Teaching tips and technologies for reaching net generation

Editor's Notes

• #3: CaraVarious names for this particular range of students depending on the traits emphasized
• #4: Cara
• #5: KirstenMindset List from Beloit College for students who were 18 as of the fall of 2011 and are expected to graduate in 2015, assuming they complete a 4 year degree in 4 years. This is a small sampling of their sociohistorical context.
• #6: Based on 5 R’s to reach Millenial studentsshared by Mary Bart on Faculty Focus from an online seminar by Christy Price, a psychology professor at Dalton State College
• #8: CaraAccessing higher or deeper learning according to Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy. Go beyond just memorizing facts or copying down a lecture. 50 minutes or 3 hours of lecture is not an optimal learning environment for anyone.Turning the class into modules that offer different ways to access knowledge, offers something to different learning styles, offers ways to develop necessary skills.Engage the students in learning in various ways.Learn through solving a problem where they determine the knowledge they need based on the problem given and develop the pathways to a solution rather than having all parameters set out for them. Give them a way to actually use the knowledge you are trying to give them. Let them do something.
• #9: KirstenOption for engagement with material. Similar to course response systems or “clickers” but can be used for free with up to 40 responses per question. Ask different types of questions to illustrate common misconceptions, test knowledge, give previews of exam questions, assess learning or even show different opinions. Can be responded to with a text message (almost all phones now can text), you can tweet a reply or could access it through the internet. Use it for discussion and include peer instruction.
• #10: KirstenOnline debate that can be created by a professor and then students can participate both in adding arguments for each side and in voting for arguments with which they agree. Can be done during class or external to class. Opens up discussion during class because the students are required to think about the question rather than being given the answer. Could make them defend a view they do not actually hold or use it to discuss existing viewpoints. Access why students hold one view or another.
• #11: KirstenGames can add a competitive element to learning that motivates students and can either demonstrate a real world situation in a concrete way or can take students outside the real world to envision what an alternate world could be like. They can insert some fun into lessons which encourages engagement. MMORPG – Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game – SIMS online, World of Warcraft, Everquest, Second Life, etc. – Virtual space to interact. Students may be familiar with these environments already. They are generally problem-based or task based and can offer options to investigate ways to accomplish goals, interacting with others, economic development, social structures, etc. The process of building a world and what all goes into it may never have occurred to students so this can be an interesting teaching tool.Logic games can be played for free online. They can illustrate solving particular problems, learning patterns, access alternate ways to demonstrate something or be a fun way to teach students a particular skill. The visual component and actually playing the game can be more useful than a description on paper.Simulation assignments could be a virtual dissection or could be a simulation of a real world situation like Stephen Bend uses in his Geology course to have students simulate drilling for oil and all that goes into that from doing tests to providing documents and acquiring funding.Board games can again be electronic or more traditional games but they can often add something to a lesson.
• #12: CaraHow it relates to future employment, social engagement, being a better person, etc. Connect knowledge to something rather than assuming students will do that on their own Teach theories or skills as they are put into use rather than in a theoretical way without concrete application. Easier to remember something once you’re using it. Provide steps as needed or allow students to follow steps at their own pace.
• #13: KirstenUsing Skype or other chat/video conferencing software can allow you to bring in an expert who you normally couldn’t. This class brought in Mike Rauch from Rauch Brothers Animation. Talking to someone who is actually engaged in the subject can offer an experiential element. People really do this, really use this material, think this way, etc. Suddenly it isn’t just something to learn for a class, it’s something that’s relevant to life.
• #14: KirstenEven if students seem competent with technology, they still need to be taught skills because they may not know more advanced tasks or they may not know the difference between their social use of something and a professional use. They may not know things relevant to their field. Can’t teach just the content but need to teach them what they will need to use, whether it’s about the technology or not.What computer programs should they be able to use? Setting that up at the beginning can demonstrate expectations of a course, and knowing how those programs get used explains why they have to know it. Do they need to know a different type of writing for different modes within the field like online vs offline journals? Is there a piece of technology they need to be familiar with and ways of using it that they wouldn’t have used in their everyday life? Advanced features of Word, Excel, Gmail, etc.CaraWhat sources of knowledge are out there? Reliance on wikipedia, lack of evaluation of websites, etc.Appropriate communication. Formal vs informal.Particular citation style? Software? Technical expectations? Copyright issues?
• #15: CaraDifferent ways to access demonstrate knowledge, different ways of learning. Make it relevant to them and their interests. Alternate assignment? Alternate topic?KirstenMultiple technologies that can help students use different ways to demonstrate knowledge. To write an essay they could use a Google doc or a wiki which can be shared and done collaboratively. Or use Wordpress to share it with the public and their peers. (originally software for building a blog but can now do just about anything from a community sharing website to a webcomic to an organizational website. )They could post a video on youtube. They could use WordPress to build a website Use Glogster to make a poster. Use SlideShare.net to share a PowerPoint presentation or Prezi to make something more dynamic. Make a photo collage using Picasa or a board on Pinterest. Post a review online on Netflix, Yelp or Amazon. These are relevant ways to share information, both to them and to the wider world as they are making a contribution not just to their class but to something more than that.
