Penn State Revs English Department with Technology
An
initiative at Pennsylvania
State University is
enhancing instruction in what was already recognized as a world-class
English department.
With
the help of the Penn State Digital English
Studio, information technology professionals are assisting
both English teachers
and students in a number of ways.
Stuart
Selber, an associate professor of English
and the studio director, said the digital studio initiative is a
three-pronged
effort involving:
- Pedagogy
— helping teachers integrate technology
into their instruction;
- Usability
— making sure content in courses is
accessible; and
- Strategy
— providing assistance in developing
courses and measuring the successful use of technology in the classroom.
For
example, the studio staff helps professors
design English courses for the online version of the university, Penn State World Campus, and provides a Teaching With Technology Certificate to graduate
students who undergo training provided by the studio and run the
English
department's social media platforms.
Last
year, Selber and his staff revamped the
English department's Web site. However, at the same time, it created
five new
videos to go along with the site reintroduction, one for the English
major and
one each for its four concentrations.
"We
don't see designing and updating a
department's Web site as an administrative task," Selber said. "We see
it as
intellectual work that shapes how people, including potential students,
see our
department and university. It's a huge recruiting tool."
There
is also a stock of iPads available to
English teachers and teaching assistants, all equipped with appropriate
apps,
that they can borrow to use in the classroom.
Next
on Selber's to-do list is an initiative to
help instructors automate the grading process.
"One
of the features of Penn State's new learning
management system, Canvas, is a tool called SpeedGrader," he said.
"We'd like
to see how it influences how instructors think about grading and how
they
respond to students and their assignments."
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.