Academic Technology and partners offer successful Winter Teaching Week seminar on Digital Teaching Methods

February 1, 2018
Digital Teaching Methods - Winter Teaching Week 2018

The Digital Scholarship Support Group ("DSSG," a partnership of Academic Technology for FAS, Arts and Humanities Research Computing, the Digital History program, the Harvard Library, and more) partnered to offer a one-day workshop on the use of digital tools and methods in the classroom as part of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning's 2018 Winter Teaching Week.

The Jan. 17 workshop provided hands-on introduction to several approaches that have been used successfully at Harvard, including backward design, online exhibitions, annotations, timelines, mapping, and more. While the DSSG has been offering regular workshops on digital teaching methods for the last few years, this was the first time that the curriculum had been condensed into a single day. Because of the compressed timeline, greater emphasis was placed on principles and considerations associated with instructional design, and on-campus resources for consultative assistance and support.

Participants in the January 2018 Digital Teaching seminar work together to integrate digital methods into course assignments
Participants in the January 2018 Digital Teaching seminar work together to integrate digital methods into course assignments. (photograph by Kevin Guiney)

Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with all participants indicating on the post-session survey that the seminar met or exceeded their expectations, and that they learned new skills and information that can be applied right away to their teaching. One participant said, "The course was great. A big thank you to the whole team! As I will soon graduate, I especially appreciate the fact that the course taught not only tools developed for use within Harvard but also open sources that one could use elsewhere and anywhere."

The Digital Teaching Methods seminar will be offered this fall. More information on the Digital Scholarship Support Group's next event, a seminar on the Fundamentals of Digital Scholarship, can be found here.

Winter Teaching Week is a series of intensive workshops offered during J-Term in conjunction with January@GSAS for graduate student teachers at every stage, from just starting out to looking toward the job market. These workshops feature specialists from the Bok Center and other units at Harvard and span a variety of subject areas, including teaching fundamentals, public speaking, professional development, and more.

See also: ATG News, DSSG News