Vedantham, Anu
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Publication Tour of the Weigle Information Commons(2016-06-09) Vedantham, AnuWIC is an innovative library/classroom partnership which offers group study, media project support, and a unique design philosophyPublication Spaces, Skills, and Synthesis(2015-04-01) Vedantham, Anu; Porter, DotWe describe the evolution of support for digital humanities work at the University of Pennsylvania through the library’s adaptation of spaces, facilities, technical support and faculty advising. We begin with the Weigle Information Commons (WIC) in 2006 which provides broad support for educational technology, including multimedia authoring in the Vitale Digital Media Lab. In 2013, we added the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts (Kislak), with the Vitale 2 Lab focused on the digital humanities. We have integrated space, technology and facilities with the provision of professional development opportunities and support for informal experimentation. Techniques include: helping librarians to articulate and expand their repertoire of digital tools, strategically including staff with non-traditional skillsets, using library space to facilitate and host peer-learning opportunities for faculty, showcasing the creations and perspectives of students, and providing customized support for teaching and research experimentation.Publication Video Creation Tools for Language Learning: Lessons Learned(2015-01-01) Karasic, Vickie Marre; Vedantham, AnuVideo creation tools—from Skype to PowerPoint to iMovie—have become increasingly popular conduits for foreign language teaching and learning. In flipped-classroom and blended-learning models, video enables faculty to move routine language concepts (i.e., grammar and vocabulary) outside the classroom, leaving more in-class time for live engagement with teacher and classmates. This chapter discusses lessons learned and new data collected at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries’ Weigle Information Commons on video’s effectiveness in various language learning contexts. Data collected includes reflections on several years of course observations, interviews with language faculty members, and a campus-wide survey to gauge student perspectives on video’s role in the language learning experience. Themes that have emerged include the range of video tools available to perform a given task, perceptions of tool usefulness and ease of use (depending on faculty and student technology comfort levels), and the role of the library as a central resource for technology support and course integration. Our study contributes to the scholarly conversation by providing a taxonomy of current tools used, their efficacy in our context as a measure for other contexts, and skills recommended by faculty and staff for effective incorporation of video tools in the language classroom.Publication Making Youtube and Facebook Videos: Gender Differences in Online Video Creation Among First-Year Undergraduate Students Attending a Highly Selective Research University(2011-01-01) Vedantham, AnuOnline video creation for YouTube and Facebook is a newly popular activity for college students. Women have explored social networking technologies at about the same level as men, but have expressed less interest in computer programming and multimedia design. Online video creation includes aspects of both social networking and programming / multimedia design and provides an interesting forum for examining gender-related differences. This mixed methods study uses questionnaire data from 31% of the population of first year students attending a highly selective research university. The study explores how online video creation varies by gender after incorporating theoretical concepts of confidence, self-efficacy, attitudes toward computers, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, social influence and demographic variables such as socioeconomic status, ethnicity, immigrant status and high school size. The theories of self-efficacy (Bandura), stereotype threat (Steele) and learned helplessness (Abramson) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) inform the conceptual framework. Using descriptive and multivariate regression analyses as well as qualitative inquiry, the study finds significant gender differences in creation of online videos and roles played with video editing. Men report more participation in video creation and editing, as well as more participation in creating videos for required school projects, a notable finding for policy and practice. Attitudes toward computers and TAM explain observed gender differences. The Mac computer platform is associated with greater likelihood of video creation. Study results inform academic support interventions to promote media literacy, computer confidence and consistent perceptions of ease of use of video technologies for all students.Publication Making Youtube and Facebook Videos: Gender Differences in Online Video Creation Among First-Year Undergraduate Students Attending a Highly Selective Research University(2011-01-01) Vedantham, AnuOnline video creation for YouTube and Facebook is a newly popular activity for college students. Women have explored social networking technologies at about the same level as men, but have expressed less interest in computer programming and multimedia design. Online video creation includes aspects of both social networking and programming / multimedia design and provides an interesting forum for examining gender-related differences. This mixed methods study uses questionnaire data from 31% of the population of first year students attending a highly selective research university. The study explores how online video creation varies by gender after incorporating theoretical concepts of confidence, self-efficacy, attitudes toward computers, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, social influence and demographic variables such as socioeconomic status, ethnicity, immigrant status and high school size. The theories of self-efficacy (Bandura), stereotype threat (Steele) and learned helplessness (Abramson) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) inform the conceptual framework. Using descriptive and multivariate regression analyses as well as qualitative inquiry, the study finds significant gender differences in creation of online videos and roles played with video editing. Men report more participation in video creation and editing, as well as more participation in creating videos for required school projects, a notable finding for policy and practice. Attitudes toward computers and TAM explain observed gender differences. The Mac computer platform is associated with greater likelihood of video creation. Study results inform academic support interventions to promote media literacy, computer confidence and consistent perceptions of ease of use of video technologies for all students.Publication New Media: Engaging and Educating the YouTube Generation(2011-12-01) Vedantham, Anu; Hassen, MarjorieToday’s undergraduates are clearly comfortable as consumers of technology and new media purchasing ring tones for their cell phones and tunes for their iPods, text-messaging from handheld devices, scanning and tinkering with photos, keeping up with their Facebook friends and watching viral YouTube videos, sometimes all simultaneously. We share examples of classroom assignments integrated with library support services that engage today’s undergraduates with academic materials in a variety of course contexts. We discuss how specific arrangements of library learning spaces and the alignment of space and staffing can help undergraduate students succeed with new media projects for class assignments.