Lilly Family School of Philanthropy Instructor Integrates CN to Enhance Student Engagement

IUPUI professor and Ph.D. Candidate Elizabeth Dale assisted in a CN Workshop on June 11, 2015 through the IUPUI Center for Teaching and Learning. The workshop, titled Enhancing Student Engagement by Adding CN to Oncourse and Canvas, was presented to IUPUI faculty. At the workshop, Dale demonstrated to fellow instructors how she integrates the CN into her online and face-to-face traditional courses.

Professor Elizabeth Dale

Elizabeth Dale teaches an introductory philanthropy course, both online, in a 6-week intensive format and as a traditional, semester-long course. She explained that she sees the importance of using CourseNetworking in both types of courses and has received positive feedback about CN from her students. Dale has seen CourseNetworking evolve over the years, as she has been a user since late 2012—the same year CN was launched. She commended the changes and updates the developers have completed and went on to tell her audience that she “appreciates the fact that CourseNetworking is very customizable.”

Throughout the workshop Dale covered integration with CN and other learning systems such as Oncourse and Canvas, and her experience and use of the CN in her classes over the years. When describing CourseNetworking, she explained,

“Using thecn.com has been a positive experience and I have enjoyed having CN as a tool. I can use the CN no matter what campus I’m on; it’s nice to have a tool that I can take with me.”

She went on to say that she engages her philanthropy students by creating tasks and assignments that require them to write posts with outside material, such as websites, articles, and videos, that add to an overall group discussion. Dale happily shared that her students have taken to CourseNetworking and she enjoys seeing what outside sources they share with their peers. “My students learn a lot from each other, they may educate themselves on one philanthropic organization for their own post, but while they read and reflect on their classmates’ posts they learn more than they think—maybe they learn about a dozen or more new organizations, rather than just the one they researched.” Dale even pointed out the participation of students on CourseNetworking between her online course and her face-to-face course were virtually the same. She showed how CN plays a significant role in each of these course formats.

Elizabeth Dale’s enthusiasm about CN continued as she covered the features she and her students utilize the most. Dale stated, “The poll feature is really unique and my classes use it a lot; I have my students post quiz questions after their reading assignments.” She told her audience that CN lends itself to interaction and engagement through features like creating a poll or post. CourseNetworking helps her traditional courses “pick up where they left off” as they can easily transition from online homework CN posts to face-to-face classroom discussions. Dale explained that this also helps her monitor what her students are getting from the material so she can address questions or make any clarifications when they meet in class.

Elizabeth Dale’s courses in the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy will continue to use the CN as a supplemental tool. Dale supports the integration of educational tools and the future technological advances CourseNetworking has to offer.