SHSU faculty and staff are invited to the annual two-day Digital Education Summit starting Jan. 25. The summit offers resources for learning to use online tools and emerging technology to improve the online learning and teaching experience.
“Online education is becoming more and more common, especially for those students in graduate programs,” event organizer Andrew Stewart said. “The DES (Digital Education Summit) helps the SHSU faculty to be able to take their classroom face-to-face teaching methods and apply them to an online platform. DES also allows faculty members to collaborate and share best practice methods that they have learned or currently use online.”
Those working in SHSU Online know how much the program has to offer. It has recently won six U.S. News and World Report Badges, making it a nationally recognized program.
“A large reason why SHSU Online stands out compared to other universities is the fact that online classes are taught by the same professors that teach face-to-face courses,” Stewart said. “We do not rely on a large adjunct faculty pool that resides in various locations around the country as other universities do.”
With online learning technology on the rise, the summit hopes to bring to light tips and skills that will contribute to a better, more effective online learning experience.
“The event is free so whether a faculty member has never taught online or is a seasoned veteran of online teaching, they will learn about emerging technology to improve and advance online teaching and learning,” Stewart said.
Planning for this event began around this time last year. Numerous people have put in work over the last 12 months to make sure the summit can move efficiently through all the topics that need to be covered.
“We have a great team who helps put on this event which includes making signage and artwork, designing a website and email communications, individuals who plan and organize the lighting, menu and décor, and those who reach out to potential speakers and plan the sessions,” Stewart said. “The whole department of SHSU Online helps put on the event for our SHSU faculty and many faculty members from neighboring universities.”
Also featured in the summit is the keynote speaker, Leonard Geddes, who is a pillar of the online education community.
“Mr. Geddes is an expert on learning improvement for college students,” Stewart said. “During the past decade, he developed The LearnWell Projects as a platform to provide practical, research-based support for college and university faculty. Mr. Geddes created the ThinkWell‐LearnWell™ Diagram, a metacognitive tool that helps students develop deep thinking and learning skills. The diagram is used by colleges, universities and K-12 schools throughout the world.”
During the course of this free, two-day event, attending faculty and staff can expect to leave with a more thorough understanding of what it takes to help online students succeed. For more information on how to register and the full schedule of speakers and events, visit www.digitaleducationsummit.com.
