Learning Data & Analytics Affinity Group

Learning Analytics at Harvard Business School Online

Tuesday, March 29, 2022: 12:00pm – 1:00pm ET

A primary goal of HBS Online was to build a platform to bring active, social, and case-based learning experiences to asynchronous online learners. It was also a goal to instrument this platform to facilitate learning analytics and measurement to allow for the study and improvement of the learning experience. Brent Benson will talk about what makes the HBS Online platform and pedagogy different, how metrics and analytics are captured and stored, and give specifics around social engagement and procrastination metrics and how they are being used to improve learning experience and outcomes, especially among under-represented and diverse participant subgroups.... Read more about Learning Analytics at Harvard Business School Online

Learning Spaces Affinity Group

Flexible Classroom Panel

Wednesay, March 23, 2022: 10:00am ET

The HILT Learning Spaces Affinity Group will host a panel discussion around the topic of flat flexible classroom space, via Zoom. We will hear from your colleagues from across Harvard about their experience setting up, supporting, and teaching in classrooms with flexible furniture and a flat design, allowing for varied arrangements and various pedagogies. We will have an honest discussion about the successes, as well as the challenges of this type of learning space. Come with your wonderings and curiosities. There will be time for you to ask questions of our panelists.

Tuesday, March 22, 2022 from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

Academics and researchers, especially at institutions such as Harvard, are often viewed as disconnected from the real world, studying esoteric questions that are distant (if not irrelevant) to policy, practice, and decisions that impact the daily lives of people. At the same time, an unspoken expectation for research to be ‘neutral’ often creates tensions for students and scholars who are uncomfortable simply studying discrimination and inequality, and want their work to have an impact in advancing social justice. Join Natalia Linos, ScD, Executive Director of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard; Magda Matache PhD, Director of the Roma Program at the FXB Center; and Jasmine Graves MPH, member of the FXB Center’s doctoral cohort, for a discussion on what it means to be a scholar-activist.... Read more about Scholar Activism: The Role of Academia in Advancing Social Justice and Racial Equity

Thursday, February 24: 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET

Join Neal Baer M.D., an award-winning showrunner (ER, Law & Order SVU, Designated Survivor), television writer/producer, physician, author, and a public health advocate and expert, and Suzanne Koven M.D., M.F.A, who holds the Valerie Winchester Family Endowed Chair in Primary Care Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital where she is also the inaugural Writer-in-Residence and is the author of Letter to a Young Female Physician, in a discussion about how the medium of storytelling can promote a better understanding of the medical field. This event will shine light on the gaps in current health education and successful examples of using storytelling as a delivery strategy.... Read more about “Understanding the Medical Field through Storytelling” with Neal Baer M.D. and Suzanne Koven M.D., M.F.A

Monday, January 31, 2022: 5:00pm to 6:00pm EDT

Jody Freeman, the Archibald Cox Professor of Law, is a leading scholar of environmental law and climate regulation and leads the Law School’s Environmental and Energy Law Program. Freeman was the architect behind President Obama’s agreement with the auto industry to double fuel efficiency standards and set the first federal greenhouse gas standards under the Clean Air Act, and she worked on the Biden transition on the administration’s regulatory strategy for climate change. The new edition of Freeman’s book, Global Climate Change and U.S. Law, is due out this year. Join Professor Jody Freeman in a VPAL Signature Event on recent developments in climate change and the law.... Read more about Climate Change and the Law

Research-Informed Teaching and Learning Affinity Group

The Spark of Learning – Energizing and Motivating Students in Uncertain Times

Friday, December 10, 2021: 11:00am – 12:15pm ET

Historically, we have constructed our classrooms with the assumption that learning is a dry, staid affair, ruled by an unemotional consideration of the facts. The pedagogical world, however, is beginning to awaken to the potential power of emotions to fuel learning, informed by contributions from psychology and neuroscience. In this interactive event from the Research-Informed Teaching and Learning (RITL) Affinity Group, Dr. Sarah Rose Cavanagh will bring to bear empirical evidence from the study of education, psychology, and neuroscience to argue that if you want to capture students’ attention, enhance their motivation, harness their working memory, bolster their long-term retention, and encourage habits related to good mental health, you should consider the emotional impact of your teaching style and course design.... Read more about The Spark of Learning – Energizing and Motivating Students in Uncertain Times

Wednesday, November 17, 2021: 5:00pm to 6:00pm EDT

Professors Paul Farmer and Arthur Kleinman share a passion for teaching students how to tackle real-world problems. In this follow-on event to HILT's 2021 annual conference, the professors will discuss their respective pedagogical approaches. Farmer will offer insights about how teaching and learning have responded to an international public health crisis and Kleinman will address how to use the practice of care to fight cynicism when it comes to addressing big problems.... Read more about "Connecting Scholarship with Action" with Paul Farmer and Arthur Kleinman

Learning Design Affinity Group

State of Learning Design: An Informal Event to Talk About Where Our Work Is Right Now

Wednesday, November 17, 2021: 12:30pm – 1:30pm ET

How are you?

