2016
Best Portfolio (Student)
Katie Garrison
http://katiegarr.com
Katie Garrison majors is Visual Communication and has utilized OU Create to build out her domain, katiegarr.com. On her About page, Katie notes that she is driven to learn everything she can using design to solve problems.
Finalists
Best Portfolio (Faculty)
Ken Marold
http://kenmarold.oucreate.com
Ken teaches computational and environmental art, game development, graphic and web design and fabrication courses in the School of Art + Art History, and first year studio for the College of Architectureand has utilized OU Create to build out his domain, kenmarold.oucreate.com.
Finalists
Best Course Website
Architecture for Non-Majors (Dave Boeck)
http://archgened.oucreate.com/
Dave Boeck is an Associate Professor of Architecture focusing on integrating Universal Design Principles into all projects, along with the concepts of sustainability. Dave has utilized OU Create for group blogging in his Architecture for Non-Majors, a large lecture general education course. Students from diverse backgrounds use the site to give their perspective on architecture as well as comment on each others work.
Finalists
Best Short Story or Personal Narrative
Hannah Asfeldt
http://hannahasfeldt.com/writing/a-job-well-done/
Hannah is a sophomore at the University of Oklahoma as well as a Global Engagement Fellow. Her blog consists of writing for the College of Journalism, GEFs, and her own creative writing.
Finalists
Best Photonarrative
John Grunewald
http://johngrunewald.com/photos/europe-summer-2015/
John Grunewald is an Architecture student who uses OU Create to showcase projects and photography. His narrative, “Europe, Summer 2015,” shows a wide array of travel activities that are sure to stir the wanderlust in even the most sedentary.
Finalists
Best Post Related to Studying Abroad
Holly Crawford
http://hollyjcrawford.com/globalengagement/reflections/im-wealthy-beyond-imagination/
Holly Crawford is a Global Engagement Fellow and Iowan who wants to travel the world and experience different cultural paradigms. In her post “I’m Wealthy Beyond Imagination,” she writes better understanding American middle-class privilege in context of the lives lived by her Tanzanian host family.
Finalists
Best Review of a Song, Movie, Book, or Video Game
Reagan Hayes
http://realtalkwithreagan.com/uncategorized/everest-review/
Reagan Hayes reviews movies in a clear, systematic fashion. His comprehensive analysis of Everest discusses the Public Interest, Storyline, Acting, Character Development, Cinematography, Editing, and Public Response to the film.
Finalists
Best Wiki
Julie Ward
http://span3853.julieannward.com/doku.php
Julie Ward’s wiki resource for Spanish 3853 is majestic. Entirely in Spanish, the wiki contains information about 12 artistic works (poetry, film, literature).
Best Community
OU Forum
http://ouforum.com/
By its own description, FORUM is a student-run newsmagazine that aims to cover topics of concern for OU students that get minimal coverage on other platforms. Each issue has a Theme, Feature, Guest Contributions, Art, and Events Calendar.
Finalists
Most Active (Student)
Margaret Bourlon
http://margaretbourlon.com/
Margaret Bourlon is a Senior in the College of International Studies and Global Engagement Fellow who has utilized OU Create in a variety of ways. Her blog is a delightful and amalgamation of reflections on her time abroad, short fiction, and general musings on life.
Most Active (Faculty)
Laura Gibbs
http://lauragibbs.net
Laura Gibbs has taught fully online versions of Mythology & Folklore and Indian Epics for over 10 years. She maintains a prolific presence on the web, tweeting and blogging on all things education. Laura is an excellent example of how educators can leverage the power of the Internet to create learning experiences every bit as engaging, if not moreso, than those that occur face-to-face in classrooms.
What is OU Create?
OU Create, a project managed by the University of Oklahoma’s Center for Teaching Excellence, offers students, faculty, and staff the opportunity to build and maintain a digital identity by facilitating both the registration of web domains (.com, .org, .net) or subdomain and easy installation of popular open-source applications such as WordPress, MediaWiki, Drupal, and Omeka. In providing users with access to these tools, Create aims to empower all members of the OU community to craft and control their digital narrative through the use of blogs, portfolios, wikis, and more.
Great educational experience require one to take ownership in their learning while also testing their assumptions against a community. Our hope is that OU Create exists as a digital commons for those to empower digital scholarship and citizenship. Create gives users toolboxes rather than mere tools. It is an environment that can be shaped in seemingly infinite directions such as a portfolio, blog, educational resource, or something else!
In other words, we think Create is important because it gives each member of the OU family a place to, well, create the Internet extension of his, her, or their identity – in the words of OU’s inaugural President, David Ross Boyd, “What possibilities!”