Academic Technology Services 2018 Fall Events

Promoting Active Learning through Moodle: Examples from the Amherst Classroom

Lunch Presentation for Faculty & Instructional Staff
Wednesday, November 14th, 12 p.m. - 1 p.m.
Lewis Sebring, Mullins Room
Lunch from Lewis Sebring will be complimentary for attendees 

Please join us to learn and discuss how Amherst faculty use Moodle to promote active learning in the classroom.  Professor Elizabeth Aries of Psychology and Professor Adi Gordon of History will share their Learning Design tips and strategies.

Professor Aries will share how she uses pre-class forums and quizzes to enhance in-class discussions and gauge student understanding of key concepts. Professor Gordon will share how he uses Moodle to supplement his syllabus, provide transparency in course assignments and expectations, and engage students with media and Open Educational Resources.   

Other topics may include using Moodle to support collaboration or peer review. 

Bring your own Moodle tips and questions as well!

This faculty luncheon is organized by Academic Technology Services. Feel free to contact us with any Moodle questions!

Pleas RSVP here.

Building a Community of Inquiry using Moodle Tools

ATS presented a breakout session at the 2018 Dean's Retreat on Inclusive Pedagogy.

Presentation Slides (PDF, AC Login Required)

Moodle site with example activities

Building a Community of Inquiry (CoI)* calls for meaningful integration of teacher presence, cognitive presence, and social presence (Garrison, et.al). This interactive workshop included:

1. A demonstration and discussion of how Moodle features (such as wikis, forums, and namecoach) are being used effectively by Amherst faculty to promote CoI.
2. Hands-on activity to design learning tasks using Moodle features (please bring your laptops) and 
3. Discussion of challenges and development of concrete strategies to apply in your classroom.

*Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher educationmodel. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105. 

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INFORMATION SESSIONS ON TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY OFFERED IN SEPTEMBER

Academic Technology Services invites faculty and instructional staff to attend a session to learn about, or to receive a refresher on, classroom applications such as Moodle, Google Apps, and other emerging technologies. Some ways in which Amherst faculty are using a variety of digital tools to accomplish their pedagogical objectives will be shared.

You may attend any one of the sessions listed below. Kindly RSVP below.

• September 7, Friday, 11:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., Seeley Mudd 115
• September 12, Wednesday, 10:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., Seeley Mudd 115
• September 18, Tuesday, 10:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., Seeley Mudd 115

We will tailor these sessions to the interests of the attendees. A possible menu of topics includes:

• Moodle learning management for content distribution, discussions, assessment, and collaborative activities;
• Google apps for group projects and document review;
• Assistive technologies and the development of accessible instructional materials;
• Active learning with classroom response systems (aka clickers), gamification, virtual reality, and augmented reality;
• Presentation and communication from PowerPoint and screencasting to graphic and Web design;
• Data collection and analysis using surveys, databases, and mathematical and statistical applications;
• Mapping and 3D including geographic measurement, synthesis, and analysis, along with visualization and modeling tools;
• Programming and high-performance computing for unique applications, big data, and machine learning.