Explore the many technology tools and services available at SPS CAES.
The Center for Academic Excellence and Support (CAES) promotes and supports the integration of educational technologies to support student engagement and success in SPS classrooms. Technology is not always the answer for low student engagement or success, but when it's affordances make sense and it aligns with the course learning outcomes, we should explore the meaningful addition of educational technologies to our classroom.
The Educational Technology Ecosystem has been developed to illustate the benefits technology can add to sound pedagogical practice. Below are a list of teaching strategies/considerations and coresponding educational technologies.
NYU provides a number of tools for faculty to collaborate with and among students. The tools provide a number of options across multiple modalities.
Tools: Forums
Forums: This tool allows students in an Asynchronous format to collaborate with each other on presentations, projects and discussion topics.
Use Case: Ask teams of students to present on a given topic and have them complete their team communications through the Forums tool. This will provide record of interaction.
Tools: Groups, Docs, Slides, Sheets, Drive and Hangouts
The G Suite applications are designed with collaboration in mind. It is simple to share documents with multiple contributors. Faculty and Students have access to the G suite thought NYU Home and specific NYU Classes integrations.
NYU Classes Google Groups Integration: The NYU Google Groups integration provides faculty with the ability to create NYU Groups based off of the membership of their NYU Classes course site.
Use Case: Groups can be used to easily share content, such as NYU Drive files/folders, NYU Calendars, and more, with members of a course site. The access permissions for this content will stay up-to-date with the membership in the instructor's NYU Classes site.
NYU provides a number of tools for faculty to communicate with students. The tools provide a number of options across mulitple modalities.
Tools: Messages, Forums (Discussion Boards), Announcements
Messages: This tool allows faculty and students of a course to send messages (emails) to other members of a course. The messages are contained within the course site with copies sent to the recipients NYU Gmail account.
Use Case: This is a great tool to discuss grades with your students.
Forums (Discussion Board): This tool allows faculty and students to engage in online asynchronous discussions. The Forums tool can be arranged in a number of ways to facilitate a different topics and needs.
Use Case: Setting up a general questions forum, minimizes the number or repetitive emails covering the same topics. Ask your students to post general course questions to the Forums tool rather than sending emails.
Use Case: Forums is a powerful tool that helps students build voice prior to in-person class discussions. Create Forums for each of your in-class discussions and have the students begin answering the questions prior to class. Benefits a multicultural classroom.
Announcements: This tool allows faculty to send one way messages to their enrolled students.
Use Case: Reminding students of class cancelations, test/project reminders, reading reminders, course related co-currated events, and/or assignment due dates.
This tool is a mulitmedia-based asynchronous discussion board that allows students and faculty to post voice-based responses to a central piece of content. The content can be posted by the faculty member or the students.
Use Case: I'm teaching a marketing course and would like to have a focused discussion on a marketing campaign created by...
This tool allows faculty to connect with students in a live webinar styled session. Faculty can use the share their screen, share video, engage in polling, and breakout students in small groups.
Use Case: Faculty can use Zoom for online office hours, add a remote guest speaker to their course, and hold test/project review sessions.
An ePortfolio is a collection of student work that represents evidence of what students learned in and out of the classroom through the development of showcases. Students are encouraged to identify and reflect on their best work.
ePortfolio showcases can contain any number of the follow:
Step-by-step illustrated instructions designed for faculty ePortfolio users.
Step-by-step illustrated instructions designed for student ePortfolio users.
Do you use PowerPoint to present in your classes? If so, think-cell — used by most consulting firms — might save you a significant amount of working time and enable you to create professional looking presentations for your coursework. Knowing think-cell could be a valuable skill as you enter the workplace since many employers, including top consulting firms and investment banks, use the software.
think-cell is free to NYU School of Professional Studies' students, faculty and staff. It takes just minutes to learn watching the short video tutorials available for each chart type. See below for helpful training resources and instructions on how to download think-cell.
Games are powerful tools with dynamics that inspire and engage learners unlike anything else. They can be used to develop skills and competencies as students focus on the activities of the game.
How can games be used?
They can be your learning activities
They can deliver your content over several sessions
They can last the the entirety of your course
How can a game be effective for learning?
A game must be strongly connected with the learning outcomes
A game must socialize the student with the content
A game must engage its students (whether competitively or cooperatively)
"A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool."
"Gamification is the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game Contexts." "Gamification is about transforming the classroom environment and regular activities into a game."
"GBL is type of instruction involving the use of game characteristics or game mechanics, or game elements (e.g., challenge, points, reward, feedback, competition) to boost learners’ motivation and improve engagement. Ultimately, GBL targets to enhance learning."
