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11/23 Tech Tips Newsletter

Dear Colleagues,

I hope the fall semester has been going well for you and your students. As we prepare for the end of the semester and holidays, I have gratitude on my mind. In that spirit, I hope you feel as blessed as I do for the abundance all around us that we sometimes take for granted. Keep reading to learn about:

  • Canvas Tip: TidyUp Video Training
  • CPGE Online Student Conference seeking submissions
  • Inclusive teaching, a practical crash course in AI, reclaiming time wasting and uncertainty, and more!

As always, you can reference the Tech Tips blog for previous issues. Please email me any tech or pedagogy tips you'd like me to share in an upcoming issue.

Bethany Winslow, Director of Online Learning

Canvas Tip: TidyUP Video Training

TidyUP is an integrated tool with Canvas that helps you remove all the excess clutter you are not really using. While it's not hard to use, I wanted to share that the vendor is offering a new short video training series. You can get it emailed to you, by signing up with the link below. (NOTE: These videos are not posted on their website.)

Promoting CPGE Online Student Conference

Please help to spread the word about the CPGE Online Student Conference taking place February 21 - 24, 2024. This conference is a great opportunity for students to develop professional presentation skills while sharing their iSchool research or professional work. All presenters create short recorded video presentations and will receive prizes for their participation.

Submission proposals are due Friday, December 1, 2023. If you haven’t done so already, please consider making an announcement in your course about this. I’m linking below to a couple flyers. Below that is some announcement verbiage you can use. Thanks for your help promoting the conference!

Join the 2024 CPGE Online Student conference (February 21 - 24, 2024) and present a pre-recorded video presentation of your academic research or professional work. All participants will receive prizes. Abstract submissions are due Friday, December 1, 2023. You can apply at: https://forms.gle/ZC6CQGUWYUFYt1YEA. View past video presentations on the Online Student Conference website at: http://blogs.sjsu.edu/cpgestudentconference

Past conference presentation topics included:

  • Peer mentorship
  • AI in the military
  • Sustainability in libraries
  • Video game preservation

Inclusive Teaching

I stumbled on this older article on inclusive teaching from the Chronicle of Higher Education, but it’s really a good one. There are so many good ideas to consider; “democratizing” discussions by providing anonymity, for example. Other strategies are offered, like restructuring discussions both in terms of size of discussion groups and in what kinds of guiding questions are used. Concepts like adult learning theory inform the practice of explaining to students, not just telling them what to do. One example (and it's great advice) is to identify the most important strategies for being successful in that particular discipline and then make “…those tasks mandatory, and a factor in students’ grades.”

A common pushback to this kind of teaching approach, however, is concern that we’re coddling our students. In reality, clear structure and guidance benefits all students. But it is especially helpful to students who don’t come with the same background of confidence, study habits, and other academic success skills.

VIDEO SERIES: Practical AI For Instructors and Students

The AI Tools for Teaching and Learning course that was offered from the Chancellor's Office a week or so ago, filled up almost immediately. (Fun fact, one of my best friends developed that course, she’s an instructional designer at CSU Monterey Bay.)

So if you didn’t get into that, I’m sharing a new little video series that’s just under an hour from The Wharton School UPenn. (I’ve scheduled some time to watch it and for that CSU course too.) As usual, I also highly recommend the recent article from Ethan Mollick’s blog. I’ve been asked multiple times about the ability to detect when students are using AI. There is NOT a reliable way to do that, even though some software will claim otherwise. As Ethan's article reports - “Even OpenAI says you can’t." AI generated images, which used to be very easy to detect, are also quickly becoming undetectable.

iSchool & immersive Learning: Two Students in Second Life Student Challenge

VCARA Colleagues Fall 2023

You know I love to report on any immersive learning projects or events at the iSchool. Instead of Hubs and browser-based VR, however, I'm giving a shout out to iSchool students Shannon Broden and Aisha Abdul Rahman. Shannon is the student ambassador for VCARA this semester, and Aisha has been on the iSchool Hubs team this semester.

