Bill,
It seems that dropbox is and will change how instructors share course material within a physical or virtual classroom as technology evolves
Antoine Lewis
My students access an online program that allows them to take practice tests for their licensing exam. They can take the tests as many times as they like. Also, if they have questions about a question, they can use the Internet to research it. I show them various sites where they are most likely to find information pertaining to our field of study. I try to emphasize the wealth of knowledge literally at their fingertips, reminding them that when I was in college research was based on spending hours and days searching through bookshelves in a library. ...Not that long ago really!
Shelia,
Good job encouraging your students to research. It is important that today’s student know what are reputable sites that can be used to research and knowledge is at their fingertips but have to be careful as anyone can now post information on the wed.
Antoine Lewis
What I like about having the internet on hand is, when I have a student with a question of "why" I can easily have the answer along with the ability to actually break things down from the beginning to end.For myself what helped me was when I had to cover reproduction and the stages of labor. We went through it during the power point but I was able to show the students on the internet the actual stages.
Lucila,
The internet has indeed giving educators the ability to better illustrate and break down material for a student.
Antoine Lewis
I'm using some of the cloud based system that others have mentioned here such as dropbox, skydrive, slideshare, etc. Also social bookmarking sites such as delicious.com are a fantastic way to share with your class some of the great resources that are on the web. There is a major move toward a more collaborative learning experience, I've started using edmodo in tandem with traditional classes, students can respond to and create discussions, share resources, take quizes, etc. It makes for a more immersive and personalized learning experience, not so much getting up and lecturing.
Brian,
I agree with much of your comments and believe that many mixing it up helps with an online learning environment. With so many learning styles quizzes, discussions and shared resources make for a better learning environment.
Antoine Lewis
Each student gets a tutorial CD with their book and I constantly encourage them to make use of it if they run into any difficulty. There are also some free Math websites that offer practice and questions with instant feedback.
Chris,
It is always good to when a course offers tutorials and free math problems. The problem is getting the majority of the class to take advantage of the resources provided.
Antoine Lewis
At this time our company is very reluctant to use the internet because of potential copyright issues.
Gerry,
The internet is indeed full of legal issues in regards to copywriting. Copyright laws are very complicated, and it is often hard to find straightforward answers about educational use.
Antoine Lewis
The utilization of Drop Box and Google Docs is valuable to facilitate communication between students and organize material in a cloud based format. Additionally I have used Web 2.0 resources for utilizing chunking and chaining of ideas to help with structured learning which is readily accessible.
John ,
Cloud services have become important as many instructors now use multiple devices. Being able to share files from home or the office helps stay structured. You can share files with students which adds to the virtual learning process. Good luck expanding on the use of drop box and good docs in your teaching.
Antoine Lewis
I use you tube videos showing animations. These work great for anatomy!
Darcie,
Interactive teaching resources are very important for classes like anatomy. Problem-based learning strategies is also helpful as real-world scenarios can help to promote understanding and interest.
Antoine Lewis
I teach dental assisting and youtube is a great way for students to see procedures being performed in a dental setting before their externship.
Most of our books come with tutorial CD. I encourage my students to use this as often as they can. Depending on the course, the internet provides a wealth of resources.
Donna ,
YouTube is more than just a video site. It’s matured into one of the biggest resources for educational content ever. Engage students by showing a video relevant to their potential profession. Video clips can bring in different perspectives or force students to consider a new viewpoint, helping to spark a discussion.
Antoine Lewis
Kimberly,
These enhanced CDs are often not used by student unless part of the guidelines in the classroom. You can often find practice exams, lectures, and interactive lesson. Its a great learning tool and used more in virtual learning environments.
Antoine Lewis
The Internet is an amazing way to get messages across to your students when you have no other way to contact them or provide useful information to. The biggest advantage would have to be the blogs, since the students find it very beneficial and simple to access.
