Into Practice, a biweekly communication distributed from the Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning to active instructors during the academic year was inspired by a successful 2012 HILT grant project. The e-letter highlights the pedagogical practices of individual faculty members from across Schools and delivers timely, evidence-based teaching advice, contributing to and strengthening a University-wide community of practice around teaching.

Below is a catalog of all the Into Practice issues sorted by the publication date. To subscribe to Into Practice, please sign-up via our Mailing List page.

• Grappling with a global pandemic in class, as a class

  Jonathan Zittrain, George Bemis Professor of International Law, adapted his digital governance course to incorporate what everyone was really focused on in mid-spring of 2020: the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead of “compartmentalizing” between class and crisis, he reworked the syllabus to respond to students’ needs and evolving experiences. Zittrain replaced the final exam with collaborative reports in which students examined aspects of the pandemic through the lens of digital governance dilemmas. “The idea was to offer students an opportunity to apply what they learned in the course to problems that were on everybody’s mind.”

• Policy and practice: Learning data in learning design

  Topic: Policy and practice: Learning data in learning design. Speakers: Evan Sanders, Associate Director of Curriculum Services (HMS); Cynthia Deng, candidate for Master in Architecture and Master of Urban Planning, 2021 (GSD); Milos Mladenovic, candidate for Master in Architecture, 2020 (GSD); Tara Abbatello, Teaching and Learning Specialist, Christensen Center for Teaching and Learning (HBS); and Carol Kentner, Digital Scholarship Librarian, Gutman Library (HGSE)

• Microsoft Teams for Collaborative Case Writing

  Microsoft Teams for Collaborative Case Writing, A Case Studies Affinity Group Event

• 2020 HILT Conference

  The ninth annual HILT Conference will bring together a diverse, engaged, and engaging set of speakers and panelists to share their successes and challenges in building equitable learning opportunities, facilitating charged or difficult class discussions, and supporting students as they navigate rapidly shifting circumstances.

• Keeping students engaged and learning through the “human hook”

  Maya Jasanoff, X. D. and Nancy Yang Professor of Arts and Sciences and Coolidge Professor of History, uses narratives to engage students and deepen their understanding of course content. From her Gen Ed course Ancestry to her upper-level seminar Narrative History: Art and Argument, Jasanoff demonstrates that “stories do not necessarily mean fiction; rather, stories are simply arguments based on the evidence. The former cannot exist without the latter.”

• Case Studies Affinity Group: Challenges and Trends in Case Writing and Development

  Please save the date for our fall Affinity Group meeting, Challenges and Trends in Case Writing and Development, hosted by Harvard Business Publishing (HBP) on Thursday, October 26, 2017, from 3:00-4:30 pm.

• Learning Spaces Affinity Group: Inaugural Event

  The HILT Learning Spaces Affinity Group will hold its first event on Wednesday, June 7, 2017 from 3 to 5 pm in Cabot Science Library. Please join us for a fun exploration of learning spaces around campus, and a chance to experience in person the new spaces in Cabot – featured in a recent Gazette article at http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/harvards-cabot-science-library-charges-into-the-future/

• Simulations & Games Affinity Group: Educational Games Gallery Walk

  Wednesday, May 31, 2017: 12:00pm to 2:00pm at Cabot Science Library. HILT Simulations & Games Affinity Group invites you to join them for an afternoon of learning, fun, and exploration. Featuring hands-on board games, role plays, video games, and virtual reality -- this event will showcase a variety of educational games being used in learning experiences across Harvard.

• Learning Data & Analytics Affinity Group Meeting

  Have you been wishing or planning to use data from your school's Canvas sites to understand student learning and behavior? Join the HILT Learning Data Analytics affinity group and VPAL Research for a presentation of VPALs Canvas Data products and a discussion how they can be used to help you answer your analytics questions.  

• Learning Design Affinity Group

  The HILT Affinity Group for Learning Design is holding an inaugural event on May 16, 2017 in Cabot Library.