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Approximately two hundred professors, graduate students, and academic technology specialists from Stanford University, University of California Berkeley, and San Jose State University gathered to discuss and share effective practices for teaching and learning with technology.

Hosted by the Vice Provost for Teaching & Learning (VPTL) and building on the success of the 2014 ATXpo (Academic Technology Expo), this year’s event continued to foster new collaborations among participants by showcasing projects, pedagogies, and practices that have improved educational experiences in the Bay Area.

Language Instruction: Teaching with Technology

The event began with an opening plenary speech by Elizabeth Bernhardt, professor of German Studies and director of the Stanford Language Center. Bernhardt reflected on how the Stanford language department has used technology over the last twenty years to improve the pedagogy of language instruction (moving to proficiency-based instruction) and the learning experiences of students.

For instance, when Bernhardt started at Stanford in the mid-1990’s, she saw the need to include speaking proficiency as part of the language placement test. Given the technology at the time, the solution was to use tape recorders to administer a verbal language test (simultaneously) to hundreds of students. Over the years, the department continued to innovate – moving to digital language assessment, which allowed for more class time for face-to-face speaking and listening practice. Digital language assessment also provides metadata, allowing Stanford to measure how well its students are learning overall: Students improved their language proficiency much more between 2000 and 2005 than they did between 1995 and 2000.

While other universities use computers to administer oral exams, none have such an expansive assessment program as the one run in VPTL’s Digital Language Lab, nor the number of teachers certified to rate the exams, as Stanford has. Bernhardt pointed out that the result is better proficiency overall: Stanford students reach in two years the level of oral proficiency of most foreign language majors in the US.

However, drawing from her full breadth of experiences in implementing such solutions, Bernhardt also cautioned that technology is not without its problems and costs. As educators become more reliant on apps, she encouraged the audience to question the learning theory behind these potential tools before fully accepting them.

Learning tech on display in IdeaLab

The keynote was followed by a showcase of some of the most promising new approaches for teaching and learning. During this open exhibition, thirty-five presenters demonstrated technology tools and techniques that spanned from remote online learning, to flipped and blended classrooms, to course projects and uses of technology as part of the college experience outside the classroom.

The diversity in ideas and solutions could be grouped into three areas: technology tools, opportunities enabled by new technology, and simple ways to use existing technology to enhance learning.

Technology tools 

This featured the VPTL’s Academic Skills Inventory, an online self-assessment for students to identify learning strategies, Overleaf, an online collaborative LaTeX editor, Stanford Domains, which helps students, faculty and staff set up a web presence, and Create:Space, which hosts a 3D scanner and printer and other creative tools within the Lathrop Library Tech Lounge, which is run by the Office of the Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning.

Opportunities enabled by new technology

Stanford’s Department of Anthropology showcased how archeological artifacts can be scanned in 3D, shared around the world, and viewed interactively on a tablet. In this way, countless researchers and students from across the globe can now examine a single fragile artifact, which could never leave its country of origin.

Senior Software Engineers of the Stanford Graduate School of Business Joy Hsu and Chris Sadlak demonstrated a series of online games that simulate decision-making processes in business, many of which are difficult or impossible to run in a face-to-face environment. Students can play the games online with their classmates, and then meet in class to debrief and discuss the implications.

Timothy Hill, Chair of the Department of Management Information Systems at San Jose State University, presented a redesigned lab sequence for a business technology course. Both engaging and empowering for students, he explained that by building on the Salesforce platform, non-technical students are able to create mobile apps and connect them to a database in a matter of weeks.

Enhancing learning through existing technology

Stanford English literature lecturer Stephen Speiss related how he uses Quicktime and Box to record and share feedback on his student’s papers. Self-recorded videos help him to provide higher-quality feedback, rather than scribbling brief notes in the margin, as well as allows him to spend less time grading.

UC Berkeley College Writing Program Lecturer Ryan Sloan, meanwhile, discussed how his students post their drafts on the blogging platform Tumblr. He emphasized how this semi-public sharing environment encourages students to view their papers as works-in-progress and facilitates peer reviews and editing.

Panel discussion on tech opportunities and challenges

The afternoon was also devoted to a panel discussion and subsequent breakout sessions to address the opportunities, drawbacks, and challenges that technology presents in education. Director of Learning Design & Technology at the Stanford Graduate School of Education Karin Forsell moderated the panel, which featured directors of academic technology groups at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and San Jose State University, and a Stanford undergraduate who works as a Residential Computing Assistant.

Some common themes emerged throughout the discussions. Several panelists highlighted that universities should approach technology in terms of the complete student experience, even including administrative processes like course registration and financial aid. As such, they encouraged professors to think beyond their own courses, and explore how technology can improve the student learning experience both inside and outside the classroom.

In addition, Director of Educational Technology at UC Berkeley Jennifer Stringer reminded instructors to think carefully about their use of technology and how it can create disparities among different users. While technology can be a great force for accessibility and democratization of education, it can just as easily increase the gap between the technological haves and have-nots or those who technically can and cannot. She emphasized, “Mind the gap. Is it widening the gap, or is it lessening the gap?” This observation is reminiscent of Professor Bernhardt’s concluding points during her open plenary speech, when she noted that pedagogy should be leading technology and not the other way around.

More information about the event is available at https://atxpo.stanford.edu.

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