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Topic: Teaching with technology

Blog Post
March 14, 2023

Making AI Generative for Higher Education

The ability of computers to create original content is advancing rapidly, spurring an investment arms race within the technology sector. As these advancements touch every area of higher education, universities face decisions about how and when AI can support student learning and faculty research. This fall, Ithaka S+R is convening a two-year research project in collaboration with a select group of universities committed to making AI generative for their campus community. Together we will assess the immediate and emerging AI…
Blog Post
January 30, 2023

A Librarian’s Perspective on Streaming Video in Educational Contexts

Almost exactly one year ago, I added “Streaming Video Coordinator” to my portfolio at Cornell University Library, a role which includes looking strategically at our streaming media offerings. In this capacity I started thinking about what a collection policy focused on streaming video might look like. In fact, libraries don’t collect streaming video at all, but rather prioritize timely access to films needed to support course instruction.
Blog Post
January 26, 2023

Teaching with Streaming Video

A New Report from Ithaka S+R Provides Insights from Instructors

Instructors from all disciplines have incorporated video into their syllabi, and—unsurprisingly—streaming video is now the dominant format to which they turn. Faculty and students appreciate the flexibility of streaming video, which students can access on a variety of platforms ranging from YouTube to subscription services licensed by university libraries. Libraries are now making significant investments to license streaming content for educational use and anticipate that their spending in this area will double over the next five years. As the…
Research Report
January 26, 2023

Teaching with Streaming Video

Understanding Instructional Practices, Challenges, and Support Needs

Ithaka S+R launched a project in collaboration with a cohort of libraries to identify challenges and develop strategies for streaming media acquisitions. We published the findings from the first part of this project—a comprehensive national survey that tracked the streaming media strategies libraries are adopting and the challenges they are facing—in June, 2022. This second report draws on a qualitative study of faculty practices and support needs with streaming video. Understanding these practices can guide libraries to make strategic acquisitions…
Blog Post
January 11, 2023

The Library’s Role with Open Educational Resources

A Conversation with Librarians

Our latest US Faculty Survey examined faculty perspectives and attitudes about using and creating Open Educational Resources (OER). Not only were we able to track how these perspectives changed over time, but we were also able to understand how the pandemic affected OER consumption and creation. As expected, the adoption and creation of OER textbooks, course modules, and video lectures increased since the last national survey cycle, yet faculty indicated that they are less interested in creating and using…
Issue Brief
January 5, 2023

Copyright and Streaming Audiovisual Content in the US Context

Copyright law includes special rights for research and teaching, including the fair use right, which can help address gaps between the educational activities that technology facilitates and the exclusive rights copyright grants to authors. In this brief, we review how US copyright law currently applies to streaming content for educational and research purposes and explore the opportunities for academic libraries.
Past Event
March 16, 2023

Problems and Possibilities for Integrating Recorded Video Content into Scholarly Publications

Thanks to COVID-19, thousands of conference presentations and lectures are being recorded, making it possible for them to be transformed into reproducible intellectual content. Publishers are exploring ways to integrate these recordings into scholarly publication, while scholarly societies and vendors are developing plans to monetize recordings by licensing them to university libraries. At this ACRL 2023 session, Dylan Ruediger will present a paper exploring the possibilities and pitfalls of recorded video as a scholarly output, with an eye towards understanding…
Past Event
November 3, 2022

Licensing and Learning

What New Research Suggests About How Streaming Video Can Support Student Learning

In a session at the 2022 Charleston Conference, Ithaka S+R’s Dylan Ruediger will share findings from large-scale research Ithaka S+R conducted this spring regarding instructors’ use of streaming video in pedagogical contexts, and libraries’ decision making regarding streaming media licensing. The mixed-method research project raises important questions about the necessity for alignment across campus around how video can meet pedagogical goals. Dr. Adam Frost and Lisa Forrest will also present, and the panel will be moderated by Michael Carmichael. The…
Blog Post
September 27, 2022

Supporting Quantitative Learning in the Social Sciences

New Report Details Challenges and Opportunities

Social science classes play important roles in teaching quantitative literacy to students because they ground quantitative reasoning in contexts that resonate with undergraduates. Understanding how social science instructors teach quantitative skills and identifying instructional barriers can help libraries and other university units support faculty and students. Today, Ithaka S+R releases findings from one of the largest in-depth studies of teaching practices across social science disciplines, conducted in partnership with librarians from 20 colleges and universities in the United States.
Research Report
September 27, 2022

Fostering Data Literacy

Teaching with Quantitative Data in the Social Sciences

“Fostering Data Literacy: Teaching with Quantitative Data in the Social Sciences” explores why and how instructors teach with data, identifies the most important challenges they face, and describes how faculty and students utilize relevant campus and external resources. Full details and actionable recommendations for stakeholders are offered in the body of the report, which offers guidance to university libraries and other campus units, faculty, vendors, and others interested in improving institutional capacities to support data-intensive instruction in the social sciences.
Past Event
October 20, 2022

