Getting the most from my students
I have found that computer tablet or white board usage can definately aide in my students education, but in the field that I teach I found that more students retain the information better and have a greater understanding of a systems operation through a "cause and effect" delivery method. I have lectured and/or used white board presentations on a many topics and found that allowing the student to see the normal operation of a given system and then "causing" a fault within it's normal operation and then watching the "effect" from that fault has helped more students retain their maximum learning potential than most other approaches and it seems to do so without the need to hold their hand, so to speak.
Exactly! Just like when we were infants. Did somebody show you a Power Point on how to walk or what happens when you play in an ant hill? The answer is no, my students learn best through controlled failures and repetition.
I find this is yet another wonderful element of the technology and the effect it can have on my students. I see them much more motivted to interct when it is set up in a challenging situation where they control their own outcome. They become, in a sense, their own support system and their reward system as they do better and better.
Both can be useful. It can be helpful to first watch the PowerPoint and then undertake the task at hand. Or, work in reverse: first experiment and then find out what the most effective methodology is via the PowerPoint. It just depends on the topic you are teaching. I teach Visual Communications and students have to learn to navigate Photoshop and Illustrator in order to be able to execute their concepts. If we don't help students with these basic skills they can become frustrated with their lack of knowledge and their inability to execute the assignments and this can cause student retention to drop. The key, in my opinion, is to engage students in various ways; maybe even as many ways possible. As we have learned there are many types of learners so we must offer information in a varied manner: audio, visual, animation, interactivity, socializing etc. Some students learn from controlled failures and repetition, others from observing demonstrations and yet others like to do independent research and analyze a topic at hand before executing a project, others yet learn best through a group activity etc. It is our job to be present and helpful guides for all this different learning styles. Just my two cents :)
Geerte,
Very true...in presentation and practise, various approaches should be used to suit more learners. I also agree that time should be spent so that students not only learn the functionality of the technology but the potential of the technology to enhance their own learning and retaining new information. Without that time, the benefits are diminished.
Dr. Ruth Reynard
I agree the more they do the more they get out of the class and another thing is time i let they take there time so they get more out of the class and see the out come more cleary
DANIEL,
Very true - good points! New technology does support both customization and self-direction in terms of pace and application.
Dr. Ruth Reynard
I can see whiteboard usage for teaching grammar, mechanics, sentence structure, etc., but I'm not sure about prewriting strategies and essay development. Any suggestions?
So where would the line be, where we switch back to traditional teaching?
Kristian ,
We can bring the best of traditional teaching forward with us as we use new technology and adapt it to suit new methods.
Dr. Ruth Reynard
