Web Wednesday: Faculty Center for e-Learning is available

From Information Resources and Technologies

As announced yesterday by Sam Levy, vice president of Information Resources and Technologies, the space he envisioned for faculty to gather, converse and exchange ideas to improve instructional practice and research activities has come to fruition. The Faculty Center for e-Learning (FCL), located in Room 102, O'Shaughnessy-Frey Library Center, is now available.

FCL provides programming, physical and virtual space designed for the exchange of ideas, conversation and the building of community – all with the goal of developing effective collaborations between and among faculty and IRT staff to promote effective learning and academic excellence. (Read how we define "e-learning.")

Many people are collaborating on the Faculty Center for e-Learning and its related programming: Rosann Cahill; Carolyn Deluca; Dan Gjelten; Lief Johnson; Eric Larson; Elizabeth Smith; plus Kathy O'Neil, representing academic technology consultants; Jan Orf, representing reference librarians; and representing the Faculty Development Center, Sue Chaplin, director.

The inaugural year's programming will have a goal of engaging each faculty member to create a personal definition of how e-learning fits into their curriculum. We will create a variety of interactions (face-to-face and virtual) designed to inspire faculty to imagine, experience and apply various instructional strategies using technology to improve instruction and research.

Register for our inaugural event
Our inaugural event will feature cultural anthropologist Dr. Michael Wesch from Kansas State University. Wesch has been exploring digital ethnography in research and teaching. He was chosen not only for his popular YouTube video, "Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us," but also for his innovative and popular teaching practices.

The event will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19, in Schulze Hall auditorium, Opus College of Business. The event is free, but you must register at www.stthomas.edu/elearning.

If you have questions or comments, contact any member of the working group or e-mail us at the Faculty Center for e-Learning.