Copy “map” Innovations Lab (Sept.

2006)

A:
The CTL’s Innovations Lab is a faculty-led incubator for teaching innovation for the online
environment

B:
White Paper Number 1
Using RSS News Feeds to Stay Current: Newsgator.com as Example
Incorporate Really Simple Syndication tool to stay current in your field.
White Paper Number 2
Audio Basics with Audacity (Freeware)
Learn the basics of audio production on your PC. This is the foundation for podcasting,
presentations with audio, and audio feedback on student projects.

White Paper Number 3

Embedding your AIM Presence into your Classroom
Put a AOL instant messenger indicator into your classroom announcements. Student will be able
to tell if you are online when they enter your classroom

C:
Welcome to the Innovation Lab!

Welcome to the Innovation Lab, a small but vibrant part of the larger Kaplan
University faculty community. We are dedicated to tapping into skills, knowledge
and wisdom of the Kaplan faculty in order to innovate and invigorate our
collective teaching. Appropriating the words of Stanley Kaplan, the Innovation Lab
celebrates our "bags of tricks" and strives to "dig deeper" into that collective store
of instructional riches.

View entire article -

“Flailing Animated Gestures and Mnemonic Devices!”

"My challenge as a teacher was to give students the tools they needed to get the
job done. I had to keep students interested, keep them learning, keep them
laughing, and --- above all --- build their confidence that they could succeed. I
was the gentle nudger. I wanted them to love learning as much as I loved
teaching. I used everything imaginable to stimulate the students --- arguing,
joking, teasing, cajoling, listening, deciphering, and probing. I dug deep into my
bag of tricks and pulled out mnemonic devices… flash cards, scrawled
blackboard diagrams, and flailing animated gestures."
---Stanley H. Kaplan, "Test Pilot" page 37

Welcome to the Innovation Lab, a small but vibrant part of the larger Kaplan University faculty
community. We are dedicated to tapping into skills, knowledge and wisdom of the Kaplan faculty
in order to innovate and invigorate our collective teaching. Appropriating the words of Stanley
Kaplan, the Innovation Lab celebrates our "bags of tricks" and strives to "dig deeper" into that
collective store of instructional riches.

In Kaplan University faculty training course you were given the keys to your classroom --- the
KU*ACE platform. There is no doubt that it is one of the best platforms in higher education today.
Yet, it really is only like getting the keys to your physical classroom. Some of us where educated
in ivy-covered brick buildings; others in converted farm buildings. Yet we all know that none of
those classrooms came "alive" until the faculty member showed up.

The philosophy of the Innovations Lab is that innovation is a cornerstone for creating an effective
learning environment for students --- to keep them interested, laughing, learning and building their
confidence. Innovation is the connector between instruction and technology.

But let's be clear about what the Innovation Lab is not:

 1. It is not about implementing "bleeding edge" technology for the sake of playing with
the latest gizmo or gadget
2. It is not about driving system-wide technology changes to the KU*ACE or the KU
Campus Platforms (the organization has strong leadership in place for that kind of
work)
3. And it is not about a top-down approach to teaching innovation and creativity.

Rather the Innovation Lab is more a kin to what Stanley Kaplan espoused --- flailing animated
gestures and scrawled blackboard diagrams --- and more then anything else, high energy and
a willingness to engage students wherever they are currently.

The Innovations Lab Structure

The Innovations Lab (IL) is part of the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). We strive to be
an inclusive group and welcome input from all members of the Kaplan University community.
Formally, the Innovation Lab’s leadership is comprised of 6-8 Innovation Lab Fellows who
participate in researching, testing and disseminating new ideas to the faculty. Innovation Lab
Fellows provide this service to the University and are compensated through increased
Professional Development funding for their efforts.

