Academic Commons

NERCOMP's upcoming workshop "Instruction Programs: Trendwatching"

lisagatesphd@gmail.com — Tue, 2 Feb 2010 14:25:39 -0500

Registration is now open for NERCOMP's upcoming workshop "Instruction Programs: Trendwatching."

DATE: April 8, 2010
TIME: 9:00 - 3:00 (Coffee and Registration start at 8:00)
PRICE: NERCOMP Members: $130, Non-Members: $255 (includes break service and lunch)
LOCATION: Four Points Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center, Norwood, MA.

DESCRIPTION: This workshop is about some key trends that inform strategic planning for instruction programs: innovations in teaching and learning, in scholarship, and in our networked digital environment. Participants will get up close in three areas: how to think about the technologies available to you when planning for improvements in your instruction program; how to adapt pedagogies that get us beyond sage on the stage, and ways of engaging with significant conversations on innovation. A lightning round, exploring how participants are framing near-term goals of their instruction programs, will address developments and indicators to monitor for anticipating user needs, key disruptive technologies and their implications, significant changes on campus in teaching and learning, and gaps and challenges we face across institutions.

For a full schedule and registration information, please go to: http://www.nercomp.org/events/event_single.aspx?id=5966

Join the HASTAC Discussion "Race, Ethnicity, Diaspora in the Digital Age"

lisagatesphd@gmail.com — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:00:37 -0500

Join the discussion on "Race, Ethnicity, Diaspora in the Digital Age" hosted by HASTAC Scholars Anne Cong-Huyen (UCSB) and Edward Gonzalez-Tennant (U of Florida) at http://www.hastac.org/forums/hastac-scholars-discussions/race-ethnicity-and-diaspora-digital-age .

Join us as we discuss questions and ideas such as:

How do our disciplinary backgrounds affect the way we approach the subject of race and ethnicity in this contemporary moment and in these digital spaces?
Where do we see racialized, de-racialized, or multi-ethnic identities emerging via digital technologies for individuals or communities?
What does 'postrace' mean? Do Donna Haraway's ideas of the cyborg or Katherine Hayles's posthuman help us to further conceptualize race in this present age?
How might the very mechanics and conceptualizations of networks, interactivity and the digital, reframe or reimagine even the notion of race, ethnicity or diaspora? What is it about the digital that invites such an imagination? Why might that formulation invite critique?

Everyone is warmly invited to join the conversation and post your own question or idea. We'd love to have lots of HASTAC members in the forum, helping us think through these questions!

NERCOMP's Upcoming Workshop "WordPress University"

lisagatesphd@gmail.com — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 10:28:01 -0500

Registration is now open for NERCOMP's upcoming workshop: "WordPress University."

DATE: April 8, 2010
TIME: 9:00 - 3:00 (Coffee and Registration start at 8:00)
PRICE: NERCOMP Members: $130, Non-Members: $255 (includes break service and lunch)
LOCATION: Four Points Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center, Norwood, MA.

DESCRIPTION: WordPress, an open source web publishing platform, has proven to be a robust and flexible tool able to meet a variety of web application needs on college campuses. Multi-user blogging platforms, campus newletters, course project sites and central event calendars are just a few of the ways WordPress is being deployed in higher education. At WordPress University we’ll explore case studies and examples of how WordPress is adapted to meet these various needs. The day’s schedule will include opportunities to share and explore ideas with fellow attendees that can be applied to WordPress implementations in their home environments.
This is not a technical, hands-on workshop, and while some technical web programming details will be discussed, the program is designed to appeal to people with a range of experiences creating web sites and working with on-line web 2.0 and social networking tools. Some experience designing or editing web pages, managing a web site, or working on support of a web-based application will be helpful, but not essential.

For a full schedule and registration information, please go to: http://www.nercomp.org/events/event_single.aspx?id=5938.

