Learning with Technology

Guest Blogger: Uzoma James Chikwem

There is no question that there has been unbelievable technological revolution in recent years that has changed our businesses, governments, travel and pretty much everything but our educational system, which for the most part, is still stuck in the past. There has been a silent but quick mobile apocalypse that have made most smart phone users, especially millennials, become almost like mobile zombies, or social media fiends, that live with an uncontrollable urge to be plugged into their smart phones at all times. In education, we always observe that it gets tougher each year to grab the attention or interest of students due to what’s trending on social media or some new technological announcement like the new iPhone coming out. Even after creating the best PowerPoint presentations or coming up with simple but profound handouts that explains everything about a topic, a majority of students will still be on their phones or passed out during class.  The fact that students have the internet in their palms on a mobile device that has more power and memory than some personal computers, makes them feel like genuine geniuses. Students can find out any answer or solution by asking Siri or Google or get the latest information on certain fields by following pages on social media. I believe this misleading intellectual feeling of being able to know it all by using their second brain, their smart device, is hindering or distracting students from paying attention or wanting to learn anything in the classroom.

With all the technological advances that has happened just in the last year alone, for example the use of Virtual Reality plus Augmented Reality on phones, students often feel like they are in an ancient dungeon when they come to the classroom and all they see are desks, blackboards or whiteboards; even books and smart boards seem old fashioned to them.  When Apple coined the phrase, “There’s an app for that” it literally revolutionized the way everything is done in our day to day lives; instead of reading books we can now just listen to them using audible; if one doesn’t know how to solve a math problem, they can simply take a picture using PhotoMath and it will quickly show the results and steps to solving the problem.  These two simple ideas for apps are making lots of money and made life easier for users but can ruin the fun of learning and the challenge of understanding how to get solutions to a problem. Through critical thinking, analysis, memorization and repeatedly practicing problems anyone can learn any subject or topic by putting time trying to understand it. Even though it seems like a lost cause trying to teach nowadays, I often get praised for how fun my classes are or get to view the excitement of students when they figure out a lab or project. All because I use technology to get students to learn, and if I can do it, we all can.

Since the educational problem we face isn’t just happening at Lincoln University but internationally, computer scientists, web designers and others are teaming up together to try and tackle this huge issue of lost interest in learning and education. There are tons of resources out there to assist in getting the interest of students in different topics. I would like to help by listing some programs and websites I use in my courses but would like to hear from faculty or students if there are other sites, apps or anything else they use to grab students’ interest in participating and enjoying the learning process.  First off, I’d like to mention that I am in Computer Science and my focus is Educational Game Technology so I am already at an advantage because most of my labs, projects and tutorials involve use of fun technologies and hands-on learning. Although, I have had a lot of computer science faculty just lecture the whole class and totally lost me because I wasn’t practicing or being hands on with the topic, I have had some great professors, like Professor Barimani, whose style of teaching I try to utilize every time and add my own flavor to it. He made sure that in every class he left room for students to practice what he just taught, then gave feedback plus projects before ending the class.  When using technology for teaching, just don’t throw it at students and expect them to pick it up easily; one should always give a tutorial or workshop on how it works, what you expect them to accomplish; guide them by giving requirements, labs and more and make sure they know it’ll be part of their final grade to complete plus participate.

Here’s a list of apps and website that can help students to Learn through Technology:

Name	Link 1	Link 2
Moodle rooms	Android Link	Apple Link
Khan Academy	Students	Faculty
Google Classrooms	Android Link	Apple Link
Kahoot	Android Link	Apple Link
Quizlet	Android Link	Apple Link
Prezi	Website	Mobile
Ted-ed	Website	Lessons
Science360	Android Link	Apple Link
Google Hangout	Android Link	Apple Link

Please research the names on the list, click on the links, download the apps and in Part 2, I will describe in more detail how to use them in classes.  Also, please leave a comment on how you utilize technology in your courses and any other tips you might have of grabbing student’s attention.

Remembering to Breathe

I found myself nodding in recognition as I read Aimée Morrison’s article in which she described how she used to teach:

When I began teaching, and for some time after, I used to try to assuage...anxieties [about not succeeding at the hard job of teaching well] by crowding them out with activity. I would prepare 15 pages of lecture notes for an 80-minute class session. I would assign 70 pages of reading for every class meeting so we wouldn’t run out of material. I would cover over any pauses in the discussion with more lecturing, more PowerPoints, more handouts. I had students write research papers and exams and bibliographies and presentations and blog posts and quizzes — just so that it would be clear that I had a plan, and I was in charge, and I was well-prepared, and I knew what I was doing.

