Faculty+Selection+Process

=Faculty Selection Process = =VIRTUAL WORLDS PROJECT = =__Faculty Selection__ = The grant proposal had outlined that approximately 10-12 participants would be identified and recruited for the project. Faculty will be supported -- both with small S&E stipends ($500) and by LTC staff -- as they redesign __one activity__  of their course to incorporate virtual world technology, Second Life, to facilitate student learning and better accomplish course objectives.

We have structured the recruitment and selection of participating faculty so that different disciplines, different class sizes, including large enrollment courses, and different pedagogical strategies can be represented. This diversity of courses is to help ensure that the faculty participants will conceptualize and implement very different ideas for improving student learning with the technology.

The process includes a dissemination of Request for Proposals (RFPs) to recruit faculty participants during summer of 2011. The proposals received by faculty no later than Monday, June 20, 2011 will be evaluated. Selected participants will receive an acceptance letter on Thursday, June 30, 2011 and an invitation to a faculty development workshop to be held the July 28, 2011.

__Request for Proposals__
Request for Proposals were sent to faculty members that attended the technology demonstrations, current users of the technology, and department chairs and heads.

Draft RFP: UW System Administration, Curricular Redesign Project Request for Proposal (RFP): Virtual Worlds, Second Life, Emerging Technology Grant Deadline: June 20, 2011 __Overview__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The University of Wisconsin System awarded an Emerging Technology Grant to explore the effective use of virtual worlds, specifically Second Life, for teaching and learning. The goal of this project is to help faculty develop course activities designed to increase student engagement, sense of community, social presence, and learning through the use of virtual worlds. This project will also assess the impact of virtual worlds on teaching and learning.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We would like to invite interested faculty and teaching academic staff to participate in this project that will assist their efforts to integrate virtual world technology into one of their <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Fall 2011 or Spring 2012__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> courses by creating a learning activity that uses Second Life as a technology to facilitate interaction and learning. The faculty members selected for this program will be awarded a small S&E stipend of $500 to attend the one day intensive workshop on July 28, 2011 and redesign their course to include one substantial Second Life activity. All participants will receive course redesign support from the LTC. The activity developed will emphasize pedagogical best practices from UW System Second Life grant projects from 2008 - 2011.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Background__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Virtual worlds, such as Second Life, have the potential to engage and motivate students by providing an alternative platform for learning where they can develop knowledge through observation, discourse, construction, and interaction through the 3D environment. They also provide a stage for students to share their work products through an immersive, synchronous medium. The Horizon Report, developed by the New Media Consortium and EDUCAUSE, reported that virtual worlds, such as Second Life, are an emerging technology that will impact higher education within three adoption horizons.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Second Life is a platform that students and faculty access through a free software download. The software provides access to a virtual space where people can connect and interact with others. More specifically, the virtual platform consists of virtual regions - islands and sims - where students congregate, share, communicate, and perform. These regions can have virtual facilities such as classrooms, meeting rooms, lecture halls, auditoriums, amphitheaters, galleries, exhibit halls, theaters, labs, medical facilities, and outdoor spots. Students navigate the Second Life environment as avatars, or digital representations of themselves. The avatars are customizable, which allow students to experiment with their own identity.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Students visiting virtual worlds can partake in various pedagogical activities, such as:


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">display work: written work, architectural objects, video and film, art pieces, in a public or semi-public forum;
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">complete collaborative activities focusing on behavioral and affective learning due to the simulative nature of the medium that provides a platform for experiential learning (role plays and simulations);
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">participate in virtual field trips and data gathering explorations; and
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">learn about concepts that relate to media and technology (e.g., virtual reality, identity, avatars, agency) through observation or participant observation.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Faculty who participate in this program will be required to:
 * 1) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Attend a one day, intensive faculty development workshop on July 28, 2011;
 * 2) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Complete the redesign of <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__one activity__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> that includes the integration of Second Life for a fall or spring course (2011-2012);
 * 3) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Assist with the formal evaluation of the impact of virtual worlds (student surveys and faculty surveys); and
 * 4) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Participate in a debriefing session after the course is completed.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Application__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Please complete the attached application form and submit no more than a 2-page summary by June 20, 2011, describing the following:


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How would you use Second Life to better facilitate student learning in your course?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What learning outcomes would be best achieved by implementing Second Life into your course?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">How would you assess your learning outcomes from the newly integrated Second learning Life activity?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Why would your course be a good opportunity to make use of Second Life?

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The selection of participants will be competitive. Awards will be announced June 30, 2011.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Draft Application Form:

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Name

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">E-mail

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">UW Campus

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Campus Address

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Department/Discipline

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Course Title

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Course Enrollment Size and Level

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Other Technologies Used in Course(s)

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Please complete and submit the application form, along with your 2-page summary, by June 20, 2011, to Sharon Stoerger, via email, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__stoerger@uwm.edu__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, or fax, 414.229.6758.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Proposal Review Process__
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The proposals received from faculty will be reviewed by the 2011 curricular redesign support staff (Sharon Stoerger, Tanya Joosten, Pat Fellows, Scott Reeser, and Leif Nelson). Preference will be given to proposals that identify specific methods that will increase student engagement, interaction, and learning through the use of Second Life. Proposals that identify specific assessment techniques will be given priority, as well. Faculty members’ proficiency with technology and willingness to learn a new technology will also be considered.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Below are several criteria we will examine with each proposal:


 * 1) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Are they teaching a course for fall or spring 2011-2012?
 * 2) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Can they attend the workshop on July 28th?
 * 3) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">What other technologies are they using in their course or have they used?
 * 4) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Are they willing to participate in the debriefing session, assessment of VIRTUAL WORLDS, other VIRTUAL WORLD activities, etc.?
 * 5) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Do they illustrate pedagogically effective function(s) of VIRTUAL WORLDS?
 * 6) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Do they include an appropriate assessment of learning outcomes?
 * 7) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Do they have previous experience with VIRTUAL WORLDS?

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We will attempt to represent a diverse group of courses by discipline, course level, and class size.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Acceptance and Rejection Letters__
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">All faculty that submitted a proposal will receive an acceptance or rejection letter.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Below is an example:

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We would like to thank you for your proposal submission for the UW System Curricular Redesign Virtual World Grant Project. We received numerous proposals from throughout the university and are pleased to notify you that your grant proposal has been accepted. With acceptance of your proposal, you will receive a $500 S&E stipend to assist you in your redesign efforts and virtual world integration.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We will offer you training and consultation throughout the upcoming months to help you effectively integrate VIRTUAL WORLDS into your classroom starting with the mandatory Second Life Faculty Development Workshop to be held on July 28, 2011, at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. Mark your calendars!

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In the meantime, please contact us at <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__stoerger@uwm.edu__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> with any questions.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Please sign this letter below, mark your attendance for the information session and faculty development workshop, and return to us via email or fax.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Best Regards,

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sharon Stoerger and Tanya Joosten, Co-PI’s <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Learning Technology Center <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I accept the LTC’s offer to participate in the UWS VIRTUAL WORLDS Emerging Technology Grant Project.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ð I will be attending the faculty development workshop on July 28, 2011

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Signature__________________________________________________

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Please sign, complete, and email to <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__stoerger@uwm.edu__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> or fax to 414.229.6758.