Digital Initiatives Centre: TEACHING: digital humanities in the classroom

This poster and commentary was created by Katherine D. Harris, Department of English, San Jose State University, katherine.harris@sjsu.edu

"The rapid proliferation of digital tools and media is encouraging many of us to rethink our course development and classroom strategies. The adoption of these exciting new tools, however, is not simply a matter of grafting digital elements onto the traditional classroom methods. Instead it uncovers and unsettles many of the basic pedagogical assumptions that have long driven our teaching."

A work-in-progress by Tanya Clement providing links to readings and resources on digital humanities pedagogy.

NITLE’s strategic initiative in the digital humanities focuses on finding pockets of innovation in the liberal arts community and connecting these dots into a coherent, collaborative effort. Its goal is two-fold: to advance the development of digital humanities at liberal arts colleges and promote the valuable contributions these colleges make to and within the broader digital humanities movement.

"The essays in this collection offer a timely intervention in digital humanities scholarship, bringing together established and emerging scholars from a variety of humanities disciplines across the world. The first section offers views on the practical realities of teaching digital humanities at undergraduate and graduate levels, presenting case studies and snapshots of the authors' experiences alongside models for future courses and reflections on pedagogical successes and failures. The next section proposes strategies for teaching foundational digital humanities methods across a variety of scholarly disciplines, and the book concludes with wider debates about the place of digital humanities in the academy, from the field's cultural assumptions and social obligations to its political visions."--Page 4 of cover

Since 2005, Edublogs has been hosting blogs and providing custom blogging platforms to individual teachers, school districts and hundreds of thousands of students. They have grown to become the largest, most trusted, best supported and widely used way for teachers and students to engage with the world of blogging.

7 Things You Should Know About...pieces provide quick, no-jargon overviews of emerging technologies and related practices that have demonstrated or may demonstrate positive learning impacts. Any time you need to explain a new learning technology or practice quickly and clearly, look for a 7 Things You Should Know About... brief from ELI.

In many cases, the iPad enables you to interact more with large groups of students and facilitates more engaging means of instruction. Here are 5 ways to use the iPad as an instructor in higher education.

Social networking in the observed classrooms was found helpful for promoting classroom communities of practice. For more information about the study, please view the presentation.

By using IT properly in the classroom, teaching and learning are enhanced and given a new dimension. Before curricula can be created to challenge the Net Generation, though, faculty must know how Net Geners learn and interact with each other, with technology, and with life in general. Remember that word—interact.

The use of an effective and basic social media tool in the higher education classroom can be a wonderful bridge between the cyber skills of students and the thoughtful lessons provided by professors. The answer is found in creating a blogging assignment.

Today’s student body is a highly diverse group with many different learning challenges, often manifesting in problems with notetaking and listening comprehension. All of this creates what Keith Bain calls an “accessibility imperative.” And although there are many legal obligations that institutions must satisfy with regards to accessibility, Bain says recording and transcribing lectures can improve retention and success for all types of students.