Morrison’s article uses yoga as a metaphor, explaining how we often try so hard to teach well --the yoga term is “over-efforting”--that we forget to breathe as we go along. She makes a plea for more breathing space for both teacher and student, more time in which students can learn.  She argues for being “less busy but more mindful” in our teaching, so that our classes can be more student-centered and our students more interested and more active, covering less perhaps but learning what is covered in more depth.

That makes sense to me even if it goes against the grain of my built-in need to be 110% prepared for what will happen each moment of each class and each class of the semester.  But it seems like an appropriate note on which to end my final Teaching Matters blog. As I enter retirement and work on breathing deeply and evenly--on some nice tropical beach if there is any justice in this universe--I will be thinking of you all, comforted in the knowledge that Lincoln students are flourishing in your capable and caring hands.

Putting the S in the SLO

A recent thread on a faculty development listserv I belong to has been focusing on how to maximize the learning potential in those SLOs we all dutifully write, discuss the first day of class, and then often don’t think much about again until the end of the semester. Some discussion has centered on how to make SLOs more meaningful to students.  The following, quoted with permission, is from Mary Goldschmidt, Faculty Development Specialist at the University of Scranton:

“Inviting my students to set their own goals as a formal part of the course is something I’ve been doing for 5 years now – in composition courses as well as gen ed courses in literature (not something students are usually too keen to take). It’s a practice strongly supported by the scholarship on self-regulated learning and goal orientation.…To illustrate what these look like, here are a few of my students’ self-defined learning outcomes (paraphrased):

• an electrical engineering major said that he wants to become better at listening to the perspectives of his other small group members because he knows that professionally, he will always be working in teams.
• an occupational therapy major said that she wants to increase her ability to pay attention to detail when reading literature because she can see a parallel between this kind of reading and “reading” her clients, e.g., noticing what’s not always explicit.
• an economics major explained that his father loves poetry and he simply wants to be able to talk more with his Dad about poetry."

Goldsmith goes on to point out that it’s not enough just to do this once on the first day of class; student engagement has to be sustained.  “Twice later in the semester, I ask students to write reflections on the actions they’re taking to work toward their goals, the progress they’re making, and what new or different things they might do to better achieve their goals. I also ask them how I can best support them in their learning.  Students are significantly more engaged in the course when they have their own intrinsic motivation for doing well – beyond just wanting a good grade.”

Have you tried anything similar with your students?  How has it worked?

Weighing--and Weighting--our Options

As part of his workshop on problem-based learning last Thursday, Dr.  Mark Serva, a professor of information systems  at the University of Delaware, discussed a variety of issues relating to course design in general, whether using a problem-based format or not.  One question he raised that made me stop and think perhaps more than any other was, “How do we spend our class time?”

The following options were listed:  

• Content knowledge
• Design and creativity
• Real-world context
• Communication skills
• Student intrinsic motivation
• Hands-on skills
• Critical thinking
• Disciplinary integration
• Teamwork/collaboration
• Self-directed learning

All must be present to some degree.  The tough question is which ones are more important than others?  

For any given class, the options (developed by Jonathan Stolk and Robert Martello of Olin College) can total  no more than 100%.  So if we value critical thinking, for instance, at 20%, then we have to devalue something else to maintain the 100% total. There was rich discussion about what percentage we would give to each when designing a course, as well as what percentage we might give to them when planning any individual class session.

To me this discussion brought home the point that we often spend all, or most, of our time thinking about what content knowledge we want students to acquire, giving much less attention to the other equally--sometimes perhaps more--important nine concepts.

I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on the items in this list.  Would you add any additional options?  Which one(s) would you weight more heavily than others? Why?

It’s a Wrap

If your students are like mine, they tend to look at exams and papers for one main thing:  the grade. And that’s where the contemplation either stops or focuses in general terms on how the grade doesn’t really reflect how hard the student worked.

