See below for our archival document--pre-website.
Link to website: www.tnsandbox.com
TENNESSEE SANDBOX DIGITAL MEDIA CONSORTIUM
(v.1.3: 07/0707)
Robert R. Bradley
Director, Technology Integration
Division of Communication and Information Technology
Tennessee State University
Tennessee Campus Compact
615-579-7446
Executive Summary
The Tennessee Sandbox, led by Tennessee State University, has assembled a team of seven institutions of higher learning, representing collaboration between the Tennessee Board of Regents and the University of Tennessee systems. Member institutions are participating in a pilot project: a digital media tournament focusing on podcasts.
Participants in the pilot project include:
Tennessee Board of Regents System
· Tennessee State University
· University of Memphis
· Tennessee Technological University
· East Tennessee State University
University of Tennessee System
· University of Tennessee at Martin
· University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
· University of Tennessee at Knoxville
The deadline for uploading institutional campus winners from all five categories was May 31. Nashville’s NPR affiliate, WPLN, is judging the statewide entries, housed on the iTunes U website of East Tennessee State University.
The Service Learning category is particularly compeling, as it supports a state-wide project deploying technology tools and training with Service Learning/Civic Engagement pedagogy to foster information and digital literacy for stakeholders in urban and rural communities.
With tournament expansion into video with interstate competitions in the offing, Tennessee State University president Melvin N. Johnson’s leadership of the Tennessee Campus Compact has created a unique alliance between students, faculty, staff and administration to foster collaboration between local, state, regional and national corporate, private and public stakeholders.
Tournament Results
On July 1, WPLN Rob Gordon e-mailed the Sandbox results from their 12-member assessment team. Winners:
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Category
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Artist
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Institution
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Service Learning
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Susan West
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TSU
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Faculty Feature
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Dr. Richard Chesteen
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UT-Martin
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Faculty Course Concept
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Dr. Helen Houston
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TSU
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Student Feature
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Jennifer Grist
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ETSU
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Student Course Concept
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Team supervised by Dr. Luke Powers
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TSU
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Tennessee State University secured sponsor support for tournament prizes and administration from Bone, MacAllestor and Norton, PLLC, the FedEx Institute of University of Memphis, and Apple Computers. Institutional winners received 100.00. Statewide winners received $300.00 and an iPod.
Following program design, each participating institution conducted its own campus tournaments.
Again, ETSU provided key infrastructure to tournament success.
Sandbox Charter Partners
Collaboration is the cornerstone of Sandbox methodology, and the extraordinary vision and practice of Sandbox education, corporate and institutional partners has been integral to the success of this unique program.
In particular, the contributions of the following institutions of higher learning and individuals must be acknowledged:
Sandbox Tournament Chairs:
· John Girton: Tennessee Board of Regents/TSU
· Steve Holt: University of Tennessee system/UT-Martin
Tennessee Board of Regents System
· Tennessee State University: John Girton, Luke Powers
· University of Memphis: Doug Hurley, Steve Terry
· Tennessee Technological University: Bob Clougherty
· East Tennessee State University: Mark Bragg, Karen King, David Curry, Radek Kulesza.
· Tennessee Board of Regents Regents Online Degree Program: John St. Clair
University of Tennessee System
· University of Tennessee at Martin: Steve Holt
· University of Tennessee at Chattanooga: Charles Hart
· University of Tennessee at Knoxville: Jean Derco; Joan Thomas
Tennessee Sandbox Charter Sponsors and Contacts
· echomusic: Catherine Oliva
· FedEx Institute: Doug Hurley, Steve Terry
· Apple Computers: Rusty Boozer
· Bone, MacAlestor, Norton, PLLC: Ken Larish
· Tennessee Campus Compact: Mani Hull
· SESAC: Mary Breen
· Ibiblio: (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill): Paul Jones
· WPLN (90.3 NPR Nashville): Rob Gordon
In addition, special mention must be made of support for the Tennessee Sandbox Digital Media Consortium by Tennessee State University’s Division of Communications and Information Technology, including:
- Dr. Dennis Gendron
- John Ray
- Belinda Krigel
- Eric Reed
- Jill Dybka
- John Barfield
- William Latham (TSU Honors Program)
Mastering Web 2.0
WPLN’s assessment by an in-house team of 12 judges signals the end of the Phase I pilot and benchmarks the successful engagement and mastery of Web 2.0 on its own terms. The Tennessee Sandbox will celebrate this unique achievement and develop a workplan to replicate to desired scale a self-correcting model program converging information technology and education with a Service-Learning/Civic Engagement component, with a special focus on researching the practice of social entrepreneurship.
