As students get back to class this week, they may start to notice a new addition to their daily classroom routine.
The University’s newly established Office of Digital Education and Innovation was created to assist faculty in further integrating technology and digital programs. Students are likely to experience an increase in technology usage as faculty gain experience with programs, technology, digital community, learning analytics and various innovative projects, according to a University press release.
James Hilton, vice provost for digital education and innovation, believes that this program will help to transform at the University’s pedagogical approach.
“The University of Michigan has this opportunity to really differentiate and refine what it means to be a great public research university in an age fueled by technology, fueled by connection, fueled by evidence and analytics,” Hilton said in a press release.
James DeVaney, assistant vice provost for digital education and innovation, emphasized the benefits of experimenting with higher education practices.
“One of the clear strengths of the University of Michigan is our institutional ethos that embraces experimentation,” DeVaney said in the press release. “Through leadership in curricular innovation, learning analytics and digital infrastructure at scale we enable engaged, personalized and lifelong learning for the entire Michigan community. Our approach to digital education and innovation is both scholarly and practical.”
The University intends to advance digital education through the Unizin consortium — a program created by the University and three additional U.S. research institutions, to improve the way educational content is shared between universities and its students. Specifically, the program will allow faculty to store and share material while maintaining intellectual property control.
The University will continue its involvement with Coursera, an online learning platform serving nearly 700,000 students world-wide through both courses available to the general public and private courses. However, the University recently decided to expand digital teaching and learning options by partnering with NovoEd, a program similar to Coursera, known for its collaborative learning through engagement.
Through the program, faculty will be given the opportunity to experiment with innovations that will allow students to interact and collaborate more on course material.
Timothy McKay, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Physics, professor of astronomy and director of the LSA Honors Program, is serving on an advisory group that will guide the new office. After his positive experience developing his own program that uses learning analytics to tailor to the classroom experience for students in large introductory courses, McKay is confident in the University’s new large-scale push.
McKay said his tool, ECoach, was originally used in physics and then applied to various classes that allowed him to explore the challenges of different needs.
“Interest has grown and now we’re ready to use it in 20 different places on campus with 10 different variations. And that’s getting too big for me to manage,” McKay wrote, as he is also chair of the Learning Analytics Task Force.
McKay added that DEI has an important role in expanding the program’s use.
“All of this emerged organically. What DEI can do is bridge that gap between innovation and infrastructure. We’ll have in this resource the expertise to translate something from a tool used in an enthusiast class to University wide use.”