Flexible Learning Spaces Fellowship: Susan Wynn

Susan Wynn, Program in Education
Hugh Crumley, Program in Education; Graduate School

As a fellow in CIT’s Flexible Learning Spaces Fellowship (2008), Susan Wynn participated in meetings, mini-workshops, and other fellowship activities centered around the concept of ‘flexible learning’ – specifically focused on the uses of the technology and space arrangements made possible by Duke’s new teaching and learning space, the Link.

Course overview

During Fall 2008, Wynn co-taught EDU 214 (“Society, Schools and Technology”) with Hugh Crumley in Link Classroom 3. The course was designed for undergraduate students enrolled in the Secondary Teacher Preparation Program and for graduate students enrolled in the Masters of Arts in Teaching. Wynn and Crumley created course goals based on the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) and Performance Indicators for Teachers. Students need to demonstrate proficiency in these standards as a requirement when earning their North Carolina teaching license.

The core goals of the course were to prepare students to:

  • be able to design lesson plans that demonstrate “best practices” in teaching
  • use technology to support student learning
  • explore technology applications typically not utilized in a high school classroom setting

Uses of technology and flexible learning spaces

Wynn’s and Crumley’s plans for using the Link’s technology and spaces included:

  • using classroom technologies to teach basic HTML skills
  • enabling students to create presentation files
  • demonstrating uses of interactive technologies to support instruction in each student’s discipline (including Web2.0 resources)
  • developing and refining an electronic portfolio (eportfolio) centered on a ‘teaching with technology’ statement
  • script, storyboard, film and edit a digital story
  • explore other teaching tools, such as wikis, blogs, digital images, etc

Creating digital stories

In the following video, Susan Wynn talks about class activities.

Learning about Flip cameras and YouTube

In this video, Hugh Crumley shows students how to use Flip cameras, then sends them out into the Link’s open spaces to film introductions.