This component will develop, among other products, leadership e-portfolios that demonstrate ROI (Return on Investment) and VOI (Value on Investment) calculations for each stakeholder.
In addition, a program of local, state, regional and national mini-grants will be announced at the inaugural Sandbox Summit I: Convergence Inquiry 101.
Inaugural Sandbox Summit I:
Convergence Inquiry 101
Program development will be enhanced by the “Sandbox Summit I: Convergence Inquiry 101,” taking place August 7, 2006, 9:30—3:00, at the Vanderbilt University First Amendment Center. At present, the event is sponsored by Tennessee State University, Vanderbilt University, the Tennessee Campus Compact, echomusic, FedEx Institute, Apple Computers, and SESAC.
In addition, the Tennessee Sandbox Digital Media Consortium Tournament has been nominated for a Campus Technology Innovation award. Winners will be announced at this summer’s national conference in Washington, D.C..
The tournament, hosted by the University of Tennessee-Martin on their iTunes U, expands next year to include a video component, as well as recruitment of additional institutions.
Through the College of Education, Tennessee State University is pursuing a partnership with Metro Nashville Public Schools to include students at elementary, middle and high school levels.
Sandbox Program would seek to create an aligned ‘channel’ for community knowledge transfer from graduate and undergraduate higher education to high schools, middle schools, elementary schools and early childhood: pre-K through 20th design.
Program has scaled from state to interstate, regional and now national collaboration, as well as expanding membership in the Tennessee Sandbox Consortium by adding Vanderbilt University to represent private institutions of higher learning state-wide. In keeping with President Johnson’s goal of ‘Building Bridges,” the Consortium seeks to establish hubs that spoke to other hubs (FedEx model), activating, charging and challenging a national network of campuses and communities to foster creative, responsible active community engagement with technology tools and resources.
The Tennessee Sandbox has engaged the NCAA in dialogue about scaling the Tennessee Sandbox model into a national tournament of competitive scholarship. This tournament would be structured similar to NCAA competitive athletic events and tournaments.
If the United States can cultivate championship athletes and teams in sports, then it stands to reason the United States can (and should) cultivate championship scholars in different subjects. The possibilities are exciting and warrant further inquiry. Possible ‘events’ would include competitions in audio, video, grants, and business plans.
Strategic partnerships between Campus Compact and organizations such as Educause and the NCAA would generate tremendous synergy for positive, creative development and deployment of all forms of community capital through technology integration into academic programs.
Declaring a State of Engagement
To support Tennessee State University President Melvin Johnson’s leadership in the Tennessee State Campus Compact, the Sandbox will advance the participation of Tennessee Campus Compact institutions in the Service Learning category. This participation is a key objective of the project: incorporating technology into service learning courses state-wide to expand Tennessee State University’s model of knowledge transfer through technology integration for underserved rural and urban communities.
By creating digital media from traditional scholarship and uploading to a central repository, a library of projects will be created that can be accessed by all participants. Currently, this practice has been established at Friendship Community Outreach Center in North Nashville and Salama Urban Ministries in the Edgehill community.
Link to Dr. Clark Maddux’s website demonstrating Tennessee State University’s work in technology integration and service learning in community:
Link to Dr. Clark Maddux’s site detailing integration of technology in sophomore literature class:
Research
Key to the Tennessee Sandbox mission is its promotion of inquiry guided by the notion of 21st century technology convergence. The mind-boggling evolution of the knowledge culture and economy warrants careful questioning of its phenomena.
In fact, research into its phenomenology can provide valuable insights into how communities can leverage their unique knowledge capital to realize individual goals.
A Zoomerang survey, co-authored with Ann Beheler and made possible by the Tennessee State University Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement) accessed opinions from tournament participants and is offered at
www.tnsandbox.com. The survey includes questions concerning learning outcomes, as well as ideas for next year’s tournament.
The survey is part of an ongoing inquiry into the theory and practice of technology integration, including Service Learning/Civic Engagement, coordinated by the TSU Center for Service Learning and Civic Engagement and Office of Technology Integration.
A key ingredient of Sandbox methodology will be the focus on assessment and accountability. Funding for studies and research will be a priority in program development, and outcomes-based activities will be a staple of its offerings.
Integrating Sandbox methodology into academic courses will insure creation and archiving of high-quality assets and counter the proliferation of low-quality user-generated content prevalent in current Web 2.0 distribution channels such as YouTube.
