Cal State Innovate actively contributed to the 2023 Cal State Tech Connect Conference that took place July 24-27. From being a part of the core planning team, hosting and emceeing sessions, and facilitating their own sessions, the team supported and contributed to innovative growth in tech throughout the CSU.
The conference had keynote sessions each morning that featured: Dr. Bridget Burns, Nir Eyal, Dr. Jesse Goldhammer, and Dr. Ellen Ochoa that covered different areas of higher education and technology. Monday morning hosted hands-on workshops and the remaining days had sessions by the CSU community as well as engagement activities from partners and sponsors.
Allison Green, Cal State Innovate’s User Experience Designer, collaborated with Katherine Lathos, Fresno State User Experience Designer, to host a workshop dedicated to user Personas. “Creating “Persona” Connections Develop User Personas to Promote User Centered Design” walked attendees through the value of user-centered design and empathetic research. Facilitators also included an interactive component where attendees watched popular movie clips to practice observational research skills in order to build actual personas.
Kate Miffitt, Director for Innovation, and Allison Green co-facilitated “Analyzing the Student Digital Experience through User Research” with Fresno State DXI to share the design process for their active project to create a mobile-first student portal for the campus. The session covered the role of user-centered design thinking, the ways in which student assistants and interns were utilized in the process, and the value of cross collaboration between multiple offices and stakeholders.
Kate Miffitt, with the co-chairs of the XR Common Interest Group, hosted “Reality Bytes: A Journey Through The Growth of Extended Reality Across the CSU” to explore the trends and challenges in the use of extended reality in teaching, learning, and research in the CSU. Along with describing key opportunities and challenges using XR in teaching and learning, the session shared the benefits of the common interest group and previewed various campuses’ VR projects to better emphasize the range of immersive experiences in the CSU.
To watch more Cal State Tech Connect sessions from other CSU members, visit the YouTube archives.
