Past Workshop: Educational Equity through Digital Learning: Virtual Faculty Workshop

All students deserve a robust, equitable learning experience and faculty play a critical role in their educational success.  Become a more effective instructor through the Every Learner Everywhere professional learning opportunity Educational Equity Through Digital Learning: A Virtual Faculty Workshop. This 8-week virtual summer workshop directly addresses equity in digital learning through evidence-based teaching practices, differentiated instruction, and courseware. Faculty will participate in synchronous sessions with national leaders; peer discussions to expand perspective and foster meaningful connections; and professional coaching sessions to identify a teaching goal and endeavor to meet it through personalized support.

Synchronous Sessions with National Leaders

Five synchronous sessions with national leaders in digital equity, adaptive learning, learning sciences, and differentiated instruction.

June 15 | 12:00 pm MT
Culturally Relevant NeuroEducation Practices + Tech Tools = Equitable Classroom Environments
How can we facilitate academic growth using learning science, engage adult students, provide culturally inclusive spaces, and integrate 21st century technologies? This can feel like an insurmountable task. But don’t despair! During this interactive session, you’ll learn how even small modifications to your current practices through neuroeducation strategies can help you feel more effective, create a warm and equitable learning environment, and boost students’ cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes.

Speaker: Ranjini JohnBull, Assistant Professor, Mind, Brain, and Teaching Faculty Lead, Neuro-Education Initiative, Johns Hopkins University School of Education

June 29, 2021 | 12:00 pm MT
Emerging SMART Technologies for the Enhancement of Digital and Distance Teaching and Learning.
Gartner (2014) defines the Internet of Everything (IoE) as the network of physical objects that contain embedded technology to communicate and sense or interact with their internal states or the external environment. The rise of these connected ‘smart’ technologies provides new opportunities for transforming teaching and learning, as well as real-time, on-demand data, for evoking immediate changes. This presentation will address the possibilities and challenges of IoE Smart Technologies (EduGadgets) as data-driven tools for improving academic and social performance and a showcase of technology highlighting the latest innovations in emerging technologies of wearables, mobile devices, health and fitness aids, STEM, mixed realities (VR/AR/Gamification/Holograms) across the educational disciplines and K-16 spectrum.

Outcomes: Learn about the development and impact of the Internet of Everything (IoE) Smart EduGadget of mobile devices, smartphones, wearables, and virtual – augmented reality. Share in the exploration of the educational possibilities and challenges for distance learners.

Speaker: Robbie Melton, Associate Vice President, SMART Global Technology Innovation Center and Dean, Graduate School, Tennessee State University

Robbie Melton is associate vice president for Tennessee State University’s SMART Global Technology Innovation Center, professor, and dean of the graduate school. She is a renowned international presenter, researcher, and technology evaluator regarding the transformation of smart mobile devices, wearable technologies, and mixed reality technologies of virtual (VR), augmented (AR), and holograms (HR) technologies for immersive learning. Melton acquired the distinction of “App-ologist” due to her study of the pedagogy teaching with mobile apps, and her curation of mobile apps for all spectrum of education. She is the winner of numerous international technology awards. Her mission is digital equity.

July 13, 2021 | 12:00 pm MT:
Development and Implementation of Active, Interactive, and Adaptive Online Physics Courses
Focusing on increasing student success, faculty share experiences of developing and implementing active, interactive, and adaptive introductory physics courses. This includes the development of three courses, an algebra-based general physics course, a calculus-based general physics course, and a bio-medically focused physics course for pre-health and life-sciences majors on the adaptive platform Cogbooks. The courses were designed to create low-cost options using open educational resources (OER) serving large student populations with a wide range of foundational skills, learning paces, and learning preferences. The courses support and aid student learning in terms of math remediation, scaffolded questions, interactive simulations, and content presented in different formats such as text and videos. The design allows students to work at their own pace, choosing support items presented to them via the adaptive feature of the course, and explore concepts through simulations with activities. The new courses been offered for three years.

Speaker: Dr. Priya Jamkhedkar, Physics Instructor, Portland State University

Priya Jamkhedkar is a physics instructor at Portland State University since 2016.  Priya completed her PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Arizona. At PSU she teaches introductory physics to engineers and pre-health majors. Priya has developed three active and adaptive courses for introductory physics using Cogbooks. She is also interested in educational research, especially, for large introductory physics courses. Priya is committed to promoting equity in education, help students develop science literacy and critical thinking skills, and social responsibility through classroom projects, activities, and teaching tools. Outside of work, Priya likes to spend time with her family and pets.

July 27, 2021 | 12:00 pm MT
Teaching with a Cobot, not a Robot: Using Learning Sciences to Reclaim the Humanity in Adaptive and Active Learning
Just like using a kitchen gadget for the first time, it can sometimes be a puzzle to leverage adaptive courseware to enable active learning — especially when learners are at a distance — but understanding the mechanics of learning can help faculty fit the right pieces together in ways that work for all students. This presentation explores four dimensions of motivation and feedback, two learning science pillars that engage students in the learning process and fosters long-term memories. Building awareness of each student’s experience on these dimensions facilitates instructors’ ability to notice and reflect on how the course is working for each student to support iteration in the efforts for equitable instruction.

Speakers:  Dr. Sarojani Mohammed, Founder and Principal of Ed Research Works & Dr. Rachel Schechter, Chief Research Officer for Learning Experience Design, Evaluation, and Consulting at Charles River Media Group

As an education research mobilizer, Dr. Saro Mohammed (she/her) fights the injustice of knowledge-hoarding by making deep, meaningful connections between research and practice to foster the best learning experiences for each learner.  Saro loves bringing learning science to life for educators, which she was able to do during her 15 years’ experience as Managing Partner, Research and Measurement at The Learning Accelerator, and as the inaugural assistant director of two research units at The University of Texas at Austin. She is Founder + Principal of Ed Research Works; a founding board member and Executive Director of Capacity Catalyst; and a co-founder of the Teaching and Learning Research Community. Saro holds a doctorate in educational psychology from The University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Science degree in brain and cognitive sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Rachel Schechter leads Learning Experience Design, Evaluation, and Consulting services at Charles River Media Group, providing research strategy expertise to companies large and small. Rachel has led research teams evaluating multimedia educational programming for learners of all ages since 2007. Rachel established and led the research department at Lexia Learning and most recently was the Vice President of Learning Sciences at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Her research often examines motivation, feedback, and learning in blended learning environments, and she has published several research articles evaluating formal and informal educational programming. Rachel has a doctorate in Child Development from Tufts University and a Master’s in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

August 6, 2021 | 12:00 pm MT
Reflection and Celebration

Peer Discussions

Participants choose from three themed learning tracks for asynchronous activities such as peer discussion groups and guided work in preparation of their coaching sessions.

  • Adaptive learning and courseware – adjuncts and instructors who already have access to courseware through their textbook publisher learn to use this tool more effectively and equitably.
  • Differentiated instruction for online and blended environments – differentiated instruction does not have to be a daunting task and this learning track provides the steps to begin implementing this strategy to promote equitable learning.
  • Evidence-based teaching and learning – add value to the teaching and learning process with evidence-based strategies that impact student engagement, metacognitive skills, and long-term content retention in the digital classroom.