Applying Emerging Web Practices in Teaching and Learning for Improved Student Experience and Interaction

Social networking technologies have the ability to increase student engagement and enhance classroom interaction, especially in courses with large numbers of students, However, current commercial and public social networking tools are inadequate for creating safe, private learning spaces where students can engage in critical thought and scholarly activities. The UBC Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT) and the Sauder School of Business, in response to requests for social-networking based teaching tools, created a proof of concept’ rapid response and commenting platform, PulsePress, which has been successfully piloted in a term long classroom deployment to more than 650 Sauder students. This project will provide the resources to:

• apply UBC pedagogical research methodologies to determine effectiveness of the PulsePress pilot,
• enhance the sustainability and functionality of the PulsePress tool,
• scale and extend the PulsePress platform into a University-wide teaching and learning tool

Robert Peregoodoff, Sauder School of Business
Paul Cubbon, Marketing Lecturer, Sauder School of Business
Jeff Kroeker, Lecturer, Accounting, Sauder School of Business
Novak Rogic, Manager, Web Strategy, Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology
Jeff Miller, Senior Manager, Distance and Blended Learning, Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology
Paul Joseph, Systems Librarian, UBC Library
Joanne Fox, Director, First year seminars, Faculty of Science / Instructor, Michael Smith Laboratories
Johannes Rebane, President, Commerce Undergraduate Society