This document outlines Matthew Jett Hall's goal of exploring the effectiveness of digital technologies in the classroom. It discusses several courses he taught that integrated these technologies, including English 115F on digital narrative forms and CS 292 on the shift from publishing to participation. The document considers factors like ease of use, costs, learning curves, and risks of technologies. It also provides examples of how tools like podcasting, blogs, and videos were used to enhance learning, participation and dissemination of content for different courses.

1. Matthew Jett Hall
Spring 2009

2. Goal: explore use of digital technologies in the
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classroom to determine the impact on students
and faculty and apparent effectiveness.
Instructing

Creating

Disseminating

Enabling
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 students to create content and teach
 teachers to enhance participation and disseminate
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3. What
works? What is?
What is
possible?
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4. How effective are digital technologies in the

classroom environment?
 Social Context
 Inventory of Courses
 Inventory of Digital Intervention Techniques
 Assess Effectiveness
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5. Electronic, digital and software tools impose

a cost burden in terms of time even if “free”
There is a risk of S.P.O.R. from “free” SaaS

Advertising models will expand

Support, maintenance, and preparation time

Some class time will be invested in teaching

the use of the tools
If it can break, it will break. Be prepared.
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6. Does the technology get in the way?

How much effort is required?

Is it useful to the students?

How much preparation before class?

How steep is the learning curve?

How complex is it during the class?

What is the risk of the technology failing?
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7. Traditionalists (62-83) “the Silent Generation, veterans”

 Born: between about 1925 and 1946
 Cultural influences: Great Depression, World War II, Korean War, postwar boom era, GI Bill
 Workplace values: loyalty, recognition, hierarchy, resistance to change
Baby Boomers (44-61) “ Sandwich Generation (many take care of children and aging parents)”

 Born: between about 1946 and 1964
 Cultural influences: popularization of television, assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Beatles, first
moon walk, Vietnam War, antiwar protests, sexual revolution
 Workplace values: dedication, face time, team spirit
Generation X (27 - 43) aka: “Slacker Generation, the Me Generation”

 Born: between about 1964 and 1982
 Cultural influences: fall of the Soviet Union, women's-liberation movement, MTV, grunge, rise of home
video games and personal computers, birth of the Internet, dot-com boom and bust
 Workplace values: work-life balance, autonomy, flexibility, informality
Generation Y (18-26) aka: “Millennials”

