Book Talk and Discussion for "Leveling the Learning Curve"
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Time: Saturday, November 4, 3:00PM-4:00PM (Beijing)
Event language: English
Location: This hybrid event will be available online via the Beijing Center's WeChat Channels and will be held at the Columbia Global Centers | Beijing (1F Core Plaza, 1 Shanyuan Street, Zhongguancun, Haidian District)
Will the COVID-19 pandemic be remembered as a turning point in how universities deliver teaching and learning? How might the widespread use of digital tools change higher education?
Columbia Global Centers | Beijing is pleased to invite you to a book talk and discussion for Leveling the Learning Curve, featuring author Soulaymane Kachani, Columbia University's Senior Vice Provost. Built on interviews with more than fifty leading practitioners from major universities and ed-tech firms, this book is an indispensable guide to the inner workings of digital education.
Professor Kachani will have a conversation with Chinese experts and scholars to discuss the successes and failures from across the digital higher education landscape. The experts will share valuable insights on how institutions can use digital tools and techniques to expand interdisciplinary teaching and learning, connect students to real-life issues, help meet equity goals, and open new revenue streams.
About the Book
This groundbreaking book explores the role of digital education at this crucial crossroads. Built on interviews with more than fifty leading practitioners from major universities and ed-tech firms, Leveling the Learning Curve is an indispensable guide to the inner workings of digital education. Written for university managers and leaders, it explores how new tools can allow universities to reach new audiences and address long-standing imbalances. The authors examine challenges to implementing digital education programs and provide insight into how universities have managed to balance the needs of faculty and on- and off-campus students. The book traces the history of digital education initiatives from Khan Academy, TED Talks, and MOOCs through the pandemic, examining both successes and failures. It offers compelling examples of what a “connected university” looks like in practice, sharing ways digital tools can bring in wider audiences, expand interdisciplinary teaching and learning, connect students to real-life issues, help meet equity goals, and open new revenue streams.
Speaker
Soulaymane Kachani serves as Columbia University’s Senior Vice Provost. In this role, he oversees the development of Columbia University’s teaching, learning, and innovation strategies, supporting schools, colleges, and departments. He spearheads initiatives to enable the University to accelerate the expansion of its innovation in online and hybrid offerings. He also focuses on propelling Columbia’s excellence as a global university, working to enhance existing international academic partnerships and develop new ones, and to make its campuses ever more welcoming to students and scholars from around the world. He assists with budget and administrative planning across the units of the Office of the Provost, and coordinates efforts to enable excellence in all that the University does for its student employees.
Prior to this role, Professor Kachani served as Vice Provost for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation. He led the establishment of the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) in 2015. The CTL played a key role in the University’s transition to online and HyFlex teaching during the pandemic, and is now an essential resource for faculty and graduate instructors across Columbia. The Provost’s Teaching and Learning Grants program has enabled faculty from all schools to fold new educational methods and technologies into their classrooms and learning environments, and the Science of Learning Research (SOLER) Initiative has developed a vibrant hub for cross-disciplinary research that advances the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Commentators
Xin ZOU currently serves as a Senior Architect at Momenta. He had participated in many software projects at Microsoft as a developer and engineering manager. He had also worked in csdn.net as vice president, developing an online community for learning and sharing in the IT industry. He has authored several books related to software engineering and has been a key opinion leader in the Chinese IT community. He is also a proud Columbia Barnard Parent'22.
Yanyan LI is a professor in the Faculty of Education at Beijing Normal University. She is also the associate director of the Key Laboratory of Educational Technology in Beijing, and the joint director of the Knowledge Modeling and Analytics Laboratory of the National Engineering Research Centre for Cyberlearning and Intelligent Technology.
Reminder
- Check-in is available 30 minutes before the event time.
- For any inquiries, please email [email protected].