MOOCs @ Liberal Arts Colleges – Roads Traveled, Lessons Learned

  • When: 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM, Wednesday, June 17, 2015
  • Where: Room 107, Oechsle Center for Global Education
  • Presenters:
    • David Smallen, VP for Libraries and IT, Hamilton College
    • Ravi Ravishankar, CIO & Associate Dean for WellesleyX, Wellesley College
    • Kevin Lynch, CIO for Colgate University
    • Pat Sellers, Vice President for Strategic Partnerships and Professor of Political Science, Davidson College

Colgate, Davidson, Hamilton and Wellesley each joined edX.  By creating MOOCs we hoped, among other things, to learn how this kind of “massive scale” approach to education might help enhance our highly personal environments.  In this panel discussion, will answer the following questions: Why edX?  What are the goals of doing this which appear contradictory to a residential liberal arts experience?  How did we recruit faculty? What roles did faculty, librarians, technologists and others play to make this successful?  What do our campuses think of this experiment”?   Has there been an impact on the traditional classroom? What are our future plans?

About the Presenters

Dave Smallen is Vice President for Libraries and Information Technology leading an organization that creates and supports information and technology environments that ensure the success of students, faculty and staff.

Ravi Ravishankar is the CIO & Associate Dean for WellesleyX, Wellesley College. In this role, he leads the merged library and technology organization that provides a wide range of support for students, faculty, staff and increasingly alumnae. Ravi also leads the partnership with edX and is a member of the team that helped produce and run Wellesley’s four MOOCs.

Kevin Lynch is the CIO for Colgate University, providing leadership for the IT vision, mission, and strategy in support of teaching, learning, research, and university operations.

Pat Sellers is Vice President for Strategic Partnerships and Professor of Political Science at Davidson. He helps faculty and staff find and build new partnerships in information technology and other areas, including Davidson’s partnership with edX.