Teaching with Technology

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Teaching with Technology

Cognitive Load Theory and Effective Teaching Methods

February 22nd, 2010 · No Comments · Jonathan

Cognitive load theory (CLT) is based on the concept that many courses require students to learn and understand more information than is needed for understanding of the intended course material. For example, a course on the use of technology in higher education should focus on how technology would be used and not on the nitty-gritty of how applications are developed or communicate with servers. Only information necessary for the delivery of the actual course topic should be presented for students to internalize, e.g., how to connect to or maintain content in an application as opposed to the programming techniques that make it run.

CLT defines three load types: Intrinsic, extraneous, and germane. Intrinsic load is the actual course content – the actual subject of the course. Material needed by the students to use the course content is considered extraneous.  For example, the ability to use tools like a word processor or graphics editor are important for success in a course on technology in higher education, but not the basis for that course. Germane cognitive load is used to describe how students know things – being able to read and write coherently, for example.

The article discusses the redesign of a course on computer programming taught to mechanical engineering (ME) students. This course had a historically high drop-out and failure rate because students felt they were being forced to learn material irrelevant to their career needs. By restructuring the course delivery so that programming was demonstrated as a tool to facilitate use of important ME concepts in real world applications, student performance improved substantially.

I selected this article initially because I had been part of several discussions with faculty over how they taught their technology courses. During these discussions I tried to identify ways that my staff could reduce the need for students to learn too much unrelated to the actual course goal so they could succeed. For example, students learning web design techniques did not need to learn web server management, however some faculty requests for systems to support those classes resulted in students doing such extraneous work. I felt that this article did not sufficiently cover the use of CLT to support its arguments.

However, the article did include some other empirical data that I found very interesting. The instructor described how he used various distance education technologies to deliver the course and to interact with the students. Through use of technologies designed to support synchronous and asynchronous learning, he discovered empirically that technology can leverage his own effectiveness with more students than is possible in a traditional class setting. He initially used a product used for synchronous learning to interact with students, but then realized that certain topics could be covered more effectively using pre-recorded carefully written demonstrations and lectures. This left him more time to interact with students on topics requiring extra work.

He intends further research to prove this concept to himself and I will be interested to see the results. We have seen similar results in my school’s distance education offerings and I would like to see more data in support of that paradigm change.

Impelluso, T. J. (2009). Assessing Cognitive Load Theory to Improve Student Learning for Mechanical Engineers. American Journal of Distance Education, 23(4), 179. doi: 10.1080/08923640903294569.

Jonathan

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Transforming Music Teaching via Technology

February 22nd, 2010 · 1 Comment · Kim, Uncategorized

Transforming Music Teachers via Technology: the Role of Professional Development

The article I read this weekend is about music teachers who spent a week at a music technology workshop. The authors investigate whether this one week workshop can be an effective means for the professional development of music teachers in using technology for instruction. Participants were school music teachers enrolled in summer music technology workshops. The workshop curriculum was standardized, developed by a major professional organization dedicated to providing in-service training in music technology to teachers.
At the beginning of the workshop, participants completed a questionnaire designed to provide demographic information and assess their knowledge of music technology, degree of comfort with music technology, and the frequency with which they used music technology in their teaching. Following a weeklong workshop dealing with music technology, participants completed a second questionnaire that was parallel to the first. Then the participants completed another similar questionnaire (on web) 9 to 10 months after the workshop. Before jumping out to find out the overall result, here are some of the facts about the survey. First, the return rate for the follow-up was lower than desired; only 35 percent of the participants completed the last questionnaire. This fact should be examined with caution. It maybe that only those teachers who continued to be interested in and use technology regularly are the ones who made the effort to respond. Second, the authors found that the group incomplete follow-up contained a higher percentage of women than did either of the other two groups, whereas the follow-up complete group had a fairly equal distribution of men and women. The gender issue also should be viewed carefully. As result, the authors found that with 30 hours of training, teachers began to use technologies such as music software and web sources in classrooms more often. They also claim that teachers did gain knowledge and comfort with technologies and increase their frequency of use of technologies.