Sandbox research focii include (but are not limited to):
- Role of visual literacy on higher-order thinking
- Faculty tenure revision (peer-reviewed digital media)
- 21st Century work-force training
- Recruitment
- Retention to graduation
- Loyalty to institution
Program sustainability will in fact hinge on self-correction made possible by focus on monitoring measurable outcomes.
Future Regional and National Collaboration
Leading the North Carolina Sandbox initiative are Doug Edmunds, School of Law, and Paul Jones, Director of ibiblio, at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Edmunds currently conducts workshops for the North Carolina Campus Compact members. The Tennessee Sandbox plans to continue and expand this partnership with University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by confirming ongoing collaboration with member colleges in the North Carolina Campus Compact.
The Tennessee Sandbox (through Tennessee Campus Compact) continues to communicate with the National Campus Compact office regarding this initiative and will inform them of all developments for possible expansion of the program via state Compacts.
Through Tennessee State University’s participation in the UNC-Chapel Hill SCALES grant (a Service-Learning-based program fostering literacy skills through university/community partnerships) , the Tennessee Sandbox will continue to advance technology integration into academic and Service Learning courses, with Dr. John Mark Hunter of Tennessee State University’s College of Education, and Doug Edmunds collaborating directly. Tennessee State’s mentor institution in the grant, Virginia Tech, offers possibility for program development in Virginia.
The New Research Triangle
In fact, a new regional “Research Triangle” has been created, with TSU, VT and UNC-Chapel Hill anchoring the tri-state collaboration in technology, social entrepreneurship and Sevice-Learning theory (research) and practice (tournament and programs).
A financial report (including ROI of qualitative and quantitative program measurements) is currently under development. Preliminary findings are promising and point to the need for a concerted, collaborative effort on the part of national institutions to track the fiscal outcomes of academic Service-Learning and the field’s impact on higher education.
In fact, findings would provide a missing, yet essential, component in the ongoing inquiry of academic Service-Learning’s efficacy.
Additionally, Rutgers University and Empire State (SUNY) are collaborating with Tennessee State University to expand the Sandbox nationally, establishing a partnership between Rutgers University’s Communication and New Media Department and Rutgers Service Learning and New Jersey Campus Compact contacts and Empire State of the SUNY system and respective counterparts.
Nashville’s WPLN-NPR has suggested engaging Nashville Public Television (NPT) to judge the video offerings for next year, as well as advancing the initiative through national NPR.
Special thanks to WPLN-NPR-Nashville’s Community Board of Advisors, who judged the state finals of the Tennessee Sandbox Digital Media Consortium’s Podcast Tournament in June of 2007.
Apple Computers also supports the project’s regional and national expansion.
Long-term goals include continued program enhancement and expansion, as well as advancing a strategic partnership between Educause and Campus Compact. In addition, initial contact with the NCAA Director of New Media advance the possibility of creating a NCAA-based model of competitive scholarship based on the existing model of competitive athletics.
By offering digital learning tools and training, the Tennessee Sandbox Digital Media Consortium will continue to advance digital transformation of traditional scholarship and champion this transformation via Service Learning and Civic Engagement, with the goal of impacting underserved rural and urban communities from a local to national level.
Local, Regional, and National Meetings,
Presentations and Conferences Attended:
- February: Tennessee Board of Regents IT Conference (with TN Sandbox partners TSU, ETSU and University of Memphis) at Montgomery Bell State Park.
- February: North Carolina Campus Compact at Elon College, with Doug Edmunds of UNC-Chapel Hill.
- March: North Carolina TLT Conference in Raleigh, with Doug Edmunds of UNC-Chapel Hill.
- April: Technology Leadership Conference, with TSU CIO Dr. Dennis Gendron: San Juan College, Farmington, New Mexico.
- April: Tennessee Higher Education Technology Conference, with East Tennessee State University’s Dr. Karen King and her staff: Fall Creek Falls, TN.
- June: Educause Southeast Regional Conference, with Steve Terry of University of Memphis: Atlanta.
Upcoming
- July: University of Tennessee-Knoxville
- July: East Tennessee State University
- July: University of Virginia, Darden College of Business
- July: University of Virginia Office of the Vice President
- July: Virginia Tech Service Learning Conference: Blacksburg.
- July: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
- July Elon University, Elon, NC.
- July: North Carolina State University, Raleigh.
- July: University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
- July: Berry College, Rome, GA.
- July: Campus Technology Conference: Washington D.C.
- August 7: Sandbox Summit I: “Convergence and Diversity.” Vanderbilt First Amendment Center.
