Synchronous Teaching and Technological Use

I have never taught a course using synchronous teaching techniques, but I have been a student and I have TA'd for courses that incorporated these things. From the student perspective, synchronous teaching was very useful. Not only could I see the professor as they were explaining, but I could also see the slides and markings that they made on each slide. Because these types of lectures were recorded, I was able to pause, go back and re-listen to a portion of the information that I didn't understand the first time. I really like incorporating this type of thing into the learning environment. Yet, from the TA/professor prospective, synchronous teaching made interactions with the students more difficult. You didn't get the face-to-face interaction like in the traditional classroom and because of this students had to reach out more to meet with us. Often, because more effort was required on the students' part, many just avoided having to contact the professor or TAs altogether. If students were to merely participate more, I believe that synchronous teaching could easily be incorporated and should be used within the learning environment.

Then, the debates that the second group made us participate in were a really nice way to get student participation and for their understanding to be known. I have to admit that when I first heard that we had to do a debate, I was a little less than thrilled. Yet, while going through the activity I realized what a good method it was to get students involved. Also, it really did make me think differently about incorporating different technologies into the classroom setting. I have never been really interested in learning new technologies, let alone incorporating them into my teaching, merely because I am not technologically savvy.... But by making your students learn and utilize the different forms of technology as they emerge, you would ultimately be helping them learn the techniques and technologies that they'll have to know for future work. In society today, technology has become the basis of many different fields, so why not keep your students up to date? If you make them learn a new technology, you are helping them learn how to learn and incorporate new ideas. Ultimately, you could be helping your students grow and be ready for the world of grown up jobs where they'll be expected to figure out this type of thing on a daily basis.

Flipping the classroom

Honestly, I don't really understand what "flipping the classroom" really entails. From previous knowledge, I believe that it incorporates the primary learning into an outside of the classroom environment. By this, I think that the majority of the teaching/learning takes place outside of the classroom and class meetings are then used to discuss the material students encountered.





Following the presentation on "Flipping the classroom", I have really come to realize how this setup could be beneficial to the students' learning. Between the video and then participating in the in-class activities, it has really become apparent that this type of teaching can be beneficial. I really like that the very dry information is primarily the student's responsibility. This allows for class time to be utilized to clarify any information, ask questions and to engage your students in activities that can be used to solidify the major concepts that the students need to know. With this methodology, the students will get the important information in more than one form, which can be very helpful to get a variety of students to learn.

All of my time with flipping the classroom setups has been successful so far, both as a student and as an instructor. If used carefully, I think that this methodology can continue to be successful.

Powerpoint, Prezi and Clickers, oh my!

As we've finished the class this week, it really got me thinking about using different presentation platforms when teaching a course, or just presenting in general. Unfortunately, I've only really worked with powerpoints, which do indeed have their place. Presentations using this type of technology can be very effective when teaching, especially when working in large classrooms. Powerpoint presentations are a great way to present specific information in a concise and straight-forward manner. Yet, many teachers end up relying too much on these. Instead of posting main points and using their explanations to support the information presented, they merely slap all and as much information on the slides as possible.

When it comes to Prezis though, I am very intrigued. This set-up gives you the same feeling that you get with powerpoint presentations, but you have the ability to make your presentation less linear. Similar to what Sherry was discussing in class, it is nice to have the ability to "jump around" if a certain question arises and you have a slide containing that material later. Prezis are very good looking presentation platforms that could be used in many different ways.

Could Pinterest be effective in the classroom?

Now, because I missed what I can only assume were wonderful discussions in class last week, I'm going to just wing it a little bit.

Honestly, it wasn't until recently that I began using social bookmarking tools, being Pinterest in my case. In the beginning, I saw sites like this to be useless and time consuming. I've seen people spend loads of time perusing these sites, and I have finally fallen victim to such things. Not only are there are variety of topics that you can observe, but posts on such sites can be informative and down-right helpful. I can't even begin to list all of the great ideas and DIY projects that I've picked up on. Now incorporating this type of thing in to the classroom could be a great way to get students interested and to make them want to participate continuously in the classroom! Idea boards could serve as a place for individuals and/or groups to collectively brainstorm on a topic. Not only is it a place to build ideas, but it could also serve as a place to get students to discuss and gradually build upon a topic. It would take many students some time to get used to, because it is an ongoing "project", but on the other hand, it could also serve as a layed-back method to keep them interested. With any new technology in the classroom, it would take time to have social bookmarking take off, but in the long run, I feel that it could be very successful in helping students learn.

Using Technology in the Classroom....Good or Bad?

The debate on whether technology should be used within the classroom setting could go on and on....

I'm not saying that I think one way or the other, for I believe that there are positives and negatives to actually using different forms of technology when teaching. I have seen scenarios that would support both sides and I believe that while technologies can be used to enhance the learning process, it can also greatly hurt it.

First the positive aspects...
From facebook, to powerpoint to diagram programs, technology can be used to make the learning process better. For example, powerpoint is a simple and easy way to make easy-to-follow and legible notes for students. Diagrams and pictures can be included to further help students visualize an idea. Videos can be used in the same manner. These types of things are great when it comes to teaching within the sciences because many areas are difficult to follow unless there are visual cues to follow. For example, when talking about the vasculature within the circulatory system, it is much easier to show a picture of how the arteries and veins are positioned and branch than to merely describe it. Another positive aspect is that many teachers can introduce their information great verbally, but when it comes to writing down something, their writing is no more legible than chicken scratch....

Yet, there are the negatives too....
Even though there are many positive aspects, there are also some difficulties to incorporating technology into the classroom. The biggest weakness is that teachers can become too dependent on the technology itself... Instead of trying to teach and aid their students in grasping a concept and developing their ability to think more thoroughly and critically, many teachers just put up information that they will read verbatim to their student. This leads into the problem of teachers losing contact with the student. When this occurs, there tends to be a disconnection between what the teacher expects and what the students understand. This loss of personal contact not only makes the learning process more difficult, it creates a gap within the student-teacher relationship.... I could go on with this for a looooong time, but I'll prevent you from having to endure that.

The bottom line though is that using technology within the classroom. As a teacher, one must remember not to become too dependent upon the technology itself and to not lose contact with your students.

Here goes nothing...

So I have to admit, this is the first blog I have ever written... I've always been a bit weary about writing my thoughts down and sharing them with people, but I guess there's always a first time for everything.

When deciding what teaching course to take this semester, I initially began by trying to merely find a class would fill the requirements for the teaching certificate. Yet, when I saw what this class was about, it peaked my interest. I admit that I am far from a techy-type person; technology has never been my forte and I have relied on many of my peers for help. So when I saw that Sherry was teaching a course directly related to technology within the classroom, I was immediately interested. Not only has technology been growing within the college sector, but it is slowly creeping into the lower-level education. I believe that this class will not only help me become more well-versed with the technology out there, but it will aid me in being able to not only teach, but incorporate the newest technology wherever I end up.