March 2000
Newsletter #34
 

Off- Campus Storage Frees Space for New Books

Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database

Study Carrels Wired

Untangling the Web: Specialized Search Engines

Electronic Reference Shelf

Literary Gold Mine Online

CETEDOC Library of Christian Latin Texts

Tax Forms Available

Food for Fines

Barbecues: an Occasion for Sin?

Jon Reynolds, University Archivist

Third Century Campaign Progress

CNDLS: Collaboration to Focus on New Learning Environments

The Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS), a collaborative enterprise of the Georgetown University Library, the Provost’s Office, and University Information Services, is a new initiative at Georgetown focused on teaching, learning, technology, and research. CNDLS (pronounced “candles”) is at the center of Georgetown’s efforts to integrate the best of its educational traditions with the tools, resources, and the opportunities of new learning environments in the 21st century.

The Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship will emphasize five main themes:

• Advance teaching excellence through professional development programs, coordinated support, and research  
  
  
• Develop and implement innovative curricula and course materials through sustained collaboration and project development
  
  
• Design and publish innovative digital media materials, combining rich content, learning design, and technology through collaborative development with scholars and staff
  
  
• Promote research on learning and teaching by making faculty examination of their own teaching practices central to the development of new learning environments
  
  
• Foster reflective teaching and learning by renewing the place of spirit, values, connectedness, and community in a technology-driven society and educational environment

CNDLS has initiated its professional development program with the Colloquium on New Learning Environments. The Colloquium will focus on teaching and learning in those undergraduate and graduate courses making use of interactive and instructional technologies such as the CourseInfo course environment. The purpose of the Colloquium is to foster sustained, substantive conversation among faculty about the impact on student learning of new technologies and innovative pedagogies across the curriculum. Twelve to fifteen faculty will convene throughout the Spring 2000 semester to formulate individual projects for investigating teaching “problems,” and then pursue that focus as classroom research throughout the semester. Participants will report on their focus project through some form of written report, annotated course materials, or presentation at the annual Teaching, Learning, and Technology Summer Institute.

To learn more about CNDLS or the Colloquium, contact Randy Bass, Executive Director, 687-0625 or 687-4535 or by e-mail at candles@georgetown.edu.