Kennesaw State held its fourth annual Unconference event Friday, March 22, at the KSU Center to showcase innovative practices designed to increase student success in college courses.
Instructional Designer and part-time Professor of Technical Communication Tiffani Reardon said that the event, hosted by KSU’s Distance Learning Center, is a professional day of development for faculty teaching online, hybrid and technology-enhanced courses. Faculty heard from keynote speakers, a panel of students and peers from other colleges with similar interests.
According to KSU’s website, guest speakers included Associate Professor of Communication Laura Daws and Program Manager for Affordable Living Georgia Jeff Gallant. Daws spoke about digital literacy and the process of adapting classes to improve digital literacy skills.
Gallant presented information on the present and future of commercial publishers and the role of multiple learning facets in educational resource creation and distribution.
After the speakers presented, a panel of students answered questions posed by faculty on student experiences in online and technology-reliant courses. Reardon claims the student panel to be the most valuable part of the event.
“Often, faculty walk away from this part of the event with new ideas coming straight from students about how they can improve student success and satisfaction in their courses,” Reardon said.
Faculty also had the opportunity to mingle and network with other co-workers from different colleges.
“At the Unconference, [faculty] can meet and network with colleagues from other fields here at KSU,” Reardon said. “It’s an exciting opportunity to learn from departments that might be doing really cool and different things in their course.”
The Unconference offers professional development directly related to student success. By encouraging the engagement of innovative practices, faculty can continue the “students first” culture at KSU, Reardon said.
According to KSU’s Distance Learning Center website, the DLC’s mission is to support student success through digital learning environments. The DLC provides professional learning services and support services to faculty for courses and programs.
