http://online.fsu.edu/instructor/teachingenhancement/
TEACHING ENHANCEMENT
Florida State University Newsletter on Teaching
Occasional Paper #2
Technology Integration: What’s in it for me?
Florida State University has invested heavily in
renovating classrooms and adding technology
capabilities. In addition, Academic Computer
Network Services provides E-mail capability for
students and faculty who desire it. The Office for
Distributed and Distance Learning (ODDL) supports
the Black-board course development and delivery
system for on-campus web-supported
instruction and distance courses. Are you taking
advantage of these technologies? If not, I think I know
why.
I refer to the conditions necessary to foster technology
integration as the murder model. The criteria for
prosecuting a murder in court are: a motive, an
opportunity, and a weapon. In the same manner these
criteria are necessary for the integration of technology
into instruction. Let me explain.
I think the first question an instructor should ask is,
“What’s in it for me?”, or “What’s my motive?” If you
perceive no advantage or incentive for using
technology in your instruction it is unlikely that you
are going to pursue the training or spend development
time on materials. However, even if you do see some
advantages, it still requires two other conditions:
opportunity and resources (weapon). For example, to
make good use of the computers and projectors in the
high-tech classrooms, you have to first have the
resources, a computer and PowerPoint at your
disposal. Then, you have to have the opportunity to
learn how to make a slide show with PowerPoint, and
how to get digital pictures that illustrate what you
want to present. You have to know how to get that
presentation into the computer in the classroom, and
how to run the projection equipment. Finally, it helps
to know what makes a good, engaging presentation, so
as to avoid “death by PowerPoint”.
The Motives
What are some of the motives for using technology?
First, in terms of presentation technologies, like
PowerPoint, it provides a way of making organized,
and highly illustrated lectures or lecture/discussions.
PowerPoint is a multimedia delivery system, and as
such can contain still pictures, audio, and or video. It
is an electronic tray of slides, that make it easy to
adopt materials to different audiences, reuse and
reorganize resources, and to publish them on the web
for others to see.
PowerPoint slides have other potential advantages.
First, they can be printed as handout pages so that
students can follow the lecture and use the notes for
later study. If you do not have a departmental budget
for printing the PowerPoint handouts, they can be ut
on-line, so that students can print them for themselves.
Even if they don’t own a computer they have access
to printing in any of the campus computer labs.
You can increase classroom interaction by using
PowerPoint to project questions onto the screen. Give
the students time to think about the answers, or let
them discuss the answers with the person sitting next
to them, then have them present their answers to the
whole class. You can even type the response into the
PowerPoint presentation and post the answers on the
Internet after class.
Other technologies have other advantages. The
Internet, and World Wide Web, offers access to a wide
variety of resources. Search engines make it possible
to find information on almost every subject. But more
importantly, the Internet provides communication
opportunities between you and your class, and
communication among classmates. Every course at
FSU can have a web presence on Black-board, FSU’s
course template. You get a blackboard site by simply
requesting it from:
http://online.fsu.edu/onlinesupport/instructor/request
When your course site is created it will automatically
register the students who enroll in your course, and
you will immediately be able to contact them as a
group or individually by E-mail.
Another motive is reducing classroom time through
hybrid courses. A hybrid course substitutes on-line
activities for classroom hours. In a hybrid course a
student might only come to class one day a week
instead of two, however, they would be expected to
get the rest of the instruction from activities on the
web. Blended classes take careful planning, and
require “form 2” approval for the replacement of the
class time by web instruction. Blended courses are
being used at a number of universities to relieve
classroom-scheduling problems, and they have been
found to be instructionally sound, probably because of
the planning that goes into creating meaningful
learning activities.
Another motive is student success. Technology can be
used to provide students with practice and feedback
opportunities. Practice and feedback is a component
of active learning, which has been shown to increase
student achievement.
So, the technology should provide you with some
advantage. It help you plan, be more organized, be
http://online.fsu.edu/instructor/teachingenhancement/
more prepared. It helps you students reach you, find
course materials, and communicate with each other. It
allows them to check their grades, and practice their
knowledge on-line. It can provide study notes, and
they always have access to the syllabus so they know
what to do next.
The Resources:
As mentioned, FSU has made a number of resources
available to instructors in the multimedia classrooms.
In addition, the Black-board system is available to
everyone with a computer and web browser. The
people to help you get your computer set up to use the
web are the ACNS user-services consultants. The
people to help you get Black-board up and running are
the Office for Distributed and Distance Learning
(ODDL) folks. They can be reached at 645 0469.
compress large files for transfer. I also like Impatica
($269). Impatica is a bit pricey, but the one way to
compress PowerPoint programs with sound. A good
source of free or shareware software is
http://www.tucows.com
The Opportunities
So what will this technology cost you? Some of your
time and energy to learn to use it. If you are
technologically minded and like to play with things,
you can learn it on your own. There is on-line help
and support. However, if you are like the majority of
us, a little instruction can save a lot of time and
frustration. The Office of Distributed and Distance
Learning offers periodic workshop on the Black-board
system, and one-to-one help in the faculty lab in 301
Carothers Hall, if that’s what you need.
Using a simple interface, you will be able to upload
your syllabus to your course web site. No more “the
dog ate my syllabus” excuses from students. You can
also divide your course into weekly folders, each
folder containing the reading assignments, and
perhaps study questions for the week. Add links to
other web sites that have pertinent information. Using
Black-board’s discussion board, you can establish an
on-line threaded discussion that your students can use
to post questions, get answers, or discuss complex
issues.
For other technologies, Instructional Development
Services (644 8844) has workshops on PowerPoint,
and pedagogy regarding the effective use of
technology in instruction, (like, how you set up a good
discussion activity.) Again, one-to-one help is
available, if needed.
If you wish to use it there is an on-line grade book,
and on-line testing. The on-line testing tool is
excellent for creating practice quizzes so that students
can see if they understand what they are reading (it
provides these statistics for you too.)
In summary, Using the murder model I have
discussed the need for a motive, opportunity and
resources in order to successfully integrate technology
into your courses. The Instructional Development
Services Center in 4508 University Center, ACNS,
ODDL, and The faculty computer lab in Carothers are
all a part of helping you be successful. All it takes is
your interest, and a willingness to try something new.
The murder model works for considering your course
too. Think of your students. What is their motive for
being in your class? What opportunities do they have
for learning, and what resources will they need to be
successful. Might technology be the answer?
Need help with student assessment? The Assessment
Resource Center, under the direction of Dr. Bonnie
Armstrong, scans mark sense sheets for multiplechoice tests, and they are now in the process of
developing the capability for electronic testing for
large classes. They can also proctor tests for those
faculty who need these services.
There are a number of resources that you may wish to
look into. Some of my favorite software programs are
“SnagIt”, a $35.00 screen capture and graphics
conversion program. Inspiration, $50.00 concept
mapping software for drawing diagrams and charts.
And Coffeecup Free Zip Wizard, (free) used to
Other opportunities include summer workshops for
faculty wishing to integrate technology into their
instruction. Many of these workshops provide a
stipend for participants.
Do you have a idea for a Teaching Enhancement
Newsletter? Is there something you would like to
share with other faculty? Questions or comments can
be directed to wwager@oddl.fsu.edu