The goal of the Innovations Lab is to periodically create and release "white papers" on innovative
practices to faculty. These white papers will range from time-saving devices for faculty in
managing their classroom, to the use of new technologies to engage students in the learning
process, to instructional techniques that use current KC*ACE technologies in innovative ways.
These white papers are practical "how-to" documents that outline the instructional and
pedagogical value of the practice, give concrete examples of the best practice in action, and
instructions on how to implement it into your own teaching practice.

The Innovations Lab is also establishing a “micro-grant” program for faculty at Kaplan University.
These micro-grants will support faculty who want to develop innovative practices that can be
shared with other faculty through the publication of a white paper and through training sessions.

Keep digging into that "bag of tricks."

~~~

Willem W. Brooke-deBock
Innovations Lab Fellow and Faculty Member, Kaplan University
Email: wdebock@kaplan.edu
AIM: wbrookedebock
Home Phone: 802-254-5264

D:
The Innovations Lab is pleased to announce the deadline for the first round of “micro-grants” for
KU Faculty. November 1, 2006.

~~~landing page

The Innovations Lab is please to announce the deadline for the first round of “micro-grants” for
KU Faculty. November 1, 2006.
The Innovations Lab is soliciting proposals for its inaugural “micro-grant” program. Successful
grant proposals will demonstrate high quality, achievable projects that will enhance teaching at
Kaplan University and whose research results can be effectively communicated to other
professors in the Kaplan Community. The results of the research project will be produced as a
White Paper for the IL series of occasional papers on teaching innovation in the online
environment.

Application guidelines:

3-5 page proposal submitted as a Word Document.

Title Page
Abstract
Applicant Name and KU affliation
Applicant/Researcher background
Academic back ground
KU back ground
Description of Research Project and Methodology
Background research
Concept/hypothesis
Resources Required
Letter of Peer Support

>>>Link to Application Template {this still needs to be created}

E:
Welcome to the Innovations Lab Blog!

In this space, the Innovations Lab fellows will be posting short articles about interesting things
that are happening in the field of teaching, instructional technology and online learning theory,
and cool toys and trends that are happening in the field. You can expect 2-3 posts a week on a
variety of topics often having references to materials and articles on the world wide web. As a
member of the IL community you will have the opportunity to post your comments on these
articles.

You will be able to read the blog from any RSS aggregator (News Reader) that you are currently
using. If you aren’t using a News Reader, check out the IL White Paper Number 1 (Using RSS
News Feeds to Stay Current: Newsgator.com as Example) to get started today.

Articles that are in the works for the next couple months include:

1. A three-part series on the potential of WEB 2.0 technologies for education. (Not sure
what WEB 2.0 is, stayed tuned!)
2. A description of what is happening in the world of MMOGs (massively multiplayer online
games) and what opportunities that is opening up for educators
3. Interview with Elizabeth Lane Lawley, RIT professor and Director, Lab for Social
Computing.
4. Book Review: The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More by Chris
Anderson
5. Book Review: The Ten Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelley with Jonathan Littman

~~~~Second blog post!

Meet Will Brooke-deBock, Faculty, Department of Professional Studies, College of Arts and
Sciences
I want to introduce myself to you all. My name is Will deBock and I am thrilled to be the founding
Fellow of the Innovations Lab. I have been at Kaplan for a long time (in KU time for sure): Six
years this past August. Sometimes, I am not sure if I am a Kaplan dinosaur or an early mammal.
;-)

First the facts:

- I have been with Kaplan University for 6 years.

- My first role was as "executive producer", which meant I worked "between" the technology
group, the academic group and the business side of the organization.
- I was (and still am sometimes) a translator between the technology "world" and the other
aspects of the university.
- My undergraduate work was in Sociology, and I graduated with a BA with Highest Honors from
Marlboro College in Vermont
- I have worked on a PhD in Sociology @ Brandeis University
- I earned a Master's degree in Technology Management from the Graduate Center of Marlboro
College.
- I love teaching!

The Innovations Lab was conceived in response to a deeply held belief that I have. Much
innovation in society (and in particular, in education) takes place at the grassroots.

I have certain beliefs about Innovation at Kaplan University:

1) At the grassroots level. I have always believed that teaching innovation IS taking place at
Kaplan University, but sometime it is less visible because it is happening at the
grassroots level. If only the organization could uncover that well-spring of innovation,
share it, and foster a culture that embraces it, we (students, faculty and administration)
would be better off of it.
2) Faculty members are the organizations best leaders to foster, encourage and test
innovative practices in the classroom.
3) Innovation can be BIG and sweeping or it can be SMALL and practical. And both types of
innovation are important.
4) Innovation takes place when individuals are willing to experiment and try new things out.
5) Commitment to innovation in the classroom is a commitment to always becoming a better
teacher.

I am honored to be part of the launch of the Innovations Lab. We, the collected body of faculty,
can make this Innovations Lab an important and enriching part of our teaching personal practice
and an important part of the Kaplan organization and culture.

