We're pleased to present the latest issue of The Prospect (Issue 8), a CNDLS publication designed to highlight innovative teaching practice at Georgetown.
Since the invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, Georgetown has responded in myriad ways. From public prayer sessions to organized support by student clubs, the Georgetown community has expressed solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Katya Sedova, a student from Ukraine currently studying at Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS), expressed her faith in Ukrainian solidarity at a Georgetown town hall. “I want you to understand to what extent Ukrainians will resist. It’s not a hashtag. It is a reality for every Ukrainian, wherever they are in the world,” as reported in The Hoya. (more…)
DL Webinar Innovative Feedback Strategies from CNDLS on Vimeo.
To help us get ready for the end of the semester, on March 17th, 2022, executive director for digital learning Molly Chehak and assistant director for digital learning Lee Skallerup Bessette offered some tools and strategies to help give feedback to students. From comments in Google Docs to oral feedback in Speedgrader in Canvas, this webinar is full of examples and strategies to help students understand and access your feedback.
You can always email cndls@georgetown.edu if you would like to schedule a consultation to discuss any of these tools and strategies.
To help us get ready for the end of the semester, on March 17th, 2022, executive director for digital learning Molly Chehak and assistant director for digital learning Lee Skallerup Bessette offered some tools and strategies to help give feedback to students. From comments in Google Docs to oral feedback in Speedgrader in Canvas, this webinar is full of examples and strategies to help students understand and access your feedback.
You can always email cndls@georgetown.edu if you would like to schedule a consultation to discuss any of these tools and strategies.
In summer 2020 Georgetown launched a student-faculty partnership whereby students, in the role of Instructional Technology Aides (ITAs), use their technological skills to help facilitate a seamless hybrid or online learning environment for students and faculty. The ITA program at Georgetown enables students and faculty members not only to work smoothly with technology, but also helps them forge new personal connections, seize opportunities for learning, and develop mentorship relationships. For this post, CNDLS Graduate Associate Chelsea Zhang interviewed three students who have worked as ITAs and participated in training newly appointed ITAs:Making Connections with Faculty and Students
Davlyn Velez is a lead ITA, a current senior in Sociology, and has been helping a professor in the Anthropology department. Davlyn has been an ITA since the 2020-2021 school year and enjoys mentoring new ITAs. One of his greatest enjoyments has been connecting with the professors and getting to know them on a personal level. Furthermore, learning from the lectures, getting feedback from the students, and having the stability of a work schedule appealed to Dalyvn. In his experience, professors express appreciation for the technical support because that allows them to focus on other course components, such as teaching and grading. One of the challenges Davlyn mentioned was the need to clarify expectations between the student and professor in the beginning to understand everyone's skill level. Acting as a mentor for students is a lasting favorite memory of the program.
Learning about Different Subjects
Angelique Besnard has been an ITA for several terms now and is currently a senior in the SFS program. As an ITA, she enjoys the opportunity to sit in and learn about different subjects and lectures that she would not typically be exposed to, such as graduate classes. Furthermore, the special opportunity to develop a relationship with the professor beyond the course material is pivotal, realizing the human aspect of education and the human connection that we all need. Angelique noted that the feedback that professors seek from students to make the courses more engaging is very powerful because professors recognize the voices of students. According to Angelique, while sometimes the amount of time spent in front of the screen can be a challenge, it’s worth it, knowing that your efforts to help the educational system improve are appreciated. One of the greatest takeaways from this program for Angelique is understanding and learning the different ways in which people learn and how to help students learn better using technological tools and pedagogy.The Mentor/Mentee Relationship Esther Wroth is an ITA who started in the fall of 2020. An SFS student at Georgetown, she credits the ITA program for helping her discover new topics that she didn’t know she was interested in, such as the class “Feminist Thought,” taught by professor Elizabeth Velez. Velez remains one of her mentors today because of the opportunity she had to listen in to one of her lectures, a moment that opened the door to further conversation. She cites one of the greatest opportunities of the program as the chance to build a real connection with the professor outside of the traditional classroom dynamic, without grades at stake. While initially starting as an ITA, Esther was worried that she might not have the advanced technological capability for some tasks, but she later realized that the professors were appreciative and supportive. Whether taking the job as part of federal work study or for its built-in flexibility, Esther believes that the ITA program is a great opportunity for students to learn and enrich their education.For more information on the ITA program, click here.