We have experienced so many changes to our work that now that we transition into another academic year, we thought it would be a good time to check in on our community to hear how you are doing, what you are experiencing in your virtual or in-person work and what challenges you anticipate having as well as what lessons you have learned. We want to come together to learn that we are not alone in all these challenges and wins together.... Read more about State of Learning Design: An Informal Event to Talk About Where Our Work Is Right Now

Wednesday, November 10, 2021: 12:00pm to 1:00pm ET

In a follow-on to HILT's 2021 Conference, we will learn how Embedded EthiCS meets the challenge of making ethical reasoning integral to computer science education. We'll explore how embedding philosophers directly into computer science courses helps students learn how to think through the ethical and social implications of their work. And we'll take a deeper dive into the nuts and bolts of the collaborative Teaching Lab.... Read more about “Ethical Reasoning for Computer Scientists” with Jeff Behrends, James Mickens, and Trystan Goetze

Monday November 8, 2021: 5:00pm to 6:00pm EDT

Frei and Fagan are experts on building organizational trust, operations management, and designing for excellence in strategy. With overlapping experience in the transportation sector including countless years of research, consulting, and leadership positions, these two understand why trust, honesty, and the roles each play in developing strategies are so important within an organization. Join Professor Frances Frei (HBS) and Professor Mark Fagan (HKS) as they discuss the importance of organizational efficiency and trust within companies.... Read more about Organizational Trust and Honesty: A Fireside Chat with Mark Fagan and Frances Frei

Learning Spaces Affinity Group

Virtual Tours of Houghton Library and Countway Library Renovations

Tuesday, November 2, 2021: 10:30am – 11:30am ET

Last year while many of us were working remotely, Houghton and Countway libraries were getting a makeover. Kristine Greive from Houghton Library will lead us on a virtual tour of Houghton’s renovation highlighting the ways that students engage with their unique collections post renovation.  Luciana Witowski from Countway will show how she and her team used high-resolution 3D scans of building interiors, created by the Harvard Visualization Lab, to design their virtual tour which includes their new Anatomage Lab.

... Read more about Virtual Tours of Houghton Library and Countway Library Renovations

Learning Data & Analytics Affinity Group

Using Microsoft’s PowerApps to quickly create formative assessment tools (and other fun stuff)

Thursday, October 7, 2021: 12:00pm – 1:00pm EDT
Watch event recording

Formative assessment tools can greatly enhance the learning experience of our students. However, standard surveying tools seldom have the flexibility we need to capture and mirror back responses in just the right way. With PowerApps, we can quickly build flexible applications while also leveraging Microsoft’s security benefits. Speaker: Felipe Estrada-Prada, Sr. Learning Technologist.... Read more about Using Microsoft’s PowerApps to quickly create formative assessment tools (and other fun stuff)

"Tackling Global Challenges from the Harvard Classroom and Beyond"

Friday, September 24, 2021 - A virtual conference
Recordings available on HILT website

How can we best prepare students to address global challenges in thoughtful and creative ways?

The 2021 annual HILT Conference will explore how we teach students to become global agents of change.... Read more about 2021 HILT Conference

Thursday, September 16, 2021: 5:00pm to 6:00pm EDT

In Literature for a Changing Planet, Martin Puchner, Byron and Anita Wien Professor of Drama and of English and Comparative Literature (FAS), brings forth vital lessons drawn from four thousand years of world literature about how we put ourselves on the path of climate change—and how we might change paths before it’s too late. Join Professor Puchner in a VPAL Signature Event conversation on the relationship between storytelling and climate change.... Read more about Storytelling and Climate Change

Learning Data & Analytics Affinity Group

VPAL's Canvas Dashboards - Lessons Learned

Wednesday, August 11, 2021: 12:00pm – 1:00pm EDT

Zac Wang, HILT’s Senior Manager for Resources Adoption and Impact in VPAL, will discuss Canvas Dashboards-Lessons Learned, and later we will try to identify some of our community needs for Zac to bring back to VPAL. (Note: This meeting contains sensitive information and will not be recorded.)... Read more about VPAL's Canvas Dashboards - Lessons Learned