Reporting the Use of an Innovative Platform for Online Teaching and Teamwork

Peter Golding; Mike Thomas Pitcher; Diane Elisa Golding; Hector Erick Lugo Nevarez; Helen Elizabeth Geller; Fernando Monroy Faudoa

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Conference: 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access
Location: Virtual Conference
Publication Date: July 26, 2021
Start Date: July 26, 2021
End Date: July 19, 2022
Conference Session: Entrepreneurship and Engineering Innovation Division Technical Session 1
Tagged Division: Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation
Page Count: 13
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--37665
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/37665
Download Count: 354

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Paper Authors

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Peter Golding P.E. University of Texas at El Paso

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Undergraduate Program Director in Engineering Innovation & Leadership, Professor in the Department of Engineering and Leadership, and Director of the Center for Research in Engineering and Technology Education, at the University of Texas at El Paso.

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Mike Thomas Pitcher University of Texas at El Paso

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Mike Pitcher is the Director of Academic Technologies at the University of Texas at El Paso. He has had experience in learning in both a traditional university program as well as the new online learning model, which he utilizes in his current position consulting with faculty about the design of new learning experiences. His experience in technology and teaching started in 1993 as a student lab technician and has continued to expand and grow over the years, both technically as well as pedagogically. Currently he works in one of the most technically outstanding buildings in the region where he provides support to students, faculty, and staff in implementing technology inside and outside the classroom, researching new engineering education strategies as well as the technologies to support the 21st century classroom (online and face to face). He also has assisted both the campus as well as the local community in developing technology programs that highlight student skills development in ways that engage and attract individuals towards STEAM and STEM fields by showcasing how those skills impact the current project in real-world ways that people can understand and be involved in. As part of a university that is focused on supporting the 21st century student demographic he continues to innovate and research on how we can design new methods of learning to educate both our students and communities on how STEM and STEAM make up a large part of that vision and our future.

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Diane Elisa Golding University of Texas at El Paso

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Diane is a passionate educator and proponent for K-12 engineering education and the education of future teachers.She is an assistant professor at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Diane serves as the director for the UTEP YES! She Can program that support minorities and minorities within minorities in personal and STEM self-efficacy. She earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from UTEP and holds a doctorate from the Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California.

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Hector Erick Lugo Nevarez University of Texas at El Paso

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Mr. Hector Lugo works as a Student Technology Success Coordinator at The University of Texas at El Paso. He holds a M.S. in Electrical Engineering.
His motivation and passion pushes him into research in wireless communication, especially in Bluetooth Low Energy and Near Field Communication as well as building projects and fostering innovation with faculty and staff members. As part of the Learning Environments division, the idea to develop, oversee and assess engaging students to expand their knowledge and creativity by innovating new technologies application for Engineering Education is currently under way to engage the university and the community.
Concluding, Mr. Lugo’s ambition is to encourage students to focus in science, technology and engineer abilities in order to expand their professional potential.

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Helen Elizabeth Geller

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Helen Geller is the Program Manager for the STEMGROW grant, funded by the Department of Education at the University of Texas at El Paso.

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Fernando Monroy Faudoa

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Abstract

The introduction of a new and innovative teaching platform is shared. The motivation for the use of the platform was to increase student affability and functionality for teamwork sessions. The advantage of the platform is that it provides for live, virtual teaching and learning events, where networking between students scan proceed in a real-time face-to-face virtual environment. The testing of the platform proceeded first, followed by incorporation into a number of voluntary engineering and education courses. The response of the students and instructors has been overwhelmingly positive. The versatility of the platform has led to it being used for a variety of other programs; including university administrative forums, outreach, and numerous university events ranging from eSports meetings to outreach programs, such as GEAR UP and Upward Bound, and research programs, including team meetings, advising meetings and grant development meetings. Given the recent wholescale move to online learning platforms, platform has broad application for university coursework and laboratory programs. There is a real need to innovate and adapt to serve our students, who are thirsty for tech tools that are more like the traditional classrooms that they are all used to using. The innovative platform being shared is much more akin to their regular classroom environment, enabling students to both discuss active learning within a table of students, and to move freely between tables of students, in a virtual classroom setting which has the overarching comfort of seeming like a regular classroom of sorts; which is seen by students to be a distinguishing advantage. The response of all stakeholders who have used the platform has been highly positive, with requests leading to growth in use and breadth of application. These experiences are shared with the thought that the platform has broad appeal for future use in a wide range of settings. We will share the history of the development of the platform, the early design uses, and subsequent application in the higher education teaching and learning space.

Citation
Format

Golding, P., & Pitcher, M. T., & Golding, D. E., & Lugo Nevarez, H. E., & Geller, H. E., & Faudoa, F. M. (2021, July), Reporting the Use of an Innovative Platform for Online Teaching and Teamwork Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--37665

TY - CPAPER
AB - The introduction of a new and innovative teaching platform is shared. The motivation for the use of the platform was to increase student affability and functionality for teamwork sessions. The advantage of the platform is that it provides for live, virtual teaching and learning events, where networking between students scan proceed in a real-time face-to-face virtual environment.
The testing of the platform proceeded first, followed by incorporation into a number of voluntary engineering and education courses. The response of the students and instructors has been overwhelmingly positive. The versatility of the platform has led to it being used for a variety of other programs; including university administrative forums, outreach, and numerous university events ranging from eSports meetings to outreach programs, such as GEAR UP and Upward Bound, and research programs, including team meetings, advising meetings and grant development meetings.
Given the recent wholescale move to online learning platforms, platform has broad application for university coursework and laboratory programs. There is a real need to innovate and adapt to serve our students, who are thirsty for tech tools that are more like the traditional classrooms that they are all used to using. The innovative platform being shared is much more akin to their regular classroom environment, enabling students to both discuss active learning within a table of students, and to move freely between tables of students, in a virtual classroom setting which has the overarching comfort of seeming like a regular classroom of sorts; which is seen by students to be a distinguishing advantage.
The response of all stakeholders who have used the platform has been highly positive, with requests leading to growth in use and breadth of application. These experiences are shared with the thought that the platform has broad appeal for future use in a wide range of settings.
We will share the history of the development of the platform, the early design uses, and subsequent application in the higher education teaching and learning space.

AU - Peter Golding P.E.
AU - Mike Thomas Pitcher
AU - Diane Elisa Golding
AU - Hector Erick Lugo Nevarez
AU - Helen Elizabeth Geller
AU - Fernando Monroy Faudoa
CY - Virtual Conference
DA - 2021/07/26
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Reporting the Use of an Innovative Platform for Online Teaching and Teamwork
UR - https://peer.asee.org/37665
DO - 10.18260/1-2--37665
ER -