- December: Sandbox Summit II: (topic to be determined), Tennessee State University.
Selected Resources
TSU/UNC-Chapel Hill blog (Bradley/Edmunds):
TSU Undergraduate, Non-traditional student blog (Susan West):
About Robert R. Bradley
As Director of Technology Integration at Tennessee State University, Robert R. Bradley supports the Campus Compact Sandbox Proposal by advising the project on contemporary issues in educational technology, and New Media, Intellectual/Academic/Social Entrepreneurship, including E-commerce.
His presentations of “Unpacking the Podcast” and “Growing the New Technopolis” have inspired Tennessee State University collaborations on the local, state and national levels, including the Tennessee Sandbox (a consortium of TBR and UT system Campus Compact member schools promoting literacy in digital media through Service Learning and Civic Engagement).
Bradley also consults the on-going TSU HUD HBCU Watkins Park Technology project.
In 2006, he produced www.balladofbirmingham.org--award-winning New Media/e-Philanthropy project sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Black Programming Consortium and Blackside, creators of the “Eyes on the Prize” documentary series.
bb: 3/18: Look at how we've grown.
STATE SANDBOX PROPOSAL
draft 1: August, 2006
draft 2: October, 2006
draft 3: December 2006
Key Terms
Sandbox=process
Technopolis = product
Action Items
Digital Publishing (Year 1: Podcast) Tournament template for Local, State, Regional and National Competitions to:
1. Document and preserve local cultural content
2. Disseminate through technology
3. Reinforce cultural history and values
4. Build community
Purpose and Description
This proposal outlines the creation, development and establishment of the “Tennessee Sandbox,” a coalition of artists and other professionals working in IT in the college and university systems of Tennessee. It also seeks to create a model for other states to adapt to their own unique ends.
This coalition will advance a state “sandbox” for creating digital content to be published in a “Technopolis": a repository of research and resources that serves scholarship, life-long learning, and a commitment to service in order to raise the quality of life of every citizen of the state through technology integration.
Toward this end, the Tennessee Sandbox will sponsor a state-wide podcast tournament among its members in higher education. Each school will host its own tournament, with planning and training occurring in fall 2006 and launch taking place spring 2007. Each institution will then post its local winners in a statewide competition, with statewide winners announced at the beginning of the fall 2007 semester.
The first year of the tournament will feature audio podcasts; the second year will introduce video podcasts and a coordinated plan (“Follow the Breadcrumbs to the Tennessee Sandbox”) for outreach that will develop tournaments in urban and rural communities modeled on the Tennessee Sandbox competition.
Pilots that partner with local school districts will run concurrently through the initial year, 2006-2007.
Research asserts a crucial difference between technology use and technology integration. Therefore, active learning in New Media skills will be the foundation of all projects: Digital Content Creation; Website Creation, Development, and Maintenance; System and Network Enterprise. Of particular interest to the Tennessee Sandbox is the concept and practice of social-gaming, a pedagogy that will teach stakeholders to identify real-time local issues/needs and propose solutions through technology integration and outreach in urban and rural communities across the state.
The Tennessee Sandbox will also advance the formation of a national coalition of state Sandboxes, (e.g., the North Carolina Sandbox) This national coalition of IT professionals will promote (and recruit corporate and foundation support for) scholastic competitions modeled on NCAA athletic competitions. In fact, all Sandboxes will be encouraged to leverage all affiliations for greatest impact on local, regional, state, national and global technology integration in service of life-long learning.
'1:1'--DEEP THEORY: DEEP PRACTICE
By 'closing the loop' with 'deep-theory, deep-practice," the state sandbox provides a plaform from which knowlege professionals will establish an national and international model for replication to desired scale. This platform will launch a preK-20 initiative that will advance digital publishing through a sandbox/technopolis model: sandbox being the 'workshop,' technopolis being the global digital publishing repository.
The Tennessee Sandbox will be a collaboration between UT and TBR systems.
As of November 12, 2006, verbal agreement on a podcasting tournament has been reached with Sandbox Charter Members:
UT:
UT Martin: Steve Holt
University of Tennessee: Jean Derco
TBR: Advancing regional sandboxes in their respective areas: Eastern, Middle and West Tennessee:
TSU--Bob Bradley
Memphis--Steve Terry
ETSU--Mark Bragg
TT--Bob Clougherty
Corporate:
Fed Ex Institute
Apple
The Sandbox will also advance a strategic partnership between Campus Compact
and Educause
Example of Current National Best Practices Research in Podcasting
UC Berkley Podcast workflow
INITIAL NATIONAL COLLABORATION/RESEARCH:
Tech Transfer / Hub&Spoke tag:
(State land-grant HBCU and private liberal arts)
Plan was piloted by Farleigh-Dickinson University’s Undergraduate Creative Writing Program, spring and summer 2006: Applicants submit creative podcast; winner receives scholarship. Out of 32 applicants, an average of only 12 actually enroll.
