The UAlberta Faculty of Law would like to offer its warmest congratulations to our colleague Professor Peter Sankoff on being chosen by the University of Alberta as the winner of the 2014 Information Technology Innovation Award. This award recognizes individuals for their innovative use of hardware and/or software technology in support of research, teaching, administration, and/or the campus experience.
Over the past two academic years, Professor Sankoff has used innovative software and tablet technology to create accessible, visually dynamic teaching modules in his Evidence and Criminal Law courses at the UAlberta Faculty of Law. The "flipped" classroom is not entirely new - but it is fairly new to law. As in other disciplines, law teachers have increasingly incorporated problem-solving, skills development, and other "active" or "discovery" learning exercises into the classroom. These exercises, however, cut into class time that would otherwise be used to explain the core texts and concepts that students must understand to engage productively in these exercises. Professor Sankoff's short 20 minute "capsule" video podcasts, which he prepares beforehand and posts online, overcome this challenge by giving students the opportunity to learn core concepts in an engaging and time-flexible manner.
Professor Sankoff's use of progressive, tablet-based visual technologies in his capsules go beyond conventional lecture and PowerPoint podcasts by incorporating dynamic visual representations of key principles. Capsules recognize the needs of today's "visual-learning" inclined students and provide a video that allow concepts to be explored in real time with a clear graphic interface. By combining audio description from the professor with visual imagery, Professor Sankoff's capsules allow students with different learning styles to interact with the information in a multi-sensory fashion. In addition to being available on demand (which allows students repeat viewings, and the choice of when to watch), Professor Sankoff's capsules free up class time to focus on deeper learning objectives and allow the possibility of exploring additional topics that could never be reached before.
Professor Sankoff's use of technology is not restricted to capsules. He was an early adopter of "Top Hat", an online interactive "clicker" platform that he makes heavy use of in the classroom. "It is a key part of my teaching strategy - and an essential part of the flipped classroom", says Sankoff. "It allows me to make sure that students are really grasping the concepts, and also lets me grabs their attention effectively." Sankoff poses questions on Top Hat regularly throughout his seminar, and students are able to try their luck at problem-solving from Day 1 of the course. The use of Top Hat allows students to go back and keep track of successes and failures as well.
"Professor Sankoff's methodology, enthusiastically received by UAlberta Faculty of Law students and fellow teachers, has attracted the attention of law teachers throughout Canada and internationally, and been featured at major international conferences and in peer-reviewed publications", UAlberta Faculty of Law's Associate Dean of Research Steven Penney enthused. "I can think of few technology-based pedagogical innovations that have had this kind of impact in such a short period of time. Professor Sankoff has demonstrated innovative use of hardware and software technology to support teaching at the University of Alberta and is a highly deserving winner of this award."
In 2013, Professor Sankoff obtained a grant from the University of Alberta Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund to further develop and disseminate his capsules. As part of this project, he conducted interviews with students on their experience with the technology, collaborated with experts, and disseminated his findings at conferences and workshops all over the world. He is continuing to tinker with his flipped classroom/clicker technology initiatives, and has a number of research publications coming out in the next few years describing his attempts in this area.
"I'm deeply honoured to have received this award from the University", says Professor Sankoff. "I love using new technology to enhance the classroom experience. At the same time, it is time-consuming to keep up, and make the attempt to evolve and re-shape the way we teach. Recognition of this sort certainly bolsters my spirit and lets me know the effort is appreciated!"
Professor Sankoff will be presented with the 2014 Information Technology Innovation Award, at an awards ceremony on Wednesday, June 18 at 1:00pm, held as part of the UAlberta Connect Conference. He wishes to thank Vice Dean John Law and Associate Dean Research Steven Penney for their support.