NERCOMP Workshop: "Media Scholarship"

lisagatesphd@gmail.com — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 10:21:47 -0500

Registration is now open for NERCOMP's upcoming workshop: "Media Scholarship."

DATE: March 23, 2010
TIME: 9:00 - 3:00 (Coffee and Registration start at 8:00)
PRICE: NERCOMP Members: $115, Non-Members: $240 (includes continental breakfast and lunch)
LOCATION: University of Massachusetts, Amherst Campus Center - First Floor, Amherst, MA

DESCRIPTION: Hamilton College, Colgate University, and St. Lawrence University, supported by a NITLE Instructional Innovation Fund grant, have collaborated to develop interdisciplinary assignment models that promote media scholarship by students across the curriculum. This SIG consists of a series of case study presentations of student-authored digital media scholarship that was guided by faculty and supported by instructional technologists and librarians. Each student presentation will be followed by a 20-30 minute panel discussion of the work in the broader context of what was necessary to reach that outcome from all involved (student, professor, technologist, librarian). We will focus on media literacy, learning models, evaluation criteria, and the resources necessary for success.
Participants will engage in discussions following each presentation. We also ask participants to offer ideas, examples, and approaches to development of multimodal assignments at their institutions.

For a full schedule and registration information, please go to: http://www.nercomp.org/events/event_single.aspx?id=5933

NERCOMP 2010: "The Next-Generation University: Rethinking IT in Disruptive Times"

lisagatesphd@gmail.com — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 10:21:58 -0500

Early registration open for NERCOMP's annual conference. Click here for details and to register:http://net.educause.edu/Program/1023270

Whether your focus is administrative services, information resources, teaching and learning, technology infrastructure, or management, you can benefit from attending the annual NERCOMP conference, March 8–10, 2010. Join us in Providence to:

Connect with innovators and forward thinkers and learn about current and emerging best practices in higher education information services.
Collaborate with others in positions similar to yours to exchange experiences and explore ways to tackle common challenges.

Contribute your uncommon thinking for the common good in numerous discussion sessions and networking venues. This year's conference will explore how our institutions and organizations are managing economic challenges, forging new visions, and integrating new information technology paradigms and approaches. How are emerging technological possibilities and economic conditions changing what "university" means? How are our IT organizations surviving and finding ways to thrive and lead the way under these new conditions? How are we evolving to meet the changing academic and administrative priorities of our institutions? What emerging technology opportunities and models are supporting the core missions of our schools and our associated organizational and professional development goals?

NERCOMP's upcoming workshop: "Digital Scholarship in the Humanities and Beyond"

lisagatesphd@gmail.com — Wed, 6 Jan 2010 09:33:14 -0500

Registration is now open for NERCOMP's upcoming workshop: "Digital Scholarship in the Humanities and Beyond"

DATE: February 1, 2010
TIME: 9:00 - 3:00 (Coffee and Registration start at 8:00)
PRICE: NERCOMP Members: $95, Non-Members: $220
LOCATION: The College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA.

DESCRIPTION: Digital scholarship can be defined as "the development, study and application of new technology techniques and methods to traditional modes of scholarship," which is how Stephen Woodruff defines humanities computing. How do campuses support the production needs for student and faculty whose work draws increasingly on the use of multiple forms of media? What strategies are faculty using to assess multimedia-based research projects? How are media projects disseminated? What pedagogical and production frameworks do librarians and instructional technologists need to understand? In this SIG we will explore these topics for those who wish to express their research in media and data rich digital modes or who support colleagues who do.

For a full schedule and registration information, please go to: http://www.nercomp.org/events/event_single.aspx?id=5932

Mellon Foundation Closes Research in Information Technology Grant Program

davidgreen@knowledgeculture.com — Tue, 5 Jan 2010 16:58:57 -0500

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports today on the closure of Mellon's Research in Information Technology program and the elimination of the positions held by Ira Fuchs, RIT's founder, and associate program officer Chris Mackie.