In this study, the investigators found that, with regular access and support for technology in their classrooms and with extended experiences, teachers not only mastered the technology but also made significant changes in their instruction. The long-range goal of this type of technology training for music teachers is not only to help teachers make incremental gains in efficiently implementing traditional teaching approaches but also to work toward transforming the nature of teaching and learning in classrooms. Transforming process can be a long-term effort involving professional growth through stages of entry, adoption, adaptation, appropriation, and invention. The study has demonstrated that the initial phases of this process can be accomplished through teacher training workshops. As the authors said, support, resources, and further informal and formal learning are essential to achieving long-term transformation of teaching technology.

Authors: William Bauer, Sam Reese, Peter McAllister
Source: Journal of Research in Music Education, Vol. 51, No. 4 (Winter, 2003), pp. 289-301
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3345656

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Journal Article: Enhancing Class Communications through Segregated Social Networks

February 22nd, 2010 · 2 Comments · Uncategorized

 BLOG by: Lynn Barnsback

Marketing Education Review    Volume 19, Number 1 (Spring 2009)

Author: Robert E. Boostrom, Jr., Raghu Kurthakoti & John Summey

 This article presents the results of an experiment where students use a Segregated Social Network (SSN) to manage class information and team projects for a marketing research class.  In addition to helping them during this one class, the authors felt that potential educational benefits of the project would also help students better understand common formats required in the real world.

 They wanted a product that was easy to use, allowed for creativity, provided tools for group cohesion & leveraged technology the students were already familiar with. A  Marketing Research class was chosen  to conduct this study in  because of the class wide research project and dynamics requiring frequent student to student contact. They chose a product called Ning.com, which provided them with the ability to add widgets. This functionality  incorporated the google calendar into the student’s primary network. This proved to be very useful. Ning.com at the time did not have a chat forum so “Meebo” was added as well to allow this functionality. There was very little learning curve involved as the required skills were very basic and familiar to the students already.  

 Objectives:

  1. Prevent messages from getting “lost” (This term appears to describe more accurately “lost in my e-mail”, when a student has so much in the file that they cannot locate items.)
  2. Keep communication professional as opposed to entertaining (Facebook & MySpace etc are traditionally used for “fun”, by creating a segregated network the authors hoped to eliminate this “feature”)
  3. Improve the peer to peer communication to aid class project and improve class experience.
  4. Allow for students personal expression

 Objectives Achieved:

  1. All discussion posts were permanently archived (Students needed to develop a coding system to help in retrieval however)
  2. Calendar widget helped them track frequent changes to class schedule (was later reported as being the most helpful aspect of the project.)
  3. Information stayed course related and was not shared with other networks outside the class group. As a result the discussions became more energetic and interactive.
  4. Members had customizable dedicated home pages allowing the network to appear less formal than Blackboard. Due to the networks isolation from non course networks it functioned in a more formal way.

 

The students successfully avoided using the network for traditional social networking and as a result the “course management aspect of the SSN was stronger than the entertainment aspect.”

  The authors did not use Blackboard because it is to “rigid”, lacks a comment page and therefore looses its peer to peer communication. I found this interesting since although ubiquitous in the teaching/education “industry” most teachers I have worked with do not use Blackboard for class communication. Of further interest is the fact that after the evaluation they decided that while the SSN “provided a more positive environment than e-mail…..it may not be necessarily superior to Blackboard in terms of communication.” I would like to see more on this.

 This study was very small, only 55 students used it and 44 responded to the evaluation. The class was also very homogeneous, 85% Caucasian and all were “traditional” students (I assume this 18-20 and means full-time.)  The  authors felt in the end that because the communication flow was easier students could “potentially focus more time on the learning process.”  Students who can manage class material better (thanks to the calendar) can in theory learn more. I think the idea of a dedicated network is good; I am not necessarily convinced by this article that it is necessary. Maybe the perfect tool has not been written yet or maybe it is a case by case/class by class determination. Clearly using one is not a problem but is it an asset?