Build an emotional connection to learning and subject matter
Provides Opportunity for feedback and practice
Customize to individualized teaching and learning
Engagement
Retention
Achievement/Performance
Enjoyment
Confidence
Self-esteem and reduce academic related anxiety
Cognitive and Emotional Involvement (Jabbar & Felicia, 2015)
Aid cognitive development
Boost enthusiasm
Track learners’ progress
Provide learner autonomy
Offer real time feedback
Provide learners the opportunity to see real-world application
Enhance the learning experience
What is Gamification and Why Use It in Teaching?
Game-based Learning vs. Gamification: What is the difference?
Why do people want to use games to teach?
How to incorporate games or GBL into the classroom? (Dependent on Modality)
What is gamification in the classroom?
What is gamification in elearning?
What are the best games elements to use?
What is Gamification and Why Use It in Teaching?
“Fantastic Places, Unhuman Humans: Exploring Humanity Through Literature” is a gamified online course from Brown University. In this class, students “travel” through literature along the course map. Students complete assignments and readings throughout the course called “quests” that concentrate on integral parts of a story and themes that run throughout the duration of the course.
These quests challenge students to participate in activities such as produce narrative visualizations, capture interpretations through art, and engage in battles with characters from the readings. Students also learn how to identify problems that grow out of the effort to apply definitive and universal moral judgments to actions, thoughts, social structures, and/or living beings.
In addition, students also explore challenges that grow out of the effort to define what constitutes the categories of "Nature" and "Natural." Participants must consider multiple interpretations of literary works by leveraging alternative tools like computer-generated visualizations.
Finally, students are called to present their insights in an engaging, coherent, organized, and focused form through the use of literary analysis.
Egan, J. (2018, January 29). Fantastic Places, Unhuman Humans: Exploring Humanity Through Literature. Retrieved April 11, 2019, from https://www.edx.org/course/fantastic-places-unhuman-humans-exploring-humanity-through-literature
Kahoot is a games-based learning platform that provides instructors with a gamfieid way to engage with students in the classroom as well as online. Instructors start off by creating small learning games called “kahoots.”
These kahoots are a series of multiple choice questions created by instructors. You can add text, video, images, and diagrams to increase engagement. Kahoots are best when played in groups in a classroom. But you can also play them synchronously online with a distributed group of students. These types of ad hoc activities provide a sense of inclusivity and belonging in an otherwise challenging blended learning environment.
Kahoot. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2019, from https://kahoot.com/
Watch the Skies The Megagame of Alien Terror is a megagame about international relations, conflict, negotiation, and diplomacy. The premise of the game is that aliens are increasingly visiting earth to abduct, investigate, terrorise and ultimately take over the planet. The main objective of the game is to play the roles of a collection of human political entities and how they react to this.
Megagames are a growing genre of games that involve teams of players, dynamic narratives, engaging and strong interactions, as well as ‘sub-games,’ that connect with one another and relate to the narrative.
Megagames cover a wide range of subjects and have included simulations of military operations, diplomacy and treaty making games, UN international crises, politics, and historical reenactments.
Watch the Skies. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2019, from http://www.watchtheskies.net/wts-megagames.htm
Guy, I., Hashavit, A., & Corem, Y. (2015, February). Games for crowds: A crowdsourcing game platform for the enterprise. In Proceedings of the 18th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (pp. 1860-1871). ACM.
Hamari, J., Koivisto, J., & Sarsa, H. (2014, January). Does Gamification Work?-A Literature Review of Empirical Studies on Gamification. In HICSS (Vol. 14, No. 2014, pp. 3025-3034)
Deterding, S., Sicart, M., Nacke, L., O'Hara, K., & Dixon, D. (2011, May). Gamification. using game-design elements in non-gaming contexts. In CHI'11 extended abstracts on human factors in computing systems (pp. 2425-2428). ACM.
Huotari, K., & Hamari, J. (2012, October). Defining gamification: a service marketing perspective. In Proceeding of the 16th international academic MindTrek conference (pp. 17-22). ACM.
Ebner, M., & Holzinger, A. (2007). Successful implementation of user-centered game based learning in higher education: An example from civil engineering. Computers & education, 49(3), 873-890.
Sung, H. Y., & Hwang, G. J. (2013). A collaborative game-based learning approach to improving students' learning performance in science courses. Computers & education, 63, 43-51
Sousa, M. J., & Rocha, Á. (2019). Leadership styles and skills developed through game-based learning. Journal of Business Research, 94, 360-366.