 Born: between about 1982 and the late 1990s
 Cultural influences: Internet era, September 11 terrorist attacks, cellphones, Columbine High School
massacre, Facebook
 Workplace values: feedback, recognition, fulfillment, advanced technology, fun
Fogg, Piper “When Generations Collide.” Chronicle of Higher Education. 18 Jul 2008: Online
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8. SO WHAT ARE
OUR MISSIONS?
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9.  Collaborate & Discover
 Web / video conference
 Fixed line and mobile phones
 Instant text and mobile messaging
 Application sharing and joint editing
 Extemporaneous
 Real Time & Immediate: across time & distance
 Learn
 Expand the classroom
 Active participation
 Extend the hours of learning
 Disseminate
 Time Shift
 Lecture capture
 Digital content on-demand
 Digital distribution
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10. Fall 2007 English 115F: Worlds of Wordcraft
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Spring 2008 CS 292: Beyond the One Way Web
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Fall 2008 English 115F: Worlds of Wordcraft
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Spring 2009 ENGM 216 Engineering Economy
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11. Course: English 115F: Worlds of Wordcraft - - Narrative Expression in a Digital Age
Time Delivered: Fall 2007, 2008, 2009
Students: 15 first year students
Required: Yes
Course Description:
Computer games are transforming the entertainment industry, generating $12.5 billion in revenue in 2006 and attracting countless
adults as well as children to virtual play. For more than twenty years, online communities have been producing new forms of
psychological, social, and cultural experience. The early text-based spaces of MOOs and chat rooms have evolved into virtual societies
such as Second Life, which provide a platform for everything from educational experiments to virtual sex to commerce with imaginary
currency and real money freely exchanged. Early text-based adventure games such as Zork have become the multimedia
environments of online games like World of Warcraft, which combine the written word with graphics, music, skills, professions, and
action.
Are online games generating new interactive modes of narrative? How do multimedia environments transform the age-old patterns of
quest romances that structure much game play? Is the line between virtual and real experience erased by the fusion of online
communities, role playing, and escapist fictions? These questions will animate our consideration of digital narrative forms.
Co-taught by the head of ITS and the chair of the English department, the course will meet in a high tech multimedia seminar
room, allowing us to explore the fundamentals of game design. Students will be required to subscribe to an online game for the
semester and will compare the interactive story arcs with related narrative forms from literature and film. Readings will range from
Spenser’s Faerie Queene to Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash and include critical theory such as Bolter and Grusin’s Remediation:
Understanding New Media, Edward Castronova’s Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Cultures of Online Games, Jesper Juul’s Half-
Real: Video Games between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds, and McKenzie Wark’s Gamer Theory.
Website / Syllabus: http://worldsofwordcraft.wordpress.com/syllabus-2008/
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12. Course: Computer Science 292: Beyond the One Way Web: From Publishing to Participation
Time Delivered: Spring 2008
Students: 12 undergraduate, 3 graduate students
Required: No
Course Description:
October 2004 marked the debut of a new set of terminology and concepts in both the computer science and mainstream vocabularies: Web 2.0. As personal computers, 3D rendering,
game consoles, and smart mobility devices achieve ever lower price points and higher degrees of capabilities, each can connect to high speed mobile and land based Internet services.
The network now is much greater than the sum of its parts, and social computing, personal journalism, and digital media now take on new significance in the hands of individuals as
equally empowered as well-known journalists and authors. As the worldwide population with Internet connectivity reaches over 1.1 billion people in 2007, the power of individuals to
create and disseminate interesting, professional and informative content and technical innovation rises at an exponential rate.
This course explores both the technological breakthroughs and the underlying social changes that enabled the shift from publishing to participation. In conjunction with this, we will
explore how industries such as software development, entertainment, and medicine adapt to the increasing changes forced upon them. By equipping the student with basic
vocabularies and living examples from the Web 2.0 world, he or she can more effectively engage in and shape the on-going discussions about the future of our connected societies.
Upon completing this course, the student will
 Develop a conceptual framework work that places technical innovation in appropriate business and social context
 Understand the fundamental history of the Internet
 Be able to define Web 2.0 and approach conversations around this topic in both an informed and critical manner
 Understand Web 2.0’s social impact on journalism, publishing, intellectual property and broadcasting
 Develop a framework and vocabulary for critical analysis and discourse
 Gain practical experience with Mashup, Podcasting and Blogging software and tools
 Undertake examinations, projects, and individual experiences that utilize Web 2.0 terms, tools, and techniques
 Create a Podcast: Summary of a Chapter from Where Wizards Stay Up Late
 Weekly class blog post: screen shot and topic
 Participate in five quizzes to test your knowledge of the topics under discussion.
 Be informed as to the future of our connected world
Website / Syllabus: http://beyondtheonewayweb.wordpress.com/7/
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13. Course: Engineering Management 216: Engineering Economy
Time Delivered: Spring 2009
Students: 43 Undergraduate Engineering students (Civil / Structural
primarily)
Required: Yes
Course Description:
Economic evaluation and comparison of alternatives: interest, periodic
payments depreciation, criteria, and analytical procedures in investment
decision-making, plant feasibility, and cost estimating. Provides a
fundamental finance course for determine the time value of money in
addition to macro-economic trends that impact how you make good
decisions.
Website:
Course Links: http://delicious.com/matthew_hall4/216
Supplemental Materials: http://tinyurl.com/a5kve8
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14. Ease of Use

Cost

Learning Curve

Preparation Time

Technical Support Required

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16. Learning

 Tools of podcasting
 Narrative
 Summarization
Dissemination

 Uploads content from
studio to YOUTUBE
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17. Allows

participation
Records key

points
Digital record of

activity
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20. Dissemination

 Inexpensive
distribution vehicle
In-Class Use

 Requires extra time
to weed out non-
sense
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22. Wordpress

Casual, quality

writing
Audience

awareness
Tags /

Classification
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26. English 115f
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Lot of work!
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27. Example: Used in Engineering Economy
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28. English 115F

Used to capture

narrative in the
text on the
Smartboard
Comparison to

other media
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31. Shirking
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Poaching

Opportunistic Renegotiation
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Out of Custody / Loss of Control
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Counterparty Risk
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32. 4/9/2009 – Engineering Management
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 Embarassing in video advert
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33. Advice – Screen your content in its entirety!

Source of Credibility Transfer

Perusing, Scanning, and Verifying utility

Is it legal? Copyright? Re-Use

Will it be there in future?
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34. Course Related
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 115F Course Home: http://worldsofwordcraft.wordpress.com/
 Matt’s Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/matthewjetthall
 115f Supplemental: http://preview.tinyurl.com/worldsofwordcraft
 CS292: http://beyondtheonewayweb.wordpress.com/
 Vicarious Universe: http://vicariousuniverse.wordpress.com/
 Delicious Bookmarks: http://delicious.com/matthew_hall4
Center for Teaching

 Cycle 1: http://www.cfkeep.org/html/snapshot.php?id=34889880693415
 Cycle 2: http://www.cfkeep.org/html/snapshot.php?id=78806081767013
 Cycle 3: http://www.cfkeep.org/html/snapshot.php?id=8586875133763
Other

 The Net Generation Goes to College: http://chronicle.com/free/v52/i07/07a03401.htm
 When Generations Collide: http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/i45/45b01801.htm
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