Increasing Digital Assets launched in June 2022 with a simple, yet impactful goal – to turn anyone into a potential educator. As educators, there is a perception that ‘real’ education comes through the classroom. However, it is clear that people learn everywhere, at home, in the neighborhood, online, with friends … and yes, in classrooms.
It was this idea that prompted BUILD-IT and experts from Arizona State University to design a program that provides opportunity for everyone in the university to create value for their school. Increasing Digital Assets Program is participant-centered series of workshops and mentor-supported instruction designed to turn higher education personnel – faculty, staff, administration – into content creators. The Program was open to faculty and staffs from BUILD-IT partner universities, who are interested in developing skills to support the digitalization of academic programs and in leveraging digital immersion skills to develop digital assets to support the advancement of digitalization in higher education in Vietnam.
Increasing Digital Assets supported university faculty and staff in leveraging their knowledge, skill set and wisdom to create relevant quick-start content. ‘Quick-start’, also called ‘rapid-response’, allows for proactive individuals to identify an area of concern in the university environment that they want to address. These are usually smaller, less urgent issues; for example promoting efficient use of recycling resources or creating support materials for Teaching Assistants. These assets are short, a few hours in duration at most, graded for mastery, and 100% autonomous. As a result, creators can design and implement an asset without having to worry about grading or maintenance.
“We understand that so many people on campus have something of value they can share with others. We also realize that not every area of impact stems from the classroom. So, we developed Increasing Digital Assets to empower universities to find effective, rapid-response solution to problems that may be under the radar,” offered Dr. Bob Schoenfeld from Global Outreach and Extended Education at Arizona State University.
There is a need for professional instruction in many areas that are not included in classroom curriculum. Relevant content can be created by anyone with the skill set and expertise to present accessible instruction to their audience. These assets are generally content that is not credit-bearing and is therefore not included in coursework. However, many digital assets are required for staff and faculty at universities in the United States. For example, At Arizona State University, all employees must complete various professional development trainings, including workshops on fire safety, cyber security, and DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion). These are completed completely online and completely autonomously by the employee. There is no engagement by an instructor in the conducting or assessing of content. This is what we are attempting to empower university employees to through BUILD-IT’s Increasing Digital Assets program.
In October, Cao Thang Technical College hosted the Increasing Digital Assets Showcase, where the inaugural cohort presented their creations to a panel of judges. 6 months of dedication and expertise were on display that day. The participants shared their motivations, strategies and goals necessary to create their digital assets. By sharing their assets, participants demonstrated how an individual can produce value and impact on their own and improve their institution. These committed individuals are contributing to the continued transformation of higher education in Vietnam.
Can Tho University team, including Mr. Ngo Ba Hung, Ms. Tran Thi To Quyen, and Mr. Nguyen Huu Van Long with the Basics of Kathara network simulator project which introduced a powerful and effective tool in learning, studying, and researching in the field of computer networks. Through this digital asset, users can set up projects in which simulating network diagrams to serve many different purposes such as illustrating the operating mechanism of the network system, teaching, researching, and developing new protocols in the field of computer networks.
Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology team, including Ms. Chau Phuong Khanh, Ms. Vo Tuyet Giang, and Mr. Luong Bao Binh, have built their digital assets on the university's LMS platform in order to provide necessary information for first-year students of the Faculty of Civil Engineering such as introduce the industries are trained by the Faculty, the system of facilities, the annual academic and skill competitions as well as the student clubs of the Faculty.
The team from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education includes Ms. Duong Thi Kim Oanh, Ms. Nguyen Vu Viet Linh, and Ms. Hoang Nguyen Ly with the digital asset is a mini course aim to support students in mastering the subject knowledge for Calculus II and boosting their readiness for the final exam, stimulate the self-learning ability for student as well as enhance the teaching quality through digital solution base on the principle of “build once, use many”.
Mr. Nguyen Dinh Phu - Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education designed and developed the digital asset "Behavioral practice class" to support lecturers to convey in-depth knowledge and skills to students in the most effective way as well as support students can study anytime, anywhere, in accordance with each student's learning method and absorb knowledge with a comfortable mood, without pressure compared to the traditional way of teaching and learning.
Lac Hong University team, including Mr. Tran Van Thanh and Ms. Van Dinh Vy Phuong, have designed an online course on “Industrial Automation System Programming” with video lectures, quizzes, and supporting documents for learners to reinforce electrical knowledge in control system installation before learning to program drivers on LMS system. Students can study/review the material at any time.
The team of Lac Hong University includes Ms. Tran Thach Thao, Mr. Ngo Van Cuong, Ms. Phan Hoang Nhat Linh develop digital assets "Laboratory Safety" under various forms such as lecture videos, infographics, or written content that help students, laboratory staff, and anyone who is interested in knowledge of protecting themselves while studying and working in the laboratory environment, including choosing appropriate clothes and protective tools, reading chemical labels, properly arranging and preserving chemicals,etc...
The showcase ended with 6 winners selected to present their assets at the Digital Immersion Forum held at Hanoi Univeristy of Industry on October 21st, 2022.
The Increasing Digital Assets program ran from June 2022 through October 2022. The estimated time of involvement is around 45 hours over 6 months.
Through the Increasing Digital Assets course, participants completed the following workshops:
- Foundation in Excellence in Online Teaching
- Quality Matters Course Design
- Principles of Instructional Design
- Foundations of Video Design & Content Creation
- Aligning Objectives, Outcomes and Assessment