Tennessee State University is awaiting word of final outcome of project.
Hypothesis claims anything less that a 1:1 match in factors of tools and training will negatively impact pilot's measurable outcomes.
Resulting Proof of Concept will create revised strategy for enterprise deployment of plan in order to reach that 1:1 match.
DIGITAL PUBLISHING (PODCAST) TOURNAMENT TIMELINE
(draft)
Fall 06:
- Coordinate Tennessee Sandbox
- Recruit member institutions
- Share best practices
- Rules and structure of contest in place and made public by January 1, 2007.
Spring 2007:
- Run local contests in spring
Summer 2007:
- State sandbox/technopolis tournament
Fall 2007:
- Announce winners to relaunch with video casts added (Sundance, PBS possibilities}
- Best practices outreach plan in place to integrate technology into all rural and urban communities
NO PREVIOUSLY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL ALLOWED: MUST BE ORIGINAL AND OWNED BY STUDENT (see Stanford Creative Commons link for intellectual property guidelines)
Participants will also be required to provide and sign all release forms for individuals included in their casts.
Submissions failing to meet all criteria will not be considered.
Workflow Spring 2007:
OPTION 1:
THE METER: TSU PODCASTING TOURNAMENT
TSU STUDENT ADVISORY BOARD:
Grads
Darnell
Wright
Undergrads:
Cole
Brown
Olojo
FALL 06
Phase I: PRE-production: 'Growing the New Technopolis' Sandbox Podcast Party, supporting the TSU HUD HBCU Watkins Park grant by celebrating completion of Phase II of 'Growing the New Technopolis' project.
Location: Friendship Community Outreach Center,
Date: December 4, 5-7 pm.
Agenda:
1. Metro Middle Schoolers Christmas Web Pages and Podcasts.
2. Streaming New Media artifacts documenting program activities.
3. Announcement of Sandbox Podcasting Tournament for Spring 07.
4. Awards and prizes for student New Media scholars.
(Insert link)
SPRING 06
Phase II: Production
Phase III: Post-Production: Assessment
Two genres:
Gen Ed Key Concept;
Course-specific, cultural studies
Judging criteria: NPR standards
--Content Quality
--Delivery Quality
Move artifacts from each class to each department
(using mytsu to facilitate)
Bare-bones production, content-focused
Brief demos: voice only (use sam’s method for structure)
Each class picks two best, pools in department.
Department decides best two
Best two departmental demos are then produced
Final products pooled by department in schools campus-wide
Uploaded to site as part of Digital Literacy curriculum.
TSU peer-reviewed tournament.
Winners go on to state sandbox tournament hosted by memphis server in summer.
OPTION 2:
Choose topic from list
Research and compose content
Capture content in digital format
PC: Audacity
Apple: Garageband
Edit: Post-Production
Save to personal workstation.
Transfer to mp3 format
Complete online entry form and artifact tagging
‘Tag artifact’: Name, ‘TSU tiger,’ sp07
Save mp3 in zip folder
Label folder
Fill out online entry form (all entrants consent to subscribe to rss feed and to register for Sandbox listserv)
Submit to local site
Draft 1 of Rules & Regulations
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1.
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Entrant must be 18 years of age or older and be a student or employee of sponsoring institution.
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2.
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One entry per person.
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3.
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All entries must be submitted electronically and received by March 31, 2007 at 7:00 pm EDT.
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4.
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Entry information becomes the exclusive property of sponsoring institution.
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5.
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By entering this contest, you agree that the information provided by you may be used by us for the administration of this contest, and we may also use the information to carry out research about this competition and communicate future promotions to you.
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6.
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The announcement of the winners will be made on May 1, 2007. Results will be posted on sponsoring institution's website.
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7.
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Winners will then be entered in state Sandbox tournaments. State tournament winners announced beginning of fall 2007.
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president's preso?
Scroll down the following link to see Sandbox Theory and Practice published on Educause Server: "Ballad of Birmingham" and "Unpacking the Podcast" powerpoint (without audio)
http://www.educause.edu/SERC06/9552