Last month at the 2017 Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference hosted by JMU Libraries and Educational Technologies and LET Innovation Services, three awards were handed out for “Excellence in Teaching & Learning with Technology” and one for the “Charles Harris Award of Distinction.”
Excellence in Teaching & Learning with Technology Award
Recipients of this award have adapted familiar tools to create innovative learning experiences, and successfully experimented with and adapted new technologies in their classes. The award winners from this past year are:
Jennifer Babcock
Bridgewater College
Professor Babcock’s Intercultural Communication class uses digital story maps to explore immigrant experiences in the U.S. and transform traditional research papers into multimodal digital projects. She shares her experiences with other faculty on campus through the Bridgewater Digital Scholarship Working Group. One colleague shares, Babcock “leads by example, encouraging faculty to create digital projects and assignments that may be outside their comfort zone.”
Lori Beth De Hertogh
James Madison University
Dr. De Hertogh’s students transform research papers into multimodal projects, create complex diaries and storytelling projects, and use a variety of digital tools to explore topics in WRTC. In addition to inspiring her students to explore technology, Dr. De Hertogh shares her experiences with the scholarly community through her publications and conference presentations, and is a technology leader in her home department on campus. Her colleagues report, “she is a collaborative, collegial and generous colleague who works with others to encourage and support the use of technology in improving and innovating teaching at this institution.”
Amanda Siler
John C. Meyers Elementary School (Rockingham County Public Schools)
Ms. Siler’s Fourth Graders researched text structures and used Flip Grid to create video projects about their research, which they shared in their class to learn about each other’s research. Last year’s Teacher of the Year, Amanda is not afraid to take risks incorporating technology into her pedagogy and shares with her colleagues lessons learned. One way she does this is to create video tutorials for fellow staff wanting to try new technology. Her colleagues say, “Students in Amanda’s class are so much more engaged and excited about learning… The creativity of students is amazing.”
Charles Harris Award of Distinction
Recipients for this award exhibit and model the values, qualities, skills and practices that underlie the work of LET's Innovation Services; have made a demonstrated contribution to Innovation Services and JMU; and have demonstrated exemplary use of instructional technologies in teaching. The award winners from this past year are:
Oris Griffin, College of Education
Timothy Howley, College of Health and Behavioral Studies
Jane Thall, College of Education
Diane Wilcox, College of Education
This year’s Charles Harris Award of Distinction is awarded to a group of faculty who have worked together over the years at JMU to champion Innovation Services in formal and informal settings. These faculty present on technology in the classroom at regional, national, and international conferences, and mentor other faculty designing and teaching online and blended courses. The group has produced scholarship on Learning Management Systems, Digital Literacy at JMU, and is interested in student’s digital career preparedness.
