Since I began teaching, I’ve been committed to using technology in ways that are both inclusive and pedagogically useful.
The landscape of tech in higher education has changed a lot over the years, and these days I am as likely to help my students find ways to step away from their screens as I am to design projects that expand their technological comfort zone. But I want to keep an archive of the different ways my students and I have explored how technology can help us present and share knowledge in the 21st century, and that’s what this page is all about!
padlets, blogs, & twitter
Informal, low-stakes writing is an important part of every class I teach. Sometimes it’s a collaborative Google Doc where my students work together. Sometimes we answer Daily Quotes & Questions prompts on our class Padlet.
For several years, we used blogs as our primary platform for informal writing as a way to give students some real-world writing experience before graduation. You can still check out what they had to say:
Self and Society: British Lit through the 18th Century (Fall 2016)
A Better Utopia: Utopian Thought in the West (Spring 2013)
Hood College Chaucerians (Fall 2013)
I’m no longer on Twitter, but back when it was an engaging and collaborative space, I used to encourage my students to cultivate an active and professional presence there. Tweets were a great place to practice concise, persuasive, goal-oriented writing. Check out one of my Twitter assignments and if you still have an account, you can see some of my students’ tweets about #utopia364.
videos
My students have created some amazing videos over the years! We’ve tackled a variety of video projects – everything from 20×20 Pechakucha presentations to YouTube explainers to day in the life videos (here’s mine from 2018). Here are just a few stellar examples!
20×20 presentation on Thomas More’s Utopia
20×20 presentation on Othello
Tips for reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The beginning of Chaucer’s “The Knight’s Tale”
A vision for a post-apocalyptic utopian society
A fun “explainer” video on Beowulf
iPads in college
Hood College was recognized as an Apple Distinguished School for our 1:1 iPad program, and I was recognized as an Apple Distinguished Educator in 2015. You can check out my Why I teach with the iPad video to see my students putting their iPads to work!
I still think the iPad is a great tool for college students and instructors, and I use my own iPad every day as part of my teaching and research work. It’s been a long time since I have updated my iPad app recommendations, because I think we’re all much more comfortable with the iPad as a productivity tool now! But back in 2012 when I first started teaching with the iPad, it was pretty new territory and people weren’t even sure what to do with it. For a real blast from the past, check out my 2013 recommendations on how to use the iPad in college.
interactive books
These .epub files can be downloaded and viewed using iBooks.
A proposal for a new take on “Rumplestiltskin.” (from my First-Year Seminar, Fairy Tales: Transformations and Transgressions)
A letter written to Prospero from Shakespeare’s The Tempest to help him broaden his understanding of magic. (from my gen ed course: Medieval Magic and Mysticism)
influence maps
One of my favorite assignments that I started using way back in 2010 is the influence map: a visual representation of an individual’s understanding of a concept, idea, historical period, etc.
Here’s an example of this type of assignment that I used to use in my British Lit survey course.
And here is my own Influence Map representing my understanding of “England.” Click on the image to see a larger version of the file:
For the curious, I made this map on my iPad, but influence maps can be created in almost any program: Photoshop, GIMP, and even Word or PowerPoint.
websites
In previous courses, I have asked students to design websites in lieu of or in addition to group presentations. Here’s an example of a web-based assignment.
And here are some of the sites my students have created about life in medieval England, thanks to the magic of the Wayback Machine!
