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March Newsletter: Design Thinking at Bryn Mawr

February 27, 2018 Beth Seltzer
Overhead photo of student at desk

Bryn Mawr College's Digital Competencies Program helps students build the digital skills and critical perspectives on technology needed for success in the digital age.


In this newsletter:

Competency of the Month: Design Thinking

Design thinking icon (stylized sun)
5.2 Design thinking covers a range of creative, iterative, goal-oriented design processes for creating, testing, and refining new ideas or solutions to problems. That means, instead of planning out something from the beginning and sticking to it at all costs, you make a quick prototype, test it out, and refine it as you go along. Design thinking is used a lot in tech, but it can also apply to student projects, academic writing, and any other domain focused on the user experience. We've got design thinking on our minds this month as we celebrate new opportunities for students and faculty to get hands-on experience with the Digital Competencies through programs like the March 13 Tech Talk on "Perspectives on Universal Design for Learning." This talk will feature faculty from a range of disciplines discussing how they made their courses accessible for a wide variety of learners.

News: Exploring Augmented Reality

Students in the Praxis course at the Franklin Institute
On Monday, February 19, students enrolled in the Praxis seminar course, "Exploring Museum Applications of Augmented Reality"
got a behind-the-scenes look at how the Franklin Institute has incorporated augmented and virtual reality into its offerings. The Franklin Institute has been a pioneer in providing museum-goers with AR/VR technology experiences as a part of its commitment to science and technology education, rather than viewing them simply as potential content delivery platforms. Susan Poulton, chief digital officer, and Bryn Mawr alumna Joy Montefusco, director of digital editorial talked candidly with students about the rewards and challenges of this approach and of collaborating across the very different cultures of museum and computing professionals.

Student Opportunities

We're excited to announce our first stand-alone Digital Competencies Resume and Interview Workshop on March 15! While we've done plenty of workshops in academic classes (contact us if you're interested in having us visit your class), with student interns, and with LILAC, this is the first time we're offering independent workshops open to all interested students. In this career-focused workshop, students will have the opportunity to reflect on their digital competencies and practice articulating their skills in cover letters, resumes, and interviews. More information and registration. 

Also, our deadline for summer internship applications is coming up quickly! Apply by March 5 to work with us on projects that will directly build your digital competencies, in a friendly, collaborative atmosphere with a lot of attention to your professional development. Internships are available in digital curriculum projects where you'll help build the digital competencies initiative directly at Bryn Mawr, as well as internships in film and multimedia production and information security. All internships are paid, full-time, and on campus. More information and application. 

Also coming up soon are applications for Digital Scholarship Summer Fellows.  These are paid, full-time summer fellowship for work on a public-facing digital scholarship project related to the history of women in science at Bryn Mawr. Fellows will have the opportunity to work with IT professionals, librarians, archivists, and digital scholarship staff to develop skills in various digital competencies including project management, digital publishing, and data visualization. Review of applications begins March 19.

Faculty

Our next Tech Talk, "Perspectives on Universal Design for Learning," is open to all but may be especially useful for faculty. Universal Design for Learning is a framework that guides the creation of flexible learning environments that are accessible to all learners. It challenges us to make classrooms that work well for a range of students and learning styles. Learn from Bi-Co faculty how they adapted their courses and what they learned in the process. 

Alex Brey discusses 3D modeling for his dissertation at a Jan 2018 Tech Talk.
Alex Brey discusses 3D modeling for his dissertation at a Jan 2018 Tech Talk.

Faculty may also be especially interested in our recent interview with Alex Pfundt, Coordinator of Bryn Mawr College's Information Literacy program. Alex discusses the importance of a robust information literacy education in the age of fake news and discusses ways that faculty can get involved and build their students' critical reasoning and research skills. Read the full interview here.

Upcoming Events

See the full events calendar.


Questions? Comments? Want to get involved? Email us at digicomp@brynmawr.edu