THATCamp Philadelphia: THATCamp Tips (Session Proposers/Moderators=William Patrick Wend/Chris Gazzara)

Chris and I proposed this session to discuss ways to move forward with THATCamp Community College. As you can see, session attendees had plenty of useful ideas.

  • Give some kind of credit to students for attending.

  • Can THATCamp be a part of career reorientation?

  • Budget planning needs to happen early.

  • What about service learning?

  • How about workshops for basics of retraining...Wikipedia, Wordpress, Google Drive, etc

  • “Six tools in an hour” workshop suggested.

  • Could there be connections made to career services in that regard too?

  • What can someone take from a workshop that can be immediately implemented in the classroom?

  • Could there be THATCamp sessions on project management?

  • A suggestion to put up a history of your THATCamp. We can definitely do that.

  • What about sponsorship?

  • Potential for some synchronization with our undergraduate research program here at RCBC and THATCamp.

  • What criteria is required for a workshop to “count” for something?

  • Workshops for students on how to use phones for notes/annotation? Active learning note taking strategies.

  • Possible workshop on whether _____ is useful in the classroom. Let attendees keep a scorecard.

  • A 30 minute summation workshop on previously done topics from our Center For Learning & Instruction.

Engaging Learners In The 21st Century: Service Learning In The Classroom-Integrating Community Service Into Existing Curriculum

My colleagues Erica Franklin and Erika Baldt gave an excellent presentation at Engaging Learners In The 21st Century which rounded out our day at the conference. I took some notes that day, but a lot of this comes from Erica's slide set which she graciously sent me.

  • Service learning combines community service with course material and/or interests
  • It develops academic skills and a commitment to working with the community
  • Service should have correlation to course content, outcomes, etc
  • Flexibility
  • Hands on experience
  • Resume building and networking
  • Examples of service learning at BCC include Civility Week, Sleep Out For Homelessness, and efforts after Superstorm Sandy
  • Many benefits for an institution including partnerships, resource sharing, public relations, and strengthening alumni ties
  • Grammar discussion with middle school
    • Build posters with them about grammar errors in a program
  • Teaches graphic design and hireable skills for non teaching English majors

ThatCamp Philly: Digital Literacy

After running a discussion on working with students who have low technology skills at the first ThatCamp Philly, I ended up on a panel discussing general digital literacy. There was a very productive discussion by attendees, which included friends like Rebecca Goldman and Janine Utell.
  • 55% of households in Philadelphia lack internet access.
  • 550, 000 individuals in Philadelphia are considered low literate.
  • A lot of questioning of the "digital natives" myth.
  • Students often do not realize they need to know technology to take an online class.
  • Digital literacy issues often combine with *literacy* issues.
  • Many employers do not have paper applications. Now what? Jobs do not have time/resources to train.
  • I have had students cite from Yahoo Answers.
  • An idea to survey students' technology skills.
  • Revolving door of adjuncts means repeated training.
  • All humanities classes should have lab component.
  • Everyone keeps talking about digital natives!
  • How do we get expectations to line up?
  • Generational differences in how technology is used could be part of this...Rachel gives example of Using Google Street Maps in class and students being blown away by it.
  • Jazmin does work with a library "tech van" to teach citizens how to use email, Office, etc
  • Students don't know how to do research for transferring to colleges...
  • Often digital literacy can be connected to *literacy* issues...
  • 550,000 adults in Philadelphia are "low literate" (half the population of adults!!!)
  • Connecting service learning to literacy and digital literacy
  • Jobs don't want paper applications
  • You have to have baseline of programmatic literacy or you're just not going to get the job
  • A lot of our returning students are not tech savy
  • Computers can be used to create literacy
  • Surveys for what they use on desktop and phone 
  • Add what browser you use to survey
  • Students often form web searches as questions!
  • Discussion of relationships with libraries
  • Freshman Comp students required at multiple schools to attend a library session...
  • Issues with adjuncts not being "invested" in programs to add this stuff...
  • Yahoo Answers can be solved with better understanding of credible sources...take a day to discuss them specifically...
  • Yahoo Answers is not New York Times is not Science
  • Rebecca: Why do they need scholarly sources!?!
  • Research project as a treasure hunt!
  • Grammar, syntax, protocols, of digital literacy
  • Discussion of what is required for K-12 programs...
  • Students frightened by changing thesis as research goes on
  • Rebecca: Students come to her already written paper and looking for sources afterwards...
  • Have empirical library days in Comp II and/or Lit classes
  • Another call for digital literacy across the curriculum
  • Having, besides the four papers, allowing students do pick and choose platforms for assignments (150 points)
  • By presentation day, must have sources that need to be DEFENDED
  • A big change these days is students don't have to learn how to code/wysiwyg 
  • List of approved sources for papers (make using these part of rubric)
  • Rebecca: students have to do background research first before expert research
  • search involves failure!!!