10/22/07
Students view on outmoded education methods
Clicking on the title will take you to a great student video (Utube)commentary on the gap between students' concepts of learning today and the state of traditional educational institutions. It capture the zeitgeist of youth culture in college!
10/6/07
It's getting better
Now that I'm in my second year of college I'm almost finished with my general education courses. Thus, more of my schedule is devoted to my major and I have more fun at school. I've noticed that now I'm not at the bottom rung of my program that professors are putting more work into the 'experience' of their class. To explain, in my GrC 101 class (Grc = Graphic Communication, my major) the professor gave us a complementary copy of his book and put some very rudimentary PowerPoint slides online. Most of my freshman classes followed suit with a fairly simple textbook and the occasional reminder to check Blackboard for the Powerpoint.
While some of my courses still adopt that method, things are starting to make a noticeable change. GrC 331, for the sake of contrast, has no textbook. When my professor explained that no book existed that made him happy I got a little nervous. That all changed when we were given 5 amazing handouts that he designed himself before listening to a lecture that instead of having a deck of PowerPoint (or Keynote) slides was based entirely on class discussion, drawings on the board, watching his desktop via projector and various hardware examples that he had brought in. After 3 weeks of class every lecture has created a similar experience: active learning via the use of technology in the classroom.
Not to dismiss my experience in 101, it was a wonderful course taught by our hilarious and engaging department head, but this class is just more fun. More importantly, I will remember all of this. By our professor's work of creating his own support material I have exactly what I need to support the coursework. Because he is so adept with his Powerbook I go into lab already understanding how software works. By watching him use and explain different pieces of equipment in lecture I can recall why that gadget is so important (and so expensive).
I have carried a theme of "get online!" in other posts but after only 3 weeks in the course I can already see the benefits of technology in the classroom as a supplement to material. While I may have had to wait for a class like this because there is more material in a 300 level course than a 101 course, the evidence it pretty clear. It works. Maybe I can fish for comments here...does this hold true in other disciplines? Is the extra work of integrating more 'active' material worth the result in student participation?
While some of my courses still adopt that method, things are starting to make a noticeable change. GrC 331, for the sake of contrast, has no textbook. When my professor explained that no book existed that made him happy I got a little nervous. That all changed when we were given 5 amazing handouts that he designed himself before listening to a lecture that instead of having a deck of PowerPoint (or Keynote) slides was based entirely on class discussion, drawings on the board, watching his desktop via projector and various hardware examples that he had brought in. After 3 weeks of class every lecture has created a similar experience: active learning via the use of technology in the classroom.
Not to dismiss my experience in 101, it was a wonderful course taught by our hilarious and engaging department head, but this class is just more fun. More importantly, I will remember all of this. By our professor's work of creating his own support material I have exactly what I need to support the coursework. Because he is so adept with his Powerbook I go into lab already understanding how software works. By watching him use and explain different pieces of equipment in lecture I can recall why that gadget is so important (and so expensive).
I have carried a theme of "get online!" in other posts but after only 3 weeks in the course I can already see the benefits of technology in the classroom as a supplement to material. While I may have had to wait for a class like this because there is more material in a 300 level course than a 101 course, the evidence it pretty clear. It works. Maybe I can fish for comments here...does this hold true in other disciplines? Is the extra work of integrating more 'active' material worth the result in student participation?
9/6/07
New school year
Summer is winding down and school is approaching. Being the person that I am, I spent a fair amount of my summer within arm's reach of my HP laptop. While at my apartment in San Luis Obispo I had readily available wireless access to keep up on work with MITE, stay in touch with my family via email and talk to college friends with Facebook. When I was able to go home and it was too hot for frisbee we'd play games and get on YouTube with the Wii. On vacation I had my laptop and my acoustic guitar and spent nights tracking my summer writing.
With school less than 2 weeks away, however, it's almost time to say good bye to most of these habits. I won't be home nearly as often and with spotty wireless coverage anywhere but the library my email will sit unread until late each evening. With studying, reading assignments and homework the Wii will sit idle and my guitar won't be recorded again until winter break hits in December.
It seems a little odd to me, especially as a student at a Polytechnic school, that my 'many technologies' will go nearly unused during the school year. I am in a fairly computer-based major so I will have occasional assignments that require me to use Creative Suite and upload files to Blackboard, but note the word 'occasional'. In most cases that really means 'if you don't finish in class'.
This leads me to a question suggested to me by Ruth, do faculty want us or support us in using the technology we know so well? You would be hard pressed to find a college student that doesn't know how to shoot or do simple editing on digital photos, to organize a music library containing thousands of songs, to check email from a cell phone...we use technology nearly constantly. Socially and in terms of entertainment we're more productive and efficient than ever before, we can carry every song we've ever heard, make phone calls and surf the internet from our pocket.
With the first generation of true technology natives coming into place, do administrators and faculty understand what we're capable of'? I would love to hear from faculty, teachers, educators or anyone involved in learning, would you want to implement these technologies into learning?
With school less than 2 weeks away, however, it's almost time to say good bye to most of these habits. I won't be home nearly as often and with spotty wireless coverage anywhere but the library my email will sit unread until late each evening. With studying, reading assignments and homework the Wii will sit idle and my guitar won't be recorded again until winter break hits in December.
It seems a little odd to me, especially as a student at a Polytechnic school, that my 'many technologies' will go nearly unused during the school year. I am in a fairly computer-based major so I will have occasional assignments that require me to use Creative Suite and upload files to Blackboard, but note the word 'occasional'. In most cases that really means 'if you don't finish in class'.
This leads me to a question suggested to me by Ruth, do faculty want us or support us in using the technology we know so well? You would be hard pressed to find a college student that doesn't know how to shoot or do simple editing on digital photos, to organize a music library containing thousands of songs, to check email from a cell phone...we use technology nearly constantly. Socially and in terms of entertainment we're more productive and efficient than ever before, we can carry every song we've ever heard, make phone calls and surf the internet from our pocket.
With the first generation of true technology natives coming into place, do administrators and faculty understand what we're capable of'? I would love to hear from faculty, teachers, educators or anyone involved in learning, would you want to implement these technologies into learning?
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