Among other virtual projects, both Shannon and Aisha are competing (with two different exhibits) in Serious Simulations in the Metaverse, the first annual student challenge in Second Life. The competition ends in December, and that's when Aisha is also graduating from the MLIS program. Shannon just interviewed Aisha for the VCARA blog. Check out the link below to read about Aisha's passion for VR, virtual worlds, and what it all means for LIS professionals.

On Wasting Time & Embracing Uncertainty

I’m sharing two entirely unrelated things here that illustrate an important paradox. (Basically how do we allow ourselves the time and consideration for things we're uncertain about, especially if they don't appear to be obviously important, and how can we continue to do this while also striving to be more productive?)

The first is an article that offers a really novel take on “why” the metaverse is dead. Obviously I don't agree with that part, but the author is spot on about people not understanding the concept of fun. We do think of games and gamers as merely "wasting time". It's the same issue when we pay lip service to the idea of integrating the arts with STEM. On some level everyone knows that the arts and creativity are important, and we say we want out of the box thinkers, but a society hell bent on productivity struggles to coexist peacefully with the often messy and unstructured aspects of being creatively productive.

I have a real mean streak in me that admires efficiency, but thankfully it's tempered by a lifelong habit of creative endeavors. I can't be the only one who can relate to the point about the digital exhaustion engendered by so many productivity apps and hacks! We're in danger of losing an important habit though; being able to give ourselves breathing room to think and process. Artists understand this intuitively, but a fast paced modern world prioritizes shortcuts and oblivion for what gets lost in the shuffle. A discussion last week with my dance teacher echoed this. I was shaking my head about students who get fixated on things like knowing the "name" of a particular movement (as if that matters) or which one goes before or after other movement patterns (as if these things were meant to go in a specific sequence like a recipe). To the novice dancer (or viewer), it does just appear to be executing memorized formulas. But that's not what dance is at the highest level. What my teacher said to me was that most of his students never get past that novice level because "it takes a long time to be able to get out of your head and stop trying to control everything. But until you do, you just don't understand the difference between following a formula and being a real artist." This is what what Yoda meant when he said "Do or do not. There is no try." Trying is thinking about doing, not the doing itself. Similarly, Picasso said it took him a lifetime to paint like a child. It's very hard to escape enculturation or get out of our own heads, but they're worthy endeavors nonetheless.

So the second thing I'm sharing is a short video interview with a former professional poker player. In it Annie Duke makes a convincing argument that being comfortable with uncertainty is an essential life skill. That too is a real challenge because confident certainty is so much more palatable! (That video one might be a good one to share with students.)

Professional Development

T3 Session Recap: AI in the Classroom

In case you missed it, here’s the link to the T3 page in Canvas on AI in the Classroom. That session featured iSchool faculty Vic Ghosh, Norm Mooradian, Gerry Benoit, and Johanna Tunon. You’ll find the slide decks on that page as well as the recording link.

Don’t miss next week’s T3 on equity minded grading and upgrading with Darra and Taryn. They'll discuss the definitions and practices used in equity-minded grading.

  • Monday, November 6 from 11 am-Noon PT
  • Title: Equity-Minded Grading/Ungrading
  • Presenters: Darra Hofman; Taryn Reiner
  • Zoom Link: https://sjsu.zoom.us/j/81665136502
  • Password: T3iSchool

Remember, T3 Sessions are offered every semester. Review the schedule, and RSVP from the T3 Sessions webpage. You can also check out an archive of all recorded sessions in the iSchool Faculty Canvas course. Look for the module titled T3 Sessions and Archive. Email alman.sjsu@gmail.com with any questions about T3 Sessions.

eCampus Workshops

SJSU’s eCampus offers workshops year round. Click the links to access details and registration. Workshops are offered with multiple dates to choose from.

See the full list of upcoming eCampus workshops. Note that workshop dates are listed at the bottom of each image on the page. You can also request to watch a recording of an eCampus workshop.