TOEP helps faculty explore teaching technology

Educators today face the daunting task of working with students who come from a world where smartphones, tablets, streaming videos and apps are second nature. With the traditional “sage-on-the-stage” model fast becoming a thing of the past, instructors now must use new technologies to engage students who have grown up in a mobile-friendly world.

UB faculty interested in exploring these new teaching methods can take part in TOEP — the Tools of Engagement Project — a free, online professional development program hosted by UB’s Center for Educational Innovation (CEI) and being implemented across 19 SUNY campuses.

The aim of TOEP, according to Robin Sullivan, TOEP director and online learning specialist with CEI, is to encourage instructors to adapt to this new learning landscape by seamlessly integrating instructional technologies to enhance course content and increase student engagement.

TOEP consists of a series of hands-on, self-directed exercises in which participants actively experiment with wikis, blogs, podcasting, photo-sharing, lecture capture and other cutting-edge, Web 2.0 technologies. Faculty and staff are encouraged to join the TOEP online social-network community to exchange ideas and get peer support from others across SUNY. Through this process, “instructors have the chance to become students,” Sullivan says.

TOEP highlights freely available Web 2.0 tools; the project team has curated resources found on the Internet and provides a small selection of the best tools and tutorials. These resources. Sullivan says, include practical techniques to integrate the “Four Cs” — critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration, which are necessary skills for the success of today’s 21st-century learners.

UB tenure-track faculty, adjunct faculty, librarians, teaching/graduate assistants, doctoral candidates, postdocs and staff who support student learning can take part in TOEP.

TOEP Phase 4 runs throughout the 2015-16 academic year. Those who register by Feb. 12 and complete three short, hands-on activities by April 1 can become eligible to earn incentives through a peer-review process. Additional incentive award periods will be held annually. The project’s requirements can be met by spending just a few minutes each week, or approximately five hours spread across the academic year, Sullivan explains, noting that this short investment of time is a great way to expand tech-infused pedagogy.

Incentive awards include professional development funding for additional SUNY online professional development activities and conferences, as well as digital “badges,” which are the equivalent of a certificate of completion and evidence of the steps taken to enhance one’s teaching repertoire. Each badge represents an earner’s accomplishment and can be displayed on a CV and through a person’s social-networks, such as LinkedIn.

Now in its fourth year, TOEP initially was funded through the SUNY Provost’s Office Innovative Instruction Technology Grants (IITG) and is the first IITG project to receive centralized support through the SUNY Center for Professional Development. Sullivan was the original principal investigator.

TOEP currently is offered at 19 SUNY campuses, with the goal of implementing the project across the entire system. In addition to UB, other Western New York SUNY campuses participating in the project are Fredonia State College, Brockport State College, Erie Community College and Empire State College. A call for additional partner campuses for Phase 5 will go out this spring.

Those interested in joining the TOEP community can register online at the project’s website. For more information about TOEP, visit the website or contact Sullivan.