2009 UO Symposium on Computers in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Open Content and Open Source: Applications of Computer Technology to Improve Education and Decrease Costs to Students

Friday, May 15, 2009

8:30 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.

Browsing Room, Knight Library

University of Oregon, Eugene

The 3rd Annnual University of Oregon Symposium on Computers in Teaching

and Learning in Higher Education will be held on Friday, May 15, 2009

in the

Browsing Room of the University of Oregon's Knight Library (map). The

unifying theme for this year's event is open content, open source, and other Information and

Communication Technology approaches to reducing the cost while maintaining

or improving the quality of education at the University of Oregon.

JQ Johnson and David Moursund are planning the

symposium. The presenters are University of Oregon faculty,

researchers, and administrators. The Symposium is free of charge,

including break time refreshments and lunch for preregistered

attendees. Please note that space is limited, so early registration is

advised. To register, contact Tiffany Van Pelt, Library Administration

at (541) 346-1889; tambiel@uoregon.edu.

Schedule

8:30–9:00        Registration Begins. The expectation is that most

attendees will be preregistered. Beverages and refreshments will be

available.

9:00–9:05        Introduction.  JQ Johnson, Director, Scholarly Communications and Instructional Support, UO Libraries

9:05–9:35        Welcome. Don Harris, Vice Provost for Information Services and CIO, University of Oregon.

Don will kick off the symposium by describing (and

showing) innovative ways that information technology is being used at

the University of Oregon, as well as by partner universities in the

Pacific Rim. Participants will be encouraged to consider how IT

resources can be used in their academic discipline to further the goal

of teaching excellence at the institution.

9:35–10:15      David Moursund, Professor Emeritus, University of Oregon.

Lifelong Learning from Free or Inexpensive Resources.

This presentation focuses on learning to learn for a

lifetime of learning in a environment that contains both human brains

and computer "brains," and an environment that provides free or

inexpensive access to a huge and steadily collection of data,

information, knowledge, and aids to learning.

10:15–10:30    Break

10:30-11:15     Mark Thoma, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Oregon..

Using Blogs, YouTube, and Social Networking Technology to Deliver Educational Services.

This presentation focuses on extensive use of Blogs,

YouTube, Twitter, and other Internet-based vehicles to reach students

both on campus and throughout the world. A number of personal examples

will be used to illustrate the topics presented.

11:15–12:00    Mary Harrsch. Network & Management Information

Systems administrator (Retired), College of Education, University of

Oregon.

Building Communities of Practice with Web 2.0 social networking tools.

This presentation will focus on materials licensed

through Creative Commons for free noncommercial use with attribution,

and on distribution through resources such as Blogs, Flickr, and

Twitter. It will include an emphasis on building an active worldwide

network of professional colleagues.

12:00–1:00      Lunch provided for preregistered attendees

1:00–1:30        Ulad Slabin, Research Associate, Electronic Studying, University of Oregon.

Second Life in Teaching Chemistry.

Along with Wikipedia, Google, SlideShare, and YouTube,

my lecture-only, "green-oriented" General Chemistry course includes

Second Life, a 3D virtual environment. The presentation covers aids to

chemistry education in Second Life with emphasis on those solving the

problem of spatial imagination - molecular 3D modeling and

stereoscopic/anaglyph illustrations.

1:30–3:00        Andrew Bonamici, Associate University Librarian for

Media and Instructional Services, UO Libraries and JQ Johnson, Director,

Scholarly Communications and Instructional Support, UO Libraries.

An Open Educational Ecosystem: Open Content, Open Source, Open Access, Open Textbooks, Open Courseware, and Open Resources

What do all these "opens" have in common (besides a

buzzword)? How can we locate and evaluate existing content, and how can

we identify effective ways to use open content in our teaching? How are

students, faculty, and institutions adapting to open educational

environments?

3:00–3:15        Final questions, wrap-up, and closure with JQ Johnson and David Moursund.

The Internet (including the Web) is a major educational

change agent. Each individual faculty member and each individual

department can make a significant contribution to improving the

education of their students through use of the rapidly growing

collection of free and/or low cost resources.