The program will consolidate its software development funding into the Scholarly Communications program, which will be renamed.

Registration Open "New Discovery Tools Symposium"

lisagatesphd@gmail.com — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:45:27 -0500

NERCOMP in partnership with the Boston Library Consortium and National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (NITLE) are pleased to present: "New Discovery Tools Symposium."

DATE: February 1, 2010
TIME: 9:00 - 3:00 (Coffee and Registration start at 8:00)
PRICE: NERCOMP Members: $95, Non-Members: $220
LOCATION: The College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA.

DESCRIPTION: Libraries continue to migrate from out-of-the-box interfaces that search single collections to new products that promise, in various ways, to do a better job connecting people with the information they desire. OPACs are applying layers of lipstick, going open source, or fading away altogether. supplanted by new types of discovery tools. Federated search is mounting a comeback. Next-gen discovery tools promise to deliver the fabled single search box. Massive digitization projects are opening up the contents of books for discovery and--sometimes--retrieval. At the same time, proprietary, centralized projects like Google Books and OCLC's WorldCat Local are developing alongside less centralized, more open initiatives like the Open Content Alliance, eXtensible Catalog project, VuFind, and LibraryFind.

In the morning, invited speakers will provide an overview of the changing discovery landscape and the major issues and players involved. The afternoon will consist of a lightning round featuring 5-10 minute demonstrations and/or discussions of individual products. Time will be built into the afternoon session for attendees to present briefly on products being considered or implemented at their own institutions. The day will end with an open discussion and a consideration of next steps.

For a full schedule and registration information, please go to: http://www.nercomp.org/events/event_single.aspx?id=5930

Publication Prize for Notable Work in the Digital Humanities

lisagatesphd@gmail.com — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:42:16 -0500

In conjunction with the launch of the UM Series in Digital Humanities, the University of Michigan and the Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory (HASTAC) announce the UM Press/HASTAC Digital Humanities Publication Prize. The prize will be awarded for an innovative and important project that displays a critical and rigorous engagement in the field of Digital Humanities.

Eligible projects will be peer reviewed with the winner determined by the HASTAC Steering Committee, the general editors and the advisory board of the University of Michigan Press Series in Digital Humanities. The winning submission will be published by the University of Michigan Press in the UM Digital Humanities Series under the digitalculturebooks imprint in print and digital formats.

For initial consideration, authors should provide a prospectus of the completed manuscript or emergent work describing its goals, intended audience, and significance, as well as a C.V. and sample material in a PDF. Final determination by the prize committee will be based on a review of a completed manuscript or a detailed prospectus, work plan, and sample material for projects.

For questions, please contact the UM Press Acquiring Editor, Tom Dwyer: thdwyer@umich.edu

Digitial Media and Learning Competition

lisagatesphd@gmail.com — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:22:52 -0500

The third-annual Digital Media and Learning Competition will award $2 million in support of participatory learning experiences that incorporate STEM principles. The competition launches Dec. 14 and winners will be announced in spring 2010. The competition, funded by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, will be administered by a network of educators and digital innovators at “HASTAC” (the Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Advanced Collaboratory).

Awards will be given in two categories:

21st Century Learning Lab Designers will receive awards for learning environments and digital media-based experiences that allow young people to grapple with social challenges through STEM-based activities. Digital media of any type (social networks, games, virtual worlds, mobile devices or others) may be used. Proposals are also encouraged for curricula or other experiences that link or connect to any video game, especially, but not limited to, Sony’s LittleBigPlanet™ on PlayStation®3.
Game Changers awards recognize creative new games or additions to Sony’s LittleBigPlanet™. These games and game expansions should offer young people engaging game play experiences that incorporate principles of science, technology, engineering and math.

As part of their prize, awardees will receive special consultation support on everything from technology development to management training. Winners will be invited to showcase their work at a conference that will include venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, educators and policy makers seeking the best ideas about digital learning.

For more information about the competition, visit dmlcompetition.net.