Giannakas, F. ( 1 ), Kambourakis, G. ( 1 ), Gritzalis, S. ( 1 ), & Papasalouros, A. ( 2 ). (n.d.). A critical review of 13 years of mobile game-based learning. Educational Technology Research and Development, 66(2), 341–384. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-017-9552-z
Shabalina, O., Malliarakis, C., Tomos, F., & Mozelius, P. (2017). Game-based learning for learning to program: From learning through play to learning through game development. Reading: Academic Conferences International Limited. Retrieved from http://proxy.library.nyu.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1967745175?accountid=12768
Yukselturk Erman, Altıok Serhat, & Başer Zeynep. (2018). Using Game-Based Learning with Kinect Technology in Foreign Language Education Course. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 21(3), 159.
Fatta, H. A. hanif. a@amikom. ac. i., Maksom, Z. zulisman@utem. edu. m., & Zakaria, M. H. hafiz@utem. edu. m. (2018). Game-based Learning and Gamification: Searching for Definitions. International Journal of Simulation -- Systems, Science & Technology, 19(6), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.5013/IJSSST.a.19.06.41
Game Design | Comparative Media Studies/Writing | MIT OpenCourseWare https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/comparative-media-studies-writing/cms-608-game-design-fall-2010/
Instructor Insights | Introduction to Game Design Methods | Comparative Media Studies/Writing | MIT OpenCourseWare https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/comparative-media-studies-writing/cms-301-introduction-to-game-design-methods-spring-2016/instructor-insights/
Jabbar, A. I. A., & Felicia, P. (2015). Gameplay engagement and learning in game-based learning: A systematic review. Review of Educational Research, 85(4), 740 – 779.
http://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315577210
The Course Networking (CN) ePortfolio is a tool that offers SPS Academic Programs the ability to reimagine their pedagogy and assessment strategies. ePortfolios are tools that enable students to collection academic and co-curricular artifacts throughout their program. Once artifacts are collected it provides students a robust opportunity to engage in metacognitive reflection about their learning.
The ePortfolio will lanch in Fall 2019 as a key pedagogical approach in the MS in Global Sport and the MS in Human Capital Analytics and Technology programs. Administators and faculty in these programs worked alongside the CAES team to reimagine the way students can reflect on their own work. We will share out to the SPS community the progress we are making with the adoption in these two programs.
Beginning Fall 2019, the CAES team will be happy to sit down with any academic leader or faculty member who is interested in exploring ePortfolios.
Visit our Events and Workshops page to sign-up for one of two information sessions we will offer this fall.
The WetInk learning management system is a platform built from the ground up to create deeply engaging writing experiences for students and faculty. It changes the way students engage with eachother as they grow in their writing abilities.
WetInk will launch as a limited pilot in Fall 2019 to explore how impactful a writing centered learning management system might change the way student enjoy and build community around writing. Select writing faculty in the Divison of Applied Undergraduate Studies will be transitioning their courses from NYUClasses to WetInk this summer in preparation for Fall 2019.
Beginning Fall 2019, Chris Zakrzewski, Director of Educational Technology would be happy to sit down with any academic leader of faculty member who is interested in exploring WetInk for writing intensive courses.
Cerego is an adaptive learning platform designed with powerful algorithums and learning anaylitics to challenge students on concepts in order to improve retention. The learning anaylitics generates dynamic infomation so faculty know what concepts to spend more time on in class.
Cerego is currently adopted in the College of Dentistry where they have seen great improvements in student scores on the board exams. Explore the College of Dentistry Cerego case study to learn more about the success students are experiencing on the board exam.
Beginning Spring 2020, the MS in Professional Writing program will pilot Cerego in an effort to improve students' understanding of sentance structure and writing concepts.
Beginning Fall 2019, Chris Zakrzewski, Director of Educational Technology would be happy to sit down with any academic leader of faculty member who is interested in exploring adaptive learning and Cerego.
Simulations are powerful tools that have the potential to engage students in a type of “deep learning” that cannot be achieved through traditional methods. Like games-based learning and problem-based learning; simulations empower students. They are given agency to determine how to proceed given a specific set of circumstances, resources, and constraints.
Simulations allow students to change and vary values and parameters. Through this they are able to witness visceral changes in situations and environments with the change of small variables.
Well implemented simulations are constructed in a way that allows students to extend what they have learned and discovered in new applications and context.
Why Teach with Simulations? (2018, May 21). Retrieved April 22, 2019, from https://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/simulations/why.html
What is a Simulation?
