Try IT: Academic Tech for Active Learning
Event Schedule
Try IT: Academic Tech for Active Learning is a series of seven events centered around the theme of active learning – engaging students to think about and participate in their own learning processes. Each event will focus on a specific topic within active learning, exploring both pedagogical strategies that can be put into practice in the classroom and technological tools that can help implement those strategies. Faculty and instructors will share ways in which they have employed active learning in their own courses, and Academic Technology Solutions (ATS) staff will demonstrate some of the tools that are available. This event series will be held in a hybrid format, with attendance possible both in-person and virtually. It is open to all faculty, instructors, TAs, and staff who support classroom pedagogy.
Next Events
Autumn 2023
Taking the Temperature: Poll Everywhere & Real-Time Feedback
Date: Wednesday, November 1, 2023, 3:30-5:00 P.M.
Location: TechBar Studio, Regenstein Library
Join Academic Technology Solutions for the next session of Try IT! Academic Tech for Active Learning, “Taking the Temperature: Poll Everywhere & Real-Time Feedback.” In this event, a panel of instructors who have used the student polling software Poll Everywhere will share their insights and experiences. They will walk attendees through the basics of Poll Everywhere use and explain how it has helped them increase student engagement, get real-time feedback, and foster discussion.
The Text Is Our Table: Annotation as a Means of Class Discussion
Date: Wednesday, November 29, 2023, 3:30-5:00 PM
Location: TechBar Studio, Regenstein Library
Join Academic Technology Solutions for our newest installment of the Try IT! Academic Tech for Active Learning series, “The Text is Our Table: Annotation as a Means of Class Discussion.” In this workshop, we will explore how collaborative close reading can foster some of the same skills and habits of mind as discussion, promoting increased engagement with your thoughtfully curated reading list and bringing your students together to build knowledge as a group, wherever and whenever they are collaborating. We will share prompts and structures that can promote quality discussion using social annotation, examples of annotation activities from UChicago instructors, and instructions for how to get started with Hypothesis, UChicago’s tool for social annotation. The session will also include a panel of instructors who have used social annotation sharing their insights and experiences.
Forthcoming Events
Winter 2024
Beyond the Board: Dynamic and Flexible Discussion Activities with Ed Discussion
Date and Time: TBD
Topic: Panopto Video (Title TBD)
Date and Time: TBD
Topic: Wrap it up – Share what you tried (Title TBD)
Date and Time: TBD
Past Events
Spring 2023
First Steps: Easy Strategies for Active Learning
In this first installment of our Active Learning series, we will consider strategies for active learning that are straightforward, can be implemented quickly, and use tools readily available in the UChicago-supported toolkit. Come to see how you can engage students and empower them to own their learning by introducing these easy strategies into your course.
Thursday, April 20, 3:30 – 5pm in Crerar 298 and on Zoom.
Watch First Steps: Easy Strategies for Active Learning
Bit by Bit: Organize Your Classroom Content into Microlectures
In the second session, attendees will explore how their teaching can benefit from microlectures: short videos focusing on a particular concept or skill and punctuated by an active learning exercise. We will focus on the pedagogy behind microlectures, the UChicago-supported tools you can use to create them, and identify areas in your work where microlecture approaches can support your instructional goals.
Thursday, April 27, 3:30 – 5pm in Crerar 298 and on Zoom.
Watch Bit by Bit: Organize Your Classroom Content into Microlectures