What's Next
2022-2023 AAC&U Institute on Open Educational Resources
St. John Fisher University has recently been accepted into the year-long Institute on Open Educational Resources offered by AAC&U to support institutions in the development of a framework to expand the use of free and affordable course materials across campus. St. John Fisher University will benefit from this experience of learning from experts and other institutions, while also bringing an innovative approach to the larger OER discussion and initiative based on the iFisher Next Generation Learning Initiative. Unlike other institutions, we are focused not only on implementing free and/or lower-cost course materials, but also ensuring access to a rich array of digital resources via our common learning platform. We will craft our OER initiative to leverage this innovative technology framework. We believe the common technology platform will facilitate the adoption of OER options by faculty and enhance the learning experience of our students.
The AAC&U Institute begins in July 2022 and will continue throughout the 2022/2023 academic year. The development of a framework for our University will be created this year and implementation of the plan will begin in the 2023/2024 academic year.
Continued Learning Space Renovation & Active Learning Faculty Fellow
As part of the iFisher initiative, learning spaces on campus have also been enhanced with Apple TVs and a number of rooms have undergone a significant renovation to support active learning and mobile-friendly teaching. These rooms include movable and flexible furniture, multiple displays, and power easily accessible throughout the room. Three classrooms were renovated in the summer of 2021 and six more rooms are being renovated in the summer of 2022 to expand access to these innovative classrooms to more faculty across campus. In addition to this work, many classrooms are also receiving additional Apple TVs to support each of the displays available in the room. These renovations and enhancements support the use of iPads during class time by both faculty and students and allow for a more integrated learning experience for all. Fisher is committed to continuing this work and will continually be enhancing classrooms across campus to more fully support mobile learning experiences. The images to the right show the plans for current classroom renovations that are underway.
In addition to the renovation of classroom spaces, the DePeters Family Center created a new faculty fellow role to support the campus in the pedagogical strategies related to active learning. Dr. Emily Dane-Staples was selected as the inaugural Active Learning Faculty Fellow in the spring 2022 semester and will serve in the role for two years. In her role, she provides workshops, 1-on-1 consultations, classroom observations, and confidential feedback to faculty on their teaching strategies. Emily offered the first Active Learning Institute, a two-day professional development experience for faculty to begin to redesign their courses to fully utilize both the flexible classroom design and the mobile technology available across campus with the goal of creating more active and engaging course experiences for students. This event was a hit and we look forward to more offerings of this kind in the future.
Lavery Library Renovation & Mobile Learning
The librarians at Lavery Library have made good use of their iPads from the start of the initiative. As librarians often are, they have been early adopters of the technology and use it with many of the courses they support across campus, including those in our first-year program. Just as our faculty were required to do during the pandemic, librarians worked with students both in-person, remotely, and some courses with a combination of both modalities. The iPads assisted librarians in their connections with students and also with the creation of on-the-fly content to help support students remotely. Library staff also reviewed all existing databases to make sure they were compatible with iPads to ensure student success in their mobile research needs. Librarians also used their iPads at the reference desk for 1-1 support questions. This use of iPads was even more beneficial during the pandemic so each person could stay socially distanced, airdropping files back and forth while looking on their own screen, rather than sitting shoulder to shoulder looking at one paper copy. Fisher is currently making plans for the renovation of the physical Library building to transform it into a vibrant and modern learning space. Insights gained from the deployment of iPads, renovations of other classrooms and spaces on campus, and the need to support a mobile learning ecosystem will all have a direct influence on the final renovation plans.
Explorations into Augmented Reality
As described further in the video below, some professors at Fisher have begun to explore the potential of 3D learning experiences and the potential that iPads provide specifically related to augmented reality. Professor Maier has transformed a project in her plant biology class where students create augmented reality tours of specific plant life found on campus.
In the hopes of further deepening our exploration of 3D learning, Fisher has been invited by a New York State philanthropic foundation who is committed to improving the health and wellness of vulnerable New Yorkers to submit a letter of interest as a first step in applying for $500,000 in funding. This funding would allow Fisher to expand nursing education by providing students with a controlled environment with enhanced realism for practice without risk to patients to better prepare students to meet/exceed competencies and be practice-ready for a variety of dynamic settings and complex patient needs. This project will adapt an existing under-utilized computer lab to become an active, 3D learning classroom where augmented reality will be implemented using the iPads. Instructors will partner with community health leaders to design case studies that include immersive 3D learning with a special focus on the social determinants of health. This work aligns with the ongoing curriculum revision in the Wegmans School of Nursing at Fisher, focused on incorporating the newly defined AACN essentials. If selected to submit a full proposal, which we hope will take place in June/July 2022, we will propose our 1-year project to begin in January 2023. We will measure the impact on student learning by comparing back to cohorts without the 3D learning experience. A subset of the pilot population trained with this new immersive 3D learning will travel to Kenya in East Africa, where they will apply their skills to serve people in rural villages in a global capstone experience.
Ginny Maier, Associate Professor of Biology