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Common Culture Created/supported/enhanced By The Academic Library On Campus
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Schoolwide Integration of Technology into the Curriculum.
Duquesne’s School of Music made a commitment to integrate the K-12
National Standards for Arts Education into the School of Music
curriculum and to extend those standards to the collegiate level. The
guidelines accompanying the standards indicate that “the curriculum
should utilize current technology to individualize and expand music
learning… However, technology should not be used for its own sake, but
in order to achieve the goals of music education.â€6 Accordingly, the
School of Music has examined its courses, noting the goals and content
of each course and the technologies that could be used to increase
attainment of learning goals. A theory course, for example, does not
inherently require the use of technology, but student learning might be
enhanced by use of a synthesizer module, music notation software, and
computer-assisted instruction to develop ear-training skills. Strategic
use of technology throughout the school provided a focus for relevant
faculty development opportunities and led to the creation of a required
freshman course, “Computers for Musicians,†to familiarize students with
the technology they would use in later courses.
Online Course on
Online Teaching and Learning. During the fall semester of 1998, Duquesne
pilot tested a course on online teaching and learning. Seventeen
faculty and administrators took part, with all coursework being carried
out online using FirstClass computer conferencing software. This
approach enabled faculty to experience the role of learner while, at the
same time, reflecting on the teaching/learning process and designing
their own course. In addition to reading the text,7 participants read
“lectures†by the instructor as well as articles on the Web. They posted
responses to questions such as: “What do you see as the role that you
are likely to take as an online instructor?†“Do you see this as
different from the role of an effective face-to-face teacher? Explain.â€
“What do you think will change for you in your teaching in the online
environment?†Another assignment listed many instructional strategies
that could be used in the online environment (for example, small group
discussion, collaborative learning, problem-based learning, case
studies, simulation, and project-based learning) and asked participants
to identify ways they might be able to implement these strategies in one
of their courses using technology. A separate “metacognitionâ€
conference provided a virtual class space within which participants
could reflect on their own experience as learners. They might, for
example, have noted how difficult it is to synthesize the comments of
the 16 other participants or have speculated on why the degree of social
interaction increased or decreased depending on the topic and the
assignment.8
Summer Institute on Teaching with Technology. For the
past four summers Duquesne has offered a summer institute for faculty.
Participation is competitive, based on applications that describe a
project that the faculty member would like to undertake, using
technology to enhance some aspect of student learning in one of his or
her courses. Faculty who complete the five-day institute receive a
$1,000 stipend for their participation and commit to demonstrating their
work within their own school and also in a university-wide venue.
During the first day of the institute, there is a session on
instructional design and an overview of available technologies. As a
result of these sessions, a high percentage of faculty change their
instructional strategy, choice of technology, or both. What is important
is that faculty come to the institute having identified their
instructional goal; institute instructors can then assist faculty in
clarifying the best means for reaching that goal.
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