Streaming Video in the Classroom: Connecting Acquisitions and Instruction

2022 Annual Video Trust Conference Session

In a virtual session at the 2022 Annual Video Trust Conference, taking place on October 17 – 20th, Dylan Ruediger and Makala Skinner will share updates from an Ithaka S+R project studying the evolving landscape of streaming educational video. The session will share data from a survey released in June and present a preview of the next phase of the project, which will involve semi-structured interviews with over 200 instructors about their experiences teaching with video. The event takes place…
Blog Post
September 13, 2022

Reflections on the 2022 Correctional Education Association (CEA) Conference

As the professional association for Department of Corrections (DOC) education staff, the Correctional Education Association conference is an important opportunity for sharing and learning about the latest trends, trailblazers, and trials facing those who provide education in prisons. With the restoration of Pell grants for incarcerated college students now less than a year away, we were eager to hear how DOC education leadership and staff were responding to this major shift in the field.
Blog Post
August 23, 2022

Technology Access in Higher Education in Prison Programs

New Survey Launch

We are excited to announce the launch of a new survey on the landscape of technology access in higher education in prison programs. This survey is a part of Ithaka S+R’s larger work on access to information for incarcerated students and the role of media review in higher education in prisons. While early research on the expansion of educational opportunities in prisons is positive, existing research suggests that educational and skills-based inequities hinder system impacted learners.
Blog Post
June 9, 2022

Academic Libraries’ Streaming Media Trends in the US and Canada 

New Survey Results Available

Libraries are the major purchasers of streaming media for their universities, and they face numerous challenges meeting the growing demand for these resources from students and instructors. Understanding how libraries are currently responding to these challenges and planning for future acquisitions of streaming media are important for both university decision makers and vendors hoping to serve this market. Today Ithaka S+R releases the findings from the most comprehensive survey to date of academic…
Research Report
June 9, 2022

Streaming Media Licensing and Purchasing Practices at Academic Libraries

Survey Results

Researchers have undertaken several important efforts to track how libraries are approaching the streaming media market and troubleshoot the challenges they are encountering, focusing especially on strategies for balancing patron demand with managing costs. Building on those data gathering efforts, this report shares findings from the most comprehensive survey to date of academic library streaming media approaches at four-year institutions in the US and Canada.
Blog Post
March 1, 2022

How to Navigate Remote Learning when Teaching with Cultural Heritage Materials

When the COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States, instructors had to adapt quickly to new teaching and learning environments. For those instructors who teach with cultural heritage materials, the shift to remote learning was even more complex. They had to discover new ways to incorporate archives, museum collections, special collections and place based learning within restricted learning environments, and often they had to contend with uneven levels of access to adequate technology while doing so. Through these challenges,…
Research Report
March 1, 2022

Teaching with Cultural Heritage Materials During the Pandemic

Cultural heritage materials can offer rewarding learning opportunities and impactful experiences for students across a variety of disciplines, especially in the humanities and social sciences. These learning opportunities create important historical and/or cultural context within a discipline, allowing students to deepen their engagement with a discipline, or see themselves, perhaps for the first time, as a scholar. However, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the attendant move to online instruction at many colleges and universities, disrupted pedagogical practices and the ways that…
Blog Post
October 21, 2021

Working with Libraries to Navigate the Streaming Media Environment

The ascendancy of the streaming format has implications for how educational content is used and purchased within universities, even if universities do not appear to be a priority market for media providers. The pedagogical possibilities for streaming content extend far beyond access to feature films and documentaries, providing, for instance, the opportunity to access a wide variety of academic conference presentations, or observe lab demonstrations. Within universities, academic libraries are taking…
Blog Post
August 4, 2021

New Questionnaire for the Ithaka S+R Faculty Survey 2021 Now Available

We’re excited to announce that we have now finalized updates for the 2021 edition of the Ithaka S+R Faculty Survey, which we will be fielding nationally and with a number of college and university partners this fall. As with previous cycles of the survey, the instrument will explore the research, teaching, and publishing practices and perspectives of scholars at four-year colleges and universities. We have also expanded several areas of coverage within the questionnaire to cover instructional support services,…
Research Report
August 3, 2021

Breaking Down Barriers

The Impact of State Authorization Reciprocity on Online Enrollment

State authorization, or the approval by a given state for a college to operate within its jurisdiction, is an important part of the regulatory triad. The triad is the three-pronged oversight of higher education that includes the federal government, accrediting bodies, and state governments. State authorization has become more complicated with the rapid expansion of online education that is blurring state geographic boundaries. Colleges seeking to enroll students from numerous states in online programs must obtain authorization in each of…