Building University-Industry Learning and Development through Innovation and Technology, or BUILD-IT, a USAID-sponsored ASU initiative to link governments, academia and industry together to create tomorrow’s tech-based workforce, recently held a two-day training session for Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City (IUH) on teaching with learning management systems. The training took place on June 29-30, 2017.
IUH is currently in its first phase of applying information technology in teaching and learning and its learning management system, or LMS for short, is provided and maintained by BUILD-IT partner, Pearson. Thirty-four faculty from IUH’s Industrial Chemistry, Environmental and Industrial Electricity departments were selected as the first group to receive the training.
The training aimed to not only build robust technological LMS skills but also to refine faculty’s instructional and curriculum design skills to successfully teach and engage with LMS. During the training, faculty learned to use basic LMS features to design, organize and present online materials as well as various reporting functions to monitor and support students. More importantly, they learned how LMS can be used to engage students through videos and discussion forums.
This training is a stepping stone in IUH’s long-term plan to utilize technology to improve teaching quality and build a more interactive and engaging learning environment. After this training, IUH plans to implement eight courses taught by 18 faculty from two departments in the first semester of the academic year 2017-2018. This will serve as a pilot study before implementing the technology and pedagogy school wide. IUH has scheduled two evaluation meetings with the pioneer batch of faculty in the form of community of practice with ASU instructional designer, Cristal Ngo, to provide timely feedback to the school’s implementation plan.
BY CRISTAL NGO