Cal Poly computers and society lecturer Kurt Voelker spent the majority of his two-hour class showing YouTube videos of various news organizations to demonstrate the societal impact of social networking. His curriculum consists of online videos, classroom discussion and research compiled online. Yet, there is something missing from this prototypical teacher’s repertoire – a textbook.
Voelker spends hours during the weekend downloading video from dozens of sites, cutting them down and compiling them into condensed informative videos that cover an array of topics from privacy rights to globalization. This involves waiting for that pesky progress bar to fill, importing the file and splitting the sound track from the video. Though it’s a tedious process, it’s all worth it when a student receives the message, Voelker said.
“You have to come up with your own materials, see what works and what doesn’t,” he said regarding creating lesson plans. “And if you can tell it works by the reaction of the students, that’s a no-brainer. If we connected in class today with some of those (YouTube) videos, that’s the direction I want to go.”
More and more, technology’s rapid advancement is being mirrored in classrooms nationwide. More resources are available to target curriculum to today’s students. Some of those resources include Quia, an online game, quiz and workbook generator that allows instructors to track student activity and collaborate with other teachers. Another popular asset are Wikis, editable Web pages that promote communication and collaboration across the Internet. Instructors can also hold online office hours via Webcast; schools such as UC Berkeley feature lectures online and offer lecture-specific podcasts through iTunes U, where students always have access to a teacher’s digital lesson.
Learning is no longer confined to a desk.
“In terms of application for teaching, it’s amazing; the crossover is so vast,” Cal Poly journalism professor Brady Teufel said. “Intuitive programs that are designed for people to be able to produce things without a lot of knowledge – that’s the teacher’s dream.” Teufel uses programs such as Adobe Dreamweaver and Flash, relatively self-explanatory programs that create and customize Web pages.
Hours of an instructor’s monologue with maybe a PowerPoint presentation or chalkboard illustration induce many daydreams that negate the teacher’s message. The key to facilitate discussion is providing multimedia that engages the students, Voelker said.
“Nobody really wants to listen to the teacher,” he said. “You’ve got your moments (as a lecturer) and then you’ve got a lot of other time. I try to not overuse what I (alone) can present.” Voelker will often show pertinent current events found online to further explain his lectures.
Many teachers recognize the Internet as an important tool to find new resources and meet rising standards.
“I’ve moved to engaging the students more; they’re not passive anymore,” said Walt Bremer, director of Cal Poly Center for Teaching and Learning (CLT) and landscape architecture professor. “They’re more involved in the learning process. I feel that they are much more engaged, much more active and I believe more excited about the process.
There are obvious benefits when teachers implement new media in the classroom. Both freshmen and senior online learners reported deeper approaches to learning in their work relative to classroom-based learners, according to the 2008 National Survey of Student Engagement. Online material seems to stimulate more intellectual challenges and educational gains. Also, online learners were more likely to participate in discussion enhancing their understanding of different cultures and discuss topics pertinent to their majors. Cal Poly, along with 769 other four-year colleges, was surveyed.
“A broader range of technologies could help students of different learning styles learn better,” Bremer said. “You can talk about how a molecule works, but to really see how it actually works rather than seeing a static image and talking about it can really help a lot of students.”
The integration and synthesis of media, such as social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter is, “on the horizon; people don’t understand the ramifications of (conglomeration),” he added. For example, a citizen journalist posted the first photo of the submerged U.S. Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson River on Twitter. Thirty-four minutes later MSNBC interviewed him on live TV.
The potential of these sites has practical applications in all areas of study.
Yet, some of the consequences of technological reliance are still being explored. Many instructors are so enthralled with the intricate details of new technology that their basic message is lost, Teufel said.
“You get wrapped up in the bells and whistles and you lose the foundation,” he said. “You constantly have to be looking at multimedia and technology and find the actual application (to the curriculum).”
The drive to innovate teaching methods stems from each individual professor, Voelker said.
“No one is telling me how to do it,” he said. “There is a lot of academic freedom and there should be. When a person develops a style of teaching that works and students thought it was good, that’s the direction you should go.”
Yet, time is a major hindrance for professors trying to revamp teaching styles.
“The biggest inhibitor is (that) faculty have a steep workload here, and it’s just hard to make the change because if you make change it takes time,” CTL director of faculty development Joe Grimes said. “It isn’t good practice to just throw something in. You typically have to make some changes so the class flows well.”
Grimes explained that faculty members often recognize the technological gap between teachers and students but lack the resources to bridge that gap. Yet, students appreciate the effort a teacher makes to step out of their comfort zone and try new methods, Voelker said.
“There’s an honest respect from students if they can tell the teacher is trying to deliver for them,” he added. “Students are willing to accept it if you are trying to hit the target.”
The CTL strives to help teachers improve their methods through workshops and classes on topics such as social networking and digital media.
“We don’t necessarily stress the use of technology or any particular tool,” Grimes said. “We try to work with faculty members to see what they are trying to accomplish in their teaching and see if there are ways to improve that. If that means using the Internet, then we provide some advice as to how they might use that.”
While teaching, Grimes substituted physical office hours for virtual office hours via Blackboard.
“When students had questions, I had them post them there and they would answer each other’s questions,” he said. “It gave them quick feedback and they answered them well… when students were ready to study and ask questions.”
Yet, implementing technology doesn’t necessarily mean a more effective class.
“You have to figure out what you want to do first and then use the technology,” Bremer said. “Technology is moving very rapidly as you are well aware of; it’s hard for the university to keep up.”
Teufel said there is less resistance to technology in the classroom because it’s understood that it will not go away. Despite technological advances, the bottom line remains: Content determines a teacher’s effectiveness.
“The content that you deliver really does override the presentation,” Voelker said. “It could be an old record player that is all grainy, but if it’s good content you can transcend the media. That’s all you’re really trying to do is transcend the environment to get the students engaged.”