Suzanne Surina Baur, a Technology Resource Teacher from Southeastern Cooperative Educational Program in Norfolk, Virginia, suggests ways to have students drive their learning in class. She notes that being lectured to or talked at makes it hard for students to be engage with the material and take ownership of their learning. Read her suggestions at…
This week, we would like to share a few interesting technology products that may not necessarily have a direct impact on teaching and learning. However, they could spark conversations and potentially ideas that indirectly influence teaching. Besides, some of these innovations are really cool. You need to hear about them if you have not already.
Smartphones and tablets are important tool for students and faculty. A number of applications for these devices help keep one organized, support efficiency, conserve resources and assist with production of materials.
Can Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram and the likes support learning? They most certainly can. Social media engages students with you, their classmates, current affairs and online resources. Below are a few links to resources with suggestions for using social media in any classroom setting. Guide to Social Media in the Classroom http://www.edutopia.org/blog/guidebook-social-media-in-classroom-vicki-davis That’s Pinteresting! How educators…
Have you considered going all digital to support learning in and outside the classroom? Does the idea go counter to your pedagogical practices or seem daunting? Dr. Lynda Haas of the University of California offers her reasons for going completely digital in her writing classes in a recent Faculty Focus article. Some of her approaches…
The Horizon Report The 2014 Report identifies emerging technologies that will influence teaching and learning over the next 1-to-5 years. Among the key trends encouraging an immediate adoption of technology are the Pervasive use of social media Increased offering of fully online, hybrid and collaborative learning models Acceptance of data-driven learning and assessment Emphasis on…
Integrating storyboards into a course or as part of a multimedia assignment makes a course more interesting and will engage students. Storyboards can also be assigned to students as a tool for presenting a project. Free storyboard templates and trail versions of storyboard creators are available to get you and your students started with this…
Interactive videos keep the viewer engaged, help highlight critical points and can assess the viewer’s knowledge. The annotation and spotlight options within YouTube can be used to link a series of videos you have created. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5zzVemi3m4[/youtube] Read more about YouTube annotations: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/92710?topic=14354&hl=en There are also services designed to create video-based quizzes. Blubbr is a free…
On Tuesday, December 31, 2013, limited administrative access to SPARK will end. If you have course materials on the SPARK servers that you want to keep, you need to get them off before the end of December. There are two options for getting your materials out of SPARK before the December 31st deadline.
Have your students needed a visually compelling way to present their research on key events involved in a complex issue? Have you needed to organize and display multimedia material to show how an issue developed over time? In these kinds of situations, both teachers and students can benefit from using a simple intuitive tool to…
Instructors and students are interested in using mobile devices, such as phones, laptops, and tablets, as “clicker remotes” to respond to classroom polling. This would allow students to participate in clicker-based activities without requiring them to purchase and maintain a separate handheld remote. In Fall 2012 and Spring 2013, OIT ran a limited ran pilot…
On Thursday, October 17 from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., please join fellow instructors Curt Griffin (Environmental Conservation), Ray la Raja (Political Science), and Ludmila Tyler (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology) in a moderated discussion about responsive teaching. Our discussion will encompass a variety of approaches for using student feedback and student work to actively modify…