Apps for the classroom

Kudos to Team Awesome for their Team Tech Talk last week.  It was a great overview of the current capablities of apps and iPad features.  Much like our team "wiki" talk, we discovered as a class both the benefits and shortcomings of these technologies.  They're great when they work, but disheartening when they don't.  The apps in particular could lead to a dismall class period if you've planned the whole hour around a particular function and it ends up failing.  But we do need to acknowledge that most of these technologies are in their infancy and will continue to improve and morph as we learn more about the functionality of these technologies.  It will be quite intriguing to see the future classroom of 2022. 

"To tech or not to tech"

Here's an excerpt from the article "Encouraging Distraction? Classroom Experiments with Mobile Media"

"I think the best place to start when thinking about incorporating technology into the classroom is by asking the question,“What is the right tool for this particular job?” Sometimes it’s a digital tool and sometimes it’s not. But when we force a digital tool into a classroom scenario where it isn’t the best one for the job, students are extremely quick to pick up on this “tech for tech’s sake” implementation." 

This excerpt resonated with me and succinctly embodies my view of classroom technologies.  Sometimes I feel that 'tech-savvy' instructors push technologies onto students which may not enhance the learning environment and rather detract from the educational objectives of the course.  If a concept or theory could be conveyed in an efficient manner through student-led discussion and dialogue, perhaps that should be the method used to teach the material.  That being said, I do see the value and merit of using technologies to enhance a class, if that is the most appropriate "tool for the job."  For example, clickers might be the most effective tool for enhancing classroom interaction for a 300 person lecture course, but classroom dialogue might be more effective in a small class of <15.  As instructors, we need to reflect on our learning objectives, the dynamics of our class and make informed decisions about the methods through which we will disseminate information.    

Clickers: the good, the bad, and the useful

This semester has prompted me to think about many different ways that technology can be used in the classroom and it has also prompted me to ask other students about their experiences with assorted technologies.  After the 'clicker' subject was first proposed, I did several informal opinion polls with fellow students about their experience with clickers.  Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of people responded that they had had a negative experience with clickers.  The list of problems ranged from clicker malfunctions, incompatibility and lack of knowledge by the instructor.   

After the wonderful Team Teach Talk on Clickers, my optimism for clicker use was renewed.  I do feel that they have the ability to enhance student experiences, especially in large classes.  It is imperative that instructors take the time to truly learn proper use and implementation of clickers, so that if mishaps arise, they have the skills to fix the problem.  Earth, Wind and Fire did a great job of fielding questions and difficulties yesterday; they would all do justice to clicker technology in a lecture. 

Reflections on LMS systems: past & present

Inspired by Jeremy's post, I've been reflecting on the LMS systems used at my past universities.  To be quite honest, my recollection of the LMS system at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF) is quite faint.  Part of it may be the five years that have passed since I graduated with my bachelor's degree, but I believe the larger contributing factor is the fact that the LMS system was used very infrequently.  I believe the year before I started my undergrad, our university had used WebCT.  My sister was four years ahead of me at UWRF, pursing a degree in secondary eduation with an emphasis on geology.  The education department did use WebCT a fair bit, but I recall Rachel expressing her frustrations with some of the features of WebCT and the professors' inability to use the system effectively.  When I started college, the university had switched to Blackboard.  As a biology major, very few of the professors utilized Blackboard; for those that did, it was simply to post the final grade of the semester.  One of the biology professors, Dr. Bergland, had developed his own website which we used for freshman colloquium and ornithology.  These were sites maintained using Dreamweaver and were his way of avoiding the university wide changes of LMS systems.  As freshmen, we were required to develop a personal webpage portfolio, which were were to update throughout our undergraduate career and use to showcase our skills as seniors.  These pages were developed using Dreamweaver, which created an immense number of headaches, broken links and befuddled students.  I sincerely hope that the department has switched over to the more simple and streamlined option of Google Sites. 

As both a student and a teaching assistant at my Masters institution (Missouri State University), I have zero memories of ever using an LMS system.  The course that I taught had a webpage on which we posted lectures and reading materials.  I maintained a gradebook and students were free to check with me at any time to see their current grade.

At UGA, my appreciation of eLC as a classroom enhancement tool has increased.  I have assisted my advisor for two semesters with Environmental Biology of Fishes and he makes full use of eLC: posts lectures, posts grades, provides links of current news pertaining to fish, and posts extra credit opportunities.  I enjoyed the use of the email feature in eLC to send follow-up comments to students after class about questions that had been raised during lecture.  The class that I'm helping to teach this semester has shifted away from eLC and we are using a Wiki exclusively.  However, this is a graduate level course, in which grading is not so pivotal.  I feel that the greatest weakness of switching to an external wiki is the loss of the secure gradebook feature that eLC offers.