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Journal Selection (Part II)

February 22nd, 2010 · 1 Comment · Chris

All, I have been having a hard time with my journal selection until John and I got together for our “Peer Project”. I located a professional journal for Geographers called the Journal of Geography in Higher Education. There are a number of entries that are in line with my course of study and what I hope to accomplish within the requirements of the peer teaching assignment for this class and beyond. The Journal of Geography in Higher Education was founded upon the conviction that the development of learning and teaching no matter what the subject, was vitally important to Higher Education. It is committed to promote, enhance and share geography learning and teaching in all institutions throughout the world, and provide a forum for geographers and others, regardless of their specialties, to discuss common educational interests, to present the results of educational research, and to advocate new ideas. Geography as a course of study is experiencing a resurgence in the University education system. Leaning about everything from earthquakes, hurricanes, and environmental issues to understanding regional conflict, or trying to figure out just where “Vancouver” lies, is becoming more popular in everyones everyday life. Almost everyone from the Hard-Science to the Social-Science disciplines are seeing a value to both understanding Geography and working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in being able to manage and display spatial data accurately and clearly. Many instructors are incorporating GIS into their lectures and assignments to give their students another perspective on research and presentation. My goal is to present a series of articles on GIS/Geography use in the classroom that will lead into the Peer Teaching assignment that John and I have in store for you…
Thanks,
Chris.

The Journal of Geography in Higher Education is available through the GMU Library E-journal system.

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Peer Teaching Assignment (J. Wallin / C.Braun)

February 22nd, 2010 · No Comments · Chris, John

John and I will be looking at the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the classroom across multiple disciplines. The use and awareness of GIS is steadily increasing across institutions of higher education in the United States. This revised interest in Geography brings with it an opportunity to establish greater awareness in mapping, spatial reasoning and the visualization of data. Many colleges and universities pursue and support active and problem-based learning approaches, undergraduate research programs, service-learning and civic-engagement activities. with general education courses being commonplace requirements. By integrating GIS into these educational objectives, learning approaches and common curricula, instructors can create a more complete and “visual” educational experience that profile the power of geography’s spatial perspective. Stay tuned for further information…..

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Limited Digital Interaction Zone?

February 22nd, 2010 · 6 Comments · Gil

I’m at Richard Bland College in Petersburg VA for the day, meeting in the library, and was a bit surprised to see this sign conspicuously posted at the library entrance. I’m not surprised such bans are common in K-12 libraries – but in colleges? A companion sign that I didn’t photograph prohibits cell phones with the comment, “People are studying!” Well not using YouTube I guess!

UPDATE: I learned from another attendee at the meeting that the ban was put in place by “the IT department.” The library itself was (shhhh!) exceedingly quiet. Another sign said “No talking”. On my return drive I thought about the difference between that traditional learning environment, the “library”, and learning spaces such as the Johnson Center where students are reading and writing yet also texting and talking – interacting with each other and the world beyond – and learning. I really have little question which environment is more conducive to learning.

Not only was YouTube banned from the library, but neither my (AT&T) Blackberry, (AT&T) aircard nor (Sprint) cell phone could get a signal from within the library’s “community room”. In order to gain access to the college’s wifi network I had to sign a document promising adherence to their policies. The library’s technical services staff didn’t know what username guests could use (though they gave me a password) and explained to me they were understaffed (ah but not too understaffed to make signs prohibiting cell phones, etc.). I eventually obtained a username but yet another layer of software protections succeeded in keeping my computer from accessing their network even with a sanctioned username and password combination. I finally just gave up. Perhaps it was all bad karma for posting a picture of their social networking sites ban, or perhaps it’s part of a different pattern.

UPDATE #2: I can’t help wonder what is meant by the “etc.” in the sign. What’s the common feature of the banned sites? Bandwidth use? Social networking purpose or outcome?

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JohnW – Weekly journal entry

February 21st, 2010 · 2 Comments · John

Citation
Swartz, L. B., Cole, M. T., and Shelley, D. J. (2010). Instructor satisfaction with teaching business law: Online vs. onground. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education, 6 (1), 1-16. doi: 10.4018/jicte.2010091101
Main Points
– Presented results of a 22-question satisfaction survey of business law instructors who have taught, or are teaching, online and/or onground.
— Instructor’s evaluation of institutional facilitation of the experience and of the instructor’s evaluation of the students’ learning experience.
— Used four role categories: pedagogical, social, technical, and managerial.
– Study results.
— Found that for 73% of the categories’ aspects, instructors were generally satisfied with online instruction. With regard to the classroom experience, instructors were generally satisfied across the board with regard to all aspects. In comparing the level of satisfaction with online and onground instruction, they found statistically significant differences between the two methods of instruction. In all four areas measured, instructors were more satisfied with classroom instruction than they were with online instruction of business law courses.
Analysis
This article does a very good job in laying out their reasoning for conducting the survey, the historic biases with online vs. onground instruction, the fundamental differences between the two, the requirements and new ways of thinking required to accomplish successful online teaching, the methodology for the survey, the research design, the participating sample, and the results. It also includes the survey in the final seven pages. The results appear to show that there is support for the continued role of online instruction as a valid educational tool, but it is not yet the instructors’ preferred tool. It is undeniable that the demand for online instruction will continue to grow. What will need to happen is for instructors to grow emotionally and intellectually as well to meet the demand. As the authors note, “The challenge will be to make online instruction and onground instruction work together to provide high quality instruction in both formats.”