In summer 2020 Georgetown launched a student-faculty partnership whereby students, in the role of Instructional Technology Aides (ITAs), use their technological skills to help facilitate a seamless hybrid or online learning environment for students and faculty. The ITA program at Georgetown enables students and faculty members not only to work smoothly with technology, but also helps them forge new personal connections, seize opportunities for learning, and develop mentorship relationships. For this post, CNDLS Graduate Associate Chelsea Zhang interviewed three students who have worked as ITAs and participated in training newly appointed ITAs:(more…)
DL Webinar: Managing the Concurrent Hybrid Classroom from CNDLS on Vimeo.
In response to the ever-shifting state of the world during a pandemic, on Thursday, February 17th, assistant director Lee Skallerup Bessette and CETS associate director for classroom support and systems John Steitz offered support to faculty navigating the new technology in our classroom spaces.
We encourage faculty to reach out to CETS to schedule an orientation to their classroom technology by emailing cets@georgetown.edu, and you can also email cndls@georgetown.edu to discuss pedagogical strategies.
In response to the ever-shifting state of the world during a pandemic, on Thursday, February 17th, assistant director Lee Skallerup Bessette and CETS associate director for classroom support and systems John Steitz offered support to faculty navigating the new technology in our classroom spaces.
We encourage faculty to reach out to CETS to schedule an orientation to their classroom technology by emailing cets@georgetown.edu, and you can also email cndls@georgetown.edu to discuss pedagogical strategies.
It’s launch day! Since its inception in the early 2000s, our website has undergone significant changes in content, design, and functionality, and we’re excited to bring you our latest iteration. Head to cndls.georgetown.edu and you’ll find that CNDLS has a new look, navigation, and lots of new content to share.(more…)
As we move back into the physical classroom space, we at CNDLS have collected a number of resources to help you plan, prepare, and troubleshoot possible concurrent hybrid learning situations. These resources are available in multiple modalities–written guides, video tutorials, and podcast episodes that focus on professors’ personal experience. (more…)
Accordingly to two recent articles from Inside Higher Ed and The Chronicle of Higher Education, Harvard University largely ignored reports of repeated sexual assaults on the part of a long-time professor, perpetuating a culture of indifference towards sexual assault.Allegations of Harvard’s ‘Policy of Indifference’On Tuesday February 8, 2022, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, three graduate students at Harvard University, Amulya Mandava, Lilia Kilburn, Margaret Czerwienski filed a lawsuit against Harvard involving the case of John Comaroff, Hugh K. Foster Professor African and African American Studies of Anthropology, alleging that the university repeatedly ignored their complaints against him and failed to protect them from ongoing sexual misconduct. A 65-page complaint filed in the District Court of Massachusetts details Comaroff’s alleged sexual harrassment history at the University of Chicago in addition to the ongoing complaints to the Title IX commissioner at Harvard, which did not lead to any formal investigation until the media highlighted the case in 2020.The case has divided faculty and underscores the need for clearer expectations and norms. Close to fifty well-known and powerful faculty members championed and defended Comaroff as “an excellent colleague, adviser and committed university citizen,” while other university faculty argued that the letter of support demonstrated the protection faculty are afforded and the intimidation that can cause and prevent students from coming forward. Asymmetry of Power Dynamics in Higher EducationAccording toInside Higher Edthe detailed complaints from students point to the power dynamics at play in institutions of higher education, as is shown in the case of Mandava and Czerwienski, whom Comaroff informed would have trouble getting jobs if they reported the encounters that are described in the lawsuit. In Kilburn’s case, she alleges that Comaroff forbade her to work with other faculty members. Harvard took more than three years to investigate these ongoing sexual assault allegations against Comaroff.Claudine Gay, Edgerley Family Dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, highlights the importance of this case well by stating that “[Behind every Title IX case], are one or more complainants who made the difficult choice to come forward. Whatever your view of our current Title IX policy and procedures (which, like all policies, can and should be improved over time), we can all agree that the decision to lodge a formal complaint is a challenging experience. We should ask ourselves—perhaps especially the tenured faculty—what signal our reactions to the outcomes of these processes may send to our community, and particularly to those making that difficult choice of whether or not to come forward.”