A simulation is a creation of scenario or circumstances. These can be real life conditions, situations, past occurrences like historical events, or future outcomes of circumstances. Simulations can be extremely realistic or incredibly simplistic. In either case, they are meant to represent a model or a system. One can simulate traffic patterns, diplomatic negotiations, or the weather. Simulations are meant to be recreations of scenarios where students can experiment to see different outcomes.
What are the benefits of using simulations in teaching and learning?
Simulations are valuable resources for teaching and learning. They allow learners to experiment with different systems, observe the connections of relationships, and determine the best course of actions. Connected to areas like problem-based learning, project-based learning, and games-based learning; simulations provide an opportunity for students to put theory into practice.
Assessment of Learning After a Simulation Activity
There are different ways student learning can be assessed after using a simulation. These include:
Assess how the student connects the activities from the simulation with the learning outcome sfor the class.
Assess whether or not students can use the conclusions they formed during the simulation to another problem or context.
Assess whether students can emulate the simulation process and explain the cause and effect of different activities.
What are the effective ways to use simulations?
What are the major steps in the simulation process?
What are the difference between gamification, simulations, and serious games?
What are the benefits of gamification and simulation in the classroom?
Gamification, Serious Games, and Simulations: The Differences
How to choose the right approach for learning between games and simulations?
How to use simulations in social sciences
EVOKE is an alternate reality game that challenges its player to solve big global challenges. Originally developed for the World Bank Institute, it’s learning outcomes were to help students identify and take action against global issues. The game takes place on a week to week to week basis where a new chapter of a graphic novel is revealed. These chapters introduce players to different challenges in the not so distant future. They include issues like human trafficking, food scarcity, and climate change. Students engage and earn points by responding to the issues by reacting. They react through blogs, videos, or photos that communicate their proposed solutions and reactions.
McGonigal, J. (2010). Urgent Evoke. Retrieved April 24, 2019, from http://www.urgentevoke.com/
My Interview Practice helps students prepare for and practice their interviewing techniques with prospective employers. Through this system, students first choose the industry that the yare interviewing for and then select areas that they want to focus on. Next, they can practice online where questions are curated for their interview and they respond via recorded video. Questions appear on students’ screens and the simulator records their response. Once the interview is completed a recording is provided to the students that they can share out for review by their peers, instructors, and mentors. This feedback can also be shared and disseminated in a live classroom environment where active discussion and feedback can take place.
My Interview Practice (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2019, from https://www.myinterviewpractice.com/
Watch the Skies The Megagame of Alien Terror is both a game and a simulation about international relations, conflict, negotiation, and diplomacy. The premise of the simulation is that aliens are increasingly visiting earth to abduct, investigate, terrorise and ultimately take over the planet. The main objective is to play the roles of a collection of human political entities and how they react to this.
Megagames cover a wide range of subjects and have included simulations of military operations, diplomacy and treaty making games, UN international crises, politics, and historical reenactments.
Watch the Skies. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2019, from http://www.watchtheskies.net/wts-megagames.htm
Bolton, R. N., Chapman, R. G., & Mills, A. J. (2019). Harnessing digital disruption with marketing simulations. Journal of Marketing Education, 41(1), 15-31.
Duchatelet, D., Gijbels, D., Bursens, P., Donche, V., & Spooren, P. (2019). Looking at role-play simulations of political decision-making in higher education through a contextual lens: A state-of-the-art. Educational Research Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2019.03.002
Hartshorne, R., Waring, S. M., & Okraski, H. (2019). Developing Well-informed, Critically Thinking, and Active Citizens Through the Connection of Modeling & Simulation and Social Studies Education. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, 1-5.
Heard-Lauréote, K., Bortun, V., & Kreuschitz, M. (2019). The Effectiveness of Simulations as an Outreach Tool: Using Simulations to Boost Interest in EU-Related Higher Education Study. Journal of Contemporary European Research, 15(1), 93-109.
Kunde, D. T., & Webb, C. C. (2019). Using Interprofessional Simulations Designed for Competent-to-Expert Clinicians in an Acute Care to Promote Effective Teamwork.
Lohmann, G., Pratt, M. A., Benckendorff, P., Strickland, P., Reynolds, P., & Whitelaw, P. A. (2019). Online business simulations: authentic teamwork, learning outcomes, and satisfaction. Higher Education, 77(3), 455-472.
Sharma, M. (2015). Simulation Models for Teacher Training: Perspectives and Prospects. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(4), 11-14.
CAES Media Services supports the development of reusable video/audio assests that have a live span of no less than two academic terms. The reusable assets should add to the educational experience of SPS students and be tied to program and/or course level learning outcomes.