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Student Perceptions of the Use of Instructor-Made Videos in Online and Face-to-Face Classes (KBA #2)

February 21st, 2010 · 3 Comments · Gil

This article from the Journal of Online Learning and Teaching reports the results of a research study conducted by a faculty member at Texas Women’s University in which students report their experiences in both online (“OL”) and face-to-face (“F2F”) courses utilizing instructor-made videos. The article cites past studies establishing that students in OL courses learn as well as students in F2F courses (Neuhauser, 2002, et al.), noting

The more innovative instructors are in their teaching, the more they interact with students, allow students a measure of autonomy in the classroom, or create a classroom setting in which students know what they have to do to succeed, the more satisfied students will be, the better they will learn, and the more readily they will participate in class. (Finlay, Desmet, & Evans, 2004)

The faculty member and principal investigator (PI) for this study prepared 5-10 minute long videos explaining course assignments, as review for exams, to introduce topics in class, to explain the syllabus and to provide Q&A. As the author notes, response rates to the survey that forms the basis for this study was a disappointing 23% resulting in a study based on 27 respondents. The OL students were all graduate students and F2F students predominantly (83.3%) undergraduate. In addition all the respondents were women. As the author notes,

While this response rate is low, due to the exploratory nature of the inquiry, analyses were still computed and reported here.

The outcomes in this study suggest both a consistency in student responses and, while not noted in the study itself, suggest the instructor created videos that students found useful, that is to say, of sufficiently high quality to achieve their desired results. For example 100% of both OL and F2F students indicated agreement with the statement “The instructor-made videos helped me understand the material better.” Similarly none of the students found the instructor-made videos to be a waste of time. OL students reported, moreso than those in F2F classes, that the videos made students feel like they knew the instructor better and made it possible to learn better.

Both OL and F2F groups report that the videos help with learning the course material. Some sample comments include ““It absolutely enhances the learning process and gives greater depth to the expectations of the course materials,” and “The videos truly helped me to understand the difficult subject matter.” Concerning the comments of OL students specifically the study reports

“I felt like she was focusing on me,” and “Putting a face and voice definitely adds a human component,” and “I am spoiled now! I think all online classes should have instructor-made videos.” Students seemed to feel that the videos provided a more human element to their online instruction as evidenced by statements like, “I felt like I got to at least know who my professor was and a small window into their personality,” and “I felt like I was in a face to face class lecture”, and “As a student I was more willing to ask questions when I had a feeling that I ‘knew’ the instructor through the video.”

The instructor’s efforts in making the videos is itself mentioned in student comments such as “I really felt Dr. Rose cared about what her students were learning…she actually took the time to make weekly videos. Not only that, but she was willing to create additional videos as needed. Although I did not watch all the videos multiple times, there were some videos that I watched again…I liked that I could take notes, pause, and rewind videos. You can’t do that in a face-to-face lecture.”

What I take away from this study are several positive prospects for the use of instructor-made videos. They can apparently be helpful both for OL and F2F instruction; in the case of OL instruction they can bridge what otherwise may be a “personal connection” gap between the instructor and student. Given such a small number of participants the statistical outcomes of this study certainly would benefit from replication of outcomes. The PI suggests, as well, that future studies may measure actual learning outcomes as compared to this study’s design to measure student perceptions associated with positive learning outcomes. The PI includes an appendix offering suggestions for others who may wish to create videos for classroom use.

Source: Katherine Kensinger Rose, “Student Perceptions of the Use of Instructor-Made Videos in Online and Face-to-Face,” MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, Vol. 5, No. 3 (September 2009): 487-495.

