It Was A Good Summer Camp “IDEA”

Summer started a week late for the 12 dedicated faculty members who participated in the first-ever Camp IDEA, held May 9-13. Participants from 10 departments were guided through camp activities by the multi-disciplinary instructional team of Dr. Oliver Dreon, educational foundations; Marie Firestone, information technologies; Greg Szczyrbak, library; and Al Unrath, information technologies.

Camp IDEA – Innovative Digital Education & Assessment – is a one-week training for faculty with an interest in teaching online. The goal of Camp IDEA is to develop or strengthen participants’ foundational understanding of pedagogy in support of learner-centered instruction in an online environment. Camp activities introduce participants to a multitude of technological tools and resources, while simultaneously examining the theory and best pedagogical practices of a variety of instructional situations.

The week started with lively discussions about digital natives, learning theory and distance education. Additional activities included an introduction to the tools resident in the Desire2Learn™ Learning Management System, such as gradebook, quizzes, discussions and widgets. However, participants also had the opportunity to explore and experiment with additional tools such as Jing™ for recorded screencasts, GoAnimate™ for animations and Audacity™ for recording podcasts.

With input from the inaugural participants, camp instructors are busily revising the curriculum for the next Camp IDEA, which will be held January 9-13, 2012. Interested faculty should contact Veronica Longenecker, information technologies, or Dr. Victor DeSantis, CCERP, at Veronica.Longenecker@millersville.edu or Victor.DeSantis@millersville.edu.