by Roberta (Robin) Sullivan, Nicole Simon, Christine Marchese, Cherie Van Putten
Organizations and institutions can use EmTech to provide professional development opportunities for cohorts of participants in a wide range of situations.
Overview
The State University of New York’s “Exploring Emerging Technologies for Lifelong Learning and Success” (#EmTechMOOC) introduces faculty to free, established, and emerging technologies with the aim of incorporating learning activities into teaching in the classroom and online. This Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) provides a community for sharing and support to develop a lifelong learning mindset to enhance personal and professional growth. EmTechWIKI is a crowdsourced collection of free emerging technologies including audio, video, blogs, wikis, gamification, simulations, and more. EmTech addresses the needs of college students, faculty, and anyone interested in learning how to use emerging technologies to succeed at home, school, and in the workplace in today’s rapidly changing environment. Everyone is welcome to participate, instructors can integrate activities into student assignments, and organizations can also adapt EmTech for professional development programming.
Introduction
The “Exploring Emerging Technologies for Lifelong Learning and Success” (#EmTechMOOC) by the State University of New York (SUNY) introduces faculty to free, established, and emerging technologies with the aim of incorporating learning activities into teaching in the classroom and online. A Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) provides a community for sharing and support to develop a lifelong learning mindset. EmTechWIKI is a crowdsourced collection of free emerging technologies, including audio, video, blogs, wikis, gamification, simulations, and more to enhance personal and professional growth. The WIKI can be used together with the MOOC and as a stand-alone resource.
Who is EmTech Targeted To?
EmTech responds to the needs of college students, faculty, and anyone interested in learning how to use freely available emerging technologies to succeed at home, in school, or in the workplace in today’s rapidly changing environment.
EmTech is ideal for participants with diverse backgrounds and abilities. When considering global perspectives, using technology tools does not diminish. Needs are heightened and highlighted. A critical goal of MOOCs is to democratize learning by making high-quality education accessible to anyone worldwide.
Everyone can participate in the EmTech MOOC and WIKI individually at any time and from anywhere. Organizations and institutions can use EmTech to provide professional development opportunities for cohorts of participants in a wide range of situations. Teaching centers can implement the project for professional development programming, instructors can integrate activities for student assignments into their courses, and organizations can address the needs of their stakeholders by adopting the MOOC content and WIKI resources.
Objectives
Upon completing the MOOC, instructors and participants will increase their ability to implement and engage with freely available, established, and emerging technologies. Participants will develop a personalized toolbox through EmTechWIKI to create and find OER (Open Educational Resources) in a variety of media-rich formats.
EmTech participants also learn how to harness emerging technologies for career and personal advancement, integrating lifelong learning strategies with the 4Cs of 21st-century: skills, communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking.
In addition, participants gain a deeper understanding of how they can implement this free learning opportunity as a basis for faculty development programming.
What is EmTech?
EmTech introduces various technological tools and resources, which are explored through hands-on Discovery Learning Exercises in the MOOC modules. Instructors are encouraged to engage in hands-on experiments and play using technology resources aligned to their desired learning objectives. The MOOC is supported by the complementary EmTechWIKI, a socially curated collection of technology tools and resources that is also available as a stand-alone open educational resource. A peer-review activity is part of the final module, during which participants assess the ePortfolio they developed to highlight the artifacts they created in the first four modules.
Through the MOOC, participants learn how to apply technologies to support the 4Cs of 21st-century skills of communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. The 4Cs center around lifelong learning and the notion of learners at all levels incorporating emerging technologies into their standard skillset. Participants become lifelong learners using the 4Cs as a foundation empowers participants to find added value in selecting emerging technology tools to communicate and collaborate while expanding their critical thinking skills and level of creativity. #EmTechMOOC is an asset for any instructional situation and is a great resource available to instill 21st-century skills.
Impact
Based on impact studies of the MOOC, 75% of participants gained strategies to improve their lifelong learning habits on digital literacy skills, 74% have improved their ability to use emerging technologies, and 75% have increased their technology comfort levels. 89% of participants would recommend the MOOC to others, while 72% intend to continue using the WIKI after completing the MOOC. These outcomes, along with other significant findings may be viewed on the EmTech website’s Impact page.
Acknowledgements
Support for this initiative is provided through the University at Buffalo, Binghamton University, Nassau Community College, and the SUNY Center for Professional Development. Funding has been provided through a SUNY Innovative Instruction Technology Grant (IITG), a University at Buffalo Professional Pathways Grant. Recent financing also came from a National Education Association (NEA) – Learning and Leadership Fund Grant, allowing us to expand our reach even more to meet the needs of K12 educators.
This project is licensed under a Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC-SA) license to allow other educational institutions and organizations to easily adapt the SUNY #EmTechMOOC open educational resource to potentially implement this free learning opportunity within their own campus or another learning context.
Visit the project website to learn more.
References
Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning (ITDL), 2(1), 3–10.
Sullivan, R. R., van Putten, C., Marchese, C., & Simon, N. (2021). Technology-infused ePortfolios Empower Lifelong Learners Through SUNY #EmTechMOOC. AAEEBL ePortfolio Review (AePR), 4(2), 55. https://bit.ly/emtech-aepr2021
Sullivan, R. R., van Putten, C., Cole, E., Fulcher, K., Kruger, J., Sipley, G., Rigolino, R., Herman, J. (2021). Empowering Faculty to Design Technology-Enriched Student Learning: A Constructivist and Connectivist Hybrid MOOC. P. Maki & P. Shea (Eds.), Transforming Digital Learning and Assessment: A Guide to Available and Emerging Practices, and Building Institutional Consensus. (pp. 99). Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing LLC. http://bit.ly/emtech-maki2021
Sullivan, R. R., Fulcher, K., Kruger, J., Sipley, G., van Putten, C. (2019). Emerging Technologies for Lifelong Learning and Success: A MOOC for Everyone. Journal of Educational Technology Systems. 47(2). http://bit.ly/emtech-jets010319
Sullivan, R. R., Neu, V., Yang, F. (2018). Faculty Development to Promote Effective Instructional Technology Integration: A Qualitative Examination of Reflections in an Online Community. Online Learning Journal (OLJ). (22)4. http://bit.ly/emtech-olc2018
Author
Roberta (Robin) Sullivan, Teaching & Learning Strategist, Education Services Team, University Libraries, University at Buffalo, rrs@buffalo.edu
Nicole Simon, Professor, Nassau Community College, Nicole.Simon@ncc.edu
Cherie Van Putten, Instructional Designer, Binghamton University, cvanp@binghamton.edu
Christine Marchese, Associate Professor at SUNY Nassau Community College, Christine.Marchese@ncc.edu