As I was reading Using Reflection and Metacognition to Improve Student Learning: Across the Disciplines, Across the Academy, one of the new books on the pedagogy shelf in the library, I found the chapter on “exam wrappers” insightful on this problem.* In that chapter, Lovett defines exam wrappers as “structured reflection activities that prompt students to practice key metacognitive skills after they get back their graded exams (p. 18).”  These reflection activities require students to respond to three kinds of questions:

1. How they prepared for the exam
2. What kinds of errors they made on the exam
3. What they might do differently to prepare for the next exam

As Lovett explains, “Currently, most students seem to think of exams as the 'end' of learning.  Instead they could be opportunities to reflect, compare and adjust their strategies” (p 19).  Her point is that students, at most, look to see what facts they got wrong, when it is much more important to reflect on why they missed those particular facts and what they might do differently the next time so as not to miss them.  Requiring them to think about the study process helps build the students’ sense of metacognition, over time developing them into more self-directed learners.

Teachers benefit as well, since they get a much clearer picture of how students are performing with respect to the course learning objectives, and thus are able to make changes in their instructional plans as needed.

The article reminds us that metacognitive skills

• are developed through practice and feedback,
• are not automatically transferred across contexts, and
• while extremely important for students just beginning their college experience, are NOT best learned as generic “study skills” but instead must be grounded in the course content.  

Lovett also points out that teachers can use other “wrappers”—homework wrappers, lecture wrappers, small group discussion wrappers, etc., and provides examples from a variety of disciplines in the appendix.

What do you think?  Have any of you had success with this sort of reflective assignment?  

*Note:  Other chapters were equally interesting, giving case studies of how teachers can enhance student metacognition and reflection in different disciplines, e.g., Chapter 3:  Improving Critical-Thinking Skills in Introductory Biology Through Quality Practice and Metacognition or Chapter 4:  Reflection and Metacognition in Engineering Practice.

What We Teachers Worry About

Those of you who read Faculty Focus probably saw the following list in a recent posting. It categorizes the concerns expressed by new teachers, listed from most to least important. 

• Exhibiting command of the material (being able to answer student questions, give relevant examples)
• Balancing "teacherly" authority and student rapport
• Dealing with communication anxiety (public speaking)
• Engaging rather than boring students
• Managing students’ perceptions of teacher
• Juggling roles (teaching, research, service, life)
• Resolving grade complexities
• Being memorable
• Negotiating flexibility in policies, assignments
• Overcoming cultural differences between teacher and students

I was struck, when I read through this “top 10” list how little I worried about some of the issues but how much some of the others, after all my many years of teaching, still cause the occasional sleepless night.  I don’t spend much time anymore thinking about authority vs. rapport, for instance; my comfort level there developed over the years, as did my comfort level with student perceptions of me, whatever they may be.  Similarly, being appropriately--but not too--flexible in my demands and being able to resolve student grade protests do not cause me much concern any more; one learns from experience, I guess.  

On the other hand, despite my experience I still find myself struggling with how to get my tired, busy, adult students focused and engaged, and with each new  semester I still experience nagging doubts that I have prepared enough to show that I’m up to date and in command of new scholarship.

One item I would add to the list, that I never used to worry about, is just what my role in any given class period should be.  Am I  still, too often, being that sage on the stage even if I am standing off to the side and talking about material on students' computer screens?  Did I prepare enough material to keep the learning going?  Too much?  The wrong sort?

I’d be interested in hearing--wherever you might be in your teaching career trajectory--what worries you the most as you strive to be successful in your chosen profession. Or what you don't worry about at all.

Following Up Our Faculty Conference Discussion

In this first blog of the 2015-16 academic year, I was hoping that we could carry on the discussion started at our opening Faculty Convocation.  (At least in the blogosphere, unlike in the Wellness Center, we can all hear each other…)

At the Friday morning session of the conference, we talked about learner-centered teaching and  the fact that research suggests that active, engaged, motivated, mindful students are more apt to learn and retain information than are students who put in the same amount of learning time but do so in a more passive, listening role.

Maryellen Weimer, in Learner-centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice, describes  learner-centered teaching as teaching that     

1. engages students in the hard, messy work of learning;
2. motivates and empowers students by giving them some control over learning processes;
3. encourages collaboration, acknowledging the classroom as a community where everyone shares the learning agenda;
4. promotes students’ reflection about what they are learning and how they are learning it;
5. includes explicit learning skills instruction.

Would you argue a different point of view?  Great--let's hear it. Do you have any observations or questions to follow up your small group discussions at the conference?  Please share. Do you have a successful teaching/learning experience that you have tried out already or have planned for later in the semester that is aimed at enhancing student motivation, collaboration, reflection, metacognition?  Do you have suggestions for brown bag discussion topics that could provide some practical how-to teaching tips?

The floor is yours. Let's actively continue the "active learning" conversation!