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Teddy’s Synthesis Project 02.17.2010

February 17th, 2010 · No Comments · Ted

Teddy’s Synthesis Project 02.17.2010

As a teacher, I believe that students are best motivated to learn from their peers.  We can provide technology-enriched learning activities and teaching practices that will maximize learning. First, I would seek to find out what students know about using midi software and multi-media technology in the form of a survey. Second, I will engage students to share what they know about new-media and have them to create course syllabi with developed pedagogical methods they approve as necessary to help enhance and assure deep learning. Third, each participant will then proceed to peer teach others, using skills sets they already possess on cell phones, mp3 players, ipods, gaming units and other new-media apparatus.

 

Over time, I have witnessed how quickly students learn without resistance in these settings. The teacher becomes a neutral component that can observe how and what students learn. Such deep learning experiences can lead to building an arsenal of invaluable skills. This will enable students to generate income from multiple sources. Students will use critical thinking skills to make connections about what they’ve learned. The transferability of all learning will be evident throughout various contextual mediums.

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Journal #2: The Development of E-mail Literacy: from Writing to Peers to Writing to Authority Figures (Language Learning & Technology, 10, 35-55.)

February 17th, 2010 · No Comments · Uncategorized

When I began pursuing my second bachelor’s degree in America five years ago, I encountered a lot of difficulties that I had never expected.  One of them was e-mail communication with my professors.  I wondered whether my e-mails should look like letters or look like speech, and I wasn’t sure if the words that I was using were appropriate for e-mail communication.  In addition, I didn’t know the proper tone of language that is expected in e-mails between students and professors in America.  I struggled more when I was writing e-mails to professors than when I was writing papers for class.  In “The Development of E-mail Literacy: from Writing to Peers to Writing to Authority Figures,” author Chi-Fen Emily Chen suggests that the difficulty that I had faced was common to international students who are studying in institutions of higher education in America. 

 In her paper, Chen argues that the development of e-mail literacy, which is the pragmatic competence and critical language awareness in using the e-mail medium, is a pressing issue in the digital era.  Studies of the e-mail practices of international students have found that these students have ineffective communicative skills with regard to e-mail interactions with professors.  Foreign students, in comparison with American students, use fewer modal constructions, employ fewer negotiation moves, solicit professor responses less explicitly, and show a lack of respect for or resistance to the authority of the instructor.  This is likely having a negative impact on their studies.  To gain a deeper understanding of why international students have such problems in e-mail communications, and to determine how they might develop their e-mail literacy, Chen conducted a longitudinal study of the e-mail practices of Taiwanese graduate students in the United States.  Chen’s study focused on  status-unequal e-mail communications in an academic context.  The lone participant in the study was a young woman who earned a master’s degree in education and a Ph.D. in linguistics at a U.S. university.  The data for the Chen study consisted of 168 e-mails that this young woman had sent to peers and 98 e-mails that she had sent to her professors during the two and a half years that she was studying in America.

 Not surprisingly, many of the e-mails that she sent to her professors were inappropriate.  The e-mail that she sent to her professors during her master’s studies were usually lengthy and included many unnecessary details, which suggests that she was not aware of the importance of being concise in such correspondence.  These e-mails also showed that she used “Want Statements” (e.g., I want/need/hope you….) more frequently than “Query Preparatory Statements” (e.g., Can/could/would you. . . ) when making requests.  Chen points out that these “Want Statements” and her frequent use of the word help likely gave her professors a negative image of her.  In the U.S. academic culture, it is more appropriate for graduate students to demonstrate independence and confidence.

 Chen noticed that the e-mails of this young woman changed considerably over her period of academic studies.  After two years of study in the United States, her academic e-mails  became shorter and more task-oriented and contained fewer “Want Statements” and more “Query Preparatory Statements.”  Chen believes that these changes were attributable to the implicit learning that she obtained through interaction with native speakers and also to her new identity as a doctorial student.

 In the conclusion to her study, Chen proposes that second language learners receive explicit instruction in email communication with professors and other people of high rank.  I agree with Chen.  Without explicit training in e-mail communications, international students with large vocabularies and a strong knowledge of English grammar will often have difficulty in composing appropriate e-mails to professors.  These students need to be taught the norms and values that are expected of students in the American academic environment.  They also need to develop mastery of the style of academic e-mails.  ESL programs for prospective college students should address this issue by providing a unit of instruction on e-mail communications.

 Joann

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