Accordingly to two recent articles from Inside Higher Ed and The Chronicle of Higher Education, Harvard University largely ignored reports of repeated sexual assaults on the part of a long-time professor, perpetuating a culture of indifference towards sexual assault.(more…)
This week, we examine two articles that talk about women in leadership. These articles from Inside Higher Edand The Chronicle of Higher Education talk about the importance of women in leadership at colleges, highlighting issues such as increased pay and the need for greater representation of women in colleges.The Importance of Women at the Top"When women are in leadership in institutions of higher education, those institutions' women faculty have higher salaries. This finding, among other important insights on gender disparities in the academy, comes from a study from the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR), highlighted by Inside Higher Ed this week." Yet female presidents–while hiring more female administrators than their male counterparts and thereby clearing the advancement path for women–are typically paid almost ten percent less than their male counterparts. The problem is two-fold: underrepresentation and a pay gap. “It really starts with the faculty,” notes Jackie Bichsel, director of research at CUPA-HR. “The path to the president and provost positions is paved by the dean and senior faculty. One of the reasons you do not have a female president and provost is that there are not enough women in that pipeline because women are not being promoted up through the faculty ranks.” Furthermore, issues such as childcare and the responsibilities of women during COVID-19 to provide for her family should all be factored into their respective compensation packages. In sum, the article highlights the importance of female leadership in narrowing pay gaps for their female colleagues in addition to correcting a current underrepresentation. The Importance of Intersectional DiversityAn article this week in The Chronicle of Higher Educationexamines why and how leadership needs to include more women and women of color to close the “power gap.” The foundation’s report, produced in partnership with the American Association of University Women (AAUW), highlights the lack of intersectional diversity stemming from a systemic bias in the system that needs to be addressed in elite colleges. “We really want to push the conversation away from the discussion around fixing women to be better, to be more assertive. It really is the system that needs an overhaul, not women,” says Gloria Blackwell, CEO of AAUW. While women of diversity make up a significant proportion in the president's cabinet, data shows that while women account for “nearly 40 percent of all provosts and academic deans,[they] only account for 22 percent of presidents and 10 percent of system presidents.” In this study, gender balance in institutions of higher education was found to be very rare; most of those institutions, by far, were classified as “Needs Urgent Action” or “Work to Do. Ultimately, institutions must examine intersectionality as they consider diversity in their workforce since hiring people of color without simultaneously considering gender may result in an entirely male workforce.
This week, we examine two articles that talk about women in leadership. These articles from Inside Higher Edand The Chronicle of Higher Education talk about the importance of women in leadership at colleges, highlighting issues such as increased pay and the need for greater representation of women in colleges.(more…)
On January 20th, 2022, executive director for digital learning Molly Chehak and assistant director for digital learning Lee Skallerup Bessette introduced a number of digital polling tools to use in the classroom and examples of when to use them. Tools include Zoom, PollEverywhere, and Mentimeter.
Each year, Georgetown University’s MLK: “Let Freedom Ring!” Initiative encourages members of our community to reflect on one of Dr. King’s famous speeches. This year focused on the “I Have a Dream” speech and all that it symbolizes for American society, education, and learning. For the seventh year, the spring semester initiative was launched with a community-wide “Teach the Speech” Teach-In.During this year's event, Veronica Williams (Col, ‘23), who is pursuing a major in American Studies and minors in Psychology and Public Health, illustrated the fire and desire for the American Dream that still holds true today despite the ongoing prevalence of systemic racism. In fact, as Williams emphasized, people in our time have misused the words of this speech in an effort to block anti-racist efforts. Williams challenged us to reclaim King’s original anti-racist intent. Striving for a time when black people “will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” doesn’t mean ignoring the legacy of racism by ignoring race; it means identifying racist structures around us—including in the classroom—and acting to dismantle them.Neonu Jewell (Law, ‘04), Critical Race Theory Research Fellow at the African American Policy Forum, further asserted that education builds character through relation to the past and truth telling, especially when it is difficult. She also called students to take direct action to express themselves and engage in what she called “soul work.” At the heart of justice is truth telling, and we need to inspire and support our students to bring their individual perspectives into the classroom. Jewell noted the importance for teachers to set up ground rules for classroom discussion to create forward momentum and the space for an ongoing exchange of ideas. In her keynote address, Senator Jennifer McClellan, Chair of the Virginia Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Commission, reminded us that everyone’s perspective is shaped by their life experiences—our teachers, our legislators, our students—and we can make meaningful change when we engage people where they are and through our stories. It is most important for those in power to consider the impact of their work and actions on people and communities.It has been nearly 60 years since Martin Luther King said: “I dream of a day that people are not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Through Dr. King's speech, we better understand that education can—must be—the great equalizer in life, and that it can fulfill this mission if we put anti-racism at the center of our work and give all of our students room to thrive.
Each year, Georgetown University’s MLK: “Let Freedom Ring!” Initiative encourages members of our community to reflect on one of Dr. King’s famous speeches. This year focused on the “I Have a Dream” speech and all that it symbolizes for American society, education, and learning. For the seventh year, the spring semester initiative was launched with a community-wide “Teach the Speech” Teach-In.(more…)
