NESCent Postdoc Professional Development Series
on Effective Teaching and Learning
Session 6 – Teaching with Technology, Teaching via
Videoteleconference
August 25th, 2006
NESCent - Durham, NC
“…in the winter of 1813-1814 . . . I attended a
mathematical school kept in Boston . . . on
entering his room, we were struck at the
appearance of an ample black board
suspended on the wall, with lumps of chalk on
a ledge below, and cloths hanging at either
side. I had never heard of such a thing before.”
- May, 1866
Overview
• General Thoughts on Teaching with
Technology
• Barriers to Teaching with Technology
• Types of Instructional Technology
• Demo: Teaching via
Videoteleconference (VTC)
• Resources
General Thoughts on TwT
• Avoid the “George Mallory” approach (“…because it
is there”)
• Technology should enhance the learning
process…ideally it should enable the instructor
and/or student to do things that couldn’t be done
otherwise
• Know your students and their resources and skills
• Blend technology into your class
• Remember the “Seven Principles for Good Practice
in Undergraduate Education”
Barriers to TwT
• Infrastructure
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•
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Cost to establish
Cost to maintain
Cost to upgrade (remain on the cutting edge)
Physical constraints
Faculty resistance
Student resistance
Student access
Resources for faculty, student training
Types of Instructional Technology
• Basic Tools
– Powerpoint
– Film clips and animations
– Websites and web resources
• Course Management Software (e.g., Blackboard)
– Integrated suite of tools for course management
– Announcements, document posting/sharing, discussion boards, online
gradebook, group pages, online quizzes and surveys, etc.
Types of Instructional Technology
• Basic Tools
– Powerpoint
– Film clips and animations
– Websites and web resources
• Course Management Software (e.g., Blackboard)
– Integrated suite of tools for course management
– Announcements, document posting/sharing, discussion boards, online
gradebook, group pages, online quizzes and surveys, etc.
• Advanced Tools
–
–
–
–
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Electronic whiteboards
Tablet PCs
Student response systems (SRS)
iPods
Etc.
SMARTBoard
Touch-sensitive,
electronic whiteboard
Tablet PCs
Sympodium
Student Response
Systems
Types of Instructional Technology
• Basic Tools
– Powerpoint
– Film clips and animations
– Websites and web resources
• Course Management Software (e.g., Blackboard)
– Integrated suite of tools for course management
– Announcements, document posting/sharing, discussion boards, online
gradebook, group pages, online quizzes and surveys, etc.
• Advanced Tools (electronic whiteboards, tablet PCs, SRSs, iPods, etc.)
• Distance Education Technology
– Asynchronous tools (“online courses”)
– Synchronous tools (videoteleconferencing (VTC), webconferencing)
– “Blended Learning” approaches
Videoteleconference
(VTC) Classrooms
Videoteleconference
(VTC) Classrooms
Demo: Teaching via VTC
Some Good Resources…
• Teaching with Technology (2000) David G. Brown,
editor
• Web Teaching Guide: A Practical Approach to
Creating Course Websites (2000) Sarah Horton
• The ‘No Significant Difference’ Phenomenon (1999)
Thomas L. Russell
• “How to Improve Critical Thinking Using
Instructional Technology” (2001) Timothy van
Gelder (http://www.philosophy.unimelb.edu.au/reason/papers/ASCILITE2001.pdf)
Additional Online Resources…
• EDUCAUSE - EDUCAUSE focuses on the use of
information resources in higher education.
(http://www.educause.edu/)
• Horizon - "The environmental scanning publication
for education leaders" (http://horizon.unc.edu/main.asp)
• The TLT Group - A non-profit group focusing on
effectively using technology to enhance teaching
and learning (http://www.tltgroup.org/)
• Teaching and Learning on the WWW - Over
605 examples of how the Web is being used as a
medium for learning. (http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tl/)