Reflections from the Teaching with Technology Conference 2017

During the weekend of October 6 - 8, I attended Magna’s Teaching with Technology conference in Baltimore, MD.  My expectations were to acquire additional information and resources that I could immediately take into the classroom for a more productive and exciting classroom experience.  I am always concerned about the quality of my teaching, ways to better prepare my students for success, and how technology can serve as a tool to accomplish both goals.

The conference did not disappoint.  The highlight was the pre-conference workshop conducted by Barbi Honeycutt (@barbihoneycutt) and Sarah Glova (@chirpsbysarah) on the topic of “Tools to Engage Students in Flipped, Blended, and Online Courses”.  I anticipate using the skills and resources acquired in their workshop for years to come. ​

Among the many topics they covered were:

• The distinctions between flipped, blended, and online courses;
• How to flip classes with and without technology;
• How to use interactive Google slides for better student participation and engagement;
• The value of focusing activities pre-class;
• Utilizing group captains to lessen the grading burden and instill leadership among students;
• Video response forums;
• Using simple and advanced rubrics for grading and assessment productivity; and
• Gamification of daily classroom tasks and learning objectives.

I purchased all four of Barbi's books on the flipped classroom (see picture below).

Other notable sessions I attended were:

“Learning Before Class: Desiging Pre-Class Assignments” - This session provided a nice overview of how to incorporate Bloom’s Taxonomy into the design of pre-class assignments.  The speakers spent time reviewing how to create learner-centered teaching environments more effectively.

“Assessing our Assessments: Life is Too Short to Spend Two Hours Grading Papers” - Obviously the title for this one was a big draw.  I don’t think I would have attended had they omitted the sib-title!  It was a great session on the various technology tools that are available for assessing students.  The usual suspects were mentioned (Poll Everywhere, Kahoot), but some newer tools were also covered in a very interactive way (Plickers, SoftChalk). 

“Playing Their Parts: Group Collaboration in the Online and Flipped Classroom” - The focus of this session was the online discussion board and how to create an effective student learning community.  Also, the role of storytelling and roleplaying was highlighted as a means to increase faculty engagement as well as to increase feedback to learners.  Throughout, I happily discovered some new screencasting tools (Audacity, Just Press Record, and Articulate).

There is no doubt I will try to attend this conference every year.  I am inspired to present information next time around