Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ

Josh LePree has a vision for teaching that transcends the classroom: "[I want] to create a seamless environmentÌýfor class [so that] ... it seems like there's no break between [class and homework]," says LePree. ÌýHe is a Sociology PhD student at Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ Boulder and has been teaching at the college level for four years now.Ìý Students nominated LePreeÌýfor an ASSETT Outstanding Teaching with Technology Award last year, andÌýoneÌýstudent wrote: "Technology use was a large part of our classroom and homework discussions in [LePree]'s Race and Ethnicity class."

The Sociology Department awarded LePree for his visionÌýwithÌýthe Special Topics in Sociology GPTI Fellowship for the Spring 2014 semester. ÌýLePree designed and taught the Spring 2014 Sociological Perspectives on Migration: Gender, Race and the State course (SOCY 2091). ÌýHe created a class Twitter page and instructed students to hashtag itÌýin a newÌýtweet each week. ÌýStudents needed to hashtag both the class and the week of classÌý(see the screenshot from the class Twitter page, below) to get participation credit for that week. ÌýThat way, LePreeÌýcould just go to the Twitter page #SOCY2091Ìý#WK2 to gradeÌýstudents' participation on the class Twitter page for the week! ÌýIf students wereÌýconcerned about keeping personal and class Twitter Handles (aliases) separate, LePree encouraged them to create new handles just for classÌýwith their names and the course name--just like he did (@LePreeSOCY).

To make the out-of-class Twitter threadsÌýeven more relevant to class discussion, LePree would regularly bring inÌýstudents' tweets of articles and videos that related to class topics. ÌýConsequently, one student wrote in her nomination of LePreeÌýfor the ASSETT Teaching with Technology Award that posting original discussion questions on the class Twitter page for homework made herÌýfeel less anonymous in class:

Twitter was used for [LePree] and his students to share pertinent videos, ideas, and discussion questions to which the entire class had access. ÌýI as a student thought that the use of Twitter was an ingenious way to include everyone's thoughts since sometimes larger classes can make students feel 'invisible.' ...ÌýI thought that [LePree]'s use of Twitter was also really effective because he used it to facilitate in-class discussions with Tweets that students had previously posted.

At the same time that LePree usesÌýTwitter toÌýbridge homework and class discussion, he also embeds his classes' Twitter feeds onto theÌýD2L course pages. ÌýThat way, students' latest tweetsÌýgreet them when they login to the course home page on D2L, and, "They can see what other students are tweeting about," says LePree.

LePree viewedÌýincorporating Twitter into class discussion and homework asÌýa trial-and-error process: "I didn't know how it would work out," he admits. ÌýLePree asks students for feedback halfway through the semester:Ìý"'Do you have any ideas beyond what we've tried? ÌýWhat's working and what's not?'" ÌýLePree listens to students' feedback and gives credit to themÌýfor the success:Ìý“Students are the authority with technology," he says.

Voicethread LendsÌýAuthenticity toÌýStudent-to-Student FeedbackÌý

LePree didn't stop with class discussion and homework--he has also innovated students' final presentation formats, assigningÌýÌýas the medium. ÌýStudents stillÌýcreateÌýPowerPoint presentations, but they alsoÌýupload them to Voicethread. ÌýThen, Voicethread allows students to record themselves speaking overÌýslides to create what LePree calls a,Ìý"narrated slideshow." ÌýThis format could be considered much less intimidating withÌýmore room for smoothing out presentation bumps than would be standing and making a presentation live in front of the class.

Since Voicethread was new to manyÌýstudents, LePree invited OIT Academic Technology Consultant Courtney Fell to visit the class and train students in using it. ÌýFurthermore, he pairs students withÌý'feedback partners.' ÌýStudents record comments on Voicethread for their feedback partners to help improve one another's presentations along the way. ÌýLePree says that recording voiceover commentary is more personal than is sending typed comments back and forth. Ìý"I was blown away by their Voicethread discussions," he says. Ìý"The gratification that I get as an instructor was a huge payoff. ÌýI couldn't stop honoring themÌýin class."

As part of his fellowship, LePree recently led a brownbag lunch discussion for other Sociology graduate students about "Designing Your Own Course Curriculum." ÌýHe looks forward to continuing his career in teaching at the university level. Ìý"I appreciate my students," says LePree. Ìý"I'll never go backwards."