• #16: CaraThey need to know the “why” behind things.Tell them your expectations about communication and why – 24 hour response time? 48 hour response time? Remind them that you have other commitments besides being their professor.If they need to use a technology or you do, make sure you know why it is being used. Pedagogical reasons and relevance to the field.Explain why deadlines matter. Make participation meaningful such as giving a grade, giving extra credit, explaining how it furthers their understanding or could be useful beyond your class.
• #17: KirstenIf you want to use technology, think about what you’re using and how. Is it actually working for you? Don’t use it just to use it. What does it help you accomplish?Powerpoint as example. (click)This used to be notes on the board or an overhead. It’s all too easy to put all your notes there. Death by powerpoint. and then students are so busy copying that they aren’t listening. They aren’t active learners, they’re passive. (click) Use it to help guide them to important parts of the lecture. (click) Use an image, chart, graph, video, etc to demonstrate your point.
• #18: KirstenThe same thing goes for online components. Using an online component with an assignment designed for a face to face class is not likely to be a big benefit. But designing an online component that benefits from being online does!Have students share information in the forum of UR courses or introduce themselves so you can have something to go back to to help memorize names/faces (if they’ve put in a profile picture).Use an online chat to facilitate a discussion about a particular issue in real time that can prepare them for the next class or allow them to gather after a separated activity. Have them contribute to a glossary to share knowledge and engage in peer instruction. Compile information in a wiki which can become a shared resource for them and future students.
• #19: CaraStudents today prefer a less formal atmosphere in the classroom. They recognize the authority of the prof as an expert but don’t necessarily want a highly formal situation with the prof standing at the front lecturing and all of them silently taking notes. Less distance, more passion.Instead of highly structured assignments, give them room for options that could match their individual interest or inquiry. Think back to methods of demonstrating knowledge.
• #20: KirstenPart of a relaxed atmosphere is knowing that what you plan to do will work. Technical glitches can happen, but the more familiar you are and the more prepared, the better.Make sure you’ve tested any new technology in the room, on the computer you’ll be using. Happened to me where a malfunction left me scrambling during a workshop to demonstrate because I assumed it would just work. More comfortable you are, the less it will stand out that you’re using technology. It will just be part of how you teach instead of something you arranged your teaching around.
• #21: CaraImportant to have a community in the classroom and that needs to be built.Instructor to student – what can you do? Learning names, making clear your interest, being availableStudent to student – building in social interactionThey spend so much time separated that classrooms give them time to be with people and learn appropriate social skills, learn how to build rapport.Collaborative work can help build this.Also bringing the students into the learning community. Show them that they are part of something.
• #22: CaraCommunication is important. Need to make clear to them the appropriate communication practices. What language do you expect? Do not contact 20 minutes before a class just to check something last minute.KirstenMultiple channels available and it is up to instructors to set the boundaries for this. How do you want them getting in touch with you? What channels should they NOT use? Make self aware of options. If you do not know it exists, you may be missing communication.
• #23: KirstenOne way to bring into learning community and work collaboratively is to use social media to share what they find on the web.Delicious and diigo allow sharing of bookmarks so you can compile links of interesting material and tag it with categories and your students can also make their own lists. They may find something you never thought of and contribute to the conversation.Pinterest allows for sharing of pictures found on the internet. Interested students could build a “board” of pictures about a specific topic for a presentation. Organize by board, add a comment. Great for inspiration concepts, commentary, etc. Also identifies where an image came from and can be “repinned” on another board by someone else and you can see who has “repinned” what you pin. Can search on Pinterest for interesting content as well as the wider web
• #24: KirstenSocial networking is something familiar to students but can also be used by instructors.Facebook – Brenda Anderson uses Facebook to share articles with her students and also creates groups that students can join (but do not need to as it is not U of R software), to have discussions, share notes or link articles and posts on the web. Creates a community that is engaged and brings students into a conversation through a medium they already use. May want to create a professional profile vs a personal one.Twitter is used by many in education. Can be used for a backchannel (the technological equivalent of passing notes or whispering) which happens during conferences and is now moving into education. Could be a way to compile questions that are shared. Use of a “hashtag” (pound sign followed by a term or abbreviation) notes tweets relevant to a topic. Can also be a good way to engage in a wider conversation both for instructors and students. Open to the public so students could get a response from someone in the field. They become part of the wider conversation.Or use it yourself to share your research or connect with others talking about things of interest to you
• #25: CaraOptions for doing collaborative work and peer review. Pedagogical benefits to allowing peer instruction and working together as well as better quality of work when done for peers vs a professor. Could widen it to the community. Professional community always peer reviews so why not students?KirstenCan use Google Docs, a wiki or a blog to allow collaboration. Students working together build their own community. Collaboration is normal for them and they don’t consider it cheating so find ways to build it in to give them that time.Arts is using Turnitin which allows for a fairly formal peer review process. A blog could allow, with permission, posting student assignments to the wider public. In one example by Derek Bruff, student assignment on cryptography got a response from one of the experts cited. A wiki allows students to share articles and could allow students to help edit one another’s articles before it is handed in. A forum can allow the same thing in a different format. OR could be repository of good examples.