key strategies for reaching these goals, programs and services they offer, and their impacts on campuses. She also explores new organizational mandates for CTLs, including ones involving instructional technology and online learning, assessment, writing, service learning and community engagement, and career and leadership development. In response to increased constituency sizes and expanding missions and mandates, she notes, centers are also incorporating new faculty and student engagement structures. Key chapters focus on goals and theories of change, program types and exemplars, organizational structures, assessment and evaluation practices, and emerging trends. Offering guidelines for effective strategic leadership, Centers for Teaching and Learning documents the growth of this important organizational unit in US higher education and explains the role these centers play in supporting operational needs, strategic aims, and organizational change.

Forging closer links between university research and teaching has become an important way to enhance the quality of higher education across the world. As student engagement takes centre stage in academic life, how can academics and university leaders engage with their students to connect research and teaching more effectively? In this highly accessible book, the contributors show how students and academics can work in partnership to shape research-based education. Featuring student perspectives, it offers academics and university leaders practical suggestions and inspiring ideas on higher education pedagogy, including principles of working with students as partners in higher education, connecting students with real-world outputs, transcending disciplinary boundaries in student research activities, connecting students with the workplace, and innovative assessment and teaching practices. Written and edited in full collaboration with students and leading educator-researchers from a wide spectrum of academic disciplines, this book poses fundamental questions about learning and learning communities in contemporary higher education.

As today’s teachers prepare to instruct a new generation of students, the question is no longer whether technology should be integrated into the classroom, but only “how?” Forced to combat shorter attention spans and an excess of stimuli, teachers sometimes see technology as a threat rather than a potential enhancement to traditional teaching methods. The Handbook of Research on Educational Technology Integration and Active Learning explores the need for new professional development opportunities for teachers and educators as they utilize emerging technologies to enhance the learning experience. Highlighting the advancements of ubiquitous computing, authentic learning, and student-centered instruction, this book is an essential reference source for educators, academics, students, researchers, and librarians.

As the areas of community education and professional development continue to expand, the technologies that are utilized in these programs are also progressively advancing. However, it can sometimes be difficult to pin-point the best system in such a vast, ever-changing world of technology. Technology Use and Research Approaches for Community Education and Professional Development investigates how the role of information technology is impacting the academic and workplace environments. This publication will explore areas such as unique learning styles, various methods of disseminating information, and technology’s role and impact within these settings. Researchers, practitioners, and instructors in the areas of adult, continued, and higher education will benefit from this text’s innovative way of addressing efficient methods of utilizing technology.