~~~~Third blog post! (top of the list on IL opening day! Also posted in the “Become a Fellow Link
under administration.)

The Innovations Lab Seek Fellows

The Innovations Labs is applicants and nominations for its inaugural group of “Innovations Lab
Fellows”. The deadline is October 15, 2006.

DUTIES:

1. Six month term

 2. Vet and Review Micro-grant proposals from faculty
3. Post bi-weekly on the Innovations Lab Blog
4. Publish Whitepaper or Extended Blog Articles on current research interesting as agreed
upon by the IL Fellows Committee and the IL Director.

COMPENSATION:

1. $250 Professional Development stipend per quarter (3 months) as an active IL Fellow.

($500 dollars for the 6 month IL commitment)
a. Funds can be used for book purchases, conference attendance, software or
hardware purchases, etc. that will be used to further your personal innovation
projects in your classroom!

SELECTION:

The inaugural group of 4 fellows will be chosen by an ad hoc group of faculty members from
across the University. In future, New Fellows will be selected by the Innovations Lab Fellows
committee directly.

A 2 page proposal submitted as a Word Document.

Applicant/Researcher background
Academic back ground
KU back ground
Description of Research/Innovations Interests
Background Experience
Types of Innovative Practices you are interesting in
Innovations that you have added to your Classroom at KU

>>>Link to Application Template or Online Application Form {this still needs to be created}

F:

About Us:
The Innovations Lab is currently selecting its Fellows.

The interim Selection Committee is:

Will Brooke-deBock, faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences

Need more…

Email us:

Innovationslab@kaplan.edu

G:
Become an Innovations Lab Fellow!

The Innovations Labs is applicants and nominations for its inaugural group of “Innovations Lab
Fellows”. The deadline is October 15, 2006.

DUTIES:
 5. Six month term
6. Vet and Review Micro-grant proposals from faculty
7. Post bi-weekly on the Innovations Lab Blog
8. Publish Whitepaper or Extended Blog Articles on current research interesting as agreed
upon by the IL Fellows Committee and the IL Director.

COMPENSATION:

2. $250 Professional Development stipend per quarter (3 months) as an active IL Fellow.

($500 dollars for the 6 month IL commitment)
a. Funds can be used for book purchases, conference attendance, software or
hardware purchases, etc. that will be used to further your personal innovation
projects in your classroom!

SELECTION:

The inaugural group of 4 fellows will be chosen by an ad hoc group of faculty members from
across the University. In future, New Fellows will be selected by the Innovations Lab Fellows
committee directly.

A 2 page proposal submitted as a Word Document.

Applicant/Researcher background
Academic back ground
KU back ground
Description of Research/Innovations Interests
Background Experience
Types of Innovative Practices you are interesting in
Innovations that you have added to your Classroom at KU

>>>Link to Application Template or Online Application Form {this still needs to be created}

H:

Innovations Links:
Weblogg-ed.com (http://weblogg-ed.com/)
Cool Tools (http://www.kk.org/cooltools/index.php)
Online Learning Update: (http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/onlinelearning/blogger.html)