01/28/2008: Presentation: Educause Learning Initiative

On Monday, I will be presenting with my colleague, Allan Gyroke, at the 2008 Educause Learning Initiative annual meeting in San Antonio, TX.  Allan and I will be giving a talk titled, Building the New Platform for Digital Expression.  We will try to share the approach we've taken at PSU to encourage, support, and manage faculty and students' use of digital media for teaching and learning. Here is a blog entry recapping the session from the University of Washington. Download the PDF of the presentation. Session recording is now available for download. Our session description as submitted to Educause: Given the increased acceptance of digital media as a form of academic evidence, Penn State University's Education Technology Services group has invested in the creation of what we call the platform for digital expression. We have worked to create a scalable University-wide infrastructure that supports faculty, staff, and students in the design, development, delivery, and management of digital media. Building on Penn State's strong information technology underpinnings, we have worked to create a suite of services that provide all members of the University community with opportunities to integrate digital media into the teaching and learning landscape. Within the last 18 months we have launched University wide blogging and podcasting services, moved elements of our support services to a Community Hub model where members of the University community support each other, begun the implementation of 21 Digital Commons facilities across the Commonwealth of PA, reinvented our faculty Engagement Process, forged new relationships with our public broadcasting station, and opened the walls of our own organization through the use of technology and physical events to create new ways to learn about what we do. This investment is leading to new ways for faculty to provide opportunities for students to utilize digital media throughout their learning. In this session we will share the PSU Platform for Digital Expression and take the opportunity to discuss how disruptive technologies can be integrated into the teaching and learning with technology landscape by leveraging existing University infrastructure. Furthermore we will discuss how we have worked to blend physical infrastructure, human resources, and social environments to create new ways for our audience to engage with us. This new digital media eco-system has allowed faculty to feel comfortable integrating digital media in their teaching and learning. In addition, students are now supported in the creation of digital media at every step -- from initial planning, through creation, and ultimately through sharing. Our approach will illustrate a digital media value chain that leads faculty from awareness, through design of curricular components, to student outcomes via the University wide initiatives described above. Much of this work is based on faculty, staff, and student academic computing data Information Technology Services at Penn State has been collecting for the last 20 years. Approximately three years ago we saw a shift in faculty and student interest in digital media and recognized that we need to make changes to the ways our physical spaces are designed, how our faculty are supported in their curricular design, and the types of services we need to offer to encourage the use of digital media for teaching and learning. In addition, the work of bodies such as Educause and the Pew Internet and American Life Projects have helped shape our understanding of our students and have pushed us to think critically about where we invest. Based on what we have learned in the last three years it has become evident that it is incumbent upon us as central information technology providers to create a new landscape for faculty and student use of digital creation and publishing tools.