Use of Technology for Instruction and Learning
The US Department of Labor reports that over 60% of today’s jobs require some form of technology use. There is no doubt that the students graduating from my campus will be using technology in one form or another in their lives. One observation I have made over the past few years is that students feel very comfortable with computers, yet they have a very narrow set of computer skills they are comfortable with. For example, students can use email and IM, but I have been surprised at how many students I have had to show how to insert page numbers in MS Word, or copy and paste a graph from MS Excel to MS Word. I feel it is more valuable for the students to learn how to use technology to work with data and prepare professional-looking reports.
In all of my courses, students are required to use MS Word and MS Excel. Excel has been the biggest struggle for me as an instructor, since so few of my students know how to use Excel beyond entering numbers in cells. I take the time to show students how to sort data, how to perform simple mathematical functions with formulas in cells, and how to graph the data. Students are aware from my grading sheet that the Excel graphs must be placed in their Word document with the report write-up. I do not have my students use MS PowerPoint. I do not feel that PowerPoint adds to my course goals, the presentations would take up too much class time, and there are several other classes on campus that require students to learn PowerPoint.
The greatest technology addition to my courses has been the use of handheld computer technology, the Palm Pilots. I am very fortunate that the College of Earth & Mineral Sciences has provided me with 24 Palm Pilots for student use in my classes. Rarely do students get to use this technology in their college courses, and by using them in my geoscience classes, students are able to see another application of this technology beyond the use as an address book and calendar. Some of the ways students use the Palm Pilots include:
I have also used technology in my class instruction. With geoscience being a very visual science, I try to make use of as many forms of media as possible. I primarily use PowerPoint for my lectures. I also show brief video segments of experiments, flooding, hurricane formation, etc.
I have begun using virtual lectures during the times I must cancel lecture for out-of-state meetings. In Spring 2004, I utilized Microsoft Producer to create virtual lectures for my students to watch. These lectures contained my PowerPoint slides and my narration. Students watched these lectures via the internet on campus or at home. Readings corresponded with these lectures, and a follow-up quiz was given upon my return to campus. The informal student feedback was that these lectures were “cool,” a great way not to lose a lecture while I was out-of-town, and very flexible to fit their busy schedules. I am continuing with the virtual lectures utilizing Adobe Captivate to create these informational presentations for the students.
In all of my courses, students are required to use MS Word and MS Excel. Excel has been the biggest struggle for me as an instructor, since so few of my students know how to use Excel beyond entering numbers in cells. I take the time to show students how to sort data, how to perform simple mathematical functions with formulas in cells, and how to graph the data. Students are aware from my grading sheet that the Excel graphs must be placed in their Word document with the report write-up. I do not have my students use MS PowerPoint. I do not feel that PowerPoint adds to my course goals, the presentations would take up too much class time, and there are several other classes on campus that require students to learn PowerPoint.
The greatest technology addition to my courses has been the use of handheld computer technology, the Palm Pilots. I am very fortunate that the College of Earth & Mineral Sciences has provided me with 24 Palm Pilots for student use in my classes. Rarely do students get to use this technology in their college courses, and by using them in my geoscience classes, students are able to see another application of this technology beyond the use as an address book and calendar. Some of the ways students use the Palm Pilots include:
- Reading eBooks – I have created eBooks based on current news stories. Students read these eBooks, then participate in think-pair-share and jigsaw exercises. I also have written eBooks that discuss rock and mineral identification procedures that students can use in the labs and field-based eBooks discussing procedures students should follow during specific outdoor investigations.
- Collecting survey information – I conduct information surveys in class where the students can enter their responses on the Palms. I can then hotsync the Palms and review the class information in one database and project that information if I choose to do so.
- Collect data from laboratory exercises – For example, during the rock and mineral identification labs, I have students record their data in the Palms (mineral hardness, luster, etc.). Students hotsync the Palms, I project the class data without their names, and we review the sample properties BEFORE the students leave the lab. This way, I do not have data sheets that have been altered by students before they hand them in, I know the data forms are complete, and I know that students have learned the correct identification information by the end of lab.
- Collect field data – The Palms have been extremely useful for collecting data outdoors, such as the campus biodiversity data and tombstone weathering data.
- Watching instructional videos – In working with Instructional Services, I have prepared videos for students to watch on the Palm that give them instructions on field procedures. This has proven extremely valuable when I take the students in the field and they forget part of the field technique. If I cannot come over to them right away, the students watch the instructional video to continue their fieldwork.
- Quizzes and diagnostic surveys – For the handful of quizzes I give in my courses, I have the students take the quizzes on the Palm Pilots. Instructional Services has formatted an online quiz program for the Palms that when they are hotsynced, they automatically calculate the quiz score and email a copy of the score to the student and myself. The email also contains the questions the student marked incorrectly and lists the correct response. The same format and email responses exist for the diagnostic surveys, given during the first week of classes so that I may assess the students' prior knowledge of course content. Students are trained to use the Palm Pilots early in the semester. I have included in this section some of the “ice-breakers” we do while learning to use the Palms. Students read an eBook, learn to beam materials to one another, and learn how to input information through the practice surveys. The first survey I take the students through step-by-step, the second survey students ask one another the questions and enter the responses. The Palms are then hotsynced and as a class we review everyone’s favorite sports team, reality TV show, etc.
I have also used technology in my class instruction. With geoscience being a very visual science, I try to make use of as many forms of media as possible. I primarily use PowerPoint for my lectures. I also show brief video segments of experiments, flooding, hurricane formation, etc.
I have begun using virtual lectures during the times I must cancel lecture for out-of-state meetings. In Spring 2004, I utilized Microsoft Producer to create virtual lectures for my students to watch. These lectures contained my PowerPoint slides and my narration. Students watched these lectures via the internet on campus or at home. Readings corresponded with these lectures, and a follow-up quiz was given upon my return to campus. The informal student feedback was that these lectures were “cool,” a great way not to lose a lecture while I was out-of-town, and very flexible to fit their busy schedules. I am continuing with the virtual lectures utilizing Adobe Captivate to create these informational presentations for the students.