User Group Meeting in review

Wow, the fourth annual DyKnow UGM exceeded expectations once again. Thanks to those customers who attended! There were several highlights for me:

Elizabeth Helfant from MICDS overcame stage fright to have one of the most interesting and useful presentations of the event. She talked about using DyKnow and Tablets to create Civil War presentations in 4th grade, to facilitate data collection in outdoor labs, and for distance teaching when teachers are sick. And they have only had the software for five months!

Jim Vanides from HP, Julia Williams from Rose-Hulman, and Terri Bonebright from DePauw led a rather lively session on assessment. The main problem discussed was the fact that most people want to see statistically significant grade/performance increases for teaching with technology vs. no technology...and this is nearly impossible to show. Perhaps this isn't the holy grail. Perhaps we cannot separate the teaching from the technology. Beyond measuring test scores, there are many other relevant assessments from tracking retention rates to leading focus groups to videotaping classroom instruction. Panelists agreed that the effective assessor must start with the end in mind because there are many different indicators of success that each require a different type of assessment. Grant makers are looking for very specific goals and corresponding assessments that support the goals. Jim stressed that assessors must get beyond the jargon of "engagement" and instead dig deeper and tell the story of how technology changed a facet of the teaching and learning environment.

Our friend Ben at TaylorU has already posted on what he learned from UGM. Customers can sign on and find out more on our community site. There are several posts in the forum and we will also be uploading mp3s or videos of many of the sessions.