Technology in the College Classroom: Crisis and Opportunity

The 21st century classroom is large, diverse, underfunded, and populated by students weaned on digital devices espousing a consumer mentality looking for a good return on investment (ROI) on their education. These students, the so-called millennials, and the coming Generation Z, who have grown up in the digital age, are more pragmatic than previous generations of students and are less amenable to traditional teaching approaches. While some lament this crisis in education, it can be seen as an opportunity. As digital natives, students are immersed in the newer technologies both as consumers and producers and anticipate remaining plugged in during college and beyond. Harnessing this interest and expertise and effectively integrating these newer technologies into the classroom can help solve this crisis. Technology enhanced teaching has the potential to transform learning, deepen student engagement, and connect with the more varied and numerous student cohorts. This article explores how effective use of ePortfolios can be aligned with learning goals to create meaningful, engaging, and innovative assignments that transform the classroom from a site of prescriptive learning, where information is unilaterally transmitted, to one of distributed expertise, where knowledge is jointly created, and digitally literate students are equipped to become the life-long, tech-savvy, self-directed learners that this new century demands. But there are no guarantees. This article concludes by acknowledging tensions in the tech-laden classroom, fears that technology is driving pedagogy, poor understanding of key affordances, and misalignment between instructional goals, learning outcomes, and students\u27 understandings

Locating image presentation technology within pedagogic practice

This article presents data gathered through a University for the Creative Arts Learning and Teaching Research Grant (2009-2010); including a study of existing image presentation tools, both digital and non-digital; and analysis of data from four interviews and an online questionnaire. The aim of the research was to look afresh at available technology from the point of view of a lecturer in the visual arts, and to use the information gathered to look more critically at the available technology

Learning flexibility: the environment and a case study

This paper outlines the flexible student learning environment in the Faculty of Engineering and Surveying, before concentrating on evaluating one online learning option. This Faculty provides a variety of high quality on-campus, distance education and on-line academic programmes and various learning strategies for the heterogeneous student cohort (national and international). By accessing appropriate flexible learning and different learning experiences, students are empowered to determine learning opportunities and methodologies to suit their personal needs. The off-campus mode study may disadvantage students since they don’t have the benefit of face-to-face instructions or to participate in formative assessments delivered informally in lectures. This may lead to feelings of remoteness and isolation leading to poorer learning, lower results in assessments, and may also contribute to drop-out rates, particularly in first year courses. To overcome this inequity, the usual training materials presented for a first year course in 2005 were supplemented with PowerPoint lectures, enhanced with synchronous audio, and a series of quizzes to be used as formative assessments. The lectures and quizzes were presented online via a course web site and were designed to become an integral part of the learning experience. An evaluation of the effectiveness of these strategy demonstrated improved students' learning, a positive contribution to the learning experience, increased enjoyment of the course, and a strong learning motivator. Students reported feeling less disenfranchised with the university and having a greater affinity with the lecturer

Towards developing a collaborative video platform for learning

The work presented in this paper outlines issues relating to the development of a collaborative video platform for learning. Student adoption of collaborative and video technology is increasing dramatically, becoming part of their everyday lives. The aim of this paper is to propose a system and framework for the successful integration of these technologies into teaching and learning. At the outset we assess current trends and previous research, using these findings to inform the development of a new platform. System specifications are then presented with specific needs identified for students and educators. Finally our tentative framework for a integrating a collaborative video platform for learning is presented

The New Podagogy : Incorporating Podcasting into Journalism Education

This report documents the results of a pilot study of the use of podcasting technology in a lower division course at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. Based on a survey of 209 undergraduate students, the study reports high levels of usage and satisfaction with content and delivery, and suggests the technology added value to class content for students

Management learning at the speed of life:Designing reflective, creative, and collaborative spaces for millenials

This paper introduces the concept of "management learning at the speed of life" as a metaphor to inspire millenials. Millenials may face three major problems in relation to management learning: lack of concentration, lack of engagement, and lack of socialization. Management learning at the speed of life addresses these potential problems through three dimensions: reflective, creative, and collaborative learning. This paper illustrates the benefits of reflective, creative, and collaborative spaces for millenials using practices from leadership and personal development courses that were offered over seven years in Canada, Turkey, and the UK. These courses incorporated the latest technology that brought the course activities up to the speed of life

New trends in education: the use of ICT in different ways

In the 21st century and due to the exponential growth of the Internet and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), people live in a technological age, in all areas and in all contexts, we have daily contact with technology, with access to Information. This dynamic requires a constant update of the services and technological tools that change the method that we study, work, communicate and socialize on an unprecedented scale. These constant changes force everyone, regardless of age, gender or profession, to possess a range of functional and critical thinking skills, such as information literacy, media literacy and technological literacy. The evolution of technologies, forces the promoters of education, to always be aware of the changes that society is introducing outside the classroom. Today, students don't have the same pattern as before, regardless of age, they are very active and are no longer the same introverted child who studied a few years ago in the classroom. According to this, students are eager for different forms of motivation inside and outside the classroom, they need the learning and teaching process to move along with changes in society and ICT. To ensure the success of today's students, it is important to provide them with the technological skills to make the correct use of ICTs, to perform tasks essential to their learning process, such as researching and selecting information, creating content, information sharing, use of collaboration tools or environment simulation tools. The main objective of this chapter is to show how ICT tools that can be used in educational environments to help students, helping them develop key skills in their training process, is also relevant to show how these tools can help teachers achieve these goals in daily activities with their students

Developing critical thinking: student perspectives

Discussion paper outlining preliminary results of a research project which examines the difficulties that undergraduate law students experience in developing their analytical legal problem solving skills. The research tests the theory that students do not naturally develop these skills through ordinary law teaching